The newcomer saw how serious Gray's attitude was and quickly said:
"I guarantee I didn't see wrong. It was when he was entering the town tonight that he was discovered by the hounds. Uncle Duraf checked his identification."
"Everyone saw the Vision hanging at his waist."
Gray pondered for a moment and said, "Tonight, we'll take a detour and patrol the farm area as well."
Immediately, complaints arose from the Patrol Team.
"Detouring? Doesn't that mean walking much farther?"
"Isn't that farm owner an allogene? Does he still need our protection?"
"Exactly! He possesses a Vision. Dealing with Hilichurls should be as easy as waving a hand for him."
Listening to the complaints of the patrol members, Gray frowned and reprimanded, "That farm is within the jurisdiction of Springvale. Previously, because the farm was abandoned and uninhabited, I turned a blind eye to the detour."
"So what if he's an allogene? allogenes are people, and people can die!"
"Sigh..."
Gray sighed and explained, "I ask you, if the town encounters danger, attacked by a large-scale Hilichurl assault, would you go and seek help from that allogene on the farm?"
"We would."
"Then that settles it. Since you hope for their help, you must maintain a good relationship with them."
"Moreover, this is the duty of our Patrol Team."
Hearing the old captain's explanation, the resentment in the patrol members' hearts dissipated. These patrol members had great faith in their powerful old captain and the Knights of Favonius.
Even if Gray hadn't explained, at most they would have only complained verbally; they would still carry out Gray's orders seriously.
The Patrol Team's duty was not simply to walk around the entirety of Springvale once. They needed keen danger perception abilities to promptly discover and eliminate hidden dangers, ensuring the safety of the townsfolk.
During patrols, if they encountered traces of Hilichurl activity, they had to pursue and investigate promptly. If the Hilichurls were too close to the town, they needed to drive them further away. If they discovered a Hilichurl encampment, smaller ones were to be handled by the Patrol Team themselves, while larger ones required decisive reinforcement requests.
If the number of ordinary Hilichurls was too great, even with the townsfolk joining in, it would be difficult to resolve. The Patrol Team would choose to continuously monitor these Hilichurls until daytime before notifying the Knights of Favonius to come and clear out the Hilichurl tribe.
Outriders like Amber, in their daily work, besides collecting important intelligence recorded from various villages and towns, would also help clear out Hilichurl tribes near human settlements.
However, after Amber's grandfather left Mondstadt and the Outrider corps declined, this responsibility shifted to the dispatched Knights patrolling various parts of Mondstadt.
A large part of the reason the Outrider squad declined was that after Amber's grandfather left, there was no longer a soul figure in the Outriders capable of leading the Outrider squad.
Within the Knights of Favonius, knight squads with individual designations like this usually held extremely special status.
These numbered knight squads generally had a powerful figurehead, like Amber's grandfather in the Outrider squad, or Eula in the Vanguard Squad who often carried out missions in Dragonspine.
Because the strength of these squads far surpassed that of ordinary knight squads, they were usually assigned to higher-risk missions and were generally directly governed by the Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius.
One or two numbered knight squads would usually be stationed within Mondstadt City. When a distress signal came from nearby villages or towns, these numbered knight squads would quickly deploy.
These numbered knight squads were generally responsible for dealing with dangerous monsters like Mitachurls and Ruin Guards.
It was rare for someone like Gray, who possessed the strength to easily deal with even Mitachurls, to choose to be stationed in a small town.
In summary, incorporating Arkz's farm into the patrol range sounded like just a slightly longer route, but in reality, it expanded the entire Patrol Team's patrol area by nearly a quarter.
After all, if they discovered Mitachurl footprints during the patrol, they couldn't just ignore it because they didn't see the Mitachurl itself. They had to search the surrounding area thoroughly before feeling safe leaving that zone.
This increased workload meant at least one or two extra hours of work every day.
This was like the boss suddenly demanding you work two extra hours every day without overtime pay. It was only due to the patrol members' simple and honest nature that they only complained a few times.
Because they were unfamiliar with this area of the farm, Gray ordered everyone to tighten their formation and remain vigilant.
To prevent the newcomer from causing trouble out of fear, Gray placed him in the very center of the formation so that others could quickly render aid if danger arose.
"Cap-Captain, look over there!"
Hearing the newcomer's slightly trembling voice, Gray quickly looked in the direction the newcomer was pointing, while his hand cautiously rested on his sword.
In the darkness, a pair of eyes glowing green were staring at the group.
At this time, a bolder patrol member stepped forward to investigate and discovered it was actually a wooden scarecrow.
