Mercenaries and Adventurers

Before their group even got close to the camp, the villagers in the camp discovered them. Next to the forest in winter, as long as the wind is not blowing, everything is quiet. Whenever the snow on the treetops falls, a small sound will be made.

Although these farmers and villagers of Wumihu Village boldly opened a small new camp outside the safe wooden sentry tower camp, the basic arrangements for guarding are still there.

Or maybe, someone was always keeping watch on the wooden sentry tower, and from a distance, they saw Lanisa Knight and his party walking out of the big forest.

"The lord is back! The lord is back!"

A villager with a loud voice shouted loudly, and his shouts suddenly woke up the quiet camp.

The villagers who were roasting jackrabbits, the villagers who were sleeping in their clothes, and the villagers who were feeding the horses in the sentry tower all woke up suddenly and looked towards the north following the shouting.

Crossing the sparse new wooden fence, they saw the Lanissa knight riding a tall horse, and many hunters walking behind her.

Everyone put down what they were doing and rushed out of the camp. They crossed the shallow unmelted snow outside the camp and ran to the team to ask hello.

"Sir! Your arm is injured? Are you okay?"

Someone saw one of Knight Lanissa's arms hanging by an animal skin, which was obviously broken, and immediately asked.

The villagers knew that their lord, Knight Lanisha, entered the forest every year to fight against the wolves in the North for them and the village, so they respected Knight Lanisha quite a lot.

In the first few years when the Northland wolves were raging, the village lived in panic all day long. Later, if Jenny-Lanessa had not become a knight and stood up to fight the Northland wolves, the situation in the village would not have changed. So safe now.

At first, there were scattered northern wolves wandering outside the village all day long, looking for opportunities to attack villagers and businessmen who were going out. This brought great trouble to the village. If they could not row and fish in the lake, they would not even be able to survive. It will be difficult to maintain it.

Knight Lanisa patted her broken arm, waved her hand and said, "It's okay, just go back to the city and find the priest to take a look." Her helmet was closed and her visor was closed, so that the villagers who came out to greet her could not see her. Half of the face was burned.

Stopping her horse, she waved to the noisy villagers around her to quiet down.

"Everyone! Be quiet."

She waved her arms widely, then lifted up the small leather bag containing her father's ashes. After a pause, she shouted with a voice containing mixed emotions: "This time the crusade was successful!"

Huh, the villagers below originally saw two tightly wrapped hunter corpses lying on the simple wooden raft behind the war horse, and thought that this winter's battle would be the same as in previous years, but the words of Lord Knight Lanisha made them incredible.

"My hunters and I successfully killed a large number of Northern wolves this time, and in a difficult battle, we completely killed the source of the chaos, the wolf king of the Northern wolf population."

She took a deep breath, and then said: "These are the ashes burned after it was defeated. As for the other northern wolves, there are too many to bring them back."

"After that, I will arrange for people to bring back the dead northern wolves before winter is over."

"Everyone, don't worry. This time, tranquility will return to Wumi Lake, and the village will be completely safe. We no longer need to huddle within the walls of the village. We can open up fields and build our own houses as much as we want, Wumi. Lake Village will get rid of uneasiness and crisis and catch up with other villages and towns. New immigrants will also arrive. When fresh blood is injected, I hope that you can show them a confident and enthusiastic Wumi Lake Village."

While saying this, Knight Lanisa kept riding on her horse and stared at a certain villager. She saw that the other person was also hanging an arm like her, and seemed to be injured.

After saying that, she dismounted and let the old hunter hold him. Surrounded by everyone, she walked into the newly built camp outside the sentry tower, stayed close to the fire to keep warm, and asked the villagers to make more delicious food. Both she and the hunters needed it. The best meal to relieve the fatigue of many days of crusade.

The villagers were happily busy and asked the hunters who returned together about the specific experience of their trip. In previous years, the length of the expedition operations in winter varied. The longer ones were like last year, when they were busy all winter long, and the shorter ones were, with most of them failing miserably and exiting the forest.

