Fairy tale: Little Red Riding Hood's wolf mentor

“This map is not bad; it records the route to the Kingdom of Goethe…”

Lake closed the map in her hand and looked at the stall owner in front of her.

“Two copper coins.”

The owner opened his mouth and quoted the price, but seeing his somewhat guilty and evasive eyes, Lake realized that the merchant must be hiding something about this map.

“Here are five silver coins; keep the change.”

Lake placed five silver coins in front of the vendor, and under the vendor's surprised gaze, she asked directly:

“Is there anything about this map that you haven’t told me?”

The vendor accepted the silver coins, hesitated for a moment, took back the map in Lake's hand, and took out another map from the bottom of the box on the other side, handing it to Lake with some embarrassment.

Lake opened the map. The only difference between the new map and the old map was that the new map had some manually drawn lines.

And some new markings.

“What are these extra things…”

“I’m sorry, miss. Although the first map isn’t old, it’s still far behind the current situation. This new one is also something I managed to get…”

“Is it because of the war?”

“Yes, the war. Those countries have blocked many trade routes, and there are many places where battles may occur. The borders of the countries are also changing—most importantly, the soldiers of all countries are crazy; they only know how to kill people…”

The vendor's eyes dimmed slightly as he looked at the silver coins Lake had given him.

Even in the midst of war, these silver coins were worth more than his somewhat crude map. He pointed to several markings on the map with his finger.

“Here is the Kingdom of Sree, which is close to the Kingdom of Blue. Almost every border line is in battle. Last week, the Kingdom of Bell was just annexed in battle, so the border line of the Kingdom of Sree has expanded.”

“Here are a few focal points of the war that are marked nearby… very dangerous.”

“By the way, perhaps it won’t be long before the Kingdom of Blue disappears as well—annexed by the Kingdom of Sree… Good heavens, if it were in the past, I would never have imagined that the Kingdom of Sree could be so powerful?”

As the vendor spoke, his finger moved down a little, pointing to another border line.

Lake and Polo both widened their eyes because this was the route they had originally planned to advance to the Kingdom of Goethe.

But on the new map, this area was covered in another color and also had an arrow drawn, connecting to the location of a neighboring country.

“This was originally the territory of the Kingdom of Goethe, but now, it has been… occupied.”

“Occupied?!”

Lake widened her eyes. From the map, this occupied area was nearly half of the country!

And the Kingdom of Goethe had hardly any large cities besides the capital. Even Lake and Polo, who didn’t know much about military affairs, could see it.

This was more than just a disadvantage. The Kingdom of Goethe they were going to was now under siege?!

“In war, there will always be countries that are occupied. Weak countries lose territory; it’s only reasonable… Isn’t that how we Blue are?”

The vendor looked at Lake's expression, paused, and then suddenly realized, “Oh, I see, you are going to… the Kingdom of Goethe? Are you Goethe people?”

After that, he showed a regretful expression.

“Well, but I advise you not to go. The Kingdom of Sree is okay; after all, they believe in God and probably won’t kill people, but the Kingdom of Wither is different…”

“Different?”

Lake was taken aback.

“I don’t know exactly. I just heard that their king is like… Lord Dante, Marshal Giles, only knowing war, war, and such.”

Like Bluebeard?!

Shouldn’t one such person be enough to plague this world?!

“Uh, actually, I don’t know very clearly, but Wither is said to be so crazy that… they conscript soldiers from all the homes of the citizens, and even passers-by will be kidnapped by Wither soldiers and forcibly sent to the battlefield as cannon fodder.”

The vendor scratched his head and said, but then he looked at Lake and Polo and shrugged:

“Seriously, if you want to go to the Kingdom of Wither, this map and I can’t help you much with how to get there. The current situation…”

As the vendor thought, he stood up and carefully put the five silver coins back into his close-fitting money bag.

For a vendor of his size, five silver coins were already a rare price.

“However, I do know someone who might be able to help you… but he has become much more cautious now and may not take in unfamiliar guests.”

Lake's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she took out another silver coin from her pocket and handed it to the vendor.

The vendor's eyes lit up, and he took the silver coin, looked at Lake, and the expression on his face became a little embarrassed. He coughed and changed his words:

“Don’t worry, this time I guarantee that guy won’t refuse you!

