Mercenary Wars

Chapter 209 The County of Asur

South Asur Desert?

Upon hearing that it was this place, Gaucano was stunned.

Isn't this the area where Sentry Stone Town is located?
When Daryls noticed that he suddenly seemed lost in thought, she immediately waved her hand and asked, "What's wrong, boss?"

“It’s nothing.” Gao Jiano paused for a moment. “It seems we’ll have one more travel companion.”

He hadn't intended to travel to the Asur Desert for a reason that only existed in speculation, but now that the Oracle of Sindragosa also needed to go there, and since it was on the way anyway, it wouldn't hurt to bring Little Black along.

After packing his luggage, Gao Jiano disguised himself and went to the black market.

After all, the key casting material for awakening the undead, "Potion of Awakening the Undead," can obviously only be bought on the black market.

Even on the black market, this kind of potion, which has a high barrier to entry for production, a narrow range of uses, and is strictly prohibited, is rarely seen.

Therefore, after inquiring around the black market, Gaucano's only finding was that the last time a potion of undead awakening appeared in Southshore was four years ago.

Upon hearing this news, Gao Gano was somewhat perplexed.

The Undead Awakening Potion last appeared on the market four years ago.

I don't know when it will appear again.

The situation in other towns is probably not much better.

Although this stuff is priced similarly to a secondary potion, it might be even rarer than a standard potion.

After some thought, Gao Jiano finally came up with a solution that was hardly a solution at all—to visit all the black markets along the route from Southsea Town to Sentinel Town.

Southsea Town is located at the southern end of the Faralo Continent, while the Kingdom of Asur is in the north-central part of the continent. The two are more than a thousand miles apart, with numerous towns along the way, and of course, no shortage of black markets.

Gao Jiano estimated that he could find at least a few dozen black markets along the way.

Explore all these dozens of black markets; I bet you can find the Undead Awakening Potion there.

However, adopting this plan also means that he can no longer use the portal.

After all, while using a portal would halve the journey, it would also halve the number of black markets along the way, greatly reducing the chances of buying the Undead Awakening Potion.

Gaucano was quite keen to try the portal, especially after obtaining the title of "Champion of Nordanron," which made using the portal much cheaper than for ordinary people.

Fine, if they don't want to leave, they don't have to...

After finalizing the plan, Gaucano and Daris discussed it, and then went to Hicks' house again at night to find Little Black and use the Animal Talk spell.

Seeing that he had come empty-handed this time, the black bear couldn't help but ask, "Gaucano, why didn't you bring me anything good to eat this time? The meat you brought is much better than what the Hunter's Guild steward gave us."

“I’ll take you to Old Scar,” Gao Jiano said. “Didn’t you say that Old Scar is the best chef in Sentry Rock?”

"Really?" Little Black's mouth watered, his eyes shining. "You're really going to take me to find Old Scar?"

“Of course, in the name of Mother Earth.” Gao Jiano patted the black bear. “Once we find Old Scar, I’ll definitely have him cook you a big meal!”

"Roar!" Little Black was overjoyed.

Gao Jiano quickly gestured for it to be quiet: "Keep your voice down, do you want White Fang to know this news too?"

White Fang is a wild boar raised by another hunter in the vicinity. It has a bad relationship with Blackie, and the two magical beasts will bare their teeth at each other whenever they meet.

Little Black quickly lowered his voice: "Oh right, we absolutely can't let White Fang know! That stupid pig only knows how to waste delicious food!"

Gao Jiano repeatedly told them not to make a sound before opening the courtyard gate and sneaking out with Xiao Hei.

He can only do this.

After all, if he went to the Hunter's Guild to explain the situation, he could take Little Black away openly, but the blood sacrifice incident would inevitably be made public.

Once such a major case involving black magic is exposed, the Pope will inevitably intervene personally and dispatch several high-ranking officials of the Vatican to thoroughly investigate all parties involved.

At that time, it will be difficult to keep Gaucano's many secrets hidden.

The thought of such consequences diminished Gaucano's motivation to seek revenge against Lucius.

He was one of the fewest victims of the blood sacrifice incident. Not only did he escape unscathed, but most of his friends were also unharmed—those who had gone into the Underdark with him had long since switched sides to the border guards at South Muradin Fortress.

