"I didn't expect this to be the result, did you?" Balkuf, dressed as a lord, asked me with a smile beside him. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Today is the eighth day of investigating the origin of the Ogi grass flower.

However, the unexpected results of the investigation are puzzling, and what was originally thought to be one plus one equals two is now even more troublesome.

"I'm curious why you've been following me these days, uncle," I replied angrily, "isn't the lord very busy?" How can you have the leisure to change clothes to accompany me? ”

"It's all your subordinates, don't you want the investigator to accompany you? Who is more suitable than Uncle I? - How? Do you think I'm disturbing the world of the two of you? ”

"That's not -- forget it, a guy like you who often goes to the arena probably has a boring day every day...... It's also nice to have someone talk about it - what do you think about today's results? ”

Indeed, it is better to discuss with Rusya than to think on my own with Ruthya's foolish head, and in this respect I am glad that the investigator next to me is a trustworthy uncle Balkuf.

Lord Kesir, known as the Mercenary King, should be of great help to me with his experience and experience.

However, it is a pity that he is a rectum with a tendonous head......

Forget it, just use it.

"The information is too chaotic, let's find a place to sit down and talk slowly. Uncle, I know a very good tavern......" Balkuv did not wait for us to answer, and set off first.

"I always think you're looking for a chance to drink......" I was a little helpless, but I still pulled Rusia to follow.

……

"Now let's sort out what we know!" With the fine wines to drink, Barkuff's interest increased considerably.

"Hmmm......"

Luckily, we found a jeweler who sold the flowers, but there were two. And the information of the two companies is not exactly the same.

"Will there be two of them?" Rusya, who was carefully drinking juice on the side, asked.

"Which craftsman usually does the decoration of glazed grass flowers? Ogi flowers are not as popular as roses - I made them for Ogi, and they have Ogi engraved on them. ”

"That is, one is a fake -- it depends on which one is lying." Barkuv groaned.

"It should be. It's not clear what they're lying...... What's stranger is the source. ”

The owner of a shop named Carter had a detailed list of purchases and shipments, according to the owner, more than three years ago a few unknown mercenaries brought in the jewelry for sale, and the jewelry seemed to have the imprint of Roktar City mixed in, and the mercenaries seemed to be in a hurry to get rid of it at that time, so the jewelry worth at least 5,000 gold coins was bought by the owner for less than 2,000 gold coins, and Ogikusahua was one of those shipments - it is said that the mercenaries later hurried north.

As for the other Nidi jewelry shop, it was said that it was obtained from an old sailor, and kindly (I suspect it was because the owner Nidi wanted to curry favor with the lord) helped us find the old sailor, who, according to the old sailor's recollection, had been working on a merchant ship more than three years earlier, and had been caught by pirates on the third night after his departure from Plitz Harbor, and since he had happened to go into the water to overhaul the ship's side, he escaped, but none of the people on board survived.

"Before they left the harbor there was a small group of men, who seemed to be slave traders, and they were carrying seven or eight slaves, and when they boarded the ship, a little girl fainted, and was picked up and thrown onto the ship by the men who guarded them, this ...... Called Ogi Grass Flower? It was at that time that she fell out of her, and rolled right at my feet, so I put it in my pocket while no one was looking. He said so when we inquired about the old sailor.

"It seems more credible from the point of view of the Nidi jewelry store alone—there are many details, and the old sailor's recollection does not look like a lie," said Balkuff, "but ......"

"Hmm. According to the old sailor, there should have been no other survivors on board after the pirate attack that night, and of course Ogi should have ...... "I interrupted him," but Nabal told me that she was still alive - which was paradoxical. And pirates weren't in the habit of selling slaves! ”

"Isn't the old sailor lying?" Rusya asked curiously, "Why did he lie to us?" ”

"So it's true that the clue to Carter's jewelry store is correct, so what are you suspicious of?" Balkuv frowned, thinking, "Simply wonder why Nidi Jewelry is lying to you?" Still is...... Yes! Xia Nan. ”

"Hmm, Xia Nan." I nodded, then looked at Rusya, "Do you remember when Boss Bai suddenly pulled me aside when he was leaving?"

"Huh?" Rusya was a little surprised, and she didn't know why I mentioned Boss Bai at this time.

"'Inuzi said that he was going to Beiling with Xia Nan this time, so he didn't go back to the East with the old man--I always felt a little strange, the old man didn't know what Xia Nan's bastard and the dog were planning behind his back, and he didn't even tell the old man--you'd better not trust them too much.'" Boss Bai specially told me when he was leaving. I took a sip of wine, and then said, "Bai Suiyun, the son of Boss Bai, has only met once at the banquet, and it seems that he doesn't want to have a deep friendship with me, so I haven't had contact with him, and as for Xia Nan, there are too many strange things about him. According to Shanan, the detachment of the Blood Oblivion Mercenary Regiment came to Cassiel, sold the jewelry, and then according to Carter's jewelry store, they continued north, which also felt too reasonable. ”

"Isn't it reasonable?" Rusya, the fool, still didn't understand.

