It took a bit longer to round up the horses and bury the bodies, so by the time the five men reached the next resting town, it was already dark.
Fortunately, this area was already considered a prosperous region near Philadelphia, and there was only one guard at the town gate, which was not closed.
So, after some negotiation, the five men were led by a townsman to the inn where they would be staying.
What Charles found amusing was that the empty carriage parked at the inn's entrance was precisely the one they had encountered on the road earlier.
"Why is this plot so cliché?" Charles shook his head with a bitter smile and pushed open the inn door.
The inn's ground floor also served as a tavern, and the hall was already filled with a large crowd of people, young and old.
However, they were all gathered near the counter, listening to a thin, middle-aged white man with a badge on his chest gesticulate wildly and speak loudly.
He was none other than the gunman from the carriage who had continued to flee after being rescued.
At this moment, because he was facing the door, he saw Charles and the others at first glance.
Immediately, his hand movements froze, and his mouth formed an 'O', too surprised to speak.
"Good evening, gentlemen, I hope our arrival hasn't disturbed you," Charles' gentle voice echoed through the hall.
The listeners gathered around the counter now noticed the guests behind them and all turned around.
"Oh! Esteemed guests, it's so good to see you.
I was just praying to God for your safety.
Thank you for saving me, oh, and my esteemed young lady," the thin, middle-aged white man had already reacted and quickly came forward to greet them, then turned to introduce them to the listeners behind him: "These are the brave gunmen I just spoke of; they were the ones who killed the three bandits."
"Oh..." The idle old and young people cast respectful or curious glances at Charles and the others.
"Thank you, brave young man!
I am Bonis, the mayor of this town.
Those bandits have been plaguing our town for a long time.
If it weren't for you, we don't know how much longer we would have had to endure them.
I sincerely thank you again for your help, and I have already prepared the bounty for those bandits.
Please accept it." An old man represented the group in thanking them, and a townsman next to him held a bag of money.
He keenly noticed that Charles was the leader of the group, so he directly expressed his gratitude to him and handed the bounty to Charles.
For Phil and the others, he merely tipped his hat as a gesture.
"Haha! You're too kind, Mayor Bonis.
As civilized people, we have a responsibility to maintain the safety of this society.
Killing such bandits and saving innocent people is an undeniable duty," Charles humbly bowed in return.
He was too embarrassed to directly check how much the bounty was, but he estimated it was around ten pounds, neither low nor high.
After casually accepting it, he handed it to his male servant Tom.
He was a bit surprised that the mayor's bounty, though not much, was given so readily.
"Please, have a seat, brave and polite young man.
We don't even know what to call you yet?" The old mayor led Charles and his group to a table by the counter.
"Allow me to introduce myself.
My name is Charles Godfrey, and I come from Pittsburgh, a small town not far from here to the west, where I am the Speaker.
This time, I was elected by the Western pioneers and townsmen to specially come to Philadelphia to attend the Continental Congress, to show our determination to oppose the British king's oppression.
Our Pittsburgh is a developing town, with fertile land and abundant mineral resources, opportunities to make money everywhere, and no harassment from the British army.
Everyone is welcome to come to Pittsburgh to work and settle..."
Charles skillfully gave his advertisement.
Throughout his journey, whenever he arrived at a small village or town, he would introduce the situation in Pittsburgh to the locals, advertise a bit, and invite them to Pittsburgh.
Although the results were not yet visible, judging from the audience's reactions, it was quite good.
"Pittsburgh? It's not far from here, but I heard there are natives there?" The gunman from the carriage was the first to react.
Everyone else, including old Mayor Bonis, looked at Charles curiously.
"Natives? Where in North America are there no natives? You're talking about natives who would attack us, right? Don't worry about that, they've long been driven further west by us.
Moreover, the very existence of Pittsburgh is to deal with natives. We have a militia and a fortress; what is there to fear from natives?"
"Do you still have a militia?
Weren't all the militiamen conscripted to join the Continental army?
Did you not respond to General Washington's order?" This time, it was the old mayor who asked.
"Haha!" Charles chuckled softly, "Mr. Mayor, our Pittsburgh is absolutely no worse than other towns when it comes to joining the Continental army.
It's just that most of the land in our Pittsburgh was originally allocated to retired militiamen.
Besides the regular militiamen who launch attacks against natives, there are also a large number of retired personnel.
This time, after General Washington ordered the North American militia to join the Continental army, those regular militiamen all became part of the Continental army.
We then re-recruited those retired militiamen and formed a self-defense force.
