APTnovel Chapter 500 Setting up camp
Chapter 500 Setting up camp
Chapter 500 Setting up camp
"Mmm—it smells so good!"
In the camp, swordsman Beta gulped down the yellow croaker soup cooked by François, while uttering exclamations of admiration.
Pierre, the knight-errant standing nearby, rolled his eyes: "Back then, you were the one most opposed to this scholar joining. What, now you think the soup tastes good?"
Beta glared back, annoyed. "I still don't think alchemy is of any help to this trip, but cooking is a different story. I mean, brother, where did you learn to cook? I've never tasted such delicious food."
"My adoptive parents taught me how to cook, but unfortunately they were killed by bandits. However, the method of cooking seafood was taught to me by a girl."
"Oh," Beta chuckled, looking at François. "I didn't expect you to know the female teacher? But speaking of which, yellow croaker isn't a sea fish, is it?"
"Yes, but what she taught me was very inspiring," François replied truthfully.
"So, you used to be a chef?" Nolan asked.
"Yes," François nodded, "In fact, I came to this continent to learn cooking, but somehow I ended up getting involved in alchemy."
"People always discover their talents by chance," Wendy said, sitting on her trunk and drinking soup. "Like your girlfriend, she has the potential to be a thief."
François's eyes twitched slightly when he heard the word "girlfriend."
She subconsciously glanced at Jennifer beside her, who was swaying with her right foot; Jennifer seemed to ignore Wendy's words.
François did not consider her his girlfriend, and—he felt she was a heavy burden.
Although he felt unworthy to think that way, the feeling was real, and Jennifer was really annoying.
That's why, by the time François came to his senses, he had already retorted, "She probably already knew how to steal before she met you."
"That's just being a thief, no different from a rat in the sewers," Wendy said. "But thieves are an important profession in adventure parties."
“But we’re not going on a risk,” François said.
"So tell me, what are you going there to do?"
Upon hearing this, François was speechless.
François still doesn't understand what this group of people are going to do.
Nolan chimed in, "It won't be an ordinary mission at least. Look at our setup; it was clearly carefully selected by the council. We might be carrying out a special mission."
For François, this was a bigger knot in his heart than for Jennifer.
François had no interest in becoming an alchemist, let alone in such a mission with an unclear purpose and obvious danger.
Moreover, he set off in a state of "awaiting his fate".
François really didn't want to get into trouble!
"Don't worry so much, Master," Nolan said. "Look on the bright side. Miss Jennifer might be able to fully unleash the thief's potential, and as for you, you might get your hands on some lost but potent alchemical formulas."
"I don't want any alchemical formulas!" François shouted silently.
"Since we're on the topic, hey," Jennifer suddenly called out, "Pierre, where are we going?"
"The front lines," Pierre said, "go and meet up with the councilors who are in command there, and then wait for their orders."
"Speaking of which, they fought this battle rather sloppily," Beta chimed in. "They kept pushing forward at the front but never secured their rear. We've already encountered several villages that the enemy has recaptured, so we have to proceed stealthily, which has seriously slowed down our progress."
"Actually, the most critical issue is the supply of provisions," Pierre replied. "Before we set off, Councilor Zord told me that several shipments of provisions had already been looted by the enemy. This shows how unstable the rear is. I'm worried that the lack of timely logistical support at the front might have led to some unforeseen events."
This was clearly a more dangerous situation, and François couldn't help but swallow hard.
"The congressman shouldn't have gone to the front lines. He should have just handed over command to the professionals. Why did he have to micromanage everything himself?" Beta spat.
“Even so,” Nolan said, “this campaign is truly bizarre. The Federation forces clearly have a huge advantage in both manpower and equipment; this situation shouldn't exist. If they had slowed their advance and consolidated their gains, they wouldn't be in this predicament. Unless—”
"Unless," said Wendy, the little girl, "the purpose of this battle is not just to conquer cities and seize territory."
“Indeed,” Pierre said, “by all accounts, our army has been too reckless.”
François couldn't get a word in edgewise during their conversation.
But he was worried that if what these people said were true...
So the invasion was just a pretext; the mission assigned to them might be even more dangerous.
Moreover, this matter also seems to be related to spices.
hateful.
If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have gone to see Mr. Leo in the first place.
We're not that close, François thought—I really shouldn't have meddled!
Dinner passed quickly.
François was tidying up the tableware and kitchen utensils.
Everyone else was chatting, bragging about the thrilling things they had experienced in the past.
Jennifer suddenly found him and tugged at his clothes.
François took a deep breath—
Miss Jennifer is really too difficult to satisfy.
"Excuse me, miss, I'm a little tired. Could you let me rest for a few days?"
Jennifer's face immediately showed disappointment, then she tentatively asked, "How about we go for a walk?"
"No," François immediately shook his head. "This is enemy territory. It's very dangerous at night. Someone has to keep watch every night. If we wander around, we'll only cause trouble for everyone."
François, who only wanted to remain invisible, understood better than anyone that not causing trouble was the prerequisite for everything.
But Jennifer clearly didn't understand this principle.
But you can't blame her. Although she's only eighteen, she's already an adult.
However, it seems that he has always been protected by his father, and his thinking is still too naive.
Not everyone is like François, who grew up living under someone else's roof.
"Hmph!" Jennifer walked away unhappily.
François had no time to care about the other person's feelings.
Perhaps it would have been better if she had come to hate François.
Miss Wendy is on night watch tonight.
Wendy may not be very big, but she's very capable, and I heard she's already over forty.
Hmm—I really couldn't tell.
Are all wizards truly like the legends, able to remain youthful forever?
Pierre, on the other hand, planned to go and scout out the situation in the surrounding area.
François was the first to lie down and go to sleep.
He has to hurry.
Otherwise, Jennifer will start bothering me again.
François always falls asleep quickly.
The next morning, he felt someone patting his face: "Wake up, Scholar."
François opened his eyes and, after his eyes adjusted to the bright light, realized it was Pierre.
"We need to hurry; we'll catch up with the main group soon!"