The snow is melting faster than expected. After the continuously rising temperature reached a point, coupled with sufficient sunlight, the thick snow on the ground that people thought would stay for more than half a month melted away in just half a day.
The melted icy snow water flows down the terrain and gradually merges into a stream. It has been flowing and scouring among the mountains for millions of years, forming the existence of the valley.
Even a trivial flow of water can, given time, be enough to shake huge mountains that seem incomparably majestic to humans.
Water is the carving knife of nature, scouring and forming valleys, basins and plains. Over a time span that is so vast that it is difficult for humans to understand, it has gradually shaped the world we know today.
Few people have this ability to recognize, and very few people are willing to admit their own insignificance.
From the perspective of other races with longer lifespans, humans seem to have always been a "messy, hurried, and noisy" existence. For an elf, a year may be just a time to go out for a walk. It is common for dwarf blacksmiths to concentrate on studying something for more than half a year in the blink of an eye. It takes three to five years for the dragon to take a nap, but in such a time, the human world can undergo earth-shaking changes: countries are destroyed, regimes are replaced, and large-scale ethnic migrations begin under the persecution of other ethnic groups.
A civilization that has existed for thousands of years may be wiped out overnight, leaving only a few words. After that, the newcomers who built on the ruins are incredulous at such magnificent ruins, and even think that determination cannot be made by human hands. , is the uncanny workmanship of the Titan.
They hurriedly encircled the land and became kings, built a barbaric so-called civilization in a mess, and noisily gathered a group of people together to claim to be a certain nation, and then in the blink of an eye, they were wiped out.
The human society in the eyes of longevity species is probably like the children running around that an old man sees when he is half asleep: if he is not paying attention, he will not know where he is running.
They are always noisy, always arguing and fighting over things that may not matter to adults.
Then.
Kill or be killed.
"Take—!" The crossbow bolt accurately hit the forehead and knocked down the spear-wielding soldier without making much sound. Henry quickly grabbed the shoulder strap of the corpse's armor with one hand and grabbed it with the other. He took the spear and pulled it into the bushes to hide it without attracting the attention of others. This lowest-level infantryman of the Moon Country is pronounced "Asikaru" according to the local language's pronunciation, and the written word is "Ashigaru". The noun contains the meaning of "walking", which clearly expresses their fighting method - but these people are not the common conscripted infantry in the world of Rigar, but low-level soldiers with a certain status similar to knights' attendants. .
They are responsible for various issues such as equipment maintenance, armor and weapon carrying, and logistical support for mounted samurai. By extension, wherever there are ashigaru, there will naturally be samurai.
The situation is a bit difficult.
Although the sage had considered this possibility before, he was not convinced due to his lack of understanding of the rebel forces.
"I directly notified my colleagues in front to block the road or something." The person who spoke was Ling. Although she is still a little weak in physical strength, but overall she has recovered to a certain extent, the doctor lady looks at the still active crowd in the distance with a slightly pale face. It was through her identification of the family patterns on the soldiers' armor that she understood that the men in black armor in front of her belonged to the army of a certain local powerful on the list.
A powerful dragon cannot overwhelm a local snake. No matter how powerful Henry is and how well he understands all kinds of knowledge, their group is still just outsiders and foreigners.
Since the rebels used the fishing villages in the north as a gathering place for rebellion funds and weapons and equipment, it would be wise to be conservative and consider these fringe nobles whose territory is close to the Yi land as accomplices.
Having a geographical advantage means that the opponent does not have to engage in a one-on-one chase with them. The sage had more or less guessed this possibility before the warriors did not catch up immediately. But at the moment, it seems that the connection between these rebels may be closer than any of them thought, because the team of hundreds of people marching at the foot of the mountain in front of them will take some time to reach them. Assembled.
Presumably on the day they realized that due to weather factors, they could not ensure a timely pursuit of their group, they sent a message to their accomplices ahead through waterways or messenger birds. Afterwards, the powerful locals in front organized a team to block the road and go into the mountains to search. The warriors behind them could wait until the snow melted before organizing enough troops to press forward, forming a two-sided attack.
