When I returned from the village chief's house, Nina had already made the bed on the ground for Il and me, and Il didn't complain in a rare way, presumably the previous dinner had satisfied him. Although my body didn't need sleep, I lay down to avoid suspicion.

The terrifying cries that emanated from the forest never ceased after dark, but nothing unusual happened that night other than these annoying cries.

Il's adaptability was enviable, and he was not affected in any way, and fell asleep after his head was on the pillow. Nina and Kilo didn't fall asleep until morning, but just as they were falling asleep, a loud bell rang outside. It was the sound of a large alarm bell hung in front of the village chief's house. Most of the aggressive creatures in the forest are nocturnal, and I must have passed the dangerous time at this moment, and wondering what was going on, I opened the door and walked out.

The sky was slightly white, and the brightness of the light barely allowed people to see the things around them, but due to the proximity to the forest, the air here was filled with white mist, which greatly reduced visibility, of course, from the perspective of ordinary humans.

Villagers poked their heads out of almost every house, and judging by their confused expressions, they probably didn't know what was going on, just like I did. After a while, many people gathered in the open space in front of the village chief's house, yawning and looking sleepy-eyed.

The village chief stood by the bell with a serious face, and beside him stood a dark-skinned villager, the expression on the face of the village name was full of urgency. His forehead was covered with sweat and he was panting heavily, probably just after an intense exercise similar to a long-distance run.

After seeing this man, the sleepiness on the faces of the villagers disappeared in an instant.

"What's going on?" A middle-aged woman asked nervously.

"The village patrol just spotted a group of heavily armed men, and they seem to be coming this way." The village chief frowned, looking a little anxious.

"Wouldn't it? Didn't the garrison just leave yesterday! ”

"These insatiable guys!"

Hearing the approaching armed men, the villagers instinctively linked them to yesterday's garrison, and immediately began to talk about it, their voices full of anger and uneasiness.

Realizing that something seemed to be in trouble again, I quickly turned around and tried to leave before anyone noticed.

however

"Ah, isn't this Mr. Carter!"

A man closest to me accidentally saw me as I was leaving, and his eyes lit up as if he had seen the light of day in the darkness of ignorance. With this shout, the villagers all looked over, but because of the morning fog, those who were a little farther away could probably only see my silhouette.

It seemed that I couldn't slip away now, and although I was reluctant, I walked into the middle of the crowd. As soon as he saw me, the village chief immediately cast a look of help for help.

"Mr. Carter!"

"I've heard the general situation," I stretched out my hand to signal to the village chief that he didn't need to make any additional explanations, "Anyway, let's go home first, close the doors and windows, and let me and the village chief deal with these people, and you don't need to be too nervous until you find out what they are coming from, maybe they are just passing by." ”

I calmed everyone's emotions in a cheerful voice, and the villagers nodded to each other. When people are in danger, they are always willing to act according to the instructions of the strong, and after following my advice, the villagers rushed home one after another.

"Mr. Carter, what are we going to do now?" The village chief approached me and asked.

"Do nothing, just wait for them to come."

"This ......," the village chief still looked at me with an uneasy expression.

"Don't worry, if you want to fight, I'll be enough alone, don't you believe in my strength, village chief?"

"Ah, no, no, of course it's okay to have Master Carter here."

The morning fog quickly dissipated as the sun rose, and at the same time as the world in front of them became brighter, a group of heavily armed knights appeared on the road between the houses. They were dressed in armor emblazoned with the national coat of arms, and the deep and shallow notches on it indicated that they were not newcomers. Keeping in a neat formation, the knights, numbering twenty-one, slowly entered the village. The rider riding at the front was a handsome young man, with a bit of childishness between his eyebrows, and he should not be eighteen years old.

After seeing the village chief and me standing in the middle of the village, the young man raised his hand to signal the team behind him to stop advancing, and then quickly turned over and dismounted.

