Experienced hunters all understand the principle of playing hard to get, just as fishermen will deliberately loosen the fishing line to let the big fish struggle to consume physical energy.
Rabbits will bite when cornered, let alone seven or eight fully armed human males in their prime - so it was said to be tracking, but in fact Henry asked everyone to finish the meal slowly first, and then leave part of it behind. People pack their bags and get ready, and finally get ready to set off with their equipment.
It took less than 30 seconds from the time this group of people accidentally broke into their dining scene to the time they decided to retreat. However, the sage is indeed a sage. In such a short time, he can obtain enough information from the visual information. intelligence:
The Luoans who suddenly appeared in this group have a typical Otolo outfit - their clothing has petal-shaped openings on the cuffs and thigh pants. This is a popular trend among the soldiers of the Otolo Empire. It's called the incision outfit. It is almost as distinctive as the leggings of the Padrosi empire on the east coast, and most people born in Rigal can identify their origins from the clothing at a glance. And although most of the weapons they carry are the long swords commonly used by Rigar people, they are also quite distinctive——
The swords of the relatively barren and chaotic small kingdom on the west coast of Rigal are always the simplest. The plain round cake weight ball and straight guard are the easiest to make, cheap and sufficient to achieve the purpose. The blacksmith burns the metal red and softens it, puts it into an anvil and beats it to shape it according to the mold. Even an apprentice can do it; the wealthy Padrosi people on the east coast like fancy hand guards, and the craftsmen will take the trouble to hammer and add side guards. The bracelet is even a hand guard parallel to the handle, and usually has a file, on which the texture of leaves, flowers, birds, wind and moon are carefully carved with a file. Even the handles are usually decorated with spiral iron wire or copper wire, rather than being simply wrapped in sheepskin or calfskin on the West Coast.
The Otolo style long swords of the great Western country can be said to be somewhere between the two - they do not have the complicated fancy guards like those on the East Coast. They are single-piece, but not simply straight. The guard of the Otolo style sword always has an S-shaped bend and some three-dimensional shaping. The characteristics of simplicity, elegance, lightness and practicality are not limited to the sword itself - the Otolo people, who inherited the Laman Empire's military thinking that was even more orthodox than Padrosi, often like 'composite scabbards'. concept.
——In the process of making a long sword scabbard, two small sheaths are often glued and fixed on the surface, and a knife and a sharpening rod are attached to them for chores and maintenance of the long sword.
The long sword our Luoan girl recently got is such a standard Otolo style sword, and she liked it very much as soon as she got started.
——But let’s get back to the original point. This group of Luoan people with such Otolo style in their outfits were naturally the ones who surrendered to Otolo when Luoan fell. Because of the martial nature of the Luoans, many who remained in the west later joined the Otolo armies. Therefore, these people all dress in the obvious style of the Otolo army, but they are slightly different from the so-called "Otolo volunteers" that they have encountered in Avenella in the past.
Otolo's military system is relatively unique. Similar to Padrosi, it also has a standing army system. The soldiers are professionals and are less dependent on militias like small countries on the west coast. However, as a rising power with many internal ethnic groups, Otolo's army was divided into two parts.
The regular legions composed of purebred Otolo people and Lamanids follow the system of the ancient Laman Empire, and are mainly organized infantry combat legions. Basically a modern version of the classic Laman hoplite. On top of this, coupled with the Earth Dragon and Flying Dragon Knight Legions headed by Otolo nobles, Otolo's "Imperial Army" was formed.
——But there is obviously something missing.
The traditional cavalry popular on the west and east coasts of Rigal, as well as the archers of Avenella and the steppe areas, are relatively rare in the traditional society of Otolo. Although the dragon knights are powerful, and there is even a saying that "one dragon is worth a hundred horses", their numbers are rare and they are always stationed in the capital and major military towns and are rarely deployed.
In the past, when the country was small, relying solely on infantry was enough. However, after the Kingdom of Luoan was destroyed and the territory was further expanded, the shortcomings of the infantry army's mobility were clearly exposed.
