Although Margaret had escaped from the mansion in the center of Parniera in the first place in order to have an adventure, in retrospect, the misfortunes they encountered along the way were a little too much, even by the standards of adventure. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Doom seems to have been hanging over the entire team. Even after the encounter with the Imperial Knights, things didn't get any better.

The mercenaries and merchants, who were full of anticipation and thought that they would finally be able to have a full meal, pounced on them when they arrived at the garrison where Constantine's men were stationed. As much as they felt—or hoped—that the chief knight had misjudged because of the damn fog, the smell of blood around them was a constant reminder of the fact that they might well have been killed.

All of a sudden, the situation deteriorated.

It is still five or six days away from the town of Scotti, even if it is calculated by the foot strength of the war horse, and without the logistics and supply, the combat effectiveness of these more than thirty heavily armored knights will inevitably be greatly reduced, and there is no way to even move ordinarily.

But compared to the nowhere to be seen in the supply and logistics staff, it is the other two issues that are closely related to this.

"What is it that can take out nearly a hundred heavily armed Imperial soldiers?"

"If it's the undead, the walking dead, the ghouls, these monsters that have no brains but only instincts, how did they learn to fight logistics and supplies, so much so that they even took away food, grass and provisions?"

The answers to the two questions can be made clear by looking closely at the battlefield.

Henry rode slowly to a small tree covered in blood.

There was a stubby crossbow nailed to it, and judging by the height and the blood that covered the entire arrow, it was evident that it had passed through someone's soft tissue, such as the throat. And even if it is stained with blood, it can still be seen that it is two white and one blue turkey tail feathers and arrow feathers, which is undoubtedly the national style of the highlanders.

Arrows and crossbows like these were lost on the ground and on nearby tree trunks, as well as on damaged shields, silently identifying the perpetrators.

"What the—" "Qiang—" The angry Imperial knights drew their swords, and Rono and the dozen others looked at a loss.

In addition to blood, there were dense human footprints around, and many people's steps pressed the wet and soft ground into it, apparently because they were carrying heavy objects such as food and grass supplies.

"It's a night attack. Dismounted, Konstantin picked up a extinguished torch from the ground, and the blood, which had solidified into a dark red, reminded them of this fact.

"Arrest them all. "The chief knight has given an order, and the anger of his subordinates needs to be borne by the target, and if he intends to spare Rono and the others at this point, his prestige will inevitably be questioned.

"Lay down your arms!" Mikhail led a group of knights to surround a dozen highlanders. The dwarf villagers wore wide armor and looked like children wearing adult shoes, and looked completely pitiful compared to the tall and sturdy noble knights riding war horses. But they looked left and right, and Rao was pitiful with a pitiful expression, but it was impossible for anyone to stand up for them.

"Phew. A few mercenaries even spat on the ground to express their bad breath.

Henry and Mira watched it all in silence. It's hard to tell who's right and who's wrong, and while at first glance it looks like the nobles are bullying the commoners, but the knights' anger has its own causes.

So the wrong side and the evil side are Lono, are they? It's not all.

If it weren't for the fact that life was forcing them to live and there was no one to help them, they would prefer to stay in their own acres and thirds of land and continue to live the ordinary life of farmers.

Because it was the highlanders who attacked their companions who had left them in the camp, the knights' anger was directed at Rono and the others. It's a bit like killing a boatload of people with a stick, but then again, who can erase the stigma of belonging to one faction on you.

Where is he born, what kind of blood is flowing in his veins, this kind of thing can't be swayed away in a lifetime.

Even if you try to escape yourself, others will apply this brand to you over and over again.

"Filthy people. "Hungry and cold, the fighting spirit was lost, and the knees of the dozen or so highlanders who had already compromised once before had softened did not put up any resistance this time. They were easily captured by Mikhail and others, and after unarming and tying up with twine, the group was escorted to the other side by the knights.

The mercenaries and merchants didn't know what to do, and they thought they would be able to get enough supplies when they arrived, but now they came in the dust.

It was already a little past 4 p.m., and although it was not yet evening, the short hours of daylight in winter and the thick fog had already made the surroundings start to become gloomy.

Continuing on your way?

