Mercenaries and Adventurers

The inside of the room is much warmer than the outside. In the large fireplace made of cut bluestone, large pieces of firewood are burning vigorously, spreading a steady stream of heat throughout the room.

Keir took off the wolf-fur cloak on his body, followed Irupaki to the fireplace, and randomly found a wooden chair made of solid wood and made it. He draped his cloak over the back of his chair.

"Come here, this is a specialty of our village, air-dried small eyeless fish, come and taste it." Steward Irupaki brought over a wooden plate of translucent air-dried fish for Kiel to taste.

After thanking the steward for his kindness, Keel picked up a small fish and found that the dried fish did not have eyes, and it should be a dull fish that lived in the dark river inside the mountain. Because there is no light, it degenerates useless eyes.

The small fish is not big, so Keel put it in his mouth and chewed it in one bite. It is delicious, spicy, slightly salty and delicious.

The middle-aged steward also picked up two small fish himself. He ate one and fed the other to his son who came over with a wooden tray.

"My sister soaked the dried beard flowers picked in summer, you can drink it. Bajibaji." There was a large copper kettle on the wooden tray, and it was steaming inside, and the long strips of dried flowers were in the hot water. Ups and downs, up and down, up and down. After the steward's son finished speaking, he chewed the small dried fish his father fed him and sat on a wooden pier near the fireplace, looking curiously at Kiel's armor all over his body.

While waiting for the dried flowers to be fully soaked in hot water, Keir first took out the entrustment document that the steward had left with Todd from the backpack on his back, proving that there was no problem with his previously stated identity.

After proving his identity, Kiel first explained to the steward Irupaki why it took so long after receiving the entrustment to come to their gloomy forest village.

Hearing what Kiel said earlier that he was going to deal with the bandits near Bingxun Pass, the steward nodded. In fact, he didn't have any opinion on the young warrior who came so late. After all, three hunters died on the road before the accident. He himself has no expectations about whether someone will come again. Now He is already very happy that this young and famous little warrior named Keir can come.

After all, since the mysterious disappearance on the road, many of the original long-term cooperation chambers of commerce no longer send people to do business. It is difficult to transport the various crops of their villages in the future. Moreover, only some bold merchants came to trade the goods produced in the city regardless of the danger, and the asking price was much higher than the previous price. They were really black-hearted, but their village could only hold their noses to recognize it.

After calming down, the steward Irupaki poured him and Keir each a cup of brewed scented tea, and asked him what he wanted to ask just now: "You just said that you have clues about the disappearance? What if If it is really useful, I am willing to pay some money for it. Please speak out, and I will listen."

Keir then told about his one-night stay in the simple camp where the hunter died with only three pairs of feet left.

Good luck hunting down a six-legged fawn.

Watch for bloodstains at the camp where the hunter died.

Light a campfire, dig a hole to hide in, and keep the deer outside.

The sudden mysterious white mist at night, the frightened deer and the black giant mouth falling from the sky.

No traces were found in the surrounding weeds the next day.

There is also a translucent hard substance found on the nearest big trees in the forest on the north and south sides.

Having said that, Keel went to his cart and fetched the unknown hard substance that had crashed into the bag.

After hearing Kiel's experiences and discoveries, the steward Irupaki felt very uneasy. He took a sip of some warm scented tea and looked at Kiel. On the other hand, the teenager Kos was frightened by the experience described by Kiel.

This is not a fantastic tale of ghosts and monsters that mothers frighten their little ones at bedtime,

It was the real predicament that happened around them, which reminded Kos of the monsters in various stories. He held the dagger at his waist, as if he could rely on the small sword to protect himself.

"As you said, the disappearances on the nearest road were all caused by an inexplicable monster?" Irupaki asked the steward.

Keir nodded. He had seen it himself, so he was sure.

But the steward didn't seem to believe it.

"But we haven't seen such dangerous monsters here for a long time. Since I was young, I can only hear about monsters that once ran rampant on the earth from the mouths of the elders in my family. Are you really sure that monsters did it? Because according to What you said, that thing is not an ordinary monster, but a monster."

"Warcraft?" Kiel has only heard the name of a monster, but he doesn't know what a monster is.

"It is a monster with magical powers like magic. It is not ordinary monsters that can be defeated by manpower, but only by priests and knights with extraordinary power. No matter how many ordinary people there are, they are not their opponents." Er explained that he seemed to regret that Kiel, a warrior, didn't know about this thing.

Keir thought about it, if the white mist that appeared in an instant and disappeared in an instant he saw before was caused by magical power, then what he saw at that time might be a monster.

"Maybe, that thing is really a monster?" Kiel asked tentatively.

Manager Irupaki seemed a little dissatisfied with Kiel's rash statement: "If the occasional ice fog at night is counted on the monster's head, then the monster is too ordinary."

Seeing that the steward seemed to have not seen it with his own eyes, he didn't quite believe Keel's claim that the monster was a monster. Keir had no choice but to open the bag in his hand and pour the unknown hard translucent substance inside on the ground.

