The differences between seasons are very clear, but when the next season arrives, you will never notice until you come back to your senses.
Before they knew it, Henry and Mira ushered in their first winter on the East Coast.
This fact was confirmed because Uncle Mario took out the account book he carried with him and wanted to calculate the days until he would return home.
The southern lowlands of the Padrosi Empire are worlds away from sunny Parnira. Although there are sunny days here, the ratio between rainy and cloudy days is about 50-50, not like the 70-30 or even 80-20 ratio like in Parnilla.
The changes that amaze the citizens of Parnilla are part of daily life here. From morning to afternoon, the sun may be shining brightly, but in the evening, the wind starts to blow and the sky becomes gloomy.
After a while, it started to rain.
But not long after, the rain stopped again. The heavy rain increased the humidity, and the lack of continuous rain to cool down the temperature made the nights in the southern forests even though it was only a little over 20 degrees, it was enough to make you want to plunge into the cold stream.
This is why it is relatively deserted. Most of the empire's residents live concentratedly in a few pieces of land with higher terrain and better development. The remaining land is not so suitable for habitation, so it is allowed to return to its wild state.
The erratic and intermittent showers and air pressure changes decided to show their power a few days before the official entry of winter, so they encountered a difficult life similar to the previous escape in the rain several times. But after what happened that night, the team as a whole worked together a lot. The difficulties did not make them frustrated and frustrated, but made them become more and more skilled in handling various things.
The days passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye they arrived at the area marked on the map as "Baganato-Origenai Forest" - this word means "wetland" in classical Lamani language, So our description of "forest" after that doesn't seem accurate. In the eyes of a scholar - or a sage - it would be a foolish redundancy, because wetland already covers the concept of forest, and adding forest after it would seem as uncultured as "national empire" .
But the sage who does exist in the team is not a person who likes to show off, and to modern Lamanites, classical Lamanite is a kind of curse-like existence. Therefore, even Uncle Mario and the others, who are pure Lamanites, use popular terms to refer to this large area as the "Forest of Bao".
The first night after winter was spent in the elven territory known as the wetlands.
Just by combining these few words together, we can have an idea of the cold, wet and uncomfortable feeling we will have tonight.
This is why they stopped at a little after four o'clock in the afternoon and began to make preparations for setting up camp. Although there are indeed trails in the Bao Forest, the ancient mottled stone paths have been in disrepair and have grown a lot of grass. When walking, you often have to be careful about loose stones that cause the wheels to slip.
Shorter daylight hours were one of the reasons they set up camp early, another sign of winter as the weather wasn't too cold. What remains is the increased preparation work due to the climate.
As always, the camp was set up not too far from the road.
People who don’t travel often feel confused when it comes to choosing a campsite—everywhere looks the same, and nowhere looks very different.
This is because they failed to understand some basic common sense.
The needs of camping and long-term accommodation are actually not that different, just a simplified version of it. So you can deduce what a good camp needs from your usual accommodation needs - there are not too many dangerous factors around. This is the most basic. Whether it comes from wild beasts, monsters, intelligent life or nature itself, these factors must avoid.
In addition, the height and flatness of the ground are also very important. Many towns and villages require hoes and shovels to re-level the ground before they are established, but you don’t have that much time when camping in the wild, so it is of course best to choose ready-made ones.
Taking these factors into consideration, a better place to camp is naturally near the road.
Animals will try to avoid places with traces of human activities, and although thieves will ambush and plunder nearby, they will not be stupid enough to set up their lair here to facilitate the army's encirclement and suppression. In addition, in order to save the manpower and material resources required for paving the road, the terrain will definitely be planned and adjusted. Considering the factors of preservation and maintenance, it is natural that it cannot be built in a place where natural disasters occur all year round. For various reasons, the efforts of previous generations have achieved what remains. Any adventurer with some experience will make good use of these key points.
