"Stop!" yelled Duren, and the coachman immediately tightened the reins and stopped the horse. The other three were also so frightened that they fell asleep.

"Enemy attack. Duren whispered a warning to Kaos and Ike, who drew his sword from his waist and held it in front of Snow. Kaos is different from Ike, almost completely inexperienced in actual combat, and he is afraid that he will have to be discounted as a level 2 swordsman.

About a dozen figures stopped in the road and quickly surrounded the carriage.

"I said a few people are in such a hurry, where are you going?" led by a middle-aged man with a long beard, about 30 years old, with a sideways face, a standard bandit face.

"......" Duren didn't say a word, at this moment he was looking at the crowd around him, estimating the strength of this group of uninvited guests, not planning to strike first, but to wait and see.

"Don't talk, it's okay, little ones, look what's in the car!" ordered the man who appeared to be the leader of the robbers.

"Boss, I'll come. A young red-haired boy made a flattering voice. He then circled the carriage without making contact with the men on it.

"Ai Xue, hide behind me!" Ike is bent on protecting his sister, but the other party is outnumbered and seems to be a repeat offender. Seeing this formation, his legs couldn't help but tremble.

Kaos wasn't much better, the two young Tier 2 warriors clearly didn't have the ability to see the enemy's level clearly, and the sweat oozing from their hands holding the hilt of their swords confirmed that they couldn't hide the tension in their hearts.

"Boss, there were only two men and one woman in the car, and no goods were found. "The leader did not give an order, and the thieves did not dare to do it.

"Not a businessman, let me guess. Since he was going to Kassel empty-handed, and there was such a standard long sword," the leader of the thieves glanced at Duren's ready-to-unsheath sword with disdain, "Could it be that the son of a minor nobleman who was planning to apply for the Colleurs Academy accidentally passed by—right, Mr. Guard?" ”

Duren's expression suddenly became nervous, and he secretly said that the strength of the man in front of him was only afraid that he was not under him.

"Yo, it seems that I guessed right. So, do you just hand over the money and let us kill it, or do you let us kill it and then keep the money? Haha, choose one, I'm very merciful. The leader of the thieves grinned wickedly.

"I'm going to hold this guy down!Ike, Kaos, you deal with the others and protect Aixue. Durham drew his sword and slashed at the leader of the thieves.

The leader of the thieves drew his sword as well, and the moment the blades met, Duren realized that this was an opponent on his level. Unlike the thieves encountered before, people who have not systematically learned swordsmanship will only use brute force to suppress their opponents, so their usual weapon is often a knife. But the other party not only did not have the action of opening and closing, but also made a powerful sword, quite orderly, and should have received orthodox swordsmanship instruction when he was young.

Duren was blocked by his opponent with a diagonal slash, and quickly jumped back, stabbing the leader of the thieves in the chest. The opponent twisted the blade of the sword and picked off Duren's stabbing blow. The two sides fought back and forth, without any flashy skills, just a simple offensive and defensive dodge, which was a contest based on swordsmanship. Obviously, the two sides are evenly matched, and any mistake could cost you your life.

On the other side, Ike and Kaos also jumped out of the carriage and entered the fight. Ike didn't fall behind in the face of the attacks of seven or eight people, after all, the opponent was just a stronger ordinary person, at most equivalent to the level of level 1, which also made him breathe a sigh of relief. Kaos, on the other hand, was not very comfortable, his opponent was able to block the straight slash of the long sword with only two daggers, and he managed to barely level it with all his might, but he felt very strange, and the opponent seemed to be deliberately letting him, or killing time.

Although Ai Xue was scared in her heart, she was also unwilling to rely only on her brother's protection. Ai Xue picked up the knife left by her mother and held it tightly in her hand. The short-edged knife can't compete with the long knife and the long sword, but it's always a psychological comfort, and it's the nature of every child to seek the protection of their parents, probably hoping that their mother's relics can protect themselves.

2.

At this moment, Ling Yue woke up.

It's not that the set time has come, but that Ai Xue's strong emotional fluctuations wake her up.

Words like [Who will save me], [Don't kill me], [Don't hurt my brother] kept lingering in Ling Yue's ears, and the fear pressed on Ling Yue's heart, making him a little breathless.

