After traveling to the southern border and returning to her hometown where she had grown up for eleven years, Mira felt the differences between them more deeply.
Traditional Avenella, like many other areas on the west coast, is a country dominated by conservative farming civilization. Work at sunrise and rest at sunset, quietly carry out agriculture and animal husbandry on the fertile soil, and achieve self-sufficiency to meet people's living needs - even if there is trade, it is not like the main force in the south, but still Farming is the main focus, and trade is only used as a means to enhance national strength and development.
In such a society, except for mercenaries, a few businessmen and nobles, the rest of the ordinary people will never be more than ten kilometers away from the place where they were born. Not to mention the passers-by, ordinary people who are truly born and raised in Avenella are often quite familiar with each other, because most people will never leave here in their lives, so if anyone leaves, others will People will definitely remember it deeply.
This longing for the homeland and the old friends has given rise to many excellent poems created by Avenella poets. The southern merchants who have long been accustomed to traveling all over the world cannot understand this concept, so they may not understand that returning home The feeling you feel when you arrive in your hometown and meet an old friend by chance under unexpected yet expected circumstances.
The heavy rain in Ashenil stopped on the second day after their arrival. I wonder if there is something in the dark that is manipulating the weather. As if to welcome their arrival, it continued to rain for a week. Quietly retreating, the earth cleared up again, and wisps of golden light fell on the field where the grass leaves and petals were still covered with water droplets. At a glance, the river was flowing endlessly, with busy people and people flying around to catch insects while the water vapor was still coming out. The birds together create a vibrant scene.
Walking out of the entrance to the northern city gate, looking to the left, there is the Tambur Mountains towering at the end of the horizon, which looks extremely huge even at this distance; looking to the right, the heavy rain has just begun on the edge of the lush forest. There was a convoy of bullock carts going to cut down the trees.
The wooden piles left on the edge of the forest are densely packed. Within a year, the Protasia Forest to the west has been visibly missing a small piece of less than one thousandth. After the development, , presumably it will disappear more.
The forest has been turned into wooden piles, into wood chips, into building materials and fuel. The northern part of Avenella, which originally had a relatively larger population than the central and southern regions, is now almost exclusively populated by people seeking jobs and a better life. The number of people has doubled in just one year. Even though construction workers are working non-stop to build new houses every day, there are still a large group of people there where the Sivalier heavy cavalry collapsed and sank in the sand. In the basin, tents made of simple materials were used to live temporarily.
There must be tens of thousands of these people at least, many of them are refugees from Sivalier, and there are even a considerable number of white-haired Luoans. These people are also of low status and cannot afford to live in town hotels. Naturally, you don’t expect them to pay attention to hygiene here. The garbage and excrement left by tens of thousands of people every day and there is no such thing as sewers, so they are just discarded on the spot. In the beautiful Acasta wilderness, over time, the black clay fermented with a suffocating stench, making this area barren of grass - but this is not the most serious thing, tens of thousands of people stay here every day Physical and even bloody conflicts due to various reasons are the biggest problem, and as the de facto leader of the local area, the wise Prince Edward naturally cannot sit idly by.
In addition to longbowmen, the Avenella army sent out to manage this area also had many noble knights and sergeants, but what drew the attention of Mira and Henry and their group who rode past here and headed towards Wawasika was the The female knight looked like a leader at first glance, wearing lightweight half-plate armor and riding on horseback to assign tasks to the patrol team.
"Sir, the Luoans who made trouble in front have all been arrested, but there are no more vacancies in our cells. What should we do?" A sergeant wearing old armor rode over and asked the man. , and the woman responded calmly and decisively: "Let the petty thieves out first. The focus is on dealing with those who commit violent crimes. Special treatment must be done in special times. Our manpower is simply not enough, so we don't want every criminal." Catch everyone." She said this, and the sergeant nodded: "Okay, sir." He turned around and rode his horse towards the other side.
"Really, Luoan people, Luoan people always commit crimes, why can't these guys be more cute like her, these Luoan people-"
"What's wrong with us Luoans, Sir-Sir?"
A clear voice with a smile sounded behind her, and the familiar tone when speaking made the blonde lady react in an instant and immediately turned her head.
"Long time no see, Sister Mingna." The smile on Mira's face was like spring water that could not be stopped and naturally emerged: "I should still call you Sir -" she said, and Ming Na Na decisively turned over and dismounted, rushed over quickly, hugged her around the waist, and then put her face on Mira's thigh and sniffed softly out of joy.
"I'm back"
"Still alive and back well." She said this, and the worry in her words was real. Mira also felt that her nose was sore. She slid off the saddle and held onto the other person's shoulders. Ming Na rubbed the corners of her eyes and straightened up, looking at the girl who was already taller than her. She was happy, excited and unable to control herself because of the joy of reunion.
"Well, I'm back well." Mira rested her head on the other person's shoulder. The bond formed by experiencing life and death together is far stronger than the stable life that lasted for several decades. This kind of mutual trust that can be entrusted with life is rarely obtained by people, but once it is obtained, even if it is only for a few days, the close friendship formed can last a lifetime.
