Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 257 - 23 - A Game Decider, Loser Leaves the Field_1

Chapter 257: Chapter 23 - A Game Decider, Loser Leaves the Field_1

"Squeak, squeak." The wagon wheel rolled, leaving a slight friction sound that echoed further and further across the wide-open plains. This was the winter wilderness, the gap between civilizations, known as the Neutral Land. By the second day’s afternoon, the convoy gradually left the vicinity of the last supply village within the City of Knowledge. It entered this wilder part of the world, devoid of any trace of civilization. The village in the distance behind them grew blurry while what laid before them was an endless, vast plain. Apart from a road made of asphalt and broken stones, there were no indications of any man-made structures or traces of cultivation. Only the small wild creatures occasionally hopping by the roadside reminded people that this place was not a land of absolute silence.

In the Yarran Continent, the abundant crops bestowed by the deities could over-satisfy the food and other needs of the current population, so people were not that keen to reclaim new lands from the wilderness. Of course, some poor people did attempt to claim barren lands to escape poverty, but they overlooked a critical issue. In this world, hordes of dangerous magical beasts roamed. These creatures were usually highly aggressive and were not something that a group of farmers with their farming tools could confront. Dealing with the beasts required the coordinated efforts of lots of low-tier professionals. However, these impoverished pioneers could not afford enough professionals. Even on occasion when they managed to hire some, it was impossible to have professionals protect them for a lifetime. As such, the outcome for pioneers lacking professional protection was usually disappearing into the wilderness, their presence gradually erased by time.

Naturally, the wilderness was almost devoid of any dangerously high-ranking magical beasts. These high-ranking beasts had relatively low reproduction rates and were obvious targets. Once they appear, cities would actively eliminate them as potential threats. In contrast, the low-ranking magical beasts bred too fast. Any extermination efforts hardly made an impact, leaving cities with no choice but to let these creatures proliferate in the wilderness since they could hardly pose any threat to the cities and their surrounding villages.

Even in the cold winter, the afternoon sun made people feel drowsy. Everyone was quiet, the only sounds were the continuous rumbling of wagon wheels and the echoing clatter of horse hooves through the silence.

"Yawn." One of the guards covertly yawned, casting an envious glance at people inside the carriage. Most of the wedding party were ordinary people, not warriors, so they all rode inside the carriage, which currently offered plenty of opportunities for a good nap. But such a luxury was not for the youthful guards. After an excited night with little sleep, they desperately wanted a nap, but their duty kept them on horseback, leaving no chance for slumber. They could only drag themselves forward, hoping that time would pass quickly and that the resting hours would soon come.

This was a rookie’s predicament. But, the veterans had no such trouble. Their extensive experience had taught them how to manage their time and energy. Unless there were special circumstances, they would always maintain an energetic and concentrated state while on the move, ready to confront any emerging danger. Like the trio of young adventurers who seemed carefree atop their horses at the tail of the convoy, but in reality, their full attention was on their surroundings. They would be the first to leap forward in the face of an attack. This marked the main difference between beginners and veterans. When a novice managed to cross this gaping divide, he would graduate from a rookie to a veteran.

But not every veteran was as cautious and responsible as the young girls. One certainly stood out as an exception.

Pannis lay comfortably on the roof of a common carriage, chewing on a dry stalk of grass, dozing off peacefully. The swaying of the carriage did not bother him. On the contrary, it was like a cradle that made his sleep even deeper. The young city guards were truly envious of him, but under the iron fist of their captain, Ayrland, they dared not imitate Pannis’ behavior and could only curse the lazy man from their saddles.

"Phew, phew," Pannis expelled the stalk of grass from his mouth, lay back, completely ignoring the almost tangible resentment that grew even stronger, and flipped onto his other side. Just then, a pasfruit hit him square in his head.

"Hey, what was that for?" Pannis sat up and glared at Catherine. "Why did you hit me?"

"Oh dear, my hand just slipped," Catherine snickered behind her hand. "I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb your sleep."

"Do you take me for a fool?" Pannis retorted with a menacing expression.

Catherine put on a surprised look immediately. "Oh, how did you discover that?"

Pannis looked up at the sky, heaved a huge sigh, and was about to lie back down when he noticed Catherine beckoning him furiously, "Come down here, come down. I need to ask you something."

Pannis was left with no choice but to jump back onto his horse. He sprawled listlessly over his horse, appearing boneless as he replied in an exhausted tone, "What is it that you want to ask? Let me clear it up upfront: my measurements, weight, age, and hobbies are all off-limits."

