Just like the west coast or any other place on the Rigal continent, there is a huge gap in the customs and customs between the northern and southern parts of the Padrosi Empire.
From the diet to the folk songs, the north and the south of the empire were completely different, so people from the two places often disagreed on some things. In the eyes of northerners, some of the advantages of the south are not taken seriously by locals, while southerners have long been accustomed to some of the shortcomings that they consider to be deficiencies, and some even support them.
The imprint caused by the environment in which they grew up is extremely profound and cannot be erased nor can outsiders empathize with it. However, even with such huge differences, when southerners and northerners alike face the problem of insect infestation, their behaviors are surprisingly consistent.
"The worst thing about the south is that it's not cold enough and there are too many bugs all year round." Whether you are talking to a southerner or a northerner, they will definitely agree with this sentence and begin to express their feelings about these seemingly Endless bugs are a huge source of dissatisfaction.
People who live by the water will be attacked by swarms of flying mosquitoes at night, and people who smell business opportunities have therefore developed a variety of plasters and mosquito coils to prevent mosquitoes, but most of them are of little use, so there is no experience People won't waste money on this. Insects that begin to decline in large numbers as late autumn in the north and become completely extinct in winter are relatively rare in the south and are still very rampant.
But there’s always that time, right?
Some things that you usually hate or at least find very troublesome, at a certain moment, you actually wish they existed.
Whether it's the absence of that noisy person in the past that makes you feel a little lonely, or those annoying bugs suddenly stopped chirping, leaving only the "rustling" sound of leaves blown by the wind in the vast forest.
Humans are always aware of such sudden changes, even to the untrained eye. Some people attribute this to the sensitivity to environmental changes in a stable society, but if we really want to dig deeper, this should be an instinct of beings.
It cannot be explained or understood, it is beyond subjective and conscious control, but is deeply buried in the soul.
as weak creatures.
as.
The instinct of the hunted party.
"Qiang——"
Everyone gathered behind the fire, and the mercenaries quickly picked up the torches. The few people who had taken off their armor for the convenience of working quickly redressed themselves. They formed a formation and used trees and carriages as shelters to protect themselves. The firelight flickered, and there was silence and darkness outside the warm orange light.
Margaret pulled out the dagger from her waist, and her stabbing sword, or small sword in Padrosian usage, was held in the hand of the old butler Ferruccio.
They did not form a tight formation, which showed that the mercenaries had relatively rich experience in night fighting.
A dense azimuth formation outdoors in an unfamiliar area may provide excellent protection during the day due to its common advance and retreat, but in such low visibility conditions, the encirclement will only hinder each other, and there is a great possibility of blocking the bonfire or The light of the torch made it impossible to judge the situation and fell into panic.
Disperse your actions, the night itself is the best cover - if you go to look at a professional book related to combat or adventure published by the Padrosi Empire, as long as it is professional enough, they will definitely annotate this sentence on it .
It is true that environmental factors are something that any good fighter must pay attention to. Unlike those professional tactics that will be ineffective by distinguishing between cold zones and tropics, as well as mountains and plains, the alternation of day and night is a daily occurrence in most areas, and the various utilization methods extended are very basic and highly versatile. .
"Don't be afraid of the night, blend into the night and make the darkness your cover and your shield."
It sounds very reasonable and is very effective in practice - but it is based on a premise.
It is based on the premise that your opponent, like you, is a human being whose vision is severely reduced once night falls.
"Not a human!" a mercenary shouted loudly. This can be easily judged without being as high as our Mr. Sage - it is almost impossible for human robbers to be quiet like this. Even if they didn't let out strange screams of encouragement and courage, the miscellaneous equipment hanging on their bodies would still make subtle noises at night. It was absolutely impossible to do this. It wasn't until the sound of insects stopped that they noticed that they were near their camp.
This is a creature whose body functions far exceed those of humans.
"Demon, it must be a demon!" Uncle Mario suddenly changed his color: "When autumn first came, I heard from the imperial soldiers in Parnilla that demons appeared on the southern border without a trace, and many civilians died. And a whole squadron of three knights is missing!”
"No, if it is a demon, the smell of sulfur should be so strong that we can't breathe at all." The sage denied this guess, which made people feel somewhat relieved. But perhaps it was the courage brought about by the tension that was used in the wrong place. One of the mercenaries took over his words in a somewhat hasty tone: "Then what do you think it is? Could it be that it is still an elf?"
