The adventurer at the bottom is fantasizing again.

Chapter 122 The Deserted Grayhorn Village (4K)

Lorraine wiped the foam from her mouth, grabbed a piece of bread and dipped it into the stewed mutton, while placing the small bowl of mashed potatoes in front of Eileen.

This was clearly ordered by Barto for Eileen; the others at the table probably don't like this stuff.

"Thanks."

Eileen picked up the small bowl, scooped out a small spoonful, and put it in her mouth.

"What did you say?" Lorraine picked at her ear, wondering if there was something wrong with her ears.

"roll...

'

"That's more like it." He nodded.

"Oh."

Eileen stirred the jam in the bowl and gently curled the corners of her lips into a smile.

"Hey! Jon! Listen to what Piper has to say..." The short guy stood on the bench, waving a grilled rib, "If it weren't for Piper last night..."

'

He vividly described to Jon the thrilling battle of the previous night, of course, his own version, and when he got excited, he would occasionally take a bite of ribs, looking very carefree and happy.

Jon listened intently, forgetting to eat his bread, occasionally letting out a gasp of surprise, which made the little guy burst into laughter.

Halfway through the meal, an elderly man with gray hair carrying a bagpipe walked up to a small raised platform in the lobby.

After trying out a few pitches, he played a melodious tune.

The melody flowed through the tavern like a mountain stream, and even the short man stopped what he was doing and listened quietly for a while.

After lunch, the convoy assembled in front of the tavern.

Barto walked over with a map and pointed to a fork in the road: "Sir, it's not far from here to Greyhorn Village. We can take a detour and send you there."

Lorraine recalled Fitch's words and shook his head, saying, "I just heard from the market that Bagpipe Town has already been attacked by wolf packs, which means their range of activity is larger than the guild anticipated."

He gestured to the mercenaries who were still packing up their equipment: "Your caravan is short-handed, and there aren't many mercenaries either. If you go any further in that direction, you'll be in trouble if you run into a pack of wolves."

"Well..

Barto wanted to try again, but then he thought about how the mercenaries couldn't even shoot an arrow when they encountered the harpy last night, and decided it was better not to cause trouble for the adults.

"How about this?"

Lorraine pulled out a map and spread it out on a corner of a cart: "Mark the location of Graycorner Village, and we can walk there ourselves."

"OK."

Barto nodded, picked up a charcoal pencil, drew a circle on the map at a place south of Frozen Lake, and wrote a crooked "Gray Corner" next to it.

"Then please be careful, adults. Follow this road north and you'll see Greyhorn Village. Olaf may be a bit stubborn and his words may not be pleasant, but he is very loyal and will definitely help you after reading my letter."

"Alright, take care on your journey. When you come to Frostvale again, remember to stop by Hearthfire Tavern for a drink." Lorraine smiled, folded the map back up, and stuffed it back into his pouch.

"Definitely! Definitely!"

Barto laughed as he climbed onto the carriage.

"May Lady Luck bless you! Giddy up!" Jason greeted them, then spurred his horse and rode to the front of the caravan.

The caravan moved slowly forward, and Yorn turned back from his horse to wave to them: "My lords! See you in Frostvale!"

"Yon! Practice your archery properly! Don't get bewitched by the banshee again next time!" The little guy waved at him.

Yes!

""

The convoy disappeared into the crowd.

"Let's go. We should be able to reach Graycorn Village before dark. We'll stay there for the night and then head to Frozen Lake Town," Lorraine said.

"Oh no... Piper's going to have to go through all that trouble following you guys again. You two long-legged guys don't care about Piper at all. When can we buy some horses ourselves? Or some other kind of thing that can carry people?" the short guy protested.

Lorraine followed the markings on the map out of town, responding to his protest with a sigh: "Do you know how expensive a horse is? Just buying an ordinary traveling horse costs at least thirty gold coins. Then you have to find a place to house it, feed it, hire someone to take care of it, and what if it gets injured..."

"Okay, okay, Piper, I won't buy it anymore, please stop nagging me..."

Eileen watched their bickering figures disappear into the distance and smiled gently.

Lorraine found several boundary stones buried under weeds along the trade route outside Bagpipe Town.

He glanced back at Bagpipe Town, feeling a little regretful.

