The relevant people quickly gathered at the location where the scout claimed to have found the target wood.
Because he had to arrange the movement of a large group of people, Uzov arrived a step late. When he arrived at his destination, he saw craftsmen belonging to the Grand Duke of Kawei taking their apprentices to identify the wood.
The wood found was suspected to be the target of the silver-grained camphor. The strong smell that permeates the air is its characteristic. But this time it is used to make a wardrobe for the nobles. Just like the magic materials used by magicians, even if they are of the same type, they can and cannot be used.
For example, if it is hollow or has a crooked neck, it can only use materials to make small objects, but not large objects. In addition to poor quality, there are also some magical materials that are extremely unevenly distributed in power and are defective. If you want to use it, you can only take part of it, and you can't make large objects. Even some picky magicians will directly discard such defective products.
Sometimes the processing after felling is not good enough, causing the wood to become unusable. It's like if the skinning and tanning of the Warcraft were not done properly, the skin would be useless.
That’s why experienced craftsmen are needed to do the appraisal, and professional lumberjacks are needed to handle it. Rather than just any adventurer randomly chopping it, he can use it by bringing back the same type of wood.
But luck was very good. After appraisal by the Duke's master craftsman, he confirmed that the few scattered silver-leaf camphor trees in front of him could be used, and a group of people prepared to cut down the trees.
But whether trees can be cut down in this forest is not decided by these craftsmen and lumberjacks, but by the consent of the guards. In a mysterious and dangerous area, guards are hired to protect the lives of others. When their employers do not cooperate with actions they consider safe, the guards have the right to decisively leave their employers seeking death on the grounds of protecting their own safety. Leave on your own.
Don't look at it that such rules seem cruel, and if the uncle who pays the money wants to do it, how can the person who gets the money not agree to it. There is no spirit of contract at all!
In fact, in such dangerous places, it is not new for guards to break the legs of their incompetent employers in order to survive in order to attract the pursuing monsters.
Anyway, if you can leave the forest alive, the rest will be accomplices. No one can tell the ugly behavior they did when they encountered danger in that forest. And the people who died in the forest had no way to come forward and accuse them of being betrayed.
Therefore, instead of testing the character of the guards, it is better to say ugly things in front of them, which can also curb the various tricks of some habitual men to commit suicide. Because it has been made clear that in the dangerous wilderness, if you don't do what I say, you will die. This can make some people restrain themselves.
In Lost Land, the most valuable thing is loyalty, and the least valuable thing is loyalty.
So even if the craftsmen were part of the Grand Duke's team, they only asked the lumberjacks to make preparations first and did not actually start work. Putting aside the stubborn behavior of seeking death, they also hope to have a safe working environment in a dangerous area. It is impossible to really ignore the suggestions of the guards and just stick to your own ideas.
Uzov, who was one step behind everyone else, did not step forward to take a look at the silver-grained camphor, which is also a high-grade wood magic material, after he obtained the wood of the target tree species. He took two or three friends from the alliance to inspect the surrounding environment.
"What do you think of camping here?" Uzov asked his friends.
The leader of the guard, who had a considerable status in the Turtle Dove Alliance, followed Uzov around in a circle, and of course he understood what his friend wanted to see. So to the question, he quickly answered: "Although it is not the most ideal environment. But there is still some time before dark, so if you arrange it well, there should be no problem."
After getting the same opinion, Uzov ordered: "Okay, then let people camp here for the night. Wait until tomorrow morning to start felling operations."
You can prepare to rest early and no one will express dissatisfaction. Besides, even if we start the logging work now, it will be at night until everything is completed, so it would be better to do it during the day tomorrow. So everyone quickly cleaned up the environment and set up a temporary camp.
At this time, the young scout came to Uzov again, rubbed his hands, and asked with a smile: "Boss, how about I go back and find the bear? I heard that bear paws are delicious, but I haven't eaten them yet."
Uzov slapped the young man on the back of the head angrily and said, "If you go back alone, I'm really not sure who ate whom. Don't think too much, just look around with the veterans." That’s good. No one will leave the team and look back for something that’s not sure whether it’s still there.”
"The bear is gone?" the young man asked innocently.
"It has four legs, and it will stay there stupidly, waiting for you to go back and kill it. Don't think so much, and learn more from those veterans. They are people with real skills. Even I am with them. Learned a lot from me.”
"Okay."
At night, the camping ground in the forest is quite lively. Although there was no wine, as a member of the Turtle Dove Alliance, there were few people who could not play the piano and sing a few words casually. And this time it was not a serious military operation, so everyone was eating and making trouble in a quite relaxed mood.
Of course, the perimeter guards are still quite serious. Because they don't want to let something happen that shouldn't happen because the guards make mistakes when they are relaxing. Whatever you want in return, you must pay the same price. This is the basic spirit of the alliance.
