Chapter 363: Knight Lanisha

The next day, the snow falling from the sky was heavier compared to the previous few days.

However, this did not affect the people living in Kendall City; the people here relied heavily on a mature, low-priced firewood supply from a merchant guild for heating. In winter, the Kendall River would freeze over, but that merchant guild had already stockpiled all the firewood needed for the city's winter heating before the river froze. It was all piled up on a piece of merchant guild land north of the city, near the river and the city wall.

Since he had to go to Knight Lanisha's place today to discuss the upcoming hunting matters, after getting up in the morning, Jier just ate his meal, then took the time to look after his three horses, and then followed the other hunters to lock the gate of their jiedian, heading up along the street together toward the Knight's villa in the Upper City district.

This time, because he was with the other hunters, the guards at the Upper City gate did not stop them; they simply led the group of ten personally to the door of the female knight's house.

After confirming with the servants at Knight Lanisha's house that the hunter group had indeed come under the orders of Knight Lanisha herself, this dutiful inner-city gate guard left them and returned to the gate.

The veteran hunters were very familiar with Knight Lanisha's house, but since it was a Knight Lord's home, both they and the young hunters kept their mouths shut, simply following the leading servant to the place Knight Lanisha had specified.

Perhaps because there were other female residents in the house, the place for the discussion was not in the main building of the knight's house, but in a two-story building next to it, connected by a wooden passageway.

Upon entering this room, one could see a large wooden table, and on the wooden table was a large, unfolded map.

After the servant led everyone here, he let everyone sit on the wooden chairs around the large wooden table, while he himself sat by a small chair at the entrance.

The young hunters were a bit reserved after sitting down, while the veteran hunters were much more relaxed; the four of them looked at the map on the table and introduced to Jier that this map was something they had all created together through field work over the past few years.

Jier leaned in curiously to observe and discovered that this was a map drawn in detail on a single sheet of drawing paper. It marked mountain terrain, forests and plains, towns and villages, and so on.

There were also some markers placed on the map using wooden wolf-head chess pieces. In addition, there were several chess pieces represented by small wooden swords.

Seeing Jier paying attention to these, the veteran hunters nearby explained to Jier that the wolf-head chess pieces represented areas where they had discovered large wolf packs active in the previous few years. The small sword chess pieces represented places where they had fought against the wolf packs during the winter.

Jier noticed that the small sword chess pieces had time information carved on them. He looked at the dates on the three pieces and read them out in order: "Year 780, Year 781, Year 782." He scratched his head and asked: "By the way, what year is it this year?"

A young hunter beside him spoke up: "Imperial Year 783, it will be 784 very soon."

Jier gestured at the positions of several chess pieces on the map and said with a smile: "So, we have been driving the wolf packs toward the northern mountains and forests for the past few years, right? That's really impressive."

However, a veteran hunter named Quilin-duo refuted Jier's simple judgment: "It's not that simple, Jier. Although it seems like the places where we have fought the wolf packs in winter over the past few years have been moving away from the villages and towns into the mountains and forests, in reality, this doesn't have much connection to how often they harass villagers or raid caravans in their daily lives."

Another person chimed in: "Wolf packs are cunning and good at long-distance raids, so although their lair might be in the mountains and forests, the distance they cover when hunting is often very far. They will even occasionally cross Umi Lake and the Umi River to attack passing caravans."

Jier knew that Umi Lake was the knight territory of Knight Lanisha, and there was a village on its south side—Umi Lake Village—but he did not know which river the Umi River was.

Regarding Jier's confusion, a veteran hunter took the opportunity while the female knight had not yet arrived to introduce the places on the map to Jier, so as to avoid confusion during the later discussion.

If one uses the Kendall River, which flows from the northwest to the southeast, as a reference for orientation, then far to the northeast of the Kendall River is the vast Umi Lake; on the south side of the lake is Umi Lake Village, while the north side remains uncultivated and undeveloped.

And to the southwest of Umi Lake, there is a river flowing toward the southwest; walking from the lake toward the southwest, it eventually converges with the Kendall River.

This river is called the Umi River.

And at the confluence of the Umi River and the Kendall River is a prosperous River Mouth Town; this is a place where three sides meet. Walking northeast from here along the Umi River, one can reach Umi Lake and Umi Lake Village.

Walking toward the northwest from there, one will reach the large Lumber Yard in the north of the county and the most important station of the Imperial Knight Order. This is already the border of the Kingdom; not only is it a border, but it is also the geographical border of the entire Human world.

And from River Mouth Town, heading south, one will follow the river all the way to Kendall City.

Besides this, to the north and northwest of Umi Lake are vast stretches of mountains and forests. Although they are still within the geographical border arranged by the gods for Humans, in reality, there are neither villages nor settlements there. There are only continuous mountains and forests.

The only ones who can move freely there are generally the Imperial Border Knights who maintain the safety of the vast border.

Of course, in recent years, Knight Lanisha and the hunters under her command have also entered these mountains and forests to suppress the wolf packs that harass Humans.

