"Aluca, you're lazy again. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"Nothing to do......"

After a light rain, the sky has just cleared. In the hermit forest, water droplets condensed on the grass shoots, mushrooms of different colors popped up everywhere, the sparkling sunlight fell to the ground through the verdant leaves, and occasionally a few small beasts scurried by, which can be described as red grass and green birds whispering, creating a vibrant and mysterious and quiet atmosphere.

In the middle of the woods, a decades-old blue-leaved tree lay a young man, dressed in a hunter's mercenary's favorite leather suit, with a sheathed steel sword at his hand. His appearance is quite heroic, his black hair hangs down to his shoulders like a waterfall, his nose is high and his eyes are big, his eyebrows are like swords with a fierce aura, and his healthy wheat-colored skin is full of vitality. The body is tall and strong, more flesh and less thin, which shows that even if the skills are average, the quality of light is much higher than that of ordinary people. But his eyes were half-open, and the whole person was lazy, which made people feel sleepy when they saw him. When I heard someone calling, I still didn't want to get up, but I just found a comfortable position and continued to lie down.

Behind him, a thin man was nimbly past the branches and vines of the forest, and soon ran to him. The person who came had short green hair, and was like an underage girl, also dressed in a leather coat, and carried a short bow around her waist, and looked like a stunted, thin monkey. He kicked Aruka in the head, and his voice was hoarse: "The teacher asked me to ask you to go back, there is an important task." ”

Hearing that it was the teacher's order, Aluka reluctantly grabbed the long sword, stood up, and muttered incessantly, "What's the use of making so much money......?

"Stop, stop, I don't understand a word of what you say, I know that you read a lot, are you satisfied?"

Speaking of reading, Aluca's eyes suddenly lit up, and he hurriedly said: "Brother Yofa, didn't you say that you took me to Ludi City to buy books last month......?

Jofa's head was so big that he didn't know how his classmate had developed such a hobby, and he didn't plan to become a priest, and he didn't plan to settle accounts for merchants, except that he could always come up with some strange things that others couldn't understand, what was the use of reading so many books? ”

"This is what you said, a gentleman is hard to chase after a word! But Brother Yofa, you have not broken the contract once or twice, this time you have to talk about it, we might as well make a contract, and take the teacher as a witness...... Brother Yofa, why are you going faster and faster? Is this mission so urgent? Wait for me, Brother Yofa, let me tell you the story I saw in a book two days ago. Wait! I can't keep up with you!"

――

Out of the Hermit Forest, you will find a small village called White Grass. About 300 years after the mainland calendar, several Red Sect priests found a herb here that can treat cold and fever, which resembles a crescent moon and has a white body, so it is called "white grass". Cold fever was a common and incurable disease in the southern countries, so there was a great demand for Baicao, and the then Grand Duke of Helan ordered a group of displaced people to move to live here, which was under the jurisdiction of the nearby city of Ludi, and was called Baicao Village.

More than 100 years later, Baicao Village has a population of nearly 2,000, making it the largest village in the surrounding area. The road opened for the transportation of Baicao made Baicao Village a paradise for many merchants and caravans, and as it became richer, the number of mercenaries, wandering knights, and Red Priests in the village also increased. In recent years, the royal power of the Rhine Kingdom has declined, and the major principalities have self-respecting troops, frequent wars, deserters and thieves are everywhere. Merchants may have been robbed on their front feet as soon as they left the city, which made the mercenaries and wandering knights even more prosperous.

Aluca, his swordsmanship teacher, and two senior brothers are the local mercenaries of Baicao Village. The biggest difference between regional mercenaries and mercenary groups is that they will not leave their hometowns too far easily, but only take on some tasks to protect caravans to nearby cities, and occasionally help villagers expel wild beasts and make cameo appearances as hunters, after all, ordinary hunters only recognize black bears and tigers. There are still wolves in the hermit forest, and it is not a problem that ordinary hunters can solve.

Hearing the important task that Senior Brother Jofa said, Aluka subconsciously thought that a big merchant group had come from the Rhine Kingdom. However, this kind of wealthy merchant group either has its own mercenaries that it supports all year round, or it will only hire a powerful mercenary group with a large number of people, and it has always looked down on local mercenaries like Aluca. Besides, even with a few of their brothers and sisters, they can't protect the merchant group of hundreds of people at every turn. Those who dare to do something against this kind of business group are at least dozens of bandits. Just a few of their small shrimps, it's really not enough to stuff their teeth.

In his opinion, it is estimated that one of the teacher's former friends passed by Baicao Village, and he brought a mercenary group as an escort, just asking a few of them to come up and make up some money. He often heard that his teacher used to be a big man related to the nobles of the court, but he did not seek fame and fortune and lived in seclusion.

