Mercenaries and Adventurers

Everyone waited at the edge of the waterhole for a long time, guessing that Knight Lanessa should have rushed back on horseback after seeing the second rising fire on the top of the mountain since she left the camp.

But the other party did not appear.

"Is something going to happen to the Lord Knight?" A young hunter asked Keir in a low voice.

Kil didn't know either. He didn't know how to answer him. The old hunter who heard the young hunter's question because of the quiet surroundings immediately refuted: "How is it possible? The knight is so strong! And he is also riding a war horse. It's impossible. Can’t deal with the injured Wolf King.”

When the young hunter saw that whispering was useless, his voice became normal: "Then what do you think is going on now? Sir, you won't forget us, right?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he was immediately slapped on the head by the old hunters. The young hunter shrank his neck and endured it honestly. After all, one of the three old hunters was his elder.

He didn't dare to fight back when his elders hit him. Otherwise, if he was in Kendall's tavern at this time, he would have punched back.

"What nonsense are you talking about! She must have her own reasons for not coming back. Well, the situation must be very complicated." Old hunter Tost said slowly, stroking the gray beard on his chin.

Keir shrugged: "Just waiting is not an option. We have to do something."

All the hunters nodded when they heard this. "That's the truth. We have to do something. The situation is unclear now. The Lord Knight is not sure what the situation is."

"The Northland wolf is so cunning, not to mention the wolf king. In previous years, the adults were unable to defeat the opponent's combined attacks, so they were defeated again and again."

Kil looked at everyone: "In this case, we have to help Knight Lanisa, otherwise this year may be similar to what you said last year, the year before, and the year before that. Ha, at least the ending will be similar. . We still killed many, many northern wolves."

The young hunters next to them laughed: "At least my trip was not in vain. With so many northern wolves lost, they will definitely not attack villages and towns again next year."

The old hunters were not as happy as the young people. After all, killing many northern wolves is a good thing, but in the final analysis, the matter still lies with the wolf king of the northern wolves. Several of them had participated in the formation of Lanissa's knight hunter team from the beginning, so they naturally knew the population situation of the wolves in the North in the past few years.

The Northern Wolf was originally just an ordinary beast in this big forest, but since the appearance of the increasingly powerful wolf king, the Northern Wolf population has expanded rapidly. Basically, in about two years, the entire population will It has doubled, and in recent years, the number has been greater every year than the previous year.

This led to the initial crusade against the Northern Wolf King. Gradually, they, the hunters, changed to deal with ordinary Northern wolves as their main target.

Last year, everyone fought desperately against the Northern wolves throughout the winter, and finally eliminated the main force of adult Northern wolves. However, they themselves suffered heavy losses and had to recruit new hunters after the beginning of spring.

The three old hunters gathered together and discussed for a while. Based on their experience and judgment in previous years, they analyzed the current unknown situation and found that the current situation was increasingly heading towards the path of failed crusade in previous years.

But there is something different this year.

These hunters are now free and invisible, and have choices and suddenness in their actions that they did not have in previous years.

They looked at each other, and there was no need to say anything in their final judgment. The situation had already told them what to do. "Everyone." The commanding old hunter Tost said.

The young people all looked at him, knowing that the old hunters had made a decision.

"We should go to support Knight Lanessa at this time." He patted the bow in his hand: "Holding the cold bow arm, the flying feather bag is not enough." He uttered two sentences from the bard's mouth libretto.

"It's useless to wait. The knights' battle is difficult and unclear." He wanted to add a few more words, but the two old guys next to him poked him with their fingers. He had to cough and said seriously: "As I just said. , the situation is unclear. At this time, we cannot just sit here and let the Lord Knight fight alone on the unknown battlefield. Although the Lord will not criticize us in the end, if this year continues, the result will be the same as in previous years."

"We can only win by dedicating ourselves to the crucial battle and giving the Lord Knight a powerful boost. To be honest, the situation this year is actually really good. A large number of northern wolves were killed, and the Wolf King was also affected. Damage enough to affect the battle.”

He wanted to say more, but the young hunters interrupted him: "Stop talking useless words, everyone knows the situation, let's go!"

Old hunter Tost nodded: "Everyone just understands. Be prepared to fight to the death. Let's set off now."

-

Having said that, the most important thing is to understand where Lanissa Knight and Wolf King are at the moment.

Previously in the camp, everyone saw the direction in which the Wolf King fled and the direction in which Knight Lanisa pursued. Although a long time passed, they chased and escaped, and they didn't know their specific location at this moment. But there are still general directions.

The old hunter drew on the snow the location and north-south direction of the camp in the rock passage at that time, and soon everyone was able to determine which direction the two men went at that time.

They looked up again to see the direction of the place and the distance to the north and south from the top of the rocky mountain that glowed.

Draw a rough position relationship diagram on the side.

Only then did I know which direction to go now.

The first step is to follow the traces of the Wolf King's escape and the traces of Knight Lanisa's pursuit on horseback. This is really easy for the hunters who hunt in the forest all year round. Therefore, after everyone placed the bodies of their dead companions in higher trees and tied them tightly, they immediately prepared and set off.