Therefore, without further ado, Gao Jiano had no choice but to "steal the bear." In fact, ever since he returned to Southsea Town from the sea, he hadn't even revealed his true appearance once, and everyone still believed that he was with the Gray Eagle Mercenary Group.

It started off fairly smoothly.

Although Blackie was large, it had been carefully trained by Hicks and, thanks to its jet-black fur, was not easily spotted at night.

With the help of Gaucano, it successfully evaded the sight of all the town guards and finally reached a secluded corner.

But just then, Xiao Hei suddenly stopped and said anxiously, "Ah, my master told me that I can't leave home before he comes back!"

As it spoke, it turned to turn back, seemingly still not accepting the news of Hicks' death, or perhaps even if it did, it still wanted to obey orders.

“Hicks is already…” Gao Jiano wanted to say that Hicks was dead, but worried about upsetting Xiao Hei, so he changed the subject, “Hicks said that the collar’s ​​return is the same as his return, so you can leave home now. And it was Hicks who asked me to take you to find Old Scar. Do you want to disappoint your master?”

Xiao Hei was silent for a moment, then nodded slightly: "Okay."

Gao Jiano breathed a sigh of relief.

Then Little Black started crying again: "Waaaaah, Master, Little Black misses you so much..."

Although it was just sobbing, the sobbing of a black bear was still quite abrupt in the quiet night, enough to break many people's sleep.

"What's that sound?" As the villagers in the vicinity began to discuss the matter, the town guards patrolling in the distance also rushed over with lanterns in hand.

Gao Jiano urged hurriedly, "Hurry up and flip over!"

"Waaah!" Little Black whimpered as it leaped to its feet.

"Boom!" Its massive size made a heavy sound as it landed, causing the ground nearby to tremble slightly.

"Go check over there!" The patrolling guard quickened his pace as the lights drew closer.

Gao Jiano then leaped up, vaulted over the low wall, and mounted Xiao Hei: "Let's go!"

Xiao Hei was a little confused about the situation.

But under Gao Jiano's repeated urging, it had no time to think, and besides, it was busy crying: "Waaah!"

It whimpered as it carried Gaugano into the distance.

Tens of minutes later.

North of Nanhai Town.

Gao Jiano rode Little Black into a forest, and then heard a sound coming from not far away: "Coo!"

He followed the sound and soon saw Little Goo the owl perched on a branch, with Daris beside him. Daris's eyes widened when she saw the black bear beneath Gaucano: "This is our companion?"

Gao Jiano nodded: "That's right, its name is Xiao Hei."

Xiao Hei's attention was clearly mostly focused on the owl Xiao Gu: "Hello, my name is Xiao Hei, and I like to eat venison, fish, honey, and fruit."

"Coo coo," the little coo made a few times.

Animal conversations can only affect one animal at a time, so Gaucano had no idea what Little Gu's response would be.

Xiao Hei and Xiao Gu, of course, had no idea what the other was talking about.

But they still managed to talk to each other for a while, though they couldn't understand each other.

Finally, Little Black said excitedly, "Mother Earth, I feel like I've met a kindred spirit!"

Gaucano was greatly puzzled.

So he immediately used animal communication on the owl, Little Goose, and asked, "Little Goose, what did you and Little Black talk about?"

"He didn't say anything." Little Gu's tone was somewhat disdainful. "This guy is an idiot; he can't even speak owl!"

"..." Gao Jiano was silent for a moment, then sighed, "No matter what, it is our companion, and I hope you will be kind to it."

"Okay, Gu," Little Gu said while preening its feathers.

“Let’s get going,” Gao Jiano said, then patted the little black dog beneath him. “There’s a village not far ahead; we’ll rest there.”

Xiao Hei set off, carrying Gao Jiano northward.

Daryls hugged Little Gu, and then Little Gu flapped its wings and flew up with her.

In fact, with Xiao Gu's strength, it is not enough to carry people in flight for a long time.

But Dariss, being a skeletal undead, was very light, like a pendant, so she naturally had no burden.

And so, Gaucano rode on the bear, Daris hung on the owl, and the four distinct creatures headed north, soon disappearing into the vast night...

……

Several months have passed in the blink of an eye.

During this period, just as planned, whenever Gaucano arrived in a town, he would rest and then go to the black market to inquire about the Undead Awakening Potion.

