Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

“Uncle Raslaufer,” the girl looked up, “I want to visit Uncle Vondar’s hometown, Haidong.”

“That won’t do, Anne,” the mercenary saw right through her thoughts. “Even the longest journey has an end, and even the grandest feast must come to a close. My only job is to get you to a place your father can’t reach.”

"However, it was agreed that after I found you a place to stay, I would protect you for one to two months until your tutor paid off the remaining balance—speaking of which, you're not in a hurry to run away from me now, are you?"

Angelita smiled but did not respond, instead continuing to ask, "So... have you decided where I should stay?"

Eastern Inassus is a relatively small geographical concept, but it is still too large for a human to live in.

“I don’t really have any good ideas, what do you think, von Dahl?” Leslaufer pondered for a moment, then turned to ask the dwarf for his opinion. “There aren’t any big cities around here, neither Magpares nor Treasure City.”

“There are still a few options that are less desirable… but I don’t think they’re the right choice,” the dwarf paused midway through his sentence, concealing it with the act of eating, but he had actually noticed the look Angelita gave him. “Where are you from, Old Ray? It must be more convenient there than anywhere else.”

“Zebrecht, a small place. I built a house there after I saved up some money, so I ‘settled’ there,” Reslaufer chuckled, “but later I found that I didn’t really need it.”

"There's hardly anything there. No rose sugar, no pear wine, and even hunting in the wild isn't easy—after all, it's not unclaimed land, and the barbarian lords are still lords—so in short..."

“But you usually rest there, don’t you?” Angelita interrupted him.

"Oh, that's true."

"Then I'll go."

“Well… alright,” Leslaufer sighed and conceded. “I don’t like this. I haven’t been back in a long time… promise me, don’t be surprised if it’s different from what I’ve described, okay?”

Angelita nodded and responded softly.

This interlude was quickly overshadowed by the weariness of the long journey, and everyone prepared to rest. However, Mary noticed that the girl they had rescued earlier—or rather, the girl rescued by Raslaufer—was staring intently into the woods not far away, oblivious to everything else.

"Did you find anything?" She leaned down and ruffled the child's hair. But even so, the child's attention didn't immediately return; instead, he waited quite a while before slowly averting his gaze.

“Oh, it’s Miss Margaret,” the girl said, startled at first, before pointing to the grove of trees she was watching. “I was just observing that grove.”

“I know,” Mary smiled, “but you seemed so engrossed that I thought something might have caught your attention.”

"Hmm, I'm not sure. I smelled some strange odors and heard some noises, but I couldn't find the source of them at all!"

"I see," Mary nodded. She had experienced something similar when she first joined the team, but her more experienced teammates helped her calm down.

"There are many sounds and smells in this world, but most of them have nothing to do with us. Although they pass by each other's senses, they do not disturb each other otherwise."

Mary comforted the girl and turned to lead her back to the campfire to sleep, but as she turned, a gust of wind blew from the direction of the woods.

Although she didn't hear any sound, a certain scent in the wind made her nostrils flare immediately—there was definitely something in the air! And it was something she was very familiar with!

What is the most familiar thing to a girl who has been trained since childhood to appear in various social occasions to steal all kinds of information?

Without thinking further, Mary hurried to the campfire. In the empty space reserved for the watchman, a thin rope stretched from the ground to the poet's wrist. It was a variation of a warning spell left by Daisy; pulling the rope three times in succession would trigger an alarm, even without any other creature nearby, waking everyone to a rousing, blood-pumping cry of "Arise!"

Because of the intensity of the poet's spell, most night watchmen would not choose to trigger it, but this time, Mary had to cover her ears while forcefully pulling on the "alarm rope."

"Someone is using drugs, we're in trouble!"

Chapter 339 Orcs and Clever Gum

The wind blowing toward the camp gradually grew stronger, and what Mary couldn't detect was that this wind contained a magical rhythm, making it almost impossible for the others to change the wind direction.

"Why does the spellcaster need to use a sleeping potion?!" Daisy tried it briefly and knew that changing the wind direction wouldn't work. "Quick, we have to get out of here. I'm already feeling a little dizzy."

“Don’t scare yourself, Miss Daisy. How could a drug mixed in with the air work so quickly?” Mary glanced helplessly at the bard. “But we do need to leave this place.”

“They already know we’ve discovered them. If they were just highwaymen, they should have backed down.”

Those who use this method are unlikely to have the ability to launch a direct attack. It is enough to let them know that their conspiracy will not succeed, and there is no need to bother looking for them.

