The next day, Lorraine Hill came to meet at the Adventurer Hall.
Pushing open the half-open door and walking into the slightly stuffy and noisy hall, the girl glanced around and soon found a group of caravan members sitting at a round table. The buttons of their cloaks had the symbol of the balalaika, which represented their
Belongs to the Roentgen Chamber of Commerce.
After briefly adjusting her clothes, the girl touched the hem of her skirt with her gauntleted hand, and then stepped forward.
"Hello, are you a member of the Roentgen Caravan? I have received a mission to participate in the escort." Lorraine Hill asked a man standing at the table, doing nothing.
The man in brown and gray cloth raised his head when he heard the sound, looked up and down at the blond ponytailed swordsman lady, who was slightly sassy, and nodded.
"Yes, it's us." Then he turned around and shouted.
"Miss, the guard we asked for is here."
On the other side of the round table, a woman who was surrounded by several people who were discussing and explaining matters turned her head and continued talking to the people around her while nodding to show that she understood.
A minute later, after the explanations and instructions were completed, the businesswoman stood up and walked over.
"Hello, I am Charlene from the Röntgen Chamber of Commerce." This businesswoman looks to be about 20 years old, with light brown skin, wearing a strapless dark red dress, and a braided shawl on her arm, which makes her look more mature.
Somewhat elegant.
"Hello, my name is Mecia." Lorraine Hill nodded and moved his hands hesitantly.
Although she understands the imperial court etiquette, she doesn't know much about how to greet ordinary people or adventurers.
Seeing the girl's slightly reserved look, Charlene smiled, then stretched out her right hand, and Lorraine Hill also reached out to hold it.
After a brief handshake, Miss Charlene asked Lorraine Hill to sit down.
"The arm armor is very heavy. When I first saw that you move easily, I thought it would be very light."
"Well, because some fine steel was used in the making, the protection will be better." Lorraine Hill explained a little embarrassedly.
"Haha, this is also a good thing. Being professional will make people more reassured. If you wear a fluttering skirt to report, I will be a little worried, even though I heard that you are a master of Sequence 4."
The two chatted briefly for a while, and Charlene also got a preliminary understanding of this swordsman lady. She seemed to be a new adventurer with superb skills but little actual combat experience.
Although it is a bit far from the perfect guard candidate in my mind, spending this money to hire a Sequence 4 master is already a good deal, and it doesn't ask for too much.
Nowadays, the southern provinces are not stable. Although the regent has put down the apparent rebellion, there are still many dangerous elements remaining in some mountains and remote corners. Some of them are deserters, and some are children of former nobles, but now they are wanted for seizing titles.
, and others are those who lost their homes during the war and became bandits.
When doing business in such an environment, the stronger the protection, the better.
"Miss Mecia hasn't eaten yet, why don't you dine with us now so we can set off later." After staying for an hour, other members of the caravan also arrived one after another. At this time, Miss Charlene invited the girl to eat together.
"Okay, thank you." Lorraine Hill looked at the new mercenaries and adventurers curiously, and then nodded.
Soon after, the staff of the Adventurer Hall brought plates of food to the caravan members.
"Here." A wooden plate was also placed in front of Lorraine Hill.
There is baked square bread on the wooden plate, as well as a bowl of steaming potato and vegetable soup. The potatoes are cooked thoroughly, giving the soup a sticky feel. In addition to the vegetables cut into small pieces, one or two can also be found.
Meat, this shows that this lunch is quite rich.
For people who are on the go, this kind of food is already very good, and what’s more, Ms. Charlene treats everyone for free.
Several mercenaries said thank you, and then ate big mouthfuls. From the looks of them, it seemed that they could only eat five minutes of such food.
After tearing open the bread, Lorraine Hill ate as quickly as possible, and then drank the vegetable soup. A warm feeling filled his stomach. Although the ingredients were ordinary, the food provided by this adventurer hall had an unexpectedly good taste.
"Let's go now." After everyone had finished eating, Miss Charlene stood up, clapped her hands, and asked the young men around her to start working.
