In the spring of 362 of the Hess calendar, the Earl of Garin in the northwest of the Nalan Empire.
The gentle spring breeze blew against his cheeks, and the young man who returned from hunting hummed a song very happily.
"Hi, brother is back. What prey did you catch today?" The girl Ophina closed the book and walked towards the boy who had returned from hunting.
"One piebald chicken and two hares! We'll have chicken soup and roast rabbit for dinner." Rogge picked up the prey and showed it to Ophina.
"Okay!" Ophina jumped over and took the spotted chicken. "We have meat tonight. I won't grow taller if I eat bread every day."
"Looking at how greedy you are, the war is going on. It's amazing that everyone in the courtyard can ensure that everyone doesn't starve to death."
"It's indeed amazing, but I'm just greedy." Ofina curled her lips and walked into the Galin Orphanage side by side with Rogge.
The Nalan Empire is located in the south-central part of the Hess continent. It is one of the two major human kingdoms and borders the Orc Alliance to the northwest. Humans are good at production, while orcs love to plunder. Humans and orcs have been hostile for a long time. Therefore, the Earl of Garin located in the northwest of the empire is constantly at war.
The more wars there are, the more people will die in the war. The more people will die, the more orphans will be.
The current emperor of the empire, Charles the Great, is a far-sighted and powerful ruler. Since he ascended the throne in 342 of the Hessian calendar, the empire's national power has finally been able to steadily increase.
In order to reduce the worries of the soldiers and allow them to fight more fearlessly, Charles established multiple orphanages throughout the empire, with funds directly allocated from the Imperial Finance Department and teachers assigned to educate them. Children must take the orphanage assessment every year, and those who perform well can enter major colleges in the empire. You must know that many academies in the empire can only be attended by children of nobles and wealthy civilians.
Charles's move won unanimous praise from all over the country. The soldiers fought more bravely and fearlessly, and even the military participation rate and fertility rate increased by several percentage points.
There are many orphanages in the northwest of the empire, and the Galin Orphanage is one of the largest. The entire orphanage has 2,530 orphans, and a total of about 50 teachers and other service staff in various subjects. The dean, Ms. Karin, is smart and capable, and manages the affairs of the hospital in an orderly manner. The children love her very much.
Rogge is 19 years old and has been in the Garin Orphanage since he can remember. The director told him that his father and mother were both adventurers and died in a mission to find out the enemy's situation for the Empire's Third Army. Roger also wants to be an adventurer. He wants to walk the same path his parents once walked.
There was a shortage of meat in the yard but the seasonings were readily available. Roger came to the kitchen and skillfully cleaned the fur and internal organs of the prey. He then marinated the rabbit with his special barbecue seasoning and put it on the grill for roasting. For the piebald chicken, boil it in a pot under cold water until the water boils. Take it out and rinse away the blood. Put the whole chicken directly into the pot. Bring to a boil over high heat and then simmer over low heat.
"Okay, okay, okay? It's so fragrant, I'm going to starve to death." Ofina had already brought two pieces of bread, staring at the golden roasted rabbit with her big watery eyes, and kept swallowing her saliva.
"It's roasted, let's eat it." Rogge took down a roasted rabbit and handed it to Ophina. "Eat slowly, it's hot."
"Well..." As soon as Rogge said the hot words, Ofina had already bitten the fragrant rabbit leg, and her delicate lips were immediately burned red. Rogge quickly stood up and wanted to get her some water, when he saw Ophina spread her hands and cast a healing spell on herself. Then, while releasing a blessing spell on herself, she bit off a large piece of meat from the rabbit's leg.
"Ofina, you are a saint. Do you learn healing and blessing magic just to eat meat?!" Rogge was shocked. Ofina ignored him and quickly gnawed the rabbit in her hand, regardless of whether it looked ugly or not.
"Give me a blessing spell too." Rogge said helplessly.
Two hares that had just spent the winter could not withstand the onslaught of meat-hungry boys and girls, and soon turned into two piles of bones. Ofina, who was braving the blessing blue light, rubbed her slightly bulging belly and closed her eyes as she savored the delicious food, feeling very satisfied.
A gust of fragrant wind came, and Ofina's small nose twitched, and her beautiful eyes suddenly widened, "It smells so good, brother Rogge, help me fill a bowl." Ofina said coquettishly. Rogge couldn't withstand Ophina's brother's attack and got up to serve chicken soup.
Ofina is 18 years old. Her parents are both priests in the Empire's Third Army. Ten years ago, during a war with the Orc Alliance, a cunning Goblin elite brigade raided a gathering point in the rear of the Empire and brutally massacred them. All the priests and wounded people in the gathering point were killed, including Ofina's parents.
Ofina possesses an astonishing talent for light magic. At a young age, when her companions could only cast lighting spells and move light bulbs, she was already able to skillfully cast primary healing spells. Now she can not only cast blessing spells, but also intermediate healing spells, and has become the well-deserved saint of the Galin Orphanage.
As the sun set, Ms. Karin, the director of the Galin Orphanage, returned home after a long day's work. The orphanage was busy with exams, and even though she was energetic, she felt a little tired.
The orphanage covers a large area, and each student has his own small house. Ms. Karin's house is in the middle of the living area. Roger's house was on the road leading to the teaching area, and Karin would pass by it every time she came home from the teaching area.
"Gu..." The delicious smell of chicken soup wafted over, and Ms. Karin's stomach couldn't help but growl loudly. Rogge did not close the door, and Karin looked in through the door. The boy and girl were enjoying themselves, drinking chicken soup, nibbling bread, and smiling happily.
