Mercenaries and Adventurers

The two griffin knights began to eat the food. The male griffin knight moved boldly. After each skewer was grilled, he simply picked it off with his teeth and chewed and swallowed it.

Knight Delis was eating in small bites, and his movements were far from elegant. After all, it was difficult to be elegant while eating kebabs in such a simple place.

The three knights were talking quietly while eating, while the hunters gathered around the iron pot, each of them had a large bowl of hot broth, which was full of meaty bones.

Keir first drank some hot soup to drive away the cold. Then they put down the wooden bowl, grabbed the meat bones with their hands and ate them while they were hot. The weather was cold, so they had to eat quickly, otherwise they would get cold quickly.

At this time, you can see the difference between the knights and ordinary people. Most of them simply eat some meat and bones, drink a large bowl of broth, and then fill their stomachs.

The knights watched and laughed while grilling and eating meat skewers, but they never meant to stop. The old hunters kept using daggers to cut the semi-soft and semi-hard meat into thin strips or slices, and then skewered them on thin wooden strips. The four of them kept moving, but they could only catch up with the three knights.

-

Knight Lanessa asked about the relationship between her father and Knight Delis, and learned that the two met in a conflict that broke out between the kingdom and the empire due to the migration of immigrants in their early years, and they were familiar with each other.

Many years ago, the empire increased the number of immigrants, which aroused strong resistance from all over the kingdom. Originally, a newly established country like Xiang Kingdom welcomed a large number of immigrants.

However, the eastern part of the kingdom bordering the empire has flat terrain and excellent living conditions, so a large number of immigrants from the empire who first arrived in the kingdom lived there. Although this has also brought about a rapid increase in the scale of the economy, it has also produced more accumulation of contradictions.

The strength of the nobles in the eastern region close to the empire grew rapidly, which greatly threatened the original balance of power of the kingdom. Not only that, although the empire has no intention of annexing the kingdom, it frequently intervenes in things in the eastern part of the kingdom.

This caused a series of conflicts.

The location and number of the Empire's Frontier Knights were abolished at the request of the Kingdom. While overseeing the Empire's Frontier Knights, Knight Lanissa's father met the knight Dailis, who came from a poor tribe in the southern part of the Empire.

The father of Knight Lanessa, who was still young at the time, had not yet formally joined the service of Baron Kendall and was knighted. When he was supervising the disbandment of the Knights, he made an agreement with Knight Delis, whom he knew, to wait until the other party's service was over. Go to the southern part of the empire and lead the recovery effort in the areas eroded by undead control.

But who could have imagined that before Knight Delis's service time ended, Knight Lanissa's father mysteriously disappeared in his fiefdom - the forest north of Umi Lake Village - where everyone was at this time.

His friend disappeared for no reason. The outstanding knight who had promised to join an epic war against the undead and fulfill his life has disappeared. Knight Dailis also rode a griffin to help find him, but the efforts of the relevant people have failed. No results.

"So Jenny. I know what you are doing, but those things have nothing to do with what you expect. Your father also has some friends, and they almost turned this forest upside down. The monster beasts that were killed easily It can be piled up into a hill, but there is no trace of your father." Knight Delis said in a low voice.

Next to them, the male griffon knights were concentrating on baking their food, and seemed to have no interest in participating in the conversation between the two female knights.

Lanissa Knight closed her eyes tightly, not knowing what she was thinking. The meat skewers in his hands were roasted and blackened by the flames of the fire without even noticing. Finally, she threw the charred meat skewers into the fire and spoke her mind.

"Thank you, Lord Knight, for your kindness. I have to thank you and your friends for your help. Only now do I know that some people did something. When he disappeared, there was chaos, haha, It was really ugly when the family was discussing who should accept my father's title and fiefdom."