The advantage they still have now is time. Because they were racing against time and chose the easier road, the group of people did not bump into each other after they started entering the mountain to search. Instead, they happened to meet these people in the process of entering the mountain. After clearing the sentry post halfway up the mountain, I secretly observed the enemy's strength and personnel composition. The intelligence advantage I gained was more reliable than guessing, and the error tolerance of the next plan that could be formulated would be greatly increased. improve.
"There are three samurai teams, with a total of 36 people. The rest are all Ashigaru. Each team of samurai leads 100 people. The main 300 people are spearmen, and there are some archers and..." Maybe The object of the breakthrough was immediately noticed by a group of people hiding above - Mira, a small force who was also in the array but whose dressing style clearly did not belong to the mainstream society of the Moon Country and seemed somewhat alienated from others - Mira He first turned his attention to Lulu, who nodded silently, then shook her head.
"It's not the tribe I belong to. It should be because of the persecution that I temporarily cooperated with these people. The mountains are the area where the tribe is good at, and they will be asked to assist in the search. These Kazuto people are not idiots." The girl from the Yi tribe said this and glanced. He glanced at the missionaries behind him and said: "As long as they say they are here to hunt foreigners, they will be happy. Because if it hadn't been for what the men in white robes did, the tribe could have lived peacefully in the mountains."
"Uh..." Lulu's straightforward words made the three missionaries react. Aggie made an embarrassed sound, while the older two remained shamelessly silent.
"Can it be used as a breakthrough?" Mira asked Lulu, but the Yi girl hesitated for a while and just said: "Try it" without giving the most certain answer.
As an ethnic minority living in a primitive hunting and gathering way, the Yi people are not closely connected with each other. There are subtle differences in dialects and culture between tribes in different regions, and some tribes are even hostile to other tribes.
Without the common cultural education provided by a unified and powerful political power, the local cultural differences displayed by the Yi people were the original attitude of the Crescent Continent.
Different cultural customs have been accumulated over a long period of time in various places. Even in two places that are only a few days apart, the things that are respected and tabooed may become completely opposite.
The powerful central government of the Moon Country would send envoys down almost every once in a while to strengthen the defense of the center of power with troops directly under the central government. In addition, it would send cultural envoys to supervise and prevent the local lords from becoming disloyal due to cultural disconnect.
It is extremely necessary to maintain the mystery and nobility of the royal family and retain enough force to crush local wealthy families. If the emperor cannot make the local powerful people fear him and they will not take him seriously, then rebellions will be as continuous as the showers during the plum rain season.
However, even so, even with a powerful centralization of power unimaginable by the kings of Rigal World, the glorious four-thousand-year history of the Moon Country was obviously not as peaceful as outsiders knew.
"No tolerance, no forgiveness." These words spoken by the sage in the language of the Moon Country made both Alfonso and Ling look at him sideways.
This is the "principle" pursued by the descendants of the supreme Moon God. Even if there is the slightest rebellion, they will never put on a friendly attitude and come to the negotiation table.
"Under the bright moonlight, there is nowhere to bury the dead bones." Miss Doctor shook her head, but then looked at Lulu: "This can be the entry point."
"..." Unable to understand her overly serious language, the Yi girl turned her head and looked at Mira and Henry.
"If there was no choice, your people would not cooperate with these rebels. Cooperating with these people will not end well, because the senior leaders of Kazuto will not let go of anyone who intends to rebel. We just want to cooperate with them Explain this and give them another choice." The sage summarized it to her in simple and clear language: "Even if there is a one in ten thousand chance that these rebels win, do you think they will let the barbarians as a minority go? Do we want you to return to your free life in the mountains?"
"No, Kazuto is very bad." Lulu shook her head decisively, then noticed Ling's somewhat disappointed expression and said to her: "You speak very strangely, but you are a good person."
"Thank you." Miss Doctor nodded somewhat dumbfounded.
