Mercenary Wars

Chapter 181 Five Pieces
Niels' three clones tried their best to hinder Gaucano.

The main body then focused all its efforts on cutting down trees.

As he felled the oak tree, he would occasionally glance at it.

Niels noticed something different about the tree.

Besides the common characteristics of high-grade trees, such as a sturdy trunk, this oak tree has two most distinctive features.

First of all, it was growing very poorly, looking dry and withered, as if it might die at any moment.

Secondly, the tree is covered with countless tiny holes, making it look as if it has been eaten by many pests.

This will undoubtedly reduce the value of the tree considerably.

Niels frowned, a question flashing through his mind: What kind of insects could bore into such a high-grade oak tree? And... why have these insects disappeared now?
The first question was easy to answer; nature has everything, from high-level plants to high-level insects. But the latter left him completely baffled.

He didn't have much time to think it over—the three clones couldn't hold off Gao Jiano for long; this apothecary was much more powerful than he had imagined.

In any case, such a high-grade oak tree is a good harvest.

Gaucano didn't want to share it with anyone else, and Niels certainly didn't want to either!

So he put all his strength into cutting down the tree and kept a close eye on Gaucano's movements.

Not a moment.

"Cha-"

With a tearing sound, the swaying oak tree finally lost its balance and fell down along the gap that Nils had cut out.

Then Nils reached out and grabbed the oak tree, stuffing it into his storage ring.

However, he did not notice at all that, the moment the oak tree fell, a faint, eerie light flashed by, darted out from the broken edge, and instantly disappeared into his body.

He was clearly unaffected by the eerie light, and was laughing arrogantly: "Hahaha!"

Before his laughter subsided, he tore open a spell scroll, and then his figure vanished in an instant.

Gao Jiano felt his hunter's mark being erased and quickly tried to reapply it.

However, at that moment, Niels' three clones stepped forward and blocked his view, preventing him from aiming in time.

For marks or curses, aiming is the key to hitting; if you can't aim, you can't hit.

Given Nils' speed and stealth abilities, Gaucano probably had less than a tenth of a second to reapply the Hunter's Mark. Being blocked like this, he naturally had to miss the opportunity.

The main body has already gone far away, and the clone has also stopped its attacks, which were destined to be fruitless.

The three Niels stood before Gaugano, continuing their mocking laughter, saying, "Go ahead and report my shameless behavior! Oh, and it would be best if Lucius knew about it too! Hahaha—"

Enraged, Gao Jiano slashed and destroyed three of his clones.

It was beyond his expectation.

Three messages popped up.

[Experience +3]

[Experience +3]

[Experience +3]

You actually have experience?!

This surprised Gao Jiano.

He immediately frowned and began to think.

No wonder these clones, which appeared out of nowhere, could cause damage. If it weren't for his Earth Skin, the combined attack of three clones would have been difficult to deal with.

No wonder Nils claimed that he hadn't used this move in a long time. Considering that death can generate experience, the cost of this clone spell must be more than just mana or stamina.

Losing three clones must have been painful for Niels.

Gaucano's mood improved slightly.

But the thought of the level 10 oak tree being taken away by cows still made him feel irritable.

From this point on, Gaucano's wariness and aversion towards Niels officially evolved into hatred.

Once you hate someone, you'll find yourself wanting to cause them trouble.

Gaucano was no exception.

Putting aside the rare opportunity to "find the right time and place to preemptively eliminate Nils," his best course of action now seems to be, as Nils suggested, to report him.

Of course, it wasn't about reporting Nils for "stealing trees."

Strictly speaking, Nils's actions were not "stealing" in a criminal sense, but rather "taking" in a perfectly legitimate way. After all, the tree was still growing in the wild and was not the property of any Mossatians, so of course, the first to cut it down got it.

Niels' only inappropriate action was using invisibility. The doctrines and laws of Mosa restrict invisibility spells, and using invisibility against fellow believers is at least unethical—especially since Niels is most likely gay.

But the Tidal Lands are practically lawless; unless there is a witness who witnesses a fellow church member committing murder, the sheriff and the church simply don't bother with it.

In comparison, Nils's "shameless act" is simply insignificant. Even if it happened in a town, let alone in the Tidelands, it would most likely end in a muddy resolution.

Besides, Gaucano himself isn't exactly clean.

If he were to ask church judges and prosecutors to use methods such as thought testing or malicious investigation, he might be the one sent to prison or even the Inquisition first.

No, it should be said that he was the one who was tried first.

Gaucano recalled Nils' childhood experiences in the church.

For Nils, it was undoubtedly a painful and humiliating experience; but objectively speaking, after the incident was exposed, Nils also gained many benefits—such as compensation from the church.

The Church offered substantial compensation for this massive scandal, both material and tacit. News of Nils's ordeal reportedly reached the highest levels of the Church, garnering explicit sympathy from the Pope and the College of Cardinals. This sympathy, when relayed to Nordanron and Southshore, was interpreted as condoning the affair.

It is precisely because of the church's permissive attitude that Nils, despite his notorious reputation as a pervert and highly suspicious gay man, and his bloody nickname "The Skinner," has never faced any punishment.

The church's stance is persistent; unless Nils has truly committed an unforgivable crime and evidence has been laid against him, it is not a wise choice to "take legal action" against him.

Therefore, such accusations are clearly unfounded.

Or perhaps we could try working on Behelight's Oracle Chest?
That doesn't seem like a good idea either. Nils would definitely hide the evil god's treasure chest, and even if it were discovered, he could simply say that he "didn't understand mysticism and bought it for fun."

