Mercenaries and Adventurers

the next morning.

Zhao Ji woke up in his bed in the hunter stronghold in the city.

He stared at the wooden roof, unable to remember how he came back last night. Touching the clothes from yesterday that were still on, there was some smelly vomit on the chest, but the small money bag inside the clothes was still there.

He moved and leaned against the wooden wall next to the bed, counting the valuable coins in the bag through the light spots leaking into the room through the gaps in the wooden window. He was greatly relieved to find that the number was not missing.

He vaguely recalled what happened yesterday evening.

The tavern run by craftsmen inside, the wine brewed from grain and distilled is really delicious.

His lips were a little dry, so he stuffed his money bag under the pillow, staggered open the door and walked downstairs to find some water.

-

Downstairs, the old hunter Tost, who got up early, was baking wheat cakes on a clean stone table by the fire.

Seeing the slovenly Keer coming downstairs, he snorted and brought Keer a clay bottle filled with water. The bottle was placed on the ground not far from the fire. Both the bottle and the water were warm. Kil thanked him awkwardly, then pulled out the cork and drank the warm water in a big mouthful.

Gudong, gudong, gudong.

After drinking half of the warm water, Kil suddenly woke up.

"Tost. How did I get back last night?"

Putting the bottle down, Kil moved closer to the fire, rubbed the dried vomit off the clothes on his chest with his hands, and kicked it sideways into the fire with his feet.

Seeing that little Kil was more awake, Tost handed a piece of baked wheat cake to Kil and said casually: "You walked back by yourself. Hey, you sang a weird song and vomited while walking and took pictures at the door of the house. Door."

He also took a wheat cake in his hand, and then used a wooden spoon to scoop out some sauce from the jar next to it and spread it on the wheat cake.

The old hunter threw the spoon at Kil, but Kil shook his head, so he continued: "The guards guarding the government office next door also came to check the situation. I said they left after you drank too much. Before leaving, I fined you ten A fine of one copper coin."

Kil raised his eyebrows.

The old hunter smiled slyly: "I paid the fine with your money. That's it."

Keir quickly touched the bulge of the strong money bag around his waist and found that it was indeed a little lighter. But he doesn't care much about the money in this bag now, it's all for daily pocket money. Ten fines are ten fines.

Thinking of this, he put the wheat cake in his hand into his mouth and took a bite. The rough material of the wheat cake was clearly felt by his teeth and tongue. In addition, there was a rough grain taste.

Except that it looks a little rough because the material has not been polished, it's actually not bad.

Especially for someone like him who just woke up from a hangover.

My stomach has just been filled with half a bottle of water, which obviously cannot fool my stomach. The food I ate in the tavern last night has probably been vomited and frozen all the way from the Artisan District to here.

The stuffy stomach is in desperate need of real food to cheer it up. This picture of the old man kneading and baking the wheat cake is perfect.

While eating, Kil shared the news with his old companions about the new metal armor he ordered yesterday.

However, this is not surprising news to the hunters who often see Knight Lanissa wearing knight armor.

"After eating later, are you going to attend the death ceremony of the deceased in the team?"

The old man asked after dipping the wheat cake in hand with sauce.

Only then did Kil remember that the priest of the Church of the God of the Dead had said yesterday that he had indeed only given one day for family members to hold farewell ceremonies for the deceased of other faiths at home.

However, he didn't say a few words to the dead old hunter. Tost, who was opposite him, had taught him archery. If he died, Kil would be willing to do something for him. But forget it for everyone else.

So Keir shook his head.

"If you don't want to, forget it. I'll go over now. You are the only one in the stronghold. Keep an eye on the house. If you go out, remember to put out the fire in the stove."

The old hunter added: "Just pour water from the jug next to it."

After saying that, the old hunter got up and went upstairs.

Keir saw that there were new wheat cakes that the other party had just baked next to him, so he picked up another one, sat on the wooden chair next to the fire, and ate the wheat cakes in small bites.

He tried dipping the sauce that the old guy had just eaten, but it was too salty for his liking, so he just ate the wheat cake.

After waiting for a while, the old hunter came down from upstairs again.

He changed his clothes. The warm but comfortable old clothes were replaced by a black wolfskin leather coat. The boots were furry, which looked nice and kept them warm. The legs were made of thick leather pants filled with warm wadding from the riverside, and wrapped neatly in a circle of dyed black wolf skin. The upper body is a dark-colored fine linen cold-proof jacket, and the outer layer is a wolfskin leather jacket. On his head was a wolfskin hat with a small wolf tail that could cover the entire forehead.

