Mercenaries and Adventurers

The young dwarf had one hand empty and one hand holding a cage of communication bats that his elders had given him before.

The bats were hanging upside down in the cage and resting. At this time, they were carried by the dwarf and walked quickly, and they were immediately shaken and screamed.

"Quiet! Everyone be quiet!"

After taking a breath, the young dwarf roared towards the cage, but the bats that were awakened were hungry and shaking, and did not listen to him at all, which made the young dwarf a little discouraged.

He clearly remembered that the other dwarves were not like this at all when raising bats. They were training them as if they were dogs!

If you let it be quiet, it will be quiet. If you let it fly around people, it will only fly around people. Stretch out your fingers, and the long-fingered bats will land on the stubby fingers stretched out by the dwarves, even at night or in dark mines.

As a result, the communication bat that was quiet and well-behaved to others was disobedient to him, right?

The young dwarf angrily slapped the cage containing seven or eight bats, and then the bats in the cage became noisier.

Zhizhizhizhi——

Chi Chi Chi Chi——

"This won't work. The whole settlement can hear your noise. How can you monitor outsiders? Quiet! Quiet!"

He hit the cage a few more times, and the bats started making more noises out of fear.

Fortunately, at this time, the small bag of berries that was originally hanging under the cage fell to the ground due to the impact. The mouth of the bag was not tied tightly, and the dark red, slightly dry, flat and wrinkled berries rolled out, in the dim underground passage. rolling in.

The young dwarf and the noisy communication bat were quiet for a moment, and then the young dwarf slapped the upper part of his helmet and shouted: "I forgot about this, um, you are hungry, right? Anyway, no matter if you are hungry or not, come and eat. , delicious berries! My mother picked them in the woods, delicious berries! Of course, the most delicious thing she made was the golden fruit pie. It’s a pity that you can’t eat this kind of delicacy, ha, you can only eat it raw. It’s just fruit.”

He carefully picked up the berries that fell on the ground with his fingertips and threw them into the cage.

Sure enough, when the communication bats, which are small and only eat fruits, saw the berries, they immediately stopped shouting, and a small group started to fight for a berry.

Seeing the effect, the young dwarf simply poured a whole bag of berries into the cage, so that the bats could be busy eating instead of squeaking and interfering with his surveillance operations.

-

After the bats each held a berry and ate it, the young dwarf quickened his pace and rushed to the surveillance point designated by the elders.

It was the inside of a big tree that looked particularly strong from the outside.

Here, the dwarves hollowed out the wooden core from the roots up. On the side facing the forest road, they cleverly dug several slender round holes, leading directly to the surveillance point with a small space inside the big tree.

The surveillance hole facing the dwarf road is not big, only the size of an egg. Not only is the location chosen very tricky, it is either close to the roots of a big tree, or it is located in the blind spot of human vision more than two meters high. It also looks like a common woodpecker in the tree. A natural round hole dug out.

At this time, the young dwarf carefully stepped on the indentations on both sides of the surveillance point that went straight up and down, carefully keeping his position behind a surveillance round hole with a slightly better view.

He put one eye to the entrance of the cave and looked outside without making a sound.

In fact, he doesn't need to be so careful. The surveillance point was designed with methods to conceal internal sounds. General noises inside the surveillance point cannot be heard outside.

Even if the woods outside are very quiet.

The young dwarf first checked to see if there were any traces of human or horse footsteps on the road, and found that there were none. Last year's fallen leaves on the road were scattered and disorderly, showing a very natural state.

"Fortunately, I caught up. Humph, I'll keep an eye on you and I'll make you look good soon! I'll break your nose as well! No, it's better to beat it crookedly."

The young dwarf's nose was a little numb due to the ointment, but it didn't hurt much. Besides, he was a brave young dwarf and was not afraid of pain, but it still made him very angry to have his beautiful and tall nose like a mountain injured.

He imagined the scene where the elders gathered together in arms and surrounded the human being, beating him up on three levels inside and three outside. Thinking about it made him feel happy.