Just as everyone began to set off, almost everyone heard a faint but extremely shrill laugh. The sound swept through the wind, followed by a phantom-like afterimage.

"Hey! Did you see that?" the poet exclaimed. "What just went by?"

"A ghost? Or a phantom? I can't see it clearly, it's too fast." Vondar narrowed his eyes to slits, but it was too late to pay attention now. Something had vanished without a trace, as if it had never been there.

“A necromancer, a necromancer who uses sleeping potions!” Bella said strangely. “That’s a bit too unconventional!”

“Then he had better continue to be unconventional, if he shows his face…” The threat in Raslaufer’s words was self-evident.

"If you dare show your head, that big guy will rip your heads off and use them as footballs!"

Almost simultaneously, a small creature that looked seven or even six parts similar to the Pixie hovered near the source of the magical wind. She deliberately slowed down to make her rapid, intermittent speech understandable—and also understandable to the big cat.

Opposite her, a grey-haired man in a mage's robe furrowed his brows. His small, pointed ears and prominent lower canines identified him as an orc. When the small creature's shrill warning subsided, his rough, calloused right hand abruptly stopped, causing his black mount, now deprived of its caress, to grumble in dissatisfaction.

"Silence, gloves," the orc sternly rebuked the massive creature beneath him. "I am your master, and I have the right to withdraw my favor upon you."

His mount, a huge feline, immediately lowered its two outstretched tentacles.

“Ha, the guy arguing with his own mount,” the little creature beside him immediately laughed. “But now is not the time to argue. You all need to work together, otherwise there is absolutely no way you can catch these people.”

"Because they're about to escape your poorly laid and ineffective trap!"

“Shut up, Santi,” the orc spellcaster said, ignoring his companion’s urging. “Now that they’ve discovered it, they shouldn’t continue to take risks. As hunters, we should have enough patience.”

"Ha, you have patience because you can continue living like a dull, slow-witted fool for another twenty or thirty years, while I only have fifteen years to live!!!"

The little creature called Santi continued to grumble, but this time, the orc ignored her, instead turning his mount around and heading off in the opposite direction from Leslaufer and the others.

"Hey, hey, hey, no way, you're really leaving?" Santi was startled and quickly chased after him. "I'm the warlord! I was sent to keep an eye on you! You can't just ignore me like this!"

“I can,” the orc said without turning his head, but his voice remained steady as a hill amidst Santina’s increasingly rapid and intermittent shrieks. “No one can command ‘The Edge of the Edge,’ not even the employer.”

"As for you, a mere Kuai Ke Ling is even less capable."

The orc's body swayed back and forth with his mount. He raised his hand, and in his palm, a lifelike tattoo of a single, bleeding eye was etched. It was the mark of Gruul'sh, the orc god, who, it was said, had his right eye shot out by the elven god K'rilong. To one day repay him with an eye for an eye had always been his wish, and the orcs, as his followers, naturally shared this sentiment with the elves.

Unfortunately, in this world, the elves retreated to the distant and warm south early on. The main settlements and members of both sides were separated by the vast tundra, the humid East Sea, Inathas, and the Dreadswamp, in addition to a powerful human empire.

Such a vast distance was insurmountable for traditional orcs like the "Edge of the Edge," let alone the elven offerings to please the gods, which were then poured onto the altar with blood.

In the past, it was common practice to sail to Korazund in longships, and raiding along the coast could occasionally yield reasonable profits. However, with the decline of the Korazund elves, this practice gradually became unworkable.

But he was fortunate, for on his journey to find the elves, in the East Sea, he encountered some unusual allies. They and their gods shared a deep-seated hatred for the elves of Corellon, and most importantly, they knew how to search across this vast land for the remnants of the elves scattered beyond the south.

Years ago, he and his companions joined forces to slaughter an entire forest of elves, more than fifty lives. After that, his allies made a bold decision—to claim the unclaimed forest for themselves and live there ever since.

The orc hunter welcomed this behavior, as it signified a closer bond between them, which led to his action this time.

Their priests received a divine revelation: a sword that once belonged to the Elvenking of Korrazund was about to arrive in Eastern Inathas. If they could obtain it, they would surely please the gods and receive supreme blessings. And because the sword had once been blessed by the elves of Korrazund, some elves from another faction also heard the news and joined in.

Of the three forces, only Feng Zhi Feng is fighting alone. He must act very tough, but not too much, lest he anger the other two forces. Otherwise, he would have wanted to smash that noisy little thing to death on any random rock long ago.

But now, he must be patient, in every aspect.

