Although the late autumn evening was clear, the temperature was very low, and the wind howled from time to time made it a little chilly even though Francis was wearing his coat.

The wheat under the ridges was rustling in the wind, and the crows were crying in the distance.

Francis slowed down and looked back at the scarecrow standing in the wheat field, which he had been paying attention to for a moment. He looked back every fifty meters, and the distance between them did not change at all, and the position of the scarecrow changed.

This scarecrow is following him!

Francis decided to take a closer look, and with a snort, he drew his black sword and cautiously walked towards the scarecrow.

The scarecrow's gaze seemed to remain on Francis's body, and there was an inexplicable sense of being watched.

Francis lifted his sword and began to circle the scarecrow, verbally provocatively to see if he could provoke the true form of the strange thing; "I've seen so many weird and amazing things, and I know where they came from now - are you from the other side of the wall, stalker, scarecrow?"

As a result, the scarecrow shook and let out a strange scream that resounded through the sky, startling all the birds in the nearby wheat field, and then pushing the air to slam Francis, who was unprepared, into the wheat field, and then levitated into the field on the other side and ran to hide in the wheat field.

Francis felt like he had been hit by a steam train, but fortunately, he was finely reformed by alchemy, thanks to the strengthening of the mechanical heart.

"Bastard monster," Francis said unhappily, lying in the wheat field.

As a result, a ragged villager, with an oil drawing board in his hand, noticed the movement here, walked up to Francis, pulled him up, and said; "Ha, I'm so lucky you met that guy, right?"

"If you say that scarecrow, you've met, and it's very 'enthusiastic'."

"I'm Vincent, half painter, hello. What wind brought a hunter to Akita Town? ”

"It's a bounty hunter, but it doesn't have anything to do with the church."

Francis thanked Vincent, curious that he seemed to know about the existence of the scarecrow, "You know the scarecrow?" Why don't you go to church. ”

Vincent laughed dryly, explaining that it was an open secret. The scarecrow never hurt anyone, and the mayor didn't report it to the church.

Francis smiled and said humorously; "You can report it now, because it hurt me just now."

In a casual conversation that followed, Francis explained that he had planned to go to a private hunting ground at the foot of the Hillen Mountains, but something went wrong.

Vincent said he knew the way, but it looked like Francis would at least consider buying a horse or a steam cart, or else the road would be a long way off.

When Francis heard about the purchase of horses and locomotives, he felt in his pockets and found that May had only given him a Kinriel to buy something to eat when he arrived at the hunting grounds.

Now that something has gone wrong, I'm afraid one Jinriel is not enough.

Seeing that Francis was in trouble, Vincent woke up the dreamer with a word and said; "You're not a bounty hunter, there are a lot of errands in town, you can find one with enough pay."

In this way, Vincent led Francis through the long wheat fields and towards the town.

On the way, Vincent reminded; "Well, the only thing to note is that the mayor doesn't welcome you when you get to town, but it's not your problem, it's just that his wife ran away with the church hunter who came to town a few years ago, so she doesn't have a very good attitude towards hunters - poor guy."

Francis nodded his head to indicate that he understood, and continued; "It's rare to see such a long wheat field, and it looks like this year's harvest will be quite good."

Vincent shook his head—"a tenth is to be given to the church, and a tenth is to be given to the king, and a portion of the ground rent." Also, on the last night of the harvest season, you should give the scarecrow enough thanks. In general, it can only be said that it is subsistence. ”

Francis is puzzled by the offering to the scarecrow, Vincent says that the scarecrow will guarantee you a good harvest the next year, and that the scarecrow strolling through the wheat field on a normal night will take care of the crops.

"I've always wanted to paint an oil painting of a scarecrow, so I often wander around the wheat fields hoping to find it, but I never got the chance."

Vincent said this with a look of regret.

Immediately afterwards, Vincent took Francis to the tavern in town to say that this time he would invite him—but as soon as they entered, they attracted the attention of many people, "two cold rye beers first." ”

The waitress said that it was no problem, but looked back to see that Vincent had arrived with a man dressed as a hunter and fully armed.

The waitress glanced at Francis and said to Vincent; "The mayor is going to be furious!"

"It's okay, this friend is a bounty hunter of the Messiah, not from the church."

The bartender looked at Francis hesitantly, and finally sold Vincent a favor, "For the sake of friendship, Vincent, otherwise you know that hunters are not allowed to drink here." ”

Vincent thanked him, and the waitress placed the rye beer she had just taken out of the ice bucket on their table. The Harvest Tavern has always had a good reputation, so after the bartender nodded in agreement, unless the mayor took the initiative to find out, the regulars here would not run to the mayor to tell the mayor.

"Hey! Let's see who's coming, the great painter of Akita Town. ”

The people at the table next to him said in a sarcastic tone, "What kind of masterpiece of oil painting of yours, by the way, scarecrow, is it that made your clothes so tattered?" ”

Francis looked at them, then at Vincent, "Can you help me?" ”

Vincent waved his hand with a complicated expression, "Just ignore them", and then kept his head down and drank as if he couldn't raise his head.

The thick calluses on Vincent's hands prove that he was engaged in heavy agricultural work, which shows that he was not ridiculed for idleness. Coupled with the understanding along the way, Vincent is a peaceful and kind guy.

Francis began to sympathize with Vincent in front of him.

The ridicule lingered next to him, and Francis was very annoyed by the noise, and he wanted to shut up the group of guys next to him, but Vincent traded favors for him to come in, and Francis couldn't escalate the conflict.

"Don't bother Vincent, you still don't have a debt for the drink, do you want to drink!?"

Unexpectedly, the waitress roared with a cigarette in her mouth to relieve them.

"You're welcome, I just wanted to tell you not to get angry all of a sudden, and take that black sword to kill people here."

The waitress had seen the world, and just a glance at Francis's equipment and blue-gray eyes knew she had better stop the farce sooner rather than later.