Over time, many creatures have come and gone, and many kingdoms have risen and fallen~щww~~lā
Culture and country will all change, but the only thing that remains unchanged is the only one who can be said to be the truly eternal protagonist in the entire long river of Gal-Rigar.
Probably, it’s just Feng’er.
From the cold northern border to Avenella surrounded by Aika black pines; from the Ridela swamp to Thoradin's mercenary kingdom; from the seaside town of the southern city-state alliance to the endless golden and green Abu Serra grasslands.
The wind never stops.
Although the smell of the wind and whether it brings coldness or heat can vary greatly depending on the region, the breeze itself that blows on your body and blows your hair and clothes, But it has never changed.
For travelers who are away from home all year round, whenever night falls and the cool night breeze blows, they often stop for a moment, because of this looming sense of sight, all the paradoxes, and the deep feelings about their hometown buried deep in their hearts. The emotional memory of the place where I lived when I was a child emerged involuntarily. I stood there in silence, doing nothing for a while, just remembering.
It is not uncommon in any era for people to leave their homes due to the pressure of life. This cannot be said to be the tragedy of a certain country or a certain system. Just as shadows are inevitable where light shines, every country and nation in any era must have its advantages and disadvantages. Most people can only follow the crowd and live their lives in ignorance. Even if it is a certain ethnic group that kills people, the vast majority of civilians or soldiers are not really bad to the core.
They just have no awareness of the crimes they have committed, and are just obeying orders and obeying the orders of certain high-ranking individuals.
If you look through history and dig deeper, the truly heinous people among a nation that fanatically believes in something and is willing to kill unbelievers for it, even if they have done nothing wrong, are often those who are good at using something to incite the people. Emotional individuals in high positions, they stay in a safe place and use brainwashing and obscurantist policies to instill in citizens and believers from an early age the idea of supreme glory in sacrifice, and seek personal benefits through the bloodshed and sacrifice of others. .
This is true for the vast majority of nobles, white churches and even high-ranking clergy in indigenous faiths in the world. If anything, even our Royal Highness Prince Edward in Avenella should also belong to this category - - But he is unique in one thing, that is, he is not only working for his own personal interests, but also for the future of the entire Avenella.
Serving the public or private interests, serving the country and the people or enriching one's own pockets. The different starting point determines the complete difference between him and the old nobles who are destined to be eliminated by the turmoil that is about to sweep the entire continent. The young prince is full of adventurous spirit precisely because he has not yet formed his own inherent opinions. This is his capital and the capital of the young country of Avenella.
It sits on the richest land on the entire west coast. A powerful Avenella is feared by surrounding countries and even countries in other parts of the world. There will naturally be people who don't want this to happen. In order to prevent all this from being in vain, our sage and the Luoan girl came to this vast prairie at this moment.
The wind still blows, day and night.
For outsiders such as these mercenaries and businessmen, life on the grasslands is quite monotonous. Although the scenery is beautiful and the grounds are vast, running horses wantonly is not allowed. This place is full of dangers. Even though there are a considerable number of Erectosaurus lizards here - it is a medium-to-large dragon lizard with brown skin mixed with brown stripes and a body length of about four meters - it is still not afraid of choosing to attack. , this kind of dragon lizard, which is relatively slender but has extremely strong muscles, is the largest predator on the grassland besides the dragon. Even the bow-jawed pig, which is more powerful than the ordinary wild boar, cannot fight alone. A brutal reptilian hunter.
Their endurance is amazing and their cruising speed far exceeds that of humans. In addition, they are also excellent sprinters. When sprinting, even the best war horses cannot shake off this kind of creature. If it were not for the fact that the scales are relatively weak and like other dragon lizards, Generally acting alone, this kind of creature can stand at the upper reaches of the food chain without worrying about anything except dragon creatures of the same kind and larger size.
But it and other predators are just a few things you need to worry about. In addition to various beasts in the vast grasslands, there are also a large number of terrifying monsters, which are defined by humans as a branch of the demi-human race. The average height Creatures like ogres, which are over two meters tall, also live here. It is said that among the tribes on the Abu Sera prairie, the mark of being recognized as the first warrior is that one must go out alone and carry only lightweight equipment and bring it back. The heads of three ogres.
