No matter on the east or west coast, if you find a random passerby instead of a famous scholar and want to ask even just how many countries and ethnic groups there are in the area where he is located, most of the people will look blank and scratch their heads for a long time without being able to answer. Come up with an answer.
Limited to backward transportation methods and low education popularity, this situation is almost a matter of course in this era. What people know only stops within the scope of their lives, and the vast world beyond that is just a vast expanse to them.
No one knows what is beyond the end of the world that one knows, but it is precisely because of this that it gives room for imagination. Many West Coast bedtime stories imagine a whole new world on the other side of the horizon, where the sky is flying, dragons are flying, and there are countless new things.
During the trip, there were often middle-aged mercenaries in taverns across the West Coast who got drunk and began to talk nonsense about what they had seen and heard in other places.
These experiences usually involve traces of giants and dragons, and there are often rumors of unicorns appearing or that a certain woman gave birth to a demon, which makes the listeners rapt and the speaker excited.
But the truth is always plain and boring.
Dragons are rarely seen on the West Coast, and naturally the same is true on the East Coast. Except for the fact that there are some differences in language, national power and culture, most human countries here are not completely different from those there.
Yes--
most--
Suomir is this special case.
This is the country where fairy tales and legends originated. Giants do indeed appear here, and giant dragons with holy white wings did indeed live here in the past. And perhaps it is for this reason that the main church of the White Church Yetina Sect finally chose to take root on the shores of the legendary Heinzwom Falling Star Lake.
In the kingdom of legends and fairy tales, its capital, Aurora, is obviously the most suitable as the headquarters of the church.
With such prerequisites, if we still say that the Kingdom of Suomir is not widely known to the world, and even many believers of the White Church "only know the Holy Land of the Church, but do not know that it is located in Suomir", it is obviously somewhat It’s hard to believe – but there’s a reason for this.
As we mentioned before, the education penetration rate is not very high throughout Rigal. On the west coast, which has fallen behind due to constant wars, literature and education are the possessions of the upper-class nobility. Even on the relatively prosperous east coast, except for Parnira and a few other important cities in the empire, the literacy rate of civilians in the remaining small towns is not high.
Without the ability to read, messages had to be conveyed through words alone. In order to be popular and remembered by everyone, they were often composed into rhythmic songs. However, in the process of word-of-mouth transmission, information will be lost, and due to length issues, some things will inevitably be discarded.
On top of this, the subjective preferences of the creators themselves must be added. Most of the most popular songs in the world today are religious-related and based on the Lamani language. In other words, the creators are basically Lamanites or Padrosi, sometimes as far away as the west. Rumanato people, but they all have the same origin.
Don't make a family scandal public, this is another Lamanian saying. It is supposed to be used in smaller environments, but it is not an exaggeration to use it to describe the choice in such a large situation. Just as our sage once said in a fit of anger - the way many places in the Lamani culture that has been passed down for thousands of years is to sweep the dust under the carpet and pretend that it is clean.
The history of the Empire and the history of the White Church are closely linked, and they accompany each other in many poems. But as the Lamanites, what they prefer to spread is obviously the glorious "history of conquest". Unfortunately, it is in this history of conquest that the Kingdom of Suomir played the most heartbreaking role for the empire.
Since the time of the classical Lamanite Empire, this vast and sparsely populated northern kingdom has caused the Lamanites to suffer many bloody blows. Countless high-spirited Northern Expeditions only ended up leaving a field of corpses and frustration.
Suomir is a thorn in the throat of the empire. Whether it is a religious wish to capture Aurora as a holy land, or a political wish to incorporate the entire east coast into the empire's territory, the desire to conquer has always been None faded, but they never succeeded.
Against this background, it is understandable that the records and songs of the Lamanites intentionally or unintentionally omitted Suomir.
Everyone wants to show only the glamorous side to the world. After all, people judge others by their appearance. If you are shabby and unkempt, you will often be looked down upon and mistrusted by others. The same is true when it comes to the country and politics. It is human nature to save face and love vanity, but it is also a need to maintain the image of the country and the royal family.
