“…… The legend of the green people of the forest has a long history, and the mountain people of Manoville and Lantoniland refer to them as the people of the trees. Some say that they are descendants of the Minr, and after the Battle of the Sages, there were indeed some Minr who took the route we pass through today, avoiding the frost-stained forest. They crossed the Needle Mountains, sailed north from the present-day Silver Pine Coast, and never disappeared. ”

"No one knows where they ended up, but there are also those who say that the Minr people in the forest were divided in two, and that the leader of the group was unwilling to give up his worldly power, and tricked a group of people into staying. The results of these descendants can be imagined, the one who stayed behind became the later green people; But they had been assimilated by the forest—their cheeks were like wood, their dull eyes were sunken inside, and their bodies were covered with roots, and they wandered through the forest, day after day, regretting the decision they had made. ”

The magic of darkness turned this regret into resentment, and they were lost in the woods like heartless ghosts, killing all the creatures they met. Most of these remaining Minr people are nobles among the Minr people, and they are adept at using language to confuse people's minds, especially since this language contains the magic of the forest. Many of those who saw them were gone. ”

The flames burned the branches in the bonfire, and the tiny branches turned golden red in the fire, and from time to time a spark crackled and burst. Brando's voice was high and low, telling the legend of the man on the tree that was widely spread in the Manoville area, but most of the locals only knew the legend and could not tell the story in such detail that everyone in the firelight could hear it.

Only the little prince was huddled in the corner, trembling as he listened. He deliberately wanted to walk away and listen, but he couldn't resist his curiosity.

"What about the Miner who left?" Médisa was a little curious. She put a dead branch into the campfire, and the bright light of the fire made her face much more rosy.

Brando picked up the grilled fish from the campfire and threw it at Haruze on the side. The little prince was stunned. Subconsciously reached out to catch it, and threw away the grilled fish with a bang. Then he reacted and hurriedly grabbed the wooden skewer and picked it up. But he stared at the dirt and snow on the grilled fish.

Brando sighed and shook his head. He handed the other grilled fish to Nimersis, who understood. Reached out and took the grilled fish from the little prince's hand, and then exchanged the grilled fish for him.

"Thank you......" Haruzer muttered quietly, blushing like an apple.

"Your Royal Highness, to take responsibility, you must first learn to overcome your fears." Nimesis reminded him: "There are many legends in this world, but Your Highness, you are long past the age when you believe in the bedside story. ”

“…… I—I'm not afraid. Haruzer stared at the grilled fish in his hand, a little aggrieved: "Because my sister said that Lord Martha will bless the ...... of each of her people"

Listening to this reason for comforting herself, Lorenna couldn't help but laugh: "Your Royal Highness, you are so cute. She replied with some amusement.

Brando shook his head. I really can't expect more from this prince, at least these days he has become a lot more independent than before. You must know that before this, he didn't dare to say his thoughts in front of so many people. That's at least an improvement. He then proceeded to answer Metisa's question: "Those Minr people have climbed over the Needle Mountains. Some people have seen the sea from the area of today's Silver Pine Coast, but it is too long. It's the souls of the ancestors of the Miner who died. To this day, it still hovers in the Agosic Gorge north of the Needle Mountains, where fragments of shipwrecks are often salvaged from the bottom of the sea. ”

"What about the heartless knight? I've heard similar legends. Laurena asked, and every day Brando had told them many legends about the forest—it seemed to her that there was nothing that the Lord Count of Tonigel did not know.

"Heartless knight? That's another story—" Brando was about to speak, when he was interrupted by a wail of almost grief in the distant forest, which rose and fell beneath the silver moon, almost like a wolf's howl. But Brando heard it, it was a human voice, a woman's voice.

The little prince shuddered with fright, and everyone turned their heads in that direction at the same time, and the direction of the sound was from the south of the camp, in the direction of the hunters' original camp.

There was a 'bang', and a person suddenly rushed out of the bushes, it was Akane with a spear on her back. She looked at Brando, a little bewildered, but the latter had already understood: "What's wrong?" ”

"She's running out......," replied the mountain girl in a whisper.

"Ran out?" Brando was slightly stunned, "You didn't stop her?" ”

"But she said she was going to find her brother."

"Her brother? Her brother was among the hunters? ”

Akane shook her head slightly, indicating that she didn't know.

……

The second time Brando saw the huntress was in the hunter's camp during the day, when she was kneeling in the snow and sobbing quietly; The girl had long, thick dark brown hair that was scattered over her shoulders and slightly curled, which was very beautiful. She was dressed in a thick hunter's leather suit, except for the longbow and quiver on the lanyard that had been missing when she was spotted, and the bare skin on her hands and neck was a little dark, a bit like Sue, and she looked no more than sixteen or seventeen years old, but much more mature than Nimesis and even Freya.

The Hunter Maiden lay on the edge of a pit dug out of the snow, her hands clutching the frozen earth, and making an almost beastly whimpering sound that gradually turned into a low wail. Freya, who was beside Brando, couldn't bear to see this, and walked over to help the other party up, but Brando stopped her first - he looked at the body of the hunter who had been re-dug up in the pit, and turned back and asked, "Is her brother in there?" ”

Nimesis shook her head slightly, "The bodies buried earlier have been identified by her, and there is no body of her brother in them. The surrounding woods have also been searched, but no trace has been found. ”

"So her brother is still alive?"

"Not necessarily, it could be that the corpse was taken by a wild beast in the forest. Or maybe we fled farther away and died, as we did with the corpse before. "The female knight is not optimistic.

