As on the West Coast or anywhere else on the continent of Rigal, there was a huge difference between the customs and customs of the northern and southern parts of the Padrosi Empire. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

From food to folklore, the empire was so different from each other that people from the two places often disagreed on some things. Northerners see some advantages of the South as not taken for granted by the locals, while others they think are inadequate, but Southerners have long been accustomed to them, and even some support those existences.

The imprint of the environment in which he grew up is too profound to erase or empathize with, but even with such a huge difference, when Southerners and Northerners face the same problem of insect infestation, they behave in surprisingly consistent.

"The worst thing about the south is that it's not cold enough, and there are too many bugs all year round. Whether you're talking to a southerner or a northerner, they're bound to agree and begin to express their frustration with the seemingly endless number of bugs.

People who live near the water are attacked by swarms of mosquitoes at night, and people who smell business opportunities have developed a variety of mosquito coils, but most of them are of little use, so experienced people don't waste money on them. In the north, insects begin to decline in large numbers in late autumn and become completely extinct in winter, but in the south, they are relatively rare and still rampant.

But there comes a time, isn't it?

Something that you usually hate, or at least think is troublesome, at a certain moment, you want it to exist.

Whether it's the person who used to be noisy and you feel a little lonely when it's gone, or the annoying bugs suddenly stop chirping, leaving only the "rustle" of leaves in the wind.

Humans are always aware of this sudden change, even by untrained people. Some people blame it on the sensitivity to environmental changes in a stable society, but if you really want to dig deeper, it should be an instinct of living beings.

It is inexplicable and inexplicable, beyond the subjective and conscious control, but deeply buried in the soul.

As a weak creature.

As.

The hunted side, instinctively.

"Qiang—"

Everyone gathered behind the fire, and the mercenaries quickly picked up their torches. The men who had stripped their armor for the convenience of their work were neatly dressed again with their hands and feet, and they formed a formation to protect themselves with the help of trees and carriages as cover, and the firelight flickered, and beyond the warm orange glow there was silence and darkness.

Margaret drew the dagger from her waist, and her bayone, or little sword as the Padrossi used it, was held in the hands of the old butler Ferruccio.

They did not form a well-organized formation, which showed that the mercenaries had relatively rich experience in night combat.

Outdoors and in unfamiliar areas, dense azimuth formations may provide excellent protection during the day due to their common advance and retreat, but in such a situation of poor visibility, enclosing them will only get in the way of each other, and there is a great possibility of blocking the light of the campfire or torches, causing the situation to be unable to judge and fall into panic.

Distract the action, the night itself is the best cover - if you go and check out a professional book on combat or adventure published by the Padrosi Empire, if you are professional enough, they will definitely note this sentence on it.

Admittedly, environmental factors are something that any good fighter must pay attention to. Unlike specialized tactics that can be neutralized by the distinction between the cold zone and the tropics and the alpine plains, the alternation of day and night, which happens every day in most regions, is very basic and highly versatile.

"Don't be afraid of the night, blend into the night, and let the darkness be your cover, your shield. ”

It sounds very reasonable, and it works very well in practice – but it is based on a premise.

Based on the premise that your opponent is just like you as a human with severe loss of vision once you reach night.

"It's not human!" shouted one of the mercenaries, which didn't need to be of our level as Mr. Sage to easily judge - it was almost impossible for human robbers to be so quiet, and even if they didn't scream for encouragement, they would make a slight noise in the night with all kinds of equipment hanging on their bodies, and it was impossible to do it like this, until the insects stopped chirping, and they didn't notice that they were near their camp.

It's a creature whose bodily functions far surpass that of humans.

"Demons, it must be demons!" Uncle Mario suddenly changed color: "I heard from the Imperial soldiers of Parnila at the beginning of autumn that there were demons on the southern border that came and went without a trace, many civilians died, and a whole squadron of three knights was missing!"

"No, if it were a demon, the smell of sulfur would be so thick that we couldn't breathe at all. The sage denied this speculation, which was somewhat relieved. But perhaps it was the courage of the nervousness that brought about the misplace, and one of the mercenaries took his words in a somewhat impulsive tone: "Then what do you think? Could it be that he is still an elf?"

"Possibly. To his surprise, Henry nodded. The mercenary was stunned for a moment, and then regardless of the urgency of the situation, as if he wanted to continue arguing with the sage, he raised his pole and said, "But aren't those weak and slender guys famous for magic, and I said are you crazy?"

