Volume 10 Bugs Chapter 21: Mademoiselle Lemoire's Courage
We have crossed the canyon controlled by the Corrupted, and we have already set foot in the enemy's territory. The smell of the rain forest is still damp and dull, the muddy mudflats are still difficult to walk, and the cunning and ferocious swamp creatures are still looking for trouble with us. Everything is the same as when we came here, nothing has changed. If there is no magic map to tell you the exact location, I bet you will never be able to tell where you are - the territory of the Empire or the territory of the Alliance.
But even though everything around me was so natural, I still felt that the air pressure around me became very strong, pressing on my chest and making my breathing a little tight. I became a little nervous, as if I could sense the tense atmosphere behind every tree and every leaf, as if we were surrounded by enemies all the time, and they would rush out from the depths of the jungle at any time to tear us to pieces.
In fact, I know very well that this is just a psychological effect of scaring myself. This place is not as dangerous as I feel. Along the way, we also encountered a few imperial adventurers wandering in the forest, but they all hid aside early when they saw that we were outnumbered. If we don't rush forward and kill them one by one, we must be blessed by the Supreme God. How can they have the courage to provoke us?
However, facts are one thing, and feelings are another. I have been assigned to scout the areas occupied by the Imperial Army before, but those were all in open plains, or even in the wasteland next door to the northwest. The horizon was endless, and any movement could be seen.
But this is a rainforest area, completely different from those flat plains where dangers cannot be hidden. If someone wants to hide, they can just stand behind any tree and disappear without a trace - unless that person is the famous Paladin Niu Baiwan, even if he is buried firmly in a grave, I am afraid he will not be able to hide.
Some crazy people say that the continent under our feet is round, and on the other side of the earth, other people are walking and living with their feet facing each other. The key question that has always bothered me is: if we bury the cow head down in the ground, will his "big name" (which is really big) pop up from the other side of the earth?
And now, the most conspicuous human flesh... sorry, beef... target in history is standing next to me. His name is almost higher than the tallest tree in the rain forest. With him by our side, we will never have to worry about the safety of our lives - because it is definitely not safe.
The fact is that we are walking with the easiest target and passing through the most dangerous area in the enemy-occupied area. How can I enjoy this journey comfortably? I kept looking around with the telescope, my neck was almost broken, and the tense nerves in my head were on the verge of breaking. If conditions allowed, I would even want to set fire to the whole forest and burn it to ashes, so that I could feel more at ease.
Because I had always been worried about the unfounded danger, I felt relieved when a human manor suddenly appeared before us.
To be precise, this place can only be considered as a manor. On both sides of a three-story building, there is a two-story corner tower, and there are several small houses scattered around. In front of the building are the stables, pig pens and farms. The farm is in a mess, as if it had just been swept by a hurricane. Wheat and various vegetables are growing listlessly, and I really can't have much hope for their harvest this year. However, there are still many crops growing on the farm, mostly potatoes or sweet potatoes that grow underground, so they are well preserved.
The manor was surrounded by tall fences, with only one gate open to the south. The reason why I was so sure that this was a "human manor" was that when we passed by, we happened to see its busy owners - a group of farmers, grooms, blacksmiths, and barbers in simple work clothes who were rushing to the manor gate one after another to resist the attack of more than twenty corrupt people.
Most of these part-time soldiers who had been put together to protect their homes were wielding ridiculous weapons: a big-armed woman with a big face almost twice as wide as mine, covered with words, wearing a cook's uniform, wielding a thick rolling pin in her left hand and a kitchen knife no smaller than an ordinary axe in her right hand, was at the front of the team. An old farmer in his fifties, wearing a straw hat, stood behind the fat cook, holding a huge dung fork in both hands, and the fork head was dripping with sticky brown juice when it was wielded. In addition, there were also strange and powerful weapons such as rakes, razors, and plowshares. A teenager even held a pile of horseshoes as hidden weapons and threw them at these evil spirits who had escaped from death, and the lethality was quite considerable.
A blonde girl in a white gauze dress stood behind the group. She should be a priest. She kept using holy magic to heal the wounded on her side. From time to time, she also cast an offensive spell to repel the invading corrupted. It was really difficult for me to measure her magic level from her performance: her magic was fired one after another from her white hands without any pause, as if she never had to worry about running out of magic. It stands to reason that the believers of God with such abundant magic should have mastered those powerful spells long ago, but this girl kept using the most basic and simplest spells such as "Healing" and "Holy Strike". It seemed that she only knew these two magics.
It turns out that in this world, it is not only those space travelers who can travel freely through time and space who possess magical secrets. Sometimes, some incredible and strange phenomena will happen to the seemingly simple and dull natives, such as: this pastor lady whose magic power is as abundant as the sea - and the native who is observing her and does not look like a native at all - me.
As a group of brave and conscientious adventurers, it is our duty to help our trapped compatriots out of danger. Without any hesitation, we brandished our weapons at the first moment, shouting loudly and killing the corrupt people who attacked the manor.
This was not a difficult battle. Although our enemies numbered more than twenty, they had already formed a certain balance with the guardians of the manor, and neither could truly destroy the other.
Our joining completely broke this balance, forcing these twenty or so corrupted ones into a dilemma of being attacked from both sides. They were completely unprepared for our attack and were caught off guard right from the start. After only three encounters, a corrupted one whose vitality had already been damaged fell under my sword. My comrades also selected their own opponents and fought with them.
