In the early morning of the next day, large and gloomy dark clouds, wrapped in the cold air from Scandinavia, swept in from the northern part of the endless black forest outside the village of Verde, covering the sky and encroaching bit by bit. A gorgeous and pure starry sky canvas.
Probably when the dawn light had just broken through the thick clouds and shone faintly on the outer wall of the Fordeburg tower, goose-feather snowflakes began to fill this small world.
After an unknown amount of time, Han En felt the cold light shining on his eyelids from the crack in the window. He frowned and opened his eyes, yawned lazily, and sat up from the long-extinguished fire in the center of the room.
Winter is very cold, and no one is stupid enough to take off their clothes even if they sleep in front of the fire.
Han stood up, patted his clothes, and politely invited the bugs on his body back to the rough hay mat on the ground. Then, he lifted up the old wooden barrel by the wall, pushed open the creaking door with some difficulty, and prepared to go to the river to fetch water.
However, when he opened the door, he was dismayed to find that the snow that had melted a while ago had thickened a lot overnight.
A gust of biting cold wind blew up, lifting the corners of Han En's clothes, making him shiver involuntarily.
He shrank his neck and planned to return to the house. However, when he turned around and saw his mother and sister who were still sleeping, he gritted his teeth, wrapped his clothes tightly, and resolutely walked towards the gate of the village through the fresh snow.
"Good morning, Hann, nice to meet you!"
"I'm glad to see you too, old Berg. May God always watch over you!"
As the first meeting at the beginning of the day, the villagers greeted each other and greeted each other as usual. But what is different from usual is that today everyone speaks faster than usual, and some people's voices are even trembling.
"It's all because of this damn weather. When will spring come?" Han En muttered and complained, and unknowingly came to the wooden gate at the entrance of the village.
"call!"
Beside the wooden door, a layer of fluffy snow fell on the iron nose helmet on the head of the young man who drank the owl potion last night and the leather armor on his shoulders. He was seen with heavy dark circles under his eyes, raising his eyes to look at the villagers coming in and out of the gate, while he was breathing heavily on his hands that were almost numb from the cold.
When the young man's bloodshot eyes moved to Han, who was walking over with a barrel, he became excited as if he had eaten a poppy. He waved to Han and told him vividly about last night. The experience of capturing alive the pilgrim who stole fertilizer from the Holy Pit.
"Aha, I saw yesterday that the pilgrim was not a good person, but I didn't say it at the time. By the way, Evan, what happened to that damn pilgrim in the end?" Han En felt a little hungry, so As he spoke, he put down the bucket and tightened the leather belt around his waist.
"Don't tell me, that damn liar didn't know how many poor people he had defrauded out of their hard-earned money before. He actually handed over more than a hundred Denier silver coins as a fine to keep his wild beast waiting to be slaughtered in a slaughterhouse. A life as despicable as a dog!" Guard Ivan joked with a laugh.
After the two exchanged pleasantries, Han En picked up the barrel again and walked out of the wooden door of the village. However, when he walked a long distance, the guard Yi Wen suddenly remembered something important and shouted loudly to Han En's back: "Hey, Han En, don't forget to come over and take over your shift later!"
"certainly!"
Hann walked around the north wall of the village and walked to the grass beside the river. The hard old snow on the grass was covered with a layer of soft new snow, making walking feel like walking on a beach covered with goose feathers.
He turned back and looked in the direction of the village. Workers were already working on the unfinished trebuchet turret on the west wall of the village.
He remembered that Lord Simon had said a while ago that the construction of this turret must be completed before spring.
Han En didn't know why the master had to rush to build the turret first, even leaving behind the foundation of the tavern.
He thought that if Master Simon had built the tavern first, he and his friends would not have to huddle on the shabby wooden table and chairs outside the brewery to endure the damn cold wind.
This is what he has been looking forward to most in recent months.
"Good day, good old Vito, did you catch anything today? Didn't you catch a single fish?" Hann walked to the river, leaned down, and scooped a full tube of water from the Rhine River, while not forgetting to ask the side. The old man fishing with a fishing rod made a joke.
"Hann, you little bastard, it's only early in the morning and my butt is not even hot, so what can I gain?" The old man whom Hann called good old Vito laughed and scolded Hann in a tone full of foreign flavor. Blowing on his yellow and white beard.
I saw this old man wearing an animal skin hat with holes on his head and a thick Norman fur winter coat captured from the Vikings last time. He was sitting on a medium-sized felt, wrapped in leather gloves. The old hand held the fishing rod tightly like a strong pine tree, and once again turned his gaze calmly and softly to the place where the fishing line meets the water surface.
