Fairy Tale: Little Red Riding Hood's Wolf Mentor

Chapter 184: Endless War
"This map is quite good. It records the route to the Kingdom of Goethe..."

Lake closed the map in her hand and looked at the stall owner in front of her.

"Two copper coins."

The boss opened his mouth and quoted a price, but seeing his inexplicably guilty and evasive look, Lake realized that this vendor must be hiding some information about the map.

"I'll give you five silver coins, and you don't need to change the rest."

Lake placed five silver coins in front of the vendor and asked directly in the vendor's surprised eyes:

"Is there anything else about this map that you haven't told me?"

The peddler took the silver coin, hesitated for a moment, took the map back from Lake's hand, took out another map from the bottom of the box on the other side, and handed it to Lake somewhat embarrassedly.

Lake opened the map. The only difference between the new map and the old one was that there were some more manually drawn lines on the map.

There are also some new tags.

"These extra ones are..."

"I'm sorry, Miss. Although the first map wasn't old, it's still quite outdated for the current situation. I had a hard time getting this new one..."

"Is it because of the war?"

"Yes, the war. Those countries have blocked many trade routes. There are many places where fighting is possible, and the borders of countries are constantly changing. Most importantly, no matter which country the soldiers are from, they are all crazy and only know how to kill..."

The merchant's eyes dimmed a little as he looked at the silver coins given by Lake.

Even in the midst of war, these silver coins were worth more than his somewhat crude map. He stretched out his finger and pointed at several marks on the map.

"This is the Sri Kingdom, which is right next to the Bru Kingdom. Fighting is going on almost every border. Last week, the Bell Kingdom was annexed in a battle, so the Sri Kingdom's borders have expanded."

"This is one of the focal points of several wars marked nearby...it's very dangerous."

"Oh right, maybe it won't be long before the Blue Kingdom will disappear—swallowed by the Sri Kingdom... Oh my god, if it were in the past, I would never have imagined that the Sri Kingdom could be so powerful."

As the vendor spoke, he moved his finger down a little, pointing to another border line.

Both Lake and Poro opened their eyes wide, because this was the route they had planned from the beginning to advance towards the Goethe Kingdom.

But on the new map, this part of the area is covered with another color, and an arrow is drawn connecting to the location of a country next to it.

"This place was originally the territory of the Goethe Kingdom, but now, it has been... occupied."

"occupied?!"

Lake's eyes widened. Looking at the map, the occupied area was almost half of the country!
In the Goethe Kingdom, apart from the capital, there are almost no large cities. Even Lake and Poro, who don't know much about military affairs, can see it.

This wasn't just a disadvantage; the Goethe Kingdom they were heading to was now under siege?!
"In war, there are always countries that are occupied. Weaker countries lose territory. That makes sense, right?... Isn't that the case with us Blue?"

The vendor looked at Lake's expression, stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, "Oh, I see. You want to... go to the Goethe Kingdom? Are you from Goethe?"

Then he showed a look of regret.

"Okay, but I advise you not to go. The Sri Kingdom is okay. After all, they believe in God and they probably won't kill people. But the Weiser Kingdom is different..."

"no the same?"

Lake was stunned for a moment.

"I don't know the details. I just heard that their king is like... Lord Dante or Marshal Giles. He only cares about war and that kind of thing."

Like Bluebeard?!

Shouldn't just one person like this be enough to bring disaster to the world?!
"Well, I don't know much about it, but Weiser is said to be so crazy... that they're conscripting soldiers from every citizen's home. Even passersby will be kidnapped by Weiser soldiers and forced to serve as cannon fodder on the battlefield."

The vendor scratched his head and said, but then he looked at Lake and Poro and shrugged:

"Honestly, if you want to go to the Kingdom of Weiser, this map and I are of no help to you. The current situation..."

As the merchant thought about this, he stood up and carefully put the five silver coins back into his purse.

For a merchant of his size, five silver coins was a rare price.

"However, I do know someone who might be able to help you... but he's become much more cautious now and might not necessarily bring in strangers."

When Lake heard this, her eyes lit up and she took out another silver coin from her arms and handed it to the merchant.

The merchant's eyes lit up, and he took the silver coin and looked at Lake. His expression became a little embarrassed. He coughed and changed the subject:

"Don't worry, I guarantee that this time, that guy won't reject you!

