On a scorching summer day, a small team was moving fast under the scorching sun, and on both sides of the not very wide road, there were dense and flourishing forests, as far as the eye could see, and at the end of their sight, a gray shadow across the horizon, one after another, endlessly.

There is the "Black Mountains", the impassable moat in the south of the empire, connecting the mountains and tomb mountains of the edge of the world from east to west, the natural border between the empire and the border princes, and the dividing line between Chinese and barbarism in the eyes of the old world.

As the saying goes, Wangshan runs a dead horse, although you can see the figure of the mountain, but if you want to really walk in front of it, there are at least two days, not to mention that most of the people in this team are walking on their feet.

Among the more than 200 soldiers dressed as mercenaries, only a few cavalrymen had horses to walk, and in the center of the line, there were several old carriages, creaking along the not so flat road.

Obviously, looking at the uniform green and white robes and flags on their bodies, they know that these people are all from a mercenary group.

They are the rising stars who have recently made a name for themselves in the "Frontier Prince's Territory", "Forgive the Mercenary Group".

It's just that this time it's different from usual, there is no half of the merchant in the team, and a few carriages don't seem to be loaded with goods, which is a bit rare, after all, this is a "border prince's territory" where bandits are rampant, and mercenary groups of their size travel to protect caravans to earn gold coins, and rarely act alone.

In fact, before Lepp set off, he also received several requests from the heads of the Chamber of Commerce who had good relationships, asking them to bring their caravans with them when they set off, and they were all very generous, but in order to reach their destination as soon as possible, he had to reluctantly refuse these gold kronors sent to the door.

No way, the lord said, speed first, so the boys under him cupped.

"Go faster! It's Montzk in front, and when you get there, you can take a good rest, and the ale tube is enough! ”

The mercenary group at the front of the team cheered the mercenaries behind him with a loud voice, and there was a scattered echo behind him.

Although Rip looked a little old because of his hairstyle and beard, he spoke in a loud voice, and he was even more energetic than the boys behind him, but in fact he was also a little tired.

Since coming out of "Fetamburg", the mercenary group has traveled all the way to the north for eight or nine days in a row, except for the inn in "Borosca" for one night, most of the time it has been sleeping in the wilderness, coupled with the high-intensity march, so that the soldiers of the mercenary group, especially those newly recruited young men half a year ago, have tasted enough, and now they are listless and have almost reached the limit.

Although the newcomers of these mercenary groups are in good physical condition and have been training for several months, they are still just fledgling rookies after all, presumably after this long journey, they will quickly grow up and become the mainstay of the mercenary group, but only if they can return to this land alive.

Thinking of this, a trace of imperceptible melancholy flashed in Rip's sharp eyes, unlike those mercenaries who were still elated at first, they all thought that this trip to "Aldolph" was to go to the headquarters of the mercenary union to go through the process, and when they verified the task and became an A-level mercenary group, they could come back happily, not knowing what kind of danger was waiting for them ahead.

But Rep knew that he had a hunch that this trip to the Empire would never be as simple as he imagined, no, it should be said that the situation known now was far beyond his imagination, but he felt that the enemy he faced in the end would be even more powerful than the "Broken Wheel" and the Imperial Academy of Magic that he saw now.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but glance at the carriage behind him, Lord, Lord, is it really worth it to make such a special trip for the sake of the little bell? You must know that the human empire is not like the border prince, there are all kinds of ghosts, snakes and gods along the way, not to mention the center of the old world of "Aldolph", which is definitely a land of hidden dragons and crouching tigers!

But the decision made by that one, no one can change it, only believe that he can work miracles, besides, the lord has done no less.

Fortunately, so far, everything has gone relatively well, especially after passing through the cracked wasteland under the scorching sun and entering the "gloomy forest", there have been no accidents.

Seeing the road ahead getting wider and wider, and the trees on both sides becoming more and more sparse, meant that this most dangerous part of the road was about to reach its strength.

You know, there have been a lot of tragedies here in recent years, especially since the Beastmen settled, many caravans have suffered heavy casualties here, plus the existing forest goblins and Skaven ratmen, and even the tragedy of the entire caravan being wiped out.

Fortunately, the lord got an army of Chaos Dwarves out of nowhere, as well as his own green-skinned boys, a large army entered the depths of the forest, with the goal of completely eradicating the beastmen here, and by the way, some forest goblins were recruited.

No wonder the journey has been so peaceful, it seems that I can finally get a good night's sleep tonight.

"Hurry up, whoever wants to go slowly, I'll leave him here to spend the night with the beastmen!"

"Blackheart," Repp shouted.

……

When night fell, the people of the "Forgiveness Mercenary Group" finally arrived in "Monzke" as they wished.

Situated on the slopes of the southernmost branch of the Black Mountains, this town of less than 1,000 people is said to have unilaterally claimed to be under its jurisdiction in the early days, but the fierce townspeople did not buy it, and beat away the officials who came to collect taxes with hoes and sickles, and over time the matter was over.

The town is now under the rule of a baron named Erhard, whose main industries are logging and sheep herding, and due to its location on the border, there is also a small market.

Because of the special geographical location, there are a lot of caravans coming and going here, but the ruler has no ambition, only cares about running his own one-acre and three-point land, and the wind evaluation is not bad, so after discussing with the stone, Lepp chose to skip "Akendorf" and go directly here to rest and replenish supplies.

Although Akendorf, located next to the "Gloomy Forest", is more prosperous and has all kinds of goods, after all, there is also a lord of "Fetenburg" in the team, and it is better to be careful if he almost fought with them not long ago.

Besides, there's a huge nezumi clan underground, and it's not very safe.

So the stone preferred to spend the night in the eerie woods, and to get to "Monzke" before resting.

But the conditions here are more rudimentary.

Although there were several inns in the city, so many mercenaries poured in at once, and all of them were full at once, and in these brightly lit places, all kinds of food and ale were served on the table as if they didn't need money, and then quickly entered the mercenaries' stomachs, not to mention anything else, anyway, the owners of these inns were smiling.

In the city's best-in-class inn, the Green Elf, Stone, now Brienne, a princess from Lordaeron, and Fitandila Rarep feast on a steaming meal as they determine their next route.