Time passed, and after two days of sleeping in the forest, they successfully arrived at their destination in the southwest.
Luo Lan and other scholars did not catch up with them. They may have taken the road due south to the inland area, or they may still have stopped at the longhouse. In short, they had little to do with the group.
The snow had melted a lot after a few days of sunshine, and the ground no longer had pits every step of the way, which made their physical exertion and physical injuries much better.
The leather boots that are popular in the world of Rigal require regular maintenance. If the beeswax is not applied enough, they will easily become subject to moisture attack. The blisters on the soles of your feet after a long walk are painful enough in itself, but if you add the cold and wet breath to it, it will be even worse.
This is why the sage asked the group to take off their leather boots and woolen socks to check their feet at the end of every day's walk. If the entire sole of the foot turned purple and lost consciousness, the problem would become too serious.
In the northern part of the world of Rigar, people stuff straw into their shoes to insulate them from the cold and wet environment in winter. Because farmers can see them everywhere, straw poles are also very common. As long as they are stuffed into boots and stepped on tightly, combined with beeswax sealed and waterproof leather boots, a better environment inside the shoes can be formed.
Here they could use leaves from other plants or even dried moss to achieve a similar effect, but despite this, the walk along the way still made the group suffer.
Melting snow always seeps into the seams of leather boots that lack beeswax maintenance, causing shoes that have been dried by a fire overnight to start making a "pop, pop, pop" sound as soon as you step out the next day because they are soaked. This annoying sound is only the least harmful thing. Long-term soaking in water has caused eczema on many people's feet. In addition, wool socks are worn out, and the heels and insteps are caused by friction with the inside of leather boots during walking. The wounds that appear in places do not heal in this environment, which is really distressing.
The sewing and mending work needed to be done almost every night, because they were expected to arrive directly in the bustling city, and they did not bring enough replacement wool socks.
Wool has strong drainage properties but is not wear-resistant. When the socks are torn, they can only use cotton canvas to sew them up, but cotton absorbs water easily, and for various reasons, the socks eventually become smelly. Almost a matter of course.
Fortunately, our Mr. Sage is an experienced traveler. He used a knife and a thin bark rope, and he used some small wooden hooks cut from branches so that everyone could hang their socks on top of their backpacks.
In this way, you can ensure that the socks are always drying while moving forward, and you are not afraid that the other pair of socks will be wet and smelly when you need to replace them.
It's just that the whole team will not smell very good, but everyone who hasn't washed for a long time can be considered a dirty habit. Anyway, if things go well, they should be able to find a bathhouse and take a good wash when they arrive at Kazuto's small village that Lulu mentioned.
With such expectations, it was somewhat like drawing a pie for oneself. When everyone who was supposed to be tired saw the outline of the building from a distance, they had a little more strength on their feet.
But when they got close enough to see clearly every piece of wood used to build the house, they immediately realized that something was wrong with the atmosphere here.
Estimating the time based on winter sun protection and the intervals between their walking and resting, it was almost ten o'clock in the morning, but the whole village was a little too quiet.
On a cold winter morning, if nothing else, lighting a fire pit to burn something to keep warm is a must. Although the Kingdom of the Moon also has a firewood tax, it is not as strict as Suomir used to be. People can go up to the mountains and cut down trees by themselves. They just need to pay taxes when cutting down trees, so fuel is generally very abundant.
But from the dozens of huts that could be seen from this angle, there was no smoke coming out of any of them. If the buildings in the Kingdom of the Moon are not easy to identify because they have no chimneys, or if the firewood is dried very well and does not easily produce clouds of smoke, then forget it, but even the unique smell of burning firewood will float ten miles away along the wind. But it was not noticed by everyone.
Although the snow has almost melted, but standing here and looking into the distance, the whole village takes on a cold tone under the sea breeze.
"There are so few people here?" Mira, who had learned more Moon Kingdom vocabulary in a few days, spoke to Lulu, while the aboriginal girl shook her head: "I don't know, I only heard it from my ancestors. Never really came.”
