The climate in the lowlands of the southern part of the east coast is hot and humid all year round. The extremely high humidity and temperature make it difficult to preserve food here, so the local food tends to be sour.
Main dishes are mostly made from tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, while dried foods often include dried foods such as plums and other berries.
In an era when condiments and spices are extremely expensive, people still try to avoid eating food that tastes like chewing gum. As for the southern part of the empire, where animal husbandry is not very developed, all they can do is develop a mix of various vegetables.
Life is always so ironic, the southern region of the East Coast is the so-called king of fruits, the origin of apples. However, all the fruits grown by local fruit farmers will be transported to the central and northern regions and made into candied candies for high-level nobles to enjoy.
The saying that food is the most important thing for the people has been fully demonstrated in the expensive condiment such as sugar. Whether it is a wealthy businessman in the far southern city-state alliance or a high-ranking noble in the north and central part of the Padrosi Empire, although many folk foods It's already - compared to the West Coast - quite delicious, but they still like to make everything sweet.
Honey meat pie, honey barbecue, honey liqueur, honey candied preserves, honey rice porridge, this series of things sounds too sweet, but it is spread in the hands of some aristocratic young people who behave badly. A method of abducting civilian girls, using sweet products that are hard for them to see.
"You only need a piece of candied fruit, and these innocent girls with rosy cheeks will open their legs for you." Instead of feeling ashamed, they are proud of it. These idle young nobles of the empire sum up their story with "We just get what we need." Behavior.
Nowadays, when the laws of the empire have not changed for a long time, the emperor has almost no sense of existence, and the power in the hands of the nobles has greatly expanded, like the village that Henry and his group once experienced, people who only have the title of the powerful class are doing nothing all day long. There are so many guys who don't actually do anything for the locals, or worse, do bad things.
So with the above premises, it is not surprising that this kind of guy will appear.
Henry looked down at the noble young man and his five followers.
Even if he or Mira is not someone who has read many poetry books and seen many people and things, the remaining ten or so farmers in Scotti Town near this camp can easily identify this young man. Is a nobleman.
They all wore cloaks with long fur collars. The animals with such excellent fur were not native to the area but came from further north.
After the weather gets cold, when they put on their winter coats, hunters and mercenaries hunt and skin them, and professional tailors make them into ready-made clothes. However, ordinary farmers can only use local materials and skin the local ones that are adapted to the southern climate and have shorter hair. Beast furs.
Not only the cloak, but also the leather boots, pants and clothes are all items with enhanced thermal insulation effect, and they also wear thick gloves. At this moment, these six people were standing in the snow with their horses, confronting Henry and the twelve people on his side, and they were still holding the loaded crossbow in their hands.
It was obvious that these were a group of young aristocratic young people from the south who came from a privileged background. They did not belong to a poor town like Scotty, but were from a slightly larger city-state further afield. They got excited because of the severe cold that was almost impossible to occur in the south, and went to the Bao Forest to hunt in the snow.
The reason for the conflict between the two sides was that behind Henry and Mira, the farmers were setting up a wild boar on a simple grill.
"Don't you know that the wild beasts in this forest are not allowed to be hunted at will, untouchables." The sage looked at the noble young man who spoke. He was obviously perfectly demonstrating what the folk impression of a "domineering young nobleman" should be. From their panting appearance and the few remaining crossbows exposed from their waists under their cloaks, these guys had obviously experienced a failed hunt.
"Not to mention that you actually picked the fruit!" Normal people will feel a little unbalanced when they suffer setbacks in the same thing one after another, while others succeed. And if this person is more superior than themselves, most of them choose to swallow their anger. If the other person's identity is equal to or even lower than their own, it will become a subconscious choice for many people to find trouble and ruin the other party's achievements.
Bullying others based on their status will definitely happen on the east and west coasts and even on the entire Rigal continent, as long as there are human countries and class gaps exist.
It's just that Henry and the others really don't have time to play with such idiots right now.
Now that there are a lot of things going on, urgent crises that need to be solved, and his companions are missing, the young master who encounters such a group of people out for fun wants to find trouble with them, not to mention the relatively less calm Mira. , even Henry wanted to pull out Claymore and kill them on the spot.
"This, this is just a fruit that was frozen and rotten on the ground, sir. We just picked it up from the ground and cut off the rotten parts to get the rest-" "Crack--!" The farmer in tattered clothes When he spoke like this, what he got in exchange was a roaring crossbow.
"Seize it!" The crossbow was nailed to the snow, its tail feathers trembling slightly, the firelight swayed and the fat from the wild boar dripped onto the firewood, making a "sizzling" sound.
"Shut up, untouchable, do you have the right to speak here? The person in front of you is the eldest son of the Sesudedi family, Andre Sesudedi. You actually dare to interrupt his speaking time." The noble who lost his crossbow shot The entourage cursed loudly, while the leader Andre looked back at him, then looked at the trembling poor people with a smile.
"Hey, mercenaries over there." Then, he turned his head and looked at Henry and Mira.
The encounter between the sage and the Luoan girl and these poor people was just by chance. The dozen or so of them were born near the small town of Scotti. Due to the recent cold wave, a large amount of firewood is needed to keep warm, and crops and livestock have frozen to death. Many farmers and herdsmen have lost their jobs and cannot make a living. Therefore, the fat mayor, Benito, kills two birds with one stone and hires them into the increasingly dangerous Bao at the cost of food. Forest logging.
The rare southern snow became an effective help in this situation. Benito, who was originally from the north, taught these southern locals how to make a sled frame. Two planks of wood and hemp ropes tied to the body were in contact. With the friction reduced by flat skiing, these poor people could pull one-sixth of a horse-drawn carriage's load of firewood - and the cost was far less than that of a horse-drawn carriage.