However, Ling Yue's current state didn't need to breathe, but this feeling made him immediately discover the abnormality of things.

[Ai Xue, don't panic!]

At this time, what I am most afraid of is self-chaos. Judging from the voices outside, Duren, Ike, and Kaos didn't know who they were fighting against. Ai Xue hid in the carriage shivering.

[But I...... Nothing can be done]

[Whatever you want, grab a weapon!Don't use a knife, use Ike's wooden sword!]

Yes, Ai Xue suddenly remembered that her brother's wooden sword was also in the carriage, so she threw down the knife and took out the wooden sword from Ike's bag. Ai Xue didn't know how to swordsmanship, but with her own surprise, she slashed two enemies. She herself didn't know where she got the courage to swing her sword at the most vicious gangsters.

The wooden sword will not kill you, but it can make this kind of thief show quite obvious flaws. Ike naturally won't let go of every opportunity, and let the opponent reduce the number of two people in a few moves, which can be regarded as opening a gap in the opponent's encirclement network.

There was still only one enemy on Kaos's side, and that was the red-haired boy who had begun to flatter the leader of the thieves. Strong, not generally strong. For Kaos, the other party is obviously teasing him, and there are countless opportunities to kill Kaos, but he lets himself make moves like cat and mouse, and then cracks them one by one. Fortunately, there was no one else to interfere, and the other party did not plan to kill him immediately, otherwise Kaos would have collapsed a long time ago.

But Kaos's side dragged on the clock, and Duren was also entangled with the bandit leader, buying enough time for Ike's side. Soon, Ike cut down the last man, ready to help Durren defeat one. Suddenly, he heard Kaos screaming.

"I'm sorry, I'm bothered if I do. ”

The speech that came from behind Ike startled him into a cold sweat. Before he could turn around, he was punched in the head. Before he fell unconscious, he seemed to see a fiery red color.

"I'm sorry, but I'll borrow your sword. The man picked up Ike's longsword and swung it back, sending a muffled sound from the metal blade. It was the sound of the sword slapping against the wood.

"Beautiful young lady, please forgive me for being unreasonable, I did this for a reason, both of them are still alive, don't worry too much. ”

With that, the red-haired swordsman walked straight to the battlefield between Durren and the leader of the thieves.

Ai Xue first ran to Ike's side and confirmed that her brother had not been injured by Yan Zòng. Then he went to confirm Kaos's injury, which was also fine.

[What to do? Ai Xue asked Ling Yue more and more. From the moment she had just begun, Ai Xue had tended to ask Ling Yue for help, the only person she could quickly communicate with.

[Quick repair knife.] With Kaos's sword!]

However, as soon as Ling Yue finished speaking, he regretted it a little. Ai Xue is just a little girl less than 15 years old, isn't it a bit cruel to let her kill people? But this is a different world, obviously not a good place for peace, and compassion for the enemy is the greatest cruelty to her own people. It's hard to guarantee that Ai Xue will never see blood again.

Ai Xue didn't understand the meaning of this word for a while.

[It's to stab the fallen enemies one by one to make sure they die!]

【Good!】

Ai Xue picked up Kaos's sword and stabbed it in the throat of the fallen enemy next to her. The other party remained motionless, looking dead.

And then the next, the next......

Suddenly, one of the stabbed men had wide eyes and an expression of disbelief. He wanted to roar, but his throat was so hard that he couldn't make a sound. This guy seemed to have figured out how to pretend to be dead to escape, but he didn't expect that there would be a person like Ling Yue in this team. Moreover, the conversation between Ai Xue and Ling Yue is completely silent, if Ike or Kaos say something like mending the knife, this guy is afraid that he will run away desperately.

Ling Yue's knowledge comes from the TV series "I Am Special Forces" that he watched on Earth, in which there is an unlucky protagonist who is squeezed out of the ranks of the wolf's tooth special forces team because he forgot to replenish his gun during the exercise.