She said this. Obviously, even if they live very close to each other and have had exchanges and intermarriages in history, the cultures are relatively closer. Through the barrier of identity, communication between Yi people and Japanese people is still relatively close. Still very restrained.
"Be careful, the village may have been attacked by someone, prepare weapons first." Henry turned around and gave the order, although a group of armed outsiders in a foreign country usually did not leave a good first impression. Impression, but in the face of an obviously wrong atmosphere, safety still comes first.
"Aren't you going to take a detour?" The person who asked was Galeva. He would never ask such a question in the past. The impetuous young porter became more or less cautious after Talwar Suta experienced the price of an impulse.
"We need supplies and various information references." The sage answered him in a short sentence, and this was one of the reasons why they chose to go to the village.
We have said earlier that the scope of activities of the Lamanite missionaries is limited to the central part of the Kingdom of the Moon. Although some small individual businessmen will be allowed to travel to other areas, the main forces are still concentrated near the ports in the central and south direction. .
In other words, except for the capital city, the entire Crescent Continent is an unknown area to the Rigal people.
There are no maps or road markings, because the circulation of this information is strictly prohibited in the Kingdom of the Moon. Even if they can be purchased on the black market, as we mentioned before, the group's trip south by land is a temporary move. They don't even have all the daily necessities prepared, so how can they expect to magically bring the local map with them.
It is true that our sage has the ability to roughly deduce where there may be a passage by observing the direction of the mountains, and can also use the shadow of the sun to point the direction. But this method is a technique used in a state of survival in a completely uninhabited wilderness. In areas where humans live, people may have built more convenient and labor-saving roads over thousands of years.
Being able to do this kind of thing does not mean that you have to rely on this ability every time. Just as equipment needs to be selected according to the situation, the same goes for countermeasures.
There is a local saying in the Kingdom of the Moon called "A strong dragon will not suppress a local snake". This sentence is very easy to understand because it was translated by the Lamanites in the past. It is very appropriate to describe the current situation - no matter how powerful and omnipotent Henry is, he will always be an outsider to this land.
Without the cooperation of the local people, any actions of the group will only be restricted everywhere. They didn't know where to find merchants willing to trade with foreigners; they didn't know which areas were more hostile to foreigners and where others might be able to negotiate for peaceful passage.
Because of the lack of understanding of road traffic and the political leanings of local residents, if you think you want to rely on your own judgment of the terrain to find a way to reach your destination, it will take at least ten times as long as taking an existing road, not to mention whether you will die on the way. above.
And if you are unlucky, you will run into the Moon Kingdom's army and get into a stalemate without knowing what's going on.
All in all, it's important to find local people who know the situation, no matter how strong or professional you think you are. After all, Lulu is from a minority, and the gap between her and mainstream society makes her unable to serve as a suitable guide outside Yi Di. However, her level of knowledge is enough to lead the group to find Kazuto villagers who might be able to help them.
It's just that the reservation plan seems to be disrupted now - under Henry's guidance, the team changed to a compact formation. The missionaries were protected in the middle, and they looked quite nervous as they lacked armor and weapons. But Henry and Mira did not draw their weapons directly, because the situation only required vigilance and had not yet reached the level of confirmed danger.
The sage exposed the hilt of Claymore's sword outside the cloak, while Mira lifted one side of the side-swept wool cloak and draped it over her shoulders to make it easier to draw the sword.
They all wore brigand floor armor and lined up in front, using their bodies as the team's first line of defense.
Further back and standing on the right side is Galeva, who is carrying a backpack. Although the tall young man is not good at fighting, his physique can still intimidate some people.
The dexterous Lulu on the right front acts as a scout to keep a certain distance to detect the crisis in advance, while on the left rear is the alert little unicorn as flank and rear protection.
