The demand for leather is huge no matter in any era.
We have often mentioned before that the most profitable type of craftsman in the world in Rigar is the blacksmith. This is indeed true, but if we want to say that it is the type of craftsman with the most demand and the highest popularity, it must be the cobbler. genus.
It is true that metal products also play an important role in people's lives. However, as long as an iron knife for cutting vegetables is carefully maintained, it can be used for a long time without replacement. Other iron kitchen utensils and the like can be replaced by earthenware. In contrast, the demand for leather items The scope and demand direction are unique and cannot be replaced, at least in this era.
Low-end swords and all axes and spears whose poles require anti-slip treatment are usually made of pigskin or boar skin, while high-quality long swords, long knives and armed belts are made of stronger cowhide. Although iron spurs were popular among wealthy knights and nobles in Avenella and Civalier, in fact people in the south and many other places preferred cheaper cowhide riding whips.
Saddles need leather bridles, adventurers' boots need leather, civilians' sandals need leather hats, they need leather jackets and trousers, they need leather gloves, they need leather, and even the cushions of chairs and the surfaces of shields need leather. The warriors and nobles of the northern region need leather. The kind of warm fur you like to wear is also a leatherworker's handicraft with hair.
Because of their low prices, leather wrist and leg guards and chest and back armor are also the choice of many mercenaries. Armor made of thick enough cowhide is enough to block the sharp edges of one-handed swords and half-handed swords. If you just wear it, you will still get hit and break your bones.
Returning to the original point, livestock such as cattle and buffaloes are raised everywhere on the continent, so cowhide is naturally the most common leather. However, among the many creatures that exist in the wild, the leather on some of them is tougher than cowhide, so as a The leatherworkers of the Southern City-State Alliance, the leading commercial region on the mainland, naturally have a demand for the leather from these creatures, and the demand naturally brings about commissions.
The place was unfamiliar, and Mira, the common communication language here, could only start to make up for it. Coming to the south so quickly was not in Henry's plan, so they could only use part of the money from selling several books before and spent it on rice. I bought a book on teaching the Lamani language. Although the vast majority of people here can only speak and write Mira, they just need to slowly get used to how to speak this language like them, but Henry obviously doesn't want her to follow this slow and inefficient way.
Savings and wealth cannot be saved. Work harder to earn more. When the money you earn exceeds your expenses, there will naturally be some left over. Therefore, the sage never hesitates at all when spending money that can be used to improve one's own qualities and earn more money.
Nowadays, Mira can understand this. The power of habit is indeed quite terrifying. After living a luxurious life, it is very difficult to go back to the simplicity before. For her, today's life is indeed not the same as before. It is imaginable, so it is obviously not a suitable choice to hold on to the previous thoughts and attitude towards life.
Changes in thinking can never be separated from real-life experiences and the era and environment of life. Without these support, any seemingly profound words are just nonsense. The old saying goes like this: read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles. If you cannot have the practical ability to master real life, then any dream is just a rootless grass. In contrast, when the ability reaches a certain level As your life changes, your thoughts will naturally change.
Insects are chirping and birds are chirping. Even though it is already the beginning of October, the land around the Southern Alliance still has a bright scene in midsummer.
Horse hooves trampled on the same grass-grown land. The composition of the mighty team that Henry and Mira followed was quite complicated. In addition to the two of them, there were a total of six or seven people who were obviously In addition to the blue-card-level individual mercenaries with mixed equipment, there were twelve hunting mercenaries carrying heavy weapons, six or seven novice mercenaries driving mules and carrying supplies, and three vehicles also made of These novice mercenaries drive flat-bed carriages with huge frames.
This is a long-term mission, similar to the escort team of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance that they initially joined in Avenella, but it is larger in scale and more elite. Unlike the original Ashenil side, as long as you prove yourself with strength, there is no problem even if you don't have a mercenary card. Here, from the very beginning, a strict limit was imposed on mercenaries with blue cards or above. Therefore, compared with the daily The remuneration is naturally much higher.
