The dripping winter rain is falling.

The goose feather drizzle swayed gently in the breeze, dripping on the waterproof cape to give it a darker color.

The waves crashed against the small wooden boats tied to the sturdy wooden stakes, and the endless sea in the distance seemed to be brewing something as the sky turned gray.

This was Mira's first sight of the sea.

People always talk about the greatness of heaven and earth and the insignificance of themselves, and about the comings and goings of people in this unchanging eternal world. Standing in front of the sea, looking out into the boundless distance, the white-haired Lo Ann understood for the first time the obscure concept of the 'world' depicted in the books Henry gave her.

Before that, she had thought that the small piece of land she knew, this group of people who were not very many, was already the whole world.

But when she was forced by life to start wandering with the man who called himself a sage, Mira gradually realized that the world was bigger, far bigger than she had ever realized.

The increase in knowledge and experience has made her somewhat change in her mood. Henry's shouts rang out behind her, and Mira turned around.

"I found it. The sage carried a large bundle of twine on his back, and at the ends of the hemp ropes were several dark black iron hooks—Mira now knew that this was because the hooks had been quenched, and the blacksmiths had put the metal in the boiler and heated it to a very high temperature and then put it in the water to cool it instantly, an act that made the steel extremely hard and not easily damaged.

She walked towards Henry.

It was already winter, and the previous mission in Pan-Rusian had not yielded anything in the end. There are so many people there, and there are many experienced hunters who are more experienced than them, and with the perennial activities of humans, it is too difficult for novices to hunt successfully.

But Mira has grown a lot in more than two months, and Henry thinks that it won't be too dangerous to take her on tasks that can increase the mercenary's listing level, so the two returned to Prospel a week ago.

Almost every two or three days, new mercenaries are registered, and the bustling capital of Sivalier naturally has a variety of tasks that are quickly picked up by others.

With the exception of some so-called "free tasks", which are repeatable, most of the listed tasks are limited to one-on-one.

Because most of them are private missions, an employer, a team of mercenaries or individual adventurers. When you pick it up, you have to log in your own mercenary brand, complete the task, the employer is satisfied, and the evaluation will naturally rise.

And if you fail, depending on the situation, you may get anything from getting a bad reputation to the Mercenaries Guild banning you from any listed assignments.

The Mercenary Guild does not raise lazy insects and waste, this is a place where strength is paramount, and those who can prove that they do have good skills will naturally improve quickly.

- After all, in such a competitive place, it was obviously extremely difficult for the two of them to find a task that would fit Mira, even though she had improved a lot.

Listing tasks are not small, because as long as you can afford to pay for everything, everything can be delegated, so they are endless, but the nature of the mercenary guild determines that the tasks that come to commission are generally related to swords, guns, swords, and sticks, and these things, to be honest, don't want Mira to touch them yet.

To sum up, there are only a handful of listed missions that don't require combat and can improve their evaluation, and even if they do, they will be quickly picked up by others, so in the end, all that is left is those that do not require combat but are very difficult.

Right now, the two of them are executing one of them.

The mission is to get eggs and bird's nests from rock petrels on the cliffs of the Prospel Strait.

This can be said to be a very lucrative task, and the reward for a full 5 Sivalier gold coins is much higher than the task of hunting the great wild boar with Alain and the others.

It is no wonder that the bird's nest of the rock petrel, which is said to be nutritious and delicious, is a treasure favored by some nobles and merchants, and in the eyes of those people, it may not be a fortune if it does not reach more than 100 gold coins.

The quest paid quite well, but the reason why it has not been completed so far and has been left to Henry and Mira is that the location of the rock petrel's nest is located on the towering cliffs of the Strait of Prospel.

Hardly anyone but the stonemasons came to the cliff, and even the stonemasons merely excavated limestone from the base of the cliff to use as building material.

The perennial mining of stone from here has made the entire cliff even more steep, and the entire Prospel Cliff is almost five meters high and is sunken inward several meters away, some blackened supporting wood and discarded scraps are discarded at random next to it, and a rotten wooden shelf hangs on the side to be wet by the rain.

-- There is no point of borrowing.

The entire underside of the cliff is sunken inward, not to mention that humans want to climb it, even the antelopes that are common in the Great Wilderness of Takosanstein can only sigh.

Perhaps because of this, the alert Yan Haiyan chose to build a nest on it.

So how did people get their bird's nests in the past?--Since many people have tasted and praised them, surely there is a way to get them.

