Stirring Up Trouble

The group in front of Fran seemed to discuss something for a moment, and then a tall man with brown fur around his neck rode Dire Wolf forward slightly.

"Stop. I think you'd better not get too close."

When Fran saw him approach, she immediately spoke, staring at him curiously. To her, he appeared to be at least 2.3 meters tall, with broad shoulders and a thick waist, looking like a tall man magnified.

If she wasn't mistaken, these people were probably the beastmen that were quite common in this other world.

She had heard of the orc race on the continent from the information in the City of Apprentices, but she had never seen a single person of that race in the Alliance.

Now, Fran has finally seen the first one; she must be the first non-human race she has ever seen on the continent.

However, the other person's facial features were somewhat rare, which was probably due to their bloodline not being pure enough.

She told the other person to stop because if they continued to move forward, they would step into the Magic Trap she had just set.

However, the other person seemed not to hear her words and continued forward on their own, as if Fran didn't exist in front of them at all.

Fran, on the other hand, kept her eyes fixed on her opponent. Once the opponent stepped into her trap, she would abandon all thoughts of negotiation and launch an attack directly.

She couldn't possibly reveal beforehand that she had set a trap. If the other party ignored her warning, then she had nothing more to say; launching an attack directly was the best course of action.

However, for some unknown reason, the opponent managed to command the Dire Wolf to stop half a step in front of the trap set by Fran.

Jeremy stopped, raised his head, and with a hint of disdain in his eyes, said as if giving a command:

"Shorty, have you ever seen a group of about six people carrying a large dark blue box?"

Fran frowned, and instead of answering immediately, she changed the subject.

You're standing too close.

The other party seemed not to grasp the true meaning of her words. Jeremy, riding on his Dire Wolf, smiled contemptuously and questioned:

"Shorty, I didn't tell you how close I am to you. Answer your question now, or you'll soon find out why I'm standing so close."

Seemingly noticing the commotion, another orc rode Dire Wolf and came up behind Jeremy.

"What happened?" Nathan asked.

"Nothing much. The Shorty seems clueless; instead of answering my question, he wasted his precious words on trivial matters."

As he spoke, he turned to Fran and said:

"Shorty, I suggest you look closer. There are so many of us here; don't you even know how old you really are?"

Nathan was completely unaware of the saying that one should keep their distance from strangers in the middle of nowhere.

He steered the Dire Wolf forward, Dire Wolf paws almost stepping into the trap Fran had set.

However, the Magic Trap still hasn't been triggered by the opponent; it seems they're still a little short of triggering it.

Fran sighed and said loudly:

"If I were you, I wouldn't go any further."

She realized that these two orcs seemed to have some kind of rebellious streak; if she told them not to do something, they would insist on doing it.

She was too lazy to even communicate with the other party now, so she decided to provoke them further. If they continued forward and triggered her Magic Trap, then...

The magic ring on her hand began to glow faintly with the infusion of Mental Power, while her other hand, which was not adorned with Spell Ring, prepared another spell.

Unfortunately, the two orcs did not immediately step into her Magic Trap; instead, they remained where they were, laughing heartily.

"What did I just hear? A Shorty's not even as tall as a goat dares to speak so arrogantly to us!"

A sinister smile crept across Jeremy's face as he continued:

"You may not know who we are, but we are the famous Mercenary squad, Giant Axe, from White Dragon Port. You should know that we are all First Order Profession."

Nathan seemed to have seen something, his eyes lit up, and he said:

"Jeremy, that Shorty's mount is pretty cool! It's a horse!"

Only then did Jeremy notice the Black Horse beside Fran. The Black Horse showed no signs of tension about the impending battle; it simply stood still, looking over with some curiosity.

"Oh! A horse that can adapt to the Northern Territory environment, that must be worth a lot of money!" Jeremy licked his lips, revealing an expression as if he had discovered some treasure.

"We'll take turns riding this horse, and later we'll sell a Dire Wolf to the lord here."

"Good!"

Nathan didn't waste any words. After responding, he turned around and beckoned to the orcs behind him.

"Everyone, the hunt can begin. The target is this Shorty in front of us. Be careful not to hurt the Black Horse; it's worth a lot of money."

The orcs behind them began to stir on the dire Dire Wolf, but none of them acted immediately.

Because they had already understood one thing within this squad: this was merely a preparatory order for the charge; the real order to attack would only be given when Nathan waved his arm forward—that would be the 'call to arms' for the attack.

Fran sighed again, lamenting her bad luck in encountering a group of arrogant Mercenary.

She offered one last piece of advice to the other person.

"I am Battle Mage from the Alliance; you should know that, right?"

Jeremy was taken aback. His body, which had been poised to strike, suddenly stopped upon hearing those words, as if he were genuinely concerned about his status.

Nathan, however, maintained his smile, just as he had said to Jeremy.

"The Alliance Battle Mage? As far as I know, the Alliance is so far away from here that a single Battle Mage would never come here alone; they always come in groups."

"Furthermore, even if they really are the Alliance Battle Mage, so what? This place is too far from the Alliance. How can they retaliate against us?"

"A junior mage who has risen from the Spirit Realm shouldn't fantasize about being the Alliance mage. There will never be a the Alliance mage traveling alone in the Northern Territory."

Nathan didn't know was that in recent decades, a Northern Lands Society had emerged in the Northern Territory, which was also part of the Alliance.

"Alright, stop wasting your breath on her." Jeremy was itching with desire, his eyes fixed on Fran, filled with a mixture of shame and indignation at being intimidated by Fran earlier.

"I want her thigh meat. I think it would smell delicious roasted. It's been a long time since I've had pure human flesh."