It rained continuously in the Doden Mountains, and after three days of rain, the trail became more and more slippery, and every step brought up wet mud, and Catherine began to regret taking the task.

"Dear Captain, stop, stop. Ferry leaned against a large elm tree and cried out to Catherine, "You see the mud on the soles of my shoes, which is thicker than the palms of my hands, and so sticky and heavy that I can't lift my feet." ”

Ferry rolled up his long sleeves that hung on his arms, pulled out a small silver dagger from his waist, and scraped off a layer of mud from the soles of his shoes, which was as thick as two fingers wide.

"Flutter, flutter", the dwarf at the end of the line came with splashes of muddy water, he carried a travel bag as big as his own, raised his foot and knocked the soles of his shoes with a large steel axe, "dang, dang" made a metal impact.

"I advised you to build iron soles earlier, and see, they are strong and not muddy. The dwarf lifted his chin and shook his head and sighed, the beard on his chest sweeping like a brush against Ferry Phyll's chest.

Ferry grabbed his chest and hurriedly jumped away, straightened the wide but soaked priest's robe, and said angrily, "Anvil, my bow tie is made of silk, do you know the silk? ”

Ferry looked at the bow tie with a distressed expression, turned his back and said, "Besides, the soles of my feet are not naturally thick, and the iron soles don't wear out the plates of my feet? ”

Anvil touched his head and thought for a moment, then pointed to the sturdy warrior who was opening the way and said, "Ace also wears the iron-soled shoes I built." ”

Ferry rolled his eyes and said nothing, leaning against the trunk of the tree and scraping the sole of his other shoe.

A sturdy warrior named As, dressed in simple gray iron chain mail, turned and thrust his broad-striped steel sword into the mud, took off his round steel helmet and pressed it against the hilt. With short flat hair and brown skin on his face, Ace looks very brave. He said to the anvil with a stiff face: "I remember that I wore iron-soled shoes to practice my foot strength very early, and the soles of my feet are not thinner than yours. Ferry was a tender priest, and it wasn't easy to walk the mountain with us. ”

"Hey, what is the tender skin priest, here is only our group leader, you wipe two handfuls of snow on your face, and you don't have a single hand of the group leader. Ferry originally listened to As's serious explanation to the dwarf, and nodded frequently, but in the second half of the sentence, he began to laugh at him, and couldn't help but ridicule him.

There was a jolt in the big elm tree, and a handsome elf with blond hair and shoulders jumped out, dressed in a short brown hunting suit, with a short bow of vine on his back, and boots sewn from the bark of a green tree on his feet. He tied a green grass vine to his forehead, and a strand of hair hung down from his forehead, covering one of his eyes. The elf landed in front of Fee, stared at him for a full second, nodded, and jumped into the bushes at the other end, and the words "tender skin" floated softly in the air.

Catherine saw Ferry begin to turn pale, and smiled bitterly in her heart, knowing that the team members were playing tricks on Ferry again. Ferry was already on the verge of an outburst, and if she didn't say anything, most of the tender skin priest would faint again.

"Ferry repeat that day, the mysterious client. Catherine told Ferry to lift his feet, dry the soles of his shoes with a magical warm wind, and then concentrate on drawing a hexagonal magic circle with magic chalk.

The simple hexagonal magic circle gathers some wind elements and blows on the ground, so that the soles of the shoes can carry a lot less wet mud. It's just that this magic array can't last long, and it will be worn away after walking for more than ten minutes.

"It was the last day of the holiday, and I went back to the headquarters early by myself. As soon as I opened the door, I was followed by a man in a large dark cloak, who had been wearing a cloak to hide his face, and I could only see his wide chin. The collar of the cloak is embroidered with a small red key pattern, and the head of the key is a severed finger dripping with blood. Ferry spoke very fluently, and the details were not missing, apparently repeated many times.

"His voice was hoarse, and he had disguised it with magic. As soon as he made a move, he took three bags of gold coins as a deposit, leaving a small box, saying that he would bring the contents to the Brown Moon Altar, and there were seven bags of gold coins afterwards. ”

Yes, three bags of gold coins can be exchanged for so much in a year's hard work. Now, just send the letter in the box to the Brown Moon Altar in the deep mountains of Doden to get a total of ten bags of gold coins. More than all the commissions earned by the mercenary group since its establishment.

The day after receiving the deposit, Catherine had asked As, the deputy head of the mercenary group, in a consultative tone, if he wanted to take on this seemingly easy and well-paid task.

Ace hugged Catherine, kissed her lightly on the forehead, and said, "With our strength, is there any unfinished task on the Eastern Continent?" Dear Catherine, any decision you make will be unconditionally supported by me. ”

Catherine admits that, as a lover, As's words are somewhat spoiled. However, the strength of the Kur mercenary group is indeed unquestionable on the Eastern Continent.

However, Catherine now gradually feels that the task is not as easy as she imagined. Just like in front of you, after drawing the magic array, the elf Green Wind who was responsible for pathfinding returned, telling everyone that there was no mountain road ahead, and splitting the forest to open the way was the only option.

