The farm written on the writ is located a few miles east of Goldshire. By the time they arrived, it was already evening.
The name of the farm owner is Stormire. Jess doesn't remember seeing such a farm on the map. Because "Stormire" in Common means a vast lake, many people call this place the Giant Lake Farm.
Although there is nothing related to lakes nearby. Even the nearest river is seven or eight miles to the south.
To deal with wolves, Jess brought that orc stick. After all, when dealing with wild beasts, the longer the weapon, the better. The wolves here are not worgs. It is estimated that they can't withstand a few blows. Using an axe is too inflexible instead.
However, to prevent learned people from recognizing it, he tightly wrapped it with cloth so that the color and material underneath are not exposed.
The dwarf is holding a sword in his hand and carrying a bow on his back. He looks more like a professional fighter than Jess with his street thug-like appearance. The two of them swaggered towards the direction of the farm.
The Giant Lake Farm is not a very large farm. Although the name is intimidating, on the surface, it is not as good as the farm the two of them infiltrated in Duskwood. The mill and granary seem a bit stingy.
Jess roughly sized up the scale of the farm and had the illusion that he could build all the buildings and fences except for the houses where people live by himself.
"Hello, is anyone there?" The dwarf shouted loudly at the farm.
A person peeked over from behind the erected bundles of straw, then suddenly took off running.
"Why is he running?" Gerred asked strangely.
Jess looked at him, then at himself, and immediately shouted: "We are not bandits! We are here to help, Mr. Stormire!"
The person who was running away stopped midway, looked back, and kept running until he reached the granary.
The two of them chased after him to the granary. Suddenly, the man rushed out holding a pitchfork. Gerred immediately blocked the pitchfork with his sword in the middle and pushed it aside, pressing the pitchfork into the dirt.
"We are here to help you. What are you doing?"
"Get out!" The man gritted his teeth and said, "What's the use of coming now?!"
Jess asked, "What's wrong?"
"My child... My child is only four months old!" He glared at Jess and said, "She was carried away by those wolves. I couldn't even catch up!"
"When did it happen?" Jess asked.
"It was the day before yesterday." The man said, "I don't know how many times I have reported to the guards in Goldshire. If you had come earlier and found those wolves, this wouldn't have happened!"
"Why didn't you go and look for her first?" The dwarf asked.
"I can't leave the farm." The man was so anxious that he could hardly speak clearly. "My wife was bitten. I couldn't kill a few wolves... I can't do anything right. I'm just a useless person!"
After saying that, he suddenly pulled at the pitchfork. When he couldn't pull it out, he turned around and was about to snatch the dwarf's sword. Jess rushed up and pinned him to the ground. This crazy man broke free from Jess's control with an absurd amount of strength and collided with the unprepared Gerred.
The two rolled around in the pile of broken straw. The overturned weeds and straw flew everywhere. The man got up and was about to snatch the sword again. The sword was already pointed at his neck.
"If you snatch it again, without the wolves doing anything, I'll send you to meet your ancestors." The dwarf said coldly.
"I want to find the wolves and kill those wolves!"
The man shouted loudly and leaned against the pile of grain bags beside him in despair. He punched the wooden pillar of the granary hard, making the whole house shake.
The dwarf pressed down his sword tip. He felt that this man was not in a normal mental state.
Jess looked at this man and then at the small house where he lived. An old lady was standing at the door looking over here. She could barely stand steadily.
She didn't say anything, just stared blankly. Jess felt that perhaps because she was too old and her consciousness was unclear, she might not know what had happened here.
That was probably his mother or his wife's mother.
This man supported two women and a child with this farm. Encountering a wolf attack at night was indeed helpless. If the child was carried away, of course he wouldn't dare to chase too far.
If he went too far and the wolves circled back, it was really possible that they would kill his whole family.
At that time, how could one expect a confused old lady and a young woman who had just given birth to fight against a pack of wolves?
"I am not Stormire." The man said in a low voice. "This is my wife's family farm. She is from the Stormire family. I am Matt, Matt Foley."
He picked up the pitchfork on the ground again and said, "I will use this fork to kill all those wolves with you and avenge my child."
"We are paid, Mr. Foley." Jess patted him on the shoulder and said, "If you come along, then we will have to split the money with you? That won't do. Just stay at home and protect your loved ones. If we find the wolves, we will take care of them for you."