"What is this? Is it what you said you found?" Kos and the steward Irupaki looked closely at it curiously.

"That's right, you can find something to knock and see, it's much harder than steel. At least my steel dagger can't leave any marks on it."

The steward quickly brought a small hammer, a tool, and indeed failed to leave the slightest trace on the thing after a round of knocking.

Looking at the conspicuous dead leaves inside this thing, although Manager Irupaki didn't fully agree with what Kiel said, at least he supported Kiel's statement that the culprit of everything was a monster.

"I agree with part of the discovery you said. But the specific situation, if possible, I hope you can take me to see it yourself." Looking for a sackcloth to wipe his hands, the steward Irupaki frowned and said to Kiel .

"What do you mean?" Kiel didn't understand what the other party meant.

The steward Irupaki shook his head: "If what you said is true, can we do it in a distance outside the village according to your previous method. Find a goat and tie it in the open space. If what you said is true , that monster will definitely not let go of such an easy-to-get fresh food."

It seems that the steward is still relatively cautious, and will not rely on Kiel's unilateral rhetoric to approve anything. He has to take him to see the thing with his own eyes.

Keir shrugged: "I don't care, if you have the guts, of course, I will protect you, as long as you do what I say later."

"Then it's settled. I'll leave after lunch. Kos, stop playing and help me prepare things for going out." Irupaki seems to be a practical person in charge, and he immediately started to arrange to pick up things. down thing.

Keir didn't care about the unknown hard translucent substance, he put it casually in the corner, drank scented tea and ate some delicious dried eyeless fish.

He didn't need to pack his things, and he could leave at any time. Although he had to go out again once he came to Yinyulin Village, as long as the steward could approve his information, he could at least get a part of the entrustment money. After all, compared to others, he had found out the truth about the disappearance of the road.

In addition to explaining the situation to his family members, Irupaki was in charge and called other more powerful family members in the village. They all gathered in the steward's hall to discuss the current situation.

Everyone knew the Kiel warrior from Kendall City, but they didn't believe Kiel's theory of monsters at all, and they were only dubious about the fact that the disappearance was caused by monsters. Now everything will have to wait until steward Irupaki and Kiel actually see the situation tonight.

Irupaki's wife in charge didn't want her husband to take the risk, but other people in the village either had the guts to go out with Kiel, but no one would approve of what they said, or someone would approve of what they said, but they didn't have the guts Dare to follow Kiel out of the village at night.

After searching and searching, it turns out that Irupaki is the only person in charge who has the courage to go out and is also a person with weight in the village.

Since he was only staying at night, there were not many things to prepare, and Kiel just rolled up his dog-skin bedding and carried an iron shovel for digging holes on his back.

It seems that Irupaqi is also a person who often goes back and forth between Gloomy Forest Village and Kendall City, and the preparations for the trip were quickly prepared with the help of his family.

His family and other villagers of the same generation who were in charge of the village saw him off. Soon, after having a light meal at noon, Kiel and the steward Irupaki were sent out of the village by the villagers.

---

They discussed it before, and the selected location should not be too close to the village, because the disappearance did not occur around the village.

Keel thought it was because the monster didn't have good trees around the village to help it hunt, but the villagers didn't know the reason, they only knew that the missing things didn't happen in and around the village. They naively thought that the high walls of the village blocked the unknown factors in the forest and wilderness.

They walked eastward from the village for more than three hours, and finally chose an ordinary-looking place as a test site.

Steward Irupaki secured the goat he had been leading to the edge of the road.

Keel, on the other hand, chopped down a small tree with his two-handed axe, and then treated the small tree to make a simple campfire and light it.

After the campfire was lit, Keel asked Irupaki to take care of the campfire, and he himself started digging holes on the opposite side of the road according to the previous method.

Because there was no need to dig a big hole for the cart, just two hidden holes where the two of them could simply hide.

Kiel dried quickly, and scoops of frozen soil were dug out by him and splashed aside.

The manager Irupaki not far away looked amazed and said that if Kiel went to farm, he would be a good hand, and many farmers with daughters would rush to ask him to be their son-in-law.

Keir was dumbfounded by Irupaki's statement that he was in charge of the affairs. It's right to say that he shouldn't have dug so quickly. benefit. Not only does he occasionally have plenty of physical strength in his body, but his strength has also increased a lot. What's more interesting is that his ability to farm and dig has somehow been inexplicably improved.

The soil was obviously hardened by the cold weather, but under his shovel, it seemed to become a lot softer, and it was done quickly and conveniently.

After digging the hole, Keel also camouflaged the hole. Then, the two of them and a goat, they waited for dark.

The goat is near the warm campfire, chewing the withered and yellow weeds on the ground, not knowing what is waiting for it.

---

Winter nights always come quickly.

For this statement, it is better to say that the days in winter are somewhat short.