This year's crusade was neither long nor short, and it completely defeated the Wolf King and killed a large number of northern wolves. What was the specific process?

The young hunters in the team also held it in for a long time. Now someone asked, and they danced and described their experiences in the past few days.

Everyone was sitting around the fire outside the guard tower. The place was relatively open and suitable for everyone to gather together.

Rock mountain camp, hunt down wolf dens, and fight northern wolves with special abilities.

Rock mountain strongholds, build layers of positions, and go out for quick reconnaissance.

The gryphon knight of the Knights, Kiel's sword, and his axe.

Hundreds of wolves, a huge wolf king, and high-level officials at the foot of the mountain were fighting fiercely.

The battle between man and wolf in the passage, the wooden walls set on fire, and the traps set.

The chase between the knight and the wolf king in the forest, the deadly trap in the narrow passage, and the two dead hunters.

The special escape route Kiel discovered on the top of the mountain, his final persistence and retreat, and the fog at the bottom of the mountain.

The hunter and the knight join together, the extra werewolf, and the wolf king in a desperate situation.

The old hunters were adding some details to the young man's words, while Keir was talking about his plan to design an entire multi-layered resistance to kill northern wolves.

All the villagers were fascinated by what they heard and wished they could join in the legendary battle. Even if they don't have any fighting skills, according to Little Keir's method, they can do it with a little effort when building a defense line.

They all regretted that they could not participate in it at that time. Even if they just carried a body, recovered arrows, or threw a stone, they were afraid that they would never have the chance to encounter these battles beyond their imagination.

-

‘So that’s it. It turns out that this is how you killed so many damn Northern wolves. Hahahaha, old guy, you were not unjustly defeated. ’

One of the villagers was also very excited after hearing this, because the large number of northern wolves he had always been afraid of turned out to be dealt with by these hunters in this way. He probably couldn't figure out the method in his lifetime, and it would be difficult to do it alone. However, those things that bothered him were dead, and he was completely at ease now.

Nothing would ever try to break through the village walls again just to kill him.

Hahahahaha, no more. The things he had worried about all these years were completely gone. He could finally hide here safely and anonymously.

It's a pity that after the defeat of the Northland wolves, he can no longer attack business travelers in the name of the Northland wolves attacking passers-by. The desire to kill will be difficult to satisfy, and there will be no additional income.

Ah, I'm still a little worried. It would be nice if this kind of struggle between man and wolf lasted longer.

He thought so, with a somewhat unhappy expression on his face.

-

Knight Lanissa was not at the new camp outside, but returned to the wooden watchtower. She has a dedicated room here. Even if she is not here, no one will live here.

First, she treated the burns on her body alone with the ointment prepared here in the sentry tower. Then, still wearing armor, she called the young hunter who was left alone here because of the injury to the top of the sentry tower for questioning.

There was no one on guard here at the moment, and she was facing her own hunters, so Knight Lanisa was not wearing a helmet, revealing half of her face that had been burned by the blood of the Wolf King.

"Sir? Your face?"

The injuries on the young hunter who was called here are almost healed. Although he has to return to Kendall City and seek treatment from the church priests if he wants to be completely healed, it will not worsen or even be slightly healed.

He had just thought that Knight Lanisa's broken arm was considered a serious injury, but now he saw that the injuries hidden under the armor were actually so serious, far exceeding his injuries.

"It's okay, it just looks serious. It doesn't affect anything."

Lanissa Knight waved her hand and asked about something else.

The young hunter listened to the knight's words. Although he didn't know why, he still told the situation.

"It's like this. A few days after you and the others set off, it was his turn to be on guard duty. But for some reason, he fell from the window."

As he spoke, the young hunter pointed to the wooden windows on the third floor of the sentry tower. The size of these wooden windows is much larger than ordinary observation windows because hunters need to shoot arrows on them, but it is still a bit reluctant for an adult to pass through.

