Glan Natural Science Academy

Chapter 7

The next day, early morning.

“Who is it? Halt!”

It was dawn, and the air around was foggy but Ryger was roused from his sleep because of a bellowing voice. He crawled out of his tent hastily and saw the head knight holding up a longsword. The knight was confronting a tall shadow.

Others have also climbed out from their tents and were standing together.

With what light there was, they moved closer to the shadow and were astonished at the person’s appearance, “elf?”

Tall and graceful, with sharp ears. This was indeed a forest elf who appeared to be a young girl.

The elves lived outside the human kingdoms in the Thorn Forest. Just like the dwarves, they frequently appeared in large human settlements and were considered to be a foreign species that humans had good relationships with. Even people who haven’t seen one in the flesh have at least heard of them.

In the distant land, far away from the human’s continent, there existed many foreign civilisations. There were also many species that mankind had never even heard of. One of them was the target of the many expeditions by the Church’s crusaders. The expeditions were aimed at punishing a heretical civilisation called the Bloodkins in a fearsome alien region called the Land of Night, and destroying the evil, heretical temples there.

The middle-aged knight drew back the sword and explained: “It was foggy and this elf was rushing towards here. I thought it was a beast.”

Huff! Puff!

Amidst the elven girl’s gasping, Ryger’s gaze passed through the fog and examined her.

Most of her soft, white skin was exposed and only some important parts were covered by leaves. Her tall, luscious body was enough to make any woman jealous. At that moment, it was the dawn of early spring and the elven girl was shivering in the cold while also panting.

The girl would turn her head back from time to time, as if she was afraid of something behind her just like a poor, helpless lamb – pitiful.

This was the first time that Ryger saw someone of the opposite sex so exposed in front of him. Instantly, his cheeks got a red hue and he didn’t look at her anymore.

The head knight shouted: “We are travellers heading to St Glan Castle. Your running and panting made me think that it was a beast. You can pass now.”

The elven girl seemingly didn’t understand human language. She just stood still, panting, and didn’t reply.

Seemingly afraid of the human knights in front of her, the elven girl didn’t dare take a step forward. Her face was full of anxiety and worry, and she cried out tears of supplication.

“What’s wrong with her?” Auen asked the head knight.

The head knight scowled. “An elf who can’t understand human language and dresses in such a way in human territory. It would seem that… she’s a runaway slave girl. Although all the principalities have signed contracts with the elves and prohibited the act of capturing and enslaving elves, there are some corrupt nobles who keep them in secret because of their beauty. They are aided by dark mercenaries who are willing to take risks for profits. Those half-elves who are detested by both humans and elves typically come to be this way.”

As the head knight talked, several barking sounds came from the fog of the distant forest.

“She’s just ahead. Don’t let her get away!”

The elven girl heard the chasing footsteps and became even more frightened. But because she was afraid of the knights, she didn’t dare move forwards. She cried and looked pleadingly at them.

Ryger peeked at the other’s for their reaction.

The two young knights had gulped unconsciously and initially showed surprise at seeing an elf for the first time. Their gaze moved about on the girl’s luscious body and lusted over the girl’s beauty. They then seemed to have noticed their misdemeanour and quickly turned their faces sideway to hide their shame.

The middle-aged knight on the other hand had a collected, contemplative look. His eyes were deep and incomparably calm.

The female knight showed incomparable sympathy. After glancing at the silent head knight, she turned towards Auen who was behind her.

“Damned fallen maggots!” Almost all of Auen’s voice was through clenched teeth. He had an angry, appalled look and seemed to be ashamed because of such things happening in front of him. He looked at the head knight and said resolutely1, “Make sure to protect this elf. Safeguard the reputation of Glan and ensure that she returns home safely!”

“Yes!”

The head knight looked at Auen and nodded solemnly. He put his helmet back on and looked behind the elf with stony eyes. Preparing himself, he roared in a deep voice: “Draw your swords!”

The female knight sighed in relief and also hurriedly put her helmet back on, revealing only a pair of cold, stern eyes.

The two young knights took a deep breath. Their cheeks, as if ashamed at their thoughts, flushed red after hearing the captain’s voice and fearless fervour appeared in their eyes, masking their complex emotions such as nervousness and shame.

Awooo!

As the chaotic footstep sounds got closer, several large shadows emerged and looked at the elvel girl. A gruff, delighted voice came.

“Found her. She’s right in front!”

Ryger, who was next to Auen, tensed up and tried his best to act normal so that he wouldn’t show shameful cowardice.