After the sun set in the cloudy mountains on the west side of the mountains, darkness instantly enveloped everything around.

According to the previous explanation, the steward Irupaki got into the hole prepared for him, and covered his head with a warm felt hat and camouflaged withered yellow weeds.

His quilt had already been placed in the pit, so his whole body was actually buried in the warm quilt. Coupled with the thick layer of soil outside, it wasn't cold here. Even if there is no campfire to provide heat, it is not impossible to stay for one night.

Seeing how confident Kiel was until now, Manager Irupaki wondered if what Kiel said was true. It's just that his life experience told him not to trust other people's words, even if the other party didn't drink alcohol or have any interests, only what he saw with his own eyes is true.

If he didn't see what Keir said with his own eyes, he didn't agree with what Keir said at all.

But what if everything in a moment is really as Keel said, then what should their village do.

A young man like Keir would definitely not be able to deal with a huge monster, even if it wasn't a monster.

And if it was really a monster, then he had no choice but to complain to Baron Kendall, after all, the lord of their village was such a useless person. It's usually fine, after all, as long as there is a certain amount of village tax, they never come to their village and don't mess around, which is great for those who really manage the village.

But now, something is wrong.

The knight lord, who usually finds it convenient and never does anything, is useless at all. I hope Baron Kendall will pay attention to the situation in their village.

After all, the presence of Warcraft is not a trivial matter.

He has heard stories told by his elders since he was a child. The original Kendall County has no name yet. Human beings first entered this place and fought all kinds of monsters. They led the first batch of migrants along the way to kill all the monsters in several nearby counties. They were all killed, and the monsters also wiped out batch after batch.

Since then, a large number of migrants from the empire dared to settle down.

But how could the initially developed land be easily taken into the pockets of humans? Afterwards, monster attacks still occurred from time to time, and monsters devoured a lot of people every year.

The border knights of the empire were divided into five and stationed on the real borders of the border provinces of the newborn kingdom. They no longer frequently exterminated monsters and warcraft. Fortunately, immediately afterwards, they moved their own strength to stand up, and the exiled noble Kendall family established Kendall City. They led the knights and brave soldiers who jumped out from the people to form their own Kendall. Sword and shield.

By the time Guanshi Irupaki was born, there seemed to be ferocious monsters still in the mountains and forests, but monsters were already extremely rare.

In his whole life, he never had the chance to see a monster. When he was young, when he told his elders that he wanted to see what a monster looked like, some of the elders, no, the oldest elders, would be terrified. Tell him to shut up, while his fathers laughed and told him that if you want to watch Warcraft, you have to wait for Warcraft to come out by itself. When the monsters come out to make trouble, at that time, there will be knights in the city driving steel-clad war horses, manipulating the heavy hammers and heavy swords of the two, and splitting the monsters into several pieces.

Back from his thoughts, Irupaki thought about the words of his fathers. Now, it seems that monsters may appear again, but where are the knights who are driving the steel horses?

The lord of their village who was jokingly called 'pig' by the people of Kendall?

What do you think, his son might be more courageous than that guy.

Or the Crow Knight invited by Baron Kendall several years ago?

It might be interesting, but what would their village have to pay to hire such capable knights?

Just as he was thinking wildly, the environment around which there were still some noises suddenly changed even though it was dark.

The steward Irupaki shuddered, and the crackling sound of the campfire before disappeared, and the sound of the goat chewing grass because it was left unattended also disappeared.

The shaking of branches in the north and south forests also disappeared, and even the sound of breathing in the pothole where Keel hid not far away was gone.

All sounds seemed to disappear.

what happened?

Steward Irupaki's breathing became short of breath. He carefully followed what he said before, sticking his camouflaged head out of the pothole, and looked across the road.

I don't know what's going on around, but there is a misty white mist.

It shouldn't be, in this kind of weather below the freezing point, the water vapor in the air should all turn into hoarfrost attached to the crops, how could it become the common fog in other seasons?

Is this the white mist Keel was talking about?

Through the white mist, Steward Irupaki barely watched the goat through the campfire across the road.

If everything is as Keel said, then the next--

Under the white mist that silenced the sound, a thick black lacquered column that was more than one meter slowly stretched down from the air. While slowly stretching down, its bottom opened to both sides, forming a people Terrifying giant mouth.

Unlike the six-legged fawn Keel caught in the wilderness, the villagers' self-raised goat was completely unaware of what was on its head.

Manager Irupaki was stunned, his mouth grew wide, his eyes widened, and he was literally dumbfounded.

Just when the huge black mouth was about to speed up and bite the goat who was stunned in place, the stunned steward Irupaki subconsciously said in surprise: "This is a monster? No, is it a monster?"

Oops! Steward Irupaki immediately realized that he had just spoken. Keir told him many times in the afternoon that no matter what he saw at night, he must not speak or make a sound.

But what did he just say. Did he speak, did he speak, did he speak, ah, so what to do.