Beside the campfire, several female warriors, including Mai Ershen, were naturally the targets of everyone's attention. But whether it is the women who are also experienced adventurers, or Melson, who is a dark elf, they can deal with these things with ease. Of course, there are also people who are attracted to her and go into the depths of the forest hand in hand, only to return after a while. Some may be envious of a romantic marriage, but that's all.
People from the technical guild, whether they were allies or not, were used to making friends, so they naturally blended into the relaxed atmosphere of the guards.
On the contrary, the team of craftsmen from the Grand Duke were somewhat self-reliant on their status and could not let go of their emotions. Several young people looked at the positions of the women with envy, but when the old man in the lead glared at them, they shrank their heads as if they had withered.
When the noise in the camp gradually subsided, except for the campfire, which was still being guarded by people, everyone else found a place to sleep. Uzov sat next to Maier, who was still asleep.
The dark elf said jokingly: "Are you lonely, or do you feel cold and need me to warm you?"
Uzov said with a wry smile: "I want to ask about what you mentioned during the day. He must be someone under the Grand Duke."
"Oh, it looks like you're not blind yet." Meyer showed an appreciative look.
"That boy is following the master. But his actions are not like a young apprentice at all. Many things are too deliberate and become very obvious. If you can't see it like this, I have been fooling around in vain." Uzo My husband lowered his voice and said, "I just want to confirm with you whether what you found is what I said."
Meyer didn't have Uzov's mysterious attitude, but he also said softly: "If there is no one with better acting skills, then you and I should find the same one."
After receiving the reply from the dark elf, Uzov nodded slightly to a member of the Turtle Dove Alliance not far away, and the other party calmly turned his head and left. If they weren't paying attention, others wouldn't even notice that the two were connected.
Mailhao looked at the man in front of her with interest, as if she was meeting him for the first time. Uzov stared at such a beautiful woman for a long time, and no matter how thick-skinned he was, he couldn't help but cough once or twice, trying to cover up his embarrassment. But he still asked: "Why do you keep staring at me?"
"I always feel like your people are very used to doing this kind of thing." Mai Ershan pointed to the secret communication method he just saw.
In response to such doubts, Uzov smiled shyly and said: "I have done this kind of thing a lot before. I always entered the territory of other nobles and tried to find a way to save this person or that person. A serious adventure. It’s a journey that only lasts a few times.”
Mai Ershan also remembered that the main goal of the Turtle Dove Alliance was mutual assistance, and its actual behavior was just that a group of people who had offended the powerful were rescuing each other. Then because of such behavior, new dignitaries are offended, or the original enemies are offended even more, a perfect vicious cycle. This is also the reason why the people of the Ikaruga Alliance don't have such a good reputation in the eyes of most people.
As if to ease the embarrassment, Uzov said: "But although I know there is a mole, I still can't guess what he might do. After all, in such a dangerous place, it is too easy to frame people."
With her slender arms supporting her sharp and beautiful chin, Melson winked and said, "Do you need me to help you ask him?"
Uzov would not be so naive as to think that the dark elf was just trying to make excuses. So he asked: "Can it not be discovered?"
"With one person missing, it's impossible not to be discovered. But as long as the arrangement is good, there is still a way to explain it."
Of course, Mai Ershan had considered using women's greatest strength to make excuses. If you do this from a comfortable rear, you have a high chance of success.
But this is a place where life and death are at stake. Those who will be sent here will not be the kind of people who can let go of their guard with warm words. And there is no spare time to talk nonsense, so naturally all kinds of vigorous and resolute methods are used to obtain information in the shortest possible time. But by doing so, there is no way to leave an intact person.
After thinking about the dark elf's suggestion, Uzov shook his head and rejected it. He said: "I don't know the reason why the other party is targeting us? Is it because the boss is involved, or is it because the technical guild is attracting attention. Is it Grand Duke Kawei, or someone else? I'm more concerned about what trap he plans to set than what kind of trap he plans to set. I want to know these answers. But if you are too hasty, you may get the wrong answers."
In response to Uzov's concerns, Maiershan nodded in agreement. If the person who comes is a dead soldier, it is not impossible to tell some false information to confuse the public even if he knows he has been exposed.
And Uzov had another consideration, saying: "Besides, we don't have any conclusive evidence to prove that the person intends to set a trap and betray us. What if all this is just a misunderstanding. Even if it is not a misunderstanding, how can we tell others Explain, or even explain to the Grand Duke himself? Or should we treat them all equally and deal with them as traitors? If it turns out that all this is just our overthinking, how much effort will it take to get things back on track. So I The idea is to wait until he exposes himself. Until then, we just have to be careful."