Knight Delis added: "Actually, it's okay. This kind of thing is very common. In the disorderly transfer of power, some things that everyone doesn't want to see will always happen. Otherwise, why would similar poems and dramas be so popular? There are too many, especially in your country. When compiling stories from various places, such things that the nobles keep silent about are always dug up and spread widely by you."

She finally added: "But everyone likes it very much. I often go to the provincial capital for vacation, and the plays choreographed by the masters never fail."

The male griffon knight next to him muttered: "You are really free." As soon as he finished speaking, he was stepped on by Knight Dailish's boot.

Lanisa Knight's mouth curved: "However, this is my persistence. He always told me when I was a child: 'Live on, persevere, there will always be a turning point in life.' I don't think he is just in the forest for no reason." Missing."

"There is a problem here." Lanisha Knight finally said: "And I also have some doubts."

"What are you doubting?" Knight Delis asked immediately. For her, being able to find a knight friend with unique abilities is in itself a thing that is beneficial to the family's major events in the future. Not to mention friends who have known each other for many years, although her joining the Border Knights itself is part of the mission given to her clan members by her family.

The purpose is very simple. Scatter the tribesmen into various powerful organizations. Through many years of contacts, persuasion, employment, invitations, etc., they use various means to gather many powerful people, and then regain their lost land and expel the undead for them. lay the foundation.

Although the foundation of the family was destroyed in the beginning, riots and uprisings broke out in large areas, and then they went through large-scale wars and killings. In the end, all the people on that land were transformed into undead souls that were disgusted by living people. Among the factors are the behemoth empire and the mysterious and ruthless Southern Magic Society.

But now, decades have passed. Although the Forrest family is still strong, they still cannot bear the humiliation and loss caused by the loss of the family territory. After years of arrangements, they were about to launch an operation to regain the lost land.

-

In response to Knight Delis' inquiry, Knight Lanissa just shook her head and did not say anything.

Knight Delis blinked, then smiled and said: "Since you don't want to say it, I won't ask. You are also a knight-level warrior now, so you can naturally bear the responsibility and consequences of everything by yourself. I and I Although your father's friends searched for clues for a long time, they found nothing in the end. As long as you have clues on your side, in short, I support you in principle. However. "

"Nothing."

"However, the place we are under is indeed not a safe place. If something happens, you and your men are not strong enough to deal with it. I'll tell you first, I won't drive you away. , you can temporarily use this place as a base during this winter to carry out the so-called 'crusade against the wolves'."

"So-called?" Lanissa Knight pursed her lips.

"But once the weather gets warmer, you can't stay here anymore. I will come back when winter is over. I hope you go well and no one is stationed here." After that, she and her companions ate it in a few bites. The last meat skewer stood up.

"Goodbye, little girl." The male griffon knight waved to Knight Lanissa and said.

"Are you leaving? Let's have some soup." Lanissa Knight hadn't told anyone what she was thinking for a long time, and she wanted to say something else. But the two gryphon knights seemed to be leaving.

"Goodbye, little Jenny. I wish you good luck, and I hope the gods will bless you." Knight Delis whistled, but the whistle made no sound.

At least Kiel and the others didn't hear anything.

But apparently Knight Lanissa, who was also a knight, heard it, and she turned her head to look in the direction of the platform at the top of the rocky mountain.

The two knights squatted down and then jumped up at the same time.

With a pop, the two knights gathered their strength and jumped to a height of more than 20 meters in the air. Just when they reached the highest point, a huge black shadow roared through the air and caught the two lions. Eagle Knight.

The sky was dark and Kiel and the others couldn't see clearly, but everyone obviously knew that the gryphons of the two gryphon knights caught the two knight riders in mid-air.

Knight Lanessa didn't say anything, she just waved her hand in the direction where the gryphon flew away, watching the two gryphon knights climbing on the huge gryphon's body feathers to the back of the gryphon, and put on full-coverage helmets. It rose to the northwest and flew away.

-

The loud sound of the gryphon flapping its wings gradually faded away, and calm returned to the small rocky mountain stronghold.