The leader of the team is a young hunter with particularly good eyes and ears. He is the leader of the team, followed by Kil, who has strong close combat capabilities, as a security guard. After that, there are three old hunters in the middle of the team, and the remaining The next two young hunters walked behind to ensure the safety of the rear of the team and not to be followed by the northern wolves.

Everyone remained silent, and under the leadership of the first hunter, they quickly walked in a single file and headed in the analyzed direction through the silent snow-covered forest.

The empty wolf skin of the Wolf King that he had been asked to carry was tied to Kiel's back. This thing swayed as he walked, but if you look closely, you can find that the thing is still swinging in one direction as a whole.

Kil wanted to say several times along the way that they should follow the instructions of this thing to find the Wolf King. After all, if they find the Wolf King, they will definitely find the knight Lanissa who is chasing the Wolf King.

But once the team moved quickly in the quiet forest, no one spoke except for the sound of people walking and breathing. Secondly, he knew clearly that although the thing behind him clearly showed a clear connection with the Wolf King when he was on the rocky mountain, the hunters obviously trusted it more than they believed in this weird thing from the Wolf King. Their own tracking skills are better than instinct.

After all, the skills you have mastered will not deceive yourself, and no one can predict the weird things of monsters.

Keir himself believed that they would definitely be able to find the Wolf King through this thing, because he actually had an intuition in his heart, feeling that he could vaguely find the direction consistent with the direction indicated by the empty wolf skin behind him. Can sense something.

It was vague, but he seemed to have felt that feeling once or twice before.

What is it?

He recalled it carefully and found that the two-handed ax that he had inexplicably inspired twice with unknown power seemed to be the most likely. He rubbed his hands, wondering what was going on.

Is it difficult for him to know when he had developed a spiritual connection with this gifted weapon?

He often went to the public park in front of the Foxtail Chamber of Commerce to listen to amateur local drama performances by wealthy and leisurely people who had no worries about life. Weapons used by famous heroes often appear in stories, and those weapons often show some strange abilities in the story.

For example, there is definitely a spiritual connection between a weapon and its owner.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but think of the two times when he was in emergency situations, when he subconsciously summoned or sought the inner strength of the two-handed axe.

The first time was in the rock passage of the rocky mountain, facing the surging Northern wolves. After he threw it out, the weapon magically spun in the air and crushed all the approaching Northern wolves. Crush to pieces, the power is amazing.

The second time, when he was taken into the air by the North Wolf King, he subconsciously summoned this weapon. As a result, the two-handed ax responded to his call and quickly flew back to him from the ground, finally severely injuring the Wolf King who was blocking the return path.

Since then, his ax has been stuck on the Wolf King. His vague feeling at this moment must have come from this weapon.

While walking silently, Kil opened his visor and looked at the empty wolf skin in the air and the direction he sensed, and found that the two were roughly consistent. But it is not the same as the direction they are heading at this time.

Frowning, Kil said something to the opening, but he thought that the Wolf King and Lanissa Knight were chasing each other and running away, and they would definitely not stay still. The initial position is inconsistent with the position sensed in real time at this time, which is normal.

It cannot be said that the hunters' methods are wrong. If they find the traces left by the two, and then follow them all the way, they will definitely be able to find the Wolf King and the Knight in the end.

But the question is, can we catch up?

Once Lanissa Knight was defeated and retreated, it would be useless for them to catch up.

After all, Kil didn't think they could leave the knight alone and take care of the Wolf King on their own.

From the previous battle in the camp, and the previous time the Wolf King broke through the wooden wall of the position, hit the wooden wall, and took away the lives of the two companions. Ordinary warriors like them, enemies of the Wolf King's level, could probably take down all of them in less than a breath.

Kil himself should be able to withstand the Wolf King for one or two rounds, but in front of the Wolf King who has become cautious, it is estimated that he can kill him with only two blows from his metal spear in his mouth.

"Hiss." Thinking of this, Kil felt goosebumps appear on his skin.

Just by imagining, you can feel the fate of being chopped into several pieces after the metal spear broke through the armor on your body.

It would be great if Ganner's metal armor could be finished. He believed that he should be more powerful.

Shaking his head, Kil gave up the idea. Even with a full body of metal armor, he was no match for the Wolf King.

He understood this.

The main body of the battle is still the Knights of Lanessa. They are warrior hunters who assist the other party in fighting. Containing the Wolf King, harassing the Wolf King, and interrupting an attack or defense of the Wolf King at critical moments are the best they can do.

Unfortunately, if they can't reach the battlefield, they won't even be of any use.

Kil was a little hesitant, not sure whether to ask everyone to turn around and follow his method to find the Wolf King and Lanissa Knight.

It's not easy. Even if young hunters support him, will the old hunters who have long believed and relied on hunting experience support him?

Needless to say, everyone knows it’s impossible.

'Now is not the time. ’ Keir thought so, it was not the right time.

He just hoped that there would be no changes on the knight side too soon. It would be best to defeat the Wolf King directly, or a stalemate would be fine. If other changes occurred and they were defeated before they arrived, that would be the worst situation.