The answer is not clear, because it is obvious to the average person that climbing from below is not possible, but when it comes to abseiling from above,

There is only a layer of weathered earth above the Prospel cliffs, and further down is the hard layer of limestone, so the trees are ironclad to not be able to take root here, only a thin layer of dirt on which there is not even grass, so you have to hold your rope there?

The plan given by the sage was to use quenched iron hooks, not one or two, but a whole row.

Mira didn't know if anyone had used it before, but when Henry visually confirmed the location of the bird's nest below, the two returned to the top, and she watched as Henry unfolded the entire thick hemp rope and smashed the black iron hooks into the dirt one by one and hooked them into the crumbly rocks.

There were more than a dozen hooks, and while they were all pulled apart in a straight line, Henry began to explain to the confused Mira.

"This is a common method in the four northern islands. He said: "In the winter when the snow covers the mountain, when you want to go up the mountain, you will tie several thick ropes with hemp rope and throw them to the top of the mountain. ”

"The nooses will hold the soft snow, and then just pull it down, and when the noose is deep enough to be held back by hundreds of kilograms of snow, the pull on the other side is enough to support your weight. Henry said this, and Mira nodded as if she didn't understand.

"Of course, the problem is that there is not enough snow or soil here, and the rocks that support it are too fragile – so we have to choose the second option. The sage struck the last hook with the end of his dagger, and then crouched on the ground and looked at Mira.

"The quality is not enough, the quantity is to make up, one or two will be easily broken and loose, use a large string, the weight is evenly borne by a dozen hooks, and there will be no accident that a single few stress points cannot bear. Henry shrugged, then stood up.

"You're not the one to go down anyway, are you? Mira gave him a blank look, which was all right, and she would go down to pick the bird's nest, while the preparation and safety would be taken care of by the sage.

"After all, you're much lighter than me. Henry shrugged his shoulders again, and Mira took off her belt and put on the leather bag on which she held her belongings: "Monsieur Sage is the worst of all grown-ups. ”

In the drizzle, Mira took off her sash and her cloak and put it beside her, then tied up her long hair, and tied a single ponytail with strips of cloth a few times to tie it into a ball and fix it behind her head so as not to affect her movements.

Then she took a deep breath and exhaled again.

The girl was still a little trembling, after all, the cliff seemed so high that if she fell, she would definitely die.

She glanced at Henry again. "Even if something happens, there is this person," she said silently, and the reassured girl secured the hemp rope under the guidance of the sage, and then carefully descended with her steps against the rock face of the cliff.

The rain-soaked rock face was a bit slippery, so Mira was very cautious.

Fortunately, nothing happened, the rope was able to bear her weight as Henry explained, and after plucking several bird's nests in succession and putting them back in the leather bag she carried with her, the girl did not hesitate any longer, and climbed up again with a tight grip on the twine.

"Whew...... Whew" Mira, who felt the grounding ground again, knelt on the ground as soon as her feet went limp, she gasped for breath, and finally recovered after half a day.

"Let's go. Henry smiled slightly, and was about to put away the twine, when he suddenly saw two cloaked men running briskly in the distance where visibility was reduced by the drizzle.

"We should be the only ones who have this task?" said Mira, frowning, she didn't think anyone else would come out in this weather, and even the fishermen who occasionally went out to fish on a rainy day tied up their boats and went home.

"Well, but if anything happens to us, it's going to be a task that can be taken on again. Henry straightened up, but hadn't touched the greatsword behind his back.

"Accident?" Mira didn't react for a moment.

"For example, to die. Henry shrugged: "Then the other mercenaries can go and get this payment." ”

“...... It's dirty. Mira uses a Sivalier adjective, and because of the language and other knowledge, her current wording is quite different from what it used to be.

"Five Sivalier coins is a lot of money for some. Henry looked over and watched as Mira lowered her pouch and then picked up the belt and fastened it neatly to her body. The two on the opposite side quickly approached, and when they were about five meters away, they took off their cloaks and drew their weapons.

"Hehe, it looks like you know why we're here. If you know each other, give up this task quickly. "The people who came were all young men, poorly dressed and armed with weapons like the iron one-handed sword in Mira's hand, and they looked like people who would do such a thing.

"The two of them are also green cards, and they don't seem to be very good, I'll deal with one, and the rest is for you, can you do it?" Henry said in a flat tone like a leisurely stroll as always, and Mira swallowed and drew her one-handed sword in wait.

