Fairy Tale: Little Red Riding Hood's Wolf Mentor

Chapter 176 Chaos and Conflict
The setting sun shines on the muddy land, and tire tracks crisscross the ground.

In the distance, several teams of carriages came from the center of the dim road. Most of them carried broken equipment and weapons. There were also some refugees following them, who were ragged and had scars on their bodies.

But when they saw the forest not far away, their bloodshot eyes revealed a hint of relief at having survived the disaster.

As evening approached, a group of people were resting on the roadside not far away.

Seeing this, Lake and others also walked forward.

Seeing Lake walking into the crowd, everyone in the camp showed some vigilance, but after taking a closer look, they relaxed.

In their opinion, a little girl like this would not pose much of a threat.

And in the shadows in the corner, whispers were heard.

A few skinny men looked at the gorgeous hilt of the Star Killer Sword next to Lake's delicate arm, greed in their eyes.

But with the appearance of Poro, the greed in their eyes disappeared completely——

After all, in the current environment, no one is sure to face such a powerful "hound" with just a little wound.

Diseases and infections will take the lives of most people!
"Sir, where are you from? What happened in the place you came from?"

A man with fairly neat clothes, who looked to be the leader of the caravan, was sitting by the fire.

In this camp, such businessmen always have much more knowledge than others.

Lake walked forward and handed over a bottle of fine wine that Poro had manifested through [Ring Return: Dessert Feast].

The man took it with some surprise, took a sip, his eyes lit up and he showed a look of surprise.

"Little girl, this wine tastes good. It shouldn't be from our side. You should be from the other side of the Biwei Kingdom, right?"

"Yes."

Lake nodded, although she still had a lot of gold and silver coins on her at this time.

But after many lessons, Lake learned the principle of "not showing off your wealth". In crowded places, it is much better to offer some wine as a reward for requests like asking for directions rather than exposing the gold and silver.

"I was asked by a friend to go to Goethe's Kingdom to deliver something."

Lake continued, Goethe's Kingdom was the kingdom that the golden bird knew and the one she was going to.

"Goethe's Kingdom..."

The caravan leader drank his wine and carefully pronounced the country's name. Then he looked at Lake in surprise. "That country is quite far away. Are you going there? Or are you delivering something for a friend?"

The caravan leader took another sip, looked Lake up and down with his cloudy eyes, sighed, and continued, "Little girl, listen to me, don't go. Now, if you are alone, don't go no matter how much money you get - you are going to die!"

"To die? Why do you say that?"

Lake asked with some confusion.

"Look at us, and those—"

The caravan leader pointed to some caravan guards who were resting beside the carriage. Many of them were still wrapped in bandages.

The armor had some scratches on it.

In the shadows farther away, some refugees following the caravan were even more ragged and skinny.

"Is it because of the war?"

Lake opened her eyes wide and asked tentatively.

"Yes, it was a war, a huge war that has never been recorded in history books!"

The caravan leader shook his head and looked at the wine in his hand. Although he was the leader of a caravan, he had only drunk this level of wine very rarely.

"The countries of Zhongzhou are the most populous places. In the past, one country after another prospered through commerce, with a wide variety of goods, specialties, delicacies... everything available.

But now, the war has come, and everything has changed in one day.

All countries are fighting against each other. In the past, they got along very well, but now they have broken up completely!

The Goethe Kingdom you are going to is separated from where we are now by two warring kingdoms."

"Huh, so that's it."

Lake thought for a moment and said, "Then I just need to avoid those battlefields, right?"

"If only it were that simple."

The caravan leader's words, influenced by the alcohol, became a little hazy, "Those soldiers who were defeated, fled, or even still serving are no longer there to protect anything.

With swords in their hands, they began to be driven by dark desires in the midst of killing.

They are not safe, they have become wild wolves that have run away from us, bandits and thieves—you know what? Bandits with armor, swords, and crossbows!

"The soldiers...have all become bandits?"

Lake was stunned for a moment, and then thought of the Kingdom of Boren and its disciplined army.