The annoying buzzing of the Quickling started ringing in his ears again. The orc took a deep breath, ignored it, and got off his mount to begin clearing away any traces along the way.

Chapter 340 The Orcs' Schemes

"So, any leads?"

As dawn broke, Raslaw and the others returned. The mercenary stood in the jungle, silently twirling a tuft of coarse black hair in his hand. On it were some glittering powder of unknown origin, which looked like the fairy dust that the Pixies had once given to Daisy.

That's all the clues we have.

“Old hunter,” even Leslaufer had to admit, “aside from this trace, there is almost nothing else. I’m even starting to think that this was left on purpose.”

“Traces of magic,” Angelita’s eyes lit up for a moment before dimming, “It looks like some kind of magical beast, or both.”

“The other one should be a fairy,” Daisy said, taking out the transparent pendant and comparing it with the remaining fairy dust inside. “It looks very similar, although there are differences, but they are essentially the same. It’s a pity that this thing is so light that it doesn’t even need to be cleaned up by those attackers.”

“If it weren’t for this tuft of hair rubbing against the tree, we probably wouldn’t have known there was a fairy, but would have thought it was some kind of ethereal, undead creature.” Vondar felt somewhat regretful for his rash judgment last night.

But this truth only makes the whole incident more mysterious: a fairy? Could it be the mastermind behind the entire attack? The motives and the style of these winged creatures are as enigmatic as their actions; they may do anything for any reason, yet everything they do has a reason and is also unlikely to be.

All eyes turned to Raslaw and Daisy. If there was anything they couldn't figure out, the knowledgeable mercenary and the poet who claimed to be well-read could offer some reliable advice.

“Unfortunately, I don’t know of any famous fairy groups or settlements in Eastern Inathas,” Raslaufer shook his head. “As you know, I don’t really get involved in this kind of magical stuff.”

“Uh, don’t look at me, it’s just some powder. I can’t possibly deduce who owns it from this,” Daisy said, spreading her hands as well. “But…”

"If we consider the strange noises and afterimages from last night, perhaps one type of fairy fits the bill: they are called Clucklings. Like most fairies, they enjoy playing pranks and teasing others to make themselves happy and to make the world around them more 'interesting.' But the difference is that Clucklings often can't distinguish where the boundaries of this kind of entertainment lie."

“Aside from not killing people directly, they almost never refuse to do anything immoral. If there’s a Quickling around here, I suggest we leave as soon as possible.”

"Quickly... do you think this little thing you're talking about will keep chasing us like this?"

"I haven't heard of that, but they do hold grudges. Although, as far as I know, their grudges usually don't bring good results to any party, they are still worth being wary of."

"Ha, they said I'm someone to be wary of, but they didn't mention you, you big idiot!"

On the other end, Santi proudly boasted to her companion, "You should be ashamed of yourself. You call yourself 'the sharpest of the sharp,' but they didn't even mention you!"

“A true hunter should remain unknown,” the orc shook his head in a cave. “To pursue fame too much is a path to death.”

"As for 'Feng Zhi Feng,' that's not just self-proclaimed or someone else's boast. My name is Feng·Feng Ren."

"Tch, I—of course I know!" Quickling snorted, circling the orc and his mount three times before hovering back in its original position. "What I don't understand is, why are you going in the opposite direction from them? Doesn't that mean you're getting further and further away from your goal?"

"I must warn you, those beautiful spider women won't approve of what you're doing. They want you to at least lure the sword's wielder to their side..."

“Although my skin color is similar to theirs, if you think you can treat me like a man within their race, you’re mistaken,” the orc shook his head and repeated as if to emphasize, “Don’t even think about it.”

He wanted to try to resolve the matter in his own way first. He wasn't sure if the gods would be pleased if he borrowed their power.

The orc instinctively opened his palm and looked at the bleeding, single eye, which seemed to be looking back at him.

Was this the right thing to do? The orc asked himself, hoping that being could hear him.

There was no response—perhaps it was tacit agreement.

Although those thin bamboo poles were on the same side as him, orcs were orcs, while elves, no matter what they looked like or where they were born, were just elves. He wanted to resolve this matter in the orc way.

The goal is merely a sword, and naturally, it can only be offered to a single deity.

Feng Zhifeng took out a map of the surrounding terrain that he had drawn himself. The lines on it were very rough and only he could understand them. He marked a lot of resources that he could use on it.

His original plan was to wipe out the entire group to please the gods, but last night he discovered that there were no elves in the group, not even a half-elf. In that case, perhaps he could try to take only the sword, which would make the whole thing much easier.

