The epic story of green monsters

Chapter 317 Richard comes to visit

In Mansha City, Xicheng District, which covers a large area, welcomed a figure whose face was shrouded in a dark mask, walking in the alleyways in the dark like a ghost.

After twists and turns, the figure came to a seemingly ordinary residence and knocked on the door of the residence rhythmically.

"crunch~~"

The door opened, and a dwarf face that was so ordinary that no one cared about it stood behind the door. He was not surprised at the masked figure knocking on the door, and gently turned around to welcome him in.

There is a unique cave in ordinary houses. At least for those with extremely strong perception ability, they can clearly feel the subtle and deep magic fluctuations in the house. It is a long-lasting magic circle at work, not for those who are like mice. An opportunity for wandering professional thieves to peep and eavesdrop.

"Alva and the others were found. The day before yesterday, someone sent their heads to the Government Affairs Hall as proof of relevant tasks."

The person's voice was low, as if he had deliberately changed his tone to conceal his identity.

"It doesn't matter. They are not on the same front as us. Whether they fail or not will not have much impact on us."

In the room, a calm and magnetic voice suddenly came. Following the sound, it turned out that in a dark corner of the room, a figure was sitting upright, with blue eyes looking at the person standing in the room.

"However, among the adventure team that completed the mission, there was a human mage who seemed to be more interested in the true purpose of Alva's assassination and wanted to continue to investigate."

"What's the name of that human mage?"

"Richard Nika, from the land of ice and snow."

"Ha, it turns out they are the arrogant people from the Land of Ice and Snow. It's not surprising that they are interested in these things."

"I understand this matter. If there is nothing important, come here as little as possible."

Finally, the magnetic voice ended the conversation calmly. When he was about to evict the guests, the figure who was still standing in the middle of the hall suddenly asked with a somewhat ups and downs mood: "Sir, I, I When can I go back?"

"I have been lurking here for so many years. Can you apply with the above to let me return?"

"It's almost time. After this incident is over, you can set off and return home."

After hearing the appeal for many years, I finally got the confidence today. The masked figure was so excited that the hands hanging on the chest could not help but hold each other tightly, and they looked a little pale because of too much force.

"Thank you sir!"

"You deserve it, don't thank me."

The masked figure left quietly as excitedly as it had come, and the inconspicuous residence in Mansha City also regained its calm.

Almost a magic hour later, a middle-aged human male wearing gorgeous clothes and a mask on his head walked out of the mobile wooden building next door, and then came to a gorgeously decorated and deserted bar. He knocked on the thick wooden door of one of the private rooms with familiarity, then pushed it open and entered.

"I want to issue a mission."

The eyes of the middle-aged man flickered on his face, and his blue eyes said to a dwarf who was burying his head in front of a desk in the private room.

"Okay, please describe the task content and reward."

The dwarf stopped writing, and after glancing at the person with his smart eyes, he asked calmly.

"Assassinate the human high-level mage, Richard Nika, and the reward is 25 rubies."

"The opponent's level should be at the peak of level 15, a mage of the evocation system, with a high probability of being good at frost spells..."

The middle-aged man told the other party the contents of his mission, and at the same time, in order for the other party to complete the task better, he also informed the other party of the information he knew.

"I need to see the other person's head within 2 months."

"Okay, our guild has accepted your mission, please wait for the good news."

The dwarf clerk wrote down the task content on the parchment in front of his desk, then took the task reward sent by the humans. After carefully counting it, he gave a confident answer in a deep voice.

"Okay, I'll come back in a month."

After the human assigned his task, he bowed slightly and left, while the dwarf placed the written task in a vertical bronze tube next to him, and the parchment slid directly down the smooth bronze tube. One level of underground space, and then diverted to where it really should go.

Without reaching a certain level, no one would know that this little-known high-end bar in Mansha City would actually be the home of a large dark force - the Assassin's Guild - that spreads throughout Feynman's world.

As the name suggests, the Assassin's Guild is an organization that solves the troubles around many big shots and wealthy people. As long as they have money, they will meet all the arrangements of their employers, from robbery, kidnapping to assassination, from gathering intelligence to protecting the safety of their employers. They can't keep things from getting sticky.

