Fairy tale: Little Red Riding Hood's wolf mentor

Dusk was gathering, and Lake walked shoulder to shoulder with the Leper King. A temporary detention center was enclosed by stone walls, with torches illuminating the silhouettes of the guards every thirty feet.

Along the way, all the Falling Star City soldiers straightened their backs when they saw Lake and the Leper King, and from time to time, someone would heavily pound their chest armor with their right hand, their eyes burning.

"What is this place?"

Under the light of the torches, both Lake and Polo noticed the large scale of the building.

Stripped of their armor and naked, their bodies showed an unhealthy bluish-black color.

Unlike ordinary prison cells, within this detention center, all the imprisoned Shree people were silent, without any intention of fighting or attacking. They just seemed somewhat dazed.

Like they had lost the sanity of normal people.

"After we fought the Shree army, I discovered that after killing all the special commanders in a Shree army, these ordinary Shree soldiers, under the effect of the Starfall Barrier, would lose their berserk or bloodthirsty state."

The Leper King led the group to the next prison cell, each containing several people.

But these Shree people had no desire to communicate, but were still like ordinary creatures—but their habits as humans had not been lost, only becoming somewhat passive, not to the point of being unable to take care of themselves.

Simply put, they didn't do anything extra.

They just ate the supplied food, their eyes dull, without the desires that humans should have.

"So, the Starfall Barrier will, to some extent, heal them?"

"No, the strange things within their bodies are only dormant. If a special Shree commander comes, they will become bloodthirsty warriors again."

The Leper King shook his head and sighed.

After circling through the corridors, they arrived at a special room where several Falling Star City doctors and several silver-robed people were gathered around something.

Lake stepped forward to take a look. It was an operating table with a dead Shree soldier on it.

"This Shree person may have been a tailor before."

A doctor pointed to the calluses on the Shree person's hand and said, "His body is very thin and weak, and he shouldn't have been a soldier."

Hearing this, the Leper King picked up the doctor's record book, which also contained several different Shree autopsy reports.

Lake and Polo noticed that the reports contained various speculations about the Shree soldiers' identities.

And the ages spanned a wide range.

"The Shree soldiers were originally ordinary people. They were controlled by some sinister magic, and their souls were tainted in some way, turning them into this."

The conclusion reached by the Leper King also confirmed Polo and others' previous findings.

After this, the Leper King pointed to a map on the wall, which showed the land occupied by the Shree Kingdom. Several cities or towns on it had been marked with important symbols.

And each city's top was also marked with numbers ranging from thousands to hundreds of thousands.

"Even with your help, the range that the Starfall Barrier can affect is not large. If we want to launch a counterattack and attack the Shree capital, we will have to pass through more than ten cities or towns."

"It's hard to fight, right?"

"Yes, the only good news is that there are not many special Shree officers who can command large armies, so their expeditionary army will not reach us for the time being."

As he spoke, the Leper King took a deep breath, "We are the kingdom that has fought and persisted against the Shree Kingdom for the longest time. I know them quite well, and I have calculated their strength.

If we want to counterattack, in each city or town, the strength we will face will be more than ten times ours."

Lake and Polo understood what the Leper King meant.

Whether it was the elderly, children, or ordinary artisans and citizens, they would all be turned into bloodthirsty soldiers under the Shree Kingdom's magic.

"We can find those special commanders in the army and kill them. We have that ability, but we also need troop support."

"Godel, Shadi, our armies will also fight alongside you…"

"But it's not enough."

The Leper King shook his head, "It is far from enough to rely solely on these countries that have already been invaded by the Shree Kingdom. We need more allies and more troops to resist and even counterattack them."

"So, you mean for us to…"

"Pass through the Shree Kingdom's blockade and go to the Hunt Kingdom. This country used to have the strongest army."

The Leper King pointed to another area on the map, also a country bordering the Shree Kingdom. Judging from the area and the symbols, this country's territory was covered by vast forests.

If one day, the army could really counterattack into the Shree Kingdom.

