"Hello, Mr. Carter."
Rhode looked up, greeted the man in front of him and smiled.
"Thank you for your help."
"No worries. It's not a problem."
Carter had a strong and tall body with casually combed bright red hair. From his characteristics, he should be born in the northwest of Lygatto. A long and a short sword quietly hung on both sides of his waist, and his angular faces revealed his fortitude and scrutiny. From his appearance, clearly he wasn't some ordinary mercenary.
While Rhode observed the man in front him, Carter too quietly looked at him.
With Rhode's appearance, it was easy to conclude that he was some arrogant young noble. His thin physique, pale skin, girly face, and attire. No matter how one looked at him, the man still did not look like an adventurer. He was more of a rich second generation young master.
However, Carter believed that this young man was not as simple as he appeared to be because of the mysterious circle on his right hand. As a Cleric, Lize could detect a trace of magic from the mysterious circle which meant that he did not lie. But based on Carter's years of experience, it was rare to see someone directly embed magic in their own body. From this point, he suspected that this man wasn't someone simple.
Previously, from their brief conversation, Carter could feel that this young man was neither arrogant nor humble; his expression was very calm. Carter heard from Lize that even though he had just awakened from a coma in a mere ten minutes, he was able to grasp his current situation. Judging from this, he was sure that Rhode was far stronger than those arrogant young nobles.
"I heard that you came from the Eastern Plains."
"Yes."
Rhode nodded his head.
"So where were you going?"
"I'm just traveling around."
Rhode shrugged his shoulders.
"I am an adventurer; adventuring freely is part of my life. Of course, please rest assured. I will not bring you any trouble."
"That's good."
Since Rhode was being honest, there was no need for him to ask more. They were currently on a mission; naturally, they did not want to add any more trouble. So after saying a few words like 'get a rest', he decided not to say anything anymore and left. After all, he was a leader of a mercenary group. There were a lot of things for him to do; he could not waste his time here.
After a while, Rhode became quite bored. However, it was still enjoyable when Lize brought food for him. Even though it was only ordinary bread and meat that Rhode had eaten countless times in the game, still, that was just 'fake' eating and was only for restoring HP and MP. Also, it was tasteless and could only fill the stomach. However, now he was personally experiencing how it actually tasted; it could be considered a good experience.
He had to admit, the taste really didn't live up to the item description…
"How do you feel? Does the wound still hurt?"
The blonde girl sitting beside Rhode had a worried and serious expression. Her eyes had a slightly worried look as her gaze fell on his shoulder. She just could not bear to look at it.
"It's alright now."
Rhode said while moving his left hand. The pain from his sternum was not as bad as before. At first, it was even difficult for him to breathe, but now, it had become much better.
"That's good."
Hearing Rhode's answer, Lize's nervous expression relaxed a lot.
"But you still have to rest. It will be a lot better after arriving at Deep Stone City. Maybe you can recover faster there."
The girl said earnestly. Although the person lying in front of her was no more than a stranger that she just met, looking at her expression, it was apparent that she did not care about those things.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. It's what I'm supposed to do."
Then, she stood up. Her blonde, fluffy hair followed along with her movements. It swayed left and right, giving others a playful and lively feeling.
"Then…"
Before she could finish, the ship suddenly shook violently.
She lost balance and almost fell to the bed. Fortunately, she managed to stretch out her hand at the last minute and held on to the bedside. They looked into each other's eyes, before quickly averting their eyes.
The floating ship sailed due to the wind; the sky was not like the ocean where there were reefs and whirlpools. However, it did not necessarily mean there was no danger. The situation right now was obviously not normal.
"I'll go out and see what's going on. Please stay in the room and rest."
Lize said in a low voice. She immediately turned around and left. After closing the door, Rhode couldn't help but stare at the leaving figure. He was speechless. Given that he looked older than her, was it still necessary to use this kind of child-coaxing tone with him?
But in the next moment, a shadow could be seen flying from outside the window. Rhode's expression suddenly turned serious. He turned his head slightly and stared at the window. Soon, there were three, four green figures flying from outside. At the same time, a low roar could be heard.
"Hiss——"
When he heard this sound, Rhode's heart sank.
They were in a big trouble!
At the moment, the deck has already turned into chaos.
"I did not expect that we would encounter these damn things."
The red-haired mercenary leader was holding a sword, standing in the forefront. With a grave expression, he looked at those green figures flying around the floating ship. Their appearance was that of a long, winged snake, about one meter in length. Although their lean figure gave people a delicate feeling, when they exposed their big mouth, rows of sharp fangs could be seen. In a short time, Carter had concluded what they were.
Wind Serpents.
"It seems like we broke into the serpent territory."
The fat merchant was hiding beside the mercenary leader. With a pale face, he wiped the sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief.
"Damn that cunning Picco. I knew it! I just knew there must be a problem since that bastard was willing to tell me such a route with such a small compensation! That murderous b*stard! After I go back I must let him know how powerful I am!! "
"Let's talk after we get out from here!"
Carter interrupted the fat merchant's hysterical screaming. Looking around, there were hundreds of Wind Serpents that had surrounded the merchant. At first, he thought that by launching a volley of bolts he could scare off this group of monsters. But the Wind Serpents' unrelenting nature was really beyond his imagination — or it could be said that their comrade's death had inspired them to be fiercer.
At this moment, they had already occupied the outer deck and begun to move inward. The mercenaries already threw aside their crossbows and unsheathed their melee weapons to engage their foes in close combat.
"You! Go and hide inside. Tell the captain that we must leave here as soon as possible!"
Carter used the back of his hand to push the fat merchant towards the captain's deck, then he took two steps forward and swiftly swung the sword in his hand to cut down the Wind Serpent that rushed up to him. But soon, two more Wind Serpents replaced its dead comrade.
We don't have enough men!
Carter could not help but frown. He swept his gaze across the deck and saw that there were only six people left and they were the ones he had brought with him on this mission. Although the merchant ship itself had guards, their experience was not enough. In fact, after the first wave of attacks, the number of guards had decreased down to one-third. Looking at their panicked expressions, he knew that they could not hold on much longer. Carter's face hardened at the sight of those hideous monsters.
It was not like he did not have the experience of facing Wind Serpent. But it was his first time to face this many Wind Serpents at once, making him feel slightly nervous. He once again took a step forward. His body flexibly moved, creating a half circle. Then he thrust the sword in his hands to the side, cutting into the Wind Serpent's body. The Wind Serpent fell to the ground in a bloody mess, and after a few loud roars, it turned into a dead corpse.
Carter looked up and subconsciously swept the surroundings. Then, his heart suddenly jumped.
"Lize! Be careful!"
The girl was unable to react for a second.
Healing one of the poisoned mercenaries had excessively consumed her power and made her almost lose her consciousness. Even though she had rushed into the deck only for a few minutes ago, she had healed a lot of injured people. As the only Cleric in the group, Lize, of course, had to take this responsibility.
After hearing Carter's warning, she turned her head.
What she saw then was a big mouth with two sharp fangs.
At that moment, she could only stand frozen. Looking at the Wind Serpent in front of her, she could not think and did not know how to react. In front of her, she could clearly see the cold, sharp, and shining fangs. Even the flesh inside could be seen, and a clear stench could be smelt.
Then, a hand suddenly stretched from behind, seized her back and pulled her back in the nick of time.