As for Auen, he secretly swallowed a mouthful of saliva. After seeing that there were only 4 pursuers, Auen was relieved. He touched a jewel ring on his right hand and after seeing it shine a red light, calmed down.

“Stand still!” The head knight stood at the forefront loudly reprimanding them. He shouted: “We are the Ridge family’s glory knights. Why are you hunting down this elf?”

The knight’s voice made the 4 people in the mist tense. They stopped and stared at his direction.

After seeing that there’s only 6 people including 2 kids, the 4 were relieved.

“Hmph, we are the Blackwolf mercenary group. We received a mission from the mercenary hall to capture this elf assassin who committed homicide in St Glan Castle to receive the magistrate’s punishment. Everybody who harbours her will be treated as an accomplice and be killed summarily. If you don’t want to die then get out of the way!”

The mercenary leader who talked was a 30-something bald man. The man was 1.9 meters tall, wore earrings and black fur coat, and wielded a chilling, imposing battle axe. Just by standing there, the man was like a wall, extremely oppressive; like a beast that could pounce at any time.

The other 3 people of the mercenary squad all looked like they were bloodthirsty and vicious. One was holding a flag of a crimson wolf head.

Another one of them, a 20-something female archer, had her bow fully drawn in Ryger and Co’s direction, as though she would shoot an arrow of death at any moment. Beside the archer was a giant, black wolf that was half-a-man high and has fully exposed fangs and ferocious, bloodshot eyes. Around the wolf’s neck, a spiky, metal accessory was visible.

“Proteus?”

Auen observed the black wolf carefully after he first saw it. A while after he confirmed it, he shook his head and said: “It probably has a little darkblaze wolf blood in it. Uncle Basce, be careful!”

“Alright”

The middle-aged knight replied and laughed at the Blackwolf mercenaries, “Hahahaha. If it’s a mission from the mercenary hall then take the mission contract out. Hmph, did you think that we wouldn’t know, you bunch of miserable things. Hurry up and get lost or we’ll use your blood to defend the honour of the Ridge family.”

The situation was extremely tense and a fight could happen at any moment.

The elven girl stuck in the middle between the two sides seemed to know that the middle-aged knight meant well and actually ran towards him.

The female knight whispered: “Young master, do you know Elvish?”

“I’m a scholar that researches natural law. I specialize in mathematical foundations and deriving natural law whereas Elvish is something for those scholars who research the secrets of evolution to deal with. How could I possibly know it?” Said Auen to his chagrin. “No matter, we’ll deal with that after we save her. It’s not like it costs that much to issue an escort mission at St Glan’s mercenary hall.”

The other side.

The Blackwolfs’ leader, upon seeing that the prey that was at his doorstep escaped, made a deep, guttural roar like an awakened monster. Just as the oppressive mercenary leader was about to charge, the female archer suddenly let out a cry of alarm, “Magician!”

The Blackwolf mercenaries were shocked. They looked behind the knights and saw a blaze of fire burning atop the palm of a half child boy. The fire was truly resplendent in the dim sky. The boy was looking at their side and could launch the unknown magic at any time.

The other side was obviously nervous, but a noble magician wasn’t someone that a low class, third-rate mercenary group like them could easily come into contact with. After discovering Auen’s identity as a magician, they were even more nervous than Auen.

Countless mercenaries in the past had used their own blood to teach their juniors – If a mercenary group wants to develop and expand, it must employ a magician to act as the brain; A mercenary group that has no magicians in it must never ever clash with one that has; If fighting if the only choice, their first target must be the magician!

“Hey, Ryger, pretend that you’re one too!” Auen’s trembling voice came through his teeth. He was very nervous.

Ryger replied hurriedly: “Oh? Oh!”

Ryger took Auen’s notebook and flipped it slowly, making a serious expression as if he was going to activate powerful magic. But in actuality, his palms were already full of sweat and his legs were a bit weak. It was his first time experiencing a situation such as this.

“What do we do?” Asked a scarred man behind the mercenary leader hesitantly.

In the hearts of mercenaries, magicians occupied an extremely high status. High-class mercenaries would always employ at least one magician on extremely generous terms as a core member. This was because aside from their mysterious magics, magicians also possessed, more importantly, vast knowledge and an understanding of nature’s mysterious phenomenon. This allowed them to save an entire mercenary group a lot of times when they faced danger.

“Retreat!” The leader of the Blackwolf mercenary group jeered at the head knight and looked deeply at the mysterious magician. He was actually able to forcibly halt his legs before the outbreak. He left without hesitation with the three other and disappeared in the mist.