280: Chapter 46: The Roadblocker_1 280: Chapter 46: The Roadblocker_1 “I wonder, are armored bulls sensitive to noise above a certain volu, or is it that their hearing is just really bad, and they can only hear sounds above that volu?” Pannis idly reversed his position on the horse and directed his words towards the girls.
“Otherwise, how would they determine if a sound is beyond their tolerance?”
“They judge using their bodies, of course.” Catherine rolled her eyes at Pannis.
“What do you think, they use a machine to asure it?”
“Actually, I was wondering if they’re hard of hearing and can only hear very loud sounds,” Pannis proposed as if he was hard of hearing himself.
“And when they catch a bit of noise, they get excited, like, ‘Hey, there’s sothing going on!’ Then they run over in an overly enthusiastic manner.
Yep, that has to be it.”
“You’re really bored, aren’t you?” The girls had grown tired of his antics, and Vivian rolled her eyes.
“Research has shown that their ears and eyeballs move towards the source of sounds.
But they just don’t get upset.”
“Maybe they’re just pretending.” Pannis played around, rolling his eyes like an armored bull.
“Perhaps they’re trying to hide their hearing difficulties.
So every once in a while, they pretend to hear sothing and turn to look at the source.
The researchers may have just happened to catch them in the act.”
“Enough with the nonsense.
The scout is returning.” Catherine urged her horse to catch up with Captain Ayrland’s pace.
Two scouts were swiftly returning from the sparse wilderness up front.
“All is well.” From the distance of over ten ters, a scout made a safe sign.
“But we didn’t find any trace of armored bulls.”
“Good work.
The next team may now depart.” Ayrland waved his hand to direct the next scout team after saying: “We’re quite lucky.
They haven’t spotted us yet and we’ve already crossed two-thirds of their territory.
Perhaps we’ve eluded them right from the start.”
It was already afternoon.
Under Ayrland’s insistence on maintaining a low volu, the caravan of over eighty people fell silent and only horse trotting and wheel rolling could be heard.
It was Pannis’ prompting that made Ayrland realize this excessive control could lead to psychological collapse among the mbers due to long spans of silence and tension, thus creating even greater problems.
“I hope it’s like that, although I am not very hopeful.” Pannis, who had caught up, closed his eyes and sniffed the air.
“What?
Did you catch a scent?” The most impressive thing about Pannis to the girls was his acute sense of sll and hearing.
Despite watching him rely solely on those senses to discover clues that others couldn’t find even with their senses wide open, they could not stop marveling.
Without answering, Pannis did a sorsault to jump to the side of the road.
He bent down, grabbed sothing, and was back on his horse in an instant, holding up a fat rabbit who was innocently staring into the girls’ eyes.
“Dinner’s found.” Pannis proudly announced, “We gnawed on bread for lunch while on our horses, so let’s replenish with this for dinner.”
“Can you be serious for a mont?” Catherine glared at Pannis.
“Getting dinner was your only goal?
Why am I not convinced?”
“I was wrong.
Please forgive .” Pannis raised his hands in surrender, tossed the rabbit back by the roadside, and allowed the lucky critter to scramble away.
“I did not hear any sound from that rabbit just now.
I sensed it purely by sll.”
“Isn’t that normal?” Lina asked curiously.
“Every magical beast that survives in the territory of armored bulls is good at moving silently.
Isn’t not making any sound supposed to be easy?”
“But I am excellent at moving silently as well.” Pannis pointed at his nose.
“But I wouldn’t constantly stay like this.
It takes a ntal toll.”
“That’s because you’re not a rabbit.” Lina coldly snorted and turned her head away, taking in Pannis’ helpless expression.
“So you an, the rabbit sensed that this was a crucial mont and felt that an armored bull was nearby, so it went into this silent state?”
“Hmm, given a rabbit’s brain, it probably wouldn’t understand at what sound level the armored bull would go mad.
But the instincts passed down over many generations tell them that making a noise when armored bulls are near might prompt an attack.
Even if they retreat into their burrows, the bulls’ stomping might still kill them.
With such vague understanding, they naturally go silent when an armored bull is nearby,” explained Pannis.
“Even though I don’t know much about armored bulls, that’s basically how animals behave when there are enemies present.
It can be applied to the rabbit as well.”
“Then it’s really strange.
Scouts in all directions did not find any trace of the armored bulls.” Ayrland furrowed his brows and said worriedly, “Have they been careless?”
“The scouts may not be at fault,” said Pannis.
“So species of rabbits can sense the movents of large creatures up to seven or eight kiloters away by monitoring ground vibrations while they are inside their burrows.
It’s hard for our scouts to have the entire area covered given the amount we have, so it’s not surprising that no bulls were found.
As long as we assure the bulls don’t co within one to two kiloters, we’d be fine.”
“You all heard him.
From now on, scouting should be conducted as Pannis has suggested.