Uh… it’s not that I’m greedy for money; it’s just that I’m preparing to move away and go to live through the Kingdom of Beevor or other farther places. I’m just… a little short of money.”

“It’s okay. Then I’ll trouble you with the introduction.”

Lake bowed politely and said.

…

Outside Dante Territory, beside a secluded path, a caravan was already waiting in the woods.

In the team, there were many mercenaries wearing armor and holding weapons.

There were also some people wearing different clothes, with somewhat shaken expressions, and some people covered their faces, not wanting their identities to be seen.

At the front, there was a man wearing armor, exhaling smoke.

He looked at Lake and the vendor walking towards him.

“Hey, is this lady the new guest you brought, buddy?”

The man saw Lake, put down his pipe, and asked.

“Of course, I can guarantee that this lady is definitely not a dangerous person, and she won’t reveal anything to outsiders.”

The vendor walked over to the man, opened his arms and hugged him, and then the vendor handed a silver coin to the man.

“You should be leaving this week too, right?”

The man was a little surprised and put the silver coin in his pocket, asking.

“Yes, I’ll never see you again after this.”

The vendor smiled.

The man shook his head, was silent for a while, and spat on the ground:

“Damn war, if it weren’t for this damn war, would I be doing smuggling business here? Heh.”

With that, he walked towards Lake, looked at the carriage behind Lake, and nodded:

“You don’t need to know my name. Just know that the people here are all like you, and their destination is the Kingdom of Goethe.

Maybe there are people they have to see, maybe they are secret agents of certain countries, maybe they are crazy and want to make a fortune…

In short, there’s nothing special. If you trust me, just follow along.”

As he spoke, people also came from the nearby woods from time to time. Some rode horses, and some came on foot.

But unlike Lake, they all stopped in front of the man first and handed a letter to the man.

“You don’t need to ask what other people’s destinations are, and don’t ask about their identities, just like other people don’t know your identity.”

The man opened a letter, looked at the contents, nodded, and threw the letter into the fire pile beside his feet.

The person who handed the letter walked to the team and waited.

And the man looked at Lake again:

“Under normal circumstances, I need to know your identity, purpose, and other things to assess the danger—but looking at you, you are probably a noble lady from somewhere? Or something not too different.

I won’t ask.”

The man looked at Lake and nodded, then looked at Lake's carriage.

This carriage, which had been used all the way from the Kingdom of Borin, was not damaged, and many of the Borin-style paintings on it were only slightly worn.

“Your carriage has a somewhat prominent style. Don’t use it. Sell the horses and use our carriages.”

As the man spoke, he pointed to the caravan on the side.

And in the caravan, most of the carriages were of the same style and also had uniform merchant guild emblems.

“By the way, you also have to pay the fare, five silver coins—this price isn’t high.”

The man held out five fingers and said, “I have noble status in the Kingdom of Wither and the Kingdom of Sree, so I am qualified to do this job.”

Lake showed some difficulty when she heard this. Just as the man thought Lake was having trouble because of the fare, Lake took out a gold coin from her purse and placed it in the man's hand:

“I don’t want to sell these two horses just yet. I promised the buyer that if I have to buy them, I must first find a good home for them…”

The man looked at the gold coin in his hand in shock and bit it with his teeth.

After that, the arrogant expression on his face faded, revealing a kind expression, “Oh, of course, that’s definitely okay—”

Saying that, he waved to a driver on the other side and said loudly, “Hey, unload the goods from carriage number seven, and leave the frame to this lady—”

“Boss, isn’t carriage number seven the newest…”

“That’s right, it’s that one, stop talking nonsense!”

With money in place, in less than a few minutes, Lake got to see the carriage and changed to a new carriage.

The expression of the leading man also became a lot more respectful, and he nodded to Lake:

“Miss, you also know that there are such things because of the war. When you get to the Kingdom of Wither, I hope you reduce your appearances or conversations. That country is now… probably really a little crazy.

Although I have the status of a viscount in the Kingdom of Wither, I, like everyone else, don’t want the Kingdom of Wither to win.”

As the man spoke, he arranged for Lake's carriage to be in a position closer to the front of the team.

Lake could see that there were many mercenaries next to this position—

This meant that this position was relatively safe.

“Brother, who are they? Shouldn’t passengers come to the front? Could it be that the guards we hired have to protect them?”