In addition, there were three light crossbows hanging on the little unicorn's body, two of which were obtained by the two of them, and one was seized from the pirates of Kirishima.
They are all small light crossbows with arrows, mounted on the body of the little unicorn and then covered with cloth. At this time, they still had not set off, let alone loaded and loaded. Although this would cause them to lose the opportunity in the face of emergencies, it was indeed not to that extent yet.
What if this was all a misunderstanding, and they bumped into the villagers who suddenly rushed in front of them while they were fully armed and nervous, then someone in this team of only two professionals would mess up and the situation would become irreparable. The possibility is also very high.
Experts need to consider all aspects of the situation at all times, not just the immediate moment, but also the aftermath.
When you take one step, you have to think about what will happen three steps later.
All in all, they were prepared for possible threats nearby and adopted a tight formation, and they moved forward in an orderly manner.
But until the team entered the village, nothing happened.
"Hoote (stop) -" The sage raised a hand to accommodate the crowd's stop, and then shouted to Lulu in front of him in the language of the Moon Country.
The small aboriginal girl ran back to them briskly. She was also a little nervous, although it was not very visible.
The cold sea breeze blew in, taking away people's body temperature. Although it wasn't snowing, it was still quite uncomfortable to stand outside in this weather.
Henry and Mira immediately began to observe the environment to assess threats, and others also watched in the same way, but they did not necessarily know what they were looking at.
The small wooden fishing boat's sails were folded and it was frozen next to the pier. The ice here is not thick, and because the fishing port is small, overly large ice floes cannot float in. Under the sunlight, it can be seen that the port is not completely closed. There is a waterway that seems to have been dug out with a pickaxe, which should be used by people to go to sea. There are several wooden sleds placed crookedly next to it, with some wooden sledges on them. The hanging rattan fish cages were obviously used to hold fish when people fished on the ice.
The wooden doors of several houses were not locked, and they made a "squeaking" sound and swayed slightly in the wind. There is a roller blind made of thick cloth, bamboo strips and hemp rope on the inside of the wooden door. This is used to prevent cold. When the door is opened, if there is no second roller blind, the cold wind will "whistle". Blow it in.
There is no glass in the Moon Country, and their windows are all made of paper. The paper window of the nearest house had a hole, so Mira moved closer. Through the hole, she clearly saw the snow shovel broom placed in the entrance corridor and the neat straw sandals on the ground.
Because of the living habits of the Moon Kingdom, they are not like the people in Rigar who only slip on their shoes when they go to bed. They basically take off their shoes at the door when they enter the house.
She turned around and recounted this to her teacher in detail, and the sage thought for a while and asked Mira and Lulu to divide their troops into two groups and inspect the houses.
They both nodded, then stepped forward, pushed open the unlocked doors, and went in to check.
"No one is here." I don't know if it was because of fear, but Lulu, who finished checking after a while, ran out and shook her head. Mira, who was a mercenary and was taught by our Mr. Sage, carefully checked the environment in the house and made a more detailed report.
"The fire pit is cold, and it hasn't been lit for at least a few hours. The soup is still on the table, and the surface has been frosted. It doesn't look like it was in the morning. There are four pairs of bowls and chopsticks, and there are two pairs of adult shoes at the door. It belongs to two children. There is a pile of scattered firewood at the entrance of the woodshed connected to the main room, and a basin of water next to it." The white-haired girl explained, if not to mention some radical tendencies when fighting, she still has enough The ability to judge can find information from the environment.
"Dinner time, almost ready to boil water for bathing." Henry nodded and gave an inference. And Mira continued beside him: "Then someone suddenly attacked?"
"Then you should be more panicked. Have you found any blood? Apart from the scattered wood, has the basin of water been knocked over? Are there any signs of damage or collapse?" the sage reminded, and the Luoan girl shook her head.
Lulu, who had become closer in the past few days, took the initiative to ask about the situation. After Henry translated for her, the Yiren girl lowered her head and thought for a moment before saying one word.
