Early Morning.
''Who's there? Stop!"
Shrouded in dense fog and before dawn, Relo was woken up from his tent by a roar of rebuke.
Hurriedly crawling out, he saw the middle-aged knight leader holding a long sword, confronting a tall, slender figure in the fog.
The others also crawled out of their tents, standing together.
By the lingering firelight, as they drew closer and saw the person's appearance clearly, they all expressed surprise: "An elf?"
Tall stature, graceful figure, and those pointed ears – indeed, it was a forest elf, seemingly a young elf girl.
Elves live in Thorn Forest outside the human realms and, like dwarves, are often seen in large human city-states. They are a race friendly to humans, known to common people by reputation if not sight.
In more remote lands far from human realms, there are many other non-human civilizations, some of which humans have never heard of.
The Church's crusades have often ventured into a region known as the Nightfall Territory, battling a heretical civilization called the Bloodspawn and destroying their blasphemous temples.
The middle-aged knight leader sheathed his sword and explained to those around him, "The fog was thick, and this elf came running in haste. I thought it was some beast."
Panting, panting.
In the elf girl's gasps, Relo's gaze pierced the fog, scrutinizing her.
Her fair skin was largely exposed, with only key parts concealed by leaves. Her tall, voluptuous figure could make any woman jealous. On this early spring morning, the elf girl shivered in the cold, breathing tiredly.
She kept looking back, as if fearing something behind her, like a helpless, pitiable lamb, stirring compassion.
This was the first time Relo had seen a member of the opposite sex so exposed before him. His cheeks flushed, he dared not look any longer.
The knight leader shouted to the elf girl, "We are travelers heading to Saint Gran Fortress. Your running and panting startled me, but you may pass now."
The elf girl seemed not to understand human language, standing still and panting without response.
She seemed fearful of the human knights ahead and did not dare to proceed further, her anxious face beset with tears of plea.
"What's wrong with her?"
Owen asked the knight leader.
The knight leader frowned, "An elf who doesn't understand human language, dressed so revealingly in human territory, seems like... she must be a fleeing elf slave. Although human duchies and elven tribes have long signed treaties forbidding the capture of elven slaves, some corrupt nobles still secretly keep elven slave girls due to their outstanding beauty. Many dark mercenaries take risks for profit, and the despised half-elves are often born this way."
As the knight leader spoke, distant barking echoed from the forest in the fog.
"She's just ahead, don't let her escape!"
Hearing the footsteps of pursuers behind her, the elf girl's face showed even more fear. Yet, due to her fear of the towering human knights ahead, she dared not proceed and just stood crying helplessly, pleading with her eyes.
Relo secretly observed the reactions of the others.
Two young knights unconsciously swallowed, first showing surprise at seeing an elf for the first time, their eyes roaming over the elf girl's graceful figure, greedily admiring her beauty, and then seeming to realize their impropriety, quickly turned their faces away in shame.
The middle-aged knight leader, however, appeared calm and contemplative, his eyes deep and serene.
The female knight showed immense sympathy. After glancing at the silent middle-aged knight leader, she looked back at Owen.
"Damn degenerate vermin!"
Owen's voice almost came through clenched teeth, angry and disgusted, as if ashamed of what was happening before him. He determinedly said to the knight leader, "We must protect this elf, uphold the honor of the Duchy, and ensure her safe return home!"
"Yes!"
The knight leader looked at Owen, nodded solemnly, put on his helmet, his eyes heavy with resolve, and prepared for battle. He roared, "Draw your swords!"
The female knight breathed a sigh of relief, quickly donned her metal helmet, revealing only a pair of cold, ready eyes.
The two young knights took a deep breath, as if ashamed of their instincts moments ago. Stirred by their leader's roar, their cheeks flushed with shame, their eyes blazing with a determination to face death, concealing their embarrassment and nervousness.
Howl!
As the chaotic footsteps in the mist approached, several tall figures appeared. Seeing the elf girl stopped in the fog, a rough voice of joy sounded.
"Found her, right there!"
Beside Owen, Relo tensed up, trying to appear normal, hiding his shameful cowardice.
Next to Owen, who had swallowed nervously, sighed in relief when he saw that there were only four pursuers. Touching his gemstone ring, the stone flickering with red light, he calmed down.