Knight Lanessa explained to everyone the permission of the two griffin knights to allow them to live here temporarily, and then returned to her own tent.

Originally, the old hunters wanted to tell the female knight about their new findings when they went out to deal with the Northern Wolf after the griffin knight left.

But it seemed that Knight Lanisa was not in a good mood, so she had to give up and prepare to talk about it the next day.

The next day, after everyone got up, the old hunters explained the strange situation of the newly encountered northern wolf to Lanissa Knight.

But after Knight Lanissa inspected the body of the northern wolf, she found nothing more. It wasn't that she didn't believe her men's words, and she also saw the tiny holes in Kil's armor that were penetrated by hardened wolf hair. But after all, she is not a scholar or a magician, or an expert specializing in animal demonization.

If her father was still alive, she might be studying in a higher college at this time. She might be able to analyze something about this situation.

Unfortunately not.

His studies were interrupted, he returned to his family to inherit the knighthood, and practiced his knightly abilities with all his strength. These things completely disrupted the trajectory of her life and changed her path.

"Although I can't see anything more, at least this guy doesn't have much power inside his body. Although I haven't been able to see the living Northern Wolf with my own eyes, it can't always maintain its special state. "Lanesha Knight said.

This surprised the hunters: "Finally, there is good news. Since it will not maintain this kind of power forever, we only need to deal with it for a while, trick it into using its abilities, and then use up its time, and then simply destroy it. Isn’t that enough?”

"Generally speaking, it is like this, but you still have to be careful. Hardening the hair. This kind of partial ability cannot be what these northern wolves are really good at. Just like the wolf king, the power may come from it, but it is obviously its own There is no such ability. So next time you encounter this kind of weird northern wolf, first find out the opponent's ability, and then choose a fighting method based on the effect of the opponent's ability."

"Understood, Lord Knight. Just look at it. We have Kiel here. Even if the opponent's ability is still there, Kiel can kill these guys by himself."

Hearing the praise from his companions, Kil smiled and rubbed his hair, messing up his golden brown hair.

Knight Lanissa naturally explained her previous results to the hunters. She had killed at least dozens of growing wolf pups. Although it sounds cruel, at least these young wolves will not grow up to invade human territory.

After a night of repairs, everyone walked out of the forest again, but this time, they had to escort the carriage and horses to the south of the forest, and then wait for the carriage to bring more food supplies to the supply point. While waiting for the carriage, the remaining people can organize a team with the knight as the center to quickly scout the southern area of ​​the forest.

It would be best to meet the Northern Wolf. If not, at least the possibility of the Northern Wolf in the southern part of the forest could be ruled out.

Considering that even adult wolves can deal with them and transfer. But those young wolves that are more numerous cannot, so as long as the wolf den can be found, it can cause serious damage to the northern wolves.

After causing serious losses to the entire Northland wolf group, their wolf king will no longer be able to sit still. He will definitely have to show up due to circumstances like in previous years.

At that time, it will be the real decisive battle between the knight hunters and the wolf king, the Northern Wolf.

-

There was not much to talk about along the way. Everyone got the carriage out again, leaving no one at the Rock Mountain stronghold, and everyone followed Knight Lanisa towards the south.

The journey took some time, but since the knight was in the group, there was no danger. Unlike when the knight was away, the hunters were cautious, almost to the limit.

They found many traces of animals on the road, large and small, of all kinds. Fortunately, except for ferocious and cunning group beasts like the Northern Wolf, some other ferocious animals mostly hibernate in the corners of the forest.

Knight Lanisa and the old hunters did not bother with the burrows and bear caves they occasionally discovered. The beasts that live alone in the forest are more or less different from ordinary animals.

Kil heard the old hunter say something when he was camping at night. Either his body was larger than the normal size, or he had some unique abilities. These guys are not monsters, but they are different from ordinary animals.