Although they didn't know why the scarecrow's eyes were glowing, it might just be that the farm owner had a rather peculiar aesthetic sense. Thus, the patrol members relaxed their vigilance.
However, Gray remained cautiously focused on the scarecrow, sniffing an unusual aura from the wooden figure.
Suddenly, the originally silent scarecrow actually blinked at Gray and made a'shush' gesture.
Gray recalled that the farm owner was an allogene, so guessing the wooden figure's identity was easy.
Although he maintained his vigilance, Gray did not interrupt its 'performance,' nor did he alert the patrol members who hadn't noticed anything amiss because their backs were turned to the wooden figure.
Seeing Gray suddenly stand still, a patrol member asked, "Captain, what's wrong?"
Gray remained silent for a long time.
The atmosphere instantly became eerie. No matter how loudly the members shouted, Captain Gray did not respond.
At this moment, the experienced patrol member's heart sank, feeling like he had fallen into an ice cave.
Even such a powerful Captain was instantly defeated. What terrifying monster could it be!!!
No, they must flee, they must escape!!!
Just as this experienced trainee was about to shout, a cold, wooden hand gently rested on his shoulder.
Ahhhhhh!!!!!
A terrified scream echoed through the night sky, startling a large flock of birds in the distant woods into flight.
"Run!"
"Quick, run!!!"
Hearing the patrol member's shout, the patrol members subconsciously scattered and fled, only to find their legs entangled by vines that had appeared from nowhere.
When they tried to use their swords to cut the vines, they found the vines exceptionally hard. The blade struck them as if hitting stone, only leaving faint white marks.
Just as the patrol members fell into despair, they discovered the vines wrapped around their feet were retracted.
Looking up, they saw Captain Gray standing in front of them, giving each of them a sharp flick on the forehead—very impartially.
And the 'monster' that had terrified everyone into a panicked retreat was now greeting them in a friendly manner.
A moment later, the group was invited into the farm by a yawning Arkz to rest for a while.
Because the small wooden cabin was too cramped to fit more than one bed, it couldn't accommodate so many people. Arkz had no choice but to start a bonfire in the open area of the farm to brew some tea for the frightened patrol members to warm themselves up.
Winter had only recently passed, and the spring nights in Mondstadt were still quite cold.
Considering that these poor patrol members had just been startled by the wooden man he used for guarding the gate, Arkz chose to brew Mint Berry Tea, which could calm emotions and refresh the mind.
Fortunately, when he bought blankets and pillows today, he had also bought some tea sets; otherwise, not having any tea to serve guests would have been too impolite.
While Arkz was brewing the tea, the shaken patrol members started chatting.
Sitting around the bonfire, feeling the warmth of the flames, the patrol members gradually regained their composure.
"Captain, why did you suddenly stop moving just now?"
The patrol members secretly admired the newcomer for asking such a straightforward question.
As expected, Captain Gray responded with another flick on the forehead.
Gray: "It's all because of you guys, relaxing your vigilance so easily. If I didn't do this, how would you learn a lesson?"
"Remember, monsters aren't just Hilichurls. Take the Whopperflower, for example, which has extremely strong camouflage abilities. Do you know how many Adventurers die at the hands of Whopperflowers every year?"
"A rookie like you is most likely to die at the hands of a Whopperflower!"
Saying this, Gray glared at the other members, "And you all! He lacks experience, but you lack brains!"
"When encountering a monster of the Dendro Element, don't you know to counterattack with a Pyro Element bottle? Using a torch to burn them is better than waiting to die!"
The patrol members explained, "At that time, we thought that since even someone as powerful as you, Captain, was silently taken care of, any struggle from us would be useless."
Gray said angrily, "So what? You just wait to die?!"
Just then, Arkz walked over carrying the teapot. Gray held back the words he was about to curse out, giving them some face.
"Brothers, you've worked hard. Have some tea I brewed to warm yourselves up."
"I am truly sorry. I originally had the wooden man help guard the gate to prevent Hilichurls from causing trouble at the farm while I was asleep, but I didn't expect it would go over there to play a prank on you."
Saying this, Arkz patted the wooden man's back. The wooden man lowered its head like a child who had done wrong and apologized to the group.
The wooden man, which had looked somewhat terrifying in the darkness, now appeared rather cute under the reflection of the bonfire, revealing its full form.
As the saying goes, one doesn't strike a smiling face. Since both the culprit and Arkz apologized so sincerely, and the Captain was also involved, the numerous patrol members felt too embarrassed to pursue the matter further.