"Stop!"
The middle-aged knight leader, standing at the forefront, shouted loudly, "We are the honorable knights of the Ridge family. Why are you pursuing this elf?"
The roar of the knight leader made the four people in the fog tense up, pausing their steps, and looking over from a few dozen meters away.
Realizing that there were only six people on the other side, including two children, the four pursuers relaxed.
"Humph, we are the Black Wolf mercenaries, tasked by the Mercenary Hall to capture this elf assassin who committed murder in Saint Gran Fortress, to face the marshal's punishment. Shielding her will make you accomplices! Stand aside if you don't want to die!"
The mercenary captain, a bald man in his thirties with earrings and a black fur coat, stood imposingly at nearly 1.9 meters tall, carrying a gleaming battle axe, his presence alone commanding like a wall, a beast ready to pounce.
The other three mercenaries also looked fierce, one holding a blood-red wolf flag.
Among them, a female archer in her twenties, with a full moon bow and arrow aimed this way, seemed ready to unleash deadly arrows. Beside her stood a huge black wolf, half a person tall, its neck adorned with spiked metal, its fangs bared menacingly.
"A monster?"
Upon seeing the black hyena, Owen observed closely, and after confirming, shook his head, "It might have some Black Flame Wolf lineage. Be careful, Uncle Bas."
"Got it!"
The middle-aged knight leader responded to Owen, then laughed at the Black Wolf mercenaries, "Ha ha ha ha, since it's a task from the Mercenary Hall, show us the contract! Hmph, you think we don't know? A bunch of scum earning dirty coins, move aside or we'll defend the honor of the Ridge family with your blood!"
The tension was palpable, a fight imminent.
The elf girl between the confronting parties seemed to understand the knight's intention and ran towards them.
The female knight whispered, "Young master, don't you know Elvish?"
"I'm a scholar studying natural laws, specializing in mathematical foundations to deduce nature's laws. Elvish is for those studying evolutionary mysteries. How could I know it?"
Owen regretfully said, "Never mind, we'll save her first and deal with it later. It won't cost much to post a protection task at the Saint Gran Mercenary Hall!"
On the other side.
Seeing his prey about to escape, the Black Wolf mercenary captain let out a deep growl, like a monster awakening. Just as he was about to charge, the female archer holding the black hound suddenly exclaimed, "A magician!"
The Black Wolf mercenaries were startled.
Looking from afar, they saw a ball of fire in the palm of the half-grown boy behind the four knights, shining brightly in the not yet fully lit night sky, his eyes keenly watching them, ready to unleash unknown magic!
Although he seemed nervous, a noble magician was not someone low-level mercenaries could afford to provoke. Discovering Owen's identity as a magician made them more nervous than Owen himself!
Numerous mercenaries, drawing from their bloody experiences, have passed down wisdom to the younger generations: if a mercenary group wishes to thrive and become stronger over time, it must include a magician as the intellectual core of the team. A mercenary group lacking a magician can never hope to compete with one that has a magician. In cases of conflict between mercenary groups, the primary target should be the opposing group's magician if conflict becomes inevitable.
"Hey, Relo, you should act as well!" Owen's voice trembled, almost through clenched teeth, revealing his extreme nervousness.
Relo hastily responded, "Of course!"
Relo picked up Owen's notebook and began to flip through it slowly, maintaining a serious and focused demeanor as if he was about to unleash a potent spell at any moment. In truth, his palms were sweaty, and his legs felt a bit weak. Relo had never encountered such a situation of real combat before.
"What should we do?" Another scarred man, holding a two-handed sword, asked hesitantly from behind the leader of the Black Demon Wolf Mercenary Group.
In the hearts of mercenaries, magicians held an extremely high status. High-level mercenary groups always offered favorable conditions to hire magicians as core members of their teams because, in addition to their mysterious magical abilities, what made magicians truly invaluable was their profound knowledge and understanding of the mystical aspects of nature, which could save the entire mercenary group in numerous crises.
"Let's retreat!" The leader of the Black Wolf Mercenary Group glared at the old knight leader and cast a deep, uncertain look at the enigmatic magician. Abruptly, just before things could escalate, the leader made a quick decision. Without hesitation, he, along with the other two members, turned around and disappeared into the mist.