Chapter 58: Giving Jace a whole new job

From the side of the Lake Stream Bridge, the lake shore to the hillside of a layered white walls and red tiles surrounded by dark green dense forests, the tall bell tower looks like an old man wearing a red hat sitting in the middle of a group of children dressed in fancy dress, gazing at the travelers approaching.

The reflection of the town of Lakeside in the lake and the town itself intertwine into a gorgeous giant butterfly lying down between the mountains and the water.

Jace rode on his horse and gazed at the picture-perfect view, almost forgetting the dangerous things that were hiding in this part of the mountains.

On this side of the bridge, a patchwork of barracks tents swayed with the huddled clusters of soldiers’ silver armor and spears, and despite the war’s passing, the area along the shores of Lake Stopper was still the most dangerous in the entire kingdom.

Looking off in the distance from the bridge, through the soon-to-be-lifting morning fog, Jace could already make out the faintly visible fortress sentry tower on the hill at the other end of Stopwaters Lake, where the Stone Fortress, the watchtower overlooking the whole of the Red Ridge Mountains and the valley along the lake shore of Stopwaters Lake, and the most important military stronghold in the whole region, was located.

During the war, the orcs and humans had fought many rounds of fierce battles over this stronghold, causing the entire stone fortress to be tortured by magic and explosives for several years becoming dilapidated, and it was never fully rebuilt until twenty years later.

But the town of Lakeside in front of us seems to have recovered nicely, with only a few building materials and scaffolding remaining that have not yet had time to be removed side by side to tell the story of the disaster that befell the place a few years ago.

The bridge has not yet been repaired and progress is still slow, but it is capable of being crossed by pedestrians and separate horses.

Landing in the town of Lakeside and emerging from the stables, Jace couldn’t take his eyes off of a rippling lake; he wasn’t alone in being mesmerized by the view, many of those soldiers who had just arrived from the East Valley lumberyards were sitting on the edge of the dock in pairs, looking out over the lake and chatting.

Farther down the shore of the lake, a few children were playing in the lake, while their sisters or mothers stood on the shore and shouted anxiously, and an old man took a step away into the distance with his fishing rod and tackle, probably trying to avoid the noisy crowds here and find another place to fish.

“I’ll have to take a trip over to the town center and ask my brothers in the Warrior’s Guild what the job here is really for.” Grid lifted his pants, walked over to him, and said, “The air here is really good, too much time in a place like Storm City is not good for one’s health!”

“Don’t mention anything about your health yet.” Jace looked at him and asked, “I bet you came to Lakeside without even knowing what the mission was?”

“I’m a sergeant now, Jace.” Grid patted himself on the stomach and said, “Even if I don’t know what the mission is, I know it won’t be too dangerous, it fits my rank, and that’s the benefit of rank, see? And the mission is paying off well for me now, the guild tells me the bounty is at least 10 silver this time, at least!”

“Remember the time you almost lost your life for two silver coins?” Jace reminded.

“That was an accident, an accident.” Grid chuckled, “Who knew that an ordinary cargo transportation mission would run into the biggest trouble after the Stormwind Kingdom war? Now that giant jackal has become the main target of the Western Springs Fortress la, we can be considered heroic that time.”

In that case, what Grid said wasn’t wrong, assigning tasks based on the performance and combat strength of the members within the guild, so that everyone can be useful and get exercise yet not always risking their lives, even if that’s the case there’s nothing wrong with the guild siphoning off some of the money.

“I’ll trust you one more time then, where is the inn here?” Jace asked.

“That way.” Grider said, “On the other side of that grove, see that little three-story building, blocked a little by the bell tower.”

Jace looked over in the direction he was pointing and said, “I’ll meet you over there then.”

The Inn at Lakeside doesn’t have a fancy name like the inns in Storm City, it’s called the Inn at Lakeside.

But there was nothing small about the size of this ordinary-sounding inn, and the food and drink supply was exceptionally varied, even featuring many things you wouldn’t even see in Stormwind, such as Bald Eagle meat, and a variety of lake fish you’d only heard of in the game.

Skimming over the wild boar’s liver, stews, and a host of other common foods, finally, Jace’s eyes resided on the name of a dish on the menu board and he couldn’t take his eyes off of it any longer.

“Grilled …… grilled raptor meat?”

He looked at the bald boss sitting behind the counter next to him, who looked up and said, “Velociraptor meat, that’s right young sir, don’t you know that Thorn Valley’s Velociraptor meat tastes more tender than chicken, more crispy than fish, and with Red Ridge Mountain’s local flavored spices, you can even taste Dwarven flavors in it. Even though the price has gone up a bit now because of the trade routes, it’s still worth tasting ah.”

It took Jace a moment to realize that, yeah, there were raptors in the Valley of Thorns.

“I want a copy.”

“1 silver coin and 30 copper, sir, raptor meat is our specialty here.”

“One and a half silver coins for a roast?!” Jace glanced at the menu again.

That’s raptor meat!

“Ask for a plate and a jug of moon plum juice.” He ruthlessly placed a silver coin and a handful of copper coins on the table, and the owner scratched the money over to immediately call out to the back kitchen to set up the fire.

A few soldiers with their armor off were singing something as they came together at the hearth on the other side of the inn’s hall, and Jace rested his cheeks on the package he’d laid out on the table, thinking how it felt incredibly unreal that there was an imp hiding inside.

Then he put the bag under the table and held it by his feet.

The town of Lakeside was several times more chaotic than the town of Shining Gold, adventurers from the north and the south gathered and stayed here, so there were not only humans, but also dwarves and gnomes, and outside the inn Jace even felt like he had seen an elf.