Bagpipe Town: Currently explored at 13%

Current balance: 113 exploration experience points

He really had no reason to make them stay until the next morning, and it wasn't convenient for him to go to their house to gain exploration experience during the day.

It seems I'll have to stay here for one night on my way back... he thought to himself.

Fortunately, the current exploration experience was enough for another draw, so Lorraine did not hesitate and immediately rolled the dice.

[Using 100 exploration experience points, you rolled the dice: 1]

Current balance: 13 exploration experience points

[Points: five]

[Reward: Constitution +1]

[Constitution: 11→12]

He really hasn't drawn a favorable constitution in a long time.

That feeling of comfort, like breaking free from shackles, surged through my entire body, eradicating the ailments and discomforts hidden within training and combat.

It vanished instantly.

Even the slight stiff neck caused by sleeping in the wrong position last night was instantly cured, and Lorraine felt incredibly comfortable and satisfied.

His physical condition was his biggest weakness to begin with; he would become breathless after fighting for a while.

Even with the boost from the Vitality effect, his stamina recovery speed is faster than that of an average person, but there is still a limit to his potential.

That kind of slow response is more suitable for long-duration, low-cost activities like traveling; its effect is not very noticeable in intense battles.

Seeing him twisting his neck and shaking his arms, the short man kindly asked, "Do you have lice? Would you like Piper to help you find them?"

Eileen silently hugged her staff and took a step away from Lorraine.

"I don't have any lice, thank you, but no need..." Lorraine's lips twitched.

Following the boundary stone northwards, after passing through a sparse pine forest, about twenty low wooden houses came into view.

These wooden houses are scattered on both sides of a dirt road, surrounded by a ring of thick wooden stakes and thorns.

It was already late, and it should have been dinnertime, but only a few wisps of smoke rose from the wooden houses in the village.

smoke.

"Why is it so quiet? Have they already been attacked by wolves?" Lorraine felt something was off.

"It doesn't look like it, there are no traces." Eileen shook her head.

"Pip has a way." The little guy approached the fence and shouted inside, "Is anyone there!"

Who is it?

An old man opened the door and called out impatiently, and then he saw three people standing at the entrance of the village.

He squinted at the three men's attire and said, "Adventurers? All the young people in the village have left, leaving only us old bones. If you're looking for a guide or laborers, you've come to the wrong place."

"We've come to see Olaf," Lorraine said bluntly.

"Looking for Olaf? That's strange." The old man chuckled. "Go inside, it's the house with the drying racks by the door. But he's not home right now, he went out early this morning."

After saying that, he shook his head, ignored what the three of them were going to do, and turned back into the house.

"Pip has a bad feeling," the short man nodded firmly.

"Let's go, we're already here." Lorraine sighed.

He opened the gate and walked into the village.

He took only two steps before retreating, repeatedly going in and out of the village entrance several times.

"Are you out of your mind?" Eileen looked at him speechlessly.

"fine.

'

Lorraine walked forward, completely bewildered.

Why is there no exploration experience for Graycorner Village? What's going on?

He took a closer look at the village. The doors of the wooden houses he passed were all open. Occasionally, an old man would come out curiously to take a look at them, but he would not come up to talk to them.

"These people made Piper feel uncomfortable..."

The short man rubbed the goosebumps that had risen on his arms.

"They're just waiting to die," Eileen said.

"Waiting to die!?" The short man raised an eyebrow.

Lorraine nodded knowingly and said, "By the time news of the situation in Frozen Lake Town reached us, those who could have escaped had already fled."

"If only these elderly people are left, either unwilling to leave or unable to leave, aren't they just waiting to die?"

He suspected that the system considered this place no longer a village available for exploration, which was why no exploration experience was awarded.

"How could this happen..." the short man muttered. "Isn't anyone going to do anything about it? Where is the lord here? Can't he send troops to wipe out those wolves?"

"Those nobles probably wouldn't want their personal guards to do this, so it's much more cost-effective for us adventurers to clean up. We don't even have to pay compensation if we die. Oh, sorry... I didn't mean anything by it, Eileen."

"It's alright, you're absolutely right." Eileen said expressionlessly, holding her staff. "For most nobles, the most important thing is profit. The gold coins spent sending troops to hunt them down far exceed the bounty offered to the wolves."

