The wind blows from far away.
The inland sea of Morbigas is quite vast. For most people who have never left here in their lives, it is not much different from the outer sea. It is just as endless as far as the eye can see.
Experienced sailors and captains will tell you that if you set off from the port of Varsha to the east coast, even the fastest sailing ship will have to walk for a full week in the best weather conditions to see the other side - but this calculation of distance The method obviously only exists among sailors. What ordinary people can understand are probably the most intuitive concepts of big and very big.
The wide sea surface allows the cold air flowing in from the open sea to advance unimpeded, and in unobstructed coastal areas, such as the Ecasta Plain where we are now, these cold winds blowing from thousands of miles away can It became so bone-chilling.
Unlike Inznil, the southern province of Sivalier, which has a strait that blocks strong winds, if you head straight east in the Ecasta plain, you can directly see the flat white sandy beach shining like silver. .
This also resulted in the vast and flat land near the east not being used for planting or grazing. Only the parts closer inland and adjacent to the land of Yongchun were inhabited by farmers and herdsmen. Because the temperature on the coast of Acasta is really weird. When there is no wind, it is like spring all year round in the center of the plains. But when the wind blows, even northerners can't help but need to go back. Put on an extra coat.
The huge temperature difference has directly resulted in the fact that except for Ashenil and the villages that rely on it, the rest of the place is almost an uninhabited wilderness. In this place, you will not encounter anything except tenacious wild animals and magical beasts.
The wind blew from far away, and a morning had passed since the carriage team set off. It was approaching evening, and the long convoy was stationed at the edge of a forest on the east side of the plain to rest.
The cold wind blowing from the sea can be felt by standing at the edge of the forest. Thanks to these forests far east of Ashenil, which blocks the strong wind, the center of the plain can be like spring all year round.
Large carriage teams generally do not choose to travel at night. Even with torches and oil lamps, poor visibility at night will always make things messy.
Not to mention that the vast majority of ferocious beasts and carnivorous monsters are nocturnal. There are 7 species of wolves in the Acasta Plain alone that come out to hunt in groups at night.
Stop and station near the evening, take a rest early, and then start again when the sky starts to light up around 5 a.m. This is a plan generally chosen by large fleets.
With smoke curling up, more than 30 stoves were set up in the open space at the edge of the forest. The free mercenaries lined up and stood beside the stoves, waiting for the baked honey bread.
The bread jointly awarded by the Chamber of Commerce is baked on site, and the raw materials are easier to preserve than the finished product. This is the only way to eat fresh bread every day during the half-month trip.
The stove is made of simple clay and bricks. The clay is taken locally. You only need to bring a shovel-or even just use your own hands-to dig down anywhere in the Acasta Plain, and they take it. Endless.
Bricks were brought here, crafted from finer red clay and fired at high temperatures. The furnace was not too big or too small, just enough to bake a small pillow-sized piece of honey bread. One large piece of bread was enough to meet the food needs of a grown man for more than a day. The chefs used wooden brackets to put the tanned dough into the stove and bake it. The sweet aroma of honey bread filled the entire forest. There were already baked bread on the wooden tables on both sides. It was their turn. The mercenaries came forward to take it and left.
It only takes a short time for thirty stoves to provide food for hundreds of mercenaries. After processing these, the chefs then start processing the food of the paying passengers - most of them are worse than the mercenaries. Coarse rye bread, but also some more refined ones.
After all these are completed, they will carefully break the clay on the outer layer of the bricks and then remove the masonry for next use.
Henry and Mira received their portions, then went to a place with fewer people to sit down and started eating.
The bread was not wrapped in any way. Mira, who was careful and clean, spent two iron coins - which is approximately equivalent to 3 Danno - to buy four strips of clean cotton cloth to wrap the unfinished food before setting off. Most of the other mercenaries just took it with their dirty hands and casually tore off a few leaves to use as advance payment.
The two of them didn't communicate with anyone else along the way, as was the case with most free mercenaries. Except for some people who have other agendas and approach the regular mercenary groups and caravans with a smile, most of the others are doing their own thing.
Many people walked past them, and from the short bows they held in their hands, it could be judged that they wanted to hunt some animals in the forest to add a bit of color to their dinner. The Chamber of Commerce did not stop this, and no one would care even if those people left forever. This must be why they chose the daily wage remuneration plan. Although this is a simple job, you must be in the team every day to get your own reward. If you leave, you will get nothing.
Henry took a bite of the steaming bread, while Mira pulled out the spare dagger at his waist and cut the bread carefully. The girl was obviously getting closer to him now, and she didn't even ask for the opinion of the sage himself when doing this action.
The slightly burnt bread on the surface softened in his mouth, and the sweetness of honey, the aroma of wheat, and the bitterness of the burnt mixture seemed very intoxicating, and Henry bit into it bit by bit, watching more and more Many people also sat down to enjoy their dinner.
The sound of "crackling" flames burning branches that were not completely dry came not far behind. Apparently someone had shot his prey and was processing it at this time. The sage lowered his head and glanced at Mira, who was taking small bites of the sliced bread. After thinking briefly for a while, he asked her.
"Can you hunt?" He asked, and Mira raised her little face. She stayed for a while, and then looked at Henry with contempt.
"Put the bread away first, take that one, and come with me." Henry said, wrapping the bread in the clean cotton cloth that Mira bought, and then took off his short black cloak from around his neck, and put it with Mira. The bread that came in was put together in the center, folded and wrapped, and then rolled again to make a simple luggage.
Mira bit the small piece of bread she had cut off and grabbed the short sword that was just a tool for Henry. The sage looked at it again and again, and finally removed the scabbard from his belt and at the same time The leather strap holding the cloak in place was also given to her.