For all these reasons, it is not surprising that only a very small number of rebellious or rigorous Lamani scholars who do not know how to adapt can record the relevant history of Suomir.
The history of the bloody struggle that has lasted for thousands of years can almost be described as the history of Raman's defeat. Only a few studious nobles and those who are hostile or wary of the Padrosi Empire will understand it.
One side is ashamed of history to avoid making the same mistakes again, while the other side is trying to find the weaknesses of the empire.
As we have been saying, for the same thing, depending on the perspective and standpoint of the viewer, the conclusions drawn will not be consistent.
Although it is now a distant past, for both the Lamanites and the Suomir people, the history and relations between the two countries can only be described as "awkward" under the most stable circumstances.
——This is really the wrong place at the wrong time. Mira thought this after listening to Henry briefly explain these deeds.
The one-week stay in the union cost them more than three times the cost of staying in a hotel. Due to the confidentiality agreement on the mercenary mission, the union's trusteeship abided by the principle of indifference. Sealed carriages were used for transportation, and the guards who stamped the documents were all illiterate lower-level personnel. They tried their best to ensure that the things hidden inside were all secret, and even the caretakers would not know what they were.
This is the best confidentiality solution, which greatly avoids theft by surveillance. After all, if they don't know which room contains what, they won't be able to estimate the value and implement the theft plan.
But the little unicorn is a living creature after all, needs to be fed and can move and make noises. In order to prevent others from being noticed and suspicious when delivering food and water, the two spent a lot of thought and spent this very nerve-wracking week.
Despite this, the two still didn't complain too much. This helpless little thing was already a member of their team. This can be seen even in the little explorer mithril brooch customized by Margaret. . Although the unicorn is the beast of hope and is used as a decoration by many people around the world, but if you look closely, you can see that the outline of the head on the brooch is largely based on its appearance.
Margaret's plan was very genius, and it also provided great convenience in the process of traveling from Parnilla to Porousaro. But neither she nor the sage expected to meet someone who hated the empire by such a coincidence. After all, strictly speaking, Porusaro still belonged to Padrosi's sphere of influence, and this was also the attacker that day. The reason why he ran away without hesitation after the army appeared.
He didn't want the situation to escalate. Anyone could easily make this conclusion.
As for the Margaret family, the fact that the order entrusted by the eldest lady was attacked did not receive the attention it deserved from the local nobles and the military. On the one hand, this is because the sky is high and the emperor is far away. No matter how powerful Margaret's family is, they are only southern aristocrats. Nowadays, when the imperial power is gradually declining, the only people who will nod and bow down because the fabric has a horizon blue background are the people with interests. Another reason is because of the nature of the town itself. It is a city-state where Suomir and Lamanites live together in half. When it comes to the issue of two countries and two ethnic groups, the situation of the army is actually very embarrassing. .
If it is not handled properly, it can easily turn into an international conflict. This was also the reason why the guard captain just shouted loudly but did not actually take action.
In such a peaceful town, it is always easy for an incident to spread. When Henry and Mira went to the tailor shop the next day to see the progress of making things, the shop owner also mentioned this incident while chatting with them. thing.
Obviously, the disappointing way the local imperial garrison handled this issue involving the Suomir people is well known.
The local troubadour even wrote a rhyming limerick that mocked the behavior of the garrison: "Don't come on stage too early. The slogan must be shouted well. In the end, it will just be driven away."
Three sentences perfectly summed up the attitude and behavior of the garrison, and from this, Henry and Mira understood the fact that no one would take care of them if anything happened to them - what could they say, take care of themselves This is part of the life of a mercenary.
Under such premise, after some discussion with the owner of the tailor shop, the two purchased some low-key coarse cloth and brown vegetable dye.
The coarse cloth was used to resew a horse helmet by themselves. Because they needed to leave space for the short corners, the two chose to do it themselves rather than entrusting it to the tailor shop owner. Vegetable dyes, which can be washed away with alcohol later, are used to dye spots on the white body color of the little unicorn, making it look more low-key.
After explaining the two points of changing the horse helmet and dyeing it to the shop owner, he laughed and praised the two of them for being smart, and even gave them a discount on the cost of the materials. Although it may sound like you are leaking the information yourself, this approach is actually safer than hiding it.