Ever since Rogge came back after hunting prey about 11 years ago, he would send some to Karin every time. Later, Karin simply went to Rogge’s house for dinner. He would definitely send it to her anyway, so she might as well eat it before eating. When you go home, you don’t have to cook for yourself. . . Karin turned around and walked into the house. She knew that Rogge must have left a big chicken drumstick for her.
"The dean is here, sit down quickly, the chicken stewed by my brother this time is very delicious, let him serve you a bowl." Ofina said when she saw Karin entering the room.
"Nana, please wipe your face quickly, you are almost turning into a little cat. You are the saint of our orphanage, so you have to pay attention to your image! The door is still open." Karin came to the dining table and sat down and said.
Ofina blushed and took out her handkerchief to wipe her face clean. She could ignore her image in front of Rogge, but she still had to be careful when facing Dean Karin.
"Here comes the chicken soup!" Roger brought a bowl of chicken soup to Karin. Sure enough, there was a whole pistol leg and a few fresh mountain mushrooms in the bowl. There were little oil stars floating on the golden chicken soup, and the aroma was fragrant.
As the chicken soup entered her mouth, Karin closed her eyes. The umami flavors of pheasant and mountain mushroom hit her taste buds. When she swallowed it, she had an endless aftertaste and a rich taste. Take another bite of chicken leg meat, it is stewed just right, soft and tender. "Roger, your cooking skills have improved again." Karin sighed.
The three of them finished the chicken soup and sat at the table chatting.
"This year's big exam is coming soon, Rogge, how are you preparing?" Karin asked.
"I will definitely get the top few this time! Just wait and see my performance." Rogge said with confidence.
"Hey, you are so confident, don't let your guard down during the exam." Karin said with a smile.
"Don't worry, my wind element aptitude has reached level E! I will definitely be selected into the Holk Academy this time."
Holk College is located in Holk City, the capital of Kweiland in the northwest of the empire. It is one of the two best colleges in the empire. Only Charles College in Odens, the capital of the empire, can compare with it.
Rogge, who grew up in the northwest of the empire, had always hoped to attend Holk College.
The two best colleges have the right to give priority to the selection of students, one with ten students, and a total of twenty students. Last year Rogge ranked 29th and was not selected.
The young man was not too disappointed. He rejected the olive branches offered by other colleges and chose to stay in the orphanage. He is only 18 years old, so of course he can afford to wait another year.
As for Ofina, Karin didn’t even ask her whether she was prepared. Light magic suitability level D, able to release second-level magic and intermediate healing, he is already an intermediate magician. The most important thing is that she is only 18 years old this year. She is probably the youngest intermediate light magician since the establishment of the empire.
So while her dear brother Rogge was training hard every day for a place in the academy, Ofina could choose any prestigious school and everyone would be rushing to get it. In fact, the two major colleges were already competing for her last year, but she didn't go anywhere, and Brother Rogge didn't leave either. What would happen if she left? No, how lonely would her brother be if she left?
No matter what Ofina thought before, she is quite happy now anyway. Rogge is very hopeful to be selected this year. Soon he will be able to go to the large city of Holk. Five hundred miles to the northwest is the empire's border line, a place where wars are ongoing. The new environment and new world can also put her magic to use, I'm really looking forward to it.
So Ofina shouted happily: "Brother Rogge, I want to sleep with you tonight!"
"No!" Karin suddenly stood up, picked up Ofina and spanked her little butt. "How old are you, huh? You still want to sleep together? How can you still be a saint like this?"
"Wow!!!!" The little saint's image completely disappeared in an instant.
Watching Ophina being spanked, Roger thought blankly: "Can't we become a saint if we sleep together? That's it. There are no more saints in our orphanage..."
…
While warm daily life was going on in Rogge's cabin, major changes took place in several corners of the world.
Deep in the frosty and snowy mountains in the northeastern part of the Hess continent, heavy snowflakes were falling. Purple electric light suddenly flashed, and the space was twisted and torn. A strange crimson-black crack opened in the air, and a strange light rose into the sky. Strong winds and thunder suddenly broke out, and the avalanches on the surrounding peaks were like breaking bamboos, like a sea of snow roaring.
A large piece of red and black crystal fell out of the gap, emitting strange light and surging magic energy. The crack seemed to be still unstable and could no longer support it. It gradually closed and disappeared, leaving only the mighty thunder and endless flying snow. A few days later, the Snow Ridge dwarf who came to explore found the magic crystal. The huge magic contained in it made him very happy. He thought it was a gift from nature and donated it to the King of Snow Ridge. The purple lightning cracked a piece of egg-sized magic crystal, which was swallowed by a snow scorpion tiger.
In the extreme southern abyss, thick ink-colored juice gushes out from the cracks, attracting the surrounding deep-sea creatures to devour it wildly. After the Blood Crazy Shark, one of the overlords of the abyss, came here to hunt, he felt that the prey here was extremely delicious and hunted crazily. Only one squid fled to the East Sea, and one swordfish fled to the West.
In the Dragon Mountains in the western part of the continent, the flesh and blood that fell out of the cracks was devoured by a black dragon. Demonic energy overflowed, and the golden dragon pupils turned crimson and crazy.
In the shadow forest in the middle of the continent, several tall figures walked out of the cracks, breathing deeply the air of the Hestian world, laughing silently.
