Mercenaries and Adventurers

Keir carried the huge cloth bag and evadedly returned to the open space.

It was dark and the people, who had nothing to do to rest, sang songs and danced around the campfire. The armed people who were not working were particularly welcomed by the women in the team. They also stood generously in the middle of the crowd, singing with the loudest voice and showing themselves with the most unrestrained dance.

When passing by these residents, some people who did not know each other or looked familiar invited Keir to join them. In response, Keir could only smile and waved his hand to reject the invitation.

Kil pretended that the big bag in his hand was ordinary, and carried it through the crowd in a dignified manner, returning to his tent.

When he got here, he was in trouble again, because outside his tent, the guards guarding him surrounded the tent tightly, and the several raised campfires happened to be strong, illuminating the surrounding tents in the middle.

This would not allow the big bird god to secretly take away the wooden statue in his hand.

But he was too embarrassed to let the guards deliberately let down their guard, extinguish the campfire, and lower the protection of his property.

With a roll of his eyes, Kil had an idea. Because he saw the newly joined small team of long-haired lynx orcs not far away. Although they look fluffy and cute, they are sharp-tongued aliens after all, which naturally makes young people who don’t know much subconsciously keep a distance from them.

Of course, these alien races don't want to be stared at all day long, which would make them very uncomfortable. They were very uncomfortable last night. Fortunately, during the day, hundreds of people in the team joined in the fun and watched the strange things, and most of them were no longer curious about them. This makes these hairy greens feel much more at ease.

"Maomao, come on, come on!"

Keir called out to the aliens in a low voice and walked towards them with a big bag in hand.

"Powerful, human! Do you have, tasks, needs, Maomao?"

They have very good ears, and as soon as they hear the call of Kilborn, they immediately poke their heads out of the empty box where they live. The leader jumped out of the wooden box with excitement on his face, and the long tail behind him kept slapping the surrounding wooden boxes to wake up the other furs that had not come out.

In fact, there is no need to wake them up. The long-haired lynx orcs are nocturnal creatures. They usually move around after dark when hunting. They have to stay energetic during the day, but at night they are all full of energy and extra energetic.

"Yes, yes. I do have a mission that requires you. You little guys are very suitable for this mission."

Kil smiled and shook the big bag he was holding in his right hand.

"Mission! Maomao, reward, metal! Reward!"

When he heard that there was indeed a mission, the leader Courage immediately shouted. The other Maomao imitated the captain's pronunciation and kept repeating the words "reward" and "metal".

Kil smiled bitterly and had to fumble around on his body, and finally dug out a few copper coins and gave them to them: "How about this? Don't look too little, but this is much more valuable than the broken iron pieces."

Then Kier complained: "I don't know if they know the value of money."

Unexpectedly, Courage Maomao jumped over excitedly, took a few copper coins from Kil's hand, and then sniffed a few copper coins with his furry nose excitedly: "Maomao, I know, copper coins! The value is very good, very good!"

Kil shrugged: "Now that you have received the reward metal from the mission, you can come over."

Courage Maomao called out softly, and other Maomao immediately gathered around, imitating humans, standing in a line, and accepting the task of Kil, a powerful human.

"Here, ahem, each of you holds one of these things."

Kil looked around and found that no one came to disturb the aliens after dark, so he reached into his big pocket and fumbled around, and took out a wooden sculpture of a god that was a little larger than his fist. He quickly stuffed the thing into Courage Furry's arms and let him hold it.

"The mission is for you ten, each Maomao, carry two of these things, avoid the sight of everyone in the team, and go outside the open space."

"The clearing? Outside?"

Courage Maomao looked at the wooden statue in his hand that was a bit too big for it. Suddenly he opened his mouth and bared his teeth at the statue. He let out a low growl in his throat: "This! Own it! Dirty thing!"

Kil rolled his eyes: "It's not dirty stuff. Hey, even if it is, it has nothing to do with you. Let your furries take it with them, go outside to find some lush field trees, and secretly hide these wooden statues in the big trees. The top of the branch. That’s it, this is your task, how about it? It’s not difficult!”

Although the courageous Maomao with keen sense does not like the bird-head wood carving in his hand, after all, he has received the copper coins as a reward from a powerful human being. He still nodded after considering it: "Leave it to Maomao!"

"Blue eyes! Short beard! Short legs!"

Maomao, who was called by Courage Maomao, swung his tail and walked out. Then Courage Maomao handed the bird head wood carving in his hand to Maomao, who had a pair of beautiful blue eyes.

Seeing that Blue-eyed Fluffy wanted to play with the new thing in his hand, Courage Fluffy angrily slapped Blue-eyed Fluffy on the top of his head with his long tail. This made Blue-eyed Fluffy shrink his neck and narrow his eyes, not daring to play with it anymore.

"Meow! Meow, meow, meow! Ooooh, meow!"

After reprimanding in the internal language of the long-haired lynx orcs that Kil couldn't understand, Courage Maomao clamped the wood carving under the armpits of Blue-Eyed Mao Mao's arms. In this way, through the shielding of the arms and hair, the clamped bird head wood carving could be seen. Out of sight.

