Hello, Arknights

"Bounty hunter, Yeban, I heard that you can get a bounty if you hunt or drive away the beast, is that true?" The Safra girl codenamed Yeban has a pair of small conical horns on her head. The purple streak in her black hair is very conspicuous. She has a hunting crossbow on her slender waist, and next to her slender scaly tail that is swaying gently behind her, several black beasts with long snouts are resting tiredly.

"You look tired and exhausted. You must have come from quite far away, right?" Fengdi Ling and Deng Xian didn't know what to say for a moment, so Du Wa had to talk to her.

Ye Ban shook his head and said, "A bounty hunter will naturally appear wherever there is a bounty. I have been to many countries."

Although her answers were somewhat irrelevant to the question, everyone understood what she wanted to express. Ling Dengxian could hear that her voice was a little hoarse, and after a moment of hesitation, he pushed his drink to Yeban.

"Want some water?"

"no thank you."

Such a decisive rejection... Just when Ling Dengxian was feeling a little embarrassed, he felt an itch in his ear. He couldn't help but turn his head to find that it was caused by Fengpi's sudden approach and his orange-red hair touching his ear. Then he heard Fengpi's whisper: "Bounty hunters have seen a lot of human warmth and coldness, and are generally very cautious. Don't offend them."

"I-Is that so...it seems so." Ling Dengxian looked away at Feng Di's look of "Do you think everyone is as defenseless as you?" and said, "Haha. I was desperate at the time..."

Talking about business, Fengpi immediately said to Yeban in a serious tone: "Hello, Miss Yeban. How confident are you about your goal this time?"

"...It leaps like the wind, has the strength to break rocks, and is quite large. These three points alone show that this beast is not a simple beast. If you want to defeat it head-on, there are some people in the bounty hunting world who can do it. But to catch it or kill it to ensure that it doesn't come back... you may have to find the swordsman who is known as 'the one who can stir the tides' -" At this point, the girl smiled as if she was mocking herself, "but it seems that she is busy hunting a more terrifying monster in Columbia..."

"Well, I believe Miss Yeban can also help us... I'll leave it to you, Miss Yeban. We will do our best to support you." Fengdi heard her self-deprecating tone and quickly expressed his support for Yeban.

"I'm not stupid enough to confront that guy head-on. Traps are my usual method of dealing with wild animals, and they are also the basis of my livelihood. This time I also plan to use traps to hunt animals. As for helpers... A Deng and the others will help me."

Fengpipe was a little surprised by the obvious refusal, but he did not force help. After all, different bounty hunters have different personalities and behavior habits. Some hunters prefer to act alone, not to mention that the Safra girl in front of him has her own companions.

"If there is nothing else, I will go and make preparations first. Please be sure to inform me when there is any news, and I will also sync the intelligence I have collected." As he was about to leave in the middle of the night, the little beast beside him perked up and got up to follow him.

"Miss, thank you very much for your help. We will cover your accommodation expenses during this period." At this time, the tavern owner on the side suddenly spoke up.

I turned around in the middle of the night with a look of surprise on my face, while the tavern owner yawned and went back to the inner room. "Take a rest, take a rest. We have to open in the evening."

Duva smiled helplessly and said to Yeban: "He means that you can live in the vacant cottage in town without paying rent. Don't rush to refuse. The two houses are close to the suburbs and will not affect your rest and decoration. This can be regarded as our compensation to you."

"...Well, thank you very much." Ye Ban looked at the few people deeply, turned and left.

As for what Ling Dengxian was doing? He had finally digested the conversation between the previous few people. Although some of the vocabulary was still unclear, he still knew the general idea. It was just like doing his English homework before. Wasn't it just listening and reading comprehension? The skills were the same. However -

"Bagpipes, bagpipes, there are two rooms. What about the other one?"

"Where do you think we live now?"

"Then couldn't I have lived in that room before?"

"Forget about it. There was no bed. And the son of that family hadn't come to take the old couple to the city yet."

"Why is there no bed if someone is staying here?"

"Moved away, including the bed."

"..."

"Speaking of the so-called bounty hunter who can 'stir up the tides'... is that an exaggeration?" Ling Dengxian asked on the way back, "How much strength does it take?"

"Hmm... that bounty hunter? I've heard of him, but I've never seen him in person. But I've witnessed him taking action once." Fengpipe shrank his neck as if he remembered some scary scene. "That's indeed not something that ordinary people can do. Even the captain can't do it. I heard that the bounty hunter doesn't know Originium skills, so... ahaha."

"Relying only on physical strength? How terrifying is it?" Ling Dengxian was curious.

"It's hard for me to describe it... It seems like all the bounty on that person was used to make up for the compensation. That bounty had so many zeros!" Fengpi stretched out his hand and pointed to a number. Ling Dengxian turned his head away: I don't have any feeling, because it doesn't feel real.

If that were true—how many beds would that be?

"Don't worry about those things. We won't run into that kind of person for a while." Bagpipe smiled carelessly and changed the subject:

"By the way, next, you have to prepare for actual combat."

"Huh? What, what?" Ling Dengxian was a little overwhelmed.

"Now that Miss Yeban has arrived, we have to prepare to patrol the mountains. We will encounter dangerous wild animals along the way, and this is also a great opportunity to practice your combat skills."

"...That's true." Ling Dengxian just felt it was a bit sudden, but after thinking about it carefully, he realized that he really needed actual combat to hone himself.

"Well, it happens that we have almost bought all the supplies for today. I will take care of some things when I go back, and we will set off tomorrow." The momentum of the bagpipe made Ling Dengxian a little scared.

"Um...what do I need to do-"

"Well, you have to practice extra this afternoon too! So you don't have to rest."

"Um?!!"

Squeak. Safra pushed open the old wooden door. Although it had only been a short time since the owner left, the little house seemed to have lost its life, and only the small window hummed in the wind.

"It's time to rest." He was still exploring the terrain during the day and night, and it was not until dusk that he dragged his exhausted body to this small house provided free of charge by the residents.

The long-nosed sleeping beasts that were circling around the boots were also exhausted. Seeing that they could settle down, they found a place on the floor of the room with few furniture to rest.

"Fortunately, I have fed you. I'm sorry that everyone must be exhausted." The sleeping beasts made low groans to comfort the girl. The girl smiled tiredly, told the trainers to go to sleep, then got up and went to the window.

There were no signs of wild animals on the path at dusk. After all, it was a residential area. The chorus of returning birds had long ended, and only the faint chirping of insects could be heard.

After watching the last ray of golden sunset light, she gently closed the window without saying a word.

It really is like an empty shell.

In the middle of the night, I gently fell back on the heavy sofa, and my eyelids gradually drooped.

The only sound in the room was the barely audible rise and fall of breathing.