After listening to everyone's description, Jier stroked the light layer of stubble on his chin, considered it for a while, and said: "So, why do those wolf packs in the mountains and forests north of the vast Umi Lake come out to attack Humans?"

"Who knows? Maybe it's because Humans are easier to catch than other animals?" a young hunter joked.

Someone else thought of the Magic Beast from before: "Maybe there are powerful Magic Beasts deep in the mountains and forests, and they are moving south to survive?"

But this was also refuted by others: "Impossible. If that were the case, why wouldn't those wolf packs move their entire lairs out of the mountains and forests? That way, they wouldn't need to travel such long distances to hunt."

A veteran hunter tapped the wooden table and said: "Everyone, don't forget, compared to the Magic Beast we dealt with before, the leader of the wolf pack, the Wolf King, is not inferior to it at all. Being able to fight the Knight Lord one-on-one and gain the upper hand shows that the Wolf King's strength is even higher than the previous Magic Beast."

Just as everyone was discussing, the door to this room opened, cold wind poured in, and Knight Lanisha walked in wearing a female knight's uniform.

Following behind her was an elderly Butler, whom Jier had seen before.

The servant closed the wooden door and immediately ran to the corner of the room to light the firewood in the stone fireplace.

Knight Lanisha took off her female knight's uniform coat and handed it to the Butler behind her, complaining casually: "Is there even a single knight among those who design clothes? They add unnecessary warmth measures; don't they know that knights aren't afraid of this little bit of winter chill? I remember our Kingdom's winter isn't that cold. It's not like our neighbors to the north."

After the Butler took the thick-looking knight's coat, he tidied it up slightly and hung it on the coat rack at the door; he did not answer the female knight's complaints.

Seeing that the Knight Lord had arrived, the others stood up neatly to salute, and Jier followed everyone in performing the etiquette.

"Everyone, please sit. Today, let us discuss the preparations for dealing with the Northern Wolf Pack this year." After she finished speaking, everyone sat down neatly and looked at Knight Lanisha.

Knight Lanisha first pointed at Jier: "Although a young hunter died at the hands of hateful Bandits during the previous suppression of a spider-like Magic Beast, we have just added a young Warrior who uses a sword and Shield. Qiao-Jier, everyone has fought alongside him, so I won't say much. Jier, your task in the team is the same as when dealing with the Bandits: when paired with the hunters, act as their sturdy Shield, blocking any enemies that break through their arrow rain. Of course, it will mostly be wolf packs."

"Secondly, because your skills are good, when you are confronting a powerful enemy with me, act as my deputy, harassing the powerful enemy, making it distracted, and finding its possible flaws to create an opportunity for me to deal a heavy blow to the enemy."

"Understood!" Jier responded immediately.

"Very good. Next, the important matter to discuss is that we captured three horses from the Bandits before. Originally, these horses were to be delivered to the Knight Order in the north by the Baron or Knight Kela. But since Jier performed meritorious service before and he wanted horses, I have decided to grant these three healthy horses to him."

Speaking of this, Knight Lanisha took a piece of paper from the Butler's hand, which listed many things categorized by type: "Of course, as mentioned before, when it comes to dealing with the Northern Wolf Pack in winter, Jier's three horses must be applied to this aspect first."

"This is a must," Jier quickly indicated.

Nodding, the Knight then pushed the paper in her hand to the others to view: "So, with three horses, our logistics and transport capacity have been greatly strengthened. I have studied it carefully and believe that the things on these papers can serve as important help for our Hunting this time."

Several veteran hunters took the paper, and a literate veteran hunter read the contents aloud for the others to hear.

Jier did not need this; he knew the writing here, so he leaned over and looked carefully at the contents written on it.

It was actually not complicated. Knight Lanisha, considering that the three horses and the carriage could greatly increase the transport of supplies, specifically requested, based on the new transport capacity, to prepare some things they could not bring when they set out before.

First is food.

Before, after they crossed the Umi River from Umi Lake Village, there was a supply point there. They would carry less than ten days of rations from there into the vast mountains and forests to the north.

Although Knight Lanisha's horses were also horses, firstly, they were warhorses and wore heavy armor. Secondly, horses had an astonishing appetite, and the weight of the supplies they could carry themselves was all used to carry their own food.

Warhorses' food could not just be fed with hay; some nutrient-rich and easy-to-carry Beans had to be prepared. Root vegetables were not impossible, but the water content in root vegetables accounted for a huge weight; after removing the water, the dry matter was not as much as Beans.

And in the mountains and forests in winter, there was clean snow everywhere; as long as one didn't feel cold, one could take snow everywhere to quench thirst.

Now, with the extra three ordinary horses, they could carry more supplies from the villages and towns at one time. Although the horses could not be brought into the mountains and forests where there were fierce beasts everywhere, with the horses' carrying capacity, they could greatly extend the field supply points into the edge of the mountains and forests.

In this way, although everyone could only carry less than ten days of food on their person, the entire team could go deeper into the mountains and forests in a single operation, and could also entangle with the cunning wolf packs for longer in the mountains and forests.

Wolf packs were carnivorous; Humans could persist for a long time by relying on the food they carried, but they were just ferocious animals. Without the opportunity to hunt, entangling with the hunters would only make them weak and exhausted.