The dwarf scribe is nothing more than a middleman installed by the Assassin's Guild in Mansha City. Apart from accepting tasks and delivering information to his employer, he has no other role. Even the dwarfs don't know who is a member of the Assassin's Guild in the city.

The assassination missions assigned by humans before were the most common tasks assigned by the Assassin's Guild. The dwarfs believed that as the missions were assigned to the right people, good news would come out soon.

Just when the unknown human sent out a mission that was detrimental to Richard, another figure was truthfully reporting to his superior what happened to Alva and his group.

"...You're saying that the human mage thinks there's something behind this matter that's not that simple?"

Although the faces are not hidden, in a dim environment, unless one has the innate ability of dark vision, it may not be possible to clearly see the true faces of the two figures meeting here in this basement deep underground.

"Yes, at least I can see from his eyes and actions that he thinks this matter is more than a simple assassination."

The other voice was full of energy and seemed very powerful.

"...Well, I understand. I will report this matter to the superiors and ask them to send someone to follow up."

"...You continue to stay among the adventurers and pay attention to the movements of these guys."

"Yes."

It is not peaceful outside the wilderness, but no one would have thought that in Mansha City, there has always been an undercurrent that has never stopped.

"Boom boom boom!"

Allen had a good night's rest in the house. The fatigue from wandering in the wilderness for several months finally dissipated. Just as he was about to get up and go to the martial arts field behind the temple to start today's morning exercises, there was a sudden call from the gate of the small courtyard where he lived. There was a knock on the door.

"Who?"

Allen grabbed the Bonecutter beside him, hung it behind his back, and slowly walked towards the entrance of the small courtyard. Although he knew that the basic safety of Mansha City was still very guaranteed, Allen had long been accustomed to the habit of being cautious in the wilderness, and he didn't think there was anything wrong with opening a door and carrying a weapon.

"I thought you hadn't gotten up yet. I thought it would be a little disturbing. Now it seems that you have come just in time."

As soon as the door opened, what stood in front of Allen was a face that had only been separated for a day. The handsome and elegant human mage Richard greeted Allen somewhat apologetically.

"I'm getting ready to go for morning exercise, come in."

Allen welcomed Richard into the courtyard and took him to the living room to sit down.

"What's the matter with coming to me so early?"

"Oh, I just wanted to ask Alan if you are interested in accompanying me on another trip to the wilderness?"

Richard looked at Allen's simple and simple courtyard. The decorations of the temple and monastery were actually not worth paying attention to. Anyone who has lived in these places knows that there will not be any elegant environment here, it is just a place for believers to stay. Just a place to rest.

"Didn't you just come back from the wilderness? Now that you're back, are you going out again?"

Allen was very surprised. The other party's explanation to Kaiya and the others yesterday didn't seem to be like this.

"Well, I just took on a mission and needed a partner, so I thought of you."

"How is it, are you interested?"

Richard looked directly at Alan, expecting his answer.

"Can you tell me the specific content and reward of this mission?"

Allen frowned. After all, according to his plan, after a day of rest today, he would go to their mission location tomorrow according to the news left by Kerr and the others. At this time, Richard suddenly came to invite him, which put him in a bit of a dilemma, so he wanted to see if this task was worth it.

"The content of the mission is actually related to our previous mission, which is to walk along the opponent's assassination route to see what changes have occurred in these tribes recently, or whether there are other demon squads lurking around their tribes."

"The mission is not very difficult, it just requires us to run a lot of errands, but the mission reward is not bad. According to the hiring fee of 30 gold coins per person per day for high-level warriors, the other party will pay the corresponding reward for how many days we stay in the wilderness."

Richard said this, paused slightly, and glanced at Allen's face secretly. Seeing that Allen's mood didn't change much, he felt somewhat helpless.

"Some big shots in the city believe that Alva and his gang have a deeper purpose in assassinating this time, so they want to dig deeper to see if the other party has any other plans. Just like what we found in the Twisted Timber Hammer tribe Like a team of demons, according to the appraiser who estimated the value of the obsidian at the time, this batch of obsidian was exactly the amount needed to build a low-level flesh altar."