Before he could be happy for long, the moving figures of humans and tall horses appeared in the surveillance field of view.

This made the young dwarf come back to his senses. After further moving his good eye to the entrance of the surveillance hole to observe the human carefully, the young dwarf keenly noticed that a large bag of things originally carried on the back of the opponent's horse had disappeared.

"Abandoned? Or hidden somewhere on the road?" He whispered to himself.

He just looked at it, and the human in his sight suddenly became alert. He held the metal spear in his hand, swinging it from side to side, not knowing what danger he was guarding against.

"Humph...it's not so easy for you to find me."

Having said that, the young dwarf still withdrew his gaze, and then turned over a rotating lighting stone above the surveillance point, allowing the weak light to shine from top to bottom.

He took out a small wooden sign from his pocket, and then carefully took out a small sharp metal carving knife from the hidden part of his belt. Using the weak lighting, he carefully and quickly carved the discovery on the soft and light wooden surface. On the wooden sign.

[At the surveillance point in front of Bridge No. 6, it was confirmed that there was an armor-piercing man and an armor-piercing horse. The material baggage on the horse's back disappeared, and the opponent's alertness increased. 】

"call--"

He blew off the sawdust on the wooden sign, and then the young dwarf carefully took out a contented communication bat with a swollen belly from the cage hanging on his waist. A small 'small' wooden sign hangs from the bat's paw.

"Hold on tight, little guy."

The young dwarf stared at the round-bellied communication bat in his hand. This guy looked tired and full. Did he think he had fed them too many sweet berries at once?

"Send the news to 'Iron Fist', you know? An old guy nicknamed 'Iron Fist'."

The young dwarf repeated it, and then tentatively let go of his hand.

The overfed bat had difficulty flying at first. Not only was its stomach full of food, but it also had a wooden sign as big and heavy as itself on its paws. But soon, it flapped its wings and disappeared under the young dwarf's feet, flying away along the network of underground passages connected together underneath.

"Fortunately, everyone has trained them well."

The young dwarf breathed a sigh of relief. He moved his eyes to the entrance of the surveillance hole again and glanced at the suspicious humans outside. Seeing that the other party was about to leave the surveillance range, he turned off the lighting above his head and carefully stepped on the indentations on both sides of the surveillance point. He went down, and then quickly rushed to the next surveillance point No. 7.

----

"Arm up! Guys, we're going to deal with a tough guy coming in today."

In another rest room under the forest, an old dwarf nicknamed "Iron Fist" pushed open the wooden door of the rest room and shouted loudly to wake up several dwarf miners who were resting inside.

One guy who wasn't sleeping well even fell off the low stone bed.

"What's wrong? What's wrong? Is there another monster?"

The dwarves quickly got up from their beds and asked the older dwarves nervously.

At the same time, some dwarves took the opportunity to express their opinions: "I have said before that it is not enough to teach the monsters in the mountains! We have to set traps to kill all the monsters near the mines and settlements!"

"Yes! Hang the heads of those powerful monsters on the edge of the valley, and no new monsters will attack us!"

The dwarf 'Iron Fist' rolled his eyes, pushed away the arrogant dwarf, came to the middle of the lounge and explained: "Put away your poor imagination, Aibo and Dulong. We haven't fought with Warcraft in twenty years." We have fought each other, which shows that the guard captain’s method is very effective and has always been effective.”

"Only the smart monsters who have been beaten know who can and cannot be provoked in this mountain. As long as they do not die, they and their descendants, if they have any, will not attack the valley. One battle, profit A hundred years! You can’t find such a good deal anywhere.”

The two dwarves who were persuaded shrugged and laughed a few times.

"So 'Iron Fist', what happened?"

Seeing that all the dwarves present had woken up and looked over, the older dwarf explained: "Have you heard the humans in the village talk about the powerful guys in their society?"

"I heard it."

"Hey, it's just bragging."

"what? What?"

The older dwarf continued: "Now there is one in the forest. Well, not one who uses magic, nor one who uses the power of gods, but one who is simple and extremely strong."