——In any case, although it seems to be endless and calm, it is obviously a price to pay to run as much as you like in Inznir or Ecasta and just enjoy the breeze blowing on your body. High level of entertainment.
We can only strictly follow the requirements of experienced scouts, when to set off, when to stop to go out to scout whether it is safe, and even lighting bonfires in the wild at night have extremely strict standards, in order to alleviate everything from Beasts still draw attention from the same kind, so as to reduce the possibility of sneak attacks and at least be able to respond in time.
Most mercenaries know this simple truth, but knowing it is one thing. It is obviously very difficult to make these people who are naturally loose and suppress their temperament and obey orders—— At least one of the younger green-card mercenaries in the team has said several times in the past few days: "If I want to obey orders, I will directly join a mercenary group or become a regular soldier." and so on. His words clearly showed his dissatisfaction with all this.
The language he spoke was the mixed language we mentioned before, but Mira noticed that this man was quite young, only around seventeen or eighteen years old. We have mentioned before that the port on Corey Conrad is not that big, so although the waterway is very close, it only takes a day and a half to get there, and the transportation costs are generally higher for those who are older and have some savings. Soldiers can do it, but young people like this rarely have enough funds to go out and take risks here.
——But what made Mira draw a conclusion after a little observation was that this person was wearing clothes that were obviously more southern-style.
His tunic, which peeks out from the collar of his lined plate armor, has a lapel and wooden buttons instead of the leather cords more common on the West Coast, and is designed to be closed at the bottom to match booties. trousers, while mercenaries and adventurers on the West Coast prefer to wear loose-fitting trousers with their trousers tucked into their boots. All these details make him very suitable for the pants that the sage bought for her after arriving here. The concept of "second generation" recorded in Man language books.
It has not been long since Corey Conrad and the mercenaries from other countries in the Thoradin Highlands came to the Southern Territory to look for work. As we have said before, the local residents of the Southern Territory are more interested in becoming hunting mercenaries than in hunting mercenaries. War mercenaries, so these free mercenaries who are inclined to war and often accept the task of escorting small caravans, naturally the vast majority are from outsiders.
In addition to people from the west coast like Mira and Henry, there are also two black-haired east coasters with pure blood in the team. However, they are not citizens of the powerful Padrosi Empire, but from the south near the dwarves. Several small principalities in the mountains. When the Padrosi Empire was in civil strife more than two hundred years ago, many regions took the opportunity to become independent.
The land that was forcibly conquered by the former Laman Empire was inherited by Padrosi. After the rulers did not improve the treatment of the people in the conquered areas, these people who were classified as third-class or even fourth-class citizens had no influence on Lamania. The emotions and attitudes of the Man people are complicated. On the one hand, they have grown up under the influence of Laman culture, but on the other hand, they have deep-rooted hostility towards the empire because of their past history.
Returning to the original point, this young green-label mercenary whom Mira judged to be the "second generation" is the evidence left behind by the mercenaries on the West Coast over the years - he was born and raised here, and the southern border After all, with such wealth, there are naturally mercenaries who choose to stay here after going out to fight and being tempted by the happy life here.
And based on the details that he is still low-level and would choose to come to the dangerous Abu Serra prairie for high rewards, and that he does not speak the Lamani language of the southern border but a mixed language, it can be judged. Presumably his parents didn't live well here either.
Basic food and clothing may be guaranteed, which can be seen from the simple but not shabby armor, weapons and clothing. But when he becomes an adult, if he wants to live a better life in the materialistic South, he must support himself.
Can such a person still be considered a West Coaster? His values may have been corrupted by the people from the South, and that’s why he complains and complains like Ofemio who we worked with before. What. Everything they say and do is obviously influenced by the local culture. In comparison, the older ones in the team are also mercenaries from Thoradin. They are all taciturn. Although they are dissatisfied, they will not try to use words to express their dissatisfaction. vent.
This may also have something to do with age. Most of the older mercenaries who will accept this mission and come here need to support their families. They have life pressure and must become the backbone of the family. The young lower-level mercenary did not have such worries. His parents were local. Even if the mission failed, he could still rely on his parents to support him as long as he survived and returned home.