But Scoti is five or six days away, and the men and horses have not had enough to eat for a long time, so where can they still have this strength. And what if there is another attack on the road?

Most of them, including some of the knights, were a little confused in their heads. And it was in the midst of this situation that a businessman suddenly noticed something.

"That's not right......"

"Where's the corpse?" he asked in plain language, and although his voice was only at the usual volume, it was like thunder in the ears of the confused crowd.

It's a question that makes people shudder when you think about it.

Henry and Mira noticed the problem early on, as did Ferruccio and Constantine. Orno apparently noticed this, and she was half-kneeling in the carriage, her eyes glowing with blue power under her hood carefully looking around her guard.

The highlanders were unlikely to clean up the battlefield, and their own culture believed that dead bodies should be returned to the wild, and the traditional burial method was to discard the corpses in the mountains and let them be eaten by birds of prey and scavengers, called "sky burials". Not to mention the corpses of Imperial soldiers they hated.

Hundreds of heavily armed Imperial soldiers, even knight squires, are future knights who have undergone at least 3 years of training.

In such a hostile territory, it is impossible for them to completely let their guard down like the militia.

Therefore, even if the highlanders took advantage of the darkness of the night to sneak attack, the advantage would only be reflected in the first wave of attacks, and when the regular army reacted, it would certainly be a hard-fought tug-of-war.

The bloodstains and various broken weapons left at the scene, as well as a large number of conical stones of arrows and slings, as well as broken wood and broken branches, and footprints everywhere, all show that the Imperial soldiers under the command of Konstantin fought a real battle.

Given the level of equipment and training, even if the highlanders were to win, they would probably pay no less than two or three times as many casualties as the Imperial army.

It was all about numbers, and even then, it was only a miserable victory.

So where are these at least three or four hundred dead bodies?

Most people don't want to think about it, because once they get into the horns, they will completely crush and collapse their whole person because of this fear.

But fear and threat don't really disappear just because you turn a blind eye.

Action must be taken.

Action must be taken.

Under the effect of fear and nervousness, they instantly came to their senses.

The mercenaries and merchants removed the axes from the wagons, and the knights began to search for anything left over from the old camp that could be used. If they were to spend the night here tonight, they would no longer be able to sleep in the woodland.

The sound of "click-click-" logging continued, and many of the damaged fabrics and any other usable items in the camp were picked up again.

"Come with me. And Konstantin walked up to Henry's side with his helmet in his arms, and spoke. The Sage and Mira looked at each other, then both rolled over and dismounted.

The three of them walked forward, and Mira had barely walked before she realized that this was the direction in which the highlanders who had attacked the barracks had withdrawn - if it were a battlefield, the footprints on the ground would have been much more messy, in all directions, and with a heavy overlap with each other.

Only the footprints left during evacuation or attack are relatively straight, and most of them are in the same direction.

She judged that these were the footprints of the highlanders when they had evacuated, and that in addition to the fact that the traces were extending into the distance, many of them were deep, apparently left behind by carrying heavy loads.

Remaining on the camp side, the army's logistical wagons were destroyed. It was most likely the soldiers themselves who did not want to let their supplies fall into the hands of the mob.

These damaged carriages, along with many other artifacts, were being dismantled by knights, mercenaries, and merchants to make fences and other perimeter protection.

What the three of them were doing was walking on foot, carefully observing the various traces left by their surroundings to get a clearer understanding of the situation.

But why Constantine chose Henry over his more familiar knights was a question that Mira couldn't figure out.

"The back foot hits the ground, and the footprint is steady. Konstantin crouched down and carefully observed the footprints on the ground: "It seems that they have indeed lost completely, these men walked leisurely and slowly, without any sign of being pursued by anyone." ”

"There are captives. Henry succinctly reminded that Mira and Constantine had followed his instructions and did see some trails on the ground that had been superimposed by later footprints but could still be seen somewhat.

Two parallel lines were apparently marks of an unconscious person being carried by someone else, his feet pulled across the dirt floor.

"It's a good thing or a bad thing. Konstantin whispered that death was a bad thing, but as Imperial soldiers were captured by minority thugs hostile to mainstream Lamanite society, it was desirable to die a happy death.