Realizing that taking revenge on Niels would not be easy, Gaucano couldn't help but sigh.

He shook his head, putting his thoughts aside. He could stay in the Tidal Land for three more days; he should make good use of those three days first.

Gaucano noticed that this was not the end of the passage.

There was another road ahead, and a gentle breeze was coming from it, which must be an exit.

Gao Jiano initially considered turning back, but upon closer reflection, he realized that since Nils had come alone, nothing good had likely happened at the auditorium.

So he didn't turn back, but walked straight to the exit that was right in front of him.

Not long after.

Gaugano returned to the surface and continued his exploration of the Tidal Lands.

Compared to the first day, the experience over the next three days was relatively uneventful.

In fact, Gaugano only encountered a slight disturbance at one lake; otherwise, he simply wandered around, gathered resources, and killed monsters without any major incidents.

After all, areas with ancient churches are not common, and it's good if a tidal flat has one.

The majority of the area is still an endless expanse of natural landscapes such as mountains, forests, and rivers, as well as various magical beasts that inhabit them.

These open-air natural landscapes are destined to be devoid of many dramatic stories.

Over three days, thanks to the advantage granted by the Blood Rush, Gaogano explored almost the entire Tidal Land.

At least his plant senses had already covered the entire Tidal Land—two and a half days after he entered the Tidal Land.

This also means that by the third and a half day, there were not a single Forget-Me-Not plants left in the Tide Land.

After all, regardless of whether Gaucano picked any of the Forget-Me-Not plants in the entire Tidelands, he has already seen them all. Therefore, even if some stray moss manages to escape his grasp, it will disappear on its own within a day.

Gaucano was indeed the person who harvested the most forget-me-not plants.

He could roughly sense that there were six plants that should be Eternal Forget-Me-Nots. Three of them disappeared before he arrived. One disappeared on its own, and the other two were probably taken by someone else first. After all, it was unlikely that two plants would disappear at the same time. They were most likely stored in a storage ring, which shielded them from plant perception.

The remaining three plants ended up in his pocket.

This means that Gaucano collected a total of five pieces of Forget-Me-Not Moss on this trip!

There are five pieces of Eternal Forget-Me-Not Moss, two of which are of the water element, and one each of the fire, earth, and wind elements.

Its market value is close to three hundred gold coins!
Including other miscellaneous gains, Gaucano has already recouped the cost of the alchemy table and other tools he purchased for making potions!

Thinking about this, the frustration of having the oak tree taken away by Nils was greatly relieved.

In the last half day, Gao Jiano came to the vicinity of a snake-slaying line and scavenged some odds and ends of common herbs. When time was almost up, he crossed the snake-slaying line and returned to the outside world.

There were some people waiting outside.

Most of them were adventurers who had left the Tidal Lands before this.

A few are even higher-level adventurers.

Their levels are all above level eight, with the highest theoretically reaching level twelve. They are waiting for the next "high tide" in the Tidal Lands so that they can also pass through.

However, the number of these high-level individuals is very small.

There are probably only a handful in total.

The reason is simple: those with a level eight or higher in the Naming system are already rare, and they would be considered significant figures anywhere in Farallo. This Tidal Land is also relatively "barren" with limited resources, so it can naturally attract even fewer Naming individuals of level eight or higher.

Not long after Gao Jiano stepped out of the snake-slaying line, a conversation reached his ears.

"What the hell!" a loud voice, clearly belonging to a dwarf, rang out.

Gaucano turned his head and saw a dwarf wearing a mage's robe with fiery red hair and beard, who looked somewhat similar to the Red Dwarf.

This made him take a closer look. Dwarves are not a race skilled in magic; their magical talent is generally considered to be significantly inferior to that of humans, so dwarven mages are not common.

"What's wrong?" Someone asked.

“I just did a divination, and guess what? The divination results show that there is absolutely no way I can find the Forget-Me-Not Plant here! Not even one!” the dwarf mage said.

"Most of the time, they make a wasted trip to the Tidal Land."

“No, no, no, this is different. This is ‘absolutely impossible,’ not ‘scarce hope’!” the dwarf mage added immediately. “This situation is not normal!”

"There are at most a few patches of Forget-Me-Not Moss here. You are a level twelve mage, do you really need such a small amount?"

Gao Jiano was taken aback, never expecting that this unassuming dwarf was actually a level twelve mage!

Most level 12 mages are well-known figures, which made Gao Jiano search his mind for possible names of them.

The dwarf mage snorted, twitched his long red beard, and began to ramble, "Would you ever complain about having too many Forget-Me-Not plants? I thought this was a vacation where I could drink fresh Forget-Me-Not tea, but it seems that old bastard Randolph lied to me again..."

His voice gradually lowered, and at the end it seemed to be a bit of cursing.

Then he brandished his staff and chanted a spell.

The incantation is very long.

This was the first time Gaucano had ever seen such a long incantation, and he couldn't understand it at all.

Such a long incantation would certainly consume a great deal of magical power.

In fact, even for a level twelve mage, this incantation caused him to show a slight strain on his face.

After a while, the incantation was completed.

A burst of pure, pale blue light suddenly shone, instantly enveloping the dwarf mage.

Immediately, the mage's figure vanished into thin air in a flash, without a trace.

"Teleportation!" exclaimed some people nearby.

"As expected of a level 12 mage! He can actually teleport alone!"

"How enviable! Such a convenient spell, if used to deliver messages, how much money could one make!" People discussed among themselves.

Gaucano leaned closer and asked, "Who is he?"

“Don’t you know? He’s Professor Teymore from Ax Magic Academy!” someone replied.

(End of this chapter)