"21 silver coins."
Taking 21 silver coins from the supply officer, Lin Feng pushed through the crowd, ignoring the group of half-naked women squeezing in beside him, and stepped through the stinking mud to reach Ma'er's side.
"So, you're a fallen nobleman from the South?" Mar stared intently at Lin Feng, seeing in his somewhat repulsive gaze an emotion that shouldn't exist in someone of his class.
Mercenaries in the north, and even the entire aristocratic class, greatly admired these plump women.
“No…” Lin Feng raised an eyebrow and followed Mar’s gaze to look behind him, where he immediately spotted an extremely robust elven woman.
The elf gave Mar a seductive smile, and as soon as her blue lips parted, several orc teeth were revealed.
After a moment's recollection, Lin Feng vaguely remembered that the other person had entered his field of vision just as he had taken the silver coins, swung his arm at him, and made a few lewd gestures.
Forehead...
Turning his head away, Lin Feng waved to the somewhat tempted Ma Er, then walked towards the direction of the surging crowd without looking back.
Upper Dallas is a large, unwalled settlement town with various buildings piled up. At its very center is the beginning of Upper Dallas, which is also a small castle belonging to the nobility. The castle is surrounded by three towers and a semi-open barracks.
There were few patrolling soldiers in the town; occasionally a few knights could be seen charging through, and the rest were mercenaries who had gathered from all over.
With just this, it's impossible to defend it, but if such a mixed group of people were to obtain the complete food rune, they might be able to unleash unimaginable power.
As they walked toward the tavern at the end of the road, before they could even push open the door, the noisy shouts immediately caught Lin Feng and Ma Er's attention.
"Quiet down, quiet down! Let me tell you, last night I was at the front gate. Just as those Imperial bastards were about to storm in, an arrow that sounded like the screeching of a shrike killed their entire vanguard in one shot!"
"I was completely dumbfounded. If I hadn't heard the empire withdrawing its troops, I wouldn't have even known we'd won!"
"Stop bragging. If the Shrike really came, that bald guy from the Lawson family would have come out long ago."
"Hahaha, yeah, you must have misheard me, right?"
The man who had just been shouting immediately jumped onto the table: "What do you mean you misheard? Which of the people on night watch last night didn't hear it? I'm asking you, did you hear that shriek?!"
"Hey, didn't you hear that? Didn't you hear that? I heard Samantha calling out last night."
"Yes, Samantha, please be quieter next time, or you'll disturb Lord Lang from listening to others shoot arrows!"
"Hmph, if you don't want to hear it, I won't want to yell either." The woman leaning against the counter tugged at her clothes that had long since fallen off, nonchalantly lifted up her breasts, pointed at the one who had been yelling the loudest, and cursed, "Heh~ Not just anyone can make me yell."
The man being pointed at blushed deeply. Amidst a burst of laughter, the people next to him leaned in, letting out pig-like laughs: "Samantha, is anyone here tonight?"
Samantha glanced at the man, her eyes subtly lifting his crotch, and pointed her chin at the empty bottles of liquor on the table.
"Hehehe." The man immediately came over sensibly.
After a few drinks, the atmosphere in the tavern gradually reached a balance, and everyone started discussing the name Shrike.
Maddie Gox the shrike is the protagonist's second-in-command, a sharpshooter, scout, and intelligence gatherer in the Hyena Mercenary Group. Although she is the youngest member of the mercenary group, her position and abilities are perfectly commensurate.
"However, I heard that Lord Lawson seems to have obtained something, and the Shrike appeared here because of this thing."
"I've heard that the Empire has already offered a reward; anyone who can provide accurate information can obtain the status of an Imperial noble."
"However, with the shrike guarding the area, it won't be easy to break in and take it out."
"Hey, I've found something interesting. Remember the knight who suddenly went out of the castle the other night?"
"What's wrong?"
"That night I saw several orcs being brought back; their armor was from the Fang Mercenary Group..."
"The Fang Mercenary Group?! They're back?" someone whispered. "They were the last mercenary group to leave before the blockade. I thought they were going somewhere else."
"They didn't come back, they came back to... Only four people were left dead."
"Tsk tsk..."
"If we can get something out of them, we might actually be able to get some benefits from the Empire."
"Ha, you dare to go?"
"Of course I wouldn't dare, but... there are others who would."
Several smirks escaped their lips, and those who were secretly listening joined in the laughter. The benefits of the Empire were undeniable, but Upper Dales? They all knew that the nobles of Upper Dales were worse than dogs.
As the mercenaries left, drunk, the tavern gradually became deserted. Occasionally, a few people would come in for a drink, but they would only take a few sips and then rush away.
When only three or four people who didn't look like mercenaries remained in the tavern, Mar, who had gone out to scout ahead, rushed back: "They really were planning to make their move tonight!"
“Raine is in the prison on the lower level of the castle. If a conflict breaks out, we can rush in through the side door and rescue him.”
Mal sat down excitedly, downed the drink in his glass in one gulp, his eyes shining.
Lin Feng raised his eyes slightly, his gaze sweeping over the bartender whom Ma Er had inquired about before leaving: "Was the information accurate?"
The bartender was slowly wiping the table. Although his face looked quite ordinary, the occasional glint of cunning in his eyes was hard to miss.
"Hmm." Looking at Lin Feng's expression, Ma Er sat up straight, resisting the urge to turn around: "What's wrong?"
“I’m afraid it’s not that simple.” Lin Feng lowered his head: “With such a big commotion, do you think those nobles wouldn’t know? I guess… the mercenaries probably already have information about where the inscription is hidden.”
"You mean they did it on purpose..."
After a few moments of calm, Mal reviewed all the information in his mind and forcefully suppressed the urgency in his heart.
From the moment he started gathering information, he was completely engrossed in it, and when he heard that the mercenaries might launch a rebellion tonight, he was overjoyed.
"Upper Dallas is a powder keg, the kind that could explode at any moment. It's already the limit for a shrike to hold her off for one night. If she didn't have anyone else behind her, this farce wouldn't have lasted until now."
"With the roads blocked right now, it's a miracle they were able to airdrop onto Dallas."
"Given that the inscription is already in their hands, the fact that the Empire is holding back suggests that there are other secrets behind this. It is not a good choice for us to rush in with the mercenaries. It would be much safer to leave them in prison."
Mal's breathing gradually subsided until he heard Lin Feng's last words, at which point he felt relieved: "Yes, staying in prison is indeed much safer."
Lin Feng looked up: "Let's hide first. If something happens in the prison, it's not too late to rescue them."
Mal stood up, and the two of them walked out of the tavern one after the other, disappearing into the darkening sky, watched by the bartender.
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