Nata's head was in a mess, and she could even hear the beating of her heart.
In order to deal with the fear in my heart, I have been holding on for so long, and my body is a little stiff. Seeing Rody leaving so "coolly", Nata didn't even have a clue what she was going to do next.
In Nata's concept—or the concept instilled by the elders in the village, human beings should be lustful, greedy, and love to take advantage of themselves and like to play tricks, but why is this guy just now completely different from the human beings that Village Chief Brody said?
His eyes turned to the corpse of the steel-tailed leopard. This kind of powerful creature could be sold for a high price in the human world, but why did the other party not have any nostalgia and just throw it away
And... why is his archery so powerful
How could he be so calm in the face of danger
The speed, accuracy, and vigor of the two head-on arrows made Nata feel the strong pressure from the bottom of her heart. She took several deep breaths in a row, but she couldn't calm down. Arrow, his body was still trembling slightly due to the adrenaline.
After standing there for a few minutes, footsteps came from behind.
"Nata! Are you here? Na-Nata? You are here! We all thought something happened to you..."
A few figures stepped out from the darkness, they were the wood elves who were supposed to hunt with Nata. The leader is named Lando, with a strong and vigorous body, but he hardly makes a sound when walking on the complicated ground. He was one of Nata's many admirers, perhaps the most active. The few people who followed were hunting partners today. They followed this way on purpose. It is estimated that they came here after seeing Nata's undisguised escape traces.
Speaking of which, Lando was already ready for the "hero to save the beauty", and he was excited about it for a long time, lamenting that he finally found a chance to show his hand in front of Nata—but when he rushed to Nata at the fastest speed However, he found that things did not go as he imagined.
"We saw the traces of your running, and thought you might be in danger. If you are here, you should be fine, that leopard—"
Lando was talking, and the next moment he saw the leopard corpse lying on the side, he was stuck in his words, frowning and a little dazed—for young hunters like them, the steel-tailed leopard is by no means something that can be killed casually Last year, a senior hunter in the village was killed by this powerful and cunning leopard, so when facing it, the wood elves tend to keep a respectful distance.
However, seeing that the one chasing and killing Nata turned out to be an adult steel-tailed leopard, Lando and the three wood elves behind him were also a little scared: It would be okay for the four of them to deal with the young leopard. It is really delusional not to pay a certain price, and the best result is to force the other party away.
Thinking of this, Lando's previous thoughts of "hero to save the beauty" were basically scared away, but then he was confused: "That...Nata, you—you killed this leopard?"
Nata raised her eyes and looked at him, but she didn't even have a superfluous reaction. She turned her head away, got up and patted the soil, and picked up the short bow that had just been thrown aside on the ground.
"No injury, right? We brought herbs."
Still no response.
Lando also understands the other party's "iceberg" character, and has long been accustomed to her indifference. In order to change the subject, he walked to the leopard's corpse to check it out, but he frowned at the blood-dried head and said in surprise: "These two arrows... are too accurate, right?"
Hearing this, several companions who followed him also gathered around, and after a closer look, they really felt a little unbelievable——
"How can it be…"
"Both eyes are in the middle, there is no deviation at all."
"The mark...it was shot while jumping up."
"Two arrows in the air?"
Although they were novice hunters in the village, they could basically guess the course of the battle by looking at the footprints and traces on the ground, but the final conclusions made them feel like a fantasy.
"Wait, this arrow..."
Lando swallowed, and pinched the wooden arrow's tail with his fingertips. His eyes were frozen. Just as he was about to say something, he found that Nata came straight to the leopard with a frosty face. He didn't even look at him and the three The companion pulled out the two arrows vigorously, ignored the blood dripping from the arrows, stuffed them into his own quiver, turned around and left...
This kind of arrogance did not make the wood elves feel too much dissatisfaction. Nata treats everyone like this on weekdays, so they looked at Nata's figure when they were young, turned their heads, and discussed: "Lando, This leopard... shall we carry it away?"
"Well, when I went back, I told the village chief Brody that I picked it up, and don't have anything to do with Nata." In the eyes of his companions, Lando has a gentle personality and integrity, and he can be regarded as a more prestigious existence among the younger generation. , so no one would question his dominant position at the moment, "Don't talk nonsense, the death of this leopard has nothing to do with us or Nata."
"But Lando... this campfire—"
"You know it's called a bonfire?"
"That arrow...that arrow doesn't look like we—"
"Do you have to tell me so that you can stop this stupid question?" Lando waved his hand, interrupting the questions of several people, "Obviously, this camp belongs to humans, and the arrows are only used by humans. I So, are you satisfied?"
The three wood elves looked at each other, looking at each other, a little confused.
Lando sighed, and continued: "The important thing is not the process, but the result...Nata is fine, Steeltail Leopard is dead, as for the others, it's all just speculation—so don't talk unnecessary nonsense with anyone after you go back, understand Or Nata might beat you all up for it!"
When they heard that Nata was about to beat him up, the wood elves nodded hastily, and Lando stopped talking nonsense, and then asked them to start disposing of the leopard's body.
And he was strolling around the campfire alone, his eyes wandering over the blurred footprints on the ground, stopping from time to time, with a serious expression on his face.
In fact, the tension and shock in his heart never showed on his face. What he said just now was easy, but in fact he understands what the wound on the corpse means better than these companions...
When hunting such prey, the position of the heart behind the front legs is the first choice of all hunters. I have never heard of anyone who would directly choose to shoot the head—either they are stupid, or they are daring with high skills.
But now looking at the wounds in those eyes, Lando naturally understood what kind of person was the one who "rescued" Nata just now.
