"..." After silently looking around at the three people standing here, Agatha suddenly bit her lower lip again for some unknown reason, clenched her slender palms into fists, and then turned around without looking back. Just walked out again.
"She..." Mira said a byte in Lamani with a somewhat stiff pronunciation, and then turned her head to look at the two people here. Mike, who had a dirty beard and was full of smoke marks, was holding tobacco in his hand. Just as he was about to stuff his cigarette into his cigarette holder, he was stunned by the wooden platform and couldn't react because of the continuous comings and goings that happened within this minute.
"I can't catch up with the work. Although the agreed completion date is not far away, there is no firm conclusion in the past few days, but the proud elves are slower than the dwarves in doing things, and they feel unhappy, right?" Henry said to Mike in Laman language. Then, he deliberately slowed down his speaking speed so that Mira could understand the general idea - words like "elf" and "dwarf" in West Coast language, Avenela, and Sivalier language all come from In Lamani, the pronunciation is exactly the same and the other explanations are all everyday terms. The girl listened hard and understood a little bit.
"That's not true...she came to see me five days ago and told me to wait for her a little longer. She might have to spend more time completing the unfamiliar building..." Mike said to Henry. As he said that, the sage raised his eyebrows. This was somewhat beyond his expectation. Maybe this elf is not as self-righteous and shameless as other members of her race, or maybe she just has a better relationship with Mike.
"Sigh... Judging from her hurried look, she probably hasn't finished her work yet. She wanted to come back and talk to me for a few more days, but seeing you two here, I feel embarrassed to speak." Mike looked again. He glanced at the cigarette holder, then put it back on the table, turned to look at the two of them: "I'll go find her first, and let's wait for the other things. The armor is ready. Go over there and get it from Andre. After that, just come back in a few days."
"Andukusin Elvansa, Antia Shuvatia. (These elves with awkward personalities, this is really a fate)" The somewhat irritable old dwarf muttered this new ancient saying and ran towards the door, Mi Ra looked at Henry, and the sage shrugged, and then the two of them walked to what Mike called the oldest human being in the blacksmith shop named Andre. After spending a full twenty After two Ella gold coins - which was already a very favorable price - they got two sets of brand-new armors that still smelled of maintenance grease as they wished.
The carefully polished armors are all tailor-made, and Mira's set looks quite small when placed next to Henry's. The craftsmanship of the dwarf blacksmith is indeed top-notch. The carefully polished breastplate has a good curvature, and the edges are rolled around to prevent cuts to the clothing and skin. It is a two-piece combination, and the entire breastplate and The forearm armor is not the kind of belt that is common on the West Coast. Instead, it adopts a metal buckle design that requires higher craftsmanship, which makes it easier to wear than other armors.
The armor on the back is reduced and does not provide complete protection like the chest armor. Coupled with the shortened hem and skirt baffle, the weight of the entire armor is actually lighter than traditional half armor.
Although the sage's figure is that all the armor, including the wrist guards, still weighs quite a bit together, but our Luoan girl's carefully crafted set of close-fitting and lightweight armor with a waist-cinching design can be worn by anyone. Experienced female adventurers may feel quite greedy after seeing it.
Not only is it easy to use, but it also looks good. Just after paying the price, Mira tried it on and performed various activities. She was really happy that the armor almost did not affect her movements at all. Although the defense power has increased even more, except for the weight, this set of armor is even more comfortable to wear than plate armor. It is almost as flexible as the light protection of leather armor and chain armor in the past.
Henry has removed the helmet, shoulder armor, neck armor, thigh armor, calf armor, shoe armor, upper arm armor, hand armor, and many other parts needed to make up the full body armor. Adding in the time spent on labor and the total price, the total price will be several times higher - now The five krits of money he possesses may be just enough. They are not knight masters. The half-body armor is the ultimate choice when weighing defense and flexibility. At least now, Mira can be completely invincible in the front and torso when facing an opponent holding a sword or a knife. Although the head and The throat is still a weak point, but since there is no upper arm armor to hinder movement, the girl can completely rely on the weapon in her hand to block.