"It's just too reasonable--if I don't count the clue that I accidentally ran into Lagersis and got the clue of the Ogishua flower, that Xia Nan seems to have been waiting in that town called Roan to tell me the information and let me come to Kesir, and then I got the news smoothly, and then continued to track it north-obviously our Wind Riders couldn't find the clue for a long time."

"And if the Bloody Annihilation Mercenary Regiment is really behind the Burial Corps...... Would they have let that detachment go so easily? Barkuv's expression was very solemn, "Just as the Great Sage St. Vorf assumed, the Blood Annihilation Mercenary Regiment that attacked Roktar City was instructed by the Burial Corps, and after the matter was completed, the Burial Corps quickly destroyed the Blood Oblivion Mercenary Regiment to extinguish the mouth, how could the detachment escorting the slaves easily escape with such a watertight plan?" - Maybe the detachment did board the ship in the port of Prieze, but then encountered pirates...... It should be the one who buried the soldiers** and came out to extinguish the mouth! In that case, what the old sailor said is true. ”

“…… How did I not think of this? I looked at Balkuv blankly, "Uncle, you are so ......"

"Nonsense! Anyway, I'm also the mercenary king! Balkuv folded his arms triumphantly, "You haven't respected me since you revealed my identity - how can you always be regarded as a reckless man by your little fellow?" ”

"Am I not discussing it with you? I finally agree with you......" I sneered, feeling a little embarrassed, and hurriedly changed the subject, "If you think so, then Xiao Di was rescued on the ship before the pirate attack?" Isn't that reasonable? ――Could it be that the pirates didn't kill Ogi? But taken away? ”

"Maybe? She was then rescued by her brother Nabal...... Of course, this is just a hypothesis. ”

"Alas...... If only Nabal were here, uncle, you are really, you can't even keep someone. "I blame him.

"How does Lao Tzu know about your relationship with Nabar? That day, he suddenly came to me and said that he was going to compete with you in the seventh game, so he let him go - he ran away after the competition, how did I know what was going on?! ”

"It's as simple as that? You don't ask him why? Aren't you worried that he'll kill me on the field? ”

"He said it would make the meat in Lao Tzu's mouth more delicious, what else am I worried about? And that guy never likes to talk much. ”

I was a little discouraged: "Meat...... It's very upset to think that I'm the piece of meat you say - what is your relationship with Nabal? Friends? He didn't tell you anything? ”

"Where does that Grim Reaper have friends? We've played against each other a few times, and we've just had our own wins. ”

"It's as simple as that?

"It's that simple!"

"......," I looked at Balkuv with some fire, "when we were discussing it just now, I thought that you were very thoughtful, uncle, when it comes to communicating with people...... How do you feel like an idiot?! Just a few fights to give my life away? ”

"Hey...... Fighting style doesn't lie—opponents are sometimes more reliable than friends—and you'll find out when you're your uncle's age. ”

"Forget it, you weird uncle!" I gave up dwelling on him on the subject, sighed, and grumbled, "It seems that the line of Nabal is also broken—is it possible that I should go out to sea in search of unknown pirates?" ”

"But judging by the way you look, you've decided to look for it—but Lao Tzu is more concerned about Xia Nan's purpose." "If we're right," said Balkuff, "then Carter's Jewelry Store is what Charnan has arranged to guide you - why did Charnan? ”

"That bastard—who knows what the hell he's up to?" I said angrily.

"He's the prince of Northridge, and he seems to want you to be a guest in Northridge—" Barkuv analyzed, "The false news that the mercenaries are fleeing north, and we are constantly arranging to guide you to the north, and we will enter Northridge further north here, and he has the Holy Wind Hulibel in his hand to guide the direction, will there be any purpose?" ――Or is it true that Ogi is in the north? ”

"Trouble...... Can't that bastard have something to say? I always like to go around the bend ......"

"Maybe there's some special reason, Lacey, you should stay in the city for a few more days, right? I'll send someone to confirm. ”

"Okay." I nodded, "It's okay, Rusya has been with me for the past few days, and she hasn't had a good rest." ”

"Lacey, I'm out of the way......" Rusya replied hurriedly, "if ......"

"Alright, that's it!" Barkuv interrupted her, then stood up and raised his hand to finish the wine in his glass, "You guys rest for a few days, and I'll leave Carter's jewelry store or something to Uncle!" ”

……

Only a day later, Barkuv summoned us to the lord's office, and as soon as we met, he said, "The investigation has not made much progress, but something important has been discovered by accident. ”

"What's wrong?" Looking at Barkuw, who was sitting solemnly behind his desk, I asked curiously.