"Kami Kakusi." She said. Because the first half of the name was similar in pronunciation to the previous brown bear's name, Mira and Galeva could understand that it meant "god", but this time she gave the full name. The explanation was not given by our Mr. Sage, but by the missionary Aggie next to him: "Does this mean that God has hidden people?"
There is a reason why he understood this vocabulary faster than Henry: Firstly, these occult matters are the focus of the church's research, and they are also things that missionaries going to the East must learn; secondly, our Mr. Sage has a long history He has never used the language of the Moon Country, but he can still remember how to pronounce it and talk to it. This in itself is an extraordinary thing.
Lulu nodded: "That's what Kazuto calls this incomprehensible disappearance."
"People disappeared inexplicably, but everything was still there, with no trace of moving away. It was as if everyone was living a normal life one moment and then suddenly disappeared."
"I'm a little shuddering." Galeva rubbed his hands, then grabbed the straps of his backpack and looked around.
There was no sign of struggle, no sign of battle. No damage or blood could be found, and the shoes were neatly placed, not like people were fleeing to avoid something.
Just disappeared.
The whole village seemed to have suddenly put down everything they were doing due to some circumstances, and left without wearing shoes or bringing anything with them.
Because the snow had almost melted, no footprints could be seen on the hard frozen soil, so they didn't know whether the villagers left on their own or if someone took them away.
"Teacher, let's take a look at other rooms -" "Shh -" Henry interrupted the girl Luo An, and then waved his hand to instruct everyone to hide in the room of the family of four.
His sudden reaction frightened everyone. They held their breath unconsciously and ran straight into the family's house without even wearing shoes. After the sage entered, he quickly instructed Mira and Galeva in sign language to remove the crossbow from the little unicorn, and put the crossbow bag next to it. Then he moved closer to the paper window with holes and looked out.
"Is he a villager?" A man in black clothes walked over from a distance with a strange gait. He walked very staggeringly, swaying, and therefore very slowly. This, coupled with the Sage's outstanding eyesight, is why they were able to hide before being seen by this person.
"Crack--" Galeva accidentally knocked the crossbow on the wooden board, making a loud noise in the silence. Lulu and Mira immediately glared at him, and the dull young man seemed a little at a loss.
But fortunately, the other party didn't notice this amid the howling wind.
Lulu licked her fingers and then dug a hole in the paper window with her wet fingers to look closer. Aiji and Galeva also followed suit.
They observed the staggering man in black. When he walked in, they suddenly noticed that this man had a strange smell. This was a pun. He did have a body odor mixed with the salty sea breeze. , but on the other hand, his outfit is also very unique.
This man, who was dressed in black and wrapped himself into a ball, looked more like the costumes of the residents of the Abu Serra grassland in the southern part of the Rigar continent than the costumes of the Moon Country described in the missionaries' books.
But the similarity only ends there. I don’t know if it’s to keep warm or for some other reason. This person has wrapped his somewhat fat body tightly, revealing only a pair of eyes, pale and bloated hands, and——
"He's barefoot." Although there was no way to determine the gender, the Luoan girl said in a very soft voice.
The sage, Aiji and Galeva all nodded. This was obviously in line with the impression that Mira saw that the residents had their shoes on, but was this person a resident here?
There were still many doubts. As they were thinking this, the stumbling man suddenly stopped.
Then, he turned his head and glanced towards them.
"Hiss—" Galeva immediately distanced himself from the window where he was sitting and took a breath.
"——!" Mira and Lulu stared at him, while the young man hurriedly gestured with his hands and mouth.
He opened and closed his eyes for a long time, which made the two girls feel confused. When they hurried back to see if the man noticed the movement, he just turned his head away from the window.
At this moment, Henry, Aggie, Mira and Lulu who were standing next to the window all saw it clearly.
This person's exposed eyes blinked for a moment with translucent eyelids horizontally.
"hiss--"
