We may never care about the ground we are stepping on, or the rock on the ground next to us.

They've always been there, so much so that everyone is used to it. Compared to all the other beautiful objects that humans love, the rocks and soil seem so inconspicuous.

But if you are fortunate enough to know a scholar - or even more remarkable, a sage.

He or she will tell you.

The weathered soil and rocks that dot every inch of the continent of Rigal are far older than the human species.

The unit that historians and archaeologists use to describe the formation of these rocks, mountains, and lands is called "deep time" -- which is far larger and deeper than the concept of "time" as we know it, as proposed by the White Church, to a level that ordinary people cannot even imagine.

The alternation of the sun and the moon is defined as a day, thirty days as a month, three months as a season, and finally a change of seasons as a year.

The concept of years is quite long for a short-lived human being - but even it, no, even an "epoch" in a hundred years is only a flash in the pan in the face of "deep time".

Because of "deep time".

It's measured in millions of years.

Volcanoes erupting from the center of the earth bring lava and a lot of dust floating in the air, and after a long period of time, rain erosion, weathering, and a series of natural powers, they have become a thick earth - and if you want to quantify this concept of "long time" to make you understand: from the first days of human birth to the present more than 20,000 years, the period of civilization that flourished by human standards is quite long, and it is only two centimeters of dust left on the sedimentary layer.

Compare it to the Strait of Ansicipe or the Grigley Rift and you will realize exactly how small the human race is in the vast world.

The world is constantly changing, and the land we are treading on is far older than ours, and the fist-sized stone on the side of the road may have witnessed everything that happened in the world tens of thousands of years before the birth of mankind.

These weathered lands that have not changed for thousands of years, I don't know if they remember these grievances and hatreds that seem to them to be short-lived, insignificant lives.

"Pss

Hot blood splattered on the ground.

Broken swords, twisted swords, broken shields.

The metal fell into the dirt and reflected the light, then was obscured by the blood.

The mercenaries who accepted this task are now more or less beginning to have a trace of regret in their hearts.

Most of them are people who are confident in their abilities.

Because the mission is clearly written: the target is the first prince of Avenella, and it is guarded by two blue-card mercenaries.

――The point to be made here is that the Mercenary Guild will never stop this kind of cannibalism among fellow mercenaries, because according to their philosophy, strength is the most important thing.

You may think this is unfair, but for an organization that puts profit first, this cold-bloodedness is necessary.

The mercenaries, who had conflicts due to the mission, completed the task brilliantly through the victorious side after the battle. As we've been emphasizing, the Mercenary Guild never welcomes the weak, they believe in survival of the fittest, and whatever you do is not against the rules as long as you have enough strength.

If you reach the top one and become one of the legendary Red Thirteen, you will not be arrested by the sheriff even if you massacre the lower mercenaries in the halls of the Mercenary Guild - on the contrary, the Mercenary Guild will most likely protect you.

Because you are more valuable. Mercenaries who are capable of completing tasks well will be able to attract more difficult commissions, and more difficult commissions equate to more rewards - more, the mercenary guild can take a 50% pay.

The value of a hundred incompetent green mercenaries is not worth the value of an orange mercenary, after all, the lowest-level mercenaries make a lot of money.

- Back to the point, the task on the board this time is to wipe out the opponent's line, and this condition, coupled with the fact that the opponent's team has two blue-card mercenaries, leads to the fact that the mercenaries who take the task are basically blue-card or above, and they are in groups.

Except for an unknown rookie team composed of a few low-level green card mercenaries, the other three seven-person squads all have one or more orange cards, and the rest are all blue cards with a good lineup.

The only thing they were worried about was being preempted by the others, which is why everyone huddled together and rushed here desperately after hearing the sound of fighting.

But when they really came here and watched the four purple mercenaries they needed to look up to lying on the ground with blood splattered on their faces, it would be braggadocio to say that there was no intention of backing down.

However, the idea of retreating timidly lasted only a short time, and the mercenaries, accustomed to licking blood with knives, quickly responded by forming a temporary alliance - after all, the reward was given by the royal family of Sivalier, and even if it was divided into twenty equal parts, it would be a considerable amount.

One of the most powerful desires in human nature: "greed" overcame their timidity, causing these people to roar loudly at Henry and the others.

And just one mistaken pass, and the roar of many people came to an abrupt end with life.