The Sage glanced at the person who spoke, this kind of behavior of trying to distract from arguing with his teammates was common for people who were not confident. He didn't pay any more attention to him, and the other party weighed two or three and remembered Henry's previous actions and finally pushed back.

"Where's your weapon? Don't you use that sword? He was next spoken to by Filippo, who wore a cuirass but carried only a few knives around his waist, and the long sword in his hand had been broken when he had broken through the walls of the village. The fixed belt now has only an empty scabbard hanging from it.

Filippo was referring to Kramer, but the sage did not reply.

"There!" one of the mercenaries noticed movement in the distance.

"Francis, Philomie, follow me, strike first. Morrow opened his mouth to say this, and Margaret's personality couldn't help but speak: "Don't you try to communicate, rush forward with such a murderous spirit, what if it's really an elf." ”

"Those who come are not good, and those who are good do not come, my dear young lady, I don't want to risk my life to bet on whether what the big man said is true. Moreau said, then glanced at Henry: "No offense, but we don't know each other." You're not a sage or something that can be used for gold and prophecy. Even if it is really an elf, communication and negotiation can wait until the advantage is achieved and the other party is subdued. ”

He said this, and the others, even Filippo and Ferruccio, nodded in agreement.

Margaret clenched her little fists and pursed her lips to speak. Mira looked at Henry, and the sage raised an eyebrow: "What a typical human mind. He said this, and then gave Mira a a look, and the white-haired girl nodded. The next second, Henry ran out with a "whoosh" and ran out in the other direction alone.

"Hey, big man, where are you going. Moreau shouted behind them, but he left the group alone without looking back.

Considering their current situation, this is a very stupid move.

Like the frizzy idiots that Padrosi's novelists would create in horror and adventure literature to highlight the intelligence of their protagonists - although they do exist - these characters tend to lose their intelligence and normal thinking in times of serious crisis, focusing on splitting up the team, acting impulsively, and causing things to deteriorate further.

Among them, acting alone in a crisis should be in the top three even in the list of stupid things.

There is a saying that there are many people and great strength, and when they encounter unknown dangers, they still stubbornly choose to split the team or act without authorization, and there is generally no other answer than to seek death.

But he is Henry.

"General" doesn't work for him.

The wind whistled past his ears, and he had only run a few steps before he disappeared from the eyes of the people in the camp. He penetrated deep into the night and made some distance in the direction of the north side.

The other party was not too far away, and there was something in the camp that attracted it to it. As long as they figured out what this was, they could tell more or less what the other party was - although he had some vague answers, as Moreau said, they didn't want to bet on the credibility of his words.

The sage stopped and began to look around, a few dozen meters behind him, Moro and the others muttered for a while and began to run in the direction of the south on the other side. But if his speculation is correct, they will not find anything there.

He wasn't going to explain it to them, and he wasn't going to explain the ins and outs.

Mercenaries have the mercenary way of doing things, and they have always done so in the future. In the event of a potential threat, we will eliminate it by force, and after confirming that the situation is safe, we will consider whether it is possible to engage in an exchange and dialogue.

It is impossible for them to change, because the humans of the Laman Empire did the same thing thousands of years ago, and this is the biological nature that is hidden in human instinct.

It can save your life in many cases, but when dealing with more complex situations, it often makes what could have been handled peacefully worse and more dangerous.

"They want a mistake, so they see the mistake, they want an enemy, so they see the enemy. The truth that was summed up by the Lamandai thousands of years ago is still not free from it today.

They don't realize the consequences of what they're doing, and if they show hostility in elven territory like the Bao Forest, if they do lead to confrontation and conflict, the mercenaries will only be sure that they are right about the threat.

There is still a gap between people from different cultures, and many of the habits that need to be avoided when encountering a different race like elves.

But it is obviously unreliable to wait until this time to teach them to let go of their prejudices and not to act too much like a normal human being, so what our Sage can do is to leave the team immediately and settle everything out first.

To be sure, Morrow and the others will not find anything to the south.

This is not a beast, and there is not the slightest smell of fishy smell around it. Naturally, it wouldn't be a demon, otherwise he would have reacted a long time ago.

The darkness could not stop Henry's vision, and he continued to walk forward as he surveyed his surroundings for signs - the other party was clearly outnumbered, and was probably alone. Therefore, he chose the typical sound to lure them away, and then it was likely to approach the camp from the north where he was.

