rune hunter

Chapter 34 Detecting the Truth
From a merchant's perspective, Laurana's greatest weakness is her lack of funds.The family suffered a series of changes, and money was needed everywhere, so she didn't speak to Jupiter.Even the start-up capital in her hand came from her noble classmate You Jiali.For an aristocratic young lady of this age, without a fief income, it is not easy to accumulate ten gold coins just by pocket money.Fortunately, so far, her plans are going smoothly.

Although in the eyes of ordinary businessmen, doubling their profits is already a big surprise, but Laurana's plan is obviously just beginning.El didn't know the girl's true intentions, but he could see some kind of fanaticism hidden deep in her reason from her eyes.

The kobolds dug through the entire Redstone Ridge mines, and kept popping up from remote corners, but the mercenary team that replenished a large number of arrows successfully suppressed them back this time, and once again occupied several major areas. Entrance to the mine.

After selling all the arrows, Laurana did not continue to sell the food on the cart.Instead, a new signboard was replaced, which read in red letters: "Buy kobold trophies, starting at one silver coin per backpack!"

Kobolds live underground, like to dig holes, and have a natural love for all kinds of metals.Those kobold diggers at the bottom of tribal society usually carry a small backpack on their backs to collect underground ore.It is said that they can use a special method to absorb the essence of minerals and strengthen their scales.

Even mercenaries who have dealt with kobolds at most only know that their small backpacks will store ore, which can be sold as trophies to the blacksmith for a few coppers.As for other knowledge, only the professional books in the academy will record it, which is also the source of Laurana's confidence.

The kobolds are short, and their backpacks are even smaller, and they can't hold a few catties of ore in them.In the past, those poor and crazy guys might not let this little oil go, but now their heads are obviously more valuable.Now that an effective killing method has been found, the idea in everyone's head is to harvest as many heads as possible. As for these heavy and not very valuable trophies, they become tasteless.Now someone actually bought it at a high price on the spot.

When they took the silver coins they had just spent from Laurana's hands and saw the girl's sunny smile, they couldn't help feeling ashamed for the malicious curse in their hearts just now.How could such a cute girl be a black-hearted businessman?

"How could such a cute girl be a black-hearted businessman? Those mercenaries must have thought so in their hearts."

In the woods on the hillside in the distance, Tony looked at the popular temporary shop with a playful smile on his lips.

"The kobolds that appeared this time are large tribes that migrated from the ground. In addition to the most common kobold slaves, there are also status kobold guards, catapults, and possibly shamans. Such a society A tribe with a complete structure must have a considerable amount of high-quality minerals, even rare minerals. However, those mercenaries must not be able to recognize their true value."

The three Wrights standing beside him were blushed by these words, but they couldn't refute them.At their level, except that coins can separate gold, silver and copper, they basically don't know the difference between metal minerals.

"Senior Laurana Jupiter, the chief of the fifth grade, has no noble status, but was recommended by Master Powell to enter the school. The direction of study is alchemy. However, compared with the talent in alchemy, she is more famous for her thick face and dark heart. In the five years since I entered school, everyone who provokes her has been tricked into schemes, and none of them have ended well."

Speaking of this, the corner of Tony's mouth couldn't help twitching, scratching his head and laughing dryly: "Since senior sister wants to earn some pocket money, we'd better not bother. It's not a good thing if she thinks about it."

No one cheered his jokes, Wei An stood aside with blank eyes, wondering what he was thinking about, Tiana lowered her head and rummaged through the backpack of the kobold corpse under her feet.

"Okay, Miss Tiana, if you can take us around this woodland to observe the abandoned mine behind the Red Stone Ridge, I will pay you an extra fee." Tony looked at Tiana without any help. The figurative search behavior was a little helpless, although I knew she was poor, but I didn't expect this lady to be poor and crazy.

Tiana nodded without objecting.The mercenary group has suppressed the kobolds, and the situation will not change at least until dark.As long as I remain cautious, it shouldn't be a big problem to protect these two young masters and young ladies.

In the kobold's knapsack she found a dirty pocket full of metal pellets the size of fingernails.Kobolds use this rough metal ball as ammunition for slingshots, a small prop that magicians also like to use.In addition, the reason why she squatted down was also to avoid El's sight.The girl who traveled with El in the forest for a period of time is very aware of the abnormality of El's vision.For some unspoken thoughts, she did not want Al to find herself.

