Ray rode next to the girl, ignoring the angry whispers of the mercenaries, who were afraid to approach the panther. For the guy's sensitive hearing, their words were no quieter than ordinary speech, but he did not understand the language, and even now he had a more pleasant interlocutor.
- How can I contact you?
The girl didn't react at all to the question, seeming angry at his last words. Ray did not care, because he was not going to give up.
- You don't have to say your name, just be a conversationalist. I can even pay if it's that hard for you. - he spoke calmly, trying not to anger this quick-tempered person even more, because if among those present only she spoke the language of the forest, then the journey would no longer be so interesting.
A self-satisfied and slightly evil smile appeared on the girl's face.
- How can you pay me? You don't have anything.
- I'll give it to you. – pointed guy behind back, where hung a longbow. In Inventory, he still had one more of the same, but new, unlike this one, which had already worn out. Another one completely broke down in the forest.
Hearing his words, the girl extended her hand, which after a moment caught the bow.
- My name is Tessa. And what is your name Pharos? - the girl's voice was pleased, because getting the bow of the forest people was far from easy. She got it, in fact, for free.
- You can call me Ray. – answering her, he immediately continued. - How do you know this language?
- I was taught to fight by one of the representatives of your people, he taught me your dialect.
- That's how. Then tell us more about the war you mentioned.
Looking at the face of her interlocutor, Tessa did not notice any falseness there. In fact, she did not notice any emotions there at all, but she answered anyway:
- Rondal attacked one of the Faroese cities. This news reached us quite late, but I am sure that we will have time to participate in several battles.
- Rondal?
Glancing at Ray once more, either in surprise or disbelief, she continued.
- A country in the eastern part of the forest. How can you not know about her?
- I lived in one of the western cities, besides, I was expelled.
- Oh, and for what?
- I killed several hunters.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Tessa didn't say anything, but the contempt that flickered in her eyes did not escape Ray. She was familiar with the customs of the people of Pharos, so she did not understand what made this strange guy kill his relatives.
“It’s strange to see such an attitude on the part of a mercenary. - the guy immediately voiced his observation, without becoming cunning or keeping something in himself.
- I kill for money, and you should not compare human society with yours. It is right that you were expelled, it is strange that you were not executed.
- They tried, but not everything is so simple. After answering this, he was silent for a while.
Rey spoke again only ten seconds later:
- But you're right. I'm not like them, that's why I decided to leave.
Tessa again did not say anything in response to these words, but mentally slightly raised her opinion of her interlocutor, because of his openness.
- You came from afar?
- No, just a week on the road. We were lucky to get news of the attack pretty quickly, so we headed over here right away.
- I have lived all my life in the forest, could you tell me more about the places that are outside of it? - Ray tried to speak as carefully as possible so as not to arouse unnecessary suspicions in Tessa, but his fears were in vain, the girl, without moving her eyes, began to tell him about the geography of this continent.
In a few minutes of conversation, he learned that the piece of land itself, which was called Tasan, was not so big. Pharos occupied almost a quarter of its area. Humans were the main race here, but far from the only one. As he learned earlier, in the east of the forest there was a large kingdom of people - Rondal. In addition to it, there was another, but much smaller, it was located in the extreme west of the forest and was called Arn. If these two states considered only people as their citizens, then the giant, called the Free Lands, accepted everyone into its arms. This formation was a countless number of cities and towns, in which, although there were many people, but not always the majority. They were located in the northwestern part of the mainland and the area of these lands was only slightly inferior to Pharos.
As it turned out, now their detachment was in the very center of the mainland and all the vast space in front of their eyes was called the Great Plain. It separated the Free Lands, Pharos and Rondal, and further east it passed into the desert, which ended in another interesting place on this continent - the Land of the Dead.
Little was known about this part of the land, since the creatures living there were very hostile towards the guests. The few expeditions that went there either did not return or fled before they got far enough.
The mainland itself was surrounded by the ocean, the inhabitants of which were even more dangerous. If the ship sailed too far, you could safely forget about it - huge monsters did not even leave a piece of wood from unfortunate ships. Places where you can fish still existed, but there were quite a few of them and the vast majority were in the northern part of the mainland, where there was a huge inflow deepening into the land. Only a few cities in the Freelands had direct access to it, so seafood was a real delicacy.
Listening to Tessa's story, the guy thought about the fact that this continent simply could not be the only one, which means that the players did not appear here, because over the past year they should have already known about them. The fact that he got to another piece of land did not bother him much, he was only worried that if he wanted to leave it, he would not have the slightest idea in which direction to move, because navigation here was in decline.
"Let's forget about it for now." - having calmed his mind with a single thought, Rey continued to listen to the story, which was really quite interesting.
Tessa was born in Rondal, where she studied for several years with one of the representatives of the forest people. It was an insanely rare occurrence for woodlanders to leave their home, so she could be said to be lucky, except for what happened after.
When she was sixteen her father died in the war, her mother followed him a few months later. The girl, left alone, decided to join a detachment of mercenaries, and so, she traveled with them for five years.
During this time, she traveled all over the mainland, so there really was something to tell her about.