Except for the preserved wheat after the autumn harvest, the rest will be brewed into ale or made into bread.
Inznil is relatively close to the south, and its warm and humid climate is suitable for growing crops, but it is not as convenient as Prosper in terms of preservation.
Therefore, after the harvest every autumn, people can always see the columns of carriages loaded with sacks of wheat heading to the north of the kingdom. In addition to supplying the cities there, a large part will be stored in the granary as Stock up on food.
The fire crackled, and the tanned dough was placed on the wooden table. In bakeries in towns, people often leave the dough overnight before putting it into the oven.
This is to allow the dough to accept the yeast in the air and ferment.
Humans have long realized that yeast can make bread become soft and delicious, rising instead of turning into a hard dough. In addition, wheat grains are also used as raw materials, and malt liquor brewed from germinated wheat grains also needs to be fermented in the air.
The ale brewed in Sivalier is rarely consumed by local residents. Except for merchants who sell it to neighboring countries, they are only used for the supply of taverns and inns for adventurers and travelers of all races and nationalities from all directions. Families drink.
Smoke curled from cooking stoves, horses' hooves stepped lightly on the dirt paved road, the wooden wheels creaked and turned, and the convoy carrying food passed by Henry and Mira.
Such carriages were often encountered when they came to the southern border of Prosper, and the two people who finally entered Inznil and saw the vast fields that had been harvested spent about two weeks on the road. above.
"..." The main road in Inznil was not very wide, and carriages passed by one after another. Henry could only slow down and move forward slowly to avoid colliding with the other party.
The quarrel ahead inevitably attracted the attention of the two people. Just like the carriage transporting grain, similar situations abounded along the way.
If you don't understand the reason, you only need to look at what kind of people both parties are to understand.
Medium build, blond hair and blue eyes. Medium build, brown hair and blue eyes.
The Avenerreans, and the Sivalliers.
"Huh..." Mira took a long breath. Now she could see a little bit of what these signs expressed.
The Sivalier people have always been proud of themselves as the people of the strongest country on the west coast, so they look down on Avenella and other surrounding peoples and kingdoms - but all this changed dramatically in the autumn of this year , Avenella counter-attacked Silvalier and defeated their proud noble cavalry.
In fact, due to the huge losses of the nobles in their prime, many fiefdoms in Sivalier are now in a state of chaos with no one to govern or noble families fighting for the position of the head of the family.
Amid internal and external troubles, the people of Sivalier are extremely jealous when they see the Avenella people. In contrast, the Avenella people won the war because of their motherland. In the past, they could only face each other when they were slapped in the face. They were apologetic and now felt that they could straighten their backs - no one was willing to give in, so the quarrels and conflicts further intensified.
Not only were there quarrels, but Henry and Mira had seen many examples of conflicts and fights between Avenella and the locals in Sivalier on the border of Sivalier.
The relationship between the two countries may never be repaired ever since the king of Avenela sent Bernie and the others to steal the Sivalier Charter. But what's the problem? It's not a friendly relationship of equals. If there hadn't been this battle, maybe the civilians of Avenella would not be able to withstand the oppression and rise up to resist. But at that time, pro-Sivalier It would be too late for the nobles of Avenella to choose their positions again.
Underneath the temporary peace, there was an undercurrent surging. He thought for a moment in his heart and silently wished the generous prince smooth sailing in handling domestic affairs. Henry focused on the present again.
Although there were many carriages on the road, the speed of the horses still allowed them to reach their destination earlier than most mercenaries who took on the same mission.
The check-in location is also described on the board, but in fact even without written instructions, you can clearly determine where it is.
As long as you get here, you can understand it by looking at it.
——The edge of the forest.
The farmers who had just put down their farm tools were not able to spend a leisurely time like this. On the border of the vast empty fields of Inznil, they were holding mallets, nails and a lot of wood, repairing long fence.
Inznil, like most of the West Coast, has one side close to the forest at the foot of the Tambor Mountains. Although it is not as deep as Avenella, there are countless wild beasts besides Warcraft in the vast forest.
If left unchecked, wild boars will run out, and deer will run out as well. As long as these wild animals are a little bit more rampant, many people may go hungry.
So fences are absolutely necessary. After a year of exposure to the sun and rain, the wooden fence was also quite fragile during this period and needed to be repaired, reinforced or replaced on a large scale - and this was the time for the mercenaries to come on stage.
As we mentioned above, in addition to Warcraft, there are a lot more wild beasts in the forest, and winter happens to be the time when the most violent and ferocious of these wild beasts - the bear.
The farmers in Inznir obtained a large amount of salted fish and bacon from Prosper through the grain trade. It is quite easy for large cities close to the port of Varsha to obtain salt, an excellent material for preserving food, and bacon. and salted fish can allow farmers to eat less boring meals, but at the same time, the smell that is far easier to spread than grains also attracts wild animals with a keen sense of smell to come out of the forest and go to human settlements to look for food.
Bears are omnivores, so wagons and barns used to store and transport food are also within their attack range.
Therefore, every year the Grand Duke of Inznir would choose this time to order his farmers to repair nearby fences. Considering that humans are also within the food range of these beasts, the safety of the farmers repairing the fences naturally requires Professional warriors come to ensure it.