Try to choose a simple and clear plan and don't use too many tricks. Wasting time and energy will be harmful to yourself and your teammates. This is the common sense of adventurers and travelers who live in the ever-changing wilderness all year round.
But unfortunately, sometimes some energy does have to be expended.
The tip of the small hunting knife she carried was burning back and forth on the firewood. Mira flexibly turned her wrist to prevent the surface of the blade from being blackened.
"Come." She grabbed the noble lady's palm, and then used very subtle movements to hold the hunting knife that had been sterilized by fire and approached it.
"Ah hiss -" Margaret bit her lower lip.
"——" She was trembling, biting her lower lip until it turned white, and then a burning feeling came, and Mira popped the blisters on her palms.
"Remember to wear gloves next time." The white girl said, and then wrapped the wound on her hand with clean and breathable linen to avoid infection. Then he came to his senses and continued to help chop wood.
"Chu-Chu" The wood was divided into two halves along the growth stripes, and then in two halves, and then in two halves again, becoming smaller and smaller.
How strong travelers and adventurers really are is something that a noble lady who comes from a privileged background and has servants to handle everything can hardly understand.
They don't have a woodshed, and they don't need one.
The merchants only kept an ax on the carriage. When the weather was bad, they would wrap some of the firewood with a tarpaulin, but most of the time they still used local materials.
They have long been accustomed to all this, so even if all the dead branches falling on the wet and cold ground are full of moisture and cannot be used for burning, they still have their own methods.
Many common softwood trees grow in the southern part of the Padrosi Empire. This tree species with an extremely fast growth cycle and few branches and straight trunks is a good companion for all travelers and adventurers. They can be easily chopped down with an ax and reshaped, and a few such trees can be turned into a single-slope cabin shelter in half a day with just a bundle of twine and a few nimble adventurers. .
And if you bring your own waterproof canvas, it will take less time to set up a camp - but what we are talking about here is about fire.
A good fire and dry firewood fuel can even make the difference between life and death in some cases, and this wood, due to its structural properties, becomes the best choice when dry firewood is not available around. .
A large two-handed ax is used to cut down wood, and then chop it into small pieces for easy processing. Later, others use small axes to split it, and only the milky-white heartwood in the middle is taken out.
Wrapped in layers of bark and outer layers, the heartwood of softwood species is quite dry. Split this piece and use it as fuel. However, common fire starters such as old man's beard are difficult to find due to the humidity. Therefore, I use a sharp hunting knife to gently scrape a small piece of dry heartwood to make the surface float. Pick up many small pieces similar to finger barbs to reduce the difficulty of lighting a fire.
Then there are the old tricks of building a campfire. The wood is placed crosswise or horizontally to leave enough gaps for oxygen to come in and make the flames burn quickly. They started with small pieces of fuel and waited until the flames burned, then added more fuel. For several hours, they were busy preparing enough fuel to last for several nights, and Margaret was among them. She tried to help, but it was clear that her delicate hands were not adapted to such rough work.
So, there was the scene above.
Experienced adventurers and businessmen make it seem that the troubles and difficulties encountered during the journey can be solved by chopping melons and vegetables. However, only by actually doing it, do you find that any of them are quite difficult. Tiring.
If you don't master the method correctly, it will be half the effort, and even if you understand the trick, wielding a heavy ax is not something that everyone can do easily.
When Margaret expressed her admiration at the ease with which our Roan maiden handled firewood with an ax and a small hunting knife, she just smiled and replied: "I'm used to it."
A short and unpretentious sentence cannot capture how much effort and effort has been put into this, although in appearance, apart from being a little tanned, our little Mira is still - at least when sitting in front of the Raman male - She is a very delicate and cute girl, but the inside of her slender and slender palms has already been worn out by many painful calluses due to sword swing practice and various outdoor work.
When Margaret was held by Mira's hands, which were a bit rough compared to her own age, she did not feel any discomfort, but instead felt an inexplicable sense of strength and warmth.
