Looking from the side of the Lake Everstill Bridge, a patch of overlapping white walls and red tiles from the lakeshore to halfway up the mountain is surrounded by dark green dense forests. The tall clock tower is like an old man wearing a red hat sitting among a group of children dressed up in various ways, gazing at the approaching travelers.
The reflection of Lakeshire in the lake water interlaces with the town itself to form a magnificent giant butterfly, lying between the mountain and the water.
Jess, riding on a horse, gazed at this beautiful scenery like an oil painting. He almost forgot about the dangerous things hidden in this mountain area.
Here on the bridge, rows of military tents, soldiers' silver armor and spears are crowded and swaying. Although the war has passed, the area around Lake Everstill is still the most dangerous place in the entire kingdom.
Looking into the distance from the bridge, through the morning mist that is about to disperse, Jess can already see the faintly visible fortress watchtower on the mountain at the other end of Lake Everstill. That is Stonefort, a lookout tower that can overlook the entire Redridge Mountains and the valley along the shore of Lake Everstill. It is also the most important military stronghold in the entire region.
During the war, the orcs and humans had several fierce battles for this stronghold. As a result, the entire Stonefort was tortured by magic and explosives for several years and became dilapidated. It has not been completely rebuilt even twenty years later.
But the Lakeshire in front of us seems to have recovered well. Only some construction materials and scaffolds that haven't been removed in time on the side tell of the disaster that occurred here a few years ago.
The bridge has not been repaired completely and the progress is still very slow, but it can already be passed by pedestrians and individual horses.
Stepping into Lakeshire and coming out of the stable, Jess couldn't take his eyes off the shimmering lake surface. He wasn't the only one fascinated by the scenery of the lake. Many soldiers who had just come here from the Eastvale Logging Camp sat on the edge of the dock in groups and chatted while looking at the lake.
On the farther shore of the lake, several children were playing and frolicking in the lake. Their sisters or mothers were standing on the shore anxiously shouting. An old man was carrying a fishing rod and fishing gear and walking away step by step in the distance. Probably wanting to avoid the noisy crowd here and find another place to fish.
"I have to go to the town center and ask the brothers of the Warrior's Guild what exactly the job here is." Gerred pulled up his pants, walked up to him and said, "The air here is really good. Staying in a place like Stormwind City for a long time is not good for people's health!"
"Don't mention health for now." Jess looked at him and asked, "So you come to Lakeshire and you don't even know what the task is?"
"I am now a non-commissioned officer, Jess." Gerred patted his belly and said, "Even if I don't know what the task is, I also know that it won't be too dangerous and it suits my rank. This is the benefit of rank, see?" And now the task has a good reward for me. The guild told me that this bounty is at least 10 silver at least!"
"Remember the time when we almost lost our lives for two silver coins?" Jess reminded.
"That was an accident, an accident." Gerred said with a smile, "Who would have known that an ordinary cargo transportation task would encounter the biggest trouble after the war in Stormwind Kingdom? Now that giant gnoll has become the main target of Westguard Keep. We can be considered extremely heroic that time."
In this way, what Gerred said is not wrong. Assign tasks according to the performance and combat effectiveness of members in the guild so that everyone can be useful and get training without always risking their lives. Even if the guild takes some money, it's not so bad.
"Then I'll trust you again. Where is the inn here?" Jess asked.
"Over there." Gerred said, "On the other side of that small forest. See that three-story building? It's a bit blocked by the clock tower."
Jess looked in the direction he pointed and said, "Then I'll wait for you there."
The inn in Lakeshire doesn't have such fancy names as the inns in Stormwind City. It's just called "Lakeshire Inn".
However, this seemingly ordinary inn is by no means small in scale, and the variety of food and drink supplies is extremely rich. There are even many things that can't be seen in Stormwind City, such as vulture meat and various lake fish that have only been heard of in games.
Skipping over a series of common foods such as wild boar liver and stewed meat, finally, Jess's eyes lingered on a dish name on the menu board and couldn't move away anymore.
"Roasted... roasted raptor meat?"
He looked at the bald boss sitting behind the counter next to him. The boss raised his head and said, "Raptor meat, that's right, young sir. Don't you know that the raptor meat in Stranglethorn Vale is tenderer than chicken and crispier than fish. Paired with local spices from Redridge Mountains, you can even taste the flavor of dwarves. Even though the price has risen a bit due to trade route problems now, it's still worth a taste."
Only then did Jess come to his senses. That's right, there are raptors in Stranglethorn Vale.
"I want one portion."
"One silver coin and thirty copper coins, sir. Raptor meat is our specialty here."
"A plate of barbecue costs one and a half silver coins?!" Jess looked at the menu again.
That's raptor meat!
"One plate, and a pot of Moonberry Juice." He gritted his teeth, put one silver coin and a handful of copper coins on the table. The boss quickly scooped up the money and immediately called for the kitchen to start a fire.
At the fireplace on the other side of the inn lobby, several soldiers who had taken off their armor were singing something. Jess propped his chin and looked at the package on the table, thinking that there was actually a little demon hidden inside. It all felt extremely unreal.
Then he put the bag under the table and clamped it with his feet.
Lakeshire is several times more chaotic than Goldshire. Adventurers from the north and south gather and stay here. Therefore, there are not only humans here, but also dwarves and gnomes. Outside the inn, Jess even felt like he saw an elf.