Brando nodded slightly, agreeing to the speculation. But he added: "I don't rule out the possibility of being taken away, Anlek always needs a guide." ”

Nimesis was noncommittal.

"Brando?" Freya glanced at the girl kneeling in the snow with some concern. She was worried about the injuries on the other party's body. What's more, the huntress also had a high fever. Although there was a sacrifice of Pasimilla in the procession, only the priest of Faenzan was good at curing diseases, and it was very dangerous for the wound to become inflamed in such an environment.

But Brando glanced at the girl. replied softly: "Let her vent for a while, her brother may not be dead, but normal people will not be able to stand such a big impact." At least let her calm herself down first. ”

Freya pursed her lips slightly. A large part of her sympathy for the other person stems from her own suffering; That night in Buchi, I watched my relatives who got along day and night fall into flames, and their former homes burned to the ground, and the sense of humiliation and powerlessness was difficult for ordinary people who had not experienced this qiē to ignore.

But she thought of her own experience at the Royal Knight Academy—some things had to be done on her own, and it was Brando who taught her that—so she paused and looked at each other silently.

Fortunately, the Hunter Maiden was much stronger than everyone expected, and she suppressed her voice and wept in the snow for a while. Then there was silence—and after a while, she got up and wiped her tears. The appearance of the hunter girl who put away the out-of-control love xù made everyone stunned; She didn't have that heart-pounding beauty in her, but her dark eyes looked like a female beast. Full of untamed wild light.

"Thank you for saving me, Lord Knights," her voice was a little hoarse. It's not just crying and hoarse, it's still the original voice. But like Brando said. The Hunter Maiden had calmed down a little after saying this, and she asked softly in a rustling voice, "May I ask the knights." Are you going into the Frosted Forest? ”

All eyes were on Brando.

Brando asked rhetorically, "I want to know what kind of idea made you ask this question." ”

"If I say I can act as a guide for you, can you take me with you, Knight?" The Hunter Maiden immediately stared at him and asked, her eyes full of hope, and although she tried her best to keep her composure, she seemed to be afraid that Brando's refusal would inevitably show a hint of nervousness.

Brando was slightly stunned, although he had expected it. However, he had heard Nimesis and others convey the original words of this hunter girl, saying that the hunters were unwilling to enter the Frost Forest that day, which caused Anlek's murderous intention, but he didn't expect her to take the initiative to make this request at this moment.

"That being said, you're trying to chase into the forest to find your brother's next, right?" He asked.

The Hunter Maiden hesitated, but finally nodded, "Yes, I don't want to hide it from you, my lord." Dead or alive, at least I want to see my brother's body. Brando was pleased with her honesty, but still asked, "But we're pressed for time, you have injuries on your body, can you keep up with us?" ”

"I can! This little injury is nothing to us hunters! The Hunter Maiden immediately replied loudly, but the wound began to cough.

"Have you ever entered the Frost Forest?"

"I didn't, knight, but my father had entered the Frost Forest three times during his lifetime. He was the only hunter in the area of Repulse to make it back alive from the forest, but his companions who had entered the forest with him were left there. The Hunter Maiden paused at this point, as if remembering some unpleasant past. For this reason, he was secretly called the Cursed by those men, and after my father's death, Yaruta and I were ostracized by the town's hunters. ”

She sighed faintly: "Before entering the forest this time, those nobles offered a lot of money, and many hunters were tempted. But the patron needs someone who is familiar enough with the northern edge of the Forest of Anlather, and in Reshallow Waters, it's just me and my brother—"

"Originally, I thought that with this money, I would be able to leave here with my brother and go to Karasu. I didn't expect ......" The hunter girl's eyes were red, and she hurriedly wiped them with her hands.

"Your brother doesn't have to die, don't be sad first, it's unlikely that Anlek will kill everyone. By the way, you should be familiar with the hunters in the town, have you counted the corpses, and the missing ones? ”

"Enlek?" The girl was slightly stunned, and then she understood what Brando meant: "I have counted, there are three people missing." ”

"Two people, plus your brother." Brando hesitated, the amount was a bit too much. If Enlek needs a guide, two people are actually completely sufficient. But he didn't say these words, he looked at the Hunter Maiden, "What's your name?" ”

"My name is Peya, my lord. My father's name was Tyco, and he was a well-known hunter in Reshallow Water, and my brother's name was Yaruta, and he was only fifteen years old. The Hunter Maiden immediately humbly introduced herself.

But Brando didn't really care about her self-introduction, and he asked sternly, "You've thought about it, Peya." You are with us, and even if you may meet your brother, I will not necessarily allow you to move freely at that time. "In the eyes of the others, Brando seems to be a different person at this moment, but they don't know that this is due to Brando's habit as the leader of the group - the Froststained Forest is not an entry-level dungeon in the game, not to mention that players can start all over again in the game, and they don't have a chance to do it again here - so he must not allow an element of instability in the team." Remember, you are joining us as a guide, not us taking you to save your brother. ”

Peya looked struggling, but Brando's words reassured her a little, at least if she was just tricked into being a guide, there was no need for her to make such assurances. Eventually, she nodded, raised her hand, and swore, "I see, Lord Knight." I swear in the honor of my dead father that I will keep my promise at this moment. ”

Brando nodded.

As if relieved, Freya hurriedly walked over to help the hunter girl up from the snow. Brando turned around, he didn't really need a guide, he just didn't want to break Freya's heart.

What's more, if the Hunter Maiden is left alone, his own conscience may not be happy.