But...... Looking left and right, a middle-aged unmarried drunkard with a scruffy beard who drinks all day long is not like a master in the world!

Entering the village from the east gate, past the bustling bazaars and past the vendors hawking along the streets, Aruka followed Jofa to the residential area lined with wooden houses. One of the reasons why Baicao Village is still called a village is because Baicao Village is not capable of building a city wall, and only a wooden fence is used outside the village to set up a few small gates, which are guarded by veterans who have fought in the village. Another reason is that when most areas began to use stone to build houses, Baicao Village had to build wooden houses because there were no quarries nearby. Even if they spent a lot of money to build the walls with stone, the nobles would not agree to call a place full of wooden houses a "city", which would make them look down on the nobles of the other principalities.

When she arrived at the teacher's house, Aluka realized that something was wrong.

Around his teacher's small shabby wooden house, there were actually more than a dozen knights in iron armor and full armor. This is a genuine knight, with the harrier eagle flower, the national emblem of the Principality of Helan on his chest, and a knight's sword that is not sharp but absolutely his waist. The knight's sword is thick and broad-bladed, mixed with steel when refined, and is known for its weight and sturdiness, and it is impossible to cut a person in two, but the bones are definitely broken into pieces.

Those who do not have knightly qualifications are not allowed to wear armor, let alone buy knightly swords. Therefore, when a mercenary encounters a knight, it is like a mouse seeing a cat, unless the swordsmanship is superb, and he can accurately hit the joints that the knight's armor cannot cover, and he has to dodge the knight's attack, otherwise a few swords will be defeated. Aluka watched as the captain of the guard of Ludi City hunted down a mercenary who was so stupid that he tried to use his iron sword to parry the knight's sword, but the other party pressed his sword back into his chest, shattering his sternum and dying no more.

Mercenaries are originally a profession that wanders on the edge of the law, and both black and white are involved, so there is always an instinctive fear when I see a knight representing justice and glory.

Aluka rolled her eyes and asked Yofa suspiciously, "It can't be that the teacher has done something, right?"

Jofa glared at him and asked, "Have you ever seen a mercenary commit a crime and attract a dozen knights to arrest him?" ”

"That's good, I really don't have a problem with these guys with a strong sense of justice......"

Jofa didn't want the noble knights to hear what Alucca had to say, so he hurriedly pushed him into the room. The knight who was guarding the side of the house only glanced at them, and then resumed his posture of looking up at the presence of the old god. These knights had already seen Jopha, so they did not embarrass Aluca. Otherwise, this kind of civilians who dare to make irresponsible remarks to the knight will definitely come first and then talk about it. The knight kills people without asking why, just killing the wrong one and losing some money. Every knight has a knighthood, and those who have a knighthood can pay for their sins by giving their wealth to kill commoners.

That being said, the vast majority of knights do not rely on the law to do whatever they want. As far as the southern countries are concerned, there is also a Rhine kingdom that symbolizes the legitimacy of royal power. Even if the royal power was weakened and he was not allowed to go abroad, he still had to punish one or two minor nobles in the principality when there was conclusive evidence. The decline of royal power is only relative to the grand dukes of the kingdoms, and the ordinary nobles are still unable to resist it. If any small people come to the royal city to complain, the big nobles who have been aggrieved for decades in the royal city will not be afraid to take the opportunity to play and weaken the power of the principality nobles, and the grand dukes of the countries will not rashly turn their faces with the Rhine royal family for the sake of a small noble.

The reason why the southern countries have not yet had the courage to declare independence and do not dare to openly oppose the Rhine royal family is because there is still a red religion above the Rhine kingdom...... Belief in the sun god is a tradition that southerners have had since thousands of years ago, and the Red Religion has been established for an unknown period of time, I am afraid that it is longer than the Rhine Kingdom, and the background is extremely terrifying. Ninety percent of the citizens of each principality are followers of the Red Religion, and the Rhine royal family is considered by the Red Religion to be the only bloodline of the sun god left in the world. Turning his face with the Rhine royal family, that is, with the Red Sect, denying his identity as a child of the Sun God, will inevitably usher in the end of a national riot. Not to mention that the Grand Dukes themselves are devout followers of the Sun God, and they don't think about rebelling against the Rhine royal family at all.

――

Walking into the house, Aluka saw his teacher and an old man with gray hair and rich clothes sitting on either side of the wooden table, each holding a glass of honey wine, chatting without saying a word. Aluca's teacher's name is Trihak, and like most of the mercenaries, his origin is unknown, his age is unknown, and his whole person is full of mysteries, except that his gender can be determined. Judging from his face alone, Cui Hack was about forty or fifty years old, tall and majestic, and his bulging muscles contained terrifying power, like an old but fierce black bear. With a slight wrinkle on his slightly gloomy face, bloodshot eyes, and calluses and scars on his bony hands, he was obviously experienced in a hundred battles, and he was able to suppress many young mercenaries by virtue of this. On weekdays, in addition to his busy tasks, he drinks alcohol, and only drinks spirits, but today he drank honey wine in order to accommodate the old and frail old man next to him, with an obviously dissatisfied look on his face.