"Ahh

Lacking supplies and barely thirty cavalrymen, they faced a highland mob of a few hundred left, to say the least. Even on flat ground, unless the opponent is too stupid to move at all, he can't overwhelmingly defeat at once. However, in complex terrain such as mountains, there will be more uncertainties. Not to mention that they don't even know where the other person is now.

To save people, it is difficult, and it is likely to lose yourself. And there are other threats nearby.

If you don't save it, then even if your subordinates can understand this fact, they can't help but think about it after all.

'If I had been captured, would I have been left alone?'

Morale and morale would be shaken in such places, and Konstantin was a shrewd leader. And it was with the possibility of capture in mind that he chose Henry and Mira as his entourage.

Footprints don't stay forever, and after a while they'll disappear completely. He could decide slowly whether to go to the rescue or not, and if the situation allowed, he would bring it up again, and if the situation was too tense later, the discovery would be buried in his heart forever.

Is this cruel?

The answer to this question will not change, neither before nor now.

Yes, she can understand why, and understand that the so-called 'don't give up, don't give up' and so on are just the slogans of naïve young people.

But you have to at least try everything. Mira looked at Henry, and she suddenly understood what the sage meant when he said that Constantine was "worse than me".

It is true that these two people are somewhat similar in appearance and temperament, but this is only the feeling given at the beginning. Konstantin is a more utilitarian and decisive person, if Henry is a smooth Mobigas inland sea, then Konstantin is like an open sea full of raging waves.

Extraordinary, young, decisive, like an unsheathed sword. You may be able to climb to the sky in one step after him, but this double-edged sword can also hurt your own people at any time.

This person is very dangerous.

Mira stepped back behind Henry, and Constantine stood up, looked at her with interest, and then made eye contact with the sage.

"What is your guess?" he said to Henry, who, though they had only met for a few days, seemed as if they had become familiar enough to be sure that the sage would be able to answer the question.

"At least six hundred and fifty people, I think there are several other villages around it. Henry replied, and then asked rhetorically, "Shouldn't you have known the approximate strength of the army a long time ago?" ”

He said that Konstantin was stunned for a moment, while Mira looked at the sage.

"Strangling demons and monsters has never been something that the regular army of the empire does, either hand it over to the mercenaries or hire a professional church execution team. You just happened to be in the Bao Forest on some other mission, didn't you?" he stared straight at Constantine, although he was physically similar, the knight had a retreat in his eyes.

"It's amazing, and the legend lives up to its name. He whispered a few words, then raised his voice and said frankly, "Yes, we are here to suppress the bandits. ”

"So the highlanders have no way to live. Konstantin shrugged his shoulders in imitation of Henry's appearance, and between his words, he had already decided the life and death of a group of people.

"......" Mira fell silent.

Henry didn't say a word.

It was not a good topic to delve into, so they stopped there.

The three of them turned and walked forward, and after a while, they found some different marks.

"The footprint has gotten deeper. The toes hit the ground first, and the heels are shallow. ”

"It's an attack, but where did the attack come from?"

"A lot of blood was shed. The three of them then walked forward.

"Fell here. "There were large dents in the ground, faintly visible in the shape of a human body, and a large pool of blood flowed out almost around the neck, stained with the blades of grass that had solidified, and the rest seeped into the dirt.

"And then," Henry crouched down, looking at the dirt that had been turned up on his knees, elbows, and wrists.

"It's 'alive' again. He looked back at Mira and Konstantin.

"Well, now we know where the dead are. Konstantin continued: "That's bad news, and the good news is that we have dinner tonight." ”

He pointed ahead, and it seemed that the highlanders had been attacked by the revived walking corpses, leaving behind a lot of supplies and fleeing in confusion.

Having returned to camp to call the mercenaries to come and help carry them, and when the campfire, surrounded by a makeshift wall of fences and wagons, was lit, and the long-lost people indulged in their appetites and forgot about the battle for days, Hornor came to Henry's side.

"Ishta, Molière, Daphlodière" The magical glow of her emerald eyes has not ceased since the afternoon.

And this phrase, spoken quietly in Elven language, literally translates to meaning.

"There's something in the fog. ”

"Uhh

"Uhhhhhhh

The wind was loud.

Bonfires swayed.

What's there.

Here it comes.