Annie's Otherworldly Adventure

5. Hire mercenaries on the road

Upon reaching the edge of the forest, considering that Abag Dragon's appearance was too unique, although dragons had disappeared from the continent for nearly a thousand years, the legend of dragons had never ceased. Every part of a dragon was a treasure, including dragon blood, dragon bones, dragon scales, and even dragon meat. This little guy Abag, apart from having a little ability to transform, knew nothing else. For safety, Annie had Abag transform into another form so that they could continue their journey.

Abag was a little guy with no sense of aesthetics, and he hadn't seen much of the world. After tilting his head and thinking for a moment, he transformed into an ordinary squirrel with brown and black fur, bean-like eyes, and a big, fluffy tail. It wasn't particularly pretty, but that was fine too, as it wouldn't attract attention.

It has to be said that, as fate would have it, Anne once again stumbled upon the right answer by sheer chance.

It turns out that the reason why they were able to pass through the Monster Forest without any obstacles was because of the dragon's might that Abag unconsciously released, which caused the high-level monsters to avoid them. The low-level monsters, whose spiritual awareness was not high, were no match for Abag, so the dragon and the man successfully left the mountain.

Of course, in addition to that, they were also lucky enough not to encounter any crazed monsters. However, they were unlucky and did not obtain a single monster core.

As for not encountering mages and mercenaries who came to the Monster Forest for trials or quests, it was because Abag's display of dragon might caused a great upheaval in the Monster Forest, and experienced mercenaries perished there for several days.

Therefore, the number of people entering the Warcraft Forest has decreased sharply recently. It has to be said that luck is essential for the protagonist, otherwise our wonderful story would not exist.

Abag's true identity is a phantom dragon, something neither Annie nor Abag himself knows.

The greatest skill of the Phantom Dragon is illusion. For a dragon to transform into a squirrel, it must at least restrain its dragon might. Although Abag doesn't know how to actively restrain and release its dragon might, it can use illusion. So, naturally, when it transforms into a squirrel, its dragon might is naturally restrained.

It was this action that prevented it from being hunted and slaughtered as the only dragon on the continent.

The transformed Abag stood on Annie's shoulder, its tail swaying from side to side. Annie, leaning on her dark magic wand with one hand and pointing forward with the other, shouted, "Abag, let's go!"

One evening on the continent of Gerson, a little girl with medium-length hair, accompanied by her pet squirrel, arrived at the edge of the town.

This small town is the closest point in the Kane Empire to the core of the Demon Forest. To be precise, it's also the Demon Beast Forest, so it's necessary to share some knowledge about the Demon Beast Forest here:

The Monster Forest is actually distributed throughout the entire continent, but when people on the continent usually refer to the Monster Forest, they specifically mean the Monster Mountain Range, which stretches for tens of thousands of miles and cuts off the east and west continents.

The continuous monster forests form the massive monster mountain range, severing the eastern and western continents. However, every mountain range has its weak point, which is the region where the Kane Empire is located.

There, canyons of all sizes run through the Monster Forest, leading directly to the eastern and western continents. The largest of these canyons is large enough to build a city. Indeed, that is a city, now known as the Imperial City of Kane.

Legend has it that these canyons were cleaved open by Ya Xi, the daughter of the creator god, with her divine axe to open a passage between the eastern and western continents. However, the goddess of war perished a thousand years ago, and the temple of the goddess of war disappeared with her. Records about the goddess of war can only be found sporadically in the historical records of bards or other temples.

These canyons, large and small, and the surrounding area, all belong to the now permanently neutral nation, the Kane Empire.

The story of the Kane Empire is a long one, which we won't go into here. Let's return to the border town.

The Edge Town is the town furthest from the imperial city and the closest to the core area of ​​the Monster Forest. It often receives mercenary teams from all over the world, so it is no longer surprising to see all sorts of strange people. However, during these few days of business slump, a little girl came down from the Monster Forest with a squirrel, which was quite shocking.

Annie, finding her long hair troublesome, had already cut it in half with a sharp dagger, so it was a bit messy. Her clothes were already wrinkled, but fortunately her little face was clean. Annie found a tavern that was still open, the Philip Tavern, which was brightly lit.

As she pushed open the door and walked in, the noise in the tavern gradually quieted down. Oh, a little girl has arrived.

Annie glanced around the tavern. Several people were sitting at each of the three or five tables. Judging from their attire, they were probably adventure teams or mercenaries.

Anne bowed to a rather amiable-looking man in the tavern and inquired in Common.

"Respected sir, may the gods bless you. May I ask, is this the Kane Empire?"

"Poor child, this is the Kane Empire. Have you been separated from your family?"

