Akdina's smile was casual, but in Tumani's eyes, it was so charming and captivating.
Akdina tidied her hair behind her ear, revealing her pointed ears, which elicited a whistle from the soldiers behind Tumani.
Akdina was about to tell Yun Zhe what had happened when she suddenly froze. How could she begin? And how could she prove that what she said was true?
Akdina pointed to the woods in the distance, "There are many mercenaries there..."
One sentence instantly snapped Tumani out of his reverie.
"Madam, how many people were there? How did you see them?"
“About a hundred men, all mounted cavalry.” Akdina deliberately lowered her voice, feigning panic and confusion.
"Who were you looking for just now?" Tumani asked Akdina while gesturing to the soldiers beside him to prepare.
"Um, I just wanted to talk to a soldier about this, and I happened to run into you guys." Akdina's lie was incredibly convincing. "Then I still need to go and inform..."
Tumani nodded and pointed to a small path behind the bar. "Go along this path, there are a few empty houses, that's where they live."
Akdina nodded, her eyes sparkling, and smiled in greeting.
Tumani was immediately filled with the pride and honor befitting a knight. He bowed and led his men out of the village.
Akdina watched them walk away, then turned and followed the path Tumani pointed out, arriving near the houses. She immediately noticed a tall stone platform, about two meters high, on one side of the houses, covered with dry grass.
Send to Yantai.
Below the platform on either side sat two soldiers carrying spears, lazily basking in the sun. Akdina's appearance did not attract their attention at all.
Akdina stepped aside to compose herself, feigning urgency, then rushed to the two of them, panting heavily as she said urgently, "Quickly, there are about a hundred mercenaries lying in ambush in the woods outside the village! You'd better go out and check!"
The two soldiers were clearly startled by Akdina's words. A hundred mercenaries?
Seeing the two people standing there in a daze, Akdina was both anxious and angry. "What are you spacing out for? Go and check on them right now!"
The two soldiers stood up hesitantly, and then a loud shout came from the empty house.
"What's going on?!" A short, stout man carrying a wooden bowl walked to the doorway and shouted angrily.
“Brother Feren, this woman says there are mercenaries in the woods outside the village, a hundred of them!” a soldier hurriedly replied.
Feren frowned, put down the wooden bowl, walked up to Akdina, and looked her up and down.
"An elf?"
Akdina nodded, a little curious, as the man before her didn't seem to be moved by her beauty.
Ferren frowned. "You saw it with your own eyes?"
Akdina nodded. "I just ran into a few knights. They've already gone to check. The leader is called Tumani. He told me to come here to find you so you can help them."
Ferren frowned even more. He looked at his two dumbfounded subordinates, then at Akdina. "Why didn't he come? Why did he send you to deliver the message?"
Akdina shook her head. She hadn't figured out how to answer the question, so she simply didn't. Thankfully, Tumani and the others had already gone over; otherwise, if she had continued asking, Akdina might have done something drastic.
Ferren frowned even more deeply and snorted harshly. He turned back, picked up the wooden bowl, and quickly ate all the rice. Then he called out into the house.
"Young men, let's get some exercise after dinner and go for a look around outside the village!"
A reluctant voice came from inside the house. But soon, six or seven listless soldiers appeared beside Feren. Feren waved his hand, pointing to the two men by the haystack, "You two stay here," then pointed to Akdina, "You lead the way!"
Akdina definitely didn't want to leave. She had gone to great lengths to get these people out so she could light the signal fire. If they left now, she would lose her chance completely.
Seeing Akdina's hesitation, Feren perked up. He didn't necessarily suspect that the elf had any bad intentions, but she must have her reasons for being here. It was time to find out her true purpose!
Feren approached Akdina, a threatening glint in his eyes.
Akdina feigned fear and stubbornness, muttering, "I'm just passing by. They're in the forest not far from the village. If you don't believe me, you don't have to go." With that, she turned to leave.
Faerun was dumbfounded. He scratched his head and thought to himself, "Elves really are all strange people, especially the beautiful female elves, humph."
Feren didn't bother asking any more questions, turned around, and leisurely led his group away. The two young men guarding the smoke tower seemed to only just realize what had happened, watching Akdina leave them with bated breath, instantly feeling like they had missed something.
Akdina hadn't actually gone far; she circled half the village again before quietly sneaking back to the smokestack. At that moment, only a young man was guarding the smokestack.
Akdina looked around, then suddenly rushed towards the smoke generator, knocking the guard unconscious with a punch. She then jumped onto the smoke generator and began trying to light it with a flint and steel.
A gasp rang out, startling another guard in the distance who dropped his bowl. He yelled and charged at Akdina, spear in hand. Akdina frowned, inwardly lamenting her lack of caution. She easily subdued the other guard as well.
With the smoke signal lit, Akdina felt much more at ease. She ran to a high point in the village and stared southward until smoke signals also rose in the south. Only then was Akdina completely relieved.
Feren stared at the smoke rising from the village before he realized what the elf was thinking. But this result actually reassured him. It was just a smoke signal; it seemed these mercenaries weren't as simple as the elf had made them out to be, and the elf herself wasn't as weak as she appeared.
At the same time, Tumani, seeing the smoke rising, tensed up. He had just seen two mercenaries riding tall horses, who quickly ran away after seeing him. And now, smoke was rising from the village—had the mercenaries begun their attack? Thinking this, Tumani stopped heading into the woods and instead urged his soldiers to return to the village to defend it.
Kazt and Yun Zhe also saw the smoke signal, but their feelings upon seeing it were completely opposite. Kazt looked at the soldiers before him, wondering what had gone wrong. Yun Zhe, on the other hand, was overjoyed. The smoke signal meant reinforcements were coming. Although he didn't know who had fulfilled his wish, things had unexpectedly unfolded as he had predicted.
"How lucky I am," Yun Zhe murmured to himself.
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