During their journey, Kevin learned that the young woman, seemingly on a journey alone, was named Becky. In her own words, she was a freelance mercenary.
Freelance mercenaries, a type of militant profession that travels extensively, seem to be quite common in this world. They have their own organizations, but their structure is so loose that it hardly warrants the title of "armed group." They operate among the civilian population and take on any job based on their abilities. Although Becky didn't reveal much to a stranger, Kevin suspected that these individuals dabbled in everything from murder and robbery to finding cats for elderly ladies, depending on the employer's payment.
It sounded like an incredible profession. Kevin, using his Earthly logic, struggled to understand how such a group could exist so openly in reality, much less why the authorities of various countries would allow such a group to exist. But Becky appeared before him, and he could only accept it as a fact: perhaps there was some unique social structure in this world that made the existence of freelance mercenaries possible. In any case, these seemingly impressive individuals were indeed active around the world. "Don't underestimate my youth. I'm a second-level mercenary, starting out at fourteen." Becky was a carefree girl, perhaps confident in her abilities, and her profession gave her a talkative and open-minded attitude. After confirming that Kevin posed no threat, she became more talkative. "I know eighty percent of Holletta. I've even been to the Empire. Can you believe I crossed this vast grassland alone? Ha, I originally came to the grasslands just for a small mission, but I didn't expect to find such an interesting guy... By the way, your name is Kevin? That name still feels strange to me. It doesn't sound like a Holletta name."
Kevin had been walking with Becky for two hours, breaking into a cold sweat almost every fifteen minutes. He had just realized how honest he truly was. He was not very good at lying to someone's face within two meters (it was much easier to do it over the phone or in other situations). Every time he spoke to Becky, he was terrified, afraid he would reveal his suspicious identity and be stabbed by her sword. He wouldn't be stabbed to death, but the free guide he'd finally found would be gone, and next time, finding a local to trick him into giving him information wouldn't be so easy. So, for now, he was trying to listen without talking. He disguised himself as a homebody, absorbed in academics, so that even if he made a mistake, he could just dismiss it as poor communication. The less you say, the fewer mistakes you make. That's the truth.
"My name seems to belong to a minority..." Kevin chuckled dryly, trying to memorize the bits of information Becky had gleaned from her conversation. He now knew that the town he was heading to, Rembert, was a remote town in the southern grasslands. It belonged to the Kingdom of Holletta, which was also Becky's hometown. He also knew of another emerging empire to the north of the grasslands, the Horner Empire, about which Becky knew very little. The two realms, separated by such great distances, couldn't reach each other, so they were currently flirting with each other from a distance. They strive to portray themselves as a peace-loving and gentlemanly nation in the international arena, but they also simultaneously defeat all the smaller nations around them. Therefore, the credibility of this remote wink is not very high. All of this was information Becky had divulged during her casual conversation. Kevin was curious about how this girl could be so talkative, seemingly covering everything in the world. But then he thought, he had a family member named Lily who was even more outgoing than Becky. On the bus ride to their new home, Lily had rambled on about everything from local vegetable prices to the American Civil War. The husky was clearly the master of the ramblings...
"So, where are you from, anyway?" Becky asked, tilting her head slightly. "I've met quite a few magicians, and even the most unrefined ones wear sweltering robes all day to show off their style. Your outfit, to my eye, looks more like a tourist's. Do all the magicians there dress like this?"
Kevin thought to himself that he was indeed on a trip. He'd made a crazy promise to an even crazier female boss, leaving his home to travel to a primitive planet over 800 light-years away, soaking up the sea breeze for half a night before plummeting back into the dream plane. And he'd fallen from a ten-story building, like he was taking his own life. But when he actually said it, he just smiled. "That's just my personal hobby. You wouldn't know where I'm from even if I told you. I'm actually from the Empire."
Becky had already said it herself: she didn't know much about the country across the prairie, so linking herself to the Empire was the smartest explanation. And the word "Imperial" wasn't strictly speaking nonsense; the Xiling Empire was also an Empire...
"Wow, teleporting from the Empire to the prairie?" Becky nearly fell off her horse. "How many crystals did you smash on the teleportation array? I don't think you're a noble... You spent all your money just to experience landing on your face on the prairie?"
Kevin: "...I don't know. I fell and was confused. My mind is all over the place now. Please don't ask too many questions..."
"See, I told you your brain was broken, and you didn't believe me," Becky shook her head. "Anyway, I'll just get you to the border, and you'll figure out how to get back. Tsk, tsk, I'm really worried about how you'll get back. This place is a whole steppe away from the Horner Empire, and the only thing you have left is a flying music box that can sell for money, and now it's mine."
Kevin couldn't help but feel a little apologetic: the music box was definitely a trick on this girl, but seeing the expectant expression on her face, he felt a pang of anticipatory apology. Just as Kevin was wondering how long it would take to see the border town, Becky suddenly pulled the reins, halting his mount and pulling Kevin down. "Wait, something's happening."
Before Kevin could grasp what was happening, the powerful woman pulled him off his horse, pressing his neck against the leeward side of a hillock. He strained his head, "What's going on?"
"The wolves... are fighting over territory," Becky whispered, and with some inexplicable gesture, her horse obediently backed off. "Let's see, maybe there's an advantage... Ah, are you a burden?"
Kevin craned his neck to take a look. Sure enough, in the hollow in the distance, he saw two packs of giant black wolves fighting. They were the mighty beasts unique to this dream plane.
If this situation had happened to an ordinary person, anyone would have tried to stay away. But Becky, beside him, had seen the fight between the two wolves and stopped with great interest, ready to "take advantage"?! Kevin didn't know how powerful the humans in this world could be, but he had once encountered a certain goofy wolf king on the grasslands, and had a rough idea of the combat power comparison between humans and wolves. He knew that ordinary people were nothing but food in front of these giant wolves. So, if this girl, Becky, wasn't mentally ill, it only meant one thing: this was a bizarre world where the power gap between ordinary people and combat professionals was yawning.
This setting was getting increasingly bizarre.
"One... two... three... a lot... a lot," Becky said, counting the enemies. "Well, wait until they're almost done fighting, then attack suddenly. That should be enough. Wolves fight for territory to the death. Hehe, this time I'm in luck! The bone plates on their bodies are precious. Hey, you're really not going to be a burden, are you?"
Kevin really wanted to throw himself headfirst into the grass nest. The girl next to him always seemed to have a subtle tendency to be paranoid, the type who kept her own opinions to herself and ignored others' explanations. She still insisted that Kevin had a brain injury when he fell. Kevin didn't have time to argue with her, as his attention was suddenly drawn to the two battling black wolves.
The two packs hadn't yet reached their peak; the clash was merely a tussle between the two groups' cannon fodder. A large number of wolves lingered on the outer edges of the depression, not yet joining the fray. Among those lingering wolves, one had a broken bone plate in its waist, several others grinned, revealing a mouthful of broken teeth, and an exceptionally large leader looked eerily familiar.
Is this a familiar face... oh no, a familiar wolf! Aren't they just those silly people?