"People really... can't live too comfortably." The team continued to move forward slowly, the temperature slowly increased and then decreased slowly. Mira, who had nothing else to do while sitting on the horse, was thinking like this, and then suddenly She sighed with a maturity that was not consistent with her tender age of only ten years old - or rather, an old age.
"..." The sage in front looked back at her calmly. The two met their eyes. Henry shrugged and said nothing.
"... Mr. Sage is such a terrible adult." Mira rolled her eyes at him, who was a little innocent: "I didn't say anything." He shrugged again, and the girl ignored him and just followed. The team, which was advancing at a moderate speed, held the reins and commanded the horses carefully.
The wind is still blowing, it was like this thousands of years ago, and it will still be like this after this group of people left.
Her white hair tied into a ponytail swayed slightly, and when she stopped, she was always there alone to study everything carefully - the payment the two of them received was a full five kri in addition to the armor. In addition to other equipment for field operations such as better saddles, horseshoes and leather bags, the rest was quickly spent by Henry and replaced by some books.
Because they have money now, they don't need to sell the books they have already read. Although Mira did not bring all the newly bought books due to the weight, only the ones on the horseback Those few small books protected by hard covers were enough to keep her occupied for a long time.
She has not been sparring with Henry in the recent period since her previous rapid improvement in swordsmanship and mentality. The most important thing for her at this stage is not to rush to the next step, but to stabilize the current stage first and move forward. Once the foundation is laid solidly, along with the training of thinking and consciousness, the subsequent improvement of skills will be nothing more than a matter of course.
"You can withstand almost any hardship. The only thing that needs to be polished is your spirit. Many times our situation is not actually that desperate. We just keep telling ourselves that there is no way, no way, and in the end it really becomes There is no other way." This is what Henry said to Mira before setting off, because this trip for the two of them is more dangerous than before. The grassland is very vast and no one can guarantee what they will encounter after going out. What did the sage say? Maybe the words the sage said were just to reassure the white-haired girl, but no matter what, it made her think deeply.
"Keep a cool head and judge the situation reasonably, don't be swayed by your own emotions..." She muttered to herself, and then suddenly remembered that she had just completed her first registration as a mercenary in Sivalier. Some things that happened after the mission made my little eyebrows wrinkle together again: "Can I do it..."
The words mixed with some self-doubt dissipated in the air behind them with the wind, and night fell again. They had not encountered any situation for several days, except for plants, water pools and the never-ending wind, even wild horses and bison. I just saw them from a long distance and ran away.
Hunting on grasslands without cover is a very difficult task, even for battle-hardened predators and local nomads. The wind direction often changes suddenly, and outsiders like them are good at it. The quietly approaching ambush tactics that are very useful in the forest are almost completely useless here. A momentary change in the wind direction is enough to alarm these flexible creatures, and they can quickly distance themselves and run away.
——This is also the main reason why for so many days, except for the marmot, no one has been able to taste any fresh barbecue.
Different places have different customs, from creatures to plants to the people living here. Just as the settled people can never understand the lifestyle of the nomads, the people who grow up here on the grassland often have different opinions on the people on the west coast. The people of the Southern Territory have quite complex emotions - this cannot be summarized by a single hatred and contradiction. In fact, whether it is the Southern Territory or Thoradin Highlands, those who truly hate the grassland people are only the believers of the White Church, and the vast majority of ordinary people No matter which side you are on, people are more curious about the other person, but the way people on the grasslands express their curiosity is usually to take you home as a slave and then slowly get to know you.
Time passed slowly like this, and after deliberately clearing the nearby grassland to avoid causing large-scale fires, several bonfires burned brightly.
It is a good thing that there is no shelter like big trees and the sky is the cover. The bright stars and the bright moonlight have covered the earth with a layer of silver. Mira holds the book in her hand and looks up at the twinkling lights. starry sky.
A gust of cool night wind blew by, causing the sea on her forehead and the ponytail on the back of her head to sway, and the girl closed her eyes in comfort.
Smile slightly. (To be continued.)
