Entering the inn in the middle of the Scorpion Valley, Finn, Lilith, and Arya followed Terx's team into the interior of the first floor of the cabin, and saw at a glance that in the lobby on the first floor of the inn, a woman of about forty years old was standing in front of the other group of people and holding hands towards herself and Terx.

The woman was dressed in a hardy fleece coat, and wore a gilded headband inlaid with three precious stones, and the look on her face still had a little charm of her youth, but her expression seemed not very happy, but after a while, she looked at the people who had just entered the room from outside the inn and said, "Lord Tarks, you and your team are late, I remember that the time for our appointment should be before two o'clock in the afternoon." ”

"Oh, forgiving Sir Calea, forgive our carriage for being delayed a little on the way by a small snowstorm at the mouth of the valley." Telx patted the snow on his shoulder and greeted the lady with an aristocratic smile.

Listening to Telkes's tone, Finn stood in front of the inn and glanced at the middle-aged woman, remembering that the other party was probably the Countess of Callea that Terkes had mentioned in Orlan.

As for Countess Kalea's impressions, Fein remembers that she was a brilliant explorer in her youth, and now a vassal of Duke Thobs, a fief in the Lonster Plains in the southwest of the kingdom, and a staunch supporter of the princess's faction in the future Violet Civil War, as well as her lord, Duke Thobs.

The other people standing behind Countess Callea were most likely members of the exploration team she had brought with her from the Lonster Plains. The middle-aged countess stood in front of her team with her hands crossed and looked at Lord Terkes who had come to her with a smile on her face, and then tilted her head to look at the armed henchmen brought by Leah, Fein, Camussa, Lilith, Arya and Terkes, frowned slightly, and then looked back at Terkes and complained: "Lord Talks, are you bringing too many people?" ”

"I've brought too many people?" Hearing Countess Kaleya's complaints, Telkes was stunned, "Sir Kalea, I can understand if you don't expect a few young people over there - but, rest assured, these people on this side are the elite of my carefully selected City Guard from Orlan, and their strength can be matched even against the Valan Guard of the Faentan Empire. ”

As he spoke, he first raised his hand to Finn, Lilith, Arya, and Camussa to indicate that they were "a few young men over there who don't have to live up to expectations," and then bowed slightly, bowed his arms sideways, and enthusiastically introduced the dozen or so armed men he had brought with him to Countess Calea.

Leah happened to be standing with Terkes' servants at this time, and he saw his brother and his party using the tiptoe stones to lift up the crowd, including himself, and he felt a little embarrassed in his heart, and at the same time felt that Terkes's last sentence "Their strength can be defeated even in the face of the Valan Guards of the Faentan Empire" seems to be a bit exaggerated.

The Valan Guard is a foreign hoplite legion loyal to the Emperor of the Faentan Empire, and its members are mainly composed of a group of barbarians who have migrated from the western frontier of the empire to settle in the empire.

As the name of the Guard indicates, the barbarians who were attracted by the culture and religion of Faentan and voluntarily moved from the borders of the wasteland into the territory of the empire called themselves Varans. The Valans are natural warriors, their bones and muscles stronger than those of the humans on the shores of the St. Flren Sea, and their fighting style is as violent and fierce as the way they used to live in the wastelands, they like to hang the delicate swords that the Emperor Faentan has given them as mere ornaments, they use the heavy battle axes they received from their ancestors to crush their enemies, and after the battle, they decapitate the corpses of enemy soldiers from the battlefield, and then return to the imperial capital with the regular army of the Empire to ask for merit from His Majesty the Emperor of Faentan.

During the Phaentan's past wars to expel the Elves from the shores of the St. Fern Sea, this fierce army of heavy infantry sometimes dared to ignore the distinction between classes and tactics, and charged the centaur forces of the Elven Kingdom with the Imperial cavalry who fought alongside them. On the battlefield, they roared like red-eyed madmen, let out a deafening battle cry, faced the bows and arrows of elven archers and the iron hooves of centaur warriors with their steel-plated bodies, and slashed everything that dared to fight them into shreds with their battle axes, and the heavy wounds not only slowed down their fighting power, but only made their enthusiasm for battle more exuberant and fanatical.

Therefore, regarding the Valan Guard, the prestige of this legion does not need to be explained to Leah by Finn, who was a player in his previous life, and Leah, who has lived on the coast of the St. Furon Sea since he was a child, is also aware of the fact that if His Majesty the Emperor of the Faentan Empire really wants to send the members of that guard to the north of the Violet Kingdom and Orlan for a real military exercise, he estimated in his heart that the gang of soldiers brought by his brother at this time will not be one against two, After the exercise, it would be a blessing to be able to lie in a hospital bed for a few months less.

Of course, Fein and Leah did not come out to debunk Talks, and Countess Calea, who had seen a little of the world, still heard that Terkes was bragging, or realized that he deliberately wanted to win his trust in him with exaggerated words.

So, Countess Kalea watched him cross his waist, sighed a little helplessly after a while, and asked him again: "Even if these people you brought with you do have the strength to face the Valan Guard, what do I want so many powerful thugs for?" ”

"Isn't it good that we have powerful servants to follow, Sir Kalea?" Telx was stunned again, and spread his hands a little confused.

"Of course, that's certainly a good thing, a good thing." Countess Kalea finally couldn't bear it anymore, and her voice became a little impatient, "But, Lord Tarks, we are going to explore the ruins of Elbak Volcano, not to fight in Scorpion Valley, have you thought about this?" ”

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PS: The reference prototype of the Valan's Guard is the Varyag Guard (also known as the Norse Guard in history) of the Byzantine Empire in Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages. The word Varangians derives from the Old Norse word "Var", meaning "oath", and was used to refer to a group that swore allegiance to others, obeyed the rules of the lord, and shared equally the profits obtained, which was also referred to by the Byzantine Greeks in the Middle Ages. (To be continued.) )