"Knock-" The stunned green-card mercenaries were the first to die, except for Edgar, who stayed near the carriage, the other four men stepped forward hand in hand to stop the opponent's attack, many of the incoming mercenaries were matched with shields and swords, but the vanguard had no organization and discipline and failed to form a shield wall, and they did not form any advantage.

"Haa

It was not easy to cut through the Stone-style round shield with a half-sword in the prince's hand, but Edward, who had been in a lot of battles, did not need to do the same, he directly kicked the bottom end of the shield hard, causing it to lose its balance and tilt forward, and then accurately grabbed this gap and stabbed the mercenary in the throat with a sword.

"Kill, ahhh!!" The chaos of the battlefield was quite different from a one-on-one heads-up, and the prince was still a little immature in this regard, wasting too much time on one target, grabbing the gap between his draw and drawing his sword, another shield-wielding mercenary rushed from one side - but Edward was not fighting alone.

"Whew-huh-huh-" The sound of breaking through the sky was like a flying dragon flapping its wings with a wingspan of more than ten meters, and the sage, who was tall and proud of most mercenaries, held a big sword from bottom to top, left to right, and swung a slash fiercely.

Kramer, who was more powerful than the Dan Lasso battle axe, directly smashed the shield that the opponent urgently raised to defend into pieces of flying wood, and even the shield hat made of metal was twisted and deformed, leaving a deep mark.

"Ahh

"Woo-" But Henry's attack did not stop, the inertia brought by the sword swung at a large angle was extremely powerful, and the sage used it brilliantly, only twisting his body for a moment, and then the great sword spun around in mid-air, and then returned to the battlefield with a slash in his robe.

"Boom-boom-" The chain mail ring fell apart, bones, muscles, fat, internal organs, and everywhere they went.

"Smack-" blood splashed, the whole person was split in half The warm and smelly blood on the mercenaries splashed on the bodies of many people nearby, and the green mercenaries who rushed first began to retreat, and the blue and orange mercenaries, who slowed down and deliberately let them die, wanted to consume the physical strength of the group, and saw that the situation was about to get out of control, and they had to fight on the top.

"When-" The mid-level mercenaries with higher strength and more experience joined the battle, and the situation immediately began to change, first of all, the simultaneous attack from multiple angles overwhelmed the two royal knights, one of them was directly hit by a sword in the shoulder, and the other was also slashed on the back in order to cover him.

If it weren't for Henry and Edward rushing to help, they would probably have died here, but even if they survived, it would not be one of the considerations for combat effectiveness in the short term.

"If I had known this, I would have secured a whole army of heavily armed cavalry to guard it. Edward and Henry were back to back, and Edgar, Minna, and Mira on the other side rushed up to cover the two wounded knights of the Guards back to the vicinity of the carriage, while the prince gasped for breath and said.

"If that were the case, we would face ten times as many pursuing troops as we do now, Your Highness the Prince. With a moment's breath, the sage stepped forward again, then split open his opponent's skull, and slammed into the enemy line in an unstoppable manner.

"Haha...... Even in the event of a war, does Sivalier still have to maintain this superficial effort without tearing the skin? Edward sighed, "Politics is dirty. ”

"Qiang-" blocked upwards, then drew his sword and turned back, the cooperation between the two people with similar physiques was like an old friend, taking care of each other's backs to avoid being attacked by the enemy, Henry and Edward successfully blocked the attack of the mercenaries ten times their size, but the stalemate for several minutes quickly made the other party realize that this was not good for their side.

"Sir!" Edward glanced over and noticed behind him, but it was precisely because of this distraction that he could not perfectly avoid the other party's attack, a shallow wound was cut on the side of his face, and a few strands of blonde hair slowly fell.

"......" several mercenaries split up and attacked the few people behind him, Henry also realized this, but the mercenaries immediately exchanged positions and replaced the more experienced orange cards in front.

"Wave formation......" the sage muttered with half-closed eyes.

This formation is a branch of wheel warfare, and like any other wheel warfare, it is mostly used in encirclement situations or head-on confrontations, and the main point is to maintain a continuous output to the opponent by constantly changing the soldiers who are directly fighting, so as to quickly deplete the enemy's physical strength.

In addition, one of the great advantages of the wave formation is that it can make your own members injured but not die, and if someone is injured, they will immediately change to the back, and the uninjured members will continue to fight.

