The village of the 'Whitemane' clan is built on a large clearing in the heart of an ash forest.

The trees on the Hanhai Grassland are already sparse, and it is even more rare to form a denser forest. It is only because there is a wide and soothing river nearby that this can satisfy the large amount of moisture that so many trees in the woods need to grow.

The river's real name is named in Elvish, and it is called 'Anakarua', which means 'the way the sun shines' in Common language, so the guide Genn also calls it 'the river of light'.

In the early morning, when the sun rises from the horizon in the distance, the warm sunlight will pour forward in the direction of the turbulent river, dyeing the whole river a dazzling golden color, which is also the name of the river of light. origin.

This season happens to be the period when the ash trees are blooming, and large swaths of snow-like white flowers bloom freely among the green leaves, adding a clear and elegant feeling to this alien village with a wild atmosphere.

At this time, the barbarian adventurer Barrett, who successfully completed the **** mission, was wandering in the centaur village with the guide Jean and the bodyguard Red Crab, while the little mage Chris and the businessman Ariel were leading The rescued Centaur girl, Ivita, went to talk to the village chief and priests.

Although the relationship between the White Mane Clan and humans was not very good, Barret and his party were not monitored or blocked in the village, and they could walk around freely. I don't know if there is a reason for saving people.

Along the way, although I encountered a lot of eyes that were either curious or disgusted, there was no hatred included.

The centaurs here wear very simple clothes, and even some female centaurs are directly naked (harmonious) with their upper bodies in human form, with only a collar made of feathers and leaves around their necks.

Although the feathers and leaves hanging down on the neck ring can also play a certain role in covering, but the weight of these two materials is relatively light, they will float involuntarily when walking and running, which makes Barrett and others feast for the eyes.

The bodyguard Red Crab once said with emotion, "Every time I come here, I feel as if I have entered heaven! It's just like the beautiful country that the gods built in their own realm."

However, in addition to the surprise and admiration when they first entered the village, this kind of beautiful scenery, which is full of eyes, color-like ash flowers, pair after pair, will also make people a little accustomed to it. More importantly, our barbarian adventurer asks himself that he has seen some "worldly" people. Naturally, he doesn't want to make himself look like some younger guy whose profession is a mage. The eyes are a little rude.

So in this rare time, the role of peripheral vision is highlighted.

This paradise... oh no, the name of the village is exactly the same as the clan itself, also called 'Whitemane'. With the nearby ash tree flowers against the background, it is also worthy of the name. The scale of the village is relatively moderate, neither big nor small, and it is not much different from the medium-sized villages and towns of human beings.

The gathering places of most of the wild tribes in the vast sea grassland are of this size. Because it is difficult for small villages to resist the threat of some evil creatures on the grassland, and large villages will cause a relatively heavy burden on nearby natural resources, the population of each gathering place is basically determined by the amount of nearby resources. to decide.

"Relying on the nourishment of the River of Light, the population of the Whitemane Clan has stabilized at about a thousand." The guide Genn introduced the two Barrets, "Because the race of centaurs, whether male or female, can fight, basically they can do All the people are soldiers, so although the population is not large, it is also an armed force that cannot be ignored in the vast sea grassland."

These words made Barrett think of the centaur warrior in heavy golden armor that he killed in hell. If there are about a hundred such centaur warriors charging on the vast sea grassland, maybe even the dragon will Tremble over it.

"Do they have heavy armored warriors?" Barbarian asked, "the kind that wear full armor like knights."

"Yes, but the number is very small. As far as I know, only the clan chiefs and a few centaurs with outstanding martial arts known as 'Wild Riders' can wear metal armors, and the rest of the warriors are They wear leather or wooden armor." Genn said, "Metal products are relatively rare here. You can see that there is no blacksmith shop in the village, so these people can't produce iron products by themselves, those farm tools, spear tips, machetes. Basically they are exchanged with other races."

"With whom? We humans?" Barrett asked.

"Yes, the main transaction targets are the Visnates on the grasslands." The guide glanced at the tattoos on Manzi's forehead, "Of course, there must also be those businessmen who run around for profit."

"When I came here with my boss, I sold them a lot of iron," said the bodyguard Red Crab, "Not only weapons such as long swords and machetes, but also hoes, sickles, shoes, and even fish hooks here. are very welcome.”

In the square in the central area of ​​the village, there is an oversized ring made of stones. Inside the ring stood three diamond-shaped stone tablets covered with vines and moss. In the gaps between the moss and vines, some strange symbols carved on the stone tablets could be faintly seen. Those symbols roughly look like eyes, some like wings, some like claws, and so on.

The triangular stele guards the center of an ash tree, which looks very old and quite sturdy, although it is not comparable to the oak tree in the sweet cane village that can be used as a spacious treehouse, but it is extremely rare. .

This circle containing the stone tablets and trees is the altar of the Whitemane clan, and it is the most important building in the entire village. Because there were two centaur warriors with spears and bows and arrows standing around the altar, and they were watching Barrett and others with vigilant eyes, so they did not choose to get too close.

A little centaur girl like a foal seemed to have a strong interest in the bipedal creatures like Barrett. She ran over with no recognition at all, holding a handful of red or green currants in her hand.

'Little Pony' spoke a language that Barrett could not understand, and held up the gooseberry in his hand to the crowd.

"What did she say?" Barrett whispered to Gene.

"'For you,' or 'for you,'" Genn said. "I only know a little Elvish, but it's a simple one." He picked up two gooseberries and replied in Elvish' Thank you', "The centaurs don't have their own language. They used to only speak Elvish, but now they have a common language."

Barrett and Red Crab also picked up a few gooseberries from Pony's hand, and repeated the syllable Gene said, "Do we need to return the gift?" Barbarian asked casually.

Gene was stunned, "I don't know about this, I have never been so friendly with them before." He looked at the red crab next to him, "Didn't you come here before?"

"Don't ask me, I don't know anything." Red Crab said, "When your eyes are full of these big and round..., you know what I mean, at this time you can't hold other things in your mind! "

It's just you, don't think of me like you guys. Barrett thought for a while, took out a small sheathed dagger from the space ring, and put it in the hand of the little centaur girl.

The face of 'Little Pony' was full of surprise~lightnovelpub.net~ She looked at the dagger, then looked up at Barrett with pure black eyes, and said something in Elvish.

Although Barrett couldn't understand the meaning of the words, he could guess from the expressions on the other side's faces. "This is for me?" He translated the sentence in his mind, then smiled and nodded again.

The 'Little Pony' cheered happily and ran away. Three humans stood around the altar, eating sweet and sour gooseberries and admiring the towering ancient tree.

"The tall and straight ash tree is very important for the Whitemane Clan." Guide Genn continued to introduce the other two, "The ash tree can not only hinder the enemy's peeping, bring cover and shelter, but also bow, arrows, spears and other weapons An important source of materials. Without this nearby forest, the combat effectiveness of the Whitemane Clan would be greatly reduced..."

"Hinder the enemy's peeping? That is, the peeping of your kingdom's cavalry?" The bodyguard Red Crab threw a slightly red gooseberry into his mouth, "It's sour, this one is not very familiar."

"I did do this before, and it was all because of military orders, and there was no way to refuse." Guide Genn admitted frankly, "But now, I only serve gold coins."

...