He was one of the refugees sent by the bishop of Cologne last time. However, because he was old and weak and could not do heavy work, the village chief arranged for him to be in the newly built lord's kitchen in the wooden castle.
Simon was not in the territory during that time, and there was nothing to do in the lord's kitchen. The village chief simply gave him the fishing rod and bait in the warehouse and asked him to go fishing on the river to prepare fish for the militia during the fasting period. .
As for why everyone calls him a good old man, it's because he has a kind and kind face, and he always smiles to everyone. His red and bulging apple muscles can't help but make everyone happy when they see him. Therefore, Earned the title of "good old man".
By the time Han En returned to the village, the merchants in the caravan had already pulled their carriage to the open space in the center of the village, lifted the tarpaulin covering the vehicle, and sorted out the goods they would sell today.
Different from yesterday, today Father James cleverly moved a small table and bench from the church, spread the parchment and pen and ink for recording taxes on the table, then put on his hood, lowered his head, and closed his head. My eyes were wet and I planned to take a nap before the first record came.
Han returned home. His quirky sister had gotten up and was adding fuel to the extinguished fire, but his mother was nowhere to be seen.
"Brother, mother took a piece of dry firewood and went to the baker's house next door to borrow kindling."
"Okay, let's boil this pot of water later when the fire rises," he said, placing the full wooden bucket on the ground, and placing a black iron pot with pitted surfaces next to the fire, " I have to report to the armory now!”
"Go ahead, brother, I hope today is another peaceful day!"
When Han returned to the small square in the middle of the village, he saw Lord Simon's attendant Hoffman discussing the price with the butcher.
The butcher was a fat Italian with a pair of fierce triangular eyes, a slovenly beard, and a Slavic-style fur felt hat. There were new or old blood stains on his clothes, which made him look very strange. not to be trifled.
Perhaps ordinary people have long been impressed by the tough image of the butcher, but Hoffman doesn't care, this is his young master's territory, his own home court!
"Okay, you win. Remember, it's not because of you, but for Sir Simon's sake. I think I can make a concession." After fierce bargaining, the butcher finally lost.
Fatty Hoffman counted out the coins with a smile, placed them on Father James' table for tax payment, and then waved to little Klein, who was waiting for the result next to the carriage.
Little Klein rubbed his hands excitedly and placed the large chunks of bacon from the butcher's stall, the greasy smoked sausages, and the jars of lard and rabbit fat on the trailer behind the packhorse. superior.
"As expected of Mr. Simon, he is generous with his actions!" Han En touched Kong Kong's belly and licked his lips.
At present, the largest source of meat in the village is animals hunted in the forest, followed by livestock raised in captivity, and third by slaughtering old sheep and cattle.
Because salt is precious, cured meat and bacon cannot be made in the village now, so Simon ordered the fat man to buy some long-term preservation meat from the butcher to fill the granary.
"Fortunately, there is meat to eat in every lunch of the militia. Captain Miller said after returning from the trip that the meat we eat this year is far more than the meat eaten by the wealthy yeoman farmers in other villages. Much more." Han En thought about it and then came to the door of the armory.
The armory is next to the granary, and the door has a strong iron lock.
"Hey, Han, you brat, you're finally here."
Hann turned around following the sound and happened to see Miller slowly coming down the stairs of the wooden castle wall.
Looking at Miller's armor, which was as complete as the knight's, he couldn't help but swallow his saliva and thought to himself: "If I could kill enemies as bravely as him on the battlefield, maybe I would be the wearer of that armor now. "
"For guarding the village wall, as usual, you will need a cone-shaped iron helmet with a nose guard, a thick armor, a sturdy knee-length leather padded armor and a pair of old but very warm leather gloves."
Miller muttered to himself, took off a bunch of keys from his waist, opened the heavy iron lock on the armory door, and pushed the door open. Hann followed closely behind.
The armory was covered with moisture-proof hay. The weapons are on the left and the armor is on the right, neatly stored.
Hann's eyes couldn't help but move to the crossbow in the corner, the two-handed battle axe, the chain mail and mail greaves, and the Norman helmet with goggles.
These are all good things that Mr. Simon got after annihilating the Norman pirates last time.
"What are you looking at? Come here quickly." Miller's somewhat impatient voice sounded from behind his ears, and Hann quickly walked back to Miller's side.