Uh...it's not that I'm greedy, I'm actually planning to move away, to the Biwei Kingdom, or somewhere further away, and I'm just...a little short of money."

"It's okay. I'll trouble you with the introduction."

Lake said as she bowed politely.

……

Outside Dante's territory, on a rarely traveled path, a convoy was waiting in the woods.

There are many mercenaries wearing armor and holding weapons in the team.

There were also some people dressed differently, looking a little shaken, and some people who covered their faces and did not want their identities to be revealed.

In the front was a man wearing armor and puffing out smoke.

He looked at Lake and the vendor walking towards him.

"My dear, this lady is the new guest you brought here?"

The man saw Lake, put down his pipe and asked.

"Of course. I can guarantee that this young lady is definitely not a dangerous person and will not reveal anything to outsiders."

The peddler walked towards the man, opened his arms and hugged him, then handed a silver coin to the man.

"You should be leaving this week too, right?"

The man asked as he stuffed the silver coin into his pocket with some surprise.

"Yeah, I'll never see you again."

The vendor smiled.

The man shook his head, was silent for a while, and spat on the ground:
"Damn war! If it weren't for this damn war, would I be here doing the smuggling business now? Hey."

After saying that, he walked towards Lake, looked at the carriage behind Lake, and nodded:

"You don't need to know my name, just know that everyone here is just like you, and our destination is the Kingdom of Goethe.

Maybe he has someone he has to meet, maybe he's a spy from some country, or maybe he's just crazy and wants to get rich...

In short, there's nothing special about it. If you trust me, just follow me."

As they were talking, people came from the woods nearby from time to time. Some of them were riding horses, and some were walking.

But unlike Lake, they all stopped in front of the man first and handed him an envelope.

"You don't need to ask others about their destination or their identity, just like others don't know your identity."

The man opened an envelope, looked at the contents, nodded, and threw the envelope into the fire at his feet.

The person who handed over the envelope walked into the line and waited.

The man looked at Lake again:
"Normally, I'd need to know your identity, purpose, and so on to assess the danger—but from what I see, you're probably some noble lady from somewhere? Or something similar.

I won’t ask.”

The man looked at Lake and nodded, then looked at Lake's carriage.

This carriage, which had been used all the way from the Kingdom of Boren, was not damaged. The many Boren-style paintings on it were only slightly worn.

"Your carriage is a bit out of place. Don't use it. Sell the horses and use our carriage."

The man pointed to a caravan nearby. Most of the carriages in the caravan were of the same style, sporting the same caravan emblem.

"By the way, you also have to pay for the fare. Five silver coins—this price is not high."

The man held up five fingers again and said, "I am a noble in both the Kingdom of Weiser and the Kingdom of Sri, so I am qualified to do this job."

Lake looked a little embarrassed when she heard this. Just when the man thought that Lake was embarrassed because of the fare, Lake took out a gold coin from her purse and put it in the man's hand:
"I don't want to sell these two horses just yet. I promised the buyer that if I must buy them, I must first find a good buyer..."

The man looked at the gold coin in his hand in shock and bit it with his teeth.

Then, the arrogant look on his face faded, revealing a kind expression, "Oh, of course, of course it can be--"

As he spoke, he waved to a driver on the other side and said loudly, "Hey, unload the goods in car number seven and leave the frame to this lady--"

"Boss, isn't carriage number seven the newest..."

"That's right, that's it, no more nonsense!"

The money was in place, and in less than a few minutes, Lake saw the carriage and changed into a new carriage.

The leading man's expression also became much more respectful, and he nodded to Lake:

"Miss, you know that this happened because of the war. When you arrive in the Kingdom of Weiser, please reduce your appearances or conversations. That country may have gone a little crazy right now.

Although I am a Viscount of the Kingdom of Weser, I, like everyone else, do not want the Kingdom of Weser to win."

As the man spoke, he arranged Lake's carriage to a position closer to the front of the convoy.

Lake noticed that there were a lot of mercenaries near this location—

This means that this location is relatively safe.

"Brother, who are they? Travelers shouldn't come up here, right? Do we have to hire guards to protect them?"