Then there was no doubt that the Hunt Kingdom would become the Shree Kingdom's rear. If it was annexed, the Shree Kingdom would gain even greater power.

"The envoys I sent were not just one, but this kingdom refused to form an alliance—they may not know the seriousness of the problem."

The Leper King said seriously, "But I am sure that the Shree Kingdom has not had time to use troops against them. We must ally with them first, and even if they refuse, we cannot let them fall to the side of the Shree Kingdom."

…

"Hey, we're setting off again. We didn't stay in Falling Star City for very long."

Lake yawned and put some luggage on the carriage.

Several warriors from the Godel Kingdom and Princess Marin came to say goodbye, all with a hint of apology on their faces.

This time, only Lake and Polo were acting as envoys.

Envoys and warriors from countries such as Godel and Shadi needed to stay in Falling Star City as liaisons to contact the army led by Prince Happy.

As for why no soldiers followed Lake and Polo…

The previous process of passing through the blockade to reach Falling Star City reflected the reason. Ordinary soldiers were more of a burden than a help to Lake and Polo.

Moreover, this route almost spanned the Shree Kingdom.

"I hope this war can end soon."

Lake waved goodbye to Princess Marin and the others. The number of people in this "envoy group" was much smaller than before. Some of them died in the battle against the Shree King as warriors.

Another part…

"Where are those envoys from the Oz Kingdom?"

Lake asked Princess Marin.

"They…"

Princess Marin hesitated for a moment and said, "I haven't seen them since the day Oz went to his death."

"They left? Where did they go? Didn't they leave any words?"

"No, nothing at all."

Princess Marin shrugged, "After all, they are our own people, no one would monitor them. They took all their things, money and horses, without even any signs."

Hearing this, Polo suddenly thought of the suitcase that Oz carried, which contained the silver shoes and the magical golden crown.

Didn't leave anything?

He was a clever magician, a mortal who could participate in so many things.

Was he really dead?

Polo thought again of that day, the figure instantly annihilated by King Thury's sword light—

Shape, scent... without a doubt, it was Oz from his memories. Under that kind of attack, there was absolutely no way he could have survived!

But before deciding to die, he didn't reveal anything.

The two magical items weren't left behind or arranged for, not even a farewell letter was left. And in that siege warfare, his magician apprentices were able to leave silently in a short amount of time—these things are definitely not something an ordinary person could achieve!

The Kingdom of Oz, where is it? The devils have already arrived there, but from where did they arrive?

Polo recalled the map of the Kingdom of Thury.

But in the surrounding areas, he couldn't think of any place that could fit a magical kingdom called "Kingdom of Oz."

"Forget it, since they are allies, we will probably encounter them in the war against the Kingdom of Thury later, right?"

The carriage left Starfall City, heading towards the Starry Barrier not far away.

On both sides, the silver-armored soldiers looked at the carriage. Their eyes, like the stars in the sky, suddenly, a soldier bent his finger into a fist and heavily struck his own chest armor.

Then, the second, the third...

The knocking sound was like a tide, and also like offering their prayers and war songs to the hero who was setting out again.

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"Looks like I've become a hero again, Leake."

Polo looked at the girl. Leake's eyes were fixed on the scene of Starfall City outside. Although she was silent, the slightly raised corners of her mouth already showed the joy of the girl's mood.

"Polo, when we first embarked on our journey, did you ever think of such a day?"

Leake stroked the Star Slayer Sword, and the sword body made a clear sound, reflecting some starlight. In Starfall City, the Star Slayer Sword seemed to become more active.

"But now I find that becoming a hero in a story or tale doesn't seem so simple..."

"Yeah, we are not kings, and the devils have not harmed our interests. Why would we agree to their request?"

Polo suddenly smiled and asked.

"Because whether it is the Leper King or the Happy Prince, what they do is not for themselves."

Leake said in a low voice, "Although they have such high positions, their food, clothing, shelter, and transportation are no better than others. They use their abilities to shoulder more responsibilities—I think they are good people."

