A night of silence.
After dinner in the evening, Henry found more firewood to increase the burning time of the campfire - they were a little far away from the camp, and the formation of more than a thousand people caused most of the beasts to run into the depths from the edge of the forest, so in order to The two men entered the deeper forest while hunting.
Although larger and smarter beasts would hide further away so there was no real danger nearby, Henry kept the bonfire going. Fire always scares away these wild animals, but the two chose branches of large trees with thick trunks as a place to spend the night.
This is necessary caution in the warm coastal forest. Although the campfire is strong, there are still countless nocturnal snakes, insects, rats, and ants under the forest floor.
Staying off the ground was the best way to prevent you from waking up to find yourself crawling with centipedes, cockroaches, beetles, spiders and ants, and on the trunk of the tree the two chose to rest, Henry had some kind of A powder with a strong pungent smell mixed with tree sap was applied in a circle.
"Insect repellent powder, you can buy it at any adventurer store, and it's extremely cheap," the sage explained to the curious Mira. After that, the two spent their first time in the wild. night.
What woke up the white-haired Luo An was a drop of dew that accumulated on the leaves in the early morning and eventually fell on the tip of her nose.
It was just dawning, but Henry beside her had already fallen out of the tree.
"Kacha" Mira untied the belt that was fixed on her body. It was no joke to turn over and fall from a branch several meters high at night, even if the tree they chose was very small compared to the girl's figure. It is spacious but must avoid any surprises.
"Ugh~" Luo An's waist was tightened by the belt and she was curled up carefully on the tree trunk without being able to stretch out. When she woke up, Luo An felt sore all over her body. She moved her body slightly and sniffed lightly with the tip of her nose. There was a smell of bread.
The leftover roasted hare and snake eaten last night were thrown far away by Henry. The attraction of meat was far higher than that of grains. They didn't want some beasts with keen sense of smell to smell the food and run away while they were sleeping peacefully. come here.
Mira packed up and put on the jacket that was used as a quilt, then climbed down carefully holding on to the trunk of the tree.
"Get up." She handed Henry the strap used to fix the body. It was one of the straps used by the sage to carry the sword. Henry took the strap and handed a big leaf to Mira. Made of water glass.
Water sources in the wild are usually dangerous. There are countless mercenaries and adventurers who have contracted dysentery because of drinking raw water outside. In earlier times, even when the king's army went to fight in a foreign land, the first thing they had to face was not the enemy but supplies. In fact, this has not changed to this day, but it has been left to the soldiers to deal with it themselves. Changed it to a full-time person - we are digressing.
Most travelers nowadays bring a small iron pot that can boil water. Boiling water is the safest way, and hot water can also warm your body or be used for washing. However, this is limited to those who own horses or carriages. Hikers like Henry and Mira can still only collect water in the wild.
Fortunately, the water and grass in the Ecasta Plain are abundant and the air is very humid, and the simple matter of fetching water is not a problem for Henry, who is known as a sage.
The large leaves in the forest are excellent water containers. Make a slight concave shape and use the widest part in the middle as a water container to make a rough shape. Then use some clean rattan to fix it. A simple water cup was made.
There is no obvious water source in the forest where the two of them are or in its vicinity. There may be an underground river, or there may be a stream further away that has not been explored. Who knows.
There is no source of water that is readily available, so what is in this cup? Mira watched Henry carefully recall what he said yesterday - observe and learn - she took a sip. The water had some fresh and unique taste of plants. The Luoan girl asked the sage eyes.
"There are several clean water sources in the wild, one is rainwater, another is snow, and the other is morning dew. But we don't have the first two here for the time being, and the latter is too time-consuming to collect. There are better options now. situation." Henry placed the big leaf with the bread at just the right distance near the rekindled bonfire, then turned and pointed at the trees behind him.
"Vine plants - I mean, grape vines and the like. You only need to cut a slit at the root to get the kind of thing you are drinking now." Henry said to Mira, and the girl clicked Nodding, silently memorizing these things.
"If possible, I would still like to bring a soft kettle made of lambskin. Although it will have some strange smell for a period of time, it is better than having to fetch water in the wild every time." Henry shrugged. , and Mira gave him a roll of her eyes.
"We need more than just a kettle," the girl said, sitting down next to the sage.
