"Red-blooded bear?"
At night, Kordak took advantage of everyone's dinner time to talk to them about the next mission.
"Yes," Kordak spread his hands and said, "This reward was issued by a small town in the north.
Their town has often been harassed by a red-blooded bear during this period. Although this bear has not broken into the town so far, many townspeople who went out were still torn to pieces by it, and the town's guards If the team wants to hunt this bear, they may have to pay a considerable price. After thinking about it, the townspeople decided to pool their money and go to the Mercenary Alliance to post a bounty mission, and this was it. "
"Commission, location, requirements," Silenos said.
Kordak took out the commission form from his windbreaker pocket, looked at it and said: "Their reward amount is 50 gold coins. The price is not particularly high, but as mentioned in the reward, we only need to show it after we come back for this mission. Even if the bear head has completed its mission, they don’t want materials such as bear bile and bear skin, we will handle them all ourselves.”
"Sounds pretty good." Vera nodded. Although the red-blooded bear is scary, it is still within their ability to bear. Even if the bounty is not included, the things on this bear can be sold for forty or fifty gold coins. Moreover, the mercenary alliance will not get a commission on this part of the money, so the commission and materials together amount to almost a hundred gold coins. This price is enough for them to make a trip.
After receiving affirmative answers from Vera and Silenos, Kordak continued: "In fact, they have no requirements except that the bear die. They don't want to capture it alive, don't want to kill the bear, don't want Any material on the bear. As for the location, it is relatively far away... The bear appears near Shimmer Lake in Night Song Forest. They can only determine the bear's activity range to that extent. We need to find the rest ourselves. Overall Come down, it should take us between twelve and fifteen days from departure to return to Meteor City."
When Kordak mentioned the Night Song Forest, Regnar noticed that he paused and glanced at Vera carefully. After all, Vera's former hometown was near Yege Forest. Mentioning that place at this time would inevitably arouse Vera's sadness. And obviously, if Vera is unhappy, the three men, big and small, will suffer to some extent. Even Regnar, who just joined recently, is well aware of this.
"You don't have to look at me, I'm not that fragile yet." Vera didn't even look at Kordak, she just cut off a piece of beef and chewed it in her mouth.
"Hehe, as a captain, don't I have to pay more attention to my companions?" Kordak said with a smile: "Then... if there is a problem with the guide... "
"It's been seven or eight years since I left there, and when I was young, my father rarely took me into the forest, so I'm not very confident as a guide." Vera shook her head.
"That doesn't matter, there is a map anyway." Kordak said, "I'll buy one tomorrow and come back to study it."
"But one thing I want to remind you is that the north of Yege Forest is the area where orcs live. Although I haven't heard of any orcs operating in Yege Forest in the past few years, I think it's better to be careful." Wei. There was a hint of hatred in La's voice: "Those are a group of beasts who don't know kindness and mercy. If we encounter them, please be ready for a fight as soon as possible."
"Of course." Kordak readily agreed, but he was still somewhat dissatisfied: there are a lot of orc coolies in Meteor City. Although those guys have a bad temper and are irritable, they rarely cause trouble as long as the food supply is sufficient, and it must be said that These hairy creatures with simple minds and well-developed limbs are indeed good at work. Apart from anything else, the three to four hundred kilograms of building stones could be carried for a whole day without breathing, which made Kordak, who prided himself on his physical strength, a little ashamed.
"Boss, I have a question." Regnar raised his hand.
"What?"
"Boss, you also said that this is a bounty mission. According to common sense, anyone can complete it. Boss, how can you be sure that the bear will not be attacked by others first? What if our trip is in vain?" Regnar asked.
"Don't worry about this matter. Although the things on the red-blooded bear can be sold for a lot of money, considering the danger of hunting, weaker people naturally don't have the courage to provoke it, and those strong people are too lazy to pay for these few things. It cost ten gold coins. After all, it would take half a day to sort out the body of that thing. Moreover, the mission location this time was remote. If it weren’t for the commission subsidy of an additional fifty gold coins, we wouldn’t be too lazy to make this trip. The most important thing is Yes, no matter who kills this red-blooded bear, as long as its death is confirmed, the commission of fifty gold coins belongs to the client, that is, to us." Kordak explained.
"Why is this?" Regnar was puzzled. Can he get a commission without doing any work
"The bounty missions of the Mercenary Alliance used to be public bounties. Anyone who got the head of the bounty target could get the bounty. But this system made the mercenaries' wild fighting more intense. Think about it, if you If you encounter a team of mercenaries who are weaker than you, and they hold a bounty certificate in their hands that makes you covet, you can kill them with just one attack, and not only get their inheritance, but also a large commission, you will not be tempted. What?" Kordak asked.