"That Carter jewelry store is an intelligence station set up by Northridge - it's nothing, they're just lying as the prince tells them to do. They also didn't know what Xia Nan's purpose was. However, the information that the prince asked them to collect at the same time was very interesting. Balkuv pulled out a stack of papers, "Regarding the location of the major mercenary groups, it is gathered almost once a month. ”

"Where is the mercenary group? Those mercenary groups that come and go freely? Does it make sense to collect that? Still once a month? "I'm weird.

Balkuv ignored me: "There are a total of seventy-six mercenary groups registered in the mercenary association, and only twenty of them have a scale of more than 300 people - the countries are too peaceful to do anything - there were hundreds of mercenary groups in Lao Tzu's ...... back then."

"Let's get down to business, uncle...... Why do you like to talk nonsense as much as Boss Bai. I shook my head.

"Ha~ I'm sorry!" Barkuv grimaced, and continued, "From the information they have recorded, in the past two years, two of the twenty mercenary groups have been in the southern barbarian countries, and eleven of them are all distributed in the southern part of Dorakia, and eight of them have not changed their radius of activity in nine months!" ”

"How is that possible?!"

Mercenary groups without territory support need to collect bounties everywhere to ensure the daily military expenses, and now that the countries have been peaceful for many years, the most they can receive is to exterminate the bandit group or participate in the settlement of lord disputes, etc., and the powerful will also assist the church in exterminating the infidels and demons, but they can stay in place for nine months in a row.

"The mercenaries are a pack of hyenas that smell blood," Balkuv continued, "and they don't stay there meaninglessly." What's more, there are still burial legions hovering on the border between the barbarian state of Tayek and the Central Lorakia Empire!! ”

"The Burial Corps is also there?? So many mercenary groups - is it possible that the two countries are going to war? ”

Impossible? Tayek, a barbarian country with a large number of miasma forests that cannot be cultivated, has always relied on grain trade with Dorakia, and due to its low production capacity, its economic, cultural, and technological development generally lags behind other countries, if it were not for the fact that its land has relatively rich mineral resources, and at the same time, it is an outpost country as the church to resist the demon territory further south, so it has received a large amount of material assistance from the church, otherwise, their survival would not even be a problem. Moreover, every demon invasion was repelled by reinforcements sent by the Church Priesthood and the Dorakia Kingdom - where did they have the strength to invade the center?

"But that's the only way to explain the mercenary groups," said Barkuf, "and I've looked into the trade missions that Tajek has come to Kesir this year, and they trade less than half the amount of gold in previous years - it is said that an earthquake in the mining area caused a massive landslide. ”

"Did they use the gold to pay the mercenary group? Even those mercenary groups can't compete with our Dorakian Knights, the strongest in the mainland, right? Not to mention the fact that the clergy of Hagia Sophia is stationed in our country - are they crazy? ”

"Now there is only this possibility, don't forget to bury the corps - if St. Wuf's conjecture is correct, and the leader of the burying corps, Ashetaro, is really a demon, it is not impossible for Tajek and them to join forces with the demons, after all, the barbarian countries that are culturally and economically weak are not like words, worship power even more!"

“……”

I have to go back to my country, although I don't know how much those people in the military department are aware of, but as a member of the Dorakia Wind Cavalry, I need to go back and report the news.

"The strange thing is that Xia Nan seems to have expected the war for a long time, and began to order the intelligence department to start collecting intelligence two years ago, as if he has some key ...... Combined with the fact that he is constantly leading you north, maybe he deliberately wants you to stay away from the flames of war - although I don't think that bastard will think of this for you, but I can't rule out this possibility~" Balkuv asked, "What are you going to do now?" ”

"I'm going back." I replied, "Whether it's true or not, go back and warn them, if there's a war......," I muttered and looked at Rusya.

Should she stay here? I hesitated.

Indeed, she would be safe here. But...... I don't want to be separated from her, and besides, I guess she doesn't want to be left here alone, right?

However, if there is a war, Rusya has a ......

"Lacey, don't leave me~" Rusya hurriedly took my hand and said, "If you're not there, I'll go back to the forest and never come out again!" ”

"Want to go back to the forest? That should be counting the stars with me—how could I let you go back alone. Facing her determined gaze, I couldn't help but feel ashamed that I wanted to leave her just now, "Let's go back together, if there is really a war, you will also fight with me~-No matter how hard you work, you are not allowed to complain to me!" ”

"Hmm!" Rusya smiled happily, "With you, I won't work hard~"

"Well, looking at you two, I really think I should go and get a wife--you guys get ready to leave tomorrow--in case Dorakia loses, don't worry about that messy chivalry, and go back to Uncle!"

"Get out! You give me less crow's beak! ”