-

After resting for a while, they spent more than two hours arriving in the direction where the Wolf King and the Knight had left the rocky mountain.

Looking at the footprints of a large group of northern wolves running past on the ground, the hunters felt that something was wrong.

"Oops! Some Northland wolves have left here. Looking at the direction, you don't need to guess to know that they are chasing the Wolf King and the knight, right?" A young man opened his mouth and spoke out everyone's guess.

The old hunters checked the traces on the ground and found the wolf king's footprints larger than the washbasin, as well as heavy horse hoof prints. These traces are not covered by the ordinary northern wolf footprints that Mercedes-Benz followed, so they are still easy to see under inspection.

"Look at the direction, the direction of the Wolf King and the Knight is this way, they are away from the rocky mountain." An old hunter squatted on the ground and said.

Another old hunter checked many northern wolf footprints: "And northern wolves also go in the same direction. They chase the traces and follow them."

Old hunter Tost fiddled with the beard on his chin with one hand and held the elbow of the other hand: "I saw the number of wolf footprints, and there were not as many as I expected."

"About how much?" Kil asked.

After a gesture, the old hunter Tost said: "They only account for about 20% of the wolf pack, or even less than 20%."

His face was solemn: "Although there are not many Northland wolves chasing the Wolf King and the Knight, this number, how should I say, is already a number that can have an impact in the battle. I hope you will not dismount to fight, as long as she is on the horse, It would be difficult for ordinary northern wolves to participate in a battle of that level."

But there are forests all around. If the battle is on the flat land surrounding a rocky mountain, then it's okay. There is enough space for the war horses to gallop. But in the forest, the denser the woods, the harder it is for the war horse to run. But once the speed cannot be increased, not to mention the advantage for the Wolf King, even ordinary Northland wolves can catch up and affect the battle between the Knight and the Wolf King.

Moreover, the old hunter Tost was also worried that when he was on the mountain before, although it was difficult to distinguish, it was obvious that the number of Northern wolves coming to attack was not very large, and it was probably slightly more than the number of Northern wolves that came to support the Wolf King. . And more than 50%, half of the northern wolves were missing at this time.

He did not participate in the battle on the top of the rocky mountain, nor did he go to support the injured Wolf King who escaped.

Where did they go?

When he asked this question, the hunters became anxious. Neither a simple wolf king nor a large group of northern wolves can be an opponent of the Lanissa knight riding a war horse, but the two combined, judging from the results of previous years, the Lanissa knight was defeated and retreated.

So, without saying anything else, everyone immediately took action and chased the traces of the Wolf King, the Knight and the Northern Wolf.

-

At this time, Keir blinked, thinking that the time might be enough.

The situation was unclear before, and at least two of the three possibilities were beneficial to their human side. But since it was discovered that a group of northern wolves may have participated in the knight's battle.

The originally unclear but generally favorable situation no longer existed, but instead became urgent and unfavorable.

By speaking at this moment, he felt that he should be able to make the old hunters put aside their original hunting and tracking skills and experience and switch to using his method.

So, Kil took two quick steps, grabbed the leading companion in front, and then stopped.

Seeing Keir stop, the team behind them all stopped.

"Kiel? What's wrong? What happened?" Old hunter Tost said directly. At the same time, everyone cocked their arrows, separated slightly from left to right, and paid attention to the situation in all directions.

But there was no attack or danger as expected.

Looking at everyone, Keir said: "It's not like we were attacked. That's it."

He paused and pointed at the floating empty Wolf King Skin hanging behind him: "The direction is wrong!"

Kiel's words and actions left everyone confused: "What direction is wrong?"

"We are going in the wrong direction."

"Impossible." The young hunter who was walking at the front retorted directly: "The footprints are so obvious, it's impossible to go wrong."

The hunters are all very experienced hunters and all agree with the words of the lead hunter. We are indeed moving along the traces.

But Kil shook his head: "The traces are not wrong, but it does not mean that they are correct." Seeing everyone's confused faces, Kil continued: "The reason is very simple. The footprints were left by the Wolf King and Lanissa Knight before. Yes. Look at the other messy northern wolf footprints. These fresh footprints were also left some time ago, after the knight and the wolf king."

"This means that if we follow the traces, we are just looking for the knight and the wolf king who are no longer anywhere."

Keir's words are confusing, but the hunters are very clear on relevant matters.

"You mean, at this moment, the Wolf King and the Lord Knight are no longer in the direction we are going?" Old hunter Tost said what they said on behalf of other hunters.

Keir nodded, indicating that that was what he meant.

Everyone frowned when they saw little Kil nodded in recognition.

"What can you do? Do you know the current location of the Lord Knight?" As soon as he finished speaking, the old hunter Tost shook his head, and then nodded again: "It must be, you have a way."

He pointed to the empty wolf skin hanging behind Kiel and said directly: "Rely on this?"

"That's right." Keir nodded: "But it's more than that."

He knew that the hunters could not completely believe this weird thing from the Wolf King, but he knew that as a common fighting partner, they must believe in Kiel himself.