Everyone was discussing by the map, and they all felt that with the carriage and sufficient horse transport capacity, they could no longer set out directly from Umi Lake Village.

The reason is simple.

There is no bridge over the Umi River.

Although horses can cross the river, it is impossible for carriages and the supplies transported on them to rely entirely on people carrying them on their shoulders or horses bearing them across. After all, the Umi River is deep and the current is swift, making it difficult to cross.

Therefore, after everyone discussed it, they decided to set off from River Mouth Town and travel along the other side of the Umi River, which would avoid the trouble of crossing the river.

"However, I still have to make a trip to the Cunzi. It is impossible not to let my Villagers know about my actions. Otherwise, they will be afraid," Knight Ranisha said.

She is the leader, and everyone agrees with whatever she decides.

So it was decided that everyone would unload the transported supplies after reaching the first supply point, and then return to River Mouth Town to transport the second batch of supplies. As for her, she would cross the river to go to the Cunzi, which would both reassure the Villagers and allow her to call upon a few Villagers to guard the safety of the supplies at the supply point for them.

After all, the things Knight Ranisha needs to prepare this time are not limited to food and supplies, but also include other things. One cannot help but guard against some bold fellows who might steal the supplies they left at the supply point while their group enters the mountain forest to fight the Northern Wolf Pack.

Regarding this decision, everyone then realized that this was indeed the way to handle it, because the second part written on the paper was Knight Ranisha's other preparations.

After food, there are the traps specifically for countering the Northern Wolf Pack.

The Northern Wolf Pack ravaging the Northern Border is huge in size, a circle larger than the Wild Wolf in other places. Therefore, Knight Ranisha asked Kendall Baron for a batch of iron, specifically finding Craftsmen to rush the production of a batch of Hunting Trap.

These things can very effectively make those not-so-smart animals fall into an ambush, especially when they intend to attack.

Every fierce closing of the trap can snap the animal's legs, and the heavy metal trap also makes it impossible for them to run and move with this thing on their feet, only becoming the fixed Wooden Target that Hunters like most.

However, these effective little gadgets also have some shortcomings.

They are very heavy.

Knight Ranisha has already seen a finished iron trap; each one is twenty-five centimeters high when closed, enough to clamp the beast feet of the Northern Wolf Pack that steps into it, not something they can easily shake off.

Each trap weighs seven kilograms, which is not an easy weight for a wild wolf that weighs about the same as an adult woman. Not to mention the pain and having their legs snapped, just this seven-kilogram weight is enough to make it difficult for a wild wolf to run fast.

At this point, Knight Ranisha smiled confidently: "I plan to bring fifty such iron traps, and later in the mountain forest, I will specifically prepare a trap to lure the wild wolves into charging; this will definitely greatly deplete the subordinates of the wolf king. Plus Jier, this melee Warrior, and the fact that their number of adult wolves is at its lowest right now."

"This year, I will go straight to the lair of the Northern Wolf Pack, not only to wipe out those huge numbers of wolves, but also to look for an opportunity to defeat that guy. Not only because it has been ravaging the north, and not only because it has defeated me and driven me away many times. It is even more because..." Speaking of this, Knight Ranisha clenched her fists fiercely, making a creaking sound of knuckles tightening.

The Knight's Butler lowered his head and said something in the Knight's ear, which calmed Knight Ranisha's mood.

"It's fine, don't look at me. Let us focus on discussing the topic of these iron traps," Knight Ranisha changed the subject awkwardly.

Jier believes that everyone saw that the Knight herself has a deep hatred for that wolf king, but since the other party did not want to explain, everyone had to follow along and change the subject.

However, everyone had vaguely heard the rumors about Knight Ranisha; her father, Knight Boken-Ranisa, was rumored to have gone missing in the mountain forest of the north.

In this society, if someone goes missing in the mountain forest, people basically default to the person being dead. Especially after being missing for so many years, for a middle-aged Knight with skilled hands and in the prime of life, it is basically impossible for him to be alive.

A few years ago, Knight Jenny Lanisha, who was still studying abroad, had to attend a funeral without a body, and then tried her best to take over the burden of the family, become a Knight, and went to the mountain forest of the Northern Border many times to investigate.

It was still thanks to the solid foundation her father laid for her when she was young, so even though she had been studying abroad for many years and had not trained, the young Janni still became a newly promoted Knight, preserved the family's territory, and had the possibility of searching for her father's disappearance.

Everyone discussed in the room until noon, and finally decided on the crusade plan and preparations for this time.

In addition to the iron traps that Knight Ranisha valued, everyone also contributed their own ideas and came up with some methods that could be used in the subsequent crusade operations.

It was not that everyone could not think of new ideas before, but they were limited by the long distance of the trek and the weight of the supplies they could carry on their bodies. Now with horses and carriages, not only is the transport capacity greatly strengthened, but if one does not consider the first time everyone goes to the supply point, the time for the carriages to return from River Mouth Town to the supply point after carrying all the accompanying personnel will also be greatly improved with the speed of travel.