"It's all right! The mercenaries will protect us!"
Hera kissed her sister's forehead, soothing Arani's trembling body.
"I'll go take a look!"
Raphinia had already climbed down from the carriage, donning her Knight's armor and iron gauntlets. Her warhorse reared with a roar and charged to the head of the caravan.
The dust kicked up by the horse's hooves caught old Bam squarely in the face before he could dodge, filling even his beard with grit. The comical spectacle drew a quiet snicker from the girl in the carriage, which Hera promptly silenced with a stern glare.
"That little wench, honestly… ptoo, ptoo…" Old Bam spat the sand from his mouth, his hand already reaching for his gun holster.
His musket had been polished enough to shed most of its rust and now even had the faint look of a proper firearm. Raylin, however, still held to his earlier opinion — in close quarters it was probably less useful than a hammer!
And whether this dwarf, who hadn't even reached fifth rank, would have the courage to fight a high-ranking Knight to the death was something Raylin seriously doubted.
True, for certain dwarves, soiling one's beard was a grave insult. But old Bam had clearly been assimilated quite a bit by human culture, becoming crafty and slippery.
Or perhaps working alongside humans for so long had simply taught him the bad habits of cowardice and a fear of death — though he himself would probably not see it that way.
In old Bam, Raylin saw none of the stubbornness and defiance typical of dwarves. By the time Raphinia came galloping back like the wind, the old dwarf had already scurried forward to take her warhorse's reins, pocketing another silver guilder as a tip from Raphinia's hand.
It had to be said that old Bam truly had a knack for tending warhorses. In just a few days he had transformed Raphinia's previously underfed mount into a spirited animal, and the noble young lady was already considering hiring him as her stable hand. From the look of things, old Bam was quite amenable to the idea.
"What's the situation up ahead?"
Raylin wasn't particularly concerned with old Bam's career prospects and immediately asked about the road ahead.
"Ogre footprints were found. According to the scouts and a few of the rogues, the tracks are very fresh — probably no more than half an hour old. From here on, we need to be ready for a possible encounter at any moment…"
At Raphinia's report, the entire mercenary squad tensed up. The halfling rogue and the human archer tightened their grips on their weapons, and even old Bam sidled a little closer to Raphinia — among the visible company, the young woman's rank as a high-ranking Knight was the most formidable deterrent.
Even if danger came, she had a good chance of escaping thanks to her mobility.
"So… Raphinia, you'll protect me, right?" The old dwarf gazed at Raphinia with hopeful eyes.
"Aren't you a mercenary?" The young woman had always held such spineless types in utter contempt.
"Oh my god… for Nick's sake. You can't treat your groom like this… Poor old Bam will be torn to shreds by ogres, and then who's going to take care of your Nick?"
By now Bam was practically in tears, nearly clinging to Raphinia's slender legs.
Incidentally, Nick was the name of Raphinia's warhorse — apparently old Bam himself had given him that name.
"Fine! Fine! As a Knight, protecting the weak is a virtue too!"
Raphinia wore the expression of someone who feared him.
"Oh! I praise you! Great Knight…" Bam's mouth immediately launched into an endless stream of words.
"However, from now on your groom's wages will be cut in half!" Raphinia had learned a thing or two since leaving home. She was now even capable of haggling.
"No way — ten percent at most!"
"Forty percent! Do you think grooms are hard to come by? I've got a dozen of them at home!"
"Thirty percent! I can't go any lower! Otherwise old Bam won't even be able to afford watered-down rum!"
"Deal!!!" The young knight girl was still a bit green after all. She buckled under his pitiful tactics, which set Lei Lin — watching from the side — secretly amused.
"Ogres! It's ogres!!!"
And at that very moment, a shrill cry rang out from up ahead.
"Stand ready!" "Alert!"
Lei Lin drew his fine steel longsword in an instant, his eyes warily fixed on the darkness ahead.
Along with the clamor of voices, strange roars and the clash of blades could be heard approaching.
"Ogres really have shown up!" The halfling in the party immediately drew his dagger and ducked into the dark corner beside the carriage, while the human archer scrambled to the top of the carriage, scouting for a suitable position, his massive wooden greatbow coming to hand in a flash.
"Ogres? I've been waiting for you for a long time!" Raphinia grew excited — she reined in her horse's head, ready to wheel around on the spot.
"Wait. I'll go with you!"
A man's voice drifted from behind, making Raphinia's eyes go wide: "When did you get on?!"
It turned out that at some point, Lin Lei had already mounted the warhorse and come up right behind Raphinia — for a high-ranking Knight, this was simply inconceivable.