Look at this white-haired old man, he is dressed in a noble manner, wearing a thin red robe, stepping on a pair of leather boots lined with white fluff, and wearing three rings on his right hand, each of which is inlaid with a huge ruby, symbolizing the power of the monarchy and the power of the church. Affected by frequent wars, the Saint-Ainos continent is now full of martial arts, men are masculine and brave, and the same is true for nobles, and some noble sons who are naturally feminine and beautiful will even lose their inheritance rights. The old man dared to wear two beautiful earrings in the shape of a sunhalo on his ears, either he was a madman who didn't care about the eyes of others, or his status was so high that no one dared to make any accusations.

Judging by the implicit demeanor of the many knights and old men outside the door, Aluca believed that it was the latter.

Once inside, Jofa pulled Aruuca aside in a regular manner. Cui Hak chatted with the white-haired old man for a while, showing his status as an elder, before he turned his head and said, "Wolf cub, let me introduce you, this old man's name is Bert Henry, and he is the national teacher of that ghost place in the Rhine Kingdom. ”

Trihak spoke as if he were introducing a mercenary he had met in a tavern, and was not only rude but also careless, but Aruka listened to it with a tingling scalp. No matter how weak the Rhine royal family is, it is also the nominal master of the southern states. And the power in the hands of the national teacher is second only to the king, which is equivalent to half of the master of the entire South St. Ainos continent! He, a small mercenary who can only mess around in Baicao Village, will tremble when he sees a city lord of Ludi City, let alone meet the national teacher of the Rhine Kingdom?

Aluka hurriedly bowed down and apologized: "Master Guoshi, the teacher is young, innocent and open-mouthed, and I hope that you don't remember the villain, just as if you haven't heard of everything." It's all my fault for this, I don't usually educate him well......"

"Fart! full of nonsense! You little wolf cub is really getting more and more arrogant, dare to say this in front of others, you Lao Tzu, I knew that I should have starved you to death in the hermit forest back then!"

Seeing that the master and apprentice quarreled again, the second senior brother had no choice but to pretend to look around at the scenery. However, Master Henry was very generous, raised his hand gently, and said freely and naturally: "Don't care, I have known your teacher for decades, and I already know what kind of temper he is." Hehe...... Listening to your conversation, you don't talk like a mercenary, but like a trainee priest in the temple, not bad. Your name is Aluca?"

Aluka smiled slightly, three points reserved and seven points shy, and ninety points were overjoyed to be appreciated by the big people: "I didn't expect the national teacher to remember the name of my little mercenary, it's really an honor to be fortunate and fortunate in three lives......."

After that, the second senior brother Jofa secretly interrupted with an elbow, and Henry didn't understand much what Aluka was saying, and smiled awkwardly. Aluka shrugged his shoulders and didn't care, he originally wanted to tease Henry. When he meets a noble person, he can't help but have a dangerous and forbidden sense of humor...... A few years ago, he also molested the son of the lord of Ludi City for this, and was beaten half to death by several knights.

"Stop talking nonsense, are you here to chat?" Trehack slammed his glass on the table impatiently, and the mead spilled a stain, "Old Henry is here on behalf of King Rhine this time, let's take him somewhere." You don't have to ask the specific content, and you won't know if you do, just follow me when the time comes. ”

Aluka and Jofa looked at each other, both puzzled and shocked. Judging from the previous conversations, does their drunkard teacher have anything to do with the Rhine royal family? Not only do they look very familiar with the national teacher, but they also seem to know the secrets of the Rhine king?

National Master Henry looked at Aluka kindly and said, "I can't let too many people know about the place I'm going to this time, so my escort will stay in Baicao Village, and only take the captain of the guard, Sir Bright." If there is any danger, my life will be entrusted to you, and I hope you will not let me down. ”

Aluka didn't care much, and immediately replied: "Since the National Teacher takes a fancy to us, we will definitely risk our lives to complete the task." ”

For some reason, Aruka always felt that there was something inexplicable in Henry's kind eyes, as if he admired and regretted, making him feel like a frog lying on a lotus leaf, facing a compassionate poisonous snake, and he had to shed a few tears before eating him.

Although he was apprehensive, out of trust in his teacher, he did not refuse to participate in this mission, but was secretly more vigilant, and at the same time thought with mixed feelings - could it be that this is the main quest finally opened?