"If there are such demonic teams lurking around other tribes, then things will be in trouble."

The more Alan heard Richard's introduction, the more depressed he felt.

After all, the wilderness is their hometown. Although the Green Field Plain is far away from Mansha City, if even Mansha City, the most fertile area, is really occupied by demons, then the time until their Green Field Plain falls will be long. It won't be long.

"Okay, I'll accompany you for a walk!"

Allen patted the table with his big hand. He was not attracted by the reward of this task, but it was the content of the task that moved Allen.

After staying in the Green Plains for a long time, Allen's news has become very backward. Now that he has come to Mansha City, he naturally hopes to contact and obtain the latest wilderness information. If there were to be any big changes in the wilderness next, Allen hoped that he could get first-hand information, instead of waiting until the devil arrived outside the village as he had done before, only to find out later.

"When to set off?"

"It depends on what arrangements you have. I'm ready to go now."

"What are you waiting for."

Since Richard was already prepared, Allen, who was now alone, naturally did not need too much preparation. After reaching an agreement with Richard, the two set off for the wilderness.

"Richard, can you tell me the truth, why did you choose to come to me instead of Kaiya and Alba?"

On the way, Allen took advantage of the boredom of the journey to ask a question that puzzled him. “Then why did you agree?”

Richard didn't answer the question and looked at Allen with meaningful eyes.

"..."

Allen was silent.

"I chose you as my companion because I know you will be more concerned about the inside story of this mission and whether it will have any other impact on the wilderness. But whether it is Kaiya or Albian, they are just passers-by in the wilderness and will not really They care about the future of the wilderness. Perhaps in their view, the more chaotic the wilderness, the greater the benefits for adventurers like them, so they may prefer a chaotic wilderness situation."

"But you're different, Alan."

"You are the leader of a tribe, so the first thing you need to consider is the stability of the wilderness. Only when the situation in the wilderness is stable will your tribe be safer, so you are my best companion for this mission."

Without waiting for Allen to answer his rhetorical question, Richard explained the reason why he fell in love with Allen and chose him as his companion. With this explanation, Allen looked back and thought that he was really the most suitable candidate among his previous partners.

Richard's first stop was the Vulcan kobold tribe that was the first target of the assassination by Alva's group.

The Wakan kobold tribe is located in the northwest corner of the Centaur Grassland, in a place called the Nagrand Highlands, only 4-500 miles away from the sea frontier mountains. The Nagrand Highlands are not barren, because there are rich mineral veins and huge salt lake resources, allowing the kobolds of the Wakkan tribe to live a relatively happy life.

Originally, due to iron ore, mithril ore and other resources, the relationship between the Vulcan tribe and humans was still very good. After all, only human caravans would take the trouble to go to the Nagrand Highlands to conduct commercial activities. Other merchants The team finally gave up on Nagrand Highlands because they disliked the long distance and meager profits.

However, just a few decades ago, because human caravans monopolized the mineral trade in the Nagrand Highlands, and there were no caravans from other forces to intervene, the greedy humans lowered the price to purchase the hard work of many kobold tribes in the Nagrand Highlands. The mined ore is sold at high prices for various daily necessities that the kobolds urgently need.

However, the good times did not last long. The human caravan's double-sided exploitation of huge profits eventually aroused the resentment of the kobolds of the Vakkan tribe, which in turn triggered a regional boycott.

After all, humans paid for their greed. After being collectively boycotted by the kobold tribe in the Nagrand Highlands, humans did not think about re-negotiating peace. At the same time, they also secretly used dirty tricks to sow discord, etc., but in the end It was still the kobold tribe that withstood the temptation and coercion of humans and completely expelled the human caravan from this land.

Of course, this approach itself is a lose-lose situation. The human caravans cannot make any profit, and the natives of the Nagrand Highlands have also returned to the barbaric era from their past rural life.

All kinds of spices, seasonings, and even cloth and leather boots that the kobolds need in their daily lives can only be given up temporarily because they are cut off from human caravans. They put on their rancid fur coats again, forged their own crude tools, and returned to their original living environment.