Henry didn't know what the purpose was, but he speculated that the elf should have been more curious than hostile to them.

Because if the other party came with hostile intentions, even if he came so unexpectedly, even if he existed, there would be at least two or three people in the camp now.

Due to a lack of contact and knowledge, most people's perception of elves is limited to some folktales and legends, only known that they are excellent in appearance and good at magic. Only a few people know that these guys, who are extremely similar to humans, are actually far superior to humans in terms of physical functions.

The slender and slender-looking elves are children of nature, capable of running more than three times as fast as humans in the forests and wilderness - in fact, among the five races of the Rigal world, the physical abilities of adult humans are only slightly better than those of the most physiologically similar gnomes, that is, almost at the bottom level.

And this is only because most of the dwarfs have a human physique, and if they are the same height and weight, they will be on the same level as humans.

Physically stronger, skilled in magic, and has an excellent lifespan, and is generally very good by human standards. This series of elements sounds like a better race, and at least in the hearts of ordinary people and even some human nobles, elves are indeed such an existence.

But this is like many other things, just from a human point of view.

As long-lived beings, elves are very different from humans, and one of the first things is that they do not have the concept of a state.

The elves have no state, no overly complex system of social class status, no human divisions such as "Patrosi", "Lamanites", "Avenellas", "Sivaliers", and so on. They are not as good at generalizing an entire group as humans with prejudices and stereotypes, but always recognize each other as individuals.

The upside of this approach is that the relationships between elves and elves or with other aliens are often quite reliable and have withstood the polish of time. But on the downside, the concise and effective camp division of human society that "shows oneself and shows oneself" does not work here.

"Who am I, I vouch for my identity, I have no ill will!" The elves don't buy it, because they find it difficult to understand all kinds of things in human society. It's not much different from saying that to an elf than to a cat, and they're just looking at you with a confused look on their faces.

The huge cultural difference between the two sides is one of the factors for the elves to avoid humans, and when it comes to this kind of imminent contact, the mercenaries who don't know what to do are like great enemies, and our sage who knows the situation will not have much less burden.

He has a lot of work to do to avoid conflict.

But first, you have to find the elf.

The darkness of the night, coupled with the speed of action far beyond that of humans, would not be an easy task, even for Henry.

He closed his eyes.

But the world has become clearer as a result.

Nearly a hundred meters away in the camp, the Luo An girl was persuading the others to calm down, and farther to the south, because of the low visibility, there was no clue at all, and the few of them were muttering meaninglessly and making a mess.

Block out those voices and focus.

Even the breath blends with the night.

The slightest movement does not escape—the change in the air flow caused by the wind being blocked by the trunk of the tree, the sound of a multi-legged insect crawling through the grass. No matter how much nature is a child, the existence there, the existence of substantial objects, will definitely have an impact on the surrounding environment.

What will be exposed is an abrupt change in the scene.

The oncoming breeze that was blowing slowly suddenly weakened in an instant.

There is a subtle sense of disobedience that does not need to be seen beyond doubt, but only an intuitive sense that something is wrong.

It's there-

"Whew-" Henry moved, but the other party also noticed him. The man decisively pulled away, his movements a little flustered, so that he interfered with the rustling sound of the surrounding plants.

The body size is small and should be female.

He chased after him, and even in the darkness, the sage was able to run at an astonishing speed.

The skirt part of the cuirass even kept up because of the speed of running, and the sound of the metal sound and the sound of Henry's wild gallop sounded very obvious in the silence, and Mira and the others all looked at the forest to the north, and due to the amplifying effect of the silence, the sage running alone sounded like a squad of hoplites charging.

They stared stunned, but found nothing but the dark night where they couldn't see their fingers.

Henry caught up.

Judging from the movement and a series of senses, he knew more and more about the other party, but just as he was about to slow down and not be so quick to avoid the other party being frightened, the elf in front of him suddenly changed direction, and then he sensed a second breath.

For a split second, Henry's plate armor reflected a faint light, which provided a target for the man lurking behind.

"Boom-" He scooped up the ground with his left heel and stopped a pile of fallen leaves. "Ho!" and the second breath let out a loud war cry, and the battle axe was raised and slashed at him.

"Phew-" The axe missed, and Henry flashed to the side.

“......”

It's a human being.

The situation seemed to be more complicated than he had thought, and the sage slowly stood up, while the other man approached with a battle axe in a faint light.