A Knight and their mount were supposed to be one. Being crept up on like this without any awareness was the most dangerous thing imaginable, especially if the other party harbored ill intent.
Raphinia felt a chill run through her heart first, but then the sensation of someone behind her made her rather uncomfortable.
"You should probably go become a thief! Get down quickly — Nick won't like you!"
The posture between the two of them at the moment was rather peculiar, bringing a faint blush to Raphinia's cheeks.
"Good girl, let's go!"
"I'm not a child!" Raphinia protested weakly, but her legs still involuntarily urged the horse forward, and Nick surged out like a black whirlwind.
Raphinia now showed off her exquisite horsemanship — even with someone behind her, she navigated through the chaotic caravan as if walking on flat ground, dodging obstacles and reaching the very front of the column.
Numerous merchant caravans were pulling back, while several mercenary companies had drawn their swords and nocked their arrows, forming a semicircular defensive line.
On the other side of the formation stood a group of fewer than twenty massive creatures.
"So these are ogres? It's my first time seeing them!" Raphinia couldn't help but stare curiously at the monsters ahead.
The leading ogre was nearly three meters tall, with a roughly humanoid torso, like an enormously bloated fat man — but its skin was dark brown and leathery, its neck was thick, its body covered in disgusting fleshy growths, and its hair was wild and greasy. Beneath its beastly eyes sat a broad, flat nose, and its black teeth jutted outward, making it look as fearsome as a demon.
Standing at the very front appeared to be the leader of the ogre pack. It wore a crudely tanned animal hide around its waist, while some of the other ogres wore absolutely nothing at all, wandering about completely bare.
"So stinky!" Standing just over a dozen meters away, a wave of foul stench hit her face, forcing Raphinia to cover her nose.
"Not bad! It matches the ogre bestiary quite well, though I don't see any mutant two-headed ogres or ogre shamans among them…"
Lin Lei was also studying the ogres across from them, a faint blue light flickering in his eyes that would be nearly impossible for ordinary people to detect.
"Chip, scan the target data!"
[Ding! Task established, scanning now! Data feedback in progress, generating image!]The Chip faithfully executed Lin Lei's command.
Soon, a three-dimensional projection of an ogre materialized before Lin Lei's eyes, complete with specific data readouts.
[Name unknown. Race: Ogre. Sex: Male. Strength: 7. Agility: 3. Constitution: 10. Spirit: 1. Innate Abilities: 1. Regeneration — Ogres possess extraordinary regenerative capabilities; even if decapitated, they can survive for a considerable period. 2. Natural Hide — The ogre's skin, a mixture of natural oils and earth, forms an additional layer of natural defense comparable to ordinary leather armor. No magical resistance.]
"Stats like these are comparable to ordinary seventh- or eighth-rank warriors, and the template I scanned was just a common ogre…"
Lin Lei gazed at the ogre tribe across from him, a glint of light flickering in his eyes.
"Moreover, these ogres possess formidable physiques and terrifying regenerative abilities, which means the cellular vitality of their bodies must far exceed that of ordinary humans. If I were to plunder it with the Devil's Blood Dagger, I could probably raise my Constitution by two to three points — possibly even reaching the bottleneck of ten!"
The way Lin Lei looked at the ogre tribe now was like staring at a massive treasure trove.
Even by the most conservative estimate, that ogre tribe could boost his Constitution by one to two points — equivalent to receiving a minor Divine Grace blessing.
However, if Lin Lei were on his own, he wouldn't dare provoke such a large ogre tribe.
He would have had to seek shelter under the cover of other targets just to have any confidence in passing through the region safely.
But now the hostility between the large merchant caravan and the ogres had given Lin Lei an opportunity.
"It's just a scattered group of ogres — nothing to worry about!"
At that moment, the members of the Pale Hawk Mercenary Company arrived as well, led by none other than the high-rank warrior Siegfried, whom Lin Lei had met before.
Upon seeing that the ogre group numbered fewer than twenty, the tension visibly drained from Siegfried's face.
"No ogre shaman, and a manageable number at that. This is a perfect chance to let the other mercenaries and merchants get a look at them — that way they won't be so terrified next time…"
Siegfried knew full well that with the military strength of their large merchant caravan, as long as everyone united, passing through here would pose absolutely no problem.
But humans were often brought low by fear of the unknown, and rumors of terrifying man-eating monsters like ogres were especially prone to sparking collective panic — a catastrophe worse than a tsunami!
And so, letting these timid merchants get an early look at ogres was absolutely necessary!