The weather is good today, the green "ocean" is bathed in golden sunshine, and the chirping of birds comes from the trees on both sides from time to time. In the fragrance of spring, everything is so vibrant.
The fat man wore a soft armored hat, a simple leather armor, a round shield with the Dorsten family crest on his back, a sharp armed ax on his waist, and rode the slightly shorter packhorse. On the body.
The packhorse pulled the trailer behind it, bumping along the dirt road. However, the fat on the fat man's chin also trembled with the jolting of the horse, which was quite funny.
After walking for less than an hour, the forest in front of them began to become sparse, and Simon and Fatty entered a small plain. On both sides of the road are cultivated fields and scattered huts in the fields. In the center of the plain far away sat a village.
A few farmers wearing straw hats and shabby linen jackets stained with mud, and plowing in the fields with bare feet, curiously stopped what they were doing and raised their heads to look at Fatty Simon and the two fat men. Suddenly, they were not far away. In the fields, a man wearing a fur hat, a red dyed cloth coat, and leather leggings was patrolling the fields. He shouted loudly, then quickly lowered his head and continued working.
The road gradually turned into a smooth dirt road studded with dense stones. A woodcutter returning from cutting wood was singing an unknown country song and walking towards the village; a hunter was carrying a fat deer on his back and leading a small hound from the edge of the forest towards the hunter's cabin; Women, wearing turbans and plain, starched gray dresses, walked toward the village granary with a basket of eggs; a pig farmer beat the branches of an oak tree with a long stick, The pigs under the tree ate the fallen acorns leisurely... everything was so orderly and prosperous.
"Is this Feld Village?" Simon turned his head and asked the fat man who was carrying the horse behind him.
"No, no, my young master, this is Xinkser Village, the fiefdom of your brother Sir Lange."
Lange von Dorsten, Simon's brother, is the eldest son of Baron Dorsten and the first heir to the baronetcy in the future. Simon still vividly remembers the scene when he was knighted three years ago.
Under the gaze of the parish priest and many nobles who came to celebrate, in the bright hall of Dorstenburg that day, Lange wore a brand new full-body chainmail, which had just been ordered from a senior blacksmith in distant Bruges. He wore brand-new scales and a pair of bright robes with the family crest. He recited the oath majestically, received the family sword from his father with dignity, and was awarded several baronial titles. Wealthy villages, including this village of Hinkse.
When I think about my own ceremony and the shabby and wild fiefdom, it pales in comparison.
Thinking of this, Simon touched his cheek.
That day, during the canonization ceremony, my father slapped himself hard in accordance with tradition, implying that he would remain strong and unyielding under rough blows in the future. But it's still aching.
"Hey, I still have a fiefdom after all. Even if it is very barren, it is better than having nothing." Simon often comforted himself like this.
At this time, the two were approaching the village. This is a small village surrounded by a wooden wall. There are two arrow towers beside the wall. Several militia shooters are leaning on the tower pillars and chatting.
A soldier walked out of the village with a full beard, carrying an oak single bow and a quiver containing seven or eight arrows. He was wearing an animal skin hat, a pair of tattered and dirty armed clothes and a pair of peeled off skins. hunting boots.
He is the lookout of this village, and he just saw the two heavily armed Simon Fatties on the simple tower next to the village. But Simon was wearing a burqa embroidered with the Dorsten family coat of arms, and the lookout did not ring the alarm bell to issue a warning.
"Excuse me, sir, do you need any help?"
"This is Sir Simon of the Dorsten family, and I am his squire. We are rushing to Feld Village before dark, but our horses are short of fodder. Can you provide some?" Fatty Ce The horse moved forward, saying this, and threw a small copper coin to the soldier.
"Okay, sir, come and sit here for a while. The fodder will be prepared for you soon." The soldier opened his palm to catch the copper coins, smiled ingratiatingly, and led Simon and the fat man to the wooden chairs beside the bonfire in the middle of the village. , and went to arrange forage.
It was still afternoon, and there was only a pile of ashes and a few unburned firewood in the campfire circle.
Simon looked curiously at a house not far from the bonfire. It was a low bungalow with wooden walls and a hay roof. At this time, the sound of cockcrow actually came from the house.
Simon walked into the door of the house curiously, but he was greeted by a mixture of strange smells such as the smell of sweat, sour feet, urine, feces, and animals, which almost made Simon vomit. Simon had no choice but to hold his breath and glance around the room roughly.
