Chapter 581: Harpy and the Letter

At the Shi Ying Town post station.

Rod finally met Harpy, the Harpy of long-standing fame.

That is, a human-bird hybrid, a combination of a female upper body and a giant raptor lower body.

Human arms extend at the ends into sharp eagle claws, with large primary feathers growing behind the arms, transitioning from sky blue to white.

The legs have normal thighs.

Below the knees, they are fully avian, with hooked talons for feet.

The messenger lady named Chuka descended against the sunlight.

A cute, round face dotted with freckles wore a confident smile.

Short hair stood up wildly, as if it had been electrified.

She wore a canvas messenger bag slung diagonally, a sleeveless vest, and a short-sleeved shirt with rolled-up cuffs underneath.

The messenger lady was petite.

Thus, the outline on her chest was not large, but the teardrop shape was very distinct.

Her lower body wore high-waisted cargo shorts.

Her belt was hung with brass compasses, telescopes, and other items.

Rod couldn't help but look at Tally beside him: "Harpy kind are all female; how do they reproduce?"

Tally pouted: "Master, you just said they are all female; do you think our charm would make us interested in their reproduction?"

"That is true."

"I know this; there were quite a few Harpy kind near Waterdeep before."

Lily said.

Rod happened to meet a Halfling lady on the road; she happened to be free, so she followed Rod to look around together.

"They generally capture men they fancy and take them back to their nests, then, um, reproduce in a natural way."

Speaking the last words.

A hint of embarrassment appeared on Lily's small face.

"Isn't that half-blood?" Rod raised a question.

"Perhaps; at least not in appearance, the offspring will only be Harpy kind; in terms of spiritual talent, the advantages of the father's bloodline might manifest."

Ho.

Is this the reproduction method of goblins from Goblins of the Goblins?

After a simple chat.

The Harpy in mid-air faced them.

"Who is Rod of Shi Ying Town?"

She called out in a crisp voice, her tone slightly rough, a bit like a boy's.

"I am."

Rod stepped forward to meet her.

He took the two letters the other person had picked out of the messenger bag with eagle claws.

"Please keep them safe; these are letters sent to you."

"Thank you."

Rod then wanted to hand the letters over to her and was about to speak.

He saw Chuka's round eyes with vertical pupils staring straight at him.

"I recognize you; you are the person who fought the giant dragon!"

Saying this.

She took another step forward.

Her nose almost touched Rod's face.

Although this Harpy's attire was slightly boyish, her face was very beautiful, with a circle of slight red around the eyes, as if she wore red eyeshadow naturally.

From Humbert's introduction, it was known.

That this Miss Chuka lived in Eagle Claw Canyon, so it was not strange that she saw Rod fighting the Red Dragon Nash there two months ago.

Rod politely stepped back: "Sorry to have scared you."

"It's nothing!"

Miss Chuka shook her head, "I'll just marry you! I want to lay eggs for you!"

This conversation was too jumpy.

Rod smiled without speaking.

He glanced at the knight beside him, who had been entrusted by the old gentleman Humbert to find the Harpy; he saw the knight turn his head to look at the sky, pretending not to hear.

He glanced again at the Halfling Lily beside him; she looked at Rod with a strange expression, slightly reproachful.

Not only that.

Many people around the post station, seeing the rare Harpy kind, gathered around.

Unlike outside.

For fine goods like the Land Naga Eve or the Half-Vampire Vanessa, once you've had them, you've had them; forcing it a bit wouldn't matter.

But on one's own territory.

We Foresters must maintain dignity.

Rod's face was serious, speaking with righteous conviction: "Sorry, Miss Chuka, I, Rod, believe that matters of love and marriage must undergo long-term mutual examination; one cannot be so casual."

Chuka made an "oh" sound, extremely disappointed.

Rod handed the letter to her.

He also tucked a small magic communication stone underneath and secretly pinched her eagle claw.

Then sneakily blinked at her.

The main meaning was: contact me secretly when you have time, don't tell anyone.

Choka looked utterly innocent, not understanding at all.

She directly cut out the communication stone from behind the letter and shouted in pleasant surprise: "I heard my sister mention this — it means you want to secretly ask me out! You like me, don't you? Rod!"

"."

He noticed Lily and the surrounding onlookers' gazes gradually turning their way.

Rod's expression didn't change; he gave a look to the succubus behind him who was watching the show.

Tally froze for a moment.

No choice — she was still in the unfavored stage right now, and she didn't dare disobey her lecherous master's orders at all.

She went up with a bitter face and snatched the communication stone back, explaining that she had deliberately tucked it in there to tease her master.

She didn't care whether Lily and the others believed it or not.

Anyway, she'd made her point.

Choka was dejected once more, didn't cling on any longer, and flew off with a bitter expression while holding the letter.

Rod saw the crowd disperse.

He also let out a breath of relief.

He patted Tally's cheek.

"Good work."

"If there's a reward, it's not hard work at all!"

"I'll feed you an extra meal today."

"Yay!"

Rod smiled.

Walking along, he opened the two letters that had been sent.

One was from Axe Beach in the Sword Bay region, sent by Miss Wen Na Miss Puwei.

The other was a letter with no sender shown.

He opened the latter first.

It bore Baron Ram's signature, the handwriting somewhat scrawled, with only one sentence inside.

【The conscription team has arrived! They mean no good! Be careful!】

Rod's expression darkened slightly.

He examined the envelope and the letter paper.

"No crest, no wax seal or stamp, and no writing conventions either."

Writing conventions weren't that important.

But Baron Ram was, after all, a noble lady, and such propriety could be said to be necessary.

When they're absent, it implicitly represents something.

Lily glanced at it and said: "Then she sent the letter in an emergency, and she's very likely under surveillance right now. There's no news about the conscription team — they arrived in secret."

Rod nodded.

"In that case, you all should show yourselves less during this period, so you don't get press-ganged by them."

"I'm an adventurer, not someone from Etheron, they can't pin it on me. But you, Rod — you have strong combat ability and can also be considered an official of Etheron, they'll probably have their eyes on you."

Lily expressed her worry.

"No, they won't make a move on high-end combatants, it's more about young and able-bodied men and so on, and grabbing a haul by requisitioning grain and resources along the way — even Commissioner Smith is like that."

"Commissioner Smith?"

Rod smiled and didn't continue.

The three of them walked along the Twilight Hills.

There were quite a few farmlands and abandoned villages here; this place was close to Coral Bay.

The locals had been scared off by the giant dragon and the dark elves of Coral Bay and never came back.

Facing the cool spring breeze.

Chatting about this and that, when passing by a small grove.

Suddenly several gnolls leapt out from inside, quickly surrounding the three of them.

They held sharp knives, their faces ferocious.

They sized up the three of them.

Lily laughed: "To think someone on the Twilight Hills still dares to make a move on you — your reputation isn't much, huh."

"Heh, I'm just a ranger, what reputation would I have."

The gnoll sub-chief snorted: "Still dare to laugh? I'll make you all fly later! Grab them all!"

(End of chapter)