On the second day of departure, Henry and his party ran into a lot of trouble.

The flatbed wagons they used to disguise their identities and carry supplies had been purchased at random from the supply merchants on the side of Vavasika, and they had not done much inspection before setting off, and they had only just made a short distance when the wheels made an unpleasant noise as they turned a bend.

The group stopped to inspect and found that the axle connecting the two wheels behind it was bent and cracked, and at this time, Mira and Minna, who had slept together on the flatbed last night, also frowned and said that they had been hearing some gnawing sounds during the night.

Upon investigation, sure enough, traces of insects were found in the axles.

The carriage has been around for a certain number of years, and much of the wood on it has been darkened by years of exposure to the sun and rain - the axle is a very important load-bearing part of the carriage, so the carpenter will carefully select the wood that is not moth-eaten when making it.

In addition, there was no problem with the previous years of use, so I think it was only recently laid by a wood-eating beetle.

Wood products that are often used outside are mostly treated with insect repellent treatment, and considering that sun and rain will make the surface insect repellent drugs ineffective, theoretically speaking, it is necessary to reapply the medicine every few years. But because of the price, many people only use it once when it is newly built in order to save costs.

The problem has been roughly dissected, but at the moment in the Great Rift Valley, there is nothing the group can do to deal with it.

The flatbed wagons carried a lot of supplies, and in addition to being a disguise of identity, there were also some things that needed to be used along the way - this could be replaced on pack horses and let them carry them, but there was not much grass for the horses to eat in the Great Rift Valley, which made the burden on the horses even higher, and the speed of the group was bound to be slowed down.

Yavennella and Sivalier are now facing off on the border, although it is only a matter of time before Sivalier should gather enough forces to attack.

Add to this the fact that the Padrossi Empire on the other side of the Mobigas Inland Sea is eyeing each other, and every minute and every second is crucial at this juncture.

With not much time to waste, and no axle to replace in a place where the bird doesn't lay eggs, Edward considered taking a chance and barely moved forward while Henry stopped.

A few meters above the cliff in front of the right, there was a shrub with many red berries, and the sage stared at it for a moment, then lowered his head, found a rock, and threw it away.

"Teacher?" Mira looked at him strangely.

"Smack-" There was a loud sound from the stones that hit the bushes, and someone in the caravan in front of them looked back at them, but then went on with their own business.

"Bang-"

"Shhh

"Woo-" An innocent reptile basking in the sun fell to the ground because of the interference of the stones, and the colorful scale armor gave Minna goosebumps behind her, and Henry's one-handed attack pinched its head like lightning.

"Shhh

"Bring that horn cup. Henry turned to Mira and said, and the white-haired Lorian Lori lowered her head, searched the carriage for a while, and then took out the horn cup for drinking water from her leather bag.

"Smack. The black-haired sage took it, then pinched the serpent's mouth open with his index finger and thumb, and then expertly snapped its palate to the rim of the cup.

"Shhh

"Hiss-sss

"Give me the kettle. The sage spoke again, and after taking the kettle, he poured some water into the venom-filled cup, and finally crouched down and got under the carriage.

"I see. Edward nodded, it was impossible for them to guess what Henry wanted to do. The sage wrapped a piece of sackcloth around the moth-eaten area, then sprinkled the venom evenly on the top of the sackcloth to absorb it, and finally cleaned the horn cup and threw it back to the car.

"Uh......" Mira looked at him, her eyes looking hesitant.

"It has been cleaned, and the snake venom is harmless to drink, it will only attack if it penetrates the skin and blood vessels, as long as there is no wound on the lips or inside the mouth. In a short sentence, Heng explained that reinforcing the axle without materials was something even he could do, but the sage thought of a way to kill the moth, and then everyone could only pray that things would not deteriorate further.

The day passed peacefully, the venom slowly seeping into the wood from the sackcloth wrapped around the axles, and Mira and Minna did not hear the sound of moths again that night.

Two or three days passed in a peaceful hurry, and they talked about a lot of things on the way, and they did not communicate with the other merchants, but continued to move on repeatedly.

The current situation of Avenella behind them is also unknown, and they can only hope that they can catch up in time without access to information.

Time passed calmly, and in the blink of an eye, week after day passed.

The interior of the long and huge Grigley Rift Valley is as vibrant as the rest of the world.