"Damn. Edward scolded, they were seriously inferior in numbers and fell into a temporary stalemate after being put in a wave formation by the other party, while the few green and blue mercenaries behind them had already exchanged hands with Minna and them on the other side of the carriage.

"When-" The two mortally wounded knights barely managed to cope with the blue-carded mercenaries, while Edgar faced two shield-wielding green cards, and the remaining two faced Mira and Minna one by one.

"......" The white-haired Lori of Lo An trembled a little, although this was not the first time she stepped into the battlefield, and it may not be the first time she fought to the death, but the girl was a little less confident for some reason when Henry was not by her side.

"Kill!" the dirty mercenary didn't have much mercy because she was a little girl, because of the blue card that Mira was wearing on her body, and one of the two people who came to this side to deal with her and Minna was also a blue card.

They saw the timid girl who couldn't stand on her feet like a newborn fawn, and their hearts were filled with joy, but the blonde girl who was not listed on the side stepped forward and forced off the blue-carded mercenary with a superb stabbing blow.

"Cowardly!" the bearded mercenary with short makeup spat out and then opened the distance and started a fight with Minna, the girl's body and sword skills that did not lose to the guard knight allowed her and the other party to fight five or five, but just like that, if one more person interfered, Minna would definitely die.

"Whew!" Mira forced her composure in the situation, then strode forward and stabbed her sword.

"Bang-" After a few months of training, her sword was quite mature, but obviously the more experienced combat made the knife mercenary easily avoid it, and then the war knife slapped heavily on the one-handed sword in the girl's hand, and Mira almost fell down with a stumble, but fortunately, Henry's training for her had an effect at this time, and the white-haired Lori did not retreat but directly rushed to the dirt to avoid the other party's knife that grabbed her flaw.

"Whew...... ......"The difference in experience became apparent at this time, and the disgraced girl felt almost out of breath after a single encounter due to the rapid depletion of her physical strength due to the nervousness.

"Hey, hey. The obscene green-card mercenary who used the long knife showed a smile on his chest, obviously he was relieved to find out that Mira was not worthy of the combat power of the blue card level, so he did not hesitate at the moment, and did not leave the girl time to recover her strength and adapt to the battle, and the long-knife mercenary slashed at her shoulder with a knife in one hand as soon as he kicked forward.

"Whew!" Mira, whose breath was disrupted again, hurriedly avoided it without taking a breath, accidentally choking on herself, she bent down on the spot and coughed loudly there, this act almost cost her life, Minna in front of her looked back anxiously but immediately had to parry the opponent's attack, Henry and Edward on the other side sped up their speed and broke through the mercenary's formation for the attack, blood splashed, and the sage's face was gloomy like the sea of Mobigas in winter-

"Bang-"

"Woo-" Mira, who didn't catch her breath and coughed before finally realizing that she shouldn't have done it, was kicked in the head by a roundabout kick from the mercenary with a long knife.

"Smack-" Luo An Da Lori, who fell heavily on the muddy ground, only felt that her whole head hurt terribly, and the long sword in her hand also fell to the side, and the mercenary who carried the knife smiled coldly, and stepped on her right hand hard when Mi stretched out his hand to try to retrieve the long sword.

"Uh-" The pain in the bones made the girl grit her teeth, and the other party bared a mouthful of rotten teeth and laughed unabashedly.

"You're still wearing a blue card and laughing to death. The long-knife mercenary with an accent of Avenella picked Mira's sapphire badge off with the tip of his knife, and the girl gritted her teeth in pain, her hair in a mess, and her face covered in mud.

"It's pretty looking, but it's a pity. The mercenary lifted the girl's beautiful face with the tip of the knife, she gritted her teeth, and the other raised the long knife.

“...... Go to hell. ”

Exactly the same words came out of the mouths of the two of them at about the same moment, the only difference being that the mercenary was understated and Mira was hoarse.

She pulled out the short sword that Henry had originally given her from her lower back, and then curled up as the opponent's long knife stabbed and stabbed the mercenary in the thigh.

The long knife that stabbed into the mud only cut a few strands of ivory-white hair, but the small sword in the girl's hand stabbed the mercenary's leather pants on the inner thigh, drawing a deep wound.

"Ahhh

"Ahhhh

"Damn it, little crumb!" the mercenary kicked her in the stomach and threw the girl backwards.

"Mira!" Minna shouted back, but had to concentrate on defense again.