"Okay~"
A group of caravan members walked out of the hall, then went to the stables at the back to pull out the carriage and count the goods.
"Miss Mecia, please sit with me." When Lorraine Hill didn't know what to do, Miss Charlene's voice came from not far away.
As she spoke, she called to Lorraine Hill to walk over and sit at the back of a carriage with her.
Soon, the convoy set off and the group of people headed out of the city.
The roads in this era were not the smooth roads that girls remembered, but roads full of gravel and mud. The carriages bumped and swayed constantly along the way, and sometimes you could hear the squeaking and sore teeth of the carriages loaded with goods.
Voice.
"Get used to it." Miss Charlene put down the account book in her hand and looked at the quiet girl sitting beside her.
"Yeah, get used to it." Lorraine Hill nodded. In fact, she didn't have much experience traveling alone, and she didn't know how to find topics and deal with strangers.
Feeling like she has returned to her original form, the girl complained to herself in her heart that although she knew a lot in theory, she was not good at it in practice.
If that boy Pullman were here, he would probably already be familiar with everyone from the Chamber of Commerce.
"Haha, I will be a little uneasy when I first come out, but you will get used to it. If you feel sleepy at this time, you can take a nap or take a nap."
"Take a nap? That's not good. After all, I'm here to be a guard."
"You still lack experience. When you take a break, look at the mercenaries accompanying you. Many of them are lying on the roof of the car and sleeping."
"During the day, there are generally few direct attacks, because they can be seen from a long way away, and there is plenty of time to prepare and wake up the entourage."
"But it's different at night. Many attacks occur at night, so adventurers and mercenaries mostly have to take turns keeping vigil at night to ensure alertness and combat effectiveness."
"In addition, you have to be careful in densely forested areas. Such places are also suitable for ambush."
"That's right, I understand." The girl nodded.
"Very good, let's take a rest now. The journey is still long. Try to conserve your energy and strength." Miss Charlene suggested.
"Yes." Lorraine Hill nodded, then moved back and lay down with the cargo wrapped around him, holding the long sword in front of him.
After closing his eyes, after a while, Lorraine Hill felt something covering his body.
"You look so young..." Miss Charlene's sighing voice came to my ears, and then there was the rustling sound of the pen tip scratching the page.
With the jolting of the carriage, Lorraine Hill fell into a half-asleep dreamland, and woke up at dusk. She rubbed her eyes, took off the blanket on her body, and stepped out of the carriage. By this time, the sun had already set outside.
Deep, flame-like flowing clouds shed a little afterglow, shining on the upper branches of the trees nearby.
In the surrounding open space, caravan members were setting up tents, and others were making fires and cooking, coming and going.
Seeing everyone busy, Lorraine Hill felt a little uncomfortable standing aside and wanted to find something to do, but he didn't know what to do.
After scanning the surrounding area, she saw Charlene standing in the distance talking to someone, so she walked over.
"We need to add a brazier here to light it up at night, and let people remove the carriage. There are a bunch of iron chains and bells in the cargo of the carriage. Take them out and tie them in the forest to the east."
"The woods there are too dark to see clearly. I'm afraid someone might sneak in at night, so I tie it up first so that I can have an early warning."
"Okay, miss."
"Well, remember to leave a pile of bonfires at the end of the camp at night, and let the night watchers divide into two groups, look after the front and back, and walk back and forth from time to time. This way, you will be more energetic and will not fall asleep. In addition, you can also check the situation on the other side. Don't wait until then.
People sneak in without even knowing it."
"I understand, this is customary."
"As long as you understand, I'll stress it again. It's better to put more effort into doing this kind of thing than to be careless and get into trouble."
"yes."
"That's it, you go ahead and do your work. Remember to arrange the batch of people before dinner."
After saying that, the middle-aged man beside Miss Charlene left.
Charlene turned around and saw Lorraine Hill, and waved her hand to call her over.
"How did you sleep?"
"It's okay." The girl was a little embarrassed. She was obviously a guard, but she was fast asleep.