The closer they got to the Starry Barrier, the darker the magical starry sky above became.

On the ground, flesh and blood were still mixed in the muddy battlefield, emitting an unspeakable odor.

"Polo, you said that this world we are in is a fairy tale world..."

Leake's face, illuminated by the starlight, exuded a somewhat dreamlike glow, "In fairy tales, good people should get help, shouldn't they?"

"Yes, that's right."

Polo was stunned for a moment, then nodded, "In fairy tales, good people should get help. No matter how strong the bad guys are, kindness will always achieve the final victory."

The Starry Barrier was already close at hand. The starlight forming the barrier connected to the sky, and within it, nebulae flowed slowly, and star clusters of various sizes emitted colorful brilliance.

"Polo, you said earlier that those stars are distant suns and moons..."

"And possibly, worlds like the one beneath our feet."

"Worlds beneath our feet? Are there many more fairy tales like ours?"

"That's right, maybe there are people living on those stars."

"In those worlds, will there also be such wars?"

"Maybe there are, maybe there aren't."

"Will the Little Red Riding Hoods there all have their own wolf partners?"

"Haha, maybe there will be, but I think... we two are definitely the best wolf and Little Red Riding Hood relationship!"

As they spoke, the carriage had already crossed the Starry Barrier.

In an instant, day and night changed.

The starry sky disappeared, but on the horizon, a fireball-like fiery sun climbed into the azure sky, shining brightly.

...

"Northeast direction, there is a Thuryan outpost on the top of the mountain, be careful."

Along the war zone, using the fastest route possible, heading to the Kingdom of Hunte on the other side of the Kingdom of Thury. This time, although they had a more detailed map provided by the Leper King.

However, the Kingdom of Thury's blockade of its territory was even stricter.

Therefore, this journey was more difficult compared to the previous journey to the Kingdom of Gothe.

"As expected, just like what the Starfall City intelligence said, the Kingdom of Thury has given up on pretending."

Leake and Polo had already given up on traveling on the main road.

Through their excellent detection abilities, they chose remote mountain roads. Even so, they passed by many Thuryan outposts—the scale of the Thuryan army was enough to support their outpost network within the country.

Through a gap in the bushes, Polo looked not far away, at another Thuryan outpost.

Behind the outpost, there was a pit filled with corpses.

Among the corpses, judging from their clothing, most were merchants and refugees.

"If these devils succeed, will the whole world become like that?"

On the way through the Kingdom of Thury, Polo and Leake personally saw that many checkpoints were filled with corpses—without any passersby.

And among the corpses, Polo even saw many people in aristocratic attire.

"They killed everyone who didn't belong to Thury. This is no longer a country, it has become a complete demon's lair."

Compared to before, the autonomous ability of the Thuryan garrison was weakened again.

They were like one puppet after another, standing there blankly, waiting to kill everyone who passed by.

Without human managers...

Or rather, the ruling class had all become devil-like monsters acting for destruction.

Under such circumstances, the so-called "smuggling caravan" also disappeared.

Passing through the forest, in the distance, there was another rice field, overgrown with weeds, but no one harvested it. The city was quiet, with guards standing on the city wall, but it was more like a dead zone.

As time passed, finally, the last Thuryan city disappeared on the horizon behind them.

Passing through a forest, a new city appeared not far away.

The citizens here seemed to be more powerful than elsewhere. Many hunters carrying prey walked out of the forest next to them...

No, it wasn't just hunters, there were also many people dressed as mercenaries, all heading towards the Kingdom of Hunte.

"Is the Kingdom of Hunte expanding its army?"

During the observation, Polo did not feel the strangeness of the Kingdom of Thury on these people, which made him breathe a sigh of relief, "Are they already preparing for the invasion of Thury? Perhaps, things will be much easier."

While thinking, the carriage drove into the Kingdom of Hunte.

On both sides of the road, many hunters set up stalls, hawking their prey.

Kingdom of Hunte, the City of Hunters.

(End of this chapter)