When the eyes of the lioness scanned through the forest, a few pairs of eyes were also watching every move in the orc camp from behind a dense bush on the hillside a few miles away from the camp.
"A woman of the lion tribe, that's rare!" A robust man spat out the clover he had in his mouth forcefully onto the ground.
The man squatting behind the bush wore a shabby gray cloak and a worn-out half-leather armor with scars. He had short blond hair, a full beard, and a long scar from his mouth to his eye socket that made him look fierce.
"Blue Witch Mercenary Corps" leader Kains, a mysterious man. Five years ago, he and his mercenary corps appeared out of nowhere on the border of Isaac Kingdom, and grew from the lowest G-level mercenary corps to B-level mercenary corps in just five years, which was regarded as a miracle in the Beland Continent Mercenary Guild.
The promotion of the mercenary corps level depends entirely on the points of the tasks. The higher the level, the more difficult it is. In peacetime, a newly formed mercenary corps needs decades or even hundreds of years of accumulation to rise to the ranks of high-level mercenary corps above C level. Now, the mercenary corps above B level in various human countries are almost all old mercenary corps with a history of more than ten years, except for the Blue Witch.
"Boss, did we hit the jackpot this time?" A short man lying on the ground next to Keynes asked in a low voice.
"It's our 'Blue Witch' luck. I didn't expect to run into an orc tribe by chance in this C-level task. If we eat them, we won't have to worry about food and drink for a year." Keynes was also excited.
"Are you two crazy? That's a small orc tribe down there, and we only have thirty-something people with us. If we get discovered, it's more likely that those orcs will swallow us up." A cold voice poured a bucket of cold water on Keynes.
The speaker was a woman in a black hooded robe behind the man, and a silver hexagram at the collar of the robe showed her identity as an intermediate mage.
Mages are rare professions on the Beland continent, and they are sought after by various kingdoms and large forces, especially female mages above the intermediate level.
The female mage was in her thirties, with flaxen hair, blue eyes, a high nose bridge, and a gentle face. Perhaps because of living in the wild for a long time, her skin was slightly rough.
Kane turned his head and grinned at the female mage. "Don't worry, Adeline, all of our brothers in the Blue Banshee are elite mercenaries, and they are the best at hunting orcs. Even if there were twice as many orcs, we could swallow them."
"I disagree, this is too risky." Adeline's tone was still firm.
"I'm the leader, you just follow orders, and I'll give you an extra share of the loot later."
"I'm also the vice leader of the mercenary group, I have to be responsible for the brothers' safety, you are acting recklessly!"
"You are the vice leader I appointed, if it wasn't for the requirement of having a mid-level or above mage in the team to upgrade to a B-level mercenary group, I wouldn't have spent so much money to hire you?" Kane looked indifferent.
"You can't be so stubborn, I'll quit the mercenary group right now!" Adeline was uncompromising.
"Hey, don't be so impulsive, okay? Let me explain it to you.
He had used all his means to invite Adeline to join the mercenary group, and having a mid-level mage in the team boosted their combat power by a notch. He naturally didn't want Adeline to leave.
"You don't know much about dealing with orcs. Orcs usually form tribes based on their clans, for example, you won't find any other clans of orcs living together in a wolf clan tribe. And the situation below, where different clans of orcs live together in a camp, there's only one possibility: it's a tribe of high-ranking orc nobles. Only nobles can recruit orc warriors from other clans to serve them." Keynes pointed at the orc camp below and patiently explained.
"See those cubs and female orcs in the camp? That means they're a refugee or crippled tribe of orc nobles. They're here by chance because of some special reason. The number of real orc warriors in the camp is very small. Their true combat power is not even half of that of a normal orc tribe."
Adeline's admiration was unnaturally revealed. She had noticed long ago that the rough-looking man in front of her was actually very meticulous. For example, now he had guessed the origin and strength of the orc camp below from a distance.
Seeing Adeline's wavering expression, Keynes continued: "Orc martial arts, rare materials, weapons and armor, golden herbs, a orc noble camp has more wealth than you can imagine! You know the mercenary group is very short of money right now, I still owe you half of the reward I promised you before, don't I? We mercenaries do the risky profession, if we don't dare to fight for our lives, how can we feed our women and children?"
Adeline nodded, finally no longer opposed.
"Boss, don't you think it's time to change your equipment after this job? We are the Blue Fairy, a respectable B-class mercenary group, but other mercenaries always laugh at us for being country bumpkins because of your equipment." The short man muttered in a low voice.
Keynes hit the short man's head hard, "Tony, you know nothing! This leather armor of mine is an excellent enchanted leather armor, it can withstand any attack, and this cloak is made of dragon skin, you ignorant guys!"
"Dragon skin? Yeah, right, how many years has it been since anyone saw a dragon on the continent?" Tony pouted discontentedly.
A slight rustle came from the bushes.
The two men stopped bickering immediately, Keynes put one hand on the hilt of the greatsword behind him, a fireball formed in Adeline's palm in an instant, Tony rolled to the side and disappeared into the bushes.
A lean man in hunting attire appeared, his eyes bright and sharp, with two neat whiskers on his upper lip.
Keynes took his hand off the sword hilt and asked, "Angus, how's the situation below?"
Angus spoke slowly and calmly, "There are no more than fifty orc warriors, most of them are low-level orcs of level one or two, including the lioness and her two guards, I found five mid-level orc braves, no higher-level orc berserkers."
Keynes clenched his fist excitedly, " Just as I guessed!"
Angus hesitated a bit, "The only trouble is that there is a squad of wolf riders in the camp, I'm afraid their wolves will smell us as soon as we get close to the camp."
Keynes smiled lightly and said, "Tony, it's your turn. I know you have a solution."
"I'll go to the forest and find some wild chamomile, and burn it with tricolor mandrake. The smoke they produce can knock out those beasts." Tony's voice disappeared in the bushes.
"Good! Gather the brothers and we'll act when it gets dark." Kane's eyes flashed with intense killing intent.