Human caravans cannot travel to and from the Nagrand Highlands, but they are reluctant to part with such a well-run road, so they secretly cause trouble to prevent caravans from other forces from intervening.

The trade route in the southern part of the Wilderness Corridor was originally dominated by human caravans. The large merchants from other forces' chambers of commerce despised the trouble of these scattered tribes, and the small ones did not have the confidence to fight against the human caravans. In the end, there were only those The flexible and independent merchants would sneak to the highlands and earn some hard money by trading with the local indigenous people.

More kobolds still have to organize their own teams and travel thousands of miles to Mansha City to sell their goods and purchase needed supplies.

After decades, the vengeful character of the kobolds has prevented them from forgetting what humans have done. Therefore, medium-sized kobold tribes such as the Vulcan tribe still maintain an attitude of disgust towards humans.

Walking in the Nagrand Highlands, you will feel as if you are walking in a decaying natural environment. There are debris left behind after mining everywhere. Countless gravel and soil have piled up into hills. Many of the originally towering mountains have been blocked directly. After destruction and excavation, the soil surrounding the mountain was lost under the baptism of wind and rain, and it became a bare rock mountain that no longer grew any plants.

If the barrenness of the Green Field Plain is due to its own geographical environment and natural factors, then the current decline of the Nagrand Highlands is entirely the desolation left behind by man-made destruction and deforestation.

Allen felt very unhappy as he walked on this land. Perhaps it was because he was so close to Oscar, the natural healer, that he was deeply influenced by him, or because he and his tribe had spent so many years on the green plains. Struggling to survive and working hard for a piece of land that can grow food, it is sad to see the originally fertile land in the Nagrand Highlands turn into what it is now.

Most of the races living in the Nagrand Highlands make a living by mining and smelting, so the highlands are always shrouded in a lingering gray-brown smoke. Even the branches and leaves of the plants growing here have some or Light or thick dust creates the scene of depression and decay in Allen's eyes.

As long as you see a strong gray-brown smoke in the sky above a certain area, it means that there is at least a group of mining tribes living in that area, and most of them will be kobolds with mining talents.

However, because the kobolds in the Nagrand Highlands have to follow the mineral veins to settle down, there are no large tribes. Most of them are small and medium-sized tribes with hundreds or thousands of people scattered across this land.

The Vulcan tribe that Richard was going to observe was a medium-sized tribe with more than 3000 people in the highlands, settled at the foot of a large mountain called Gwale.

The kobolds of the Wakkan tribe have long since returned to a peaceful life. The former leader who was assassinated a few months ago, a powerful quasi-legendary dual swordsman, has left the lingering power. Finally, with the help of another high-level kobold in the tribe, After the strong rise of the human priests, who consolidated their status step by step, they had no impact.

The only thing that has changed may be that this priest who was originally supposed to believe in the kobold god Kurtumak, after gaining dominance of the Vulcan tribe, built a sculpture of the humanoid god in the tribe, so that Those tribesmen who believed in kobold gods and nature gods changed their beliefs one after another and converted to the knees of the Lord of the Night Sky, the King of Darkness and Shadow.

This caused chaos among the Vulcan tribe at the beginning, and various opposition actions emerged one after another. Until the kobold priest named Douglas showed cruel methods and eviscerated several of the former tribe leader's confidants and their family members. Hanging high on the gate of the tribe's settlement, this chilled the minds of those in the tribe who were ready to make a move.

However, these things have long since passed. When Allen and Richard arrived at the foot of the Gwale Mountains, the nearly one hundred corpses at the gate of the Wakkan tribe settlement had been cleaned up, and the village The kobolds have also resumed their daily activities.

Richard was hiding far away and was casting a spell to remotely control an invisible magic servant. He followed the other person's eyes and observed this seemingly peaceful kobold settlement.

In the village, a group of young and strong kobolds were sharpening their knives and practicing in the martial arts field in a corner of the village. In the distance, a long line of people were coming and going, working hard to carry wooden carts one after another, busy transporting the newly smelted iron and copper ingots back to the blacksmith shop.