"It's possible." To his surprise, Henry nodded. The mercenary was stunned for a moment, and then, regardless of the urgency of the situation, he continued to argue as if he wanted to continue the quarrel with the sage: "Huh? But aren't those weak and slender guys famous for their magic? Are you crazy?"
The sage glanced at the person who spoke. This kind of behavior of trying to divert attention by arguing with teammates was very common among people who lacked confidence. He ignored him, and the other party thought about Henry's previous actions and finally gave in.
"Where are your weapons? Don't you use that sword?" The next person who spoke to him was Filippo. Henry was wearing a breastplate but only had a few knives hanging on his waist. The long sword in his hand was used in the village before. The wall was broken and damaged. There was only an empty scabbard hanging on the fixed armed belt.
Filippo pointed to Claymer, but the sage made no reply.
"Over there!" A mercenary noticed something moving in the distance.
"Francis, Philome, follow me and strike first." Moreau said this, but Margaret couldn't help but say: "Why don't you try to communicate, charging with such murderous intent?" Go up there, what if that really is an elf.”
"No one comes without kindness, my dear lady, I don't want to risk my life on whether what the big man said is true." Moreau said, and then glanced at Henry: "No offense, but We are not familiar with the place. You are not a sage whose words can be used as gold or prophecies. Even if you are really an elf, communication and negotiation can wait until you have gained an advantage and subdued the other party. ."
He said this, and the others - even Filippo and Ferruccio - nodded in agreement.
Margaret clenched her fists, pursed her lips and hesitated to speak. Mira looked at Henry, and the sage raised his eyebrows: "What a typical human thinking." He said this, and then gave Mira a wink, and the white-haired girl nodded. The next second, Henry ran out with a "whoosh" and ran out in the other direction alone.
"Hey, big man, where are you going?" Morrow and the others shouted from behind, but he left the team alone without looking back.
This was a very foolish move considering their current situation.
Just like those frizzy idiot characters created by Padrosi novelists in horror literature and adventure literature to highlight the protagonist's intelligence - although they do exist - such characters often lose their IQ and intelligence when encountering serious crises. Think normally and focus on dividing the team, acting impulsively and causing things to deteriorate further.
Among them, acting alone in times of crisis should rank high in the list of stupid things to do.
Youdao has strength in numbers. When encountering unknown dangers, he still stubbornly chooses to split the team or act without authorization. There is generally no other answer except seeking death.
But he is Henry.
"General" doesn't work for him.
"——" The wind howled past his ears, and the sage just ran a few steps away and disappeared from the sight of everyone in the camp. He went deeper into the night and moved some distance toward the north.
The other party won't be too far away. There is something about the camp that attracts it. As long as you figure out what this is, you can more or less determine what the other party is - although he vaguely already has some answers, but as Moreau said, they don't want to bet on the credibility of his words.
The sage stopped and began to observe his surroundings. A few dozen meters behind him, Moro and the others muttered for a while and started running towards the south direction on the other side. But if his theory was correct, they would find nothing there.
He had no intention of explaining this to them, nor did he intend to explain the ins and outs.
Mercenaries have a mercenary way of acting, and they will always act this way in the future. If there is a potential threat, use force to eliminate it, and then consider whether communication and dialogue can be conducted after confirming that the situation is safe.
It is impossible for them to change, because the humans of the Laman Empire did the same thing thousands of years ago. This is the biological nature hidden in human instinct.
It can save your life in many situations, but when dealing with more complex situations, it often causes situations that could have been handled peacefully to deteriorate and become dangerous.
"They wanted a mistake, so they saw a mistake; they wanted an enemy, so they saw an enemy." The Lamanite sages summed up the truth thousands of years ago, and people today still cannot get rid of it. .
They will not realize the consequences of what they are doing. If they show hostility in elven territory such as Bao Forest, if it really leads to confrontation and conflict, the mercenaries will only affirm it. My assessment of the threat was correct.
There are still barriers between human beings from different cultural backgrounds. When encountering elves, a foreign race with a completely different culture, many natural and customary practices need to be strictly avoided.
But it is obviously unreliable to wait until this time to teach them to let go of their prejudices and stop acting too much like normal human beings. Therefore, what our Mr. Sage can do is to leave the team immediately and solve everything outside. .
It was certain that Morrow and the others would not find anything to the south.
This is not a wild beast, and there is no fishy smell around it. Of course, it couldn't be a demon, otherwise he would have reacted long ago.
The night could not block Henry's vision. He continued to walk forward while observing the surrounding environment and looking for traces - the opponent obviously had a numerical disadvantage and was probably alone. Therefore, he chose the typical trick of making east and west attacks to lure them away, and then he would probably approach the camp from the north where he was.