She recalled a long-standing Lamanite fable: "The swan, floating leisurely and beautifully on the water, has its feet running hard where you can't see it."
This is exactly how our Roan girl makes her feel.
Some people will want to announce it to the world and make it known to everyone as long as they achieve a little bit of success, but Mira is not like that. She just does her own thing quietly, one step at a time.
Not ostentatious or showing off - maybe this is because of the person next to her? Everyone around was busy, but Margaret, who was the only one free, covered her palms that had just broken blisters and were covered with linen, thinking about it for a while.
Since they were traveling together, many things were unavoidable. In addition, Henry and Mira did not avoid her deliberately. Margaret also heard Mira use words like "Mr. Sage" to him.
Although their private conversations were in West Coast Common Tongue, it was heavily influenced by the Lamani language. The pronunciation of the two words was also similar, so she could hear it clearly and clearly.
Who is this guy.
She may have some confidence in her heart.
It's just that this is too groundbreaking. The education she received has allowed her to still think from a realistic perspective, although she still retains the fantasy nature common to girls of this age.
For this reason, although Margaret had some vague guesses, she never believed that it would be true.
That must be some form of coincidence, she told herself countless times.
Is it because of fear?
Perhaps not necessarily. Despite the negative descriptions in many private documents, she once regarded that man as her hero.
"The bright red cloak was rustling, and he came out of the snow, carrying lily of the valley on his shoulders, holding a big sword in his hand, and spoke to persuade him to surrender."
"Our soldiers were all frightened and shouted that the nightmare was coming. Francisco, the commander of the legion, wanted to boost morale. He rode his horse and raised his gun, and Shan Ji rushed out."
"If you pass by by mistake, the sky will be filled with blood, and both men and horses will be damaged."
"The enemy shouted the name of his men, his sword, his crown and his miracle."
"The name of the sword is——"
"Crack!" Because the ground was wet, the sound of burning wood startled Margaret. She was pulled back from her memories, and just in time, our Mr. Sage returned to her with a pile of chopped wood.
"Yeah!" The noble lady of Parnilla was startled and screamed in embarrassment. Everyone turned to look at her, even Henry seemed a little confused - but it was him after all. After thinking about it for a while, coupled with the fact that the other party didn't dare to look at me, and he kept talking to Mira during the journey and didn't dare to communicate with him directly, ordinary people can understand what's going on. If he still doesn't understand, Xian The name of the author should be thrown away.
"Click." But the time has not come yet, and some things are better hidden. Henry put down the firewood.
There wasn't much to mention after this, as they busily set up camp. A few mercenaries went to search for fresh food nearby but only brought back some mushrooms. Fortunately, the people on the east coast were much better at making food than the people on the west coast. In Avenella, most of them can only make whole mushrooms boiled in water and served with grain paste. This sounds unappetizing and can effectively save food rations, but the Padrosi people can adjust the taste just right. .
Thinly sliced mushrooms and serve with bacon in soup. Since the meat itself has a lot of salt, they don't need to add additional salt.
Just keep the taste light, and the umami flavor of the freshly picked mushrooms is lured out - and the appetizer is the solid component of this pot of fresh soup. Drinking the soup with dry bread will not only fill you up, but also make you feel warm.
But being so relaxed in this alien territory may not be a good thing.
"Ka-" Henry and Ferruccio met their eyes, followed by Mira and Filippo, and then three of the eight mercenaries, including Moreau, noticed the change in the atmosphere.
Counterintuitively, in a dark wilderness, it is easier for you to detect whether an unexpected visitor is approaching you.
Not seeing with the eyes, but hearing with the ears.
"Insect chirp."
"Stop" Margaret murmured softly, everyone's movements stopped, and the surroundings became eerily quiet for a moment.
"Huh--" A gust of wind blew by, and the bonfire became swaying, casting dark and sometimes light shadows on the faces of the people around it.