The brave and resolute anvil took over the work of opening the way. The dwarf, with a thick North Seka accent, wielded a huge axe as high as him, and the grass and trees that blocked the way scattered in all directions as if they had encountered a strong wind.

Anvil always likes to wear the curved iron helmet handed down from his ancestors, and refuses to wear armor on his body, and he always wears only black leather armor, which makes him look very shabby. As a wandering warrior who fights for a living, Catherine wonders how the anvil survives the fight again and again with such rudimentary protection.

You know, the first time they saw the way Anvil fought, both Ace and Catherine gasped. Ignoring the incoming bow and arrows, he howled and charged head-on at his enemies, and although most of the arrows were blocked by the flying axe, he only slashed five enemies at the cost of two arrows in his body. Anvil said afterwards that advancing in any battle was his creed of fighting.

It was also this letter that made the mercenary group continue to use the large commissions they earned for a long time as medical expenses for the priest. "You've received a money-losing item. Whenever this happens, Ace teases Catherine.

The anvil that opened the way was slowed down by a clump of thin, tough yellow-green thorns, and the great axe could not cope with these seemingly weak plants. Fortunately, Ace has stepped forward to help, and he is also a good hand at opening the way.

Catherine felt a little sorry in her heart, it was her own negligence that made her friends now have to fight some pestering plants.

The Doden Mountains - the place where ancient gods have fallen. For thousands of years, the mercenary missions associated with it have been nine deaths. It was only after the completion of the quest for the crown in the Doden Mountains that the Kuhl mercenary group became famous.

"Catherine, maybe you should take a look. Ace walked over with a vine in his hand.

Catherine took the vine and held it up to her eyes, her brow furrowed. The vine in front of me is slender and soft, with oval green leaves with reddish toothed edges, and the vine is covered with small white spikes like fluff, which are a little itchy when pinched on the hand. If you look closely, you will see a very fine gold wire set in the yellow-green skin.

"Golden silk vine, a natural earth element gathering plant. If you extract gold wire and weave it into a rattan silk glove, it has the radiating effect of earth-based magic. Catherine sighed, if she picked a bundle of these rare ingredients and sold them back in normal times, she could make a small profit. But now it has become a roadblock for the team, and the defensive nature of the earth element makes it difficult for the golden silk vine to cut, not even As's long sword.

But fortunately, there was plenty of rain, and the golden silk vines were drenched. Catherine unleashed several frozen snowballs that froze the golden vines—the ones that had become hard were much easier to cut.

Catherine felt a little tired from her ability to make her way through the vine-covered woodland, which had drained her magic.

Is this the real Doden Mountains? But it's also just an outer mountainous area. In Catherine's opinion, in the three years since the mercenary group was founded, none of the tasks was more difficult than the trip to the crown. But the Altar of the Brown Moon, the remnant of the land in the heart of the Doden Mountains, is far from on the edge, and the Crown Tomb near the Great Watergrass Forest can be compared. People have only heard of the existence of the Brown Moon Altar, but they have not seen its true face.

The reason why the Altar of the Brown Moon is famous in the kingdom is that every ten years, one of the priests in the altar will go to the royal city to select a disciple. On such days, the enthusiasm of the people will be put on the lucky ones of the decade, and which one will become the new disciple of the Brown Moon Altar is the key topic after the dinner.

In addition, the king will also hold a solemn ceremony almost like a national day, so that the whole royal city will feel like a festival. Every time the Brown Moon Altar came to the royal city to worship, there was no wind and dust brought by the long journey. They travel between the two places in a very casual and relaxed way. This seems to downplay the dangers along the Doden Mountains, and the Altar of the Brown Moon should be an easy place to get in and out of.

Next year will be another decade, and Catherine has a gut feeling that this letter may have something to do with the selection of disciples, and that this does not bode well. Ferry said that the king and the church had many differences over the candidates for discipleship.

Catherine patted her cheek, politics was really not her forte. The undercurrents beneath the river are far more dangerous than the fire-breathing dragons than the fierce battles. Over the years, the Kuvar mercenaries have been careful to move between the king and the church, careful not to be drawn into the political maelstrom. But carelessness came without warning, and Catherine suddenly smelled of conspiracy.

Catherine halted the group and took one last break before entering the depths of the mountain. A few men found a clearing under a large tree by a stream, and Ace and Ferry set up a tent, Catherine used her magic to blow a warm breeze and dry a few sections of wood and the ground, and soon the green wind brought in two mountain hares. A large shallow pit was dug in the middle of the tent and a grill was piled with timber. Ace went to the stream to take care of the rabbits, put them on a wooden stick and brought them back, and the hot water was already boiled on the stand.

Ferry elegantly brewed the rattan leaf tea and poured the warm, slightly bitter tea for his friends in a small wooden bowl. Catherine watched Ferry move, but her mind turned elsewhere.

To be honest, there was always a little doubt about Ferry who Catherine was. This self-proclaimed son of a pauper, the youngest pastor in the history of the church, is hard to believe that he really came from a pauper's family. Like his elegance, the meticulous hair, the well-groomed nails, the unwrinkled cuffs, just these external details seem to indicate something. If it weren't for the two years of getting along, Ferry would have been impeccable, and Catherine would not have kept these doubts in her heart.