"Haha, I got used to it pretty quickly." Seeing that the blond girl was a little embarrassed, Charlene smiled and patted her on the shoulder.
"If it's night, I'll have to help you. You'll have to take turns keeping watch with the other mercenaries."
"No problem." The girl nodded.
"Well, get used to it slowly. By the way, if you are bored at night, you can chat more with those mercenary uncles. Although they like to brag, some knowledge and experience are still very useful, especially for a newcomer like you.
."
"In addition, let me think about it. Remember to prepare a blanket, it will be quite cold at night."
"If you encounter someone attacking you at night, remember to wake them up and deal with them carefully. Although the attackers are generally not strong, they are unscrupulous in their methods. Poisoning, spreading ashes, and setting fire are all possible.
."
"That's it. While it's still dark, let's take a walk around and get familiar with it, and then come over for dinner."
After finishing speaking, Miss Charlene patted Lorraine Hill again, and then walked towards the center of the camp.
Lorraine Hill picked up the scabbard, looked back around, and then walked towards the east hillside, which was relatively high and could overlook many places.
This is an open space near a small river, with hillsides to the east, rivers to the west, and slightly flat fields to the north and south. Even at night, if you want to attack from the plains, it is probably easy to find, so this is the area to the east.
Need to pay more attention.
The fallen leaves in the mountains are all over the ground, and some stones are exposed from the fallen leaves. There are still moss growing on them. It does not look like people often pass by.
Lorraine Hill held the sword and inspected the surrounding area. When it was almost dark, he heard the sound of bells ringing in the camp, and then walked back.
Dinner was still boiled potatoes and vegetables, served with naan bread, and everyone sat around and talked while eating.
"I heard that your wife gave birth to a boy this time. Congratulations." After the caravan members sat down, they talked to each other about family matters.
"Hey, although it's a happy event, I feel a lot more pressure. I can't drink anymore recently. I have to save some money to buy meat for my child's mother to eat."
"Haha, it's really hard not to drink. But for the sake of my children, I'm still a good man." His companion smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
"It's okay. I'll share some with you when there's wine. You'll have a good time." Several people joked and laughed again.
The bonfire where Lorraine Hill was sitting were all temporarily hired guards. There were about 10 people, most of them wearing armor. They were generally over 30 years old. Except for the girl, there were only two younger faces.
.
One was wearing a dark green robe, with a cloth covering his head, and a row of potion bottles tied to a belt around his waist. He looked like an alchemist. The other had a face like a thin monkey, and had a scimitar slung around his side.
He was wearing a light leather robe and no armor.
The two of them didn't have lively personalities. One was busy flipping through the damaged and yellowed thick book at hand while eating, while the other was looking straight at the bonfire, seemingly in a daze.
"Come, little girl, have some hot soup." After the girl sat down, a bearded man handed over a bowl of hot potato soup.
"Thank you." Lorraine Hill took the hot bowl and smelled a slight mushy smell. It seemed that it had been cooked for a long time.
After a simple dinner, the mercenaries assigned their order, and Lorraine Hill was assigned to guard the front line for midnight.
At night, the caravan members returned to their tents to sleep one after another, with only a few figures left by the campfire.
The flames were crackling, and everyone was sitting on the wooden pillars next to the campfire. Some were checking their belongings, and some were touching their weapons in the light of the fire to see if there were curls or blunt edges, and whether they needed to be polished.
"How old is the little girl? She starts working at this age." The bearded man sat across from the bonfire and asked Lorraine Hill, looking at him in a daze.
"Me? I'm probably 17." The girl said something against her will, her conscience aching.
"It does look similar." He picked up the wood branch and flicked the somewhat dark fire.
"Didn't you continue your studies? At your age, you should be making the fastest progress."
"Well, I want to make some money first and get some exercise."
"Exercising is really good, but if you want to make money, it's better to take this opportunity to practice to a higher level. Even if you are at home, someone will send you money and ask for your help." The uncle said his common experience.
"Forget it, I don't know how to behave myself, so I'd better not point out randomly, haha." Then, he seemed to think of something again and touched the back of his head.