Henry didn't know what the purpose was, but he speculated that the elf was more curious than hostile towards them.
Because if the other party comes with hostility, even with his presence when he approaches so unexpectedly, at least two to three people will be reduced in the camp.
Due to lack of contact and understanding, most people's understanding of elves remains in some folk tales and legends. They only know that they have outstanding appearance and are good at magic. Only a few people know that these guys who are very similar to humans actually have far superior physical functions than humans.
The slender and seemingly frail elves are children of nature. They can run in forests and wilderness at more than three times the speed of humans. In fact, among the five major races in the world of Rigar, the physical abilities of adult humans are only It is better than the dwarf who is most similar in physical structure, that is, almost at the bottom level.
And this is just because most of the dwarfs' physiques are at the level of human children. If they were equal in height and weight, they would be on par with humans.
Stronger physical abilities, adept at magic, excellent longevity, and generally excellent appearance by human standards. This series of elements sounds like a superior race, and at least in the hearts of ordinary people and even some human nobles, elves are indeed such a kind of existence.
But this, like so much else, is just from a human perspective.
As long-lived beings, elves are very different from humans. The first point is that they do not have the concept of a country.
The elves have no country, no overly complex social class status system, and no human divisions such as "Paderosi", "Lamanite", "Avenera" and "Sivalier". They are not as good at using prejudices and stereotypes to generalize an entire group as humans are, but always recognize each other as individuals.
The good thing about this method is that the relationships established between elves and elves or with other alien races are often quite reliable and can withstand the polish of time. But on the downside, the concise and effective camp division of "showing one's identity and proving oneself" in human society does not work here either.
"Who am I? I vouch for my identity and I have no ill intentions!" The elves will not buy this statement because it is difficult for them to understand various things in human society. There is no big difference between saying this to an elf and saying it to a cat. They will just look at you with confusion.
The huge cultural difference between the two sides is one of the reasons why elves avoid humans. When they are about to face contact, the mercenaries who do not know what they are doing are like facing a powerful enemy. Our Mr. Sage who knows the situation The burden will not be much lighter.
He has a lot to do to avoid conflict.
But first we have to find the elf.
The darkness and the speed of movement far exceed that of humans. Even for Henry, this job will not be easy.
He closed his eyes.
But the world becomes clearer as a result.
In the camp nearly a hundred meters away, the Luoan girl was persuading others to calm down. Farther away on the south side, Morrow and the others couldn't find any clues due to the low visibility, and they were in a mess, mumbling and shouting meaninglessly.
Block out those voices and focus.
Even the breath blends into the night.
The slightest movement will not escape - the change of airflow caused by the wind being blocked by the tree trunks, the rustling sound of multi-legged insects crawling through the grass. No matter how much it is considered a child of nature, if it exists there and is a substantial object, it will definitely have an impact on the surrounding environment.
It’s the abrupt scene changes that give away the presence.
The gentle breeze blowing in front of me suddenly weakened in an instant.
Some subtle inconsistencies do not need to be seen for sure, but are just intuitively noticed that something is wrong.
That's where——
"Crack-" Henry moved, but the other party also noticed him at the same time. The man distanced himself decisively, his movements so flustered that the surrounding plants made a rustling sound.
The body is very small and she must be female.
He chased after him, and even in the darkness, the sage was still able to run at an astonishing speed.
The skirt part of the breastplate even kept rising because of the speed of running. The clanging metallic sound and the sound of the 1.95-meter-tall Henry running wildly sounded extremely obvious in the silence. Mira and the others They all looked towards the forest to the north. Due to the amplification effect brought by the silence, the sage running wildly sounded like a small group of heavy cavalry charging.
They stared blankly, but saw nothing except the pitch-black night.
Henry caught up.
Judging from the movement and a series of senses, his understanding of the other party became more and more detailed, but just when he was about to slow down and not be so hasty to avoid being frightened, the elf in front suddenly changed direction, and then he noticed the second Two breaths.
"——" In just a moment, the plate armor on Henry's body reflected a faint light, which provided a target for the man hiding behind.
"Chachacha -" He shoveled up a pile of fallen leaves on the ground with his left heel and stopped hard. "Ho!" The second breath let out a loud war cry, raised its ax high and struck at him.
"Huh--" The ax failed, and Henry stepped aside.
""
This is a human being.
The situation seemed to be more complicated than he thought. The sage stood up slowly, and the other party held a battle ax and approached here with the faint light.
