Chapter 285: A 10-Man Squad, the Iron Ratmen's Attack
Heavy rain had been frequent in Kalinxia lately.
Sometimes, the sky would be clear and vast, only for a large swathe of dark clouds to drift in from nowhere, bringing a torrential downpour.
Such was the climate.
Enri had no choice but to carry an umbrella with her at all times. Treading on the still-damp ground, she made her way toward the potion workshop.
"The weather in the Holy Kingdom is so fickle," Enri thought to herself. Seeing a small puddle ahead, she pushed off with her front foot and leaped over it.
Splash!
The tall figure of the Evil Spirit Hound followed leisurely behind Enri, carelessly stepping into the puddle and splashing up a spray of muddy water.
"Xiao Hei, you've gotten your paws dirty again," Enri said with a headache upon seeing this.
"Awooo," the Evil Spirit Hound responded lazily.
Drip... drip-drop...
Drip-drop—
The sky darkened, and rain began to fall without any warning.
Enri hurriedly took out her umbrella, opened it, and held it over her head. "Why is it raining again?"
Pedestrians on the street also opened their umbrellas one after another, and voices of complaint and annoyance rose from the crowd.
The street became somewhat chaotic due to the rain. Enri gripped her umbrella with both hands and walked forward. Under the intimidating presence of the Evil Spirit Hound, the pedestrians on the street voluntarily cleared a path wherever she went.
"I'm a bit late today. I need to get to the workshop quickly and deliver the potion. I can't keep the customer waiting," Enri thought, and her pace quickened.
Back in the Kingdom, she always sold potions together with Miss Cui Ye. However, the people of the Holy Kingdom weren't very fond of demi-humans.
To prevent any trouble, the Evil Spirit Hound now accompanied her.
"Not all demi-humans are bad people."
"Is this the 'prejudice' that the Lord mentioned?" Enri had always felt that although Miss Cui Ye was a bit cold, she was a very good person.
The sudden shower came as quickly as it went.
Just as the potion workshop came into view, the dark clouds in the sky had already receded.
According to the residents of Kalinxia, this season was always rainy. The Holy Kingdom was surrounded by sea on three sides, and some abnormal weather always occurred each year.
She quickened her pace.
Enri arrived at the entrance of the potion workshop. After a moment's hesitation, she signaled for the Evil Spirit Hound to wait outside before stepping into the workshop.
Carrying an alchemical potion to sell inside another potion workshop—Enri was naturally not there to provoke anyone. It was because this was the location designated by the trader.
A solemn atmosphere permeated the potion workshop.
Ten figures in gray raincoats stood silently in the great hall. With Enri's arrival, they all turned to look at her in unison.
Facing the gazes of so many people.
Enri, who had just stepped into the workshop, paused and said in a small voice, "I'm here to deliver the potions."
One of the figures stepped out from the group. He was a middle-aged man with a conspicuous, finger-length scar on his face.
"We've troubled you. Where are the potions?"
The scarred man first sized up Enri, then spoke indifferently.
Enri quickly took out 20 bottles of Regeneration Potion from the Magical Leather Pouch at her waist and said calmly, "Here are your potions."
Having experienced so much, Enri was no longer the timid and cautious village girl she had been when she first left Carne Village.
These 10 people seemed a bit like adventurers.
Judging by their attire, there were Rangers and Rogues among them.
Enri quickly sized them up, muttering to herself inwardly.
Then again, they didn't seem like real adventurers. They were more like the elite soldiers one often encountered in Kalinxia.
"Twenty bottles? That's it?" The scarred man frowned, turned his head to a figure beside him, and called out, "Check them."
Another young man, also wearing a raincoat, stepped out from the group. He took the 20 potions from Enri's hands, raised his palm towards a bottle, and began chanting in a low voice:
"Item Appraisal."
A shimmer of magic power flashed.
A surprised expression appeared on the young man's face.
"What's wrong?"
"There's no problem. This is the first time I've ever seen a healing potion like this. Its effect is even better than the rumors say. It might really save our lives at a critical moment."
Hearing this.
A smile also appeared on the scarred man's face. He looked at Enri. "That's good. How many gold coins in total?"
Enri immediately replied, "10 gold coins per bottle, for a total of 200 gold coins."
"What!"
"So cheap? The price I heard about was not this low." The young man holding the potions looked up abruptly, his expression one of disbelief. Then, as if realizing something:
"As expected of Mr. Pavel. To think he has so much influence."
Pavel?
That's the tall, thin soldier chief with sharp, somewhat frightening eyes who occasionally visits Lord Captain.
"That's not it at all!"
Enri raised her head and said seriously, "The potions made by our Captain have always been this price. It's just that the people who buy the potions resell them at a higher price."
"The number of high-grade Regeneration Potions that our Captain can make each day is extremely small. This time, our Captain only accepted the commission because Lord Pavel requested it."
"Our Captain stayed up all night to make these for you," Enri said, a hint of dissatisfaction in her tone.
Upon hearing these words.