Regnar thought about it seriously and then shook his head and said, "No... Although I often steal things, if you ask me to kill people for gold coins, I still can't do it. Moreover, I have never killed anyone."
"Well, dozens of gold coins may not be worth it, but what if it's hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands?" Kordak sighed. He found that even living in the poor and dirty place of the slums After more than ten years, Regnar still has a small piece of clean and pure land in his heart, maybe because of his innocence, maybe because of his ignorance, maybe because of his kindness. Although this small piece of pure land looks a little childish and a little ridiculous, no one has it. Dharma denies that it is precious. The world is like this, there are some things you really want to have, but you have to give them up.
Kordak didn't know when Regnar would abandon it, and he didn't know whether abandoning it was a good thing or a bad thing, but there was no doubt that Regnar would feel regret when he abandoned it, just like Cole Dak was the same back then.
"I..." Regnar seemed a little hesitant.
"No matter what you do, for ten thousand gold coins, I don't have the confidence to say no." Kordak smiled meaningfully and said: "People are very greedy, so don't underestimate your desires. Overestimating my own restraint."
"Maybe." Regnar also agreed with Kordak's words.
"So, do you have any other questions about this bounty mission?" Kordak glanced at everyone.
Vera gently tapped her head with her white index finger: "Although the red-blooded bear has rough skin and thick flesh, it has a clumsy body. If you are well prepared, it shouldn't be particularly difficult. Well... I have no problem."
Silenos thought for a moment and then nodded: "Vera and I are both long-range archers with bows and arrows. If Kordak you are confident that you can withstand the attack of the red-blooded bear, then there will be no problem for the two of us. . But Regnar..."
Regnar was stunned: "What's wrong with me?"
Vera explained: "What Silenos means is that although you are good at close combat, it is still quite dangerous to face a monster with astonishing brute force like a red-blooded bear. After all, you don't have Kordak's physical fitness. You are also wearing leather armor. If you are not careful, you may not just be injured, but that thing can scratch you in half."
"Go ahead, it's so powerful!?" Regnar was so shocked that cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
"Nonsense, I have to hold up my shield to fight against the red-blooded bear. I'm afraid your dry little body won't be able to bear being hit by it." Kordak looked at Regnar with some contempt and said: "Think about it. In addition to the above factors, plus this is your first time to go out on a mission. So, you only need to help us with the investigation work this time. By the way, can you make traps? "
"Trap?" Regnar thought for a while and then nodded: "Maybe. I can try to practice my skills in the past two days. Anyway, Sister Vera also bought me some parts."
"Very good! You can make a few more traps then." Kordak was very satisfied.
"Then what?" Regnar looked at Kordak with expectant eyes.
"Then wait for us to kill the bear." Kordak didn't understand why Regner suddenly became excited.
"What about me? What will I do?" Regnar still had expectations.
"Uh... If you want to find a place to hide, then hide. If you don't want to hide, just find a big tree and stand on it to watch us." Kordak added in order to take care of Regner's mood: "If there is anything going on around Just shout loudly."
"Am I just looking forward to it?" Regnar was very frustrated.
"Who said that? Aren't you still responsible for investigating and setting up traps?" Vera comforted.
"You can do those things yourself... Boss, if you let me fool around like this, I won't be able to get the 15% commission. It's too hot." Regnar shook his head.
Kordak smiled and patted Regnar on the shoulder and said: "It's not that we don't believe you, it's just that you really don't have much room to perform in this mission. The red-blooded bear is not just a joke, it's just a claw It’s as big as a washbasin, so you might have really said that after that slap. Besides, it’s your first time to go out on a mission, so it’s good for you to see and learn more first, right?”
Seeing Kordak's sincerity, Regnar couldn't continue to object, he nodded and said: "Okay, but this time I will only take 10% of the commission, and the other half will be treated to a drink when I come back. "
"Okay, then it's settled." Kordak agreed immediately without further hesitation, and then after a few concluding remarks, everyone went back to their rooms after dinner.
In the next few days, everyone conducted a series of tests focusing on Regnar's combat ability to improve their understanding of the new teammates. Regnar himself was crazy except for sparring with Kordak and others every day. To practice trap-making techniques, he dismantled several traps, installed them, and dismantled them again. He was not finished until he could set them up with his eyes closed. Less than a day after that, Kordak and his team were fully equipped and started a new mission.