The expansion of the empire's territory and the relatively stable domestic environment mean that the wars faced by the Otolo people are no longer large-scale conflicts involving tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of legions, but small rebellions in border areas that are temporarily out of reach. Faced with such remote and small-scale conflicts, the early Otolo Empire relied on the Adventurer's Guild and signed contracts with mercenary groups specializing in human warfare to let them work.
However, the Adventurer's Guild took a 50% commission and lacked direct control over the mercenary group. The inefficiency of having to go around and communicate through guild channels every time something happened finally made Emperor Otolo decide to set up his own mercenary group. corps.
The "National Mercenary Corps", pronounced "Lanshnite" in the Otolo language, commonly known as the "National Servant Army" was thus established. This newly established army absorbed many outsiders as its composition, and its foundation was the adventurer mercenary group that was the first to cooperate and both parties were very satisfied. Being a mercenary and eventually becoming a regular army was a way out.
Because of these factors, the overall military style of the National Servant Army is also more inclined to the style of other areas of Rigar. This army, which is younger than the "Imperial Army", has been in Luoan for a long time. Now, it can be regarded as one of the few troops in Otolo with more outstanding military achievements.
——So these Roan people came here on behalf of the will of the Otolo Empire?
After the Padrosi Empire, even Otolo will be involved in the affairs of Crescent Continent?
This idea was rejected by the sage as soon as it came up - their composition was too pure. Even if they were recruited to submit to Otolo, it was absolutely impossible for the empire to send a team composed of pure Luoans as their envoys.
In the past, the volunteers sent to Avenella during the Civil War were the Imperial Army rather than the Servant Army. This was because the Empire did not have enough trust in the Servant Army and was worried that their rebellion would only strengthen the opponent's strength.
A multi-ethnic "country of all people" is ultimately based on the strength of one dominant nation. If the Otolo people themselves lose power, it is extremely normal for other ethnic groups to rebel. Because of this, the empire will definitely let people of its own nation handle matters that are important enough.
This is the first reason, and the second reason is that Crescent Continent is very, very lacking in value to the Otolo Empire.
Why did the Latino shop assistant who had dined there say that there were customers from the west when it came to Otolo cuisine? In terms of geographical location, Otolo is actually on the east side of Crescent Continent today.
The reason is very simple. The Otolo people did not land on Crescent Continent directly by boat from the Otolo Empire. Instead, they first came from the west to the southern part of the east coast, and then went eastward with the Lamanites from their ports. So to the Hispanic guy in the store, the Otolo people are the people from the west. They may not even know that Otolo should be to the east in terms of Crescent Continent's concept.
And even this detour is actually more efficient and time-saving than taking a boat directly from Otolo mainland to Crescent Continent.
Because the route through the west coast and the inland sea of Mobigas is very mature and relatively safe, even the route in the Northern Ligaro Sea is far less dangerous than crossing the entire ocean.
On the road heading west from Otolo to Crescent Continent, there are no islands or continents known to humans. The only supplies that can be counted on are those carried by the ship itself and the creatures caught in the sea; and apart from the compass, the only things that can be counted on are the navigation of the stars. This distance limitation itself has become the biggest obstacle.
The scene is the same before and after the vast ocean. If you can't tell the direction, you will feel extremely helpless. If walking on the North Ligalu Sea for ten days and a half and seeing this scene is enough to drive ordinary people crazy, then the five-month journey from Otolo to Crescent Continent is enough to drive even the most experienced people crazy. Sailors are timid.
Not to mention that there will be areas in the sea where the compass will fail. Coupled with the legends of Sirens and Kraken, captains who are brave enough to challenge often end up with no return.
It is for this reason that the Otolo people named the ocean to their west the Optom Ocean - meaning "nightmare".
A hopelessly distant land where the only feasible way to land was through the ports controlled by the East Coasters. So many factors destined that even if the Otolo Empire knew about the existence of the Moon Country, it would still lack interest in establishing commercial trade and other exchanges with it - so these Roan people from Otolo were destined not to represent the empire's position.
But is this a good thing?
The sage is not yet convinced.
He looked at his disciples with some worry. Milla is a very compassionate child, Henry is pleased with this. But especially after she escaped from her original life, she often felt an almost guilt-based sympathy for her fellow Luoans.