"Same, sir, welcome home." Ming Na turned to Henry and said, and the sage nodded to her in the same way: "After reminiscing about the past, you can continue to talk, you have encountered a problem." He hit the nail on the head. , not only the title, but also the open-mindedness of her father, Minna obviously inherited her father's open-mindedness and did not feel embarrassed at all. She nodded and admitted directly: "Edward should be handling official business in the city lord's mansion in Wawasika now. I will take you there." meet him."
When she said this, Henry raised his eyebrows, while Mira said it directly: "You and him-" She said this, and Mingna was stunned for a while, with a blush on her face and nodded shyly. .
"You, you guys are really like a savior. You just came back when something very troublesome might happen." She tried to change the subject, and Henry replied with his usual calmness: "No. What a coincidence." He said this, Ming Na stopped, and then looked at the sage blankly.
"It was intentional because an old friend told me about it."
"Save this country." He smiled slightly. Ming Na obviously understood who the sage was referring to. Her eyes were shining a little, and Henry continued: "Ignore your old friend's last wish when he died. This is How can I do this kind of thing." "Thank you." Mingna rubbed the corners of her eyes, and then responded with a smile that made people feel as bright as the good weather today, and Henry nodded again: "Let's go, Go and see that troubled prince."
"Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. The young man ran quickly along the corridor. With a relaxed expression on his face, he quickly passed through the hall and corridors. When he came to the side hall where guests were received, he pushed open the wooden door without any royal composure.
"Sir!" Edward shouted loudly, but then he noticed that there were not only a few familiar people in the whole room as he had expected earlier - except for Henry Mira and Minna. Also conspicuous were a dozen brown-skinned soldiers who looked like they were soldiers from other ethnic groups far away. His Highness the Prince had carefully read and memorized the documents in the royal library that he had loved since childhood - it was also the place where he read about the deeds of sages - and quickly understood that these were the works of Abu Serra's nomads, coupled with the thin people holding small bows in their hands, it is obvious that these people are not from a humble background.
"Sir, you really won't change wherever you go." Edward sighed, then calmed his breathing and motioned for everyone around him to sit down. He knew that most of those people couldn't understand West Coast or Avenella, so he mainly used It's still a gesture. Mira asked the ignorant Lina to sit next to her, and Her Royal Highness the Princess of the Prairie People seemed to be quite reserved and polite when she saw the nobles of other countries, as she did to deal with the Laman nobles.
"Sir, who are these?" Edward said to Henry, "Squeak--" The door was pushed open, and a servant came in with an iron pot, poured a cup of tea and handed it to the sage--this He confessed it as soon as he came back. The fragrance of spruce tea and the faint smell of folic acid reverberated in the air. Henry took it and asked without answering: "How is your Lamani?"
"It's not bad -" Edward replied. He used this sentence in Lamani, and Muna's eyes lit up in reaction to this. He immediately understood the reason why Henry asked this sentence. , but then Edward turned his head to look at the thin Luoan girl sitting next to Mira, but the other person still looked confused, as if she had no idea what had happened or was happening.
"Let me translate for her." The trip was over. The girl from Luoan, who had reached out to take off her hair tie and loosen her ponytail, her long hair falling naturally, offered herself. Edward nodded and Ming Na behind him came over and rubbed her head: "It's amazing, you can even understand Laman." The blonde girl's tone was very doting, and Mira smiled at her, and then everyone got to the point.
"Well, let me tell you straight to the point," Henry said in Lamani: "This is Her Royal Highness the Princess of the Prairie People, Muna." "Uh-" Edward was stunned for a moment, and then he reacted. He stood up and bowed politely with the noble etiquette of a royal family, and Munna, who knew how to communicate with the Raman nobles, responded to him very appropriately. Henry then pointed to Lina: "And this is Her Royal Highness the Princess of Luo'an."
"" Edward paused again. He guessed something. His expression went through a series of complex changes such as joy and heaviness, but in the end he just smiled and shook his head at Henry's helpless look. shook his head. Then he saluted Lina with formal etiquette - which made Her Royal Highness the Princess of Luoan unable to react. Under Mira's translation, Lina knew that this was the local royal family, and she had indeed learned to deal with it before. It was the etiquette of another royal family, but she had not experienced this kind of scene for many years. For a moment, the thin Luoan girl didn't know what was the appropriate move that was consistent with her status, and she was so anxious that she almost wanted to cry.
"Just stand up and bend down." Minna behind her gently patted her shoulder and said in Luoan language. Mira looked at her in surprise, and the lady replied with a smile: "Always and I have also done some homework on dealing with Luoan people." She said, and then Lina stood up nervously and bowed tremblingly, then sat down again and exhaled a long breath.
"Sir, you really brought some amazing characters, but before we officially get into the conversation, there is one more person I want to introduce to you." Edward said this, and then walked to the door to explain something to the guard. Not long after, there were some footsteps outside, and then the door opened again, and a beautiful girl with black curly hair in gorgeous clothes walked in.
"Let me introduce to you, this is my cousin, Her Royal Highness Princess Isabel de Avalon."
"The only legitimate heir to the throne of the Sivalier Kingdom," Edward continued with a wry smile, "is also the chess piece that my father tried every means to get."
"Let's start talking." Henry raised his eyebrows. Edward's few words were enough for him to understand the situation of the prince and the entire Avenella at this moment.
He spoke softly, and Isabella, who finished her salute to everyone quietly, quickly took her seat.
