Chapter 7

"Sir, we don't need those shoddy short swords. We have our own sharp hunting knives. Those clumsy javelins are not suitable for us either. We have arrows dipped in demon blood. As long as we have enough arrowheads, we can pierce the throats of all our enemies!" The leader of the hunters, Kuroisat, found Du Yu, who was about to return to the hall.

As the leader of a group of mountain hunters, Kuroisat had been hunting in the nearby mountains with his tribe. Recently, he heard that the local lord had posted a high bounty, so he led over a dozen hunters from his tribe to earn the reward. Winter was approaching, and this money would help his tribe survive the harsh winter.

"Demon blood?" Du Yu was taken aback by the muscular hunter leader Kuroisat. What did he mean by demon blood? Could there really be monsters in this world? After being here for a few months, Du Yu hadn't found this world to be much different from his own. At least, there were no mysterious things beyond his understanding.

"This is demon blood. We hunters usually carry some with us. Just before battle, we dip the arrowheads in the demon blood. Even if the enemy doesn't die from being hit, they will have to cut off the injured part," Kuroisat explained, seeing the surprised look on Du Yu's face. He took a long, hollow wooden tube from his waist, uncorked it, and the pungent, burnt smell made Du Yu wrinkle his nose in discomfort.

Seeing Du Yu's strange expression as he stared at the small wooden tube containing the demon blood, Kuroisat smiled indifferently. Kuroisat didn't know that Du Yu was already extremely excited inside.

The familiar pungent smell made Du Yu, who used to get dizzy from the smell of gasoline, feel nauseous. However, he still forced himself to take the small wooden tube from Kuroisat and sniffed the black, sticky liquid inside.

Yes, it was the smell of crude oil. He hadn't expected to find oil exposed on the surface of the nearby mountains. He anxiously asked, "Is there a Devil's Valley with boiling, black liquid exposed on the surface and flames that never stop burning all year round?"

"Sir, how did you know? Do you also know about the Devil's Valley? That's a place only our mountain hunters can reach," Kuroisat looked at Du Yu with fear. The Devil's Valley was the biggest secret of the hunter tribe. It was said to be the connection between the human world and hell. Could this legendary lord also know about that place?

"I'll give you 100 gold coins. Prepare 500 barrels of this demon blood in half a month. They should be small enough to carry, like the one you just showed me, and each barrel should be full of the demon blood!"

"Really? Sir, are you sure you need demon blood?" Kuroisat's face showed surprise. Many nobles he had encountered before would angrily curse the hunters as demons' minions just for using demon blood on their arrows. They certainly wouldn't show such great interest in demon blood like Du Yu.

"Yes, the demon blood you mentioned! I'll keep this barrel as a sample to make sure you don't cut corners," Du Yu closed the cork on the small wooden tube. Although Kuroisat looked a bit reluctant to part with the small wooden tube, he left with a happy heart.

"With this crude oil, I can organize a phalanx of infantry that can throw incendiary bombs. No matter what heavy cavalry or elite infantry, they will all end up as roasted pigs..." Du Yu weighed the small wooden tube in his hand, hearing the "gurgling" sound of the liquid inside, feeling quite satisfied and lost in thought.

...

"Raise your shields, advance three steps! Thrust!" On the castle's training ground, 200 peasant soldiers lined up in ten rows, raised their large shields in unison, forming a tight shield wall and pushing forward. Although these peasant soldiers had only been training for half a month, they already had the air of regular troops.

"Everyone remember, at twenty meters, throw the javelins. At two meters, draw your short swords and thrust. Regardless of life or death, thrust ten times. Don't turn back until you've done it," Statuenko shouted loudly to the peasant soldiers. These standardized actions and standards were devised by the lord he looked down upon.

Although Statuenko believed that an outstanding warrior should be a brave and skilled fighter, not just a soldier who follows orders, he had to admit that for these peasants who had never been to a battlefield, the simple thrusting techniques taught by the lord were easier for them to remember than the various combat skills he taught.

"Sir, on the battlefield, do we really just follow the orders and we'll survive and get the reward?"

Although Statuenko was still a teenager, the peasant soldiers knew that this slightly limping, disabled youth had once been a squire who fought against the most ferocious Kujit cavalry in the north. No one dared to look down on this stern-faced, shouting deputy anymore.

"Yes, as long as you follow the methods taught by the lord, I believe you will return with a lot of gold coins," Statuenko reassured the anxious peasant soldiers who gathered around him as the departure time approached. Their eager and hopeful eyes made the usually tough Statuenko have to comfort them insincerely. After nearly a month of training, Statuenko had developed a bit of trust in these peasant soldiers he had trained.