It was a coincidence that the two met them, and the wild boar was caught by luck by one of the hunters. Based on the idea that the encounter was fate, they warmly entertained the two to enjoy this rare meat that is almost once every few years. But before it was fully cooked, Andre and several others appeared.
"Are you going to stand up for these untouchables? It seems that you are doing well, so there is no need to take such a risk, right?" Andre seemed to have some sense. Facing the tall Henry and Mira who were also wearing thick cloaks made of winter furs, breastplates and weapons that were obviously from a large city like Parnilla, he obviously didn't want to cause a conflict.
"Mercenaries are all driven by profit. For this kind of thing, you won't get anything in return even if you act like a hero." Andre raised his hands and shrugged.
"They are just inviting you to enjoy this pig together. Come over to us, and you can still eat enough later. Even if there are fewer people, you can share more." He said this, Mira Turning around, the dozen or so thin poor people were looking at the two of them nervously. The vigilance and fear in their expressions were no less than those of the nobles. The girl sighed. Obviously, In the eyes of the poor, the gap between mercenaries and nobles is not that big.
Andre waited patiently.
In the strict-hierarchical Padrosi Empire, you can tell people's status levels from their surnames and first names - low-level nobles such as knights and knights are usually called "Tang" or "Tang", such as Beni Tuo's full name is Benito Donrici, and going higher up, starting from the nobles of medium-sized city-states, their family names usually add "Sai".
Although some ordinary peasants and poor people also have surnames like "Serge", in fact this word in Lamani should begin with "se", so it can also be called "Serge", and as for the nobility's "Serge" "Ser" is written as 'tha, which can also be written as "Sa", which means "ruling" in the Laman language.
Padrosi Royal Sekesiyutu means the person who rules the three continents and four seas. In Lamani culture, Rigal is not regarded as a complete continent, but is divided into Lamania, Visland and the South. There are three concepts of the earth, while the four seas refer to the South and North Rica Sea, the Morbigas Inland Sea and the outer sea.
Therefore, Andre, who was born with this name, usually only needs to say his full name to make others retreat.
It's just that this time he really met the wrong person at the wrong time, and then wrongly estimated the deterrent effect that his strength and noble name could have.
Mira felt very tired.
And maybe the same is true for his own teacher.
They have been running around non-stop since arriving on the east coast, and even more so after taking over Margaret's mission. After not being able to eat, drink or take a bath for a long time, the mood will become weak when the body is weak. Finally, they arrived in the small town of Scotti. They had not rested for long before they had to go back on the road and brave many dangers. Search for missing companions.
I have seen too many sinister people along the way, and unfortunately, they almost all follow the same routine.
Not even a little bit new.
Both of them looked like they were bullying others and harboring unreasonable malice.
Even if they are not malicious, they are still stubborn guys like Benito.
The real threat is there and it's time to unite to deal with it, but what they need to face is the petty calculations of various forces who are also human beings.
Such a sense of powerlessness and irritability has been lingering in the girl's heart.
Finally, she saw something heart-warming. Some civilians were willing to share their food with the two of them for free. This finally made the girl feel that human beings can still be trusted and there is hope. Immediately, several villains jumped out to fight for something. No big deal, it's all a psychological imbalance caused by their own incompetence, so they just look for trouble and cause trouble.
"Alas -" She sighed, but before she could speak, Henry next to her spoke first.
"I know what you're thinking."
This is a saying that girls are extremely familiar with.
"You are thinking that since you have the status of a noble, they will not dare to resist. You can do whatever you want just like in a city-state. Don't worry."
"But to be honest, look around you."
"This is the Ba'ao Forest. It's snowing all over the sky. It's easy to get lost. And there won't be many people going up the mountain in the near future. Even if there are people, they will be mercenaries like us and poor people."
"The poor and hungry people, who have not known the taste of meat all year round, finally obtained a wild boar, but it was immediately snatched away."
"Under such circumstances, it's hard to foresee what will happen." The sage turned around and winked at the dozen or so poor people. With understanding, they immediately stood up holding pitchforks and wooden sticks. Get up and try to look like a fierce mob.
"And then, as I said before, it's snowing all over the sky now. This place is cold and deserted and it's easy to get lost."
"In the sudden cold winter, not only humans need more food, but also beasts and monsters."
"If there is any accident, it probably won't happen."
"Anyone will find out."
Henry shrugged.
"You guy, are you threatening the nobles?" Andre's expression turned gloomy.
"No, I'm just advising you as an elder."
"This place is shabby and cold, not suitable for you to come and have fun."
"So don't push your luck, young man."
""Andre stared at him fiercely, Mira's hand was on the hilt of the sword, and Henry was still standing in front of them leisurely. Even though four crossbows had been stringed, he still looked extremely relaxed.
Whether this feeling of ease is forcing him to hold on or whether he really doesn't take them seriously, Andre doesn't want to take this chance.
Although he is domineering, he is not an idiot. A mercenary with a knife-tip that licks the blood, who can get a blue card without dying and has such good equipment is usually not easy to mess with.
"Tsk - don't let me see you appearing on my territory, mercenary!" Losing his life just for a moment of sulk is obviously not something that the "Beat Generation" can do, Andre He turned his head and planned to leave, but at this moment, Henry suddenly spoke again.
"Wait a minute, your crossbow looks pretty good, I just need a handy secondary weapon."
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Half an hour later, the two people who had eaten and drank enough waved goodbye to a dozen poor people, and they walked away from each other back to back.
On the sides of Henry and Mira's saddles, there was a brand new crossbow and a dozen crossbows hanging respectively.
"Mr. Sage, what a terrible adult."
The Luoan girl said this with a smile.