Through his tireless efforts and an investment of over two thousand gold coins, he finally managed to buy enough Undead Awakening Potions before arriving at Sentry Rock Town.

However, in reality, most of the Undead Awakening Potions are bought from the same place – Raventown.

This small town, located on the border of the Kingdom of Libreland, is unassuming and even somewhat desolate, but it boasts an astonishingly prosperous underground market.

In terms of town size, Raventown is about the same as Southsea Town, but in terms of the scale of its black market, the former is several times larger than the latter. This is quite astonishing, considering that Southsea Town is already a relatively developed black market area. In other places, the black market is merely a damp corner and the dark side of the town, but in Raventown, the black market economy is the de facto mainstream.

In Raventown, Gaucano bought four bottles of Undead Awakening Potion in one go, and also picked up the recipe.

Whether traveling from Southshore or Ax City, getting to Raven Town is no easy feat. With that in mind, besides the Undead Awakening Potion, Gaucano bought some other contraband. These contraband items are rare in most places, but relatively easy to find in Raven Town, so he naturally couldn't miss out. He even let his gold coins drop below four figures again, but even so, the Raven Town black market still had many things he coveted but couldn't afford.

Among the many contraband items he purchased, the most valuable was probably a book titled "Elementary Knowledge of Demons".

This book contains a wealth of knowledge about demons, and also includes some methods for summoning demons.

Gao Jiano had no intention of working as a sorcerer.

But there are a few demons he does want to try summoning.

For example, the Eye Demon.

The flesh of the Eye Demon can enhance the intelligence of animals, which is quite evident in Little Gu and Little Black.

After all, bears should theoretically be more intelligent than birds, but in reality, Little Gu, who had eaten a lot of Eye Demon meat, was clearly smarter than Little Black.

Fortunately, Gao Jiano still had the key material for summoning the Eye Demon—the Eye Demon's Eye stalk. Therefore, after obtaining the "Elementary Demonology," he immediately conceived a plan to summon the Eye Demon.

Of course, he still needs to do some necessary learning and practice before he can actually summon it.

As a de facto branch of mages, warlocks are not something one can simply choose to become.

After leaving Raven Town and passing through several other towns, Gaucano officially arrived in the territory of the County of Asur.

The County of Asur borders both the Kingdom of Liberland and the Kingdom of Sein, and is roughly located between the two kingdoms.

Asur is a vast territory, not only ranking first among the many county states but also not far behind the kingdoms. In terms of area alone, it could even rank among the top ten largest countries in West Fararo.

However, in terms of national strength, Asur is a true county, poor and weak. Although its territory is vast, its population is small, concentrated in only a handful of places.

In fact, a long time ago, Asur was a kingdom.

But things are unpredictable. Just when the ancient Kingdom of Asur was at its zenith, a tidal land suddenly appeared, cutting off the upper reaches of its mother river, the Asur River.

Originally, the Asur Desert was only located in the northern part of the kingdom, but with the drying up of the Mother River, the desert seemed to come alive and began to spread rapidly southward, eventually turning most of the Asur Kingdom into desert.

The Yemeni state then took the opportunity to invade.

The ancient kingdom of Asur thus came to an end.

Many years later, with the excavation of the artificial river "Zerafar River", the descendants of the ancient Asur Kingdom were able to restore their country with the support of the Liberland Kingdom, becoming the sparsely populated County of Asur of today.

Within Asur.

Under a cloudless blue sky, the yellow sand stretches as far as the eye can see, and the distant sand dunes distort in the scorching air.

Gao Jiano rode Little Black through the desert.

Due to the hot and dry climate, Little Gu no longer wanted to fly and squatted on Little Black's back.

Xiao Hei was also panting heavily from the heat.

For a black bear with a thick coat of fur, the desert climate is particularly difficult.

Fortunately, Daris occasionally used water magic to cool it down, and with Little Gu's "encouragement"—at least that's what it thought—it persevered, carrying the three creatures on its way through the desert.

while walking.

A camel bell sound came from not far away: "Clang, clang—"

Gaucano looked in the direction of the sound and saw a camel caravan passing by.

"Hello, stranger." The leader of the camel caravan was a bearded man with a white turban. He glanced at the little black camel panting with its tongue lolling out beneath Gaucano and said with a smile, "Nice mount."

Gaucano responded politely, then asked, "How far is it from Sentinel Town?"

(End of this chapter)