…
…
After eating the reheated bread, the two quickly returned to the camp site. It was not yet completely bright. They deliberately avoided the mercenaries who were still sleeping with their weapons in hand. Henry and Mira came to where they were preparing to set off. next to the carriage.
Not many people paid much attention to the arrival of the two. The entire team of coachmen, caravan guards, caravan leaders, travelers, mercenary group members and free mercenaries totaled more than a thousand people, so although a big man who was obviously a mercenary and a little girl were Some are eye-catching, but few people will pay attention.
Henry and Mira once again walked to the front of the team where the lightweight cargo was carried. They stopped next to a carriage and waited for the whole team to set off.
The driver of this carriage is a middle-aged man about 35 years old. What is different from others is that he also brings his son with him. This little red-haired boy with some freckles on his face, who is about the same age as Mila, his eyes lit up when he saw Henry, who was tall and carrying a big sword on his back - obviously, in the eyes of a child, carrying a sword like this The guy with the big sword was quite handsome, but then he noticed the white-haired loli behind him.
"Oh! Is that a dagger?" The boy who rushed over from the wooden chair in front of the carriage frightened the girl a little. She turned her head and then noticed that there was another person of the same age in the motorcade.
"...Yes" the girl nodded shyly, while the red-haired boy said "Oh!" again with great admiration. He then stared at Mira: "Are you also a mercenary? Look at You're about the same age as me, can I see your dagger?" The noisy red-haired boy attracted the attention of two adults. The short, fat middle-aged coachman with a mustache looked at Henry kindly but helplessly. He smiled wryly and nodded, and the sage responded with the same action.
"...No" Mira shook her head again, while the red-haired boy shouted "Let me see it!" while rushing towards her - this action completely frightened the girl, she covered her head With the dagger at his waist, he took a big step back, and it was at this moment——
"Yo--he, Uncle Benny defeated the damn Luoan bandits!!" The sound of galloping horses suddenly came from the bustling convoy behind, and the dandy blond young man from before was controlling the situation. The horse rushed towards the girl - Henry turned around as fast as lightning, but it seemed it was too late -
"..."
"Boom - bang - what! -"
"Hiss hoo hoo hoo - boom -!"
The smoke and dust dispersed, and the Luoan girl with a dull face stood there in a dodging posture.
He did not draw his sword.
The whole place fell silent. The coachman grabbed his son and pulled him back.
At just a moment, Henry was holding only a short knife in his hand. Faced with the horse rushing towards him at full speed, he threw it out between the lightning and flints - the short knife accurately penetrated into the front leg joint of the white horse, causing the It fell to the ground before stepping on Mira, and the blond young man was covered in mud with it.
"Ahhhh! My legs, you, filthy poor guy! Bastard! You damn thing!" Benny, the blond young man who was thrown away heavily, limped up from the ground. , and when he saw his white horse struggling painfully on the ground and bleeding profusely, Benny's eyes widened in disbelief and he knelt down in front of it.
"Oh my god Vanessa, oh my god what have these lowly bastards done to you..."
"You!! You damn despicable poor man, what did you do to my Vanessa!! Do you know how much she cost me? This is a purebred war horse. You sold it for a hundred I can't even afford to pay her!" Benny got up with a ferocious look, but Henry turned a blind eye to this. He just walked over and pulled Mira up, and then asked her if she was okay in his usual calm voice.
"Clang--" The sound of metal colliding with each other and the sound of footsteps came from behind. The huge movement attracted the attention of the middle of the team, and the caravan guards and regular mercenary groups all wearing standard mail armor ran from there. They came over to see what trouble was going on, and Benny immediately started shouting when he saw them.
"Kill those two bastards! Kill them for me!" ordered the young master of the Chamber of Commerce. The guards immediately straightened their spears, and two of them were obviously planning to show off in front of their master. The other companions grabbed spears and stabbed Henry.
"..." The sage pulled Mira behind him with a cold expression. He didn't make any dodge move, he just stood there straight and allowed two menacing spears to pierce his chest. .
"Whoops -" The sharp silver spear points with a violent sound of breaking through the air hit Henry's chest fiercely, but they stopped steadily less than 10 centimeters away from the target, unable to make any further progress. .
"Uh-huh -" The two young caravan guards blushed and the soil turned up under their feet, and all their efforts were in vain.
Henry held the barrels of the two spears with one left hand, and easily stopped the two men's thrusts with just one hand.
