A strange world

The tauren did not abandon their friendship just because they were treated coldly in human towns. They warmly invited Annan to the camp as a guest.

Annan quickly learned the reason for the Tauren's enthusiasm through the Tauren chief's complaint: "People outside sell us wheat flour mixed with sawdust and bread as hard as wooden sticks."

And Annan brought back their tribesmen and two small bags of semolina without impurities.

Annan looked at the townspeople outside the camp who were still selling goods. He did not refuse the invitation and walked into the camp where the felt tents were standing. The tauren's tall bodies of 2.5 to 3 meters filled the field of view. Even if they chased the cubs that ran past, they were almost as tall as Annan.

Annan walking in the camp is like Soruman Bronzebeard walking in Flatwoods Town.

Several female tauren were lighting a bonfire in the open space in the middle of the camp. The flames rose and gradually emitted the same color as the western sky.

Annan saw the clan leader - a silhouette that looked like a city wall, with his naked body covered with traces carved by knives, chisels and axes that had gone through the fighting. He stood in front of the tauren clan leader, like a child in front of a strong man.

After knowing the cause and effect, the tauren chief showed his kindness to Annan.

"Why so many 'kids'?"

Annan looked at these calves, which were much stronger than Martin. Their young horns were the only sign of adulthood.

But don't underestimate them... As pure tauren, their strong bodies and gnarled muscles can easily lift more than a hundred pounds.

They are born warriors.

"We will stay in the snow-capped mountains for a long time. Children are the future of the tribe." The tauren chief said.

As for the tauren in the camp, who were nearly three meters tall and sitting by the felt tent, wiping their giant axes, Annan had no doubt that they were elites. There are at least a dozen such tauren camps——

It’s hard to imagine that Mr. Fast is on the same level as them.

Taking Annan and the longing Tasia, the tauren chief came to a felt tent filled with faded feathers.

"Shaman, I brought back a lost tribesman."

The tauren clan leader lowered his head in the felt tent, as if hearing something, opened the tent door and let the anxious Tasia in.

Annan stayed outside, and after waiting for a while, the old whisper melted Annan and Tasia's worries.

"Child, welcome back to the arms of your ancestors..."

The tribe completely accepted her.

As night falls, bonfires rise in the clearing to disperse the darkness. The tauren gathered around the bonfire, dancing with their shadows, celebrating the return of a clan member.

Nothing seems to be able to resist their innocent smiles.

Sitting in front of the fire like the tauren, Annan looked like a barrel with a piece of wood missing. The tauren child, who was held by his mother next to him and was only shorter than Annan, looked at it curiously.

These tauren were curious about Tasia's story in human society.

Tasia's image of Annan has always been that of smart and quiet. But in the tauren camp, she was infected by the atmosphere of the tribe and told about the past that even Annan didn't know.

It was undoubtedly a sad past, but Tasia told it calmly, full of energy, and the broken horns seemed to shine under the flames.

"...I thought I would die in the mines, but at this time, my human friends bought the slave contract, then tore up the contract and told me that I was free."

The tauren looked at Annan at the same time. The Tauren clan leader bang bang bang slapped his chest: "Tauren like friends."

Annan smiled shyly, the firelight covering up his reddish cheeks.

At this time, the tauren stationed in the camp came to the campfire dinner and said that a human and dwarf appeared outside the camp.

Mr. Fast and Soruman Bronzebeard?

"Bring them here."

After a while, Mr. Fast, Soruman Bronzebeard and the tauren carrying several barrels of wine came to the campfire.

"Bronzebeard said you and Tasia came here." Fast was worried that something might happen to Annan.

"What about the pub?"

"The bard and Evelin are here, so we really can't let the guests pay the bills themselves."

Annan noticed that Fast didn't seem to call the bard by his name.

Fast and Soruman Bronzebeard did not leave with Annan, but sat down in front of the campfire.

The wine barrels they brought were quickly opened and put into wooden bowls. Nothing brings a group of strangers closer to each other better than wine. Soon, the bonfire camp became lively, and the tauren also began a primitive and interesting activity: wrestling.

Even Fast and Soruman Bronzebeard went up one after another.

Annan knew it was wrong for him to think so, but he still couldn't help but imagine Soruman Bronzebeard being kicked out like a ball——

Tasia is undoubtedly a little giant among humans, but among the tauren tribe, she is only equivalent to a minor tauren. She could only wrestle with those little minotaurs, and because of her weakness, she was always thrown to the ground, but there was a smile on her face.

"You are different from those humans..."

The tauren chief came to Annan who was sitting by the fire.

Annan knew exactly what the Tauren leader was referring to - the cold reception the Tauren tribe suffered in Pinglin Town was just a microcosm.

I come from a different world and tend to respect and be equal. Fast and others are from secret societies that promote racial integration.

Fast and the Tauren chief got along very well. He knows how to talk to other races. Speaking of Snow Mountain Fortress, everyone is proud of it:

The Rekaner Kingdom's frontline has resisted the demonic tide for hundreds of years, and has never allowed the demon to step even half a step onto the ridge of the snow-capped mountains - but this sentence itself makes people feel like something is going to happen.

Annan asked them about the demonic tide. Fast was almost immune to Annan's "ignorance" and simply told them that the north of the snow-capped mountains was the place where demons descended, and there were endless demons there.

It’s just that neither Breeze City nor Pinglin Town Annan can see a sense of urgency.

Maybe the war is really far away from them.

Nearing midnight, it was time for Annan and the others to leave.

Tasia chose to stay, and Annan said goodbye to her: "I'll see you off tomorrow morning."

When returning, Annan saw a mysterious figure sneaking around the camp.

Annan didn't care. No idiot would want to attack a camp with a bunch of elite tauren.

Back at the tavern, Annan borrowed some money from the female dwarf. The next day before the sun rose, he ran to the market, rented a cart filled with semolina, and took it to the tauren camp. Then he paid a premium to those who came early in the morning. The townspeople selling it said: "The tauren will leave soon. If you don't want the things to rot on your hands, you'd better sell them at a fair price."

The townspeople who wanted to make a fortune not only had nothing to blame Annan for, they also had to thank him.

The tauren chief gave Annan some small pieces of kobold gold as a reward. He did not refuse and entered the camp to visit Tasia.

"I will go to the snowy mountains to see you."

"I'm waiting for you."

Tasia bowed her head and hugged Annan, quietly giving him a note.

The fence was removed, the felt tent was folded up like an umbrella, and the tauren convoy continued northward along the road.

Annan stood in the light morning light and watched them go away.

"Goodbye, my first friend."