If they slaughtered civilians out of selfish desires rather than for defense, the damage they could cause would be even greater than that of the giants!
"Yes, little girl, for the sake of your bottle of wine, I'll give you a piece of advice!"

The caravan leader shook the bottle and was reluctant to drink the remaining half all at once, so he naturally withdrew his hand and put the bottle into his arms.

Then, he looked at Lake, shook his head, and said with some pride:

"I've been doing business in this damn place for many years, and I've met a lot of people. I've also met a lot of girls like you—"

As he spoke, he looked at Lake and the green-eyed Poro beside her and said:
“Let me guess…

You have a slender figure, your clothes are made of good material, your weapons are flashy, and your fingers are white and smooth without any calluses.

You were born into a noble family and practiced a lot of swordsmanship. Feeling that you were powerful enough, you wanted to become a mercenary.

Then, you're so ignorant and want to prove yourself, so you take an order that no one wants, and then you want to deliver something to a place you're not familiar with, right?"

The caravan leader spoke under the influence of alcohol, hoping to see the frail girl in front of him show a look of fear as if she had been seen through.

But Lake blinked.

Although the caravan leader had strong observation skills and logical reasoning, he unexpectedly and reasonably got a result that was almost "completely wrong".

"Um, sir, I still want to know something about the Goethe Kingdom and the surrounding countries. Of course, if you have a map, I can exchange it for something..."

"Hey, little girl, did you listen to me?"

The caravan leader showed a slightly disappointed expression and said in a somewhat didactic tone, "The wars among the countries in Zhongzhou right now are not comparable to the petty conflicts in your places."

"What's the war like there? I've seen war before. What's the big deal? Just stay away from it, right?"

Lake was a little helpless, but still asked according to the caravan leader's words.

"Oh, a little girl like you, what you have seen before are just small fights. Let me tell you - just yesterday, I led this team out of a big battle.

If we were any slower, we would have been slaughtered along with the town!"

As the caravan leader spoke, he stood up slightly, took out a shield from under his butt, and gestured to Lake.

The surface of the shield was covered with deep sword marks.

"See? If I hadn't blocked a robber's knife with my shield, my head wouldn't be here now—"

The caravan leader raised his eyebrows at Lake as he spoke. "Can your sword, which looks like just a decoration, block such an attack?"

"If I can block it, right..."

Lake didn't explain, but just asked again, "Can you only sell me a map?" "Tsk, little girl, you still don't understand. The wars launched by those crazy countries are even more terrible than you can imagine!
Now you have to turn back, go back to your hometown, stay there quietly and be a young lady - this is the best choice."

The caravan leader glared, then raised his hand and pointed to a man over two meters tall in the camp not far away.

The man had a muscular upper body and was wearing armored pants on his lower body.

He leaned over, grabbed a piece of rock with his palm as big as a palm fan, and his arm muscles became thicker. With a roar, he lifted the huge rock, showing his arm strength.

The other caravan guards on the side also shouted loudly and clapped their hands.

"Did you see that? That's our caravan's strongest guard. He can defeat five or six fully armed fighters by himself!"

The caravan leader's eyes flashed with pride, and he looked at Lake, "You are only as tall as his waist, how can you survive?

But our caravan had such power, but we still decided to leave.

This is because those countries at war have gone crazy, and the power they mobilize is absolutely beyond your imagination.

That is something that no mortal can resist!
Don't even think about seeing them, because when you see those countries unleashing their destructive power, you'll realize that even the hope of survival has become slim to none!"

"The power of destruction?"

Lake was stunned for a moment. After hearing the caravan leader's last words, she asked, "What is that?"

“The King of Sri, with just one horse, slaughtered thousands of armored soldiers in less than an hour, leaving no survivors to witness how he did it.

And this Kingdom of Sri is one of the two warring countries you will encounter when you go to the Kingdom of Goethe!

In other countries further away, most of those who are still alive now have mastered powers that are beyond the reach of ordinary people.

There was a kingdom that built steel battleships that flew in the sky.

There is a king of a kingdom, driving the devil hounds of hell.

And magic is no longer a mysterious thing to those powerful nations that survived the war!