The little dog-headed people in the village were playing happily, and from time to time there were a few cubs playing with each other, causing the companions around them to cry out in pain; then an angry female dog-headed woman stuck out her head. Come on, scold these little bastards until they get back together and run somewhere else happily.

At least, from the current point of view, there is nothing noteworthy about this kobold village. It is no different from ordinary kobold villages.

However, the invisible servant controlled by Richard focused more on the new sculpture in the village, which was completely different from the style of the kobold village.

The tall humanoid sculpture is made of the most ordinary granite in the Gwale Mountains. The gray-white sculpture has a strong wilderness style, rough and full of power. Although under the cover of the hood on the other person's head, it was impossible to tell the rough race of the other person, the evil smile on the corner of the other person's mouth, and the dark and gloomy aura gradually emanating from the sculpture, made Richard feel very uncomfortable at a glance. .

In a kobold tribe village, the sculpture is not Kurtumak, the kobold god, but a strange god with a beautiful face of humans and elves. This is obviously a surprising thing.

However, Richard had no way of guessing who the incarnation of this god was, because he had no way to go to the other side's village, observe carefully, and listen to the prayers of the other side's believers.

The villages of the Vulcan tribe are now very exclusive. Allen previously wanted to enter the Vulcan village under the banner of an adventurer, but was greeted by several kobolds at the gate of the village with strong wary looks. He was driven out. Even Allen, who is a bugbear, has no way to approach this village, so Richard, a human face, may not be welcomed by the other party.

Within a few dozen miles outside the village, both Allen and Richard roughly patrolled around. At least in Allen's and Richard's perceptions, they found no trace of the demon lingering. Allen also secretly captured a kobold and used various methods to ask him if anything had happened around him recently, but the other party did not give any useful information.

The two of them spent seven days in the Nagrand Highlands and still found no useful clues.

"Should we go? There seems to be nothing here worthy of your attention."

Allen squatted next to Richard, casting spells to protect Richard's safety. It was not until Richard returned the summoned invisible magic servant to its original plane and his own body regained its flexibility that Allen Slowly say a suggestion.

"Stay one more night, we will set off tomorrow to our next destination."

Richard's eyes were full of doubts and a bit helpless at the same time.

Since the previous leader of the Wakkan tribe was assassinated and the new leader took office, the Wakkan tribe began to prepare the village's armed forces. In the past few days, Richard had observed that the sound of flames and hammers in the other party's blacksmith shop had never stopped. Even after midnight, there were orange-red flames coming from the shop.

Soldiers practice in the martial arts field in the village every day. Most of the equipment and weapons they wear have brand-new marks. They must have been newly made in the other party's blacksmith shop.

Late at night, waves of groans of pain and shouts of relief will float in the air in Wakkan Village, accompanied by many long howls from male kobolds. This kind of sound made during mating was originally very common. Like Allen's Green Field Tribe, after dark, many goblin couples in the tribe would have such a shirtless 'hand-to-hand fight', accompanied by It will also be such a tempting moan.

However, such a large number of mating groans from the Vulcan tribe, as if hundreds of pairs of kobold partners were gathering together and engaging in mating and reproduction at the same time, did make Richard feel a little unusual.

For three consecutive nights, Allen stayed with Richard, eavesdropping on these seductive sounds from the Vulcan tribe, which made Allen, who had never behaved like this before, feel physically and mentally irritable, as if there was a fire burning in his lower abdomen. , aroused his emotions and desires, so Allen proposed to leave during the day.

Apart from moans, there was nothing else gained throughout the night. Allen glared at Richard with a pair of bloodshot pupils. Finally, with the other's nod, the two of them spread out and walked out of the place where they were hiding before, and then Without being noticed by the Wakkan tribesmen, they ran towards the gray-white foothills in the southeast.

During the next trip, Allen and Richard traveled thousands of miles and conducted reconnaissance tours around the other three Alva assassination tribes. Alan didn't know what Richard was looking for. In his opinion, the lives of these tribes had not changed much. Only when Richard arrived at a place, he would take his notes and write and draw. He faithfully recorded the events and situations he observed, although Allen didn't think it was worth observing and recording.