The clanking sound echoed for a long distance, and many fences that had been damaged by wild animals or simply rotted were replaced with new ones. Henry and Mira arrived here and found the magistrate of the local garrison - this was usually played by small local nobles, but sometimes it was also played by country squires, if the latter had combat experience.
The Sheriff in charge of all this is easy to identify. He is dressed differently from ordinary farmers. He looks more refined and wears a leather armor. Although the long sword hanging on his waist is so thin that it is more like a decoration. It tastes good, but it also looks completely different from the surrounding farmers.
"Uh..." The Sheriff looked at the two men with two tall horses and blue mercenary badges and was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand to indicate that they had passed.
Henry smiled slightly and said thank you to the other party. This was actually against the rules to a certain extent, indicating that it was written that mercenaries needed to pass a test and be approved by the Sheriff before they could receive pay. However, each test consumes a lot of time and energy, and if it seems to be well-equipped and already at the blue card level, it makes sense that the opponent is too lazy to pass the test directly.
The long fence needed to be repaired in many places. In order to respond immediately and save the lives of precious farmers, the mercenaries' resting place was set up in a barn close to the fence.
Theoretically, in order to ensure combat effectiveness, the mercenaries should be divided into several groups for patrolling. However, because the mercenaries who came were uneven, the Sheriff of Inznil only used barns as the method of grouping. .
A group of people resting in a barn will act as a team regardless of their combat effectiveness, and it is up to you to decide which barn you want to rest in.
If you want to stay in these drafty wooden structures until the fence is completely repaired, choosing a newer barn that is more comfortable is the choice most people will make.
But Henry didn't do this. Instead, the sage took Mira to the older barn.
"This is the Lamanite style." Facing the girl's frown, the sage explained: "One of the many things the Sivaliya people learned from the Lamanites is the construction of barns. There are stone ventilation ducts under the barn to ensure ventilation in the barn and make the food less susceptible to spoilage."
“But the people of Inznil quickly realized that even so, this area was not suitable for storing grain for a long time, so the barns built later had ordinary floors and no ventilation due to cost considerations. Pipes. Because it only needs to be stored here for a short period of time after harvesting before being transported to the north, ventilation ducts for long-term storage are not so necessary." The sage said this, and Mira clicked nod.
"But it's one thing to store food. If we have to live with a bunch of mercenaries who may not have had a shower in two or three months, I think it's better for us to choose a place with better ventilation," he said. As he looked, Mira rolled her eyes at him.
The horses were stored in the stables outside the barn. The environment here was dirty and the ground was covered with wet soil, but it would be better to have a place that could shelter from the wind and rain.
The harvested wheat straw was spread on the ground inside the barn to make it look less dirty. The mercenaries in twos and threes occupied a small position of their own and found something to raise the space between themselves and the ground. Moisture is isolated.
No one had much communication with other people, and the mercenaries were also wary of each other. After all, the lower-level mercenaries were not much different from bandits in many aspects.
When Henry and Mira walked in, they could feel the greedy and a little fearful look in their eyes - the mercenaries all knew the goods, and the armor, equipment and clean clothes on these two people all showed that They are wealthy, but at the same time, the blue cards hanging clearly on their chests and the huge weapons also prove that they are not easy to mess with.
Although Henry's big sword is still considered a strange weapon in the eyes of many mercenaries, it is different from when he and Mira first met. Now he is not wearing dirty linen clothes but fine leather armor with a blue badge. Sage, those mercenaries who are lower than him or at the same level will only think that this person is even more difficult to mess with.
The principle that people rely on clothes is fully demonstrated here. It is obviously the same people and the same weapons, but if you change a set of clothes and hang a brand, others will have completely different opinions.
…
The barn has two floors. Henry and Mira chose to come to the corner of the second floor to rest temporarily. The sage took off his cloak and covered it on the wall of this corner to block the cold air blowing in from the gap.
The floor creaked, and the old iron nails had oxidized and turned black. They put some luggage on the floor and returned outside.
The mission of the guard is quite boring in most cases, but the Sheriff will occasionally organize a group to go out to actively hunt and kill the bears that are closer to this side.
On the third day after arriving in Inznir, Henry and the others participated in such an activity. However, although there were many traces of bear activity nearby, the mercenary group of more than 60 people was not able to actually encounter any bears. .
On this afternoon, when the two of them returned to Inznil after walking all day in the wilderness, a piece of news that spread like wildfire across the prairie reached their ears.
——Wawasika was attacked and the situation was very urgent.
Everyone's reaction to this news was very different. Some people in Sivalier looked happy, while some people related to Avenella were shocked.
"...Teacher?" Mira looked at Henry with worried eyes, while the sage was thinking seriously.
"There is no reason for Sivalier to launch a war in winter, especially when the main force has been greatly reduced...and the news is too vague. No one even explained who was attacking Wavasika."
"I'm worried about Mingna and the others." Mira said. The blond girl and her father should have stayed in Wawasika. If the Holy White City is attacked, their safety will be very worrying.
"Go back." Henry nodded, and then the two of them immediately returned to pack their luggage.