Pay special attention to the two kiloters around us but also try to cover as far out as possible.” Ayrland turned to the attentive crowd around him.
Having been in contact with Pannis for a few days, Ayrland realized that most of Pannis’ offhand remarks about nature were invaluable bits of knowledge – sothing the newcors and even veterans of his team might not acquire in their entire lifeti.
Therefore, he had repeatedly reminded his team mbers in private to take Pannis’ words seriously.
Of course, he ant only what Pannis said during his limited tis of seriousness.
Sotis, Captain Ayrland would wonder to himself.
If he had beco an explorer with his Gold Rank strength since his youth, would he have the sa level of experience and skill as Pannis?
However, he often quickly dismissed such comparisons, which seed almost self-mocking, as it would only dent his self-confidence.
It wasn’t worth it, especially when he saw Pannis provoke the girls in various ways only to be ruthlessly pursued and attacked.
The sense of worthlessness was even more pronounced then.
“Sister, how’s the armored bull?” Freya’s voice ca from the carriage not far behind them, “Did you find anything?”
“No, not yet,” Catherine replied, “You don’t need to worry.
Just wait for your wedding.
We’ll clear all obstacles for you.”
“If we were to be attacked by the armored bulls, your vehicle should retreat first,” Pannis added, “The other carriages can manage to scatter, but you can’t leave yours.
You’ll easily beco the primary target.”
“Actually, large carriages like the one I’m riding now won’t typically beco the target of armored bulls’ attacks.
Even if the bull is in a frenzy, it would be the sa,” said Freya.
“Just as they wouldn’t stupidly ram into a wall, they can tell the difference between objects and living things.
They won’t attack indiscriminately.
Though there are exceptions.”
“Exceptions?” Catherine asked anxiously, “When would that be?”
“I learned this by chance,” Freya explained, “Armored bulls usually live from one hundred to one hundred and fifty years and their breeding period is pretty long.
They usually breed once every seven or eight years.
The year after they give birth is when they beco the most dangerous.
If their calves are threatened, they will attack everything they see.
Moreover, their speed and strength will significantly increase.
It’s extrely fearso.”
“Breeding season, huh?” Pannis let out a dry chuckle, “We wouldn’t be that unlucky, right?
Haha.”
“Yeah, our opponents wouldn’t be that crazy, would they?” Lina, who had co over, wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.
“If they really did that, it would be hard to save the convoy.”
“Captain Ayrland.” Catherine didn’t waste ti or care to listen to Freya, who kept babbling about the miracles of birth and the greatness of a mother’s love.
She sprinted to the front of the convoy and whispered sothing to Ayrland.
“I have a bad premonition,” Pannis nudged Lina, “We might just be that unlucky this ti.”
“This, this king thinks we’ve been unlucky all the ti, not just this ti.” Lina was so worried she was knitting her brow, “This king doesn’t want to battle those crazy bulls, especially Legendary Rank bulls.
There’s just no chance of winning.”
“Now, it’s not about the chance of winning, but whether the convoy can retreat unscathed,” Pannis started to say sothing, when suddenly his expression changed, and he yelled, “Everyone, stop.”
The trained drivers quickly reined in their animals.
Besides Catherine, who had lifted her sword and shield to guard the front, everyone else’s eyes were glued on Pannis.
“There’s soone ahead.” Pannis squinted to try and get a better look, “About a kiloter ahead.
There’s sothing in the middle of the road.
Looks like a standing person.”
“Why didn’t the scouts report back?
They couldn’t have t with trouble, could they?” Ayrland didn’t doubt Pannis’s judgnt but anxiously responded.
“It’s an Illusion Magic Fluctuation.” Vivian, who had been quiet over this period, suddenly spoke up, “They must have used illusion magic to hide their presence, so the scouts didn’t notice.
I think I have a guess as to who it is.
But didn’t she already quit?
Why would she appear again?”
“The little bunny girl, right?” Pannis added, “We’ll go ask her then.
Let’s hope she’s not going back on her word out of spite.”
The convoy resud its advance slowly while the five leaders swiftly moved forward to approach the figure in the middle of the road.
As Vivian predicted, it was the little girl with the rabbit mask who had set the rock trap earlier.
Although she still wore the rabbit mask, she was bundled up in thick clothes, so her figure was completely obscured.
Anyone would have a hard ti associating her with the girl they had seen previously if they didn’t already have a premise.
“Didn’t you withdraw already?” Vivian once again tried to intimidate the little girl, “Why did you co back?
Last ti I told you, if you showed up again, I’d spank you.”
“Hmph, I’m not afraid of you.” The little girl covered her butt and retreated a few steps, defiantly saying, “I didn’t co to fight.
I ca to deliver a ssage.”
“My big brother said you should admit defeat, or it will be too late.” The little girl proudly lifted her head as she ntioned her big brother, expressing her pride with her whole body.
(To be continued.
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