However, Ling Yue didn't expect Ai Xue to really execute his strategy perfectly. Steady, accurate, and ruthless, more suitable than any flowery rhetoric to describe Ai Xue's actions just now. As Ai Xue made several moves, the negative feelings such as depression and fear that Ling Yue felt gradually disappeared, and it was likely that Ai Xue unconsciously eliminated her negative feelings in the attack.

After mending the last knife, Ai Xue sat on the ground, as if she realized something bad, and tears flowed from her eyes.

3.

Durham, on the other hand, fights while guiding the leader of the thieves away from the direction of the carriage. Suddenly, he heard Kaos screaming.

"It's broken!" Duren, who thought that as long as he dragged this guy, the rest of the miscellaneous soldiers would not be afraid, there was a flaw in his defense.

At the same time as the sword was released, Duren was trampled on the center of gravity and fell to the ground.

"Haha, it looks like your little ghosts are still too tender. I'll get you on your way now!"

The leader of the thieves leaned over to look at Duren, and the faint blue light of Ning Yue shone on his face, looking a little hideous.

"It's me who loses. Durham resigned himself to his fate, and his whole body relaxed.

"Don't think that wagging your tail at me and begging for mercy will let me go! The leader of the thieves raised his sword in both hands, and was about to stab Durham in the throat, when he saw a serene smile, a little strange, and seemed to have some mockery.

Sharp pain struck, and a long sword pierced the heart of the thief leader from the back accurately. He turned his head with difficulty, and left his last words in chagrin: "Unexpectedly...... It's you. ”

Durham easily dodged the fallen leader of the thieves and quickly stood up, blood not staining his body.

"It's all right, sir. The boy stretched out his right hand.

Only then did Durham see the young man's face clearly, and politely shook the young man's hand.

"Thank you. I didn't expect it to be you. "Duren's impression of visitors has changed dramatically. The man was the one who jumped out and shouted "Boss, I'm coming" to the thief brother.

At first, he gave Duren the feeling that he was just a funny character who didn't know martial arts, and a little person who coaxed the boss to be happy by patting horses. But if you look closely, you can find that the other party's hair is as red as a flame, and his face is slightly immature, probably the same age as Ike. On his right hand is a calloon that has been sharpened by holding a sword for a long time, but there is no injury on his hand. Although the leather armor on his body looked the same as that of other thieves, it seemed to be of a more expensive material, probably the same as that worn by the leader of the thieves. Duren breathed a sigh of relief, and he knew what he knew.

"You're not a thief. ”

"That's natural, more on that later. ”

"Hmm. "Durham also knows that the most important thing at the moment is to meet with everyone and confirm the casualties.

Seeing Ike awake, Ai Xue, who was taking care of him, and Kaos, who was lying unconscious, Duren's heart that had been hanging finally let go.

The coachman was shot through the heart with an arrow, and the dead could not die again, and the horse was ridden away by one of the thieves.

The red-haired swordsman began to examine the corpses of the enemies one by one, and found that everyone had been stabbed through the throat with a sword. Obviously, it wasn't Ike's doing, and he didn't have the time to make such a neat wound before he knocked him unconscious. Kaos is even more unlikely, then the rest of the people are only-

"You did this?" the red-haired swordsman asked Ai Xue.

Ai Xue's body was still a little trembling, swallowed nervously, and nodded slightly.

The red-haired swordsman and Duren looked at each other for a moment, both speechless.

Durham never imagined that Ike's sister would think of confirming the life and death of the enemy at a critical moment, and it was completely indistinguishable from the appearance that she was so bold.

With the exception of the one who fled on horseback, the red-haired swordsman had confirmed the total destruction of the enemy.

"I haven't introduced myself yet, I'm Yat from Kassel City, a level 3 warrior, and this time I infiltrated the gang of thieves just to find out their nest and then eliminate it in one fell swoop. Thank you so much, I only found out that their boss was also level 3 when I entered the thieves' den, and if it weren't for Mr. Duren's help, when I escaped and called for help, I guess they would have rolled up and run away. ”

Kaos gradually woke up and saw a familiar figure in front of him. "You bastard, you dare to slap Lao Tzu in the face!" was about to draw his sword to cut it, but found that his sword was no longer by his side.

Durham hurriedly stepped forward to stop it and explained what had happened.