In fact, Catherine was only looking for a way to break the boredom of the journey, so she consulted with Lina and Vivian to invite the lazy bones lounging on the car roof to endure the agony with the rest of them. But when Pannis came down, she was suddenly reminded of a question, "Why has there been no activity from the Death Weaver for most of the day? What plot is he concocting?"

"He is a weaver, not a real Grim Reaper. All his actions require meticulous planning and comprehensive preparation in advance," explained Pannis. "After we thwarted him once and deliberately let Ayrland leak the news of our discovery of his existence, he would certainly hide deeper and proceed more cautiously. In a way, caution means slow; slow means less time for him and more time for us. So the slower he is, the better for us. Moreover, it’s still unresolved whether he’s really hiding in our team."

"Not in the team?" Catherine asked in bewilderment, "How is that possible? Haven’t he just yesterday..."

"Of course it’s possible. All his activities yesterday could be carried out with the help of a partner in our team," Pannis explained. "The only thing he really needs to pay attention to is the piece of tallow that triggered someone to fall and shatter the sugar jar. Anyone else could do the rest. Of course, it is unlikely that he is not with us because he is a lower rank weaver, and the difficulty of remotely executing the death plan is too high."

"Alright, I just feel uncomfortable having someone watching us," Catherine said, scanning the surroundings and seeing nothing suspicious. "This feeling is terrible. It’s unbearable."

"In fact, you three don’t need to be so anxious," Pannis understood why the three girls always stayed at the end of the team. After comforted them, Pannis raised her voice and shouted in a volume loud enough for most of the team, "Have you forgotten one of the basic rules when mercenaries or adventurers interact with each other?"

"Basic rules?" Catherine’s eyes sparkled, her lips curling slightly. She also raised her voice, "You mean the rule ’one fight to victory, the loser leaves the field’?"

Long before the Mercenary Guild was established, the mercenary world on the Yarran Continent was shrouded in darkness and killing. In many conflict-ridden missions, both sides would hire mercenary groups to fight for them which often led to bloodshed and hatred among the groups. For the first three or four decades after the guild was established, this profound hostility greatly impeded its normal operation. To minimize the likelihood of mercenaries being killed by their peers, the guild created the rule ’one fight to victory, the loser leaves the field’ as a resolution when two mercenary groups or even two solitary mercenaries accepted contradictory assignments.

In simple terms, when two groups of mercenaries accepted conflicting tasks, they gave their all to fight each other in the first battle or "duel". Regardless of casualties, the loser had to acknowledge the failure and abandon the assignment unconditionally, while the winner could continue the mission. Of course, it was not mandatory. In other words, losers could stay in the game, but if they did, it meant a formal declaration of war until one side was wiped out. The impact of such a decision was enormous, and most mercenary groups chose to go along with this advisory rule. Later, adventurers saw the benefits of this rule and incorporated it into their own system, making it one of the common interaction rules between mercenaries and adventurers.

When Pannis brought up this issue, Catherine understood Pannis’s intention. It was to apply this rule, forcing the enemy to decide whether to give up the mission or declare a formal war. The biggest advantage was that once the enemy declared war, they wouldn’t have any reservations. After all, before that, their four-member adventure team speculated that the enemy might be someone appointed by Odin, or even manipulated by the mercenary guild’s head, Kara. Therefore, they always had some reservations in the process of drafting plans or discussing strategies, opting for a gentler approach.

"Yes, loser leaves," Pannis made a funny face secretly at the girls and shouted loudly, "Whether the opponent is acting on behalf of a certain mercenary group or a professional individual, they should abide by this rule."

"But what if he doesn’t?" Lina, who had caught on, followed along loudly. "What if he continues? Or what if he belongs to the Thieves’ Guild?"

"That’s easy," Pannis chuckled, "That means he is officially declaring war against our Nellie Adventure Team. I hope he’s prepared for the consequences."

"You’re just playing dirty," Catherine looked at the city guards ahead, who didn’t have a clue about what they were talking about and said quietly, "It seems you’re really clueless about this weird enemy."

"Yes, I am playing dirty," Pannis spread her hands and also lowered her voice, "Dealing with the Death Weaver is too troublesome. So I might as well flip the table and refuse to play. Now, I guess the one who’s got a headache is the enemy." (To be continued. If you enjoy this novel, please go to qidian.com and vote for it. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)