British hegemon

Chapter 44 Two Henchmen

After the rain, the sky above Arran Island was a clear, deep blue. The rising sun hung on the mountaintop on the eastern side of Holly Island's salt flats, casting long shadows of the thatched huts at the foot of the mountain.

The small fishing boat was towed onto the shallows, where the shallows extended into the bay, and the Coq, with its sails lowered and anchored, swayed gently in the rising sun.

Toothless and Gambler, dressed in pirate armor, leaned against the door of a stone hut, holding short spears and carrying short swords, acting as sentries. Bald and Ponytail stood quietly in the open space outside the hut, holding crossbows and long swords, watching the two pirate prisoners.

Roger wore the linen robe with the skirt cut off, and only a wooden-handled hunting knife hung at his waist. He crossed his arms and quietly watched the old man and the young man whose hands and feet were still bound by straw rope.

After several days of interrogation and investigation, he has learned the ins and outs of the three prisoners in front of him, as well as their past experiences.

The girl with the ponytail had a pretty good eye; although the three prisoners were all pirates, they were not completely wicked.

The old henchman had no name; he was usually called the Old Fisherman. He was originally an honest, bankrupt fisherman from Arun Island who was forced to join the pirates to make a living. However, he had never committed any evil deeds and was a skilled sailor. Judging from his lean physique, he could still hold on for a few more years and was of some use.

That henchman was Argyll's orphan named Tok. The pirates all called him a henchman. His parents died early, and he was captured when the pirates raided the village. He worked as a handyman for the pirates for two years. According to his confession, he had also killed people. He was clever and ruthless, but in this cannibalistic world, he didn't seem to be considered a bad person. He was more of a dispensable character.

These two henchmen were relatively easy to deal with. Roger walked up to the older henchman and said directly, "I can let you go. If you have nowhere to go, you can stay and do some things for me."

The old henchman had just heard from the ponytail braid that they would be settled today. He was worried that the evil ghost Roger would kill him, but he didn't expect that the other party would actually let him go and give him a way out.

"I'm willing to stay and work for Master Roger." The old henchman didn't hesitate much. He followed the pirates for a meal, and he followed Master Roger just to survive. What difference did it make?

Roger nodded calmly. "Salt workers will be coming to the island to boil salt today. You'll stay here and work. You'll get plenty of food. If you perform well, I'll give you an important position."

After saying this, Roger ignored the old henchman's profuse thanks and walked over to the young henchman.

This henchman was originally quite ruthless, but after witnessing Roger's demonic slaughter that night and observing his torture methods against the bandits up close, and recalling the evil deeds he had heard about young master Roger, this henchman, being just a teenager, naturally had no reason to be afraid.

Meeting Roger's gaze, the henchman noticed the horrifying scar on Roger's forehead and his narrow eyes, and immediately lowered his head.

"Young Master Roger, please have mercy and let little Tok stay and do some work for me. He can cook and learn to make salt. He'll be of some use if he stays." Before Roger could make any arrangements, the old henchman quickly pleaded for the little henchman.

He knew Roger was no good guy; he figured that a small fry like him, who could eat a lot but had no real skills, would probably just be dragged over and killed with a quick poke.

Roger didn't intend to cause any more bloodshed since the character was a minor figure who could be killed or spared. However, since he had been a pirate and was no law-abiding citizen, Roger still had to ask, "I could have killed you, but the ponytail pleaded for you."

"Would you be willing to stay and work for me?"

The henchman turned to look at the old henchman, who quickly tugged at his tattered clothes, signaling him to agree.

"I...I am willing to be your servant." After saying this, the henchman lowered his head again.

It turns out the henchmen thought Roger wanted the two of them to be his slaves, but that's not surprising.

"Loosen their ponytails and take them to prepare lunch for the salt workers."

The woman with the ponytail smiled, pulled out a small sharp knife, and cut the straw rope between the old man and the young man. She then led them to a straw shed where they were cooking, talking in hushed tones.

Seeing that the two henchmen had already skillfully started a fire and were cooking, Roger turned his gaze to the stone house and led the bald man inside.

Inside the stone house, Olaf was torn by inner conflict. Although he and his two henchmen had been locked up in the stone house like prisoners for the past few days, Roger had not mistreated them. They had never lacked food or water, and Roger had even brought them two roasted rabbit heads and a can of beer.

The evil young master Roger, whom everyone called a devil, would occasionally come in and have a brief interrogation and conversation with the group.

All of this made Olaf feel that Roger, besides his devilish and roguish nature, also possessed an inexplicable and elusive character.

Olaf was twenty-four years old. He was the second son of a country gentleman near Glasgow. His family owned land and livestock and was considered relatively wealthy. He had worked as a squire in a lord's household and might one day have a stroke of luck and become a squire or even a knight.

However, three years ago, the English lord stationed in the area kidnapped his bride on his wedding night under the pretext of the right of first night. The hot-blooded young Olaf sneaked into the garrison's fortress that very night and killed the English lord in his bedroom.

Such things were not uncommon in the enslaved lands of Scotland, but few dared to actually commit such a violent murder.

However, Olaf's momentary triumph did not bring him much happiness. Under the relentless pursuit of the English, he was forced to flee to a foreign land and drift aimlessly to survive. He then joined the pirates, wandering, plundering, wandering again, and plundering again. He had served as a knight's squire, and his fighting prowess was naturally far superior to that of bankrupt fishermen. Therefore, he quickly rose to become one of the three leaders under Olaf.

Olaf was not a true pirate, and he disapproved of Wolf and his crew's indiscriminate slaughter. Therefore, after Wolf was killed by Roger, he felt no anger or hatred.

Over time, Roger gradually came to understand the pirate Olaf.

Roger also had a good impression of Olaf, whose chivalrous spirit suited his taste, but after all, Olaf had been a notorious bandit and had some skills, so Roger was quite wary of him.

Olaf's leg injury had healed, but he was still somewhat pale. He got up from the wooden barrel of salt, looked at Roger as he entered, and asked in a deep voice, "What happened to those two?"

"I feed them, and they do my work," Roger replied simply, showing no regard for Olaf as a prisoner.

"Olav, I'm afraid you can't stay on this comfortable island any longer. I need to invite you back to the manor as a guest. I'm sure you won't have any objections."

"I am your prisoner, you can kill me if you want," Olaf said nonchalantly.

Roger smiled but didn't answer. He beckoned to the man with missing teeth and the gambling addict outside the door, signaling them to take Olaf onto the fishing boat back to Milk House Manor.

Missing Tooth and Gambler were about to find ropes to tie Olaf up when Roger raised his hand to stop them. "I'm inviting him to the manor; we don't need these."

So the two walked behind Olaf, led him out of the stone house, and boarded a small fishing boat moored on the shallows.

At this moment, a gaunt village head also led a dozen or so salt-boiling serf tenants onto the salt flats.

Roger gave the head of the manor a few simple instructions, then packed his things, grabbed the bald man with the ponytail, jumped onto the fishing boat, and rowed towards the Milk House Manor.

There was no special prison at Milk House Manor. Roger took Olaf to a small barn next to a windmill in the manor and settled him in. He had an old blanket sent over and then instructed the four men, including Bald and Ponytail, to take turns guarding him, take him out for fresh air and to relieve himself every day, and collect food from the kitchen on time.

Roger gave Olaf some room to maneuver, making him a semi-free agent.

After settling in, Roger changed into his flamboyant plaid pleated skirt and tartan blanket, and led the sour-faced man, the young stable boy, and his brother Louis on the road to Brodic Castle.

There was also a funeral he had to go through to make a show of...

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