Then Keir stuffed Courage Maomao with a bird's head wood carving, and Courage Maomao stuffed the wood carving he got into Blue-Eyed Maomao's other armpit.

Courage Maomao then let Blue Eyes walk back and forth twice, and found that there was no problem, then let him try to climb up the wooden box.

If it were a human being, it would be difficult to climb something with something under his arm and it would be inconvenient to use his arms. But Maomao is different. They have a long, strong and powerful tail. With the help of this limb, they can still climb even if their arms cannot move.

"Very good, Blue Eyes, Fluffy, let's go!"

"Meow!"

The furry tail named Blue Eyes stood up behind him, and the next moment he picked up his short legs and ran quickly into the darkness in the open space that was not illuminated by the fire.

Keir followed this Maomao with his eyes and soon lost track of this little guy. This surprised him a little. Not only did these little guys have better combat power than ordinary humans, but their ability to dodge and move silently at night was unmatched by humans.

"Wood carving!"

A call brought Kil back to his senses. It turned out that Courage Maomao was calling him and stretched out his hand to ask for the mission items.

Kil smiled, stretched out his hand and took out two bird-head wooden sculptures.

Then Shortbeard Maomao, like the previous one, trotted into the darkness with something under his arm.

Then there is Short-legged Maomao. These three are Courage Maomao's closest partners. They are all members of this small team who are responsible for long-range attacks.

"Brindle! Long ears! Sharp claws! Fast legs!"

The next four Maomao were responsible for close combat in the team, and their movements were even more nimble. After receiving the bird head wood carving, which was not too small for them, they directly held it in their arms and jumped up and down. Jumping into the surrounding shadowy darkness. Following the sound of light footsteps, they quickly walked out of the open space easily in the blind spot of Kiir's armed people.

At the end, there were two Maomao who were originally responsible for carrying supplies. Courage Maomao did not ask these two to go out. Instead, he personally held four bird-head wooden sculptures and asked Maomao named Huan Ge to take two.

Courage Maomao also personally explained some things to the remaining Maomao in their own language, and then slipped into the shadows holding the wooden sculpture.

Kil was holding a large bag that was mostly empty, and looked at the only Maomao left on the field. Just as he was about to say something, this Maomao called Mumbling flicked his tail, jumped up on the spot, and jumped back. On top of the empty wooden box where it had been.

It did not go back to the wooden box to rest. Instead, it squatted on the half-open lid of the wooden box vigilantly. Its bright big eyes reflected the reflection of the surrounding campfire, and its eyes were bright and alert.

What to watch out for?

Kil guessed that they were probably wary of someone stealing the metal materials they had accumulated along the way.

Smiling and shaking his head, Kil waved to this Maomao and then returned to his tent.

-

Putting down the big bag with a part of the bird's head wood carving still left, Kil lay on his side on his sleeping bag.

"How about it?"

He was the only one in the tent, but Kil still spoke as if talking to someone.

"Is it possible to develop these alien races? No? Then forget it."

Kil was silent for a while, and then said: "I will try to develop some people among the guards who directly obey my orders. How about you also have to think of ways to work hard? After all, I have done so much work, The public opinion and rumors in the town must bring some convenience to the spread of your faith, right?"

"So, regarding the transaction, my work has almost been completed. What do you say?"

There was silence for a while, and I didn't know what Kil heard, but his expression was obviously not very good.

"Okay, I'll wait a little longer. I hope I can have a good night's sleep tonight. Don't be like yesterday and the day before yesterday, being chased by those dead ghosts all night. Bah, you were defeated by me a few times when you were alive, but you were chased in your dreams when you were dead. Follow me and run. I was so stupid # in my dream that I completely forgot about fighting and only knew how to run away.”

There was another moment of silence, and Kil seemed to hear something.

"I'm weak? No, I'm weak? Oh, I'm weak in soul, that's it. Then is there any way to train the soul? Lift iron? Run? Swing a sword?"

"No, that's right. Oh, the soul is not a real body. It can exercise muscles and accumulate life energy. What do you mean? The soul mostly relies on talent? Will? I think my will should be good, right?"

There was another moment of silence. It seemed that after listening to someone's words, Kil went straight to the sleeping bag. He didn't take off his cloak or boots, and just lay there in a daze on the sleeping bag.

His eyes were as wide as copper bells, looking straight at the top of the tent.

The well-sealed tent fabric greatly blocked the light of the campfire outside the tent, making the interior of the tent almost dark.

Keir just lay there, not knowing what he was thinking.

For the first time, he didn't want to fall asleep so quickly.

-

The Maomaos walked together in twos and threes through the continuous fields outside the clearing.

They carefully avoid the debtor humans who live in semi-underground shacks next to the fields. Although they don't know why they are all humans, other humans live well in the town, and these people have to live pitifully in the wild.

Don’t think that the Maomao people’s tribe is a primitive tribal civilization living in the mountains. Just because they don’t know about solid houses and houses with walls and flower gardens is not a good place.

Even those with relatively primitive civilizations know that it is far better to live in a settlement where a large number of humans gather together than to live in a field in the wild.