According to Tony's wishes, the group did not disturb the mercenary group. Three mercenaries opened the way ahead. Tiana followed the noble siblings and walked through the forest path to the abandoned mine behind the Red Stone Ridge.

120 years ago, miners in Hongshiling discovered a branch vein here, but due to the low reserves, it was exhausted within a few decades, and this mine was also abandoned.The mine here is not connected to the quarry, but there are also traces of kobolds.Because the actual control area of ​​the mercenary regiment has not yet expanded to this place, kobolds can be vaguely seen coming in and out outside the mine.

"Miss Tiana, could you please clean up the kobolds that are active outside?" Tony said to Tiana with a smile on his face, "Don't worry, we won't go any further, and this time we will still calculate extra rewards." .”

What a cute kid!Tiana cursed in her heart.This aristocratic young man is deeply thoughtful and well versed in the ways of the human heart.Under the step-by-step promises and temptations, I had unknowingly followed the path he arranged.

"I also hope you can stop here, otherwise we won't be able to rush back to Istaren before dark." Tiana said coldly.

"I think the same as you," Tony said. "If all goes well, we can have dinner tonight."

Seeing Tiana leading the three mercenaries towards the abandoned mine, Tony coughed, and when he turned his head to look at Wei'an, his expression became serious.

"Sister Wei'an, do you think this place is suitable?"

"It's suitable...what's the matter?"

"That thing I said in the morning." Tony covered his face in pain, and the momentum he showed just now disappeared.Although I had expected the girl's natural character, I still felt a sense of powerlessness when I came into contact with it.

"Recently, there has been an unusual large-scale migration of beasts in the forest, and now even the kobold tribes living underground have migrated to the surface. I have been worrying these days whether, apart from the plague in the north, whether There are still unknown natural disasters coming."

"Your doubts are justified." Wei An blinked, as if recalling the memory of the morning: "So I invite you to come here, and use the power of my god to find the truth."

"Beasts can't speak, but kobolds are intelligent humanoid creatures. With sister Wei'an's ability, she should be able to feel the overall consciousness of their group. I want to know why they came here." Tony said in a deep voice.

"Recently, I have been honored with hospitality, and it is hard to turn down the kindness. We should repay it with this." The girl said half-literate words, her two bright purple eyes gradually opened wide, and an invisible coercion emanated from her body.

The surrounding woods became quiet for a moment, the birds stopped singing, and the leaves blown by the wind stopped shaking.Tony, who was standing behind Wei An, could only feel a fiery yet icy force passing through his body, slowly spreading out centered on Wei An.In the space where that power diffused, a faint purple quietly diffused, covering every corner.

Wei'an's figure became blurred in the purple. She didn't make any movements, but just moved her heart randomly, which created this strange scene.

She lowered her head and looked at her feet, the purple in the air fell to the ground like flowing water, seeping into the soil.Tony shivered suddenly, he felt a pair of eyes looking straight down from the sky behind him, the sharp gaze penetrated his body, penetrated the ground under his feet, and stared into the deeper ground.

"I heard that the creatures underground are full of fear and anxiety."

Wei'an's voice suddenly became clear and holy, and it was directly transmitted to Tony's mind.

"I saw the nightmare deep in their hearts. The stratum collapsed, the volcano erupted, and the dark races fought endlessly. The living land was turned into scorched earth, and the ancient monsters killed wantonly..."

"It seems that the mess in the underground world is more troublesome than here." Tony frowned and said with a wry smile.There is no passage leading to the underground world near Istaron. To be on the safe side, after eliminating these kobolds, the mines in Red Stone Ridge must be completely sealed off.

"There's going to be an earthquake..."

"Uh... what?" Tony, who was thinking about the follow-up plan, didn't react for a while, and when he raised his head, he found that Wei An had already picked up the corner of his skirt and ran down the mountain quickly.

"Are you really a holy nun?" Tony yelled angrily. He wanted to catch up with Wei'an, but he sat down on the ground as soon as he took his legs.Violent vibrations spewed up from the ground, and the entire Red Stone Ridge began to vibrate.
(End of this chapter)