After a quarter of an hour, the group of twelve people gathered together.
In addition to these soldiers, there was also a young man about twenty years old standing aside, who seemed to be a hired town citizen. Lann took a closer look and found that this man was very similar to the mayor.
Lann turned to look at the mayor with questioning eyes. The mayor explained. "This is my grandson, Levin."
Lann frowned, she deeply hated people who practiced nepotism at inappropriate times, especially in crisis situations like this. "What I want is someone with experience."
"Levin has hunted near the forest, chopped firewood with the villagers, and patrolled with the guards. He is the young man who knows the forest best. Even counting the elders who have lived here for decades, Levin is the second most knowledgeable about the forest. forest."
"Who is first?"
"It's me."
The old mayor's tone was calm, and his content was confident.
Lann thought for a while and asked: "Where is his father?"
"A few days ago, he was killed by that monster while patrolling with the soldiers."
Lann looked at the young man in line, his posture upright and firm.
Lann was silent for a moment and then said: "You know that the search will not be around the forest, but rather I will lead the group to go deep into the forest, we might even find ourselves in conflict with people from other countries. It is very likely that we will not return alive."
The old mayor nodded. "I know, that's why I let Levin join you. It's his duty, and he volunteered. We inhabitants of Brokilon Village are different from the people you may meet in other places. As an elderly man, I cannot ride a horse due to leg problems. If I were twenty years younger, I would give up my position as mayor and join you."
Lann turned around and asked solemnly: "I haven't asked for your name yet?"
The old mayor bowed. "You are my lord, do not treat me with respect. I am Luka Bloth."
"I remember your name, Luka." Lann turned to the team and shouted: "Let's go!"
...
Brokilon, the vegetation here is wild and lush, and every ray of sunlight filtering through the branches of the tall trees is immediately absorbed by the young birches, alders, hornbeams, raspberries, junipers and ferns. Under their branches and leaves, there are dead branches and decaying trunks, as well as the dying remains of the oldest trees.
Under the remains of trees, flesh and bones crawling with predatory ants can be seen from time to time.
"Your Lordship, a corpse was found in front of us." A scout rode up to report.
Lann stepped forward and took a look. He was a young man who looked to be only about fifteen years old.
He has the appearance of a normal fifteen-year-old boy, not a strange physique like Lann that has been strengthened by the system. This young man looks to be at least a head shorter than Lann and has a slim build.
He was lying on his back, legs wide apart, frozen in a rigid expression that looked like terror. An arrow pierced his eye, penetrating his skull. The arrow's feather was made of pheasant feathers and painted a bright yellow, standing out in the undergrowth.
"Your Lordship the Earl." Ace led the scouts and found another identical arrow nearby without any effort, stuck in a pine tree six steps behind the body.
"Levin." Lann turned to call him. "Observe the scene and tell us who the enemy is. Your grandfather said that you are the person who knows the forest best in the village. Let me see your ability."
Levin looked at the scene and said confidently: "It's nymphs of the woods."
"The boy strayed into the forest, and the nymphs of the woods shot the first arrow at him as a warning, trying to drive him out of the forest."
He pointed to the arrow on the ground and then to the arrow in the eye socket of the corpse.
"'Get out of Brokilon,' is what the dryads usually yelled. But the boy was obviously scared and ran into the depths of the forest instead of choosing a path out, so he received a second arrow."
Swade came up to look at it and frowned. "But he is just a child."
As soon as he finished speaking, he was punched by Ace. The Attendant secretly glanced in the direction of Lann, who was also fifteen-year-old.
Levin knelt down and pulled out the arrow from the corpse, then closing his eyes. "They are the nymphs of the woods. Whether you are fifteen years old, driven by fear and desperately running into the forest; or whether you are seventy years old, old and weak, driven from your home, forced to gather firewood; or whether you have only six years old, attracted by flowers in a forest clearing. Soon you will hear the phrase 'Get out of Brokilon!', followed by the sound of an arrow being shot before you die."
This grandson of the mayor who volunteered showed an astonishing knowledge of the forest and the nymphs of the woods.
Ace was very interested in the nymphs of the woods' arrows. He looked at the pheasant feather arrow that was shot as a warning and asked: "I heard that the nymphs of the woods and the people of Brokilon are mortal enemies. I didn't expect them to issue warnings before killing."
Levin shook his head. "The nymphs of the woods are not madmen, or rather, they are madmen who can communicate. If we do not cross their boundaries, and act with restraint near the forest, we can all coexist peacefully."
"We will not enter the forest for now." Lann thought for a while and then decided. "We can't search aimlessly, as it would be too easy to have irreconcilable conflicts with the nymphs of the woods."
"First let's search the surroundings, see if there are traces of the caravan, we also have to find out where the princess entered the forest."
"Yes!"
The team of twelve people cannot spread out too far, but fortunately the area that needs to be searched is not too large. Cintra provided the caravan route, so they only had to search around the route.
However, what Lann did not expect was that they would not find clues about the princess, but instead, they would find something else.
Soldiers of Verden.
A scout rode back on horseback to report their unexpected discovery to Lann. When Lann followed them, he saw soldiers from both sides confronting each other.
They were clearly elite soldiers. They wore conical helmets, armor, and dark gray outer layers. They kept some distance between themselves and Lann's soldiers, and none had drawn their weapons.
Compared with their opponents, the equipment of these small town guards in Lann looked much shabby. Although they maintained a standard uniformity, they all wore only leather armor. But still, they were considered well-trained troops in this small town.
In many cases, the combat effectiveness of an army can be seen by looking at its equipment. A well-equipped unit has greater combat effectiveness, and a unit with weak combat effectiveness is not qualified to be equipped with good equipment. It's a simple reason.
Lann looked closely and saw the black and gold checkered coat of arms representing the royal family of Verden embroidered on the mail armor of the soldiers on the opposite side. They were the real armed forces, appearing at the border. Perhaps because they have been here for a long time, their armors have suffered varying degrees of wear and tear.
Looking around, there is also a standard team on the opposite side. In addition to the scout who came to report, Lann was accompanied by his three assistants and Levin.
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