Kaos still understands things, and he also knows that the other party's strength is far better than his own, even if he can't swallow this breath, it's hard to say anything more.

"Although there is a reason for the incident, but I hurt two of them, and I have to accompany them. Yate didn't care about Kaos's attitude at all, and his humble and polite attitude won everyone's favor.

Then he took out a slender tube from his bosom, opened the lids at both ends, raised it to his chest with his right hand, and pulled the knot below with his left hand, and straightened the slender tube, from which a red fireball rose and flew into the night sky. The fireballs in the sky emitted a blazing red light, illuminating the heavens and the earth.

"What is this?" everyone couldn't help but be a little curious because they saw it for the first time.

"Signal flares, the vanguard of the Kassel City Guard will be here as soon as they receive the signal. Let's just wait here. ”

Art found a random place to sit down, not caring that the dirt would stain his clothes.

The event can be considered over. The coachman is dead, the horse is gone, and the vehicle alone is useless, so no one can pull it. At this time, the summer heat has gradually dissipated, the night is no longer sultry, and a light breeze hits, and there is a hint of coolness.

After about half an hour, Durham heard footsteps rushing at high speed.

"It's you kid again, let's say, what's going on this time?" said the person who came to express his dissatisfaction with someone.

"I've done a great job this time, and I've wiped out the gang of thieves that have plagued us lately. Although one of them ran, I knew where their nest was, and I went to serve them in a while. A few of them were the victims of this time, and without their help, I wouldn't have been able to kill all these bastards on my own. ”

"Good boy, you're good at it, aren't you?" said the comer, who flipped off his mount and examined the thief's body again, without saying anything more.

Only then did Du Lun and the others discover that the four people who had just arrived were all wind wolves under their crotches, and the biggest specialty of this level 3 demonic beast was that it could run fast, even if it was seriously injured, it could outrun human warriors of the same level. After the negotiation between the two sides, they decided to divide the army into two routes, with two of them taking Duren, Kaos, Ike, and Aixue to Kassel City overnight, while the remaining two took Art and went to the thieves' lair.

So when they arrived in Kassel, they slept in the camp of the city guard for the night until the sun rose again.

Ai Xue was the first to get up, and after a simple wash, she happened to see Yate returning triumphantly.

The wagon, which had been abandoned by everyone last night, had also returned to the camp, and it was loaded with a lot of things that seemed to be more valuable.

"Well done, Art. ”

The teammates in the camp high-fived and congratulated Yate, and it seemed that they had gained a lot.

Ai Xue waved her hand to Art in a friendly way. Although Art hadn't slept all night, his face was bright and happy, and he couldn't see any tiredness at all. Naturally, he waved his hand at Ai Xue, and then trotted all the way over.

"Well, can you still adapt to the environment here?" asked Art with concern.

Ai Xue nodded vigorously, looking very serious.

Art replied to the incredible girl with a smile on her face, "It's still early, do you want to go to the city to have a look?"

Ai Xue nodded again.

After Yate reported to the leader, he took Ai Xue out of the camp.

Due to the ride of the Wind Wolf, everyone arrived in Kassel City much earlier than expected, so Ai Xue had plenty of time to wander around the city.

For Duren, Ike, and Kaos, last night's battle was indeed a bit difficult, and Ai Xue naturally didn't wake them up, hoping that they could rest well.

Art can be regarded as a qualified tour guide, and along the way, he took Ai Xue to see many novel things that were not available in Shuanglin City. For example, an iron vehicle that can be ridden by one person and walks on two wheels, Ai Xue's eyes are shining.

"It's called a bicycle, and it's kind of expensive for civilians. Yate patiently explained to Ai Xue the performance and working principle of the product. However, Ai Xue still still didn't understand why a car with only two wheels would not fall down when running.

[Zero, that bike looks so powerful, it only has two wheels and doesn't use a horse, but it can run very fast. Ai Xue usually hides her pocket watch inside her clothes, while Ling Yue can't see through her clothes. At this time, Ai Xue would tell Ling Yue about some of the things she saw.

[Well, that's amazing.] Of course Ling Yue knew what a bicycle was, but Ai Xue hadn't studied physics, and she probably couldn't understand what was going on when she explained the principle.