The boy walked up to us, nodded slightly, and said in an energetic voice, "I'm Lanka-Kyrgyz, and I've been ordered to investigate this forest, and before entering the forest, I hope to make some necessary supplies in your village, and of course we will pay you accordingly." ”

The young man's words and deeds are very polite, and it is easy for people to feel intimate, and it can be said that there is a world of difference between him and yesterday's Kurumman, and he did not expect that the quality of the personnel of the regular army of the same country would be so far apart.

"Lord Lanka, you are too polite, I am the head of this village, you can just ask us what you need our village to do." The village chief replied with a smile, the initial uneasiness long since disappeared from his face.

"Village chief, you are the elder, just call me Lanka," the young man's smile was very good, and then he fell on me, "Are you an adventurer?" ”

"Ah, I'm a passing traveler, not an adventurer, my name is Carter."

Hearing that I was not an adventurer, Lanka showed a hint of loss, but quickly regained his bright expression, "Because the armor you are wearing looks very valuable, I thought you were a famous adventurer, and if I am not mistaken, this armor should be magical equipment." ”

Lanka's eyes were always on the armor on my body, and he seemed to be fascinated by it.

"Hahahaha, young man, your eyesight is good, this is indeed magical equipment, and it is a treasure of my family."

"That's pretty good," Ranka said, turning back to the knights behind him, "Let's get off our horses and rest, but be careful not to disturb the villagers." ”

"Thank you, my home is in front, let's have a cup of tea together." The village chief greeted the knights in front of him with a warm face.

"Is that okay? Thank you so much, Village Chief. Lanka put his hand on his chest and thanked the village chief, what a nice young man.

The horses were placed in the open space near the village chief's house to graze freely, while the knights found the shade of the nearest tree to rest, and the village chief's wife brought them freshly brewed tea. After observing the house for a while, the villagers confirmed that the knights had no ill intentions and walked out of the house. The children circled around the knights as if they were watching a rare animal, and the knights smiled gently.

The village chief, Lanka and I sat down at the village chief's house.

"Then why are you investigating this forest, Lanka?" The village chief poured Lanka a cup of tea and handed it over, then looked at me, and I shook my head and motioned for the village chief not to prepare my share.

"Oh, that's right, a very powerful monster appeared in the country before, His Majesty specially organized a special force, and we are now investigating the monster gathering place in the territory, hoping to find the hiding place of that monster so that we can deal with it as soon as possible." Lanka took the teacup and took a sip of it.

"Well, that's really hard," I sympathized with the boy's work, but I couldn't help but laugh in my heart, it seems that Skeletron's appearance has caused quite a stir, and my plan has been going well so far.

"It's not hard, it's our duty as soldiers to protect people." Lanka said with a serious face, such a determined look showed that he was not just talking about it, but really believing it in his heart.

I must have grown up to be a wonderful man in the future, I thought, and cast an admiring look at Lanka, of course, because he was wearing a mask, the boy could not detect it.

"It turns out that a powerful monster has appeared, no wonder there have been some abnormal changes in the forest recently." The village chief touched his beard and muttered to himself.

"Something happened in the forest?"

"Ah, yes, the monsters in the forest have changed their habitats recently, and they have become extremely active, and they will invade the village from time to time, we have reported the situation to the garrison before, hoping that they will help investigate, but unfortunately there is no response."

"How can this be, the people of the garrison are too irresponsible!" Lanka slapped the table hard, and with such a force, people couldn't help but worry about whether the table would break like this, "Don't worry, village chief, we will investigate in the forest." ”

"It just so happened that I also accepted the village chief's request to go to the forest to investigate, since you are also going to the forest, then we might as well go together."

If the knights go to investigate the forest, then it won't matter to me, but it will also be beneficial for me to get to know the people in the army, so I offered to help.

"That's really hard to ask for," Lanka accepted rather cheerfully, "so let's get some more food and water and let's go." ”

"Well, I have a companion, I'm going to call him, he can heal magic, I think it will come in handy."

"That's great, I don't have any priests on my team, so I don't have to worry about getting hurt, Mr. Carter, you've been a great help." Lanka laughed happily and thanked me again and again.

After a few sips of tea, Lanka and I parted ways at the village chief's door, Lanka went to prepare the necessary supplies, and I headed towards Kilo's house.