At first, Lanissa Knight and the old hunters didn't know why there were so few monsters here. It was only after they met the gryphon knights a few days ago that they found out that after Lanissa Knight's father disappeared, his friends searched for the missing monster. The knight is searching for clues in this forest.

While searching, I naturally killed every monster I saw along the way.

In this regard, an old hunter who believed in the God of Hunting judged that the Northern Wolf could become bigger in the future, probably because the knights killed other monsters in the forest in the past few years, leaving the Northern Wolf without an opponent. That’s why it will become bigger in these years.

Everyone thought it made sense, but it was difficult to judge the behavior of those knights. After all, the other party had a superior status and strength, and secondly, the other party's purpose was also good, although they did bad things in the end.

Lanissa Knight was silent about this. She didn't tell the hunters what she thought. She just pursed her lips tightly.

The team separated in an open space that was almost near the edge of the forest.

Knight Lanisa ordered Kil and two other young hunters to form a fast-moving team, preparing to use three days to investigate the nearby situation while the others returned to the supply base.

After agreeing to meet up here three days later, the two teams separated.

-

Gere brought his horse, but did not ride it. Because in addition to carrying his own weapons and equipment, his horse also had to carry the belongings of the other two hunters.

The other hunters gave the two young hunters many arrows and spare bows, which were mounted on Kiel's horse.

It's not heavy, but it can't be ridden.

But that's okay. In addition to wearing armor, a cold-proof cloak, and carrying a sword and shield, Kil's other backpacks, axes, spears, and double-edged steel guns were all mounted on horseback.

The team moved quickly. Kil's left hand was pressed on the hilt of the sword at his waist, continuously receiving the physical replenishment brought by the hilt to him. The two young hunters were even more rigid. They didn't carry anything with them. Apart from the quiver hunched over their backs and the closed lid hanging on their waists, they only had a short-bladed hatchet for close combat.

Their extra belongings were placed on the horse's back, and they were light and full of strength.

Led by Knight Lanisa, everyone zigzagged through the nearby forest, trying to explore more places in three days. He paid no attention to anything that had nothing to do with northern wolves, and focused on looking for and identifying all animal footprints that he encountered on the road that were similar to wolf footprints.

This is not easy, as they are always led astray by other dog- or cat-shaped animals that look similar to wolf footprints.

However, the young hunters who conducted the reconnaissance quickly realized the situation. They eliminated all animals that left individual footprints and only focused on looking for animal footprints that were at least five upwards.

Among them, some deer-like animals and pig-like animals had to be excluded. Only four-legged dog footprints, and a large number of them, were the ones they were really looking for.

Their hard work paid off, and they finally found many similar footprints on a low and undulating slope in the forest.

"Sir, these are all going in the northeast direction. But there are footprints going there and coming out from that direction." A young hunter was quite excited. After two days of busy work, they finally found the clue. In addition to the footprints, they also found drag marks.

These traces confused them at first, making the hunters think they might be traces left by wild boars.

However, Keel believes that those traces may have been left by Northern wolves who went out to hunt in small groups. They go out to hunt in small groups, and when they come back, they hold or drag the carcasses of prey, so there are traces of their comings and goings, as well as large drag marks on the snow.

After all, if more than a dozen adult wolves have to feed dozens of young wolves, even if they prepare enough food and fat accumulation in autumn, by this time, if there are too many young wolves, they will definitely have to let the adult wolves The wolf keeps coming out of the den to hunt.

This may not be good in other seasons. After all, if one does not rely on numerical superiority, a single or two or three northern wolf is no match for other beasts in the forest. But in winter, the beasts that survive alone hibernate. On the contrary, the northern wolf, which does not need to hibernate, has become the largest force in the forest at this time.

Regarding Kiel's analysis, Lanissa Knight added: "Don't forget the northern wolves with weird abilities that you defeated before. This shows that no matter what method they use, they are generally moving in a further direction. Moving forward."