While some of the supplies that humans depend on for survival are hard to come by, tiny insects and nameless scales form a self-contained ecosystem among the potholes washed out of millions of years of rain and the shrubs in high places out of reach of humans.

There is no shortage of insects and birds, and the wind blowing from the distant sky brings fresh air and refreshes the travelers.

On the morning of the ninth, Edward sat in the carriage and opened the small map, they had already covered most of the distance, and in a little while, they should be able to reach Ottolo's side.

The Great Rift Valley is quite long, crooked, and in some places there are multiple large and small potholes at the bottom of the rock walls on both sides, and although most of the creatures that live here are harmless, some of the larger ones are also hunted by humans.

Humans are just passers-by here, after all. Those who follow this path uphold the unspoken rule of not disturbing each other, and to some extent maintain peace.

-- but it obviously can't last forever.

"Noticed. They didn't rush at a very high speed, and Henry walked beside Edward, looked straight ahead and whispered.

"Hmm. The prince didn't look back either, Mira and Minna behind him were a little puzzled about what they were talking about, and the white-haired Lo'an Lori subconsciously wanted to look behind her, but the sage noticed as if she had eyes on the back of her head.

"Don't look back and pretend nothing happened. Henry continued, "Prepare your weapons. ”

"Pull over slowly, then go check the axles. He said, and Edward nodded, then flicked the reins, controlling the pack horse in front of him to slow down. There were far fewer merchants in this section than before, and because of the damage to the axles, the group did not dare to go too fast, so they were overtaken one by one—except for the black carriage behind, which had been following from a distance since yesterday.

- I was followed.

Whether it was Sivalier or Padrosi is unknown, and the news of their trip is kept strictly secret, but Avenella is only a small country after all, and it is not surprising that the two more skilled opponents in this regard will be able to detect the news.

Judging by the time of the black carriage's appearance, the leak must have occurred after they had set off, and they were caught up here by the other party because the axle damage slowed down.

Words back to the original place -

Parking is a great way to verify that you're being followed, and if you just happen to be walking behind, you'll usually move on if you see them parking.

The black carriage of the "......" stopped, and several people in the carriage looked at each other, as if discussing something.

"Came over. Edward pretended to crouch down to inspect the axles, while Henry spoke up.

The three guards rolled out of their pack horses and leaned into the flatbed wagon, their weapons hidden among the goods and supplies, and Mira stepped aside and stood with Henry.

"Is there anything you can help with? The man at the head was about 175 centimeters tall, thin and thin, but his eyes were bright.

"Uh...... Our axles look like they're broken. The other party asked, so Edward went along with the acting.

"Oh, that's unfortunate, there's nothing we can do to help with this kind of problem. The emaciated middle-aged man smiled, and the men next to him walked over with kindness on their faces, as if they were just walking over to see what was going on—but Henry drew his great sword.

"Just stop there. The sage stuck his shining greatsword into the ground and spoke.

"......" The thin middle-aged man's eyes narrowed slightly: "With a blue card, your vision is not bad." ”

"It's just the most common encirclement tactic, what can't be seen. Henry's tone remained calm, and the other took a step back.

Their plan was indeed exactly what the sage had said: to approach them with ordinary, natural, unsuspecting movements, and to form an encirclement close enough to strike a fatal blow before striking the opponent's living force - an Assassin technique, usually used in situations where a quick annihilation of the enemy was required.

At the moment, Henry's party was far more vigilant than expected, and they decisively chose to distance themselves when they could not successfully raid.

"If you don't resist, I'll give you a good time. The emaciated man spoke, his tone calm and confident, and then he lifted his cloak and drew his weapon along with the others.

"Purple ......" Mira took a deep breath, as did the few people behind her.

“...... Elite-level mercenaries, it seems that this is a free mission. Only Henry's expression remained unwavering, he stood in front of the other party with a large sword in one hand, and even when he saw a mercenary two levels higher than himself, the sage showed no signs of wavering.

"That's right, it's well paid, we're the first to arrive, and we're too—" The emaciated mercenary leader pulled out a one-and-a-half sword studded with magic crystals from his waist and continued.

"The one who accomplished this task. As he spoke, he struck Henry with a sword in a swift manner.

"Big talk. And the sage waited calmly, drew his great sword, and met the other party.

"Bang-bang-bang!"

Sparks flew, and the sound of gold and iron echoed through Grigley's rift, far away.