Watching Lake's carriage arrive at the front, a young man walked out of the carriage in the position ahead and frowned.

“Go back, it’s none of your business—this is a big spender, show some respect!”

But the leader's face turned cold, and he raised his foot and kicked the young man.

The young man's face sank, but he didn’t dare to refute, glared at Lake gloomily, and muttered back to his carriage.

“I apologize for making you laugh, miss. This is my younger brother. He’s used to running rampant in the territory. This time, he’s following me to see the world…”

After staring at the young man leaving, the man explained to Lake.

After a few brief chats, the man turned and left to arrange other things, or collect fares from other guests.

And Polo also noticed that among the other passengers, there were also a few people whose accents were very similar to the gray-clothed secret agent from before.

Obviously, some passengers’ hometowns may be in the Kingdom of Goethe.

At noon, the team began to depart.

After changing to a new carriage, Lake's carriage didn’t look special.

The route of the team was different from the main road on the map, but the overall direction of travel was not a problem.

It could be seen that the route chosen by the man was carefully designed.

It avoided many unnecessary towns and didn’t encounter any special dangers.

Polo pricked up his ears, and with his extraordinary hearing, he could hear the conversations of other guests in the adjacent carriages.

But the journey was long, and the areas passed through were mostly war zones.

During the journey, Lake also saw many battlefields of the Kingdom of Sree, with muddy gray soil covering broken armor.

“Ahead is the last border post of the Kingdom of Sree. Passing through there will be the territory of the Kingdom of Wither.”

On the morning of the third day, the team arrived at a post.

The golden flag of the Kingdom of Sree fluttered above the post.

“Stop! What are you doing?!”

“I am a private caravan of the viscount. We are not a threat.”

The leader man showed an emblem and a letter and handed it to the soldiers for inspection.

After several Sree soldiers inspected it, they still stopped the team and asked everyone in the team to get out of the car and accept the inspection.

Their eyes carefully scrutinized everyone’s faces, even Lake was no exception—they noticed the Star Killer Sword on Lake’s waist. Such a sword was not common.

But after Lake took off her hood, they dispelled their doubts.

“Okay, you can pass.”

The Sree Kingdom post moved behind the team.

But next, the passengers not only didn’t breathe a sigh of relief, but instead became more nervous.

“The Kingdom of Wither is behind us. Be vigilant, don’t say anything you shouldn’t say, understand? Keep your expressions normal—if you are unlucky, I can’t save you!”

The team leader man also rode his horse and warned the team again.

In Polo's hearing, the conversations in the next carriage became much quieter.

And although their voices were blurred, they shifted from the Kingdom of Sree to the Kingdom of Wither.

“I just hope everything goes smoothly this time…”

“Yes, are you going to the Kingdom of Goethe?”

“If you ask me, the king of the Kingdom of Goethe is the best—if there was no war, my wife and daughters would be there, so I must go back…”

“Speaking of which, what is so terrible about the Kingdom of Wither?”

“Shhh, I heard that the king of the Kingdom of Wither is a complete war maniac. He not only crazily conscripts soldiers, but also built a flying battleship…”

"Is the rumor true?"

"Who knows? But it's true that he's been conscripting soldiers like crazy. If he didn't have some powerful backing, would he dare to go into Wither territory? If he gets caught, he'll either die or be enslaved, sent to the front lines of the war with the Goth Kingdom to die!"

"..."

The convoy passed through the Kingdom of Wither, still following a special route not recorded on any map.

But along the way, they still passed through many villages and towns. Along the roadsides were starving corpses everywhere. Many houses appeared empty, and even in some inhabited villages, there were no adult males to be seen.

Mostly, only children and women remained.

Everyone looked miserable, suffering from hunger and cold.

"God bless us, may we not encounter the Wither army..."

Polo heard someone in the carriage behind him praying in a low voice.

But obviously, what's coming will always come.

"Halt the convoy ahead!"

At the border of the Kingdom of Wither, a team of dozens of cavalrymen suddenly rushed out from the forest on the side, surrounding the convoy with their spears and crossbows.

"Get down, all of you get down! Anyone who dares to resist will die!"

The leading officer shouted unceremoniously.

Every cavalryman was surrounded by a considerable amount of bloody aura. Seeing this scene, all the travelers turned pale.

Several women were on the verge of tears.