Farther on, an adult scimitari antelope with only half of its body remaining, lay where the frost worm had passed, and the novelty was that a young antelope that seemed to have just been born was kneeling beside it.

The young antelope cried out in a blank voice, carefully touching the carcass of the female antelope with its wet nose, as if it did not yet understand what the scene before it meant.

"I thought frostworms weren't picky eaters. "The half-elf was amazed.

"It's really never picky. Barrett replied, "When there is a severe shortage of food, it even eats at the bark and foliage of the fir tree." At least there is no shortage of such 'food' in the forest. If I could, I'd like it to eat more trees. ”

Would the fog still exist without these firs? Barrett didn't know. But he felt that the mist in the misty forest was like a veil, and the fir was the bamboo pole that held up the veil.

"How do you explain the situation?" the half-elf pointed to the young antelope that was waiting to be fed.

"Maybe the scimitari was attacked by other creatures, or maybe the frostworm happened to see a bigger prey and left this 'debris' behind. Barrett casually guessed, "All I can say is, after all, this is the Misty Forest." ”

It's a panacea. Here, it can explain all the things that don't make sense.

At this moment, the dwarf on the ogre's shoulder suddenly threw out the flying dagger in his hand, and the dagger appeared between the eyes of the young antelope in the next moment, taking it away from this cruel world.

"The suckling pig is delicious, and the gazelle is not bad. The ogre cracked open its mouth in delight and let out a low laugh.

"It's really not lazy. Barrett stepped forward, picked up the carcass of the young antelope, pulled out the dagger stuck in it, and returned it to the pygmy Mapra, and gave the unexpected food to the half-elf. "Looks like we've got our dinner over. ”

Barrett's space item, the cowhide bag, can't fit the whole antelope because of the size of the bag, and neither can the young antelope. If you insist on putting it inside, you can only cut the antelope on the spot first. Divide into small pieces. And now, obviously, is not the time to do that.

But the Spatial Ring had no such drawbacks, and Barrett watched as the half-elf Estelle reached out and took the carcass of the young antelope. The next moment, the corpse disappeared from the hands of the half-elf.

The Space Ring can directly use mental power to easily put in and take out various items obtained in the adventure. The Barbarian had wanted to get his hands on one for a long time, but the price offered by the mage with whom he had regular dealings made Barrett feel as if the hard-earned gold coins in his bag were fading and depreciating. The gold turned silver, then purple-red—that's the color of the copper coin.

"The scimitar-horned antelope has always been a symbol of 'good luck' among adventurers in the Bay of Pigs. Barrett said. This antelope is easier to hunt, and encountering it at least means that you will not be short of food in the short term. "And since Theodore, the 'jumping face', walked back from the misty forest in winter, this symbol of 'good luck' has become more deeply rooted in people's hearts. Because Theodore said that he relied on the carcass of an antelope that had been eaten by an unknown creature, so that he could come back alive. ”

"What do you mean, Theodore also found a leftover antelope carcass in the cave?" Old Will was clearly still obsessed with Barrett's unfinished story.

"Yes, Master Mage, it's a scimitar-horned antelope, at least that's what Theodore said. Barrett replied, "When he woke up, the strange difference outside the cave made him forget about the pain in his body for a moment. Not a single trace of the fog entered the hole**, and no one knew why. And as Theodore tried to touch the mist outside the cavern with his fingers, the biting cold and piercing pain came from his fingers again. ”

The fog sealed the cave, and Theodore had no choice but to walk down the cave if he wanted to survive. Barrett said. The depths of the cavern were undoubtedly dark, but Theodore had no means of making a fire, and the bag he was carrying was lost in the run, and it was impossible to find it the way he came. "If it's a spatial ring, there's no such problem. Fortunately, there were clusters of glowing green fluorescent mushrooms growing in the damp, putrid soil deep inside the cave, providing him with a little light. ”

"The lighting problem can be overcome, but without the bags to carry with you, food and water are a huge problem. Barrett glanced at the small half of the antelope on the ground and led the group onward, "Theodore survived for three days, maybe four days, on the droplets of water condensed on the rock walls of the cave. Because he can't see the sun, his concept of time has become a little blurred. During this time, he ate only a few tree roots and a few fluorescent mushrooms that were found everywhere. ”

"As far as I know, this mushroom doesn't seem to be edible. The half-elf's tone was a little curious, "It seems that everything that emits fluorescence can't be eaten, isn't it the same in the Misty Forest?"