Seeing Lake's carriage coming to the front, a young man walked out of a carriage in the front and frowned.

"Go back, it's none of your business—this guy is the sponsor, please show some respect!"

But the leader's face turned cold, and he raised his foot and kicked the young man.

The young man's face darkened, but he didn't dare to refute. He looked at Lake gloomily and returned to his carriage cursing.

"Excuse me, young lady. This is my younger brother. He's used to running rampant in the territory, but this time he came with me to see the world..."

After watching the young man leave, the man explained to Lake.

After a brief chat, the man turned and left to arrange other things, or to collect fares from other passengers.

Poro also noticed that among the other passengers, there were several people whose accents were very similar to those of the previous gray-clad agents.

Apparently, some travelers’ hometowns may be in the Kingdom of Goethe.

At noon, the convoy started to set off.

After changing to a new carriage, there was nothing special about Lake's carriage.

The convoy's route is different from the main road on the map, but there is no problem with the overall direction of travel.

It can be seen that the route chosen by the man was carefully designed.

We avoided many unnecessary towns and didn't encounter any special dangers.

Poro pricked up his ears, and with his extraordinary hearing, he could hear the conversations of other passengers in the adjacent carriage.

But the journey is long and most of the areas passed through are war zones.

During the journey, Lake also saw many battlefields of the Sri Kingdom, muddy and gray soil covered with broken weapons and armor.

"Ahead is the last border outpost of the Sri Kingdom. Once you pass through there, you will reach the territory of the Weiser Kingdom."

On the morning of the third day, the convoy arrived at a checkpoint.

The golden flag of the Sri Kingdom was flying above the outpost.

"Stop! What are you doing?!"

"I am the Viscount's private caravan. We pose no threat."

The leader showed a badge and a letter and handed them to the soldiers for inspection.

After checking, several Sri Lankan soldiers still stopped the convoy and asked everyone in the convoy to get off and undergo inspection.

They carefully scrutinized everyone's face, even Lake was no exception - they noticed the Star-Killing Sword at Lake's waist; such a sword was rare.

But after Lake took off her hood, their doubts were dispelled.

"Okay, you can go over."

The outpost of the Sri Kingdom moved behind the convoy.

But what happened next was that the passengers not only did not feel relieved, but became even more nervous.

"The Kingdom of Weiser is behind us, so be careful. Don't say anything you shouldn't say. Got it? And keep a normal expression. If you get into trouble, I can't save you!"

The leader of the caravan, also on horseback, warned everyone in the caravan again.

In Poro's hearing, the conversation in the next car was much quieter.

And the sounds of their conversation, though indistinct, shifted from the Kingdom of Sri to the Kingdom of Might.

"I just hope this time goes better..."

"Yes, are you going to Goethe's Kingdom?"

"If you ask me, the King of Goethe is the best. If there were no war, my wife and daughter would be there, so I have to go back..."

"By the way, what's so scary about the Kingdom of Weiser?"

"Hush, I heard that the King of the Weiser Kingdom is an absolute warmongerer. Not only is he frantically recruiting soldiers, he's also built a flying battleship..."

"So the rumor is true?"

"Who knows? But his frantic recruitment is real. If you don't have a strong background, who dares to go to Weser? If you're caught, you'll either be killed or enslaved and sent to the front lines of the war with the Goethe Kingdom!"

"..."

The convoy passed through the Kingdom of Weser, still following a special route that was not recorded on the map.

But we still passed many villages and towns along the way. The roadsides in the villages and towns were full of starving people, and many houses looked empty. Even in some villages with people, there were no adult males to be seen.

Most of them were left with only children and women.

Everyone looked miserable and suffered from hunger and cold.

"God bless us, don't run into the Weiser army..."

Poro heard someone praying softly in the carriage behind him.

But obviously, what is coming will come.

"Stop the convoy ahead!"

At the border of the Kingdom of Weser, a group of dozens of cavalrymen suddenly rushed out from the woods nearby, holding spears and crossbows, and surrounded the convoy.

"Come down, all of you! Anyone who dares to struggle will die!"

The leading sergeant shouted bluntly.

Each of the cavalrymen was surrounded by a lot of bloody and murderous aura. Seeing this scene, all the passengers turned pale.

Some women were even on the verge of tears.

(End of this chapter)