"I said earlier that it wouldn't be a bad thing to bring vine leaf tea. You see, is there anything more comfortable than drinking a cup of fragrant tea in this weather?" Ferry sighed contentedly as he held his wooden bowl, "but unfortunately you didn't listen to me, so you brought a small jar, and today is the last enjoyment." ”

"If it's all yours on your own, I don't mind if you bring the whole tea set. Ace immediately lifted the anvil's rucksack in front of Ferry Fish.

Catherine pursed the corners of her lips, teasing Ferry was the friend's favorite thing to do. It is more feasible to let the emaciated priest shoulder the equipment of the long journey, than to let the mage fight with a sword.

"Ferry what do you say about the difference between the king and the church over the choice of disciples?" Catherine decided to take advantage of the break to learn as much as possible about the annoying political details, which might help her thinking.

"Actually, I don't know a lot. Ferry closed his eyes in the wooden bowl and thought deeply, but his companions knew that he was pretending. If Ferry really knew something, he couldn't wait to show it off.

"The disciples of the Brown Moon Sacrifice have always been popular figures in political circles. Toife, who returned three years ago, is now the Undersecretary of Agriculture, and he is only forty years old. Ferry thought for half a minute, then opened his eyes and said thoughtfully.

"Can you tell me something that people don't know?" said As, flipping through the rabbit on the grill, without looking back.

"Ferry you still talk about the differences, specific. Catherine looked at Ferry with a serious expression.

"Divergence, that. Ferry avoided Catherine's gaze and hurriedly lowered his head and took a sip of tea, "I also heard two chaplains chatting at the annual meeting of the church. His Holiness felt that sacrificial disciples should be devout believers, but His Majesty believed that every citizen should have the opportunity to receive the favor of the gods. ”

That is, the Pope wants to make disciples of people from the church, and the king wants people of no faith to be elected. Ace suddenly turned his head to look at the two of them and said.

Ace's words made everyone think for a moment, and there was silence in the tent for a while, except for the "crackling" sound of wood in the fire.

"Water. The green wind on the side handed the wooden bowl to Ferry and broke the peace.

"That's what it means. Ferry said perfunctorily as he added tea to the green wind.

"Politics. Catherine tapped her forehead with the back of her hand, "I heard that Toife was originally a nominal probationary priest, and his father was a cardinal in the southern diocese. Although Toifei was famous in the religious church back then, he himself liked the astronomical calendar, and he was a scholar in the Royal Academy, and he had an academic background, so it is no wonder that there was no resistance to his promotion. ”

"It's acceptable to both sides, isn't it? But if he wants to turn positive, he always has to choose a side. Ace heard Catherine's words.

Although both of them hate tightrope walking, in order for the mercenary group to gain a foothold in the royal city, he, the deputy head of the regiment, has studied the political map of the kingdom with Catherine.

The rabbit is slowly roasted and shiny. Ace carefully sprinkled salt and spices, and the smell was like the king's military band playing drums, and the drums wafted in all directions one after another, and everyone could faintly hear the sentry anvil sneezing, and everyone laughed. Catherine distributed rabbit meat to her companions, and ate it on wheat cakes.

"I'll take the staker before our brave dwarves are defeated by the scent. Ace, who had finished eating first, got up and spoke, and Catherine and Ferry laughed together.

"yes, yes. He's afraid he won't have the heart to keep watch. Ferry coaxed him, but he prepared a whole rabbit leg for the anvil and put it on a plate.

Ace left the tent, and only a moment later Catherine heard the anvil walking briskly.

"Good appetite goes hand in hand with health. As soon as the anvil reached the mouth of the tent, he greeted him loudly. He came in and threw down his great axe, picked up the iron-red horn flask at his waist, and drank two sips of it before he sat down to eat.

Catherine then took out the map and studied it carefully. In fact, it was just a map of the edge of the Doden Mountains, and as the trip progressed, Catherine became more and more aware of the difficulties of the trip. The path marked on the map has been completed, and from the next moment, they can only rely on their experience to grope their way forward.

"Is there no way, so how do we get there?" asked Fee, who leaned over, in a whisper. The silent green wind stretched out his hand and streaked across a forest.

"I'm not an elf, I can jump on trees. Ferry rolled his eyes and said angrily, "The next must be drudgery." ”

After saying that, Mr. Pastor got up and went to get the kettle.

"Wow", suddenly an arrow flew from nowhere, and Hao shot the kettle without warning. Ferry was startled, and was stunned with the kettle, but Green Wind reacted quickly, and immediately stepped forward to pull out the arrow and check it. The water "swished" out of the hole through which it had been shot, and the anvil behind it saw it, laughed and said, "Ferry are you peeing?"

"Wooden arrows. The green wind on the side had a calm face, "Yes......"

"Knock, knock, knock, knock" The dull sound of drums came from afar, interrupting Green Wind's words. The ground began to shake, and the crowd jumped to their feet vigilantly.

"Whoosh, whoosh", countless sharp arrows pierced the tent and shot from all directions.