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The road from Thoradin Highlands all the way east to the coast, although we have used a metaphor like a mouse's tail before, in fact this is not very accurate. novel,
It is not a single, straight avenue, but has many small branches. Some of them on the right side extend crookedly into the kingdom near the southern half slope, and on the left side it borders on the area where the church has a lot of authority.
Since the Cory Conrads first settled in the dense forest on Banpo more than two hundred years ago and then carved out a narrow path to the coastline, residents have continued to migrate back for two centuries, and the roads have also followed. Keep broadening.
And this also creates Corey Conrad's unique geographical division that we likened to a "long-tailed rat" earlier.
In this mercenary kingdom, 60% of the residents live in city-states. Compared to other countries on the west coast of the same period, 90% of the citizens live in the countryside. This ratio is quite high. But let us not forget that this country is a mercenary country. In other words, the vast majority of citizens are actually fighting overseas all year round.
The vast majority of these residents, who account for 60% of the population, are the families of mercenaries and various craftsmen and merchants. As the most common civilian unit in other kingdoms, farmers are rare enough. They do not have farmland or food cultivation, and they rely on mercenary hiring. The nobles of the kingdom themselves are the heads of the mercenary guilds. The Corikonrad people obtain food and other things from other nearby kingdoms through trade. . Although both the kingdom itself and the volume of trade are very small, this method of completely relying on trade for necessary supplies is unique in the barren west coast.
Returning to the original point, there are more than three times as many Cory Conrad residents working outside the home as there are settlers, but in addition, the remaining 40% of people living on both sides of this long avenue do not Not everyone is engaged in the profession of supporting mercenaries.
There was a statistic in Raman's time. The youth soldiers of the regular army wore more than ten kilograms of wrought iron ring armor, plus short swords, spears and large square shields weighing several kilograms. With supplies and equipment, everyone can walk about thirty kilometers in one day.
Of course, the concept of the unit of kilometer only appeared in the later days. Therefore, there will definitely be a certain deviation in our numerical conversion. All in all, this data is almost the maximum distance that today's mercenaries can reach on foot every day, and for various reasons, it has also been listed as a reference object.
About 25 to 30 kilometers along the long corridor, you can find a hotel for you to stay. If not, there will at least be some places similar to supply stations, and based on their existence, there will be various Things like shops and blacksmiths for repairing equipment were established.
Most of these buildings are located on both sides of the road where you can see them at a glance. However, going deeper, some areas are dotted with idle homes on a household basis. Not many people know their origins. Some of them are old mercenaries who have retired, and some are businessmen who have opened shops before. Others were family members of nearby craftsmen.
There are many dangers in the jungle, but as long as you don't stay too far away from the road, wild animals are unlikely to get close, and ordinary robbers are too lazy to deal with these unprofitable people.
The leisurely pastoral style, the singing of birds and the fragrance of flowers, and the gentle breeze.
Due to some supplies and tasks, it was already after lunch when they set off the day before, and because of the rain, they only walked half a day in total. We haven't reached the location of the hotel ahead yet. This is also the fundamental reason why we choose to camp.
After a day's consumption, the four of them crossed the road early the next morning and walked through the sparse woods. Go to replenish the water supply.
Water flows downwards, which is a common principle everywhere. On the east side of Corey Conrad's road, there are naturally many streams flowing in the forest. Most of these streams are clear and can be drank directly. The water in the mountains is mostly like this, with silt, sand and rocks. Blocks are natural filter materials. As long as you don't choose stagnant water that doesn't flow, there isn't much to worry about.
Corey Conrad The most famous stream on the right side of the road closer to the outside is a creek that doesn't even have a name. This sounds a bit lingo-speak, but the locals really just call it that. The creek on the roadside.
&n:. :bsp; The creek stretches for a long distance. Travelers usually come here to refill their water. Only a few people from the south choose other water sources. When Henry and his group came over, they happened to see a group of people in front of them who seemed to have just finished fetching water and walked some distance forward from the forest path. I guess they weren't the only ones who had to stop temporarily because of the heavy rain.
Although the terrain of Thoratin is relatively high, the climate is still as changeable as other areas in the tropics. Especially during the storm season in June, it can be sunny and rainy one moment, or it can be sunny one moment and covered with dark clouds the next. Things like night coming early are commonplace for locals.
The closer you get to the coast, the more obvious this situation becomes.
The clever businessmen simply chose to move forward in the forest to avoid the sun, and they were not the first people to do so. Along the gurgling stream, there were two sides of the embankment about one person wide. The grass is obviously much lower than other places.
Before Henry and the others arrived, many people often chose to do this.
Everything has a cause and effect, including roads, villages, city-states, and countries. This is how human civilization is gradually established and expanded in the lives of generations of people.
Relying on mountains to eat mountains, relying on water to drink water. Things like civilization always start to sprout based on areas with abundant resources. And learning from the people in front of them to avoid the sun and walk all the way down the edge of this creek, everyone also I really saw a carefree old man.
He was sitting on a large white stone by the stream, fishing with a bamboo fishing rod in his hand. The old man has a slender figure. In terms of appearance, he looks exactly like an ordinary farmer here. In fact, this is probably the case. Although there are many retired old mercenaries living on this side, the group of people just came over. Meeting some kind of hidden master or something like that. It's obviously not something that would normally happen.
The stream flows gurglingly. The water flow here is not particularly fast. It ends at several lakes and ponds below. In the summer, the fish are very plump. The old man used a stone to hold down a hemp rope. The other end is connected to a huge rattan basket. The lower part of the rattan basket is immersed in the water, and it sways a little from time to time. It seems that a lot of harvest has been achieved.