"Put it on." Miller handed him a heavy armor.
There was a large patch on this armor, which had been ripped off from a strong Viking man last time, and there were still traces of the pagan's dried and dim blood on it.
"The smell of sweat is so strong!" Hann muttered in a low voice while dressing.
Since the equipment of the militia is issued to the soldiers when they are training and standing guard, many people will have used the same equipment, so the smell will naturally not be good.
"Well, you're content. If it gets windy or snowy while you're on guard later, you won't complain like this." Miller rolled his eyes at him angrily.
Han En had no choice but to shut his mouth angrily.
After putting on the equipment, he took the Norman buckler and broadleaf spear handed over by Miller, walked out of the wooden castle, and walked towards the village wall under the hill.
"The boring morning has begun." Han En walked up the stairs next to the village gate, climbed up the village wall, and stood in front of the crenel, taking in a panoramic view of the scenery outside the village that he had seen countless times.
Han En stood guard on the south side of the village wall, facing the south. He looked at the road extending from the entrance of the village to the junction of plains and forests in the distance, and recalled the scene when Simon set out that day in late summer.
"This road can go to the holy city of Cologne or the bustling town of Dusseldorf. After passing the ferry in Dusseldorf, you will reach the boundary of the Principality of Upper Lorraine..."
Han En's thoughts went back to his old days in the Principality of Upper Lorraine.
It was a peaceful village, and in Han En's memory, she had never been devastated by war.
His father was a free farmer, a cunning, shrewd man. There were several times when the lord conscripted his subjects to go on an expedition. Each time, little Han En and his mother were extremely worried before going out, fearing that his father, the backbone of the family, would never come back after leaving.
But my father always returned to the territory unharmed, sometimes with trophies, such as some copper coins and copper rings, a bent spear, a cracked iron helmet, or a pair of tattered helmets. Leather armor.
Little Hann once asked his father to tell him stories about the battlefield. In his imagination, his father must be invincible and he could defeat the enemy by himself.
However, his father taught little Hann never to be interested in weapons and war. Even if you have to go to the battlefield, you should try to stay behind the crowd and try to save your life.
Little Hann couldn't listen. His dream was to have his own set of equipment, join a mercenary group, experience epic battles, and travel around the world with his friends.
The days that followed were very ordinary, just like the current village of Verde, which is satisfying.
But until one day, the lord recruited soldiers as usual, and my father took the equipment and went out as usual. In the end, what was different from usual was that no one returned to the village. Instead, there was a chaotic and unfamiliar army that they had never seen before. They pounced on the fat in their eyes like a bunch of hungry wild dogs that hadn't eaten for a long time.
The villagers fled in all directions. Many were lucky enough to escape into the forest, but their once-rich homes were now in ruins.
In the forest, the villagers were hungry and cold, and lived in fear. A smart young man brought back news from the outside - the lord and his monarch, as well as most of their troops, died in the battles in the previous two days. Now there is no one to take over the place, bandits are in danger, and there are riots. In power.
After hearing the news, Han En, like many villagers, shed tears and burst into tears. Hann knew that he might never see his dear father again for the rest of his life.
Later, everyone lived a life of refugees. At that time, many of Han's familiar neighbors and friends died on the way to the German Kingdom on the other side of the river...
"Hann, Hann, are you asleep?"
Han En suddenly felt someone tapping his shoulder, and he suddenly came back to his senses. It turned out to be old Bauch who was also wearing armor and standing guard.
"Stop being in a daze, let's eat!"
"Oh, okay, okay."
………………………………
After eating a bowl of oatmeal stewed with liver, meat cubes, radishes and onions for lunch, Han wiped his mouth and returned to his job.
After a few more peaceful hours, the sky began to turn orange, and by the way, the snow on the plain outside the village was also dyed orange. The beautiful sunset couldn't help but show up in the background.
At this moment, Han En vaguely heard the sound of horse hooves galloping in the distance.
"Did I hear you correctly?" Han En also wanted to check with his comrades standing guard next to him to confirm whether there was something wrong with his ears.
However, when cavalrymen riding horses and carrying fan-shaped shields with the crest of the Dorsten family appeared at the junction of the distant forest and the plain in front of the village, Hann knew that there was nothing wrong with his hearing.
"Open the door. I am Lord Baron's messenger. I have a letter for Lord Simon!"
"Open the door quickly!"
The militiamen standing guard near the village gate quickly opened the village gate and led the messenger and his horse to the wooden fort on the hill.