Because this statement, coupled with the acting skills of the two, shows the helplessness of the aristocratic lady's willfulness-Margaret, who is far away, has been sneezing constantly recently-from now on, the owner of the tailor shop will not have too much trouble above this. Necessary skepticism.
This is naturally the action plan decided by Henry. It seems random, but it is an approach given by seeing through human psychology——
Similar to Margaret's previous plan, this is also a strategy that takes advantage of the other party's subjective thoughts. In social activities, human beings do not rely solely on language to judge whether something is valuable. Regardless of age and experience, observing words and emotions is a basic human ability.
Based on this premise, when you take the initiative to show your casualness and habit towards a certain item, as if it is just another ordinary day, this attitude will also contaminate the other person, making the other person feel that "this is just an ordinary thing and there is nothing wrong with it." value". On the other hand, if you are dripping with cold sweat and nervous, hiding it and refusing to speak out, the more this happens, the more interested the person you are dealing with will be to get to the bottom of it.
"Low-key" doesn't just mean not wearing brightly colored clothes or doing anything that attracts attention, but it means creating an atmosphere. Let the other party not pay much attention when listening to your words, and listen with one ear and listen with the other; when they see your actions, they will not be alert and feel strange, and they will not leave a deep impression. After a while, they will be nothing. All forgotten.
The idiom "when in a native place, do as the Romans do" actually refers to this situation. After arriving in a local area, it is the best choice for a foreigner to keep a low profile by changing into local clothes. After all, the appearance of being out of place is the most eye-catching thing and the easiest thing to attract others' attention. , especially in the northern region where transportation is less developed and the ethnic groups are more homogeneous.
Although the white hair of our Luoan girl will inevitably attract the attention of others, it can also be a tool to divert attention from the existence of the little unicorn.
All in all, I am busy handling many things every day. After the custom-made clothes were ready, they purchased some supplies, and then put away the horse jackets with the Margaret family coat of arms, etc., and then put away lighter but bulky items such as cloth. Put it on the back of the little unicorn, and with the unsightly brown markings, it transforms into a dwarf workhorse for carrying goods.
The superb makeup skills solved the previous problems and saved them a lot of unnecessary troubles on the way north. The smart little guy also knew that this was for his own good, so he was very obedient throughout the process. Excellent and understanding of people's hearts, coupled with a good physique, and some magical abilities, the little unicorn that will grow up in the future will obviously become the best car in the world. It is no wonder that there are so many stories about the knights going through hardships The legend of becoming partners with them.
But these are things for later. It is still young at the moment, so it must be protected.
The supplies are full, but the price is that the wallet becomes dry. The one-week stay at the mercenary union hostel plus the material storage fee ate up 2/5 of the two people's savings, and the remaining part was spent on buying various dry food and bacon in the first two days of departure. eight.
Nothing can be done without money. Fortunately, God has not abandoned the two of them. The union's hanging board has announced a blue-card level mission, which happens to be in the northern region. This is a mission that tends towards hunting mercenaries. In the Southern Aurora region, herders grazing Suomir sheep are threatened by wolves, and they hope that mercenaries will come to kill or drive them away.
There are two goals in the mission. If you just chase them away, you will only get 10 silver coins. If you kill them, you can get 2 gold coins and 20 silver coins including wolf meat and wolf skin. It is a good deal. .
The mission location is about 10 kilometers north of Porusaro. It is a village called Cashnero that cannot be pronounced as Mira. It can be reached in a little more than a day at the usual walking speed. The two people traveling with horses can usually walk there in about half a day. However, since everything has been settled and set off in the afternoon, the fastest they can reach the village will be the next morning.
But just as the two and three horses were preparing to set up camp in the evening under the beautiful red sunset sky, someone caught up with them from the south.
Wearing simple clothes, carrying a cloth bag, and slinging a not-so-well-made dagger on his waist, this tall young man was obviously the eldest son of the hotel family, Galeva.
"Please let me accompany you." He bowed deeply and said.
The light of the bonfire illuminated their figures. Henry and Mira looked at each other and shrugged at the same time.
"sure."