Now, in front of me, more than twenty undead monsters were crowded together, sticking their butts out and trying desperately to break into the manor gate, with their backs facing me without any defense. For a warrior, such a golden opportunity to kill the enemy was simply a luxury. I rushed to their side in one step, and without hesitation used the "Blade Storm" combat skill , launching a fierce attack on the three corrupted ones in front of me. One of them had been hit by the horseshoe of the shepherd boy and had less than 200 health points left. He didn't even last five seconds under my hands before he returned to death. My long sword immediately rolled towards the fourth enemy. While I was attacking him, he was also being ravaged by the fat cook's rolling pin. Under the alternating attacks of the two of us, this unfortunate guy had no idea who was a greater threat to him. He faced me for a while, and then turned to the cook aunt. He didn't organize any decent counterattack at all, and was soon beaten into a pile of broken bones by our joint efforts.
Within the 15-second usage time limit of "Blade Storm", I sent five Corrupted Ones back to the secret realm of death one after another, and my comrades' performance was not much worse than mine. Soon, when the last stubborn skeleton monster fell under the shadow arrow of the Orc Warlock, this unexpected encounter finally came to an end.
After the enemies were destroyed, the residents of the manor cheered and celebrated their victory, and then returned to their homes in high spirits. We were happy to find that with the return of the residents, this dilapidated manor has actually restored some of the normal functions of an ordinary village. We can repair our damaged equipment in the blacksmith shop, and we can also buy some delicious dishes that can temporarily increase various attributes in the food store. The best thing is that we can actually buy many large doses of life potions from the pharmacist here, and we are just worried about the powerful opponents we may encounter on the road ahead - you know, before this, the reckless behavior of the orc chieftain Hondos really made us lose a lot of potions.
However, the price index here is so high that it is shocking.
"This is simply robbery. Eighteen silver coins for a bottle of life potion? It's three times higher than the market price! It's a pity that we helped these guys kill those undead. If we had known this would happen, we should have helped those undead to kill all these stingy people!" Ding Ding Xiaoge was extremely angry about the residents' immoral behavior of crossing the river and demolishing the bridge.
The gray-haired pharmacist raised his eyes with disdain, not even looking at the half-orc warlock. He ignored Ding Ding Xiaoge's vicious curse. Judging from his expression, perhaps this was not the first time he had heard such a curse. His expression vividly explained his attitude at the moment:
If you have the guts, don’t buy potions!
Considering the dangerous mission we are about to complete and the powerful enemies we may face, this is simply a simple two-choice question of "money or life". I would like to tell you that an adventurer with a strong character will never be coerced by others to do something that goes against his principles, but the cruel reality tells us that in front of despicable businessmen, even the greatest adventurer is no better than a lamb to be slaughtered.
Walking out of the pharmacist's house, Tintin Xiaoge looked as if he had just been robbed - and in a sense, that was exactly the case.
…
After everything was ready, we were not in a hurry to leave this human manor deep in the enemy-occupied area. The owner of this manor, Miss Lemore, the human female priest with blonde hair and white clothes, kept us and begged us to do her a favor.
"Warriors, thank you for helping my manor escape from danger. Please accept this small reward first, so that I can have the opportunity to express my gratitude."
We must admit that Miss Lemoire's conversational skills are very good. Before making a request, she generously gave us a little sweetness. If we accept the favor, it will be difficult for us to refuse the task she will entrust to us.
"...As you can see, I am now the owner of this manor. But in fact, it belongs to my brother, Baron Bink. Originally, this was a beautiful place, but just a few months ago, everything changed. The army of the Doomsday Empire broke through the front line of defense and took control of this area..."
"...Since that time, many strange changes have occurred in this area. More and more corrupted people have gathered together, attacking our people and destroying our estates. The strangest thing is that these corrupted people are highly toxic, and it is difficult for anyone who is harmed by them to survive. This kind of thing has never happened before..."
"...My brother felt that this was a dangerous conspiracy. He investigated from many sources and finally determined the source of all this, which was the Gravel Fortress located in the southwest. He took away all the guards guarding the manor, wanting to stop the plan of the Doomsday Empire Army..."
"...But he has been gone for seven days and there is no news. If you can see him, please tell him that everything is safe at home. I will do everything in my power to protect our home..."
"...If..." Miss Lemoire hesitated when she said this. Her resolute and brave expression suddenly became a little weak, and a few tears appeared in the corners of her eyes. "...If you really saw my brother, if...he is still alive, I beg you to tell me the news about him. I...I miss him very much, we...need him..."
Miss Lemoire lowered her head deeply, and a crystal gem dripped in front of her feet, wetting the ground under her feet.
This is a gentle and strong noble lady. In such a turbulent and dangerous place, this dilapidated manor is like a small boat in a hurricane, weak and helpless, and may be submerged at any time. But even so, this young lady bravely took on the responsibility of defending it and led her people to resist the threat of destruction time and time again.
However, she didn't really want that. When facing a strong enemy, she could also feel fear, and she also hoped to hide behind her brother and receive the protection and love of others. She didn't want to be a strong protector and fight for the lives of others.
And I think this is true courage.
Whether a person is brave or not is not determined by how many enemies he has defeated, but by what kind of responsibilities he bears, whether he can overcome his cowardice and weakness and face his mission without evasion.
And all of this was done by the respectable lady in front of me. She carried all the responsibilities on her weak shoulders and brought hope of life to those who followed her. I don't know if anyone can do better than her in this situation - at least I know I can't. I am just a cowardly and mediocre warrior. Although I am not afraid to risk my life to fight against the most powerful enemy, I definitely don't have the courage to take on the lives of dozens of people.
I have nothing but respect for such a brave lady.
Who could refuse such a request? Who could refuse such a respectable lady? At this moment, I even felt that if we refused the commission, we would be committing a crime - a cowardly crime that spurned courage and violated responsibility.
What's more, completing this task is a piece of cake for us, as the Gravel Fortress was originally the goal of our trip.
"Please rest assured that we will deliver your message. May the Most High God bless you, and your loved ones will be safe and sound."