"Remember, it's important to keep your eyes on what you're doing, to be alert to every move of your opponent, and then to react quickly, and it's important to protect yourself, you see. The two young men, who thought they were menacing, looked at this tall junior mercenary who didn't even pull out his weapon, but was talking about the basic points to Lori next to him, and they all felt annoyed at once.

"Who are you!" the man facing Henry was the first to close the distance and stabbed at him with a sword, while the other man instantly struck Mira with a half-sword in his hand in a robe posture.

The reactions of the two "......" were in stark contrast, the Sage half-closed his eyes and just turned sideways to avoid the other party's attack, while Mira hurriedly took a few steps backwards behind him.

"Attention, there is a cliff behind you. Henry spoke, and the green-card mercenary who attacked him gritted his teeth and swung his sword again, and the sage did not forget to warn Mira as he dodged.

"......" The girl pursed her lips tightly, and she intently recalled the time she had been studying.

Henry's ten days of training with her were not in vain, and when the opponent struck forward again and tried to slash her with a robe, the memory hidden in the muscles made Mira move before she could think about it.

"Bang!" the soles of her little leather boots kicked heavily on the ground, and the dirt fell down the cliff to reveal the gray limestone surface, and Mira did not retreat, but rushed towards the opponent's chest exposed by raising his sword.

But her movements were still not skilled enough, and the longsword that she began to swing after rushing out was hastily reacted by her more experienced opponent and blocked.

"Bang-" The reaction from the longsword shook her fingers and sparks flew around, and curly blades and small gaps appeared where the two weapons collided.

"Damn!" scolded the red-haired green-carded mercenary at Mira, then slightly adjusted his posture and stabbed him with a sword.

Faster, more difficult to intercept stabs were the girl's weakness now, but she suppressed her panic, and after hesitating for a moment, she reacted quickly and turned to the side.

"Bang-bang-" This action was a little late after all, but fortunately, Mira, who was wearing a close-fitting leather armor mixed chain mail armor, was not really hurt, and the iron half-sword that was not sharp enough only cut through the surface of the leather armor, and the impact made the girl's chest a little stuffy, but she remembered Henry's teachings - every attack of the opponent will reveal a flaw and there will be an opportunity - Mira did not let go of this opportunity.

"Hah!" the girl swung the sword with one hand with all her strength, but the other party was also shrinking back to the back, so that when the sword made contact with the body of the red-haired mercenary, only the tip of the sword was touched - and even that was enough.

The difference in equipment was evident at this moment, and the armor worn by the junior mercenaries was more of a leather coat than leather armor. The sharpened one-handed sword easily sliced through the skin and struck the collarbone, causing the young man to scream in sharp pain, but Mira's lack of strength also caused her to inflict only flesh wounds.

It all happened in the midst of lightning and flint, and another brown-haired junior mercenary thought he could have a chance when he saw Mira hit and Henry looked at the other side with concern, but then he felt something whistling towards his face faster than lightning.

"Bang-" The clear clash of flesh caught the attention of the two on this side, and they looked back to see the tall sage's hand clawed tightly on the door of the junior mercenary, his sword hand trying to resist, but Henry's left hand grabbed his wrist and easily disarmed.

"......," the sage then carried the young man, who looked to weigh at least sixty or seventy kilograms, in one hand, and spun around in half a circle, and then threw him out.

"Bang knock - poof. The junior mercenary, who had fallen heavily to the ground and rubbed off the dirt and knocked off two front teeth on the rock, shed a pool of blood, and the drizzle hit his head, and half of his face quickly swelled, and he stood there and screamed loudly.

"You...... You ......" The red-haired mercenary who had been slashed by Mira on his left collarbone gritted his teeth and looked at the two of them hatefully: "You'd better be small in the future-" Before the cruel words were finished, Henry stomped his foot and frightened him into turning around and running out towards the back.

"Uh......h Woo it hurts......" The brown-haired mercenary covered his bleeding mouth and hesitated in place for a moment, he looked timidly at this side for a moment, Henry sighed, then picked up the long sword on the ground and threw it back.

", be honest in the future. The sage said this, and the mercenary, who had regained the tools he relied on for his livelihood, kept saying with a leaky mouth: "Fee, fee, and food are not difficult. ”

The attacker fled in disarray, and Mira, who had experienced the first real combat in her career as a mercenary, sat directly on the ground as if she had collapsed.

"Whew...... Phew......" She gasped for air, and Henry came over and looked at the girl up close to see if she was hurt.

"I'm fine...... It's just that I feel more tired than a week's journey. ”

As she said this, the sage was noncommittal, but smiled slightly and touched her little rain-soaked head.