Why would a human being with terrible archery skills help Nata? Why did she take that long arrow? Is it to cover up something
Seeing that Nata didn't want to talk about it, Lando decided to hide it. But when he looked at the leopard, he still sighed and said to himself: "...is there such a powerful guy among human beings?"
Lando felt a little depressed, because the chance of "hero saving the beauty" was wasted. But for Nata who walked away, her emotions at this time were more complicated than ever.
The wood elves basically lived by hunting with bows and arrows, so after carefully examining the three arrows, she felt even more hopeless and hopeless...and even felt that her steps were several times heavier than usual.
In his hands were three wooden arrows that looked ordinary, but their workmanship was not as exquisite as the arrows used by the wood elves. A layman could not see any difference, but Nata was surprised to find that these arrows had been slightly adjusted after a simple observation.
Some parts of the arrow shafts have been slightly cut off, and some have been treated to reduce weight on the metal parts of the arrows. It seems that it is just ordinary wear and tear, but the position and hardness of the center of gravity of the three arrows are surprisingly consistent!
This kind of modification is enough to make the three arrows fall at the same point within a range of 30 meters—however, what makes her feel even more terrifying is the unconfirmed guess...
That's a tiny notch on the nock of each arrow.
The notches of the three arrows all have some slight deviations. Nata has only seen such marks from some of the most powerful hunters in the village and from Village Chief Brook... and the words of the village chief at the time seem to be still in my ears. echo-
"You mean notches? There will be some differences in the landing point of the arrow at a distance of 30 meters. No matter how unified each arrow is, it will be somewhat different. If your target is more than 70 meters away, then The error is amplified a lot, so these notches let you know what adjustments you need to make."
"Nata, you are still young, so you don't need to think about these issues for the time being, because this is a matter in another field. When you really reach this level, you will understand."
Those words echoed in her mind, making Nata, who was holding an arrow in her hand, feel extremely complicated.
"Roddy...I remember you."
The voice of the young wood elf is very soft, and it is definitely not easy to get her to speak, but at this time, because of the "coincidence" between Roddy's travel through time and space and her early arrival, the wood elf who would have become Rody's "ranger" mentor , but at this time he has already regarded him as an insurmountable peak in his heart...
Fate, sometimes always seems so absurd and full of coincidences.
*****
Houlier City at the end of August is still a little bit hot.
As the largest city in the Efta Territory, Houllier's prosperity is undisputed. The twice-weekly large market attracts a large number of merchants, and a large population means more taxes for the lord of the city - with more taxes, he can buy enough luxury items to display in front of other nobles , hold more dinner parties, let more people know their wealth.
Of course, this is only scratching the surface. The nobles of this era are extremely boring most of the time, and they don’t have too many things to do. Apart from learning the knowledge that the common people cannot touch, all they have to do is stroll around the territory all day long. The so-called entertainment activities In addition to hunting, there are banquets, eat and drink enough to sleep every day, and enjoy the amazing wealth inherited from the glory of the ancestors with peace of mind.
Most of the nobles in the Efta territory are basically in this state, and the son of the largest lord of the territory, the old Duke Angmar, is also like this. Since returning here in late April, the earl has frequently appeared on various occasions, and his presence is overwhelming. Almost all the nobles' tables in the entire territory cannot do without him.
In the eyes of the nobles in the territory, Earl Francis' actions should be a sign that he finally got the approval of his father, the Duke of Angmar, and was ready to "step to the fore".
Some time ago, there was news that the successor of the duke was undecided. Now that Sally has become a candidate priest, there is naturally no suspense about the result—more than a dozen lords are already thinking about when to give gifts to the future earl. After all, the entire kingdom Among the forces in the Northwest, the Luciferon family is the number one.
But how did these nobles know that the truth of the matter... is far more bizarre than they imagined.
"After several months of investigation, you got such a result?!"
A growl sounded faintly from Francis's tightly closed room, and there were whispers tremblingly answering something, in exchange for an even angrier response.
After a while, there was the sound of something being smashed.
"I just want the result, no explanation."
When the door was opened, Francis' cold voice came out, completely lacking the anger he had roared before. Instead, there was no wave in the ancient well, as if it was a normal order.
The men covered in cold sweat backed away in trepidation, with their heads lowered deeply, not even daring to lift their eyes, made a promise in a low voice and disappeared at the end of the corridor as quickly as possible.
Francis closed the door expressionlessly, but the moment he turned around, his expression became extremely ferocious—
"A bunch of trash!"
Cursing in a low voice could not conceal the disappointment and anger in his heart, he walked quickly to the desk, the content on the parchment made him feel as if the anger in his chest was about to explode...
All of this, speaking of it, is thanks to Sally.
The veins on Francis' forehead were raised, obviously trying to restrain the anger in his heart. He realized that he had failed to find the "mysterious person" who helped Sally over the past few months—from the beginning of the investigation, he was led by one false evidence after another, so that until now there is still no evidence. Clue!
It wasn't until recently that his subordinates discovered some clues and realized this. So after excluding Sally's interference, a subordinate named Willy finally found some really relevant clues—evidence that... the scouts in Nolan Village seem to have a great relationship with that "mysterious figure"!
But he continued to investigate, but the news that came back made him feel strange... The scouts in Nuolan Village evaporated collectively.
There was only a second lieutenant named Suoding sitting at the head of the village insanely, answering messy questions stupidly to the words they sent people to ask, saying crazy things like scouts attacking the orc kingdom—
"What a joke! Can you use your brains to make up fucking lies?!"
This is also the reason why he couldn't help but get angry, who has always been extremely deep in the city - attacking the orc kingdom? Do you really think I have no brains? Can they find out where the group of orcs are