Little girl, don't think that just because you have a sword in your hand, you are a strong person! "

The caravan leader waved his hand, as if he was a little tired. He took out a map from the servant beside him and unfolded it to take a look.
"Ordinary people, even if you are fully armed, you are still an ordinary person."

After checking the map in his hand, the caravan leader slowly rolled it up again and handed it to Lake, "Little girl, I'm only trying to persuade you because of your wine.

Don't lose your life for a small gain, you can't buy it.

I’ve given you the map. If you want to die, go there by yourself—”

Lake took the map and thanked him softly.

The caravan leader's last words made her put away her contempt.

Although she now has the power, she absolutely cannot do such a thing as slaughtering thousands of armored soldiers in less than an hour and leaving no one alive!

Seeing Lake accept the map and about to leave, the caravan leader thought for a moment and said:
"Little girl, you can rest here in our camp tonight and think about it."

The caravan leader looked up at the sky and continued, "If you go any further, you'll be in the war zone. It's not safe at night."

"Uh, thank you sir."

Lake smiled and stopped. She and Poro had not originally planned to stay in the camp, but now it seemed that the leader of the caravan, although a little arrogant, was indeed a kind person.

"Well, if there hadn't been any war, my daughter would be about your age now."

A hint of sadness flashed in the caravan leader's eyes, and he continued:

"Don't worry, the guards of my caravan are all good men, you can rest assured tonight—"

But at this moment, a loud whistle was heard in the darkness outside the caravan, interrupting the caravan leader's words!
Lake and Poro looked in the direction of the sound.

In the woods not far away, a patrol soldier from a caravan was anxiously galloping towards them.

"It's the Bru! It's the Bru—alert! Alert—"

The caravan guard waved his arms and shouted loudly.

In the camp, those who were just resting, whether they were civilians or other caravan guards, had already grasped their armor, swords and guns after hearing the whistle.

Then, he began to put on his armor in a hurry.

"What? It's the Bru?!"

The caravan leader, who was about to return to the tent, widened his eyes at this moment, and several guards stepped forward to protect him.

He also took his own shield in his hand.

For a moment, everyone was on high alert, but Poro and Lake still keenly noticed that each of them showed a panic from the inside out.

Their hands holding their weapons trembled and they talked among themselves.

"Aren't those Bulu people supposed to be at war with the Sri Kingdom?! Why...why are they here!?"

"Assholes, they must be rebels from the Blue Kingdom!"

"Thank God, they are just passing by..."

"Maybe I'm mistaken. They might just be some roving bandits. They wouldn't dare to attack a caravan as large as ours..."

The caravan leader glanced at Lake, and the casualness he had shown earlier in the chat had subsided. He simply explained to Lake briefly:

“The Kingdom of Bulu is the country ahead of you on your way, at war with the Kingdom of Sri.

But they are on the verge of national destruction... If their troops appear here, they must be defecting troops.

However, this kind of army poses the greatest threat to ordinary people like us!"

After saying this, the caravan leader began to look at the dark forest not far away without saying a word.

The caravan sentry holding a torch is rapidly approaching——

The flickering flames illuminated his face, which was distorted with fear.

Closer!
The sound of horse hooves is getting closer!
Everyone in the camp could clearly see the sentry's face shining with sweat.

"Uh-"

But the next moment, a muffled groan suddenly came from the sentry post!
In full view of everyone, his body froze, and he and his horse rolled to the ground!
Blood oozes from his mouth and nose—

Everyone saw it clearly. Just a few seconds ago, a black crossbow arrow pierced through the sentry's chest!

"That is how the matter!?"

"who is it--"

Under the horrified gaze of everyone in the camp.

In the shadow of the woods not far away, an outline reflecting silver light appeared, and their figures became clear. They were a team of cavalrymen. The surface of their gray armor was covered with crisscrossing scratches and thick, indelible reddish-brown bloodstains.

The leader had a helmet without a visor.

His scarred and bloodthirsty face was exposed and he sneered.

Behind him, more weapons cut through the shadows.

A tattered flag, spread out in a tattered state, had a blue crown painted on it - that was the emblem of the Kingdom of Bru.

(End of this chapter)