The clothes were dark and solemn, obviously not something he often wore.

Tost walked to the tapestry with the emblem of the God of Hunting in the corner of the first floor of the stronghold. He stared blankly at the emblem of the god where the old man from the past bowed and prayed. He was speechless.

"What's wrong?" Seeing that he didn't move, Kil asked.

Shaking his head, the old hunter replied casually: "Nothing."

He walked up and touched the thing cautiously, paused, then raised his hand to take it off and rolled it up. He strode out holding the rolled-up emblem of the gods.

"Tell me, gods, how do they treat everyone who dies?"

Tost, who walked to the door of the house, asked Kil a question without looking back.

"How do I know? But if you really want to talk about it, the world is so big, they don't know everything, right? Because if they know everything and can use everything, then they still need the church and so many What do priests do? So, what does everyone who dies have to do with them?"

Kil scratched his head and expressed his understanding.

The old hunter said nothing more, just opened the door and walked out holding the tapestry.

-

The doors of houses in Kendall City are all well-designed, relying on the city's skilled carpenters. The wooden doors here are generally equipped with a technology that automatically closes the door, and the wooden latch installed on the wooden door automatically blocks the door frame.

So this eliminates the need for people in the house to get up and close the door after they go out.

This cleverly designed wooden part is made of the most versatile wood, so it can reliably complete its design mission no matter it is cold winter, rainy spring, or scorching summer.

Therefore, when the old hunter went out to attend the funeral and farewell ceremony of his companion, Keir no longer needed to get up and follow him to close the opened and closed house door and yard door.

As long as the old hunter closes the door when he goes out, it will be difficult for people from the outside to push the door open without destroying it. Unless you ask someone inside to open the door.

After Zhao Ji had a full stomach, he wandered back to his room upstairs.

The smell of vomit on his body was unpleasant, so Zhao Ji took off his shirt and put on the clothes and outer robe that Knight Elisa had given them before.

He walked downstairs, intending to feed his horses, but found that the horses' food and water had already been fed. So Zhao Ji had to use a wooden shovel to clean up the excrement excreted by the horses, put it into a wooden bucket and poured it into the sewer outlet in the yard.

Bang bang bang.

Someone knocked on the door, gently and politely.

This made Zhao Ji, who was busy in the yard, immediately confirm that the visitor was not a member of their hunter team.

The other hunters had gone home or attended the funeral ceremony of their dead companions. The sun was still early, so they would definitely not be back so soon.

"Who?" Keel shouted.

A gentle yet majestic old man's voice came from outside the door: "I am the steward of the Knight family of Lanisa. Please open the door. If you have anything to discuss with Joe Kil, the hunter under the knight,"

Looking for me?

"I'm just, wait a minute."

Putting down the dirty wooden bucket in his hand, Gere clapped his hands and rinsed the horses with cold river water in the water trough where the horses drank.

This caused dissatisfaction among the horses.

Keir shrugged and opened the door.

Facing him outside was an old man whom Kier had seen before. He was wearing a warm robe sewn with wolf belly skin, followed by a man and a woman dressed as domestic servants.

"I have seen you. You are indeed Lord Knight's butler. Please come in."

Inviting the three people into the house, Keir immediately asked the old housekeeper the purpose of his visit.

"That's right. The Lord Knight has something to discuss with you. At the same time, bonuses and salaries will be awarded to all the hunters in this crusade."

Keir's eyes lit up and he distributed money, which is a good thing.

I just came back yesterday and received the bounty from the previous expedition against the bandits. In the blink of an eye, I can receive the reward from the expedition against the Northern Wolf.

The needle is pretty good. I didn’t expect that people from other worlds would be right on this matter. But when Kil thought about it, after all, these were the money earned through hard fighting, and it was indeed impossible for the other party to deliberately delay payment.

After all, if you do this, it will be difficult to find people with real abilities if you want to find people to do dangerous and life-saving things.

Fighting against bandits and northern wolves is not an easy task, and the knights also have to think about their reputation and prestige.

"I'll follow you right away. Please wait a moment."

Kil rubbed his hands, walked to the stove, and used the water in the jar to extinguish the stove as the old hunter instructed.

There were several water jugs next to the stove, and Keir used these to pour the firewood and ashes in the stove thoroughly.