For a long time, we have been mentioning the gap between the mercenaries who specialize in hunting and those who specialize in war, but we have never really elaborated on it. Now Henry and the others finally have a relationship with the same species because of the mission. The mercenary group came together, and we can start some general introductions from this.
First of all, contrary to the one-sided views of most civilians who don't understand all this, these mercenaries who usually carry huge iron swords and hammers seem to be more capable than most mercenaries who prefer to fight with others. Kong Wu's powerful hunting mercenaries should actually be regarded as intellectual and strategic people.
Anyone with a little common sense can guess this: the running speed of humans who run on two feet is relatively slow among natural creatures, although there are also some talented humans who can run at very high speeds. , but most people will be easily overtaken by wild beasts when carrying a certain amount of supplies.
An ordinary grizzly bear can run about twice as fast as a human being. Humans armed with melee weapons are always in an embarrassing situation when facing them: "they can't chase them, but they can't run away." , so after a long period of evolution, the hunting mercenary group has become an organization with special cooperation for such situations.
Professional hunting mercenaries only operate in mercenary groups: veterans who are familiar with the ecology judge the direction of prey, and trap experts arrange ballistae, interception nets and crypt traps. Those who represent the image of hunting mercenaries carry giant swords and Warriors with giant hammers or giant axes usually serve as the back-up force. After all, plans cannot keep up with changes. Accidents often happen when hunting dangerous large creatures, so they are needed as insurance at critical moments.
All large weapons of hunting mercenaries are extreme tools that abandon the sharpness, balance, toughness and weight of human weapons and only pursue powerful instant stopping capabilities.
This is also one of the reasons why most mercenaries who are good at fighting between humans or other humanoid races disdain their weapons. After all, heavy weapons do have more powerful lethality, but you must first defeat the talent. Yes, an overly heavy weapon requires too much physical strength and becomes unsustainable and uncontrollable after being wielded. Therefore, despite its terrifying appearance, its ability to cut and kill is actually not as good as a weapon that weighs only 20%. One of the long swords in one hand.
But there are specializations in the art. Large weapons such as giant swords are extremely effective in the environment where they are needed. A long knife may be quite useful when killing human-sized creatures, but when encountering a buffalo rhinoceros or When a huge hybrid dragon sprints towards you, even if it can cut the blood vessels and cause the opponent to bleed to death, the inertia brought by its powerful sprinting ability is enough to cause serious injuries to the mercenary.
The division of labor within the hunting mercenary group is roughly like this. The warriors are responsible for controlling the field to prevent the prey from rushing towards them and causing casualties. The seasoned hunters and trap experts set up formations based on the movements of the prey, while the lower-level mercenaries who have newly joined the mercenary group The stupid young men helped carry a large amount of supplies and tools, as well as pull the carriages used to load prey.
These people are experts in hunting large creatures. Each group operation consumes a lot of manpower and material resources. Therefore, in order to consider costs, they naturally change the plan into periodic long-term mission operations. After confirming the information, they go out to hunt enough prey. If you return and transport such valuable prey, the possibility of being targeted by thieves will naturally increase greatly. Although the hunting mercenaries also have certain combat capabilities, they can bring more weapons for use against humans. It is also obviously impossible to perform when you are exhausted after hunting or during hunting.
So in short, they naturally took safety considerations into account and chose to hire their own mercenaries as guards along the way.
Henry and Mira looked like they had no armor and were only wearing simple clothes. When they first came to sign up, these people didn't want them to join, but they explained that they were building new armors and they also had Yawen with excellent bloodlines. With the Nela war horse as a means of transportation, the two of them were barely qualified to become escorts along the way with several others.
The first difficulty and obstacle encountered on the way forward is naturally the road. Although the Southern Alliance is prosperous, there are still as many unexplored lands as other places. Although it is not as majestic as the endless Tambur Mountains on the west coast. , but rugged hills are often visible.