The obstruction of vision by helmets has always been a big problem, which is one of the reasons why most mercenaries choose not to wear them. Another reason is naturally poverty. After all, most people are doing their best just to fill their stomachs and keep their existing equipment from being completely damaged. People like them who continuously change their equipment within a year must be regarded as a waste in the eyes of other mercenaries. waste.
No matter what, now that Mike ran out to find Agatha, there was nothing to do. Henry and Mira temporarily stored the armor here in the blacksmith shop, and the Luoan girl also took her armor and left it in the humid jungle for a month. During the operation, the half-hand sword had some rust despite being maintained, so I took it out and asked the other party to remove the rust. The two of them traveled lightly, taking advantage of their free time to take a stroll around the town of Rosemary.
They did not ride war horses this time because more than a month of traveling had made the two horses exhausted. They were currently staying at the hotel where they lived, and the stable boys there helped clean the horses and feed a large number of animals. Food and grass help them regain their physical fitness.
Walking on the streets of Rosemary during the day is enough to feel the prosperity of this town. There are all kinds of people coming and going everywhere, people with weapons on their backs or on their waists and mercenary badges fixed on their belts. There are many people there, and there are also a huge number of people who are not labeled as professional mercenaries but are still holding weapons.
People here have long been accustomed to seeing a large group of armed people walking on the streets. Unlike the kingdom on the west coast, the residents are not indifferent or rejecting. They accept the existence of these people, and have been educated since childhood. People throughout the South know the principle of profit first. They are polite and smooth-tongued, and will not show their dislike for you like the stupid West Coast people, although it is deep in their bones. There is still xenophobia and differential treatment deeply buried, but the smooth southerners will always try to maintain the appearance of harmony.
This is a cruel land, but it also has many characteristics that are worth pondering - walking on Rosemary's street, Mira looked at the surrounding scene and thought like this.
As a child who was born and raised on the plains of Ecasta, Mira has always felt that she should be considered an Avenella, a West Coaster. She had never known the great Luoan who died in her motherland. Both the environment she grew up in and the people she came into contact with had a strong Avenela color. Growing up in such an environment, her impression was that it was generally barren and war-torn. All the countries on the west coast, all the civilians - don't like to travel.
Bandits, beasts, nobles, all of these existences are very deadly. The soft dirt road will sink deeply once you step on it on a rainy day. The wheels of ox carts and mule carts cannot travel, and the war horses suitable for riding are only for rich mercenaries and noble lords. The poor road condition itself restricts the circulation of the population. Coupled with the poor public security, one day the territory next door or even the kingdom next door will attack here——
Various restrictions have turned most of the local residents of Avenella into peasants who have stayed in the small shabby place where they were born all their lives. They grew crops on land that didn't belong to them at all, but after the harvest, most of it was confiscated, leaving them with just enough to make ends meet, and they absolutely refused to venture out. In their opinion, the two professions of mercenaries and merchants who travel all year round are simply audacious fools. They will fall one day, and one day they will fall miserably - many Avenella farmers, Including the owner of the hotel where Mira used to work, he would always say these words.
This is a common situation on the entire west coast, and it was still the case when she and Henry came to Thoradin Highlands, although the Joshua and Emmanica they met were not running for their livelihood, but just wanted to take a look. Hai, but the prerequisite for that is that Joshua is an orange-level mercenary and has strong combat capabilities.
——If you don’t know how to fight, if you don’t have weapons and can’t prepare for battle, then you can’t go out. Even just going from one town to another is a huge risk.
All this deep-rootedness has almost become an unshakable fact in Mira's heart - but the southern border is different.
When she really had time to stop, she didn't rush to ride somewhere to do something, but walked leisurely and leisurely on the road paved with flat stone slabs. She felt What I arrived and saw was very different from the past.