Then he turned around and signaled the three of them to wait, then ran to the room upstairs, took the dagger with him, emptied the small money bag under the pillow, poured the gold and silver coins into the quilt, and just brought an empty money bag with him.

He opened the wooden window again and took out the lizard tail hanging in the bag outside. He vaguely remembered that Knight Lanisa seemed interested in this thing. Anyway, he still had a lizard head. This cool and energetic tail should be given to Knight Lanisa.

-

Gere took his things downstairs and followed the three out of the house. At the door, Keir took out the metal lock hanging on the back of the door, walked out of the door and hung it up.

The three old hunters all had the keys, and the kiel on the lock was kicked into their pockets.

The two male and female servants led by the housekeeper were very curious when they saw the blue-white tail that kept waving in Kil's hand. Curiosity mixed with fear.

Kil looked at their looks and explained.

When they heard that this was a rare monster tail that was going to be given to Knight Lanissa, and that it was a rare ingredient that their master had personally said had special effects, the servants no longer felt afraid, but instead became more curious.

Keir handed them the lizard's tail hanging on a rope. It was given away casually anyway. Whoever is holding it is not holding it. They are curious, so let them see it as much as they can.

The four of them walked upward in an arc along the main road of the town, and soon passed through the city gate of the upper area.

Seeing that it was Knight Lanisa's butler who was leading the way, the guard at the door did not ask to stop him.

"Has the burn on Lady Knight Lanissa been cured?"

Kil asked the butler about this as he walked. After all, those injuries were very serious. Although Knight Lanissa said it would not be a problem, it was definitely not that easy.

The old housekeeper nodded.

"My lord, you were cured yesterday. You are just recovering because you are very weak after the treatment. This time, I have something to ask you about, so I asked you to come over."

After hearing the answer, Kil remembered that after fighting the goblins in Doral Forest Village, the Goddess of Agriculture taught the old woman the shepherd's hand to use divine magic to treat her. It was just a minor injury at the time, and after being treated with magic, I felt very tired and sleepy, and I really needed to rest.

From this point of view, Lanissa Knight should also be treated with divine magic. According to her injury, she probably needs to rest for a while.

He had been to Lanisa Knight's Mansion once. After entering the house, he was quickly taken by the old housekeeper to the study where he had returned last time.

Boom, boom, boom.

"Sir, the Joe Kil warrior from the hunter team you invited has arrived." The old butler reported to the study at a leisurely pace.

A modest response came from inside the door: "Let him in."

"yes."

So, the old butler pushed open the solid wooden door and stretched out his hand to signal Keir who was following him to enter the house.

There is no stove for heating in the small study, but it is still relatively warm.

Kiel speculated that it might be a heating interlayer with hot air circulating in the wall. As long as a fire is raised underground in a corner of the house, and then the hot air is circulated through the wall, and finally emerges from the chimney in the corner of the house, the high temperature can be used. Hot air circulates to heat the entire house.

If building a heating flue to warm the entire house is too troublesome, you can actually heat only the most important rooms of the entire house. For example, there shouldn't be places like a study room or master bedroom with an open fire.

Kil walked into the room and looked at the back window of the study. Knight Lanisa was wearing thick warm clothes and slumped on the armchair in a relaxed but inelegant posture.

"Little Kil, you're here." Lanisa Knight's voice was weak, and she waved her hand to motion for Kil to sit across the table from her.

Kil sat down, and he saw that Knight Lanissa's face no longer had the terrifying burn scars, and it was almost the same as before when she was not injured.

So he felt relieved and talked about the rare lizard monster tail he had captured before.

"Yeah, that's just right. Uncle Sally, please send the lizard tail that Little Kil brought to Wharton's Full Tavern, and let the people there carefully cook this monster material. It will be harmful to my body. There are some benefits, and mother and you should also eat some." Knight Lanisa said weakly.

The old housekeeper summoned the manservant who was waiting at the door with his tail in hand, and the two of them prepared to go out to handle the matter.

"By the way, close the door and ask the servants outside to go away. Wait at the other end of the corridor." Knight Lanisa continued.

"Sir?" The old butler glanced at Keir and indicated that Keel was carrying a weapon such as a dagger. Normally, of course he wouldn't care about this. After all, those are the most powerful warriors in the entire city, and Jenny Lanisa, whom he serves, happens to be one of them.

But today is different from the past. After the magic healed the injury, it greatly consumed Knight Lanissa's physical strength and energy. It is estimated that she will not be able to recover for many days.