It's better to just play stupid to the end.

[That car has the blessing of wind magic, and it won't be lightly biased to the side.] Ling Yue didn't believe what he said, but Ai Xue didn't understand either magic or science, so she should be easy to deceive.

At the same time, Ling Yue could also hear what Yate said, and in the face of Ai Xue's questioning, Ling Yue was also vague and confused. Speaking of the music box, there is a little goblin who can play the piano or something. There are too many lies, and Ling Yue is not false in his heart. After Ai Xue found out the truth, she apologized and said that she didn't know how to pretend to understand.

A variety of modern products also gave Ling Yue the illusion of being on the earth. However, there are no cars on the streets, and it always feels like the tech tree here is still a few floors less than on Earth.

"Kassel is the largest industrial city on the continent because the factories here produce large steam engines and trains. 100 years ago, the advent of the steam engine turned our kingdom upside down!"

It seems that the wish to see the Gundam particle cannon or something has been frustrated. In Ling Yue's consciousness, a small person was squatting in the corner and drawing circles......

Although Ai Xue was a little confused, Ling Yue had a deep understanding of what kind of huge impact the appearance of the steam engine had. Without the invention of the steam engine, human beings on Earth would not have moved from ancient civilization to modern society. It was the emergence of this thing in the West that made the Qing government of China 200 years later defeated. However, since the mainstream of this era is still martial arts and magic, then for now, technology will not occupy a dominant position in leading the world. So far, the most it has done is to improve people's livelihood.

"Actually, I haven't been in many factories either, and ordinary laborers can only see the tip of the iceberg. It is said that those mainframes are quite complex, and most people do not understand the principles of them. Only those who have graduated from the Kohlers Tech class and have been on to the Liber workshop for a few years will be able to truly grasp some of the real mysteries. ”

Listening to what Art said so much, Ai Xue was already a little confused.

Art didn't say a word on the way to see Ai Xue, but she was not good at words. In Art's opinion, perhaps because she doesn't speak often, Ai Xue's eyes are extraordinarily bright. And whenever I saw Ai Xue's eyes of joy and curiosity when she was interested in what she was talking about, it was as if all the shadows in her heart were illuminated. Art loves this feeling, so he has been introducing Ai Xue to fun things and enjoying the process.

"See the tall chimneys? The smoke coming out of them is from the burning of black flints. In the past, people could only use it to make fires for heating and cooking, but now it is a precious resource, and fortunately, it is everywhere in our country, which is not fertile. The black flints of the country are transported by train to major industrial cities, and every day they create a huge fortune. Unfortunately, people were told by the church that inhaling smoke is bad for their health, so they moved away from the factory, which looked a little bleak. ”

As they walked, Art took Ai Xue to the heavy industrial area, where the smell was not very good. Ai Xue frowned, but the excited Art didn't notice it, and continued his speech.

"Look at the towers over there, it is because of them that the iron tools of our kingdom are so cheap that people in remote villages can also use iron pots and iron knives. Trains transported the smelted iron to the big cities, where merchants sold it to blacksmiths everywhere. The best quality iron from Kassel is used to make steam engines, trains, or transported to workshops to make guns!"

Due to the strict air pollution here, the two did not continue to stay. After lunch at a nice restaurant, the two returned to their residency.

Once in Kassel, the journey to Kollers is half complete. Because next, the group will be replaced by the most efficient means of transportation on the continent - trains.

Kassel, the steel capital of the Liber Kingdom, has the largest railway station in the country. In the past 100 years, the development of railway transportation has been extremely rapid, but due to the huge cost, it is impossible to spread the line throughout the country. Kassel is the main producer of steam locomotives, and railway lines from all over the country converge here.

Therefore, as long as you reach the city of Kassel, the royal capital of Kollus will no longer be far away.

Art watched the train that Ai Xue and his party were taking leave the platform, looking at the black smoke in the distance, a little distracted.

"I don't know if I'll have a chance to see you again in the future. ”

Although they haven't been together for a long time, the figure of the girl who is as quiet as snow has been haunting Art's heart.

It's just that he didn't know until the end that Ai Xue didn't want to speak, but that he couldn't speak.