Having said this, the old guy stretched out his hand and unconsciously touched the blood-stained beard under the helmet, with a bit of caution on his face.

The dwarves present looked at each other. Some had serious expressions, while others whistled as if they didn't care.

The dwarf 'Iron Fist' knew that these guys looked like this before, so he did not force everyone to be vigilant, but raised the weapon in his hand: "No matter what you think, I have to say that the other party is not It’s not easy to deal with. Put on the metal armor you each made for yourself, and then put on the same weapons and equipment as me.”

"Move quickly!"

Although everyone had different attitudes, they still changed their equipment.

The rest rooms guarded by the dwarves are all in pre-arranged locations, so each rest room has the equipment that the guards have prepared for themselves. Regardless of whether everyone moves quickly or not, at least the equipment is complete.

"What the hell! I've got a brood of newborn rock rats in my boots!"

"Where are they? Where are they? Let me see, oh - they are all pink and tender."

"Ha, this kind of baby mouse tastes best if you put it in a frying pan and fry it for a while."

"Then I will give it to you, do you want it? Don't worry, they will not smell like my feet, just born in my smelly boots."

"Forget it, there isn't enough oil here, right? I'm just saying it. You can keep it for yourself and enjoy it."

The dwarf ‘Iron Fist’ watched speechlessly as everyone was wearing weapons and equipment while they were chatting and laughing, and looked at each other with his companions who were following him. The dwarf companions who followed him shrugged: "At least everyone's morale is good. It would be great if you can take down the opponent with a good ambush. Ha, don't worry, my old man, believe me, there are many difficult monsters in the mountains. You’ve already taken it, why are you afraid of a human with thin arms and thin legs?”

The old dwarf breathed out: "You're right, old man. I'm a little nervous, no problem, um, no problem."

That was what he said, but he was still a little uneasy. Hundreds of years of life experience seemed to be sending him a hidden warning. But there is no reason for this bad premonition. It can't be said that there are so many of them, and they can't win a human knight, right?

If one person throws a heavy-throwing gun, he can repel the earth rage bear with its cubs. How can it be possible that he can't take down the opponent alone?

When everyone was noisy and changing their equipment, a small communication bat flew in from the door of the lounge. The poor little thing was also holding a wooden sign about the same size in its paws.

The old dwarf who had been paying attention outside the door immediately spread his left hand and motioned for the small thing to fall on his glove.

But the communication bat is not a small animal that is good at eyesight. It struggled to catch the wooden sign and flew around the lounge, following the voices of the people and turning left and right. Every dwarf who spoke, it seemed to get close to him. In 'Sniffing', you are actually getting closer to discern the timbres of the dwarves' respective voices.

Unlike other animals that rely on sight and smell to identify others, the communication bats raised by the dwarves rely on hearing the accent and timbre of the person speaking to specifically identify someone.

The dwarf 'Iron Fist' thought of this and coughed lightly without saying a word. He just relied on the familiar coughing sound of the bat to attract the communication bat to land on his open palm.

-

Slightly rubbing the little bat's head with his fingers, the old dwarf glanced dissatisfied at the round-bellied communication bat, then took off the wooden sign and looked at it.

The temporarily carved dwarf characters were not easy to distinguish, but fortunately the lighting in the lounge was sufficient. With a simple look, the old dwarf could grasp the traces of humans who broke into the forest.

Taking into account the distance between the surveillance point and the rest room and the flying speed of the communication bat, the old dwarf immediately said to his companions behind him: "You have to hurry up. I'm keeping an eye on everyone here. Please run over and clear the two sides of the forest." Call the guys on the side, get armed, and gather directly at the agreed place."

"Comrades on both sides of the forest? Don't have enough time?" his companion asked.

The old dwarf fiddled with the beard that sprouted slightly under his helmet, and said thoughtfully: "First notify the far side, and then let people go directly to the agreed ambush place to meet, and then you go to the other side. In this way, even if the people on the other side If you can't make it in time, at least the people in front will definitely be able to come."

The dwarf companion thought that this was indeed the case, so he nodded and set off.

