Chapter 268 Leaving the Valley (1/2)
For soet his head around the task that lay before him Finally, he repeated, ”You want htblade said once more ”The Valley is in desperate need of information, and nobody in the Valley is better suited to the task of getting it than you”
”You told me the Valley has sent other spies,” Arran said, brow creased in a deep frown ”I assu the Valley's best scouts — Masters, if not stronger Did any of thehtblade said ”But only those who didn't stray far into the Hunters' lands You, however, will venture deep into their lands — further than any es before you”
Once, her words would have sent Arran into a panic But now, he understood that Brightblade would not simply send him to his death If she wanted him to enter the Hunters' lands, she believed he could handle the task And if that was the case, he would listen to her before deciding whether he would do as she asked
He gave her a serious look, then said, ”Tell me your plans”
She responded with a s into their lands will be easy — easier than you es who enter their lands, but commoners are allowed to enter as they wish And while they have means to detect even sealed Realms, those seals of yours are no ordinary ones If my suspicions are correct, they should suffice to fool even the Hunters' methods”
Arran raised an eyebrow ”What if your suspicions are wrong?”
”Then you will have to flee,” Brightblade replied ”So I would suggest putting , I trust you will be able to escape a small patrol of Hunters”
A wry sht not simply send hi hiht occurred to him ”If the Hunters allow commoners to enter their lands unharmed, why not send commoners to spy on theical skills”
”They allow cohtblade said ”But they do not allow them to leave — or, if they do, none choose to do so Plenty of commoners enter their lands, but none ever return”
This hardly sounded encouraging, as Arran could think of several other explanations for why nobody returned And none of those explanations filled him with confidence
Yet that there would be risks involved was to be expected, and he continued, ”Even if I can enter their lands unharine they'll simply let me walk into their camps to take notes on their activities”
”You will visit their cities,” Brightblade replied ”Travel their lands as a merchant or craftsman, and learn what you can from the commoners”
”Cities?” Arran frowned as he looked at Brightblade ”They have cities? And you know about those?”
She laughed, then said, ”Of course they have cities Look at their numbers They have millions of warriors And to supply an army of millions, they need tens of millions of commoners — farmers, merchants, craftsmen, shopkeepers An are one at that”
This was so Arran hadn't yet considered, but as she explained it, he realized it ht of the Hunters as a ands could maintain such numbers for centuries
And, he realized, if there was an entire society behind the Hunters, then they would have no s techniques and coh to allow thees
”I could learn frohtblade
Yet she replied, ”That is another reason I'e could be invaluable to you — or completely useless Either way, it's an opportunity worth exploring”