But it's not impossible, and it's not impossible to get through a window of that size.

Seeing Knight Lanisa nod, the young hunter continued: "As soon as you left in the past two days, there were small groups of wolves outside the sentry tower. The villagers were a little scared, so I always arranged for the three of them to be on duty together at night. However, When he fell, the other two people dozed off and fell asleep."

"Then he yelled outside the sentry tower during the day, asking everyone to go out and rescue him, but a Northland wolf rushed out of the forest, bit him and dragged him into the forest. Everyone was scared at the time It was broken, and no one dared to open the sentry tower and go out to rescue him. Even though there were only three wolves at the time."

Knight Lanisa narrowed her eyes and asked, "You were there at that time, right? And when was it?"

The young hunter nodded and immediately replied: "I was there too. I was commanding the villagers. He should have been the one to command the villagers. After all, he still had some prestige in the village, but he fell after all. Time , I remember it was already morning and I could see clearly outside. He fell in the early morning. He probably fell from the third floor of the sentry tower and fell unconscious. Anyway, he was shouting outside the sentry tower at dawn. "

"snort."

Knight Lanisa snorted and asked a key question: "Think about it carefully. Those wolves that had been wandering outside the sentry tower at that time and took away the 'falling' man were Northern wolves? Are you too? We have killed many Northern wolves during hunting, and we should be able to distinguish Northern wolves from other wild wolves.”

The young hunter frowned and thought carefully, then slowly spoke: "That's right. At that time, he had been shouting that the Northern Wolf is coming, the Northern Wolf is coming, help, and so on, so the villagers also They all talked nonsense about Northern wolves. After thinking about it carefully, the wolf wandering outside at that time was indeed a bit small. When they dragged him away, three wolves also bit him on the leg. Drag it into the woods."

He pointed to the injury on his hand: "For a hunter like me, a northern wolf can drag a northern wolf across the snow. Well, it's indeed a bit suspicious. It shouldn't be a northern wolf."

Knight Lanissa fiddled with the hilt of the armor-piercing rapier at her waist and didn't say much.

"What happened after that? After he was dragged away, how did he come back?"

"He said that after the northern wolf dragged him into the forest, he tried every means to break free, and then he randomly found a direction and ran all the way. The wolf behind him chased him all the way until he lost his way in the forest, and the chase His wolf is also missing for some reason.”

Lanissa Knight sneered: "Do you believe it?"

No matter how stupid the young hunter is, he knows that something is wrong with this question: "Of course I don't believe it. But the villagers who came with him all believed in this rhetoric and praised him for his good fortune and blessings from the gods. But I was alone. , these days you have to believe it even if you don’t believe it.”

Raising her chin, which was covered in mottled burns, Lanissa Knight asked the hunter to continue.

"Some time later, he said that he lost his way in the forest, and he only had a small amount of supplies on him. It was difficult to survive in the winter forest. Later, after barely surviving, he walked in one direction and came to On the edge of Wumi Lake. After that, it’s a matter of following the shore of Wumi Lake and finding a way and direction back to us.”

"What's the time? When did you come back?"

"It was a few days ago, about five or six days ago. I came back one night and frightened the villagers. Of course I wasn't frightened. After questioning him carefully, I threw some firewood at him from the window of the sentry tower. And kindling materials, as well as a hunting fork for self-defense, and then opened the door to let him in during the day."

Lanissa Knight twitched the corners of her mouth, but didn't say much.

She tapped the hilt of her sword with her steel glove and thought.

"Did you come back on the same day? It was so fast." She muttered softly.

Then he turned around and said: "You know what I mean by asking these questions. His identity is very problematic, but except for you, don't mention this to anyone else for the time being. I will arrange the personnel to solve it properly later. , but at least not now.”

The noisy sounds in the camp under the guard tower were heard one after another. Someone took out the fruit wine that was secretly hidden on his body and was unwilling to drink it, and dedicated this rare thing here to the hunters who fought bravely.