"Poof...... Cough cough, cough. The girl landed beside the carriage, the long-knife mercenary gritted his teeth and walked slowly with a limp, his leather pants on his left leg were cut open by the girl, revealing a bloody thigh covered with black hair, but it was obviously the girl's own injuries that were more serious in comparison.

The ground on the right side of "Woo ......" emitted a metallic reflection, and even the small sword landed next to it.

'Is there anything else you can, as a weapon?' she propped her elbows on the ground and kept backing away, and the side of the carriage was hung with a jug full of water, but it was obviously impossible to use it to kill someone.

"Oh, do you think it's useful to hide under the car now!" the girl suddenly remembered something, she ripped off the kettle and drilled into the bottom of the car, and the long-knife mercenary strode forward and grabbed the white-haired big Lori's ankle and pulled her out, and it was at this moment that-

The girl came out with something in her hand, and at the moment when she was dragged out, she poured the kettle in her hand on top of the linen, and then threw the long strip of linen at the mercenary.

"Smack!" the water-stained black linen cloth was thrown on the mercenary's injured thigh, but it had no effect other than to make him feel pain.

"Heh, are you trying to kill me with this!" the mercenary smiled insolently, and then raised his long knife to deliver the final blow to the girl, but it was also this time.

"Uh......" The stubborn expression of the white-haired girl leaning against the wheel of the carriage and gasping for breath became blurred.

"I'm ...... How...... Qiang Dang—" The long knife fell to the ground, and the mercenary fell to his knees.

"Huh...... Hah. ”

"Die!!" the brief footsteps ended with a crisp word.

The white-haired Luo An Da Lori raised her painful right hand and held the small sword together, and at the same time, the whole person pushed forward hard, and stabbed the short sword in her hand directly to the abdomen of the mercenary who was kneeling on the ground, she used all her strength, and the whole person rushed into the other party's arms, and stabbed the whole small sword into it, straight to the handle, the damaged internal organs and toxins made the dirty long knife mercenary widen his eyes, and the blood at the corner of his mouth kept gushing out, dripping on the top of Mira's head, and flowing down her long hair.

"Ahhhhh

Blood splattered her clothes, her armor, and her dirty little face.

Minna grabbed the gap and slit the throat of the blue-card mercenary, Edgar and the other two guards stabbed the last mercenary from three directions, Edward wiped the blood and withdrew his sword, while Henry lifted the dying orange mercenary up, ignoring the pleas for mercy in the other's eyes, and calmly wrenched his neck.

"Huh...... Huh...... Hah-"

It wasn't until the wheezing finally couldn't keep up with the violent movements that Mira stopped.

"Huh...... Huh...... Hahh......"

Violent gasps came from the petite girl's mouth and nose.

Her pure blue pupils dilated at first, then contracted to the point of being as thin as a pinpoint.

"I ...... I—I'm ......" Mira raised her hand.

The pain in her head and the scarred palms were clearly visible, but even more striking than that was the blood on her own hands.

"W-no, no. The small sword hilt in the dead mercenary's chest reflected the light projected from the top of the canyon, and the mercenary's mouth was wide open, a mouthful of rotten teeth and gushing blood and vomit were clearly visible, and his brown eyes stared up at the sky blankly.

The muscles and internal organs under the cut skin were clearly visible, and the smell of fishy odor filled the girl's nasal cavity.

"I ...... Don't、This taste, don't !!"

She hugged her head and crouched in place.

"Mira......" Minna looked at her worriedly, Edward nodded at Henry, and the sage walked over.

"......" He touched Mira's head with those hands, as usual, and the girl was led by the familiar warmth, and then looked up.

"It's all right......" the dark-haired sage said as he looked down at her.

"Uh-huh......" The restless mind calmed down a little, but then she noticed the blood on Henry's clothes.

"Uh-huh-" The pupils contracted into pinpoints again, and Mira looked past Henry and looked at the battlefield behind him, more than two dozen mercenaries, who were dying miserably.

Bad memories flooded her mind again.

"No, don't!"

"Smack-"

She shook off the sage's hand vigorously, then took several steps back.

"Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't. ”

"Don't!!" the girl repeated the simple words, just repeating them all the time.

"......," Henry was silent.

"How can you, who are accustomed to killing, understand my current mood!" she scolded the sage loudly, then crouched down and hugged her head, and in a moment her shoulders began to twitch slightly.

"Let her be alone. Minna walked over and said to Henry.

"......" the sage nodded, and then retreated to the back to clean up the battlefield with Edward.