"You guys sit here now, I will go on my regular inspection." After a while, he picked up the rough sword on his side and walked towards the night.
At this time, it became quiet again around the campfire. Under the summer night sky, the sound of crickets could be heard from time to time in the surrounding grass. The wilderness illuminated by the fire was dark, with no end in sight.
After the girl sat for a while, she looked at the other two people. One was the young man with the scimitar from before. He was now gently stroking the blade in his hand. The sharp arc blade shone in bursts of light as it reflected from the fire.
"It's a good knife." Another mercenary on the opposite side held the sword and leaned against the cargo box, squinting at the opposite side of the bonfire and commenting in his heart.
The young man holding the knife did not reply, but slowly put the knife back into its sheath and placed it on his knee again.
This knife seemed to be somewhat incomplete. Lorraine Hill's light blue eyes gently looked at the virtual screen in his sight, which gave an evaluation of the knife.
[Gray Dusk Scimitar] (Incomplete Gold Level): It was made by famous craftsmen hundreds of years ago. Now it is damaged in many places, and the pattern array is also incomplete. However, the surface has been repaired and it looks like new.
Compared with this good scimitar, this young man's strength is average. He is only War Sequence 3, and his evaluation is only Excellent Bronze level.
After Lorraine Hill observed for a while, he withdrew his gaze. At this time, the uncle also came back, but what was different from before was that the big sword on his shoulder had penetrated two big fish, shaking from time to time, and the fish tails were shaking.
Fan it to stir up some water stains.
"While on patrol, I went for a walk by the river and caught two fish for a midnight snack." He sat down again, picked up two branches, threaded the fish, and placed it next to the campfire to bake.
"After it's baked, we'll have half a piece per person and let's all satisfy our cravings together." As he said this, he took out a small salt shaker from his pocket and sprinkled some on it.
Soon the grilled fish began to exude an alluring aroma, and at this time the other two people also turned their attention to the grilled fish that was gradually browning.
"Haha, it's almost ready, don't worry." The uncle smiled a little when he saw the two people looking over, and then divided the grilled fish into two halves, skewered each one with branches, and handed it to several people.
"Thank you." At this time, the silent young man finally spoke. His voice was unexpectedly clear and clear, which was inconsistent with his dull appearance.
Until then, several people were eating fish, and the atmosphere gradually became lively.
"Where is this little brother from?"
"I'm from the Province of the Heart."
"No wonder, the accent is so correct."
Upon hearing this, Lorraine Hill keenly noticed that the young man frowned, and then relaxed quickly, as if he didn't want to attract other people's attention.
Then another mercenary and the uncle started chatting. Both of them have been in the mercenary industry for a long time, and they had many topics in common, ranging from the climate in the southern part of the empire to what kind of magical beasts there are in which season, and from the character of women in the north.
The swords from a certain workshop are of good quality, and we can talk about things from all over the world.
Although Lorraine Hill couldn't speak, he still learned a lot of useful knowledge.
He was also pricking up his ears to listen. At this time, the girl realized that the young man's daze was fake, but that he was listening carefully was real. He was also a novice in emotions, but he pretended better.
Judging from his appearance, he probably doesn't have much experience traveling abroad, and he looks like a child from a wealthy family. But judging from his extraordinary training sequence, he is very ordinary, and there are no signs of physical exercise, and it doesn't look like he has been carefully cultivated.
A child of a noble family. I feel a little conflicted, Lorraine Hill briefly analyzed it.
At this moment, she suddenly noticed something, glanced around briefly, and slowly placed her hand on the hilt of the sword.
There were several partridge-like bird calls coming from the distant mountain forest. If you didn't pay attention and listen carefully, you would have been drowned in the surrounding insects.
Should he inform others, or should he pretend to go on patrol and solve the problem along the way? Lorraine Hill hesitated for a few seconds.
"Thank you for the grilled fish, uncle. I'm going to patrol for a while." The girl with blond ponytail stood up in the slightly surprised eyes of several people and actively asked to patrol for a while.