Before leaving, this person made sure: "It's an ambush at the dead tree, right?"

"Well, that's the last place to lay an ambush before leaving the forest, right there."

After the companion confirmed, he quickly walked away and headed in one direction.

The dwarves have been guarding this underground passage for a hundred or two hundred years, or for nearly a hundred years. They are so familiar with this place that even if there is no lighting in the passage, these guys can move here freely with their eyes closed.

Therefore, this group of dwarves never uses the wall orientation signs that are common in mazes or tunnels.

After all, what should I do if the new arrival gets lost?

If you get lost, you get lost. No matter how easy it is to get lost, after working here for decades, you can still find your way with your eyes closed.

The older dwarf took advantage of the time while waiting for everyone to get dressed, and gave a rough explanation of the human target's armament situation.

Hearing that the human knight did not have an effective weapon to break through metal armor, the dwarves became more morale, and some exaggerated guys even boasted, claiming that they would be able to defeat the intruder with only one of them playing alone later. coming target.

‘Iron Fist’ curled his lips and said his own judgment to disturb some people’s imagination and unlikely ‘results’.

"Very good, very brave. Then who else wants to compete with the human knight alone later? As long as the ambush is successful and everyone surrounds the human, I agree to let you fight with the human alone."

As soon as this proposal came out, several dwarves in the lounge raised their helmets excitedly: "Me, me, me! Let me try it first. Yesterday, I killed a stone-armored blind mole. The human knight ? Not my opponent at all!"

Not to be outdone, the dwarf pointed the helmet in his hand at the Iron Fist and kept saying, "Let me go first! The guy in front of me was no match for me when he was wrestling with me, not to mention that every time I mined ore... More! Ha, only the strongest dwarf is qualified to fight against a powerful enemy!"

As soon as these words came out, some dwarf miners nearby were dissatisfied: "The strongest dwarf? 'Long Tail', did you think carefully before speaking big words? When the mine guard captain was still there, I never listened to you." You said something like this. Oh, do you dare to say it in front of others?"

The dwarf miner nicknamed 'Long Tail' spat on the ground disdainfully: "Of course I dare! Where are the others? Let him come out and see if I dare to tell him who is the strongest in our mine in front of him! Huh? Where are the others? Where are they now? Phew, we all put our hopes on him, but what happened?"

"Where is he? Everyone gave him armor made of the best materials, weapons made of the best materials, accurate maps snatched from humans, enough dried meat for a month, and everyone's savings. With the pitiful wealth and the gemstones accidentally discovered in the mine, he set out to find a way home. In the end, tell me, where is he?"

"How long have you been waiting for him? One year? Two years? Five years? Ten years? Hahahaha——"

The dwarf looked angry: "Everyone says he is the most powerful guy in our mine, so he was sent to guard this place. Well, he is very powerful, but what about the others? Ah, he has returned to the land of our dwarves. Then you turned around and forgot about everyone, right? Take all the money and wealth we all have, and forget about everyone in a good place! Five-ten-years! It’s a full %%%-five-ten --Year!"

The dwarf angrily smashed the metal one-handed ax on the ground, knocking out gravel from the stone floor: "The guy who claims to be the most powerful doesn't even want his wife and son. Ha, he is the most powerful, bah!"

The defending dwarf hesitated twice and sighed: "Maybe he just had an accident on the road..."

"Do you believe it? A guy who can suppress even monsters with brute force will be defeated by humans on the road? Wake up, you pathetic guys who still believe in that guy, and are still superstitious about that guy's power, we are being Forgotten. And after being forgotten one after another by his fellow tribesmen, he was nakedly betrayed."

"In the end, all of us can only hide like moles in the mountains and forests, in underground holes, covering the eyes and mouths of every curious human being who looks over, for fear that those humans will make a sound and scream at us poor guys who are not even as good as moles. whereabouts……"

Speaking of this, the dwarf nicknamed "Long Tail" actually shed tears from his eyes.

This guy looked at the oldest dwarf among them with red eyes, and finally said: "'Iron Fist', how long do you think this kind of life will last? I, I want to go home..."