Many of these men were armed brigands, and a man like Jace with two pockets, an unassuming long staff on his back, and a sword at his waist was not much of a conspicuous sight at all.

In the corner a hooded hooded guest who couldn’t tell if he was an elf or a human sat surveying everyone in the inn without saying a word. Despite the fact that he was dressed this way, probably because he thought he was one of the most low profile in the inn, everyone in the inn was obviously a little afraid of him, mainly because of the long knife at his waist.

Just as he was trying to listen closely to what the human soldiers were singing, Grid suddenly sat down across the room.

“Here comes the excitement, Jace!”

“I haven’t promised you a piece of me.”

“You’re going to say yes, I’m one hundred percent sure of it!”

“Why?”

Grid smiled mysteriously and said, “How about targeting a hiding orc mage ……? How about that?!”

Jace immediately understood what Grid meant, saying orc mages was actually orc warlocks. The ordinary townspeople didn’t have any strict distinction between the so-called warlocks and mages, and they would of course refer to any guy who recited spells and juggled and set off fireballs as a mage.

Since that last orc warlock’s corpse fetched so many goodies, what could this living one be hiding? It’s anyone’s guess.

One had to admit, Jace was heartened.

“Are you sure he’s the only one? What if that orc is followed by a large group of guards.”

Grid said, “If that’s the case of course forget it, but the intel says that this guy is a deserter walking alone, hiding in the Red Ridge Mountains too afraid to continue south and follow their hordes back to the Dark Gate.”

At that moment, the roast was brought to the table, and Grid stared at the large, fat and lean hunk of strange meat for a few moments, sniffed it, and said, “Velociraptor meat?”

Jess was surprised, “You can smell that?!”

Grid sneered and said, “My dad used to be known as the raptor killer, you know, he killed over a hundred raptors while he was in Grim Batteau, more bugs than you’ve ever stomped on.”

“I’ve stepped on ant nests.” Jess said.

“You’re awesome! You step on ant nests proudly!” Grid went straight up and tore off a large piece of meat and put it in his mouth, and Jace didn’t even get a chance to try to stop him.

This piece of meat is more than a silver coin ah! Jace hesitated for a moment had to also quickly towards the large pieces of shiny meat on the hand to eat, and then scruples what gentlemanly soon meat is gone!

“Let’s have a day at Lakeside first, Jace, and tomorrow we’ll hit the road to find that orc.” Grid said as he nibbled, “What do you think?”

Jess said unhappily, “I only have three days.”

“How long can it take to deliver a letter?” Grid said, “Play today, tomorrow we slaughter that orc deserter, the day after that deliver the letter and then go home, it’s not as far from Stormwind as Sentinel Ridge, it’ll be quick.”

“I’m feeling it.” Jace said.

“What does it feel like?” Grid looked at Jace’s face and looked around warily.

Jess said, “Every time you start relieving me and telling me it should be okay, we’re about to have bad luck.”

Grider tossed a bone onto his plate and said, “So tell me what’s wrong this time.”

Jace asks, “What do you think the chances are that a wanted, hiding orc can be found in a day?”

“There are still some clues, and no one here has any experience with mages other than me, so I’m kind of burdened with the responsibility of getting rid of the people.” Grid looked at Jace and rolled his eyes and said, “How about this then, we’ll look for it tomorrow, and if we can’t find it, the day after that you’ll go straight to the Stone Fortress, and the day after that you’ll go back to Stormwind, and I’ll stay here and keep looking. If you still remember me as an old brother, then come back to accompany me to continue to look for, and finally I share your bounty, how about it? Bounty Warrior Guild plus the Mayor of Lakeside Town’s own pocket, a total of 13 silver, how do you think?”

Thirteen silver, Jace’s heart skipped a beat.

He had spent a little too much money in the last two days, and with a few days to go before he was paid for his work, he might have to nibble on dry bread for a while if he didn’t make some quick money.

This bread is not the oily, soft, sweet bread that you would find in any random bakery in your past life, but a strange food that is coarser and drier than a wobbly, harder to chew on than a dry burrito that’s been sitting out for a week, and that often nibbles on unidentified black, hardened substances.

Taking it for three or four days puts a healthy body into a subnear-death state where it is barely alive.

“What if that warlock is awesome?”

“Don’t worry, there’s enough evidence to show that guy is not capable of anything at all, he’s just hiding with some potential threats, no actual damage, can’t move the kingdom army of Lakeside Town to besiege him, the mayor can only offer a bounty to us mercenaries.”

Most of the orc warlocks were officers in their tribes, and all of them were the craziest and most evil of the orcs, and since they were deserters, it was true that they might have had a lot of problems with their strength.

But orcs …… are still orcs after all, so look for them first.

“It’s a deal for now.”

Jace took a big gulp of the moon plum juice as Grid laughed twice and tore another large piece of meat. As soon as he looked at it, he didn’t shy away from pulling off all the meat that came with it right off one of the bones.

Another great thing about coming to Azeroth is that you don’t have to worry about calories anymore, you don’t have to worry about getting fat anymore. All kinds of desserts, snacks, meats, drinks, and the opportunity to eat and drink whatever you want.

For one thing, the food here was far less calorie-inflated than it had been in the 21st century, and even if some of it was greasy and sweet, it always owed a little something to a soul like Jace’s who’d been baptized in industrial heaviness, like the difference between a diet Coke and a real Coke.

The other is that poverty is here to really help him lose weight.