Statuenko didn't say it outright, but he knew that this time they were going to fight the Lock barbarians in the western mountains. Using this training method, they might have an advantage over the barbarians who had no battle tactics. If they faced the northern Kujit cavalry, they would only be waiting to die.

"I wonder how the mountain hunters are doing under the lord's training?" Statuenko looked at the scorching sun. In a corner of the castle, dozens of mountain hunters were practicing archery under the command of the plump, foolish lord. He wondered what the lord could teach these hunters who had been hunting and shooting since childhood.

Due to the distance, Statuenko didn't notice that all the hunters' arrowheads were wrapped in small packages, hiding the original arrowheads.

Because the original sharp arrowheads had been altered, the hunters couldn't control the new arrowheads very accurately, often shooting them in all directions due to miscalculations of force and wind speed.

This made the hunters, who prided themselves on their archery skills, call these special arrowheads "Wanderer's Arrows."

Although the hunters couldn't control these arrowheads very precisely, Du Yu was satisfied to see them fly nearly a hundred meters.

This was a ranged attack weapon. As long as the arrowhead hit the target, the small package containing the crude oil would be pierced by the sharp arrowhead inside, causing the oil to splash out. Combined with the flaming arrows that followed, the unextinguishable fire would definitely catch the enemy off guard and cause significant damage.

"How are the supplies? We're leaving in a few days," Du Yu flipped through the supply list handed to him by the old steward in his bedroom.

According to the kingdom's custom, the nobles' armies had to bring ten days' worth of food to the assembly point. During these ten days, the nobles were considered to be serving the king, so they had to bring all their food and supplies.

However, after ten days, the king had to provide all the food for the noble armies. This is why the king's wars were always short, the longest being 98 days.

During that time, the thousands of noble armies gathered not only ate all the king's food but also took many royal items as compensation.

This system effectively limited the king's ability to随意调动各地领主的权利，可以说对现在王国的稳定起到了不小的功劳。

“已经准备了200人吃二十天的粮食，明天我就让厨房把已经腌制好的食物搬上物资马车，刚才凯斯拉托家族的族长带着自己的两个女儿来了，我已经把他们安排在城堡的客房，不知道你是否有空亲自接见他们？”老管家眼神闪烁地看着正在翻看清单的杜宇，那副欲言又止的神色让杜宇感到好奇。

老管家很少自作主张地安排自己的行程，但这次竟然意外地问是否要见对方的信使，这明显的暗示似乎有什么事不便说。

“凯斯拉托家族？他们来有什么事？带我去看看他们。”杜宇对凯斯拉托家族还有点印象，那是自己领地边上的一个小领主，下面只管着几个小村庄，在爵位上也只是一个小勋爵，跟自己这个侯爵差得远呢。

“我想他们可能是来商谈婚约的。”看到少爷脸上疑惑的表情，老管家吞吞吐吐地看着杜宇。老管家的话让刚站起来的杜宇愣住了。

“婚约？凯斯拉托家族跟谁有婚约？”杜宇疑惑地看着脸色尴尬的老管家，这个突然冒出来的穷亲家确实让以为自己还是“钻石王老五”的杜宇感到意外。

“去年，老爷病重的时候，决定与临近的凯斯拉托家族为少爷定了一门婚约。虽然这引起了家族内很大的反对声，但老爷还是坚持和凯斯拉托家族订立了婚约。”老管家脸色苍白地解释着。

其实杜宇一想也就明白了，这具身体的老父亲为了避免自己的白痴儿子成为未来女方家族的控制傀儡，而坚决和自己附近最为领地贫困的凯斯拉托家族定了一门婚约。这样即使凯斯拉托家族的女儿成为猎鹰家族的女主人，也会因为出身不够高贵而无法完全掌控整个家族。

这大概也是一种无奈的父爱吧。

“既然是父亲大人定下的，你就安排一下，明天我在大厅隆重接见他们！”杜宇对着老管家摆了摆手，这事让杜宇感觉自己的思维有点乱，原来自己在这个世界还有个未来老婆啊。

“好的，我这就告诉凯斯拉托勋爵，我想他的两个女儿会很高兴的。”老管家如释重负地松了一口气。自从少爷从白痴状态恢复成现在这样，对于这门有着特殊意义的婚约还能不能继续保持下去，还真让老管家吃不准。

“你还没告诉我，我到底是跟哪一个定亲啊。”杜宇看着准备躬身弯腰退出自己卧室的老管家问道。

老管家脸色古怪地看着杜宇，最后像是下定了决心般：“少爷，老爷给你定的是凯斯拉托家族的姐妹花！”