Chapter 194: Trackers
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"You’re a cook?" the rcenary asked with a grin.
"No," Anfey said. "I’m a mage. This is just a hobby." His hands danced and his movents were very smooth. The sll of the soup suddenly grew very strong and pleasant.
One of the seven rcenaries stood up and leapt over the creek. He glanced around, then his eyes fell on the crystal box. "Are you really using a top tier crystal to cook?" he asked.
"It’s the only thing I have," Anfey said and shrugged.
"Can I try so?" the rcenary took a deep breath and asked.
"Wait a mont," Anfey said. He looked around, then frowned. "It seems like I have forgotten about spoons," he said, troubled.
"We have one," the rcenary said. He fumbled through his pack and found a spoon.
Anfey accepted the spoon. It was a silver spoon that was common in this world. Here, many families used silver spoons. Even the kings preferred silverware. Silverware was especially common during feasts. Silver could react with poison, and using silverware tended to reassure the guests that the food was not poisoned.
Anfey dipped the spoon into the soup and raised it to his lips. The soup did not taste as good as he had wanted, but it wasn’t bad, either. He was missing too many ingredients.
"Alright," Anfey said, handing the spoon back to the rcenary. "You can try so now."
The rcenary took the spoon and stared at the soup. The spoon did not change color, and the rcenary dipped it into the soup.
A sound of tal clashing was heard from the other rcenaries. The rcenary hesitated, and took a sip of the soup. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and grinned. "It’s very good," he told Anfey.
His movents were natural, but the faint vapor rising from his sleeve still caught Anfey’s eyes. Anfey knew that the rcenary must have spat the soup out instead of swallowing it.
"You want so more?" Anfey asked.
"No, no. This is your lunch. You should be the ones enjoying it," the rcenary said. He turned and jumped over the creek. "Thanks a lot." The man turned and waved at Anfey.
"You’re welco," Anfey said. He dropped the stick he was stirring the soup with on the ground. Next to him, Suzanna’s eyes flickered. Riska stood up and began making his way upstream.
A real organization usually had its own way of operating. Using expressions was too straightforward and risky, because the enemies could read expressions as well. In most situations, there would be certain casual gestures that only people within the organization understood.
"There’s a lot of fish here too," Riska called out.
"I’m already done."
"There’s nothing in that soup," Riska said. He shook his head and waved his hand. A ball of water leapt into the air. So fish were caught up in the ball of water and were wriggling away.
Riska’s control of the water was clearly not as good. The fish fell onto the bank, but he was soaked with the water as well.
Across the creek, the rcenaries snickered. Riska frowned and stamped on the ground angrily, his eyes still following the fish. He began whispering a spell, and a powerful magical surge rippled from him.
Anyone could tell Riska was angry. The rcenaries looked at Riska, waiting for him to make a fool of himself again. Two rcenaries naturally reached for their swords and were resting their hands on their swords’ hilts. They were staring at Riska.
Anfey frowned and marveled at their cautiousness. "Give it up," he called to Riska. "It’s just so fish."
Suzanna stood up slowly and joined Riska. She still hadn’t shown her face to the rcenaries.
Anfey took a deep breath and said, "Stop playing around. Let’s leave here."
"What?" Riska frowned and asked. He didn’t use magic to catch the fish. He was hoping to take care of the rcenaries. He was ready to use the magic, and was confused as to why Anfey had ordered them to retreat.
Suzanna felt relieved and disappointed at the sa ti. She felt relieved because she didn’t want the others to get hurt. If she was alone, she might have already attacked. She knew that her opponents were difficult and had the advantage in numbers, and the fight could end very badly for both sides. On the other hand, she was disappointed because she thought Anfey was her lover and soone she could rely on. Subconsciously, he was her leader, and she had expected him to take charge.
"Co on," Anfey said. He straightened his clothes and poured the soup onto the ground. He put the box into his bag and began making his way upstream. Suzanna and Riska followed him quietly.
"Hey!" one of the rcenaries called. "Why did you just dump the soup?"
"Sothing just ca up," Anfey replied with a grin.
The rcenaries frowned and glanced at each other. What Anfey did could be very suspicious to so people. There was no evidence, however, that showed the soup was poisoned. No one wanted to engage in pointless fights. The rcenaries looked on coldly as the trio disappeared into the forest. The rcenary who had took a sip of the soup took out the spoon and observed it, frowning.
Suzanna didn’t want to ask. She was afraid doing that would cause estrangent. Riska, however, wasn’t concerned about that. "What happened?" he asked quietly.
"People from Shansa Empire are catching up," Anfey said. He had just spotted a dozen people who looked like rcenaries. The clothes they wore were the sa, and except for the two leaders, the rest of the n all had the sa sword.
Country of rcenaries had no official army, not because it did not have enough n. Individually, the rcenaries were much better than soldiers. It had no official army because the rcenaries did not like having the sa weapons and clothing. Even the four major rcenary groups did not have uniforms. Each rcenary had weapons and armor he liked.
The soldiers could change their clothes, but not their weapons. Officers and soldiers had already gotten used to the standard weapons issued by the military. They would not change their weapons.
Suzanna and Riska glanced at each other and quickened their pace.
Anfey was still observing the creek. The Shansa soldiers had just t the rcenaries. After a short conversation, a man from the Shansa army walked over and handed a pouch to the rcenaries. The leader of the rcenaries took the pouch and cleared its content into his hands. He smiled at the coins, clearly satisfied. Then he pointed towards the direction Anfey, Riska, and Suzanna had gone.
Another soldier walked over and handed another pouch to the rcenary. The leader hesitated, then he waved his hand. The rest of the rcenaries quickly stood up and began organizing their equipnt. Clearly, a deal that had broken the fundantal rules of the Country of rcenaries had just taken place.
Anfey was shocked. The seven rcenaries were exceptionally good at tracking, and the route they followed was the exact one he had just taken. Anfey had tried to confuse the rcenaries by zigzagging, but it clearly did not work. They had found all the places he had changed path.
The rcenary that was interested in his soup seed like the best of the seven. The six other rcenaries walked in a V-shaped formation around the man.
Dardanibry clearly intended to capture him. Anfey did not know what kind of signal the soldiers were using, but more and more soldiers appeared. Anfey thanked Bruzuryano silently. Without that leaf, he would be surrounded.
"Suzanna, go with Riska," Anfey stopped and instructed.
"What? What did you see?" Suzanna asked.
"So unpleasant n," Anfey said. "Riska, rember. Leave so markings along the way. I will et up with you two later."
"Riska can go by himself. I’m staying with you."
"I’m just going to annoy them a bit. Don’t worry," Anfey smiled. He trusted Suzanna, but she was good at direct fights. This ti, he wasn’t planning on directly engaging the soldiers.
"No," Suzanna said, shaking her head. "I am staying here."
"Listen to , love," Anfey said. Suzanna blushed and took a step back. "Trust . I can take care of this."
Reviews
All reviews (0)