They have combat effectiveness similar to the original regular militiamen and can rival the Continental army, sufficient to ensure the safety of the fortress."
"Oh..." The people of the town nodded in deep agreement.
A border town was, of course, different from an inland town like theirs.
They didn't even ask how many people were in that self-defense force; as long as there was such a regular force, they believed it should be stronger than a town without any regular army.
"Alas! It's still better in your Pittsburgh.
Just a few people coming out have served in the army.
After our original militiamen went to join the Continental army, our town was left with only our Mr. Sheriff and a few civilian quick-draws.
These people, they can't even kill three bandits and can only rely on the town's defenses.
Otherwise, we wouldn't have had to wait for you to help get rid of them." The old mayor sighed, glaring unhappily at the gunman from the carriage.
The gunman from the carriage next to him was obviously the sheriff the old mayor was talking about.
He was a bit embarrassed by the glare and retorted, "At least we can still defend the town; those bandits don't dare to enter."
"What about when you go out?
If Mr. Godfrey hadn't helped today, not only would your own life have been in danger, but you would have also implicated my granddaughter.
Hmph!" old Mayor Bonis retorted unceremoniously.
Charles then realized that the blonde girl in the carriage was the mayor's granddaughter, and this 'slow-gunman' in front of him was actually the town's sheriff.
He hadn't noticed when he was lying on the horse, but now he saw that he indeed had a badge on his chest, though it was completely different from a modern police badge.
It was then understandable why the mayor's bounty was given so quickly; with the testimony of the mayor's granddaughter and the sheriff, what problems could there be?
The expressions of the other town residents around them towards the sheriff were not exactly pleasant either, but they didn't directly say anything in front of Charles, an outsider.
"Uh... well, anyway, the bandits have been killed now, and we'll be able to protect the town in the future." The sheriff didn't dare to challenge the mayor's authority and rubbed his hat in annoyance.
"The town's defenses still need to be strengthened," Charles suddenly interjected.
"If others know that three bandits can run rampant outside the town, they will surely be inspired to imitate them, Mr. Sheriff.
You absolutely must not let your guard down just because those few bandits are dead, or there could be great trouble."
The relaxed hearts of the town residents were immediately stirred up again by Charles' words, and some were already quietly saying things like "Let's move to Philadelphia."
This annoyed Charles; he had originally intended to scare them into going to Pittsburgh, forgetting that in the eyes of these people now, Philadelphia was the safest place.
That's fine; he believed that as long as Philadelphia faced an attack by the British army in the future, someone would surely remember the advertisement Charles was making now.
At that time, that group of people would surely think of seeking refuge in Pittsburgh, which had a self-defense force and was secluded.
As long as the population problem was solved, Pittsburgh could become a prosperous city decades earlier.
"Thank you for your reminder, Mr. Godfrey, I will have them prepare their defenses.
To express my personal gratitude for saving my granddaughter, I would like to invite you to stay at my inn free of charge.
Please, you must accept." old Mayor Bonis smiled and extended the invitation to Charles.
"Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Mayor, I am willing to follow your arrangements," Charles replied very appropriately.
He no longer had the heart to promote Pittsburgh at the inn.
After a day of riding and a brief skirmish, he was already exhausted and wanted to find a place to lie down.
He also had to leave early for Philadelphia tomorrow.
After accepting the room arranged by the old mayor, he quickly dealt with food and other matters and naturally went to rest, which is not worth mentioning.
However, when they woke up early the next day, ready to depart immediately, the blonde girl reappeared before Charles and the others.
Her appearance yesterday was certainly not beautiful, but now, although not a beauty, she was still quite presentable.
"Hello, Mr. Godfrey!"
"Hello, Miss Bonis!" Charles tipped his hat.
He wasn't surprised that the girl would seek them out just as dawn was breaking; this inn was owned by her family, so she would naturally know Charles' whereabouts at all times.
"I'm truly sorry about yesterday.
You saved us, yet we didn't even express our thanks.
Although it's a bit late now, Alisa still wants to sincerely thank you."
"You don't need to apologize; we understand yesterday's situation.
As for thanks, regarding yesterday's incident, any gentleman encountering such a situation would help without hesitation." Charles bowed again.
If he had seen a beautiful woman last night, he might have considered flirting with her, but now he was in a hurry to get to Philadelphia and naturally didn't want to waste any more time.
After Alisa realized Charles was in a hurry to travel, she could only say:
"Then I won't keep you this time.
The inn owner is my grandfather, and my father and I run a dye workshop in another village, but I often stay here.
Next time you pass through the town, you must stay, so I can properly thank you." she said sultrily.