"Be careful!!"

Allen and Richard are rushing to the next gnoll tribe. This is the fifth stop of their wilderness trip. It is also the time that Allen has been running with Richard in the wilderness for a month and 8 days. .

Just as the two of them passed through the middle of a valley and passed through this somewhat cold passage, Allen's heart rang with warning signs. While shouting to remind his companions, the Bonecutter was also directly held in his hands. , a move of Kuanglan Sword was used without thinking, directly covering Allen's entire body.

Although Richard didn't know what Allen was warning about, and there didn't seem to be any danger in the valley in front of him, but out of trust in his companions, after Richard uttered two syllables of the ancient elf language, a transparent mana shield appeared. Surrounded by him, it was he who activated the protective spells stored in the magic items on his body.

"boom!!!"

There was no recruitment just now, and there was a peaceful valley. As Richard's syllables just fell, some ferocious beasts seemed to come out of the ground. After a loud noise, the entire valley shook, and violent shock waves even A violent gust of wind arose, and the hood hit Alan and Richard.

"puff!!"

Under this violent shock wave, the mana shield was like a paper lantern. After absorbing the first wave of real energy, it turned into clouds of smoke. Richard's thin body was also blown away by the raging wind, mixed with flying sand and rocks. It blew awkwardly to the mountain wall on the side of the valley and hit the ground hard.

"Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!"

Allen wanted to stand still, but the radiation range of the shock wave was large and fierce. The Kuanglan Sword could only protect Allen from being hit by the splashed gravel and flying sand, but Allen's entire body was also He was involuntarily swept by the strong wind and thrown into the air.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!!"

Allen was in mid-air, and as soon as the moves of the Kuanglan Sword were exhausted, three bows and arrows shot almost in no particular order, fired towards Allen's vital parts.

Although Allen was not frightened, he took a deep breath, twisted his waist, and made a 360-degree rotation in mid-air. The vital part finally escaped the bow and arrow, but it also drew a line on his leather armor. Gap. The powerful bow and arrow directly penetrated the protective power of the python scale armor on Allen's body. If Allen hadn't avoided the vital point without hesitation, he might have become a dead body without breathing in mid-air.

"Boom!!"

Allen endured the pain and smashed his legs on the ground, leaving a deep footprint, but it also allowed him to finally regain control.

The fury skill was activated directly. Allen had to deal with the sudden danger with all his strength. His body skills suddenly improved by several percent. Following the direction from which the bow and arrow had been shot, he dragged 3 to the shadow with smoke steps and divided them into three. direction, heading straight towards the area.

Alan couldn't take care of Richard in the distance. The other man was getting up from the ground in embarrassment at this time. An arrow-protection spell on his body helped him avoid the shot of one bow and arrow, but he was hit by another bow and arrow. Shot through the calf, he limped and dodged on the ground. At the same time, the staff in his hand also quickly drew mysterious patterns.

Before the smoke and dust caused by the sudden explosion had dissipated, Allen's figure had already rushed out of the smoke and dust area. When he landed at the place where the bow and arrow had been shot, no trace of the enemy was found, only a shallow footprint. It slowly and imperceptibly returned to its original state among the grass on the ground.

"not good!!"

In the smoke and dust, explosions came again. Allen did not find his opponent, but at the same time he woke up. The opponent's primary assassination target was the human mage Richard who was in the smoke and dust.

After thinking about this, Allen did not hesitate and plunged into the smoke-shrouded valley again.

　I originally wanted to give up even this chapter, but the previous chapter finally broke through. I also thought about how to arrange the plot and naturally transition to the main story. But now I have to give up tens of thousands of words of manuscript, which is really reluctant. .

　　After thinking about it again and again, I decided to release this plot and let everyone just treat it as an adjustment.

　　In addition to this plot, I also had another plot with more than 2 words that I gave up directly. It hurt so much! !

　　What I wrote down over the past few days has no choice but to give up because I always feel it is not natural and smooth enough.

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)