Not to mention, many of the earth-pit shacks used as temporary residences for debtors on the edge of the fields have serious rain leaks. Whenever it rains, it rains heavily in the fields, and it rains lightly in the shacks. Not to mention whether it is possible to sleep in a slippery and cold place, just because every time it rains, many poisonous mushrooms will appear inside and outside the shack, making it very unsuitable for human habitation.

Even the furries know that the place where you live for a long time must be dry and hygienic, right?

Bypassing these scattered places with people, the Maomaos carrying the mission items followed the instructions of the powerful humans, looking for big trees in the fields and hiding the wooden statues that made them feel uncomfortable.

There was the sound of flapping wings in the darkness above.

Afraid of being nocturnal carnivorous raptors, the furries hurriedly got into the crops and carefully lay down and stopped moving.

When the sound of flapping wings flew away, the Maomaos did not move, because they knew that carnivorous raptors are cunning and ferocious, and sometimes a male and a female raptor pair would specially set traps.

First let one of them that is not strong enough deliberately make a loud flapping sound, and then fly away to let the animals on the ground relax their vigilance. And when the animals on the ground start to move carelessly, another strong raptor that is deliberately gliding in the air will fold its wings and rush down, taking down the largest and fattest animals in one fell swoop.

Not to mention that the Maomaos are one meter tall, they are still intelligent creatures and will not be attacked. There are large and small birds of prey that are active at night. Most of the small ones can only capture rodents such as jerboas and voles, or some lizards, large insects, etc.

Larger nocturnal raptors will attack even average-sized animals, including domestic dogs and foxes.

Larger nocturnal raptors, not to mention the one-meter-tall furry ones, ponies, goats, tortoises, wild wolves, humans, etc. are all on the menu of these dangerous carnivores.

If nocturnal humans do not carry bright torches, it is very easy for their heads to be scratched by raptors gliding by, and their lives will be taken away silently, and then they will be inexplicably carried back to their nests by the raptors.

Of course, the Maomaos living in the mountains and forests have excellent night walking skills that they have trained since childhood.

Not only can each of them easily avoid dangers in the air, but even some powerful ones can take advantage of the opportunity to hunt carnivorous birds of prey.

Humans like the feathers of raptors very much, and Maomao knows that they can exchange those light feathers with humans for things.

As for the light bones of birds, they are an important material for the hairy tribe.

Avoiding humans and nocturnal birds along the way, Maomao dispersed and found large trees specially planted in fields to attract dangerous thunder and lightning on days when the weather changes drastically.

It is not that there are more effective ways to eliminate the hazards of lightning strikes in the town, but for the owners of the fields, simply planting a big tree is not a simpler and cheaper method of lightning protection.

Many big trees are more or less partially charred, which is evidence that they have been struck by lightning. The town of Dorne is located on a rare plain in the mountainous southern province, so it is very vulnerable to lightning strikes in spring and summer.

Compared with forests or towns, debtors working in open fields are often the most vulnerable to being struck to death by sudden flashes of lightning. But what can they do? As debtors, they had to work in the fields whether it was windy or rainy.

If you don't go, you will definitely be whipped.

Rather than being whipped for sure, many people would rather work in the fields in windy and rainy weather, even if they might be struck to death by lightning.

-

At the edge of the field, two hunters wearing concealment cloaks were carefully lying on the side of the field. Each of them carefully poked half of their head out. In the dim night, they looked at several long-haired lynxes that were doing organized activities in the distance. Orcs.

"Why are these guys here again? Didn't they join that young knight's team?"

The young hunter murmured in a low voice. Next to him, another experienced hunter of some age squinted his eyes and carefully observed the aliens with vision that was not affected by the darkness.

He considered it for a moment and then spoke in a low voice: "Perhaps there was a conflict, or maybe they were assigned a task? Don't forget, the young knight saw us in the evening. Huh, he must not be interested in two people of unknown origin. Don’t worry, that’s why we sent the newly absorbed aliens to come over after dark to explore the two of us. No, they are looking for us one by one.”

After hearing this analysis, the young hunter reached under the cloak behind him. There was his hunting bow, and the ten matching bows and arrows that had been blessed with blessing power.

For elite hunters, ten arrows are often enough.

Even powerful monsters often cannot withstand ten life-threatening arrows.

"How about it? Deal with these alien races? Otherwise, if we let them search like this, they will definitely find us."

The young hunter had his hands behind his back and had already set up his bow. As long as his companions agreed, he would immediately fire the bow. A few small aliens would be killed by him one by one before they heard the vibration of his bowstring.

But the old hunter hesitated for a while, and then he reached out and pressed down the young companion's shoulder: "Forget it, the task of the two of us is just to keep an eye on that existence. After all, there are too many people in the church who have nothing to do all day long. One can provoke The existence of noisy things is quite necessary. Let's clean up first and avoid them. I think those kittens may not only look for us, but also do something to those big trees in the field? "

"What did you find?"

"Not yet, but my intuition and divine revelation tell me that something must have happened. Let's step back and go around to see what those kittens did."

Then, the two hunters lying on the side of the field ridge cleaned up the traces of their bodies and retreated silently into a sparse farmland.