In layman's terms, she felt she had been saved and therefore had to do more, had to save others. She'll be more desperate than ever when it comes to matters involving the Roan people.
He was a little worried that the white-haired girl would lose her calm judgment.
But no matter how it ends, they have to find these people first.
——This is by no means difficult for Henry and Lulu, who was born as a hunter.
This group of Luoan people who came from the national servant army are soldiers, and they may be quite experienced. They have the ability to conceal their whereabouts to a certain extent, which is why they were able to get close to Henry and his party at visual distance before being noticed.
But this kind of thing will happen only on the basis that neither side deviates too far from the Xinyuezhou Auxiliary Road.
The advantage of a flat rammed earth road that is high in the middle and low on both sides is that the rainwater will wash away debris along the terrain. When walking on this kind of road, you only need to pay attention to fastening your weapons and equipment and not stepping too hard. If you don't talk, the sound will be loud. It can be issued almost rarely.
But after encountering a group of people, this group of people turned around and fled, making a decision that was common sense but completely wrong based on their opponents' abilities - they fled into the forest.
Departing from the main road and entering complex wild terrain is a decision made by people with basic military knowledge to get rid of the enemy. This once again proves that these people are indeed veterans.
But they are just veterans.
They are not hunters.
Human beings cannot completely conceal their whereabouts in the forest - if you ask Lulu, who is a hunter, she will definitely laugh at those guys who think that hunters' so-called "disguise" is "complete silence" as ignorant city dwellers.
It's early autumn, and after a night of gentle breeze, the forest floor is now covered with dead leaves. It is absolutely impossible for such a large living person, who is more than one meter tall and weighs dozens of kilograms, to walk into such an environment without making any sound.
But hunters can still get close enough to kill with one shot without alerting their prey.
——Precisely because the forest is never completely silent.
The sound of wind, the swaying of leaves; the sound of squirrels jumping down from the trees and jumping quickly through the piles of fallen leaves. Ye Zhi walked on the ground step by step, searching for the sounds of insects in the dark from time to time.
The sounds of foxes and coyotes sniffing and trotting around in search of prey or other food.
The sound of deer and boar walking.
In the vibrant nature, there are many animals and even natural phenomena that make sounds. If prey like deer or wild boars respond to every sound, then their foraging, resting and even reproduction will be greatly affected. big obstacle.
——So wild animals know how to filter out those "harmless" sounds.
A squirrel is unlikely to cause harm to a deer or wild boar, so the rustling of fallen leaves is safe.
The sound of wind and leaves swaying is not very harmful, so don't be too vigilant.
but.
"Crack-" The sound of dead branches scattered along with fallen leaves on the forest floor being trampled came from the front left. Lulu waved her hand in front, and Henry and others lowered their bodies.
Squirrels keep trampling on dead branches because they are too light. It is almost impossible for a wild child to do this, and it is difficult for a fox or a coyote to do so.
A creature that can crush dead branches with one foot means that it is large enough to pose a threat to wild deer and wild boars - either tigers, bears, or humans.
So experienced hunters will avoid dead branches on the ground, because these are the loudest alarms in the auditory systems of forest animals.
The sound of "rustling——" followed by the sound of broken branches was heard. This is the habit of humans who are not used to walking silently in the forest full of fallen leaves - people who are used to walking on paved roads often walk Will drag the feet, which means the feet will not be too far from the ground when taking steps. This walking method is labor-saving and easy, but in a forest full of fallen leaves, a large piece of fallen leaves will be kicked away, making a completely different sound than a squirrel walking wildly through the forest - their position is further determined.
"Ahao (idiot)." Lulu whispered contemptuously. If she went hunting with those people, I am afraid that the prey would have run a hundred meters away by now.
The experienced hunter girl always pays attention to the dead branches on the ground, lifting her feet up and then lowering them with every step. They did not make any sound, but they blended into the background sound, reducing the presence of a one-meter-tall and dozens of kilograms human being to that of a harmless little squirrel.
The forest is the home of hunters, and these people hope that they can get rid of their opponents by escaping in.
But I never thought that they could see almost everything from here.
——Henry and his party approached.