"Oh, the division of troops has been completed. Isn't it true?" The Luoan girl who continued to observe secretly while the group of people were talking suddenly said with a hint of ridicule: "The best equipment and horse-traveling Kazuto samurai, just take the wide road, tomorrow If you knew we were walking in a small group and had some sense, you wouldn't have taken that route."
"Then leaving the rugged and difficult search and possible ambushes to the Yi tribe? This is really an 'incomparably correct' division of labor." The Luoan girl rolled her eyes, while the sage shrugged: "For us Isn’t it just right?”
He said this, and then the group of people quietly moved towards the part where the Yi tribe had set up defense and search.
When hundreds of people gathered together, it seemed like they were outnumbered, but when they were scattered on the mountain road, there weren't many left. The snow had just melted, and there was still cold snow water left in many low-lying places on the ground. The group of people carefully touched the place where the barbarians were theoretically deployed, but the silhouettes of people who could be seen above just now disappeared after they came down. All disappeared in an instant.
"Qiang——" The Luoan girl drew out her one-handed sword, while Galeva stepped sideways to protect Ling. The sage shrugged and did not pull out Claymore, but glanced at a bush above the side.
"Don't shoot arrows!" Lulu shouted in the language of the Yi people, and then walked out from the crowd, showing her identity in the sun. Because they all remained still, everyone could hear some commotion from the hiding barbarians who were obviously pointing their bows at them.
"We are here to talk -" "Stick!" The sound of feet stepping on the water was heard as "pop - hoo!" followed by the release of the bow string and the panicked cry of "Wow!!"
"Wha—" The arrow that was originally pointed at the sage but was deflected flew straight towards the Yi girl standing in the front. The Yi people hiding inside panicked, but the sage remained calm. He took a step forward and caught the speeding arrow with a "pop!" as accurately as if he were picking up a stationary object.
"O...Oni." The voice of a young but somewhat masculine voice came from behind the bushes, probably a boy whose voice had not yet changed. Before this exclamation, Mira also heard the knights on horseback who fought with Henry say it. She was a little confused. This was a word she didn't know, but she could roughly guess the meaning.
After all, even in Rigal, there were endless people shouting all kinds of strange words at Henry.
"Thank you." Lulu, who was still in shock, glanced at the bow and arrow that was close at hand. It would be too embarrassing if she was shot to death by one of her own people who slipped on her feet.
"You're welcome." The sage shrugged and easily threw the bow back into the bushes above.
"..." The silence lasted for a short while.
"Come out." Immediately following the words of a certain male leader, the more than thirty hidden Yi people came out.
"Really tall." The leading man, who was about forty or fifty years old, looked up at Henry and Galeva and said. They all have blue paint on their faces - this is proof of the Yi tribe's adulthood - and are dressed similarly to Lulu. One of them holds a bow, and some of them carry a hunting spear. This group of people gathered in front of everyone. Almost everyone's eyes were wary, but few dared to glare, and many were curious.
"So, what are we going to talk about?" The leader asked the sage in the slightly stiff language of the Moon Country. He could clearly tell that Lulu was not like this. The existence of this team with the right to speak is just an opportunity to spread the word because of their identity as Yi tribesmen.
"Shasha." The young man who had just slipped and fell patted the wet clothes on his body and shivered before sliding down the mountainside. The leader glared at him dissatisfied, and he scratched his head with a smile and hid from the other adults. their rear.
Henry took a closer look at this group of people. When he looked down on the hillside, he could only tell that they were Yi people because of the distance. But when they looked at this distance, the group found that there were men, women, old and young among them. They were obviously a group of people. The entire tribe.
Or at least what's left of the tribe.
Instead of young and middle-aged workers, even children and women were sent to participate in this obviously dangerous and laborious search activity. Even for the hard-working Yi people who were hunters, it was obviously a choice only made when the odds were against them. .
Their guess was not wrong.
Henry narrowed his eyes slightly, and then said.
"Which one are you going to choose, the road of survival or the road of death?"