"No, uncle. I came from Prisat to take the entrance exam for the Royal Magic Academy of Kane. On the way, I was attacked by a monster. The guards sacrificed themselves to save me. I got lost around the forest and spent several days there before I found my way out."

Anne spoke while sobbing to increase credibility; thankfully, she had used similar tricks many times back on Earth to trick her elders into granting her freedom.

The mercenaries in Phil's Tavern all turned to look. This little girl and her guards had probably encountered the monster turmoil of a few days ago. However, it was incredible for a child like her to be able to do it all by herself, even on the edge of the forest.

"I... I know a little magic."

When Annie uttered those words through sobs, some people felt relieved. It was no wonder; having traveled all the way to the Royal Magic Academy of Kane to take the entrance exam, she must have had sufficient magical talent and foundation. Others, however, were more puzzled. How much ability could a little girl possibly have?

In the Warcraft Forest, you can't survive just by being strong; you need experience too!

Of course, Anne wouldn't tell them that the little creature on her shoulder was a wild expert who had lived alone in the forest for hundreds of years.

"Poor child, what are you going to do now?" Although he believed her story to some extent, Nick was still cautious. After all, as an experienced mercenary, it was essential to remain suspicious of the outside world.

“I am a nobleman of Prishat, and I would like to hire someone to take me to the academy.”

"How much can you pay, kid?"

Nick sized her up; the child carried nothing but a small bundle and a necklace. (Her dagger was strapped to her thigh, just concealed by her skirt.)

Anne blinked her big eyes and said in the most sincere tone:

"Once I arrive in the capital, I will find the Prisat Embassy. The embassy staff will help me contact my family, and then I can pay the money."

Nick paused, and some people around him chuckled.

Indeed, many countries have embassies in Kane, with at least dozens of countries from both the East and West continents having embassies there. However, embassies vary in size, and the embassy of a small country like Prisat is probably located in some obscure corner.

Of course, even if you find the girl and get the money, the prerequisite is that you have to believe what she says.

However, some people with wicked intentions thought that if they couldn't get the money, selling the girl to a brothel to pay off the debt would be a good option.

Just as the mercenaries were having different thoughts, one of them, who was by the window, spoke up.

"Young lady, if you're going to Kane, we can take you, but the commission will be based on the market rate."

Annie looked at the mercenary who had spoken. He was a boy of about sixteen or seventeen, wearing a felt hat at an angle with the brim pulled low, obscuring his left eye and half of his face, making him look somewhat sinister.

Beside the young man stood another young man, quite burly in build, likely a swordsman. The two were probably part of an adventure party. The burly young man seemed rather simple-minded, glancing at the one who had spoken. The young man whispered something in his ear, and the burly young man's eyes lit up.

“Oh, so that’s the same as us… Ouch!” The burly boy seemed to have been bumped by something, interrupting him.

Annie seemed to understand something. Judging from their ages and the fact that the burly young man hadn't finished speaking, she was very likely that they had encountered students from the Royal Academy of Magic, Kane, who were out for training.

Although Annie wasn't entirely sure of their identities, she looked at the burly young man with his broad forehead, thick lips, and firm, honest light brown eyes. He seemed like a reliable and simple person, and following them would probably be the right choice.

"Thank you, brother. Let's sign the mercenary contract now!"

The mercenaries around her chuckled. This little girl was quite clever. By signing a mercenary contract, the Mercenary Guild would have a record of it, so even if something happened to her, they could find clues. Also, when the contract ended, she would need to go back to the Mercenary Guild to settle her accounts.

However, escorting someone is a high-level mission, and the reward is usually between twenty and eighty gold coins, depending on the distance. According to the rules, such a mission requires at least one gold coin as a deposit with the Mercenary Guild. The question is, does this girl have that?

One gold coin, which was exactly her entire fortune. When Annie took out the gold coin, the people around fell silent. It seemed that she might really be a noble child. Maybe they shouldn't have missed this mission. It was just sending someone to the capital. What a simple matter!

The mercenary contract was signed quickly.

Since mercenaries are scattered across the continent, and there are all sorts of missions available in every place, the Mercenary Guild doesn't have enough manpower. Therefore, temporary offices have been set up in taverns in various locations. Tavern owners can help post missions or distribute rewards, and the owners will take a certain commission.

Annie gave the shopkeeper a gold coin as a deposit. The shopkeeper then issued a task, and the boy gave another gold coin as a security deposit. He accepted the task, signed the contract, and that completed the contract.

Don't underestimate such a simple program.

With the gods above, the Goddess of Creation spread her divine power across every inch of the land, binding people with contracts. Therefore, every written contract on the continent of Gerson is bound by the Goddess of Creation's divine power, and no one dares to break a contract easily.