"Rimg. ”

Rimge heard someone calling him, and he put down the wooden hammer in his hand and turned his head to look in the direction from which the voice had come.

"Grandpa Rimge, my lord asked us how long it would be before we were ready to leave. The man panted and spoke to Rimge, who recalled the man's face and remembered that the former was a handyman hired by the Earl temporarily. The gray-haired old man nodded, took out two cigarettes from his pocket, handed one to the young man with strength, and bit the other into his mouth.

"I'll be able to leave soon. ”

He rubbed the flint, shot a spark, took a pleasant breath of smoke, and slowly exhaled: "Tell the adults to wait a while, we will clean up the venue and set off immediately." ”

The old man's nostrils also spewed out some white mist, and he squinted comfortably, through the smoke, over the crowd, and looked at the clean sky in the distance: "I can't remember how many times I've been here, but seeing the clouds here, there is always a new experience." ”

"You'll love it in the future, too. ”

Rimge patted the young man on the shoulder, picked up the wooden hammer and walked to the middle of the servants who were still dismantling the tent, and shouted, "Hurry, hurry, you lazy people, Master Mage is still waiting, we are about to leave!"

As everyone responded in unison, Rimge nodded and said with a smile: "Yes, I'll add you an extra piece of mutton tonight." ”

Satisfied, he walked through the crowd to the wagon with supplies. Two grooms, who had stripped down to a short shirt in Norf's field, were grooming the horses, sweating profusely, holding large brushes in their hands, and one of them hid the shaking tail and vigorously brushed the long hair on the horse's buttocks, and one held the horse's neck, leaning on the mare who kept shaking his ears and snorting to say something intimate.

"Hey, boys. ”

Rimge was not young, and his voice was as famous in the ranks as he was for his age, loud and affectionate. When the two grooms saw that it was him, they affectionately called Rimge "Grandpa Whitebeard".

They greeted each other, and when they learned that it was the mage who had urged them to pull out the camp, they immediately put down their work and began to check whether the equipment for the carriage was in good condition.

In the ice fields of Norf, it is not uncommon for travelers to accidentally break their axles, and then encounter a snowstorm that throws supplies and freezes to death, or that the horse pulling the cart breaks a horse's leg, after all, it is not an easy matter to solve, and they must take precautions in time.

When all the miscellaneous matters were settled, Rimge went to meet the true master of the procession, the archmage who was said to have come all the way from Uncor, His Excellency Alexei Adrian.

He didn't really know what archmage meant, for craftsmen like Rimge or retired adventurers, the word mage usually meant nobility, and as for the level of nobility, it was difficult for them to understand as small people.

That's what others call it, and that's what he calls it.

Because the nobleman is superior, and the mage is also superior, Rimge doesn't know what the difference will be if he adds a big word before the superior, it will mean nothing to his life, he just needs to know that Alexei is an "adult" who he can't afford to offend and needs to serve well.

Maybe some little man has big dreams, but Rimgue is a pragmatic fellow, and he is therefore greatly appreciated by Count Longverde, and entrusted with a generous responsibility.

"We'll walk for another half day. ”

In front of the mage, Rimge stood still with his head on his tall horse, respectfully compared the scenery in front of him, drew a diagonal line with a pen on the simple map, and made a mark: "My lord, we will pass by the Mingchun River in the middle, where fresh water can be replenished." ”

"Are we running out of fresh water?"

Alexei pinched the reins and relaxed to enjoy the fresh morning air.

"No, sir. Rimge patiently explained as he gestured on the diagram with his hand, "We still have enough water, but there is no harm in storing more." ”

"We're about to get to the outpost. ”

Rimg was afraid that Alexei would not hear clearly, so he deliberately raised his voice, which was like the roar of a southern beast, better than the echo in the mountains, and several black birds were startled in the distance:

"Have you forgotten, my lord, that we will build a village next to the outpost, and if we have fresh water ready now, we won't have to waste our hands to fetch water from the river. That way, we might be able to build a couple of cabins before dark where we could spend the night. ”

"Whatever you want, but I'll have to hurry up. ”

Alexei kicked the horse's belly and motioned for it to run: "Blue Dream, quick, follow me, let's go first." ”

The mage drove the horse around the snow again, and shouted to Rimge: "Find me a guide, quick!"

After the sound of the horse's hooves, Engelen raised his hand and whipped away Lan Meng's mount, and the girl leaned over and hugged the black horse, and the strong wind immediately blew her trench coat open, like a royal flag in the city, and she was especially careful to grasp the knot of the hood tied to her chin to prevent it from falling.

The sound of the wind in my ears swept my clothes and the sound of hunting.

Lan Meng looked back, and a snow-colored steed ran out of the camp that had been dismantled for most of the time. Immediately sat the young guide and Englain, who sang the ballads of the Northland, and trampled over the black soil, and trampled on the snowflakes all over the mountains, and even the dead place like Norff showed a different kind of prosperity.

"It's good to be alive. ”

The girl felt the cold wind blowing on her face, and in the early morning, the sun had just risen in Norf, and with the icy frost, she did not feel much warmth, but the loud singing voice behind her dispelled her fear: "I want to live." ”

She secretly made up her mind.

......

"That's the outpost. ”

Hearing the guide's instructions, before Alex could take the reins, the horse under his seat suddenly panicked, and it spun back and forth in restlessness, and no matter how much it whipped and kicked its belly, the horse refused to take another step.

"What happened?"

The same is true of the horse carrying the blue dream, at the moment, the experienced person dismounts and gently strokes the mane of the white horse and softly soothes it.

"It's a griffon, my lord. ”

The guide pointed to the triangular roof of the outpost a hundred meters away, lest he frighten the horses again, and said in a particularly low voice: "They smell the scent of griffins, my lord, if you still want to go forward, you can't ride a horse." ”

"Is he telling the truth? ”

Alexey was skeptical.

"Yes. The natives, who were more proficient in the Northland than the average person, replied in the affirmative.

The mage jumped off his horse, greeted Blue Dream, and told the guide and Ngelaine to stay where they were and tend to the horses, and the two of them walked together to the outpost.