The villagers didn't brew much fruit wine, and the hunters each took a sip. But at this moment, the joy of victory was filled with wine, which made Kiel and the others very happy.

Sure enough, victory should be accompanied by fine wine!

At the same time, the vegetable soup specially prepared at the request of the beleaguered hunters was ready. Seeing that the hunters were unwilling to eat roasted long-eared rabbits, the villagers who cooked stewed a few unroasted long-eared rabbits into the thick soup.

No matter what, the brave soldiers who returned from the battle couldn't eat or drink soup without meat. Such a difficult and dangerous battle, coupled with the cold winter climate, they had to drink some filling and delicious hot broth.

Knight Lanisa on the third floor of the sentry tower sniffed, and her stomach growled immediately. Even though she was wearing a suit of steel armor, she couldn't stop her hungry stomach from roaring.

She shook her hair, said nothing more, patted the young hunter on the shoulder and walked downstairs: "Okay, I'm a little hungry too, so I'll go down and eat something. Remember, don't say these things to others first. "

"Don't worry, sir, I understand."

The young hunter nodded quickly.

-

Knight Lanisa who came downstairs did not cover half of her burned face this time.

These hideous injuries frightened some timid villagers, but everyone later respected and admired the young female lord even more. Lanisha Knight also explained how she got these injuries. But she only slightly ignored the burns on half of her body.

Although it is an honor for a warrior to boast about his wounds, she is still a woman after all. Even if the church's healing magic can restore the corresponding injuries, she still doesn't want too many people to know about the ruined appearance.

Generally speaking, the hunters and villagers gathered here at the sentry tower camp are the most supportive of her leadership and rule. If that incident hadn't happened, she would have trusted these people very much.

Unfortunately.

Knight Lanisa glanced at the person in the corner of her vision with her peripheral vision, and found that the other person was also avoiding her and her hunters intentionally or unintentionally. Knight Lanisa guessed that the other party was also afraid that she would show some flaws in their eyes, but it was only now. As time went by, everyone was probably not so nervous.

Unfortunately, that person didn't know that her father had told her the whole story before he died.

Taking a deep breath, the female knight tried not to let herself pay attention to that person intentionally. She kept telling herself in her heart that she would end this grudge as soon as she recovered from her injuries after returning to Kendall City.

Picking up a large silver bowl dedicated to her, Lanissa Knight sipped the thick and delicious rabbit meat and vegetable soup into her mouth.

-

Keir fished out a rabbit leg and put the stewed rabbit leg into his mouth with big mouthfuls. He chewed hard with his increasingly strong teeth, biting off the rough muscle fibers of the long-eared rabbit leg, and used his molars to chew the leg. The meat juice contained in the rotten shreds of meat is squeezed out, mixed with the gulps and swallowed into the throat.

Phew, he hadn't eaten piping hot serious food like this in how many days.

The salty wolf meat was grilled every day, and he was quite satisfied at first, but as time went by, he felt disgusted from the bottom of his heart when he saw the wolf meat.

There is no other way. He keeps killing the Northern Wolf, and he is often covered in frozen blood. How can he still have the appetite to eat the meat of these guys?

Northern wolves are quite thin in winter and rarely have enough fat on their bodies, so the wolf meat baked in this way is dry and hard. If the old hunter hadn't soaked the wolf meat in salty brine for a period of time before roasting it, the taste would have been unbearable.

But fortunately, these things are in the past.

After so many days of brutal fighting, Kil felt that he was much stronger than before. Although the method of dealing with beasts like the Northern Wolf was difficult to apply to human enemies, whether it was strength or endurance, Kil felt that he was much stronger than before. They are all stronger than before.

"Although those wolf meats are unpalatable, they are not without their effects."

Kil thought that Knight Crow asked him to eat more meat in winter to keep his body healthy. Then the northern wolf meat he has been eating these days can be regarded as satisfying Knight Crow's requirements, right?

Kil was thinking happily, wondering when he would be able to accept the knight-level training promised by Knight Crow.