No matter how hard the two of them exerted their strength, the tall sage remained as still as a stone monument. His face was calm with a trace of anger, and the next second his arms exerted force and veins popped up on the exposed skin - "Crack - crack -"
The hardwood gun shaft was broken by Henry with one hand. "Crack--" He threw it away, while the two caravan guards who had lost the spear tip took a few steps back with blank expressions on their faces.
"This...is this what the hell is done by humans?" One of the people shouted and wanted to get into his companions, but then he was kicked out by someone behind him.
"An impulsive bastard who can't think calmly and wants to run away after being beaten? I don't need a loser like you here." Walking out of the crowd was a middle-aged man with black hair like Henry. He has a very generous build, and although he is not as tall as the Sage, he is far stronger in appearance than the well-proportioned Henry.
The strong man looked calm and intimidating, and his sharp eyes glanced back and forth. Even Benny, as a young man, turned his head and dared not look directly - but when he met those calm light blue pupils , but the other party didn't mean to avoid it at all.
"I am Armstrong's head guard," the strong man claimed, glancing back and forth. There were only about a dozen caravan guards and Ford mercenaries around him for the time being, but if there was such a movement, more people would arrive immediately. .
"Henry Meyer," replied the sage.
"This is not a good place to talk. Please come with me." Armstrong nodded, and then ordered the heavily armed people around him to walk further away with Henry. Only Benny was left kneeling next to the white horse. It was quite noisy from behind. After a while, Henry and the others heard Benny's loud curses that were almost female screams.
"What are you looking at, you despicable bastards! Get out of here! There's nothing to see here, so get out of here!"
He shouted, and the group of people stopped at the front of the convoy. After waving his hand to drive the coachman away some distance, Armstrong ordered his men to stand aside.
The caravan guard chief did not let his men assume an attack posture, which made Mira, who followed Henry closely, breathe a small sigh of relief.
"..." He looked at Mira, and then focused more on Henry.
After a while, Armstrong sighed.
"First of all, I want to thank you, Mercenary Mel"
"Thank you for taking good care of that arrogant illegitimate son for us," he said, and then sighed again: "But things will get quite ugly next, because that guy's father is my boss. Boss, even if I agree with your approach from the bottom of my heart, I still have my responsibilities."
"..." Henry did not speak. He knew that the other party must have a solution when he said such words.
"Hand over your sword," he said, and the first person to react to these words was Mira behind Henry. The Luoan girl seemed quite at a loss. She was holding on to Henry's clothes tightly. Hem, as if he wanted to say something but didn't know what to say, so he looked back and forth with eager eyes.
"I will leave you the dagger and small sword for self-defense, but in the absence of a crisis, your big sword will be kept by us. This is the minimum requirement, and you will continue to use it. My movements are restricted during the day and I am not allowed to get close to the passenger compartment at the end of the convoy. This is for the convenience of both parties."
"All this will last until we arrive at Ellen's Fort. When we get there, we will ask the City Lord's Palace for a trial, and then we will determine your crime. Do you think this plan is acceptable?" Armstrong showed that he was beyond his rough appearance. With his calmness and wisdom, Henry nodded, untied the metal buckle on his chest under Mira's anxious eyes, and then handed the big sword in his hand to the other party.
"Oh--" The caravan guard general who took the sword sank his hands. He looked at it for a moment, then raised his head and looked at Henry with complicated eyes.
"You are really not simple..." he said, and then nodded towards Henry: "Then we will wait until we arrive at Ellenburg." Then he turned around and left quickly with his men.
"...Is this okay, for me?" When everyone left, Luo An looked at Henry with worried eyes and asked.
"No problem." The sage gave her a reassuring smile and reached out to touch her head.
"Da da da da" footsteps sounded again from behind, and the red-haired mercenary deputy commander who passed by the caravan guards and ran over. Adela glanced at Henry, who was not carrying a sword, with complicated eyes from a few meters away, and the sage nodded to her silently.
"..." The red-haired female mercenary nodded in response. Seeing that the matter had been resolved, she did not get any closer. She just took another deep look at the two of them, turned around and walked towards the back.
"Woo--" The lead coachman who came back here a minute later picked up the horn and blew it with such huge power that his white beard was blown to both sides. The loud and long voice reached every position in the team, and some mercenaries who were still sleeping hurriedly climbed up from the tree they were leaning on.
The journey begins again.
