It has already entered February in the north of Crescent Continent. Strictly speaking, spring should have arrived.
During the period from landing to staying in the Yi settlements and then heading to the small fishing village, we can indeed clearly feel the increase in sunny days and the associated increase in temperature.
But spring always turns from warm to cold, and the rise in temperature makes falling snowflakes even more annoying.
In the twelfth month of winter, the hard and frozen snowflakes can be flicked away with your fingers. Covered by the woolen coat, cloak and hood, it is actually very warm inside. The terrible thing is that after the temperature rises, the snow in the semi-melted state becomes wet and sticky, and accumulates thickly. Even waterproof wool will still be soaked.
It is really not wise to go out on foot in this kind of weather and cross mountains and ridges for a long time.
When he stepped on the half-melted snow, cold snow water poured in from the gaps in his boots. Even if he filled the gaps with beeswax while warming himself every day, it would not help. Although the wool socks worn on my feet dried quickly, they couldn't withstand the soaking and began to make a "pattering" sound when stepped on. The sound was annoying, and the thick and sticky snow on my calves made each step consume more energy than the previous one. The clothes wetted by the half-melted snow water also lost the meaning of keeping warm. Everyone's limbs began to become cold and their lips turned white. They felt more uncomfortable than in the winter when the cold wind howled.
Humid and cold weather not only affects clothing and the human body, but also other items. Damp firewood always produces thick, choking smoke when burned. In order to prevent the smoke column from being too large for people to identify its location, we can only endure the desire to warm it up as soon as possible, keep the flame at a small amplitude, and spend time drying out the surrounding areas. wood.
It would have been much better if they could stop and take some time to rest and dry their clothes and various luggage. However, Henry, the leader of the group, did not say stop. The others believed that they were not as reliable as him, so they naturally did not speak. In order to make the clothes dry and comfortable, they hung a lot of clothes by the fire to dry. Fatigue combined with the influence of weather will lead to poor judgment and people will make mistakes. During the process of warming up the fire, Aggie accidentally burned a big hole in his cloak. The strong smell of burning hair permeated the camp, making many people cough. For him, who had already lost some of his warm clothes in the underground passage, this was the last coat. The anxiety made the young missionary angry, and he began to express his anger loudly, saying that his partner did not warn him, which led to this situation.
Although the quarrel did not turn into a more intense conflict in the end, but if it continued like this, it would be inevitable that he, as the team leader, would be hated and the morale of the team would be lowered.
And this incident was just the beginning. Four days after embarking on the journey, due to the sudden return of cold weather and the failure of her clothes to dry completely, the relatively fragile doctor lady began to cough and have a fever.
The group tried their best to keep her warm, but even so, Ling still looked weak. Even Henry found it difficult to find suitable medicine quickly when the mountains were blocked by heavy snow. All they could do was to use ready-made things to keep Miss Doctor's body temperature as much as possible, and cut down trees to make a simple stretcher.
The front half was carried by the little unicorn, while the back half was held by Galeva, who had the strongest physical strength besides Henry.
Aya, who wanted to be as strong as the Luoan girl, was naturally reluctant to become a burden, but her knowledge level was enough to understand that it was better to take good care of herself and regain her strength as soon as possible than to show off her strength in such a situation.
This episode caused the team's marching speed to slow down a bit, and Galeva had to carry the stretcher, taking away his main labor force, which also increased the pressure on others.
The task of solving these problems and easing the atmosphere fell on the shoulders of the Luoan girl.
Our white-haired girl, who is becoming more and more reliable, is like the adjutant of a small team, responsible for mediating various situations among the team members and preventing the team leader from taking on too many responsibilities while leading the team.
Mira seemed to have the ability to change people's hearts with words. Although she was not aware of it, when she was still a little lolita, she had the courage to stand in front of Henry and ask him to accept her as his disciple.
This kind of simple and straightforward courage can sometimes soothe people's hearts more than an almighty sage.
Because if a person gives the impression of being invincible to those around him, others will tend to demand more from this person, or think that the other person has not done enough.
But the Luoan girls, who were both female and still young, were still chatting and joking lively, and the other grown men in the team would become embarrassed and say they were tired.
The saying that the strong should be merciful to the weak may not be appropriate to apply here, because Mira is not necessarily physically weaker than the missionary trio, but in general it is similar to this principle.
Led by the Luoan girls, a moderate amount of bickering and venting can actually be beneficial. If no one dares to speak out under high-pressure control, it will make the team more likely to have accidents.
Henry himself was not a man of small talk, and he tended to speak only when it was necessary to say something. Fortunately, our little Mila was not affected by this. Her personality is lively and studious, and she can chat with anyone. So I kept talking with Lulu, asking the sages about this and that, or bickering with Galeva. Along the way, although everyone was a little resentful of the difficult conditions, the atmosphere in the team did not become stiff because of it. Ice cold.
It wasn't until the 6th day that the situation finally began to improve. Following the mountain road, the group found a good campsite. As soon as the clear sky and the snow melted, Henry was finally willing to let everyone stop and rest, and took the time to take out their clothes, socks, and firewood and put them in the open space to dry.
After taking off their heavy equipment for a long time, everyone let out a long breath.
The sun was shining brightly on the high ground, and the snow had melted and flowed down due to the height difference. The hard ground that is not easy to leave footprints and the many flat boulders on the mountain that can be used to spread things are refreshing for everyone who has stepped on the rotten soft snow for nearly a week.