This man was now so angry that his mind was not clear. Taking him along would likely only cause trouble. The two of them would also have to find a way to protect him from getting injured.
Foley was stunned for a while and didn't know what to say.
Finally, he still said in a low voice, "If you find my child, or... bones, relics, please help bring them back. I will pay you more. I don't have much money now. Maybe two silver coins. I know this is not much money for you mercenaries, but I sincerely hope that no matter what it is, his clothes... At least give my wife an explanation."
Jess said, "Two silver coins? That's not a small amount. No matter what the result is, you have to cheer up."
The man nodded and said, "My wife said the same."
Jess said, "Your wife is right. Go back and take care of her. Keep the farm safe and don't let those wolves in again at night."
"I know." The man just turned around and then remembered something and said, "Those wolves... I heard someone say that there is a pack of wolves living in the forest to the south."
"How many wolves are there in this pack?" Gerred asked.
The man rubbed his eyes and said, "Some hunters said that there are often four or five wolves roaming in the forest recently. I dare not go looking for them alone, so I had to ask for help from Goldshire."
After the man left, Gerred looked at the man's dejected back and asked, "Leave now or wait until dawn?"
Jess carried the stick on his shoulder and said, "Let's start looking first. What if the child is still alive? It's easier to encounter wolves at night."
"But what are the chances of this child surviving?" Gerred asked.
Jess said, "No matter how small the chances are, we have to start looking as soon as possible, Gerred."
The dwarf said, "Don't hold out too much hope. Do what you can. Don't end up with the child somehow being alive while we are gone."
Jess let out a long sigh and said, "I feel that this matter is a lot more troublesome than what was said in the bounty."
"I have a similar feeling." Gerred said.
Searching for something in Elwynn Forest is countless times more difficult than doing quests in the Elwynn Forest in the game.
Especially at night, Jess feels that everywhere he looks is almost the same scenery. A pitch-black forest, the occasional cries of unknown animals. When they are far away from the farm, there is not even a single marker to identify the direction.
In the center of Duskwood, there is a highland. A primitive forest composed of huge trees gathers on the highland. So one can use the terrain height and the shadows of the forest as references for direction.
But here, it's really pitch-black and nothing can be seen clearly.
"Have you ever hunted wolves before?" Jess asked.
"Never hunted at night." Gerred stepped over a tree root and said, "But I'm sure there are wolves nearby. Not just because that man said so, but because..."
He grabbed a bush. "Look at this."
In the pitch-black night, Jess leaned closer to Gerred's hand and finally managed to see a little silver thread on it with the faint moonlight.
"Wolf fur?"
Gerred nodded and said, "Now there is a piece of good news and a piece of bad news."
"Let's hear the good news first." Jess said subconsciously.
"Does it matter which one we hear first?" Gerred said. "The good news is that there is quite a lot of wolf fur here. I have walked for a while and already seen a lot of wolf fur. This means that we may find the wolf den more easily."
Jess continued for him, "The bad news is that there is too much wolf fur."
Gerred spread his hands and said, "That's it. We'd better pray that these wolf furs are all shed by the cubs following the female wolf. If it's a whole large pack of wolves, we may be in big trouble."
"Should we go back first?" Jess asked.
"It's a bit late." Gerred looked up at the moonlight leaking through the gaps between the tree leaves and said, "Why not start a fire on the spot? It can drive away wild animals. I need to sleep first to prepare for the upcoming battle. You watch for a while. Don't worry, I'll just sleep for a short while."
Jess knew that Gerred always slept when he was tired, so he nodded. The two walked in the direction where the trees were sparser for a while. Gerred found an open space and sat down. He searched his body and said, "Bad news. I didn't bring tinder. Did I drop it on the way?"
"I have some." Jess took out a box of tinder from the warlock's pocket and handed it over. Gerred looked at his bag and said, "This looks quite beautiful. I mean your bag."
This bag looks expensive. And it doesn't seem to be something belonging to the orcs. Instead, it looks like a bag carried by a certain noble or a great mage. Carrying this thing in and out in the mage district is quite stylish.
Jess looked everywhere for dry branches, sticks and other things as firewood. Gerred cleared the ground and sat on the ground, starting to strike flint with his dagger. When there were a few sparks, he blew on the tinder.
"Hey, Jess, why don't you do it for a while? This doesn't seem to work very well."
"Is the air too humid?"
Jess just turned around and saw pairs of glowing eyes staring at here from the bushes ten or twenty meters behind Gerred.