The ten figures in raincoats exchanged glances. Some were expressionless, some looked displeased, and one let out a soft chuckle.
"Please thank your Captain for me. If I can still live..." the young man began, looking at Enri and speaking gently, but he stopped mid-sentence.
"Ahem!" The scarred man coughed.
"Haha." The young man let out a hearty laugh, while the expressions on the other figures' faces varied.
"Everything is ready. Everyone, it's time for us to go," the scarred man said flatly.
After accepting the payment of gold coins.
Enri watched strangely as the group in gray raincoats disappeared down the street, then she too turned to leave, returning with the Evil Spirit Hound.
Inside the Inn.
Tang Zheng sat on the sofa, looking at the prices of crops and meat he had copied down, lost in thought.
"Enri is back."
"Those people didn't go through the fortress wall. Instead, they left Kalinxia," the Green Leaf Witch reported softly, standing respectfully to the side.
"Taking the sea route?"
Tang Zheng wasn't surprised. He waved his hand dismissively. "They plan on using the caravans' trade routes to infiltrate the hills."
"Let's hope these people can make it back alive."
The Green Leaf Witch's bright yellow eyes flickered. It seemed her Master believed that these people would likely not return alive.
Even if her Master didn't intervene.
With their power, they wouldn't be able to gather any useful information at all. Or rather, any information they could gather would only be what her Master wanted them to know.
Abelion Hills.
The southern region.
Usually, upon entering the third month, the hills should have been abundant with rain. Yet, there was no sign of it at all. Not only that, but the sun was blazing high in the sky.
Although winter had just ended, it already felt scorching hot.
"Kill!"
"Slaughter these ogres!"
"Take everything for me!"
"..."
Tumultuous battle cries echoed through the sky, intertwined with the furious roars of the ogres.
A torrent of gray and brown clashed as a savage slaughter erupted in the mountain forest. Blood and chunks of flesh flew everywhere, emitting a thick, bloody aura.
Fighting the ogres was a group of gray demi-humans with a rat-like appearance, a bipedal demi-human race.
This was a powerful race in the hills—the Iron Ratmen!
Bang!
An ogre swung the sturdy wooden club in its hand, forcefully striking an Iron Ratman on the head and smashing it to the ground on the spot.
However!
To the ogre's astonishment, the Iron Ratman merely shook its head and climbed back up from the ground.
"It hurts like hell! I'll tear you to shreds!" the Iron Ratman shrieked in pain as it raised its sharp claws and pounced on the ogre's chest.
The claws swung up and down!
The ogre was instantly disemboweled, as the Iron Ratman brutally bored through its chest and emerged from the other side.
The foul-smelling red blood dripped down the Iron Ratman's gray fur, which shimmered with a metallic luster. Against the backdrop of blood, its already crimson eyes became exceptionally ferocious.
Iron Ratmen were born with steel-like fur, which made both their teeth and claws extremely sharp and hard.
At the same time, it also granted them a relatively high resistance to physical attacks.
The powerful ogres had little ability to resist these Iron Ratmen, especially since the number of Iron Ratmen far exceeded that of the ogres. They had clearly come prepared.
In just a few moments.
Dozens of ogres were completely slaughtered, while the Iron Ratmen lost only seven or eight of their own kind.
Cheers echoed through the forest.
The numerous Iron Ratmen began to clean the battlefield, which meant taking away the corpses. At the same time, the food that the ogres had been transporting was also taken away by the group of Iron Ratmen.
For over a month.
The commotion caused by the large-scale food transactions between the ogres and humans had attracted the attention of the Iron Ratmen, whose territory was also in the southern part of the hills.
As one of the twelve great demi-human races of the hills, the Iron Ratmen were not a rare race like the Demonkin; they possessed an enormous population.
This attack was not a spontaneous act but part of a long-premeditated plan.
At this very moment!
An Iron Ratman force of about eight hundred was currently storming the ogre stronghold.
"Hand over all the food!"
"Stupid ogres, how dare you conduct transactions with humans."
"You have betrayed the hills!"
An excited roar bellowed from the mouth of an Iron Ratman with a belt-like magic item tied around its waist, its crimson eyes filled with greed.
Bang!
An ogre charged over from a distance, but before it could even get close, the Iron Ratman swung its claws and easily dismembered it. The strength of the two was clearly not on the same level.
"Haven't you found the storage location of the food yet?" This Iron Ratman flung the blood from its claws and glanced impatiently at the two Iron Ratmen beside it, who were constantly sniffing the air.
"Tribe Leader, these ogres seem to have used some method to conceal the smell of the food," one Iron Ratman said cautiously.
"Don't worry, Tribe Leader, the food is nearby." The other Iron Ratman sniffed the air forcefully, speaking with great certainty.
"Ah!"
"Ah!" Suddenly, the screams of its tribesmen rang out from not far away.
The Iron Ratman Tribe Leader froze for a moment, then narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction of the screams.
And there!
In the direction where the screams had come from, three Superior Species, their bodies far larger than a normal ogre's, were striding toward them.
(end of chapter)