The storm in July not only affected the Thoradin Highlands, but also many flowers, plants and trees in the southern border fell in the ensuing heavy rains. At this time, the fast-growing species spread all over many places, causing even experienced local servants to fall. The soldiers also had to explore slowly and step by step.
The place they want to go to is a lake named Lorena. This lake is located in the north of the Black Iron River, the largest river in the South. The Black Iron River flows from the Dwarf Mountains and winds and twists, and finally falls into the Mok in the Southern Alliance. The Bigas Inland Sea, and the fresh water it brings naturally nurtures life on both sides and forms many tributaries, ponds and lakes.
One of the most famous creatures in the southern region, the Ayasiosaurus, which is classified among the heterosaurs by scholars and feeds on aquatic plants, freshwater fish, and some small mammals, lives here. This amphibious amphibian has a smooth skin and a body shape The gentle hybrids, which are similar to elephants, will come to the lake to mate and lay eggs around October. The unique cry of "Aya, Aya" for which they are named is the best way to identify them, and when the female When the snake dragon is weak after giving birth, it is also a perfect opportunity for the mercenaries to hunt.
The skin of the Aya Snake Dragon is smooth and comfortable, and it can even be used to make close-fitting underwear. In contrast, it has extremely strong toughness. A crossbow with insufficient tension cannot even penetrate its surface. Aya snake skin is lighter and softer than cowhide, and its thickness is only half that of cowhide to achieve the same defensive capabilities.
All of this makes it a favorite personal armor for dignitaries from the Southern City-State Alliance and major empires. After all, an Ayalong leather vest carefully crafted by a cobbler looks exquisite, luxurious, and yet still defensive. Ability, in addition to protecting life, also meets the need for face, so it is obviously reasonable that demand exceeds supply.
But despite this, although Aya Snake Dragon is a kind of hybrid dragon with a gentler temperament, it also has good combat capabilities that match the size of a huge dragon creature.
It can weigh up to six or seven tons and is not afraid of even large crocodiles and dragon lizards. Except for Deinosuchus and large carnivorous hybrid dragons and subsaurs, there are not many creatures that can hunt the Aya Snake Dragon alone. The extremely tough skin and the characteristics of living in groups eliminate most dangers. Although the slender neck and the snout only the size of a wild wolf make its bite not as terrible as other creatures, but the sharp teeth in its mouth are more The huge and heavy body running around on the ground is enough to scare most inexperienced hunters and mercenaries.
It is a fantasy to obtain a completely undamaged Aya snake dragon skin. Only large ballistae can penetrate the extremely tough skin, but even well-prepared and experienced hunting mercenaries still need to wait for the female A higher chance of success can be guaranteed only when the dragon has finished producing and is unable to resist. Fortunately, the huge size of these creatures means that even if there are several holes in their skin, they are still more expensive than gold, and experienced hunters usually choose younger, sicker bodies. The smaller female strikes.
All in all, the most important purpose of the group at this moment is to get to the lake first. However, due to certain changes in the mountain road, the flatbed carriage used for transportation slowed down a lot, causing them to have already set off. It took two days, but we still hadn't traveled too far.
The sky was clear and sunny, with a few white clouds drifting lazily on the blue background. The season of rain and storms was drawing to a close, and peace and quiet now dominated the sky.
One of the great benefits of following a hunting mercenary is that you can always taste fresh meat. The tracking skills for hunting large creatures are the same as for small creatures. They all observe the surrounding environment and are closer to nature than war-type mercenaries. Their hunting skills are not inferior to those of professional hunters. In addition, they use several spices grown in the wild of the Southern Alliance and chop up small and inconspicuous wild vegetables on the roadside and cook them together. The delicious and filling food is exciting. I always look forward to meal time.
There is no need to be too vigilant until the prey is actually obtained. No one will rob a group of empty vehicles. So Mira took advantage of every day to repeat the process of studying, resting, and occasionally practicing swordsmanship. The group of people slowly moved closer to their destination, and every day was fulfilling. To be continued.
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