"It's yours," Henry said to Mira, and the girl lowered her head and looked at the dagger in her hand with the same pattern on the blade, and didn't make a sound for a long time.
"Hey!" The black-haired sage poked his head and pulled out a shorter knife from the other side of his waist. The girl behind him pulled the belt and fixed the scabbard on her slender waist. The extra leather belt was knotted and tangled together, she held the dagger tightly in her hand, and followed Henry.
Passing the resting place of the team and entering the deeper forest, the two people immediately felt a chill. There was no fire that gave people a warm feeling, and the evening sun was almost blocked by the dense branches and leaves. The overall color was gray-blue. The green forest looks silent and cold.
The girl looked around the forest, then took small steps closer to Henry.
The sage noticed the movement behind him. He reached out and touched her head. Then he began to deliberately control his steps so as not to make too much noise. At the same time, he patted the girl's little head to signal her to do the same.
They walked for a while, and when they reached a place where no human voices could be heard at all, Henry slowed down a little.
There was a rustling sound from the bushes under the woods ahead. Henry carefully controlled his posture, and Mira behind him also followed suit.
But the rustling sound suddenly stopped, and Henry looked around sharply, then grabbed some dry soil from the ground and waved it down.
The dust drifted towards the back of the two people, which was downwind. He frowned. There were obviously small herbivores such as hares among the low bushes. They were timid and easily frightened by smells or sudden movements, but whether he or Mira just None of them made any sound, and it was impossible to smell the food on them as they were downwind.
After eliminating this, there was only one possibility left. Henry's searching eyes finally locked on something crawling on the ground diagonally in front of him and Mira, and then turned his head to look at the girl.
"Do you eat snake meat?" the sage asked softly.
…
…
The Luoan girl seemed a little depressed and looked at Henry who was skinning the skin quickly. Their results were not small, a python weighing several kilograms and a small hare with gray and black fur. Even without spices, it can obviously be a hearty dinner after being simply baked and served with honey bread - so this is not the thing that makes the girl a little depressed.
What made her depressed was what happened a few minutes ago - after the black-haired sage dashed out in one stride and threw out the knife in his hand, accurately stabbing the python's body -
He grabbed its tail and swung it up, killing the rabbit next to it.
At the same time, Mira, who also ran out when Henry rushed out, was so frightened by the sage's exaggerated movements that she sat down on the ground with her eyes wide open.
Henry saw the white-haired loli with her head hanging down and looking very depressed. He thought for a while and then waved to Mira.
The pair did not return anywhere near the camp. Resting places such as carriages are exclusive places for the Chamber of Commerce's members and tourists, while more free mercenaries find places on their own. Therefore, staying there is actually not much different from running further away. They are both sleeping in the wilderness, so it is better to find a quiet place to spend the night without being disturbed.
"?" The Luoan girl came over. She was not sure what Henry wanted her to do, and the sage did not explain: "Sit down." He said this, and Mira cleaned the ground a little. Then sat down.
"Have you ever made a fire?" Henry asked, and Mira couldn't help but give him another look of disdain, but the sage shook his head: "No, not in a hotel, but in the wild. "
He took out a rough black stone separated by silver from the small leather bag on his armed belt, then took out the knife that had just killed the python, and struck the stone with the back of the knife.
"Crack--" A dazzling spark flashed in front of Mira. The girl was startled, and the sage immediately took out some materials he had collected during this period.
"If a person wants to survive, it's not enough to know how to fight. Come and try." He handed the knife and the stone to Mira. The girl swallowed, and then followed Henry's example and knocked the stone with the back of the knife. .
"Crack--" Sparks popped up, and Henry nodded, then grabbed some dry leaves he had picked up before, kneaded them into a ball, and placed them in the open space between the two.
"Try to light it," he said, and Mira glanced at him, then leaned down and began to hit the stone hard. Sparks flew everywhere, and after dozens of seconds of uninterrupted attempts, the girl finally succeeded in igniting the dead leaves.
"Oh!" She let out a small exclamation, then raised her head and looked at Henry, her eyes bright.
"It feels great to do this," Henry smiled at her and said, "You told me before that you wanted to learn knowledge and learn how to fight. I believe you were picturing some very majestic scenery in your mind. "
He said and the girl stayed for a moment and nodded silently.
"Indeed. Whether they are powerful magicians or great wise men who are famous throughout the ages, their power comes from knowledge, and they are respected because of their knowledge."
"But, Mira," Henry said, calling her name solemnly for the second time in these days, "knowledge is not very far away, nor is it inaccessible. On the contrary, they exist in life. Every detail, every place.”
The sage pointed a finger at his head.
"Knowledge comes from your own mind, use it"
"To think, to observe, to remember, to summarize, and most importantly -" he said, "to use."
The dead leaves gradually burned. Henry picked out some of the smallest branches from the branches that had been prepared earlier, and put them together to form a cone that enveloped the flames. Mira listened carefully and observed his action.
"I cannot and cannot teach you everything," he said. "No one can do that."
"What I will teach you is how to use your own way of thinking and thirst to explore and gain more knowledge."
“Only in this way can you truly become the person you want to be.”
Henry said, while Mira listened silently, nodded for a while, but then shook her head.
"It's too profound for me to understand," the girl said bluntly. Henry was stunned for a moment, and then showed a wry smile.
"Sorry, to put it simply, I will teach you from the most basic level, and you have to observe more and learn more. Knowledge cannot be acquired passively. You cannot wait for me to teach you, but must take the initiative to observe and learn." Henry Saying this, he added some thicker branches to the already burning fire.
Mira stared at the growing fire, and then nodded very seriously this time.
"I see"
"teacher"
The night had fallen, and the big Lolita, half of her face illuminated by the firelight in the forest, answered with her clear voice and smile.
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