Many of these armed travelers. People like Jess who carry two bags, have an inconspicuous long staff on their backs and a sword on their waists are not particularly conspicuous at all.
In the corner, a masked hooded figure who can't tell if it's an elf or a human is sitting there silently looking at everyone in the inn. Although he is dressed like this and may think he is the most low-key person in the inn, obviously everyone in the inn is a little afraid of him, mainly because of the long knife on his waist.
Just when he wanted to listen carefully to what those human soldiers were singing, Gerred suddenly sat down opposite him.
"Exciting news, Jess!"
"I haven't agreed to do it with you yet."
"You will definitely agree. I'm a hundred percent sure!"
"Why?"
Gerred gave a mysterious smile and said, "The target is a hidden orc mage... How about it? How about it?!"
Jess immediately understood what Gerred meant. Saying it was an orc mage was actually an orc warlock. Ordinary townspeople don't have a strict distinction between so-called warlocks and mages. Of course, they will call all those who chant incantations, do tricks and cast fireballs mages.
Since so many good things were obtained from the corpse of that orc warlock last time, who knows what this living one is hiding?
Admittedly, Jess was tempted.
"Are you sure there's only one of him? What if there are a large group of guards following that orc?"
Gerred said, "If that's the case, of course we'll give up. But the intelligence says that this guy is a deserter on his own. He is hiding in Redridge Mountains and dare not continue south to follow their main force back to the Dark Portal."
At this time, the barbecue was served on the table. Gerred stared at this large piece of strange meat with alternating fat and lean for a long time, smelled it and said, "Raptor meat?"
Jess was surprised and said, "You can smell it?!"
Gerred sneered and said, "My dad was once known as the Raptor Killer, you know? He killed more than a hundred raptors in Grim Batol. More than the bugs you stepped on."
"I stepped on an ant nest." Jess said.
"You're amazing! You're very proud of stepping on an ant nest!" Gerred directly reached out and tore off a large piece of meat and put it in his mouth. Jess didn't have time to stop him.
This piece of meat costs more than one silver coin! Jess hesitated for a while and had to quickly start eating this big, shiny piece of meat. If he still cared about gentlemanly manners, the meat would soon be gone!
"Let's have fun in Lakeshire for a day, Jess. Tomorrow we'll set off to find that orc." Gerred said while chewing, "What do you think?"
Jess said unhappily, "I only have three days."
"How long can it take to deliver a letter?" Gerred said, "Let's play today. Tomorrow we'll kill that orc deserter. The day after tomorrow we'll deliver the letter and then go home. It's not as far from Stormwind City as Sentinel Hill. It'll be very soon."
"I have a feeling." Jess said.
"What feeling?" Gerred looked at Jess's face and then looked around warily.
Jess said, "Every time you start comforting me and telling me that there should be nothing wrong, we are about to be in trouble."
Gerred threw a bone into the plate and said, "Then tell me what's wrong this time."
Jess asked, "What's the possibility of finding a wanted, hidden orc within a day?"
"There are still some clues. No one here except me has experience in dealing with mages. So I can also take on the responsibility and get rid of harm for the people." Gerred looked at Jess and rolled his eyes and said, "Then how about this? Tomorrow we'll look for it first. If we can't find it, the day after tomorrow you can go directly to Stonefort. The day after tomorrow you can return to Stormwind City. I'll stay here and continue looking. If you still remember me, this old brother, come back and accompany me to continue looking. In the end, I'll still share the bounty with you. How about it? The bounty from the Warrior's Guild plus the mayor of Lakeshire himself pays out. A total of 13 silver. What do you think?"
13 silver. Jess's heart skipped a beat.
He spent a bit too much money these two days. It's still a few days before payday. If he doesn't earn some quick money, he may have to eat dry bread for a while.
This kind of bread is not the oily, soft sweet bread that can be seen in any bakery in the previous life. Instead, It is coarser and drier than a piece of paper. It is even harder to chew than a dried pancake that has been left for a week. There are often strange foods with unknown black hardened substances.
Eating it for three or four days will put a healthy body into a sub-dying state of barely surviving.
"What if that warlock is very powerful?"
"Don't worry. There is sufficient evidence to show that that guy has no real ability at all. He just hides and poses some potential threat. There is no actual damage. The kingdom's army in Lakeshire can't move to encircle him. The mayor can only offer a bounty to us mercenaries."
Most orc warlocks are officers in the tribe and also the most crazy and evil among the orcs. Since he is a deserter, there may indeed be some problems with his strength.
But after all, orcs are still orcs. Let's look for him first.
"Let's settle it like this for now."
Jess took a big gulp of Moonberry Juice. Gerred laughed twice and tore off another large piece of meat. When he saw it, he didn't want to be outdone and directly pulled off all the meat on a bone.
Another biggest benefit of coming to Azeroth is that there is no need to worry about calories anymore, no need to worry about getting fat anymore. All kinds of desserts, pastries, meat, drinks. If there is a chance, you can eat and drink as you like.
One reason is that the food here is far from being as calorie-rich as in the 21st century. Even if some foods are greasy and sweet, for Jess's soul that has experienced industrial heavy flavors, it always lacks a bit of meaning, like the difference between sugar-free cola and real cola.
The other is that poverty here can really help him lose weight.