Alright, after arriving, the reconnaissance infantry was gathering, ready to conduct a night-time scouting mission.
Nightfall can definitely boost stealth and cover.
Observing further, it turned out that one-third of the group were accompanied by war dogs. Those dogs were crouching close to their handlers, acting all quiet and calm.
Some were even giving the little black dog a smug grin, but the little black dog paid no heed, like a king, totally unbothered by the riffraff on the side.
Mainly, it was because when Roland came through, he had specifically mentioned that the Dog King never barks without reason.
"Listen up,"
Not long after, the reconnaissance infantry captain, Ike, stepped forward. His rough voice cut through the ears of everyone present, "Those with war dogs stand on the right, the rest on the left. Now I'm gonna assign you to groups."
The grouping was straightforward—pairing those with dogs with those without, so they can support each other.
Standing behind the crowd, Sidors felt a bit nervous.
He just turned 18, joined the mercenary group for the money. And because he was a rookie, he was basically tossed into the reconnaissance unit as a filler.
After some打听 (inquiry), he found out that the front-line scouts are often in danger, which explains why there's a 20 silver coin reward for this job.
He sure didn't want to die in this cold place, because the beautiful girl from his village was still waiting for him to earn money and marry her.
But he couldn't avoid the risk either—without enough money, her old man would never agree to the match.
He was confused why the poor couldn't be like the nobles and have such a romantic love.
Shaking off his thoughts,
He hoped to be grouped with an experienced, easygoing person. Eventually, his eyes settled on a young guy around his age. Not because the guy was handsome, though his looks were kinda decent.
What really caught his attention was that while others had just one dog, this guy had two.
Those two dogs stood like guards on either side of him, completely still.
It made sense—this guy must be a tough one, probably a seasoned hunter before joining the army.
"Gee, a young hunter,"
Sidors thought to himself, mainly because he looked friendly.
Looking at the others, some were scary as hell, others were gross and repulsive, and some were creepy with all the bad vibes. None of them looked like nice guys to be with.
At this point, Sidors prayed in his heart: "God, please let me be with that guy."
"Sidors, you're with Roland."
Ike glanced at the two, then finalized the group assignments.
Sidors grinned with excitement.
God bless, his wish came true.
Roland looked at his teammate, who looked around seventeen or eighteen, a bit thin, wearing a worn-out leather armor, and carrying a broken wooden shield on his back. His nose had a few freckles, and he was grinning at Roland.
What the hell is making him so happy?
"Wait a sec,"
Roland said, not in a rush.
You gotta have your money to spend, so it's better to observe and stay steady.
He had read about the ancient Chinese 'night not take' scouts before. Most of them operated at night, especially when entering enemy territory, they would choose to go out at midnight.
After all, people tend to get sleepy and distracted at midnight. Although the savages are pointy-eared, they're still people, and they also need to take naps.
Believe in the wisdom and experience of our ancestors.
"I believe your judgment,"
Sidors looked at Roland's calm face, thinking his choice was right—this is a reliable guy. He said, "I'll follow your steps closely."
"Thank you for your trust,"
Roland nodded.
A good teammate is one who listens.
Stay quiet, waiting for the night.
Roland looked up at the soon-to-settle full moon, estimated it to be around 1 AM.
Perfect timing.
He then patted the heads of the two dogs in front of him. When they turned around and locked eyes with him, he gave them a glance: move forward and scout.
The two dogs understood, got up, and slowly moved down toward the stream, crossing it from the shallow end.
"Let's go,"
Roland waited a moment, then signaled for his partner to rise. They followed the path of the two dogs and crossed the Worm Creek.
Once inside the forest, they noticed that the moonlight filtering through the canopy was weak, making visibility poor.
Exactly because of this, Roland didn't rush forward—he let his eyes adjust to the forest environment first.
Just like in a dark room when the lights go out, you need to wait a moment for your eyes to adjust before you can see in the dark.