They actually passed through many similar highlands along the way, but they just didn't stop before. The mountainous terrain in the northern part of Crescent Continent is particularly serious. Even if you choose a relatively gentle road, you will still encounter height differences from time to time.
But going uphill actually not only has the negative factor of being tiring, because you can see farther if you stand higher. Taking into account the presence of pursuers behind them, this means that they can detect the enemy's traces in time.
From the observations made by our Mr. Sage and Lulu, a barbarian girl who was also a hunter and was as alert as a hunter, we roughly deduce that they are now at least two to three days ahead of the pursuers. This is also the reason why he finally chose to let everyone stop and take a breath to avoid the endless rush and make everyone too tired.
The reason why the other party didn't catch up in time was because of the help of this annoying Haruyuki.
If there is no snow, the warriors can gallop on the flat mountain road. However, when snow, especially semi-melted wet snow, covers the mountain road, the risk of slipping and falling off the cliff when speeding at high speed is quite high.
Another reason is the problem of supplies. Heavily armed warriors are similar to Rigar's knights. They are elite units specializing in combat professions that use all their burdens to equip armor and weapons. The combat method of samurai warriors with a small group size and no logistical equipment was to hit and run. In other words, they were a surprise team and were not prepared to march long distances. Especially in winter, they cannot carry the fodder needed by a dozen horses themselves, and it will obviously take longer to make these logistical preparations and mobilize enough manpower.
As a samurai team with horses to clean up the door, they relied on the strong mobility of the cavalry. When faced with some armed villagers, even if the opponent began to resist overestimating their capabilities, they could flexibly use their advantages to solve the problem.
If such a team loses news and fails to report back, the follow-up troops that will be dispatched should first be a light reconnaissance unit with very similar equipment and personnel.
The first task of this follow-up force is to obtain intelligence. After realizing what happened to the previous team, they will decide based on the opponent's number and equipment whether to attack themselves or call for reinforcements to invite a large follow-up force.
Even though the traces have been cleaned up, experts can still estimate the number of people Henry and the others have. Therefore, after this cavalry team arrived, they would probably notify the rear through riders or messenger birds, and then pursue them alone.
This was an important reason why the sage had to hit the road immediately. If the road was clear and the snow melted, a light cavalry team could catch up with them in a very short time.
However, the bad weather in the past few days hindered the way forward, and the road conditions caused the pursuit to take longer, leaving the lightly equipped samurai cavalry with insufficient supplies. In order to track for a longer period of time, they must make more adequate preparations and mobilize more logistics.
Of course, the opponent could also choose to risk catching up in bad weather without supplies, but judging from the results, the rebel warriors obviously took a conservative approach due to the unclear personal information about their group of outsiders.
Over time, this became the basis for their escape.
We trekked for 6 days in bad weather in order to maximize our lead time.
After making a rough calculation to ensure that a sufficient distance had been established, Henry promptly asked everyone to stop and start to rest.
Know yourself and the enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without danger. Many people talk about what they say, but wise men always follow it with their own actions.
The bright sunshine dried the clothes quickly, and the big hole in Aggie's cloak could finally be filled. Because the excess wool was used to darn socks, Mira used a piece of waterproof animal skin smeared with beeswax to patch the spot. The group of people who were sewing and mending everywhere looked quite embarrassed. Even the luxurious doctor's robe that Ling was wearing was already worn out.
Miss Doctor's behavior of going on the road alone to satisfy her curiosity is seriously foolhardy. Not to mention the clothes that are convenient for outdoor activities, she didn't even bring a spare coat, so she could only wear this large and luxurious robe all the time. . If I hadn't been lucky enough not to encounter any major dangers along the way, I would have died countless times.
After everything was sewn and sealed with beeswax, it was then roasted and rubbed over a fire to make the beeswax evenly soaked. It was more or less comfortable to have it all done.
Later, in order to prevent the cold, they also found some hay and dead leaves nearby. People in the Rigal world often stuff this kind of thing into their leather boots when traveling in winter. A thick layer of rice straw or leaves and beeswax sealing on the outside can play a good role in keeping warm and moisture-proof. Although Ling is wearing cloth boots and Lulu is wearing straw sandals, similar concepts can still be applied.
After completing this step, Mira, Henry and Lulu began to maintain their knives, weapons and armor out of professional habits. It is very important for both hunters and adventurers to ensure that these things are safe and reliable at all times.
Because this is a tool to save your life and eat.
It took a lot of time to maintain and repair the equipment, and even the needles, threads and beeswax used for repairs were exhausted. Animal fat that was put in small wooden tubes and used to maintain weapons and armor could be obtained by hunting, but needles and threads and beeswax could only be purchased in villages.
In addition to these, they also had to think of ways to provide food and other items such as cloth and leather. Although the cattle-raising industry of the He people is not as developed as Rigal because there are more mountains in the Moon Country and lacks plains, the cowhide leather-making industry as a side industry is not very common. However, the deer skins obtained by hunters can also be used as similar products. effect. Other fabrics, such as fabrics, may be quite different in performance and style from those made in Rigar, but it is better to do as the locals do and dress differently than in the past, rather than wearing clothes that are full of patches and have much poorer performance.
No matter what, it was only after they could enter the village safely and the villagers were willing to accept them as foreigners.
Smoke curled up from the kitchen, and before the meal, the group of people lay on the warm rocks in the bright sunshine like lazy wealthy businessmen, taking turns to take a nap.