There was no floor in the house, just a simple mud floor, and there was not a thing that could be called furniture. There were only two or three windows on the wall, making the room dark and damp.
On the left side of the house, against the wall, there were a few balls of hay on the floor, which looked like beds. There is a long wooden box next to the bed, which should contain the property of the owner of the house.
There is a small pit in the middle of the house, which is covered with firewood, and there is a small iron pot on one side. It seems that this is the "stove". The livestock live in the right half of the house, which is simply separated from the human living area by a one-meter-high wooden board.
Simon didn't want to stay any longer and hurried back to the campfire from the door of the house. At this time, the fodder has been prepared, and the fat man is holding the horse and waiting for him.
"Let's set off." Simon mounted his horse and said to the fat man.
The two quickly rode away from the village. A group of children followed their horses and ran for a while, shouting happily and curiously.
Along the way, Simon also saw many huts that were even more dilapidated in appearance than the one he just entered. Simon realized that the previous owner of the house might have been a relatively wealthy free farmer.
"In this era, even the villagers of such a prosperous village live in this environment. It's hard to imagine what the barren Verde village will be like." Simon thought to himself, and the excitement and expectation in his heart were diluted. few.
"Master, what's on your mind?" The fat man looked at Simon, who was frowning slightly.
"Where will we stay when we get to Verde Village? Is there a lord's house there?" Simon couldn't help but ask.
"Oh, young master, you don't have to worry at all. Have you forgotten that I used to go hunting in the woods near Fulde Village? Because I visited frequently, I simply built a house on the edge of Fulde Village five years ago. A simple villa. It is definitely not comparable to Dorstenberg, but it is quite comfortable to live in. However, after the rheumatism started to get worse last year, the master basically disappeared from that villa." The fat man said.
"So that's it." Simon searched for his previous memories. His father did love hunting, and he especially liked hunting in the woods near Feld Village. Because this village was established relatively late, the surrounding area is less affected by human activities, and the animals nearby are more wild and energetic than the animals in the hunting forest near Dorstenberg, which has been developed for a long time, and are also more difficult to hunt.
However, the reason why Simon had no impression of this hunting mansion in Verde Village was because the original owner of this body preferred to compete and fight with his friends in the training ground to train his sword skills. As for hunting, the most he can do is play in the hunting forest next to Dorstenburg, let alone hunting in a wild place with difficult conditions in his eyes.
Simon, meanwhile, doesn’t know much about the village of Verde.
He only knew that there was a large-scale war in the Principality of Upper Lorraine more than ten years ago, and a large number of farmers and citizens fled across the Rhine River to the German Kingdom east of the Rhine River. One of them came to the Barony of Dorsten in Hattuaria County and asked the baron to take them in.
The baron was a benevolent lord, so he allowed them to build villages in the forest near the Rhine River to the west of the barony and pay him taxes. These refugees naturally became subjects of the barony and were protected by the Dorsten family.
It’s just that in recent years, the Vikings in the north have somehow learned that a new village has been built on this land. In the past two summers, they rowed their small dragon-headed warships along the Rhine River and came to the village of Verde to plunder. , giving Baron Dorsten a headache.
At the same time, the relationship between Earl Berg and Earl Loon, who was only across the river from Hattuaria County, declined rapidly, and there was a high possibility of a private war. This can make the people in the village of Verde, caught in the middle, panic.
After all, the villagers are mainly outsiders who grew up and lived in the Principality of Upper Lorraine on the other side of the river. They speak the local dialect of the Principality of Upper Lorraine and are always incompatible with the Germanian villagers in other villages in the barony. They have no sense of belonging at all.
There are even rumors recently that the villagers of Verde Village are plotting something. Dear God, maybe this is one of the reasons why my father sealed the village of Verde to himself.
Simon smiled bitterly and shook his head, what a mess.
Along the way, Simon and Fatty kept talking. Simon's speech was no longer so awkward.
"Master, the village of Verde is ahead!" The fat man pointed forward and shouted.
Simon looked around and saw that there were obviously many more dry footprints on the dirt road ahead than in the wilderness before, indicating that there were relatively frequent human activities nearby. At this time, you can even vaguely see the watchtower of Verde Village in the distance.