However, Lanissa Knight still waved her hand: "Little Kil is the most reliable warrior. In the northern forest before, if it were not for him, I might not be able to deal with the Northern Wolf this year."

Kil pursed his lips. Knight Lanisha's praise made him a little happy, but he couldn't show it.

"I see, then please forgive me for resigning."

The old housekeeper bowed and walked out of the study, stroking his chest and closing the door firmly. Then came the order from him to arrange for the maid waiting for Knight Lanisa at the door of the study to leave.

After it became quiet outside, Knight Lanisa withdrew her divergent eyes and looked at Kil.

"Little Kil."

"Hey. Please give me your instructions, Lord Knight."

The study was silent for a while.

"It was just you and me. You are a smart kid, you should have made some guesses, right?"

The female knight didn't say anything, but Kil touched her forehead with her hand and wiped away the cold sweat.

"You know, the Wolf King is my father."

The female knight's words were cold, but Kil was sure that he could hear the lava-like emotions beneath the cold words.

The other party's eyes became divergent again: "I have always thought that he was swallowed by the forest. He was defeated and swallowed by monsters or monsters in the forest."

"The Wolf King of the North. He came out at the right time. It was so natural at the time."

“But it’s just like when a wheat seed is buried in the soil, a wheat seedling will grow out of it.”

She put her hand to her eyes and studied it.

"Angry needs a place to land."

"However, now you and I both know the result. He died in my hands and yours."

Kil swallowed: "My lord, me."

"I don't mean to rebuke you, Kil. I understand that we were confused. You just joined the team this year, and I don't blame you for participating in such a battle as soon as you came."

"Bah." She clenched her fist and smashed it on the desk.

Boom!

The entire huge desk shook, and the place where the female knight's palm fell was dented, and the broken wood cracked, but it was completely unable to do anything to Knight Lanisa's flesh and blood fist.

Kil didn't dare to say a single unnecessary word. He was afraid that the female knight opposite would blow his head like a table with a fist. After all, the strength of the two of them was no longer on the same level.

There were panicked footsteps approaching outside the study door.

But before the servants outside the door could speak, Knight Lanisa angrily shouted in the direction of the door: "Get away!"

The footsteps receded like a tide.

Taking a deep breath, Knight Lanisa closed her eyes and continued: "As I said just now, when wheat seeds are buried in the soil, wheat seedlings will grow."

"My father became like that. It was definitely not voluntary. Someone interfered and killed him. He turned him into it."

The female knight stared at Keir.

"I know who that person is."

"Now that I think about it, when the Northern Wolf became bigger a few years ago, he attacked Wumihu Village. There was a deeper meaning behind this. He might sometimes wake up and drive the beasts to take revenge."

"This is a dilemma. On one side is the safety of the villagers. The man cowardly used the villagers as a hidden shield. On the other side is his own hatred and a life that he can never go back to. "

Lanissa Knight became more and more angry as she spoke, but she still managed to suppress her emotions.

"As you can see, I have been unable to move recently. But I can't bear it for a moment. Kil, I have a task for you."

"I?"

"Yes, you know this, and it is most appropriate for you to do it."

She took two delicate paper documents from the side of the desk and pushed them to Keir.

Keir carefully took the file from the table and looked at it.

A document contains the bounty status written in Knight Lanissa's hand. Anyone holding this document can go to the government office to find the clerk at any time to receive twelve gold coins and seven silver coins.

The above description is the actual results of the hunter team's crusade this winter, which was confirmed by Lanissa Knight herself. It includes the actual results of dozens of northern wolves whose bodies were difficult to bring back, and the serious damage caused to the North Wolf King. actual results.

The document was stamped with the seal of Lanissa Knight herself and a shimmering ball of life energy.

The other document is a person's identity document.

Ruf-Wolf.

The current residents of Wumihu Village appeared and settled in Wumihu Village many years ago. He is about thirty to forty years old, unmarried, and owns property and fields in Wumihu Village. And there is a small fishing boat, but he does not make a living from fishing.

Now he is one of the stewards of Wumihu Village. Since he is a foreigner who is literate, he is responsible for communicating with merchants and is responsible for the village's clerical recording work.

Keir was smart and thought of something immediately.

He asked tentatively: "The werewolf?"

Lanissa Knight took a deep breath: "Who else could it be?"

"Kiel, go to Wumihu Village, find an opportunity to confirm his werewolf identity, and then kill him."