Although orcs are often known for their savagery, cunning and pragmatism are also important aspects of their character. Fengzhifeng, on the other hand, had long ago left the desolate eastern Ampiri and made a living in the vicinity of Inasas and the East Sea, where he was quite familiar with the local customs and culture.

It's best to avoid a direct confrontation with that man wielding a greatsword and clad in heavy armor. Every Dubler has fought their way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood; even within the orcish royal court, they are formidable figures. If a duel is unavoidable, the best approach is undoubtedly to weaken their power first.

So... how do we do that?

Feng Zhifeng looked up at his surroundings and reached out to grab his mount's tentacles to stop it. This was one of the locations he had marked prominently on the map, but the environment looked completely different from a few days ago. If he were using a typical map, he would never have thought that this was the same place before and after.

The thick trees were easily snapped in two by the gray sac beast's immense strength, their trunks scattered on the ground like matchsticks. Some trees were uprooted, their roots exposed, with soil and pebbles strewn around them, all covered by huge footprints and claw marks. On some of the trunks, the orc hunters could still see lingering, sticky saliva, emitting an incredibly pungent odor in the wind.

“Stay here, old buddy,” he rolled over and patted his animal companion in the direction of his fur, “and from now on, stay far away from me, whatever you do, understand?”

As he spoke, the orc couldn't help but glance again at the mess around him. It was a testament to the creature's power, but also its source of trouble. If he hadn't been forced to come here, he really wouldn't have wanted to.

"This one seems to have a lot of problems..." the orc muttered to himself, "but it would be best if the big guy could handle the trouble himself."

Chapter 341 The Giants Attack

The huge footprints left by the creature stretched all the way to the side of a stream. Perhaps the water was once crystal clear, but now it was covered with mud, leaves and animal remains, murky and smelling of decay.

Not far away, a series of low, labored breathing sounds drifted through the forest breeze to the orc hunter's ears. He looked up and saw a pair of small, deep eyes, like two burning embers, staring intently at him. Behind this gaze was a massive body, about three meters tall and weighing about a ton, leaning slightly forward.

This behemoth looked like a small mountain, thick, heavy, with broad shoulders, and its dark gray skin was covered with rough wrinkles and scars, which, together with its flat, thick skull, protected its pitifully small brain.

“A big guy…” the orc muttered. This behemoth was several times stronger than the largest ogre he had ever seen. Not to mention that ogres don’t have well-developed forelimbs and sharp claws—they could break any tree or his mount’s spine with just a flick of their wrists.

"Do you still recognize me? We just met not long ago," Feng suppressed the subconscious fear in his heart and tentatively took two steps closer to the other person. "You crave an ally, a smart ally, don't you?"

The behemoth emitted a sound of confusion, though it sounded almost indistinguishable from the roars of ordinary creatures expressing anger. It recognized this being as having gray skin like itself, but if it remembered correctly…

“I don’t have any other pets now, so you can rest assured,” the orc gestured to the empty space around him. “Nothing else will take your mount’s place, and I’ll prove it to you.”

"Oh, what a heartless man he is, isn't he?" In the distance, the little fairy and the orc's mount lurked together. The little fairy perched in the black beast's ear and mocked in a special tone, "And you can only watch from the sidelines. He doesn't even turn his back on you. Tsk tsk tsk."

The beast let out a low growl, but ultimately did nothing—it could disregard its master's will, but it was no match for that big guy.

So... no matter how unwilling it is, it can only hide here and complain.

……

“Ever since the ambush two nights ago, I’ve felt uneasy,” Bella said, as the sun was about to set and it was time to set up camp. She raised her hand and summoned a water ball to quickly wash her long red hair, which was covered in dust and weeds. “The soil and water here are deteriorating every moment. I initially thought it was a problem with the location, but now it seems like some kind of pollution is chasing after us.”

With his skills becoming increasingly refined, the druid can now easily summon clean water that is safe to drink. Although the time he spends so close to Adas each day is limited, it requires no extra preparation and does not consume any magic or energy.

"Give me some too—I'm starting to regret not buying some hats earlier." Daisy rushed over. The further north they went, the more the wilderness lived up to its name: desolate, accompanied by cold sandstorms that blew up from time to time. After a day of walking, the sand and pebbles on their bodies were enough to build a campfire.

“I think this should also be considered a manifestation of ‘culture shock.’ After all, you used to be in the woods, where are you going to find woods now?” the bard analyzed seriously. “This is about to reach Old Lei’s hometown. Who wouldn’t give him some face when they see him? I don’t think there will be any danger.”