There were several women from the south in front of them, wearing short sleeves and short skirts and wearing unique sunhats that covered the back of their heads and extended forward. Mira witnessed them getting off a carriage - they were not the Felike she met earlier. The aristocratic carriage of the Si family is just a flat carriage equipped with a canvas sunshade and some seats. And they are not rich businessmen or nobles. From the clothes and dress, they look completely ordinary. civilian.
In the same carriage, there was also a family of three dressed as civilians, but unlike those women, they were carrying a basket of vegetables and fruits. It looked like they had just purchased them from somewhere and then took the carriage home. .
The chatting and laughing family of three walked towards the other side with fresh ingredients. Mira's eyes followed them all the way until the sound of rolling carriage wheels on the other side attracted her attention. . One vehicle after another; one family after another—this kind of thing, traveling in a carriage that is not for transporting goods but specifically for carrying people, without carrying weapons, seems to be extremely common in the southern border.
Mira stopped, with a dull expression on her face. Her incredible appearance could not be concealed from the sage in front of her. Henry also stopped and looked at the surprised expression on the girl's face leisurely. After a long while, he slowly said: "This is the developed state." The capital brought by business will bring about the effects." He said, and the Luoan girl looked up at him.
"People in the Southern Territory are all about money. They don't do anything that will harm their own interests. Similarly, they won't spend too much energy on things that are not cost-effective." The sage said: "The matter of bloodshed and sacrifice , paying outsiders to do it, while the locals earn more money. This town and even the entire Southern City-State Alliance are extremely friendly to the local residents, because the nobles here understand that if it were not for these businessmen As they are running around, they will never be able to obtain the wealth and status they have today, so various conveniences and benefits for local residents are naturally listed."
"Using wealth as a basis, improve people's living standards by building infrastructure such as roads and transportation and facilities like the public bathhouses we used in the morning." Henry shrugged: "People are real and live in this country. If you are more comfortable than other countries, you will naturally not want to leave. The loyalty of citizens is determined by the policies decided by policymakers, and the funds earned by loyal citizens and the ability to let outsiders die for them can The double standard of enjoying life in the rear also allows all this to be repeated, making the southern territory rich again and again."
"Slogans and spiritual things are just illusions after all. If they can't bring tangible benefits, people will choose to abandon you and leave you." He paused: "We who are far away in Avenella His Royal Highness Prince Edward, if he is not stupid, what he is still doing at this moment must be trying to build the Ecasta Plain to look like this."
"A peaceful Ecasta Plain where people can travel as they please, and ordinary people with their families don't have to worry about being attacked and killed. Little Mira, when you return there, you may find that everything in your hometown has happened. Earth-shaking changes." Henry said this. He did not refer to the former land of the Roan Kingdom on the other side of the Tambo Mountains as Mira's hometown, but to Ecasta. This is naturally due to understanding the girl and the nature of the culture in which she grew up.
Mira was stunned for a while. She had some thoughts because of the sage's words, but she immediately noticed something: "Go back there?"
The girl said this, and the words she couldn't help but asked contained a lot of complex emotions. After all, although her life in the past year has been relatively rich and happy, Acasta is where she grew up. . It is of course impossible to say that I don’t miss it there.
"Well, traveling and training you can be considered as reaching a certain level. But you have to wait for a while before you can go back. We still have one thing to do." He said this, his gray-blue eyes still filled with emotion. It was calm, Mira couldn't see any meaning from it, she just nodded silently, and did not ask what she wanted to do.
The two people continued to move forward quietly. Henry looked at the iron signboards on the roadside several times along the way, and then when walking through an avenue, he stopped in front of a large four-story brick and wood structure building. Come down.
"Teacher?" Mira asked. She had some understanding of the five-pointed star in front of her. Henry tilted his head, as if talking to her or to himself: " Since the other party has also shown good intentions, it’s not a waste if you don’t use it.”
"Huh?" The girl tilted her head, and the sage smiled at her: "Nothing, let's go in."
he said. (To be continued.)