After a while,
Having adjusted to the forest's view, Roland patted the head of Xiao Hui, telling it to scout ahead, and Xiao Hei stayed hidden behind.
At this moment, they were the front and rear sentries of the advancing group.
He had Xiao Hei stay behind and hidden because it was dark enough to not be easily spotted, and because it was good at hiding—most importantly, it could serve as a back-up.
Especially after the night when the savages ambushed them, it became clear that you gotta have a contingency plan.
Sidors followed behind, scanning left and right, front and back, scared that a savage might pop out of nowhere. After walking for a bit, and seeing no signs of trouble, his tense mind relaxed a little.
He felt that it wasn't as dangerous as he had imagined.
Then, Xiao Hui stopped.
Turned around, and ran to Roland's side, tail slapping his leg.
"?"
Sidors was confused—what the hell was the dog doing?
Now's not the time for affection.
"Something's happening!"
Roland's mind snapped. This wasn't Xiao Hui being affectionate—it was its **kill intent sensing** talent warning him.
Through scent, it can detect the number of enemies within 100 meters. It would use tail slapping to alert.
By the direction of Xiao Hui's gaze, it was clear that someone was on the left, with hostile intent.
Savage scouts?
Suddenly remembering what the sentry had said earlier: "Savage scouts are all marksmen."
"Hide!"
Roland grabbed Sidors and pulled him to the tree.
At the same time, an arrow flew from where they had just stood, making a '咻' sound, heading toward the distance.
Then another arrow came, clanged against the tree trunk, and the arrow's tail bounced left and right.
"Damn, it's savages,"
Sidors was scared, hiding on the ground, looking at the cold ground where they would be killed by. It wasn't savages—who else could it be? He lowered his head, voice shaking, "They're in the shadows, what do we do?"
"Stay calm,"
Roland back against the tree, first signaled for Xiao Hui to lie down, while shaking his head at Xiao Hei behind, telling it to stay still and hidden.
Now the number of enemies is unknown, so we can't act recklessly.
We need to find a good position to reverse the current disadvantageous position, and then take action.
Thinking this through, Roland looked around, searching for an advantageous terrain.
God bless, just a few meters to the left there was a fallen tree, big and thick, covered in moss.
A natural cover.
"Give me the shield,"
Roland looked at the one lying in front of him, Sidors.
The latter, panicking, took off the shield and pushed it to his feet.
Roland quickly bent down, picked it up, and grabbed it in his right hand, then extended it to the right.
**Divert attention!**
With a '咻' sound, an arrow flew, hitting the shield.
"Follow me!"
Roland lowered the shield, rolled to the left, then jumped up and rolled into the shadow of the fallen tree, Xiao Hui followed closely.
Sidors rolled, but then his legs gave out, and he clumsily climbed behind the fallen tree.
At the same time, arrows hit the tree, making clanging sounds.
"They're determined to kill us,"
Sidors got up, hiding fully behind the tree, looking at his partner with a grim face, "what's next?"
"Stay calm,"
Roland leaned against the fallen tree, looking at Xiao Hui.
Now we know where the enemies are.
Next is to confirm how many of them there are.
"Alright, I'm calm. I trust you,"
Sidors didn't want to say more, didn't want to interfere with his partner's thinking.
But what came next, he found a bit hard to understand.
He saw Roland reaching out to Xiao Hui, and Xiao Hui licked his hand twice. Then Roland made Xiao Hui lick his hand again and again, multiple times.
Sidors looked at him, stunned—what the hell? Is this the time to play with the dog? My friend.
Roland finally confirmed the number.
The **kill intent sensing** talent of the war dogs—tail slapping is for warning, while the number of licks on the hand indicates the number of enemies.
That could be the way to judge how many enemies there are.
After three confirmations, Xiao Hui licked twice each time.
So, there are only two enemies.
Two people dared to ambush, which shows they were confident in their archery.
No wonder, if it wasn't for Xiao Hui warning earlier, that arrow might have gone through his skull.
Survived a near-death experience, now the only one who can die is the other side.