"No one wants to stuff this strange glowing thing into their stomach, whether they can eat it or not. "Unless he's dying of starvation!" he stressed. "Since rye, fewer and fewer poor people have starved to death. As the proverb goes, 'A grain of rye is planted to feed a family'. But there is no rye in the cave, and there are very few roots that sprang out. Starvation or poisoning is a difficult question for ordinary people to choose, but Theodore chose the latter. ”

"But he still survived, didn't he?" asked the half-elf again.

"Yes, yes, he survived again. It's obvious, otherwise we wouldn't have known the story. Barrett replied, "If the writer you spoke of before wanted to write another novel about adventurers, Theodore could undoubtedly be the protagonist of it." According to him, every time he ate the fluorescent mushrooms, after a tea time, his abdomen would begin to tear like colic. ”

"The colic didn't last long, and then consciousness began to blur, producing some bizarre and indescribable sensations. Sometimes it felt as if someone was whispering in his ear, and sometimes it felt like something was licking his body. He ate three times and fainted three times. And when he woke up for the third time, he found the small carcass of a scimitar-horned antelope not far away. No one knows where or how this life-saving 'food' came from. None of this was the point for a man who was about to starve to death, and in his state at the time, he couldn't think about such a question at all. ”

"The cave is deep and sometimes there are forks in the road. Theodore relied on the carcass of the half antelope and walked in the cave for another six, perhaps eight. Either way, that's not the point. "The point is, Theodore miraculously walked out. When he miraculously found another cave exit, he found that it was not far from the Misty Castle! and probably because it was at the edge of the forest, the fog outside the cave was not as thick as in the forest. After that, Theodore stayed at the newly discovered cave for another day, gathered some strength, and ran desperately to the Misty Castle with gritted teeth......"

After Barrett finished telling the story, everyone was silent, as if they were all thinking about something. There was silence in the forest, too, except for the slight grinding of leather boots against the ground.

Suddenly, a flock of unknown birds flapped their wings and flew over the heads of Barrett and the others, and only a flying shadow could be seen in the mist. The shadows cast by the birds enveloped the crowd and disappeared in an instant, awakening them from their deep thoughts.

"I have to say, it's a fantastical story. The half-elf sighed. "Do you think Theodore's account of his experiences is true? ”

"It's not that no one has ever doubted it. Barrett's voice was a little low, "Because the entrance to the cave that Theodore said was close to the Misty Castle has never been found. Even though the Misty Castle dispatched more than a dozen knight detachments to conduct several intensive searches, nothing was found. And this, even in the case of the Misty Forest, does not make much sense. The Misty Castle has stood for hundreds of years in the rift of the Cuves Mountains, and it still has a strong grasp of the terrain around it. ”

"But anyway, the adventurer named Theodore did come back alive, didn't he? "And he came back alive in the misty forest of winter." ”

"Yes, he came back alive, there's no doubt about it. Barrett tilted his head to the mage behind him.

"By the way, what did you call Theodore's nickname?" asked the half-elf casually.

"'Jumping face'. Barrett replied, "It's his nickname when he comes back alive." Before that, he was called 'The Baron'. But this does not mean that Theodore is an aristocrat, on the contrary, his family has been the most ordinary farmers for generations, living in the town of Butia, which is famous for its soybean cultivation. "After he came back, the details were checked many times. "Adventurers call him 'Baron' because every time he drinks too much, he boasts that if he has money, he must the baroness from his hometown. According to him, the baroness was also a beautiful widow. ”

"That's a good idea. The half-elf smiled, "Then why did 'Baron' become 'Jumping Face'?"

"When Theodore came back, it took him half a year to recover. But the experience in the winter forest still left a lot of after-effects on him. "One of the most obvious things about this is that his left cheek is always twitching. The twitching would take over the corners of his mouth, making him look like he was always going to laugh, but he stopped halfway through the laugh, and it looked very weird. ”

......