"But didn't they swear to protect their people? Isn't that why the nobles collect taxes?" The short man glanced back at the empty wooden houses with their doors open.

Lorraine glanced cautiously at Eileen, and seeing that she didn't react, she said, "They clearly prefer to protect young people who can farm, or merchants who can collect taxes. As for the old people who can't even run, Piper doesn't like that." The little guy muttered.

Eileen stopped and turned to him, saying, "I don't like this approach either, but some things won't change just because we don't like them. But... once we kill that winter wolf, at least these people will be safe."

"Pipes is going to smash its head in!"

"That's a wolf."

"Wolf Head!"

They quickly found the wooden hut with a drying rack at the door, and just as the old man had said, Olaf wasn't home.

"Sit down for a bit?" Lorraine suggested.

"Um."

"Pip, go get some firewood."

The three of them then built a campfire next to the wooden house.

The short guy pulled out the black pot again, threw in some meat and vegetables he had bought at the market, sprinkled in some seasonings, and then sat on the ground staring intently at the pot.

"You think you can use your eyes as flames?" Lorraine said.

"What do you know? This is Piper's culinary art."

In reality, the short person was just hungry.

Eileen pulled the bag of cookies from Lorraine's backpack, took a small bite from it, and watched the sunset with a blank expression.

"Why did you want to become an adventurer?" Lorraine sat down next to her and gently touched her arm.

"Boring." Eileen took a bite of a cookie.

"Uh...sorry."

"I didn't say you were boring." Eileen rolled her eyes at him, then turned back to look at the sunset. "Life in the capital is boring, and it's not much better at the academy. Anyway, there are boring people and boring things everywhere."

"I see..."

'

"Yeah, so when Anya told me she was coming up north to organize the Spring Festival, I secretly ran away with her."

o

"What!? You snuck out?"

"Not really... Father definitely knew."

"Pipe has prepared dinner!"

"Okay, then isn't your father worried about you?" Lorraine took the small bowl and drank a sip.

The aroma of cured meat mixed with the sweetness of wild onions filled his mouth. The short guy didn't know what else he had thrown into the stew, but he could even taste a hint of fresh herbal flavor.

"Delicious... I'll have another bowl." He smacked his lips.

"This bowl is for Eileen, there's none for you."

"Then give me your bowl."

"Pip will give you firewood to eat!"

"Thank you, Piper."

Eileen took the stew, curiously dipped the biscuit into it, took a small bite, frowned slightly, but still swallowed it.

She looked at Lorraine, who was arguing with the short man, and said matter-of-factly, "Worried? Of course he's worried."

"But what can he do? I am Eileen Scaretti. What can he do to me? Even if he takes me back, he will still worry that I will sneak away. He is more at ease when I am with Anya and the others."

Lorraine gave a speechless twitch at the corner of her mouth.

That's a very Eileen-esque answer.

Eileen raised an eyebrow at him and said meaningfully, "Don't worry, Father is a very easy person to get along with."

"...What should I be worried about?"

"Oh."

As darkness fell, the sun completely set.

They waited for a long time, but the old hunter still did not appear.

Just as Lorraine was debating whether to find an empty house to stay in for the night, a hoarse, smoky voice came from the rooftop to their side: "Who are you?"

Lorraine looked up.

A middle-aged man with gray hair and red sores on his face stood on the roof, holding a longbow towards them.

Lorraine immediately stood up and shielded Eileen behind her, saying, "Mr. Olaf? Mr. Barto sent us to visit you, saying you can help us."

"Barto?"

Olaf looked at them with some skepticism, but slowly released the taut bowstring and asked, "How can you prove it?"

"We have a letter from him."

Lorraine took the parchment out of his pouch.

Olaf frowned and asked, "Unfold it and let me see."

"How can you see clearly from this far away?"

Lorraine estimated the distance between them, feeling it was at least seven or eight meters. It was completely dark, with only a little light from the campfire around them.

Moreover, even the word "Barto" was barely legible to him when he held it in his hand. Could this person be a half-elf hybrid?

Olaf squinted at it for a moment, then chuckled and said, "This old bastard, he's in such a hurry to make me pay back my life."

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