"Oh, outsiders, this is a bit strange." The formation of four people and two horses naturally attracted the old man's attention. He originally just glanced at it and stopped because of the combination of four people with bright hair. Mira stared at the shaking bamboo basket, and the old man smiled.
"Do you want to eat it? This is the best white-bellied herring. Only in summer every year will it swim out of the underground river and run into the lake to lay eggs." He put down the fishing rod, not worried at all about what would happen later. As if a fish had taken the bait, he pinched a fish out of the bamboo basket next to him and showed it to everyone.
"If you cook a pot of delicious fish soup, even if it is served with dry and hard dough, it will taste great." The smiling old man said, because of his description, Mira swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and it was precisely at this time. He raised his finger.
"40 Danno, the best price." "It's so expensive." Emmanica next to her sighed. But one size fits all, and they finally decided to buy the fish.
After all, we have a day's journey ahead, so it will always be better to have something nutritious for breakfast that can warm you up.
The old man is indeed a native of Corey Conrad. He is familiar with the food that can be picked in the wild during this season and can provide some guidance. Everyone then understood how to find them.
Bamboo, a fast-growing plant, can be found from the south of Avenera to some hard lands in the Ridela area. Although it originally grew in the east, it was brought along with the Lamanites hundreds of years ago. After crossing the sea, this plant also adapted strongly to the local soil, water, and climate.
The mountainous area near Thoradin Highlands is a sunny half-slope that is most suitable for bamboo growth.
This green plant, which is completely different from trees, was scornfully called "disgusting grass" by scholars from Sivalier, after it was well known and accepted by the locals. A certain part has become one of their daily foods.
It's summer, plump freshwater fish and fresh bamboo shoots are cleaned and cut by the slowly flowing stream.
The sound of "click, click" echoed in the woods. The white-haired Luoan girl skillfully lit a bonfire with flint and steel, and then placed one end of three pieces of wood with a diameter of about one hand taken from the side. BBQ in the bonfire.
&nb:. :sp; "I'm here to help you." The fair-skinned Emonica said with fine sweat on her face. Mira smiled at her, and then the two of them turned around and got off the horse. A small iron pot, and a hardened hook with a ring on the other side.
The task of cleaning freshwater fish and looking for bamboo shoots fell on our sages, but Joshua, who was unable to do such a thing because of his eyesight, did not stop. He took the short bamboo shoot he had just made. There were only a few characters of Braille books, and I started to learn them slowly while sitting there.
The birds were singing and the flowers were fragrant, and the old man sitting on the stone in front of him yawned greatly.
The two girls were chatting about something while cleaning the iron pot and making preparations. Time seemed to slow down here. Joshua looked at the place where the two people's backs were, showed a smile, and then continued to study seriously.
There is no need to worry about anything, and there is no need to rush to go somewhere. "Emonica, what's wrong with you? Are you uncomfortable?" Sensing the other party's sudden stop, the white-haired Luoan girl turned her head in confusion. The girl with long blond hair shook her head and said The voice of "Hmm~" responded to her concern, and then smiled slightly: "I just think it would be great if days like this could continue forever."
Her smile was quite sincere, but Mira frowned slightly. She instinctively noticed the flash of uneasiness on the other person's face, but since Emmanica didn't intend to say it, she didn't want to force her.
"Okay, okay, don't think so much, let's take it back together." The blond girl covered everything with a bright smile, and the two of them carried the iron pot back to the bonfire. Mira picked up the three pieces of wood that had been burnt black and hard on the surface. She casually rubbed them on a rough rock exposed in the soil next to them, and successfully sharpened the wood.
This technique was naturally learned from our sage. The technique of roasting wood, carbonizing it and then sharpening it has a history of thousands of years. People in the past used it to make bows and arrows. The reason why Mira did this was for It allows the bracket to sink deeply into the soil without shaking.
After all, a hot pot of soup would not be pleasant from an eating perspective or a safety perspective if it was thrown away.
The three long wooden sticks were inserted deeply into the soil. Mira then picked up the hemp rope and wrapped the upper ends tightly, leaving a small section to pass through the ring at the end of the previous iron hook and tie it. After that, he hung the iron pot on it.
The water in the pot was also taken from the stream, and our Mr. Sage was very efficient. While Mira and the others were boiling water and preparing it, he cleaned up the freshwater fish and found a lot of fresh bamboo shoots.
All kinds of spices are relatively rare for people here.
Although we mentioned earlier that Corey Conrad has a port presence near the coastline down here. But to be honest, considering the small land area of this country, the so-called port actually only has five or six galleys moored there. The sight of people coming and going in Vasana, the largest port on the west coast, is naturally incomparable. The buildings near the port are only five or six small supply stations that are not particularly large, and not even a small town has been established.
Therefore, although it has certain maritime exchanges with the spice-rich southern inland and the east coast of Mobigas, in the Cory Conrad Kingdom, which mostly only exports combat power and does not attach great importance to commerce, ordinary people are naturally unable to enjoy expensive of various spices and condiments.
The only supplies that can be obtained in the shops here are salt in small wooden cans. After all, this is a country close to the coastline. They maintain good quality and are not particularly expensive at the same time.
The bonfire was burning, and the fish and bamboo shoots were put into the pot.
There was a heavy rain yesterday, and the sun was not particularly strong at this time. Many of the firewood collected contained moisture, which caused the smoke to be a bit huge and choking.
But the wait and stay are worth it.
As the old man said, even the tasteless cereal balls taste particularly delicious when paired with the delicious fish soup.
"It's really nice to spend time leisurely like this once in a while."
The sun's rays were temporarily blocked by passing clouds.
It's another sunny day. To be continued. ,.
