The area from Taizhou to the south to Xinjing is indeed a very livable area, except for the frequent natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanoes.
Even if it's summer, there's plenty of vegetation so you won't be dizzy from the harsh sunlight while walking on the road during the day.
It is not like the Abu Serra Grassland, which lacks trees and water bodies, and has a huge temperature difference between day and night, nor is it like the southern border of Rigal, which is still sultry and unbearable even at night due to excessive humidity. Although this experience is similar to the Rigal continent area at the same latitude, it has a unique flavor that can only be found in Crescent Continent because of this mountain and water.
There is a big gap between the values accumulated by the Japanese society for more than 4,000 years and the young and immature Rigar.
This country, which has experienced many natural disasters and rebuilt on the ruins many times, is far less enthusiastic about gold treasures than the businessmen of Padrosi.
Naturally, Laman scholars who have different ideas and believe that they are correct use their usual method to ridicule him as "fake noble". But when a country and a culture accumulate to such a high level, the qualitative changes caused by quantitative changes will undoubtedly change - at least the upper class society of the Moon Country - the definition of "valuable" things in the eyes of people.
As long as you live, even if you don't work very hard, wealth will slowly accumulate.
Our Mr. Sage may not be a very good example, but that is because he does not have excessive pursuits in this regard.
To some extent, Henry's values are very similar to those of a country with a long history like the Moon Country.
It makes sense to pursue wealth, and money can definitely make your life easier.
But what a country with a history of four thousand years really values is often not those seemingly precious treasures. Society is made up of people, the relationships between people, and the wisdom left over from things created by great men of the past.
Those memories written by generations after generations belong to this country, the emotions and history of this nation.
Although these things are only written on paper or passed down by word of mouth, their value is often incomparable to gold and gems.
If the money is gone, you can make it back again. But if history is cut off from generation to generation, the precious wisdom and cultural heritage of our predecessors who have gone through great waves will not be taken seriously and will be abandoned.
This is the greatest tragedy for a country with thousands of years of history.
It's like an empty shell without inner being, vainly and feebly telling about its glorious past that has nowhere to rely on.
No matter how long the life span is, the longevity species will eventually reach the end of its life.
Creatures complete their continuation by passing on blood to the next generation. As civilized races, humans, elves, dwarves, orcs and dwarfs regard their own ethnic groups as one living body, and continue through written and other cultural records. own soul.
This has become a different concept.
Even if they accept foreign ethnic groups, mix blood, change their bloodline or even their appearance, as long as the core culture still exists, they will still be the heirs holding the torch and passing it on from generation to generation.
But if the culture suffers a devastating blow, even if the purity of the bloodline is still maintained, I am afraid that when claiming to be the orthodox heir, no matter how loud his voice is, it is just to cover up his lack of confidence.
Therefore, the Padrosi people claim to be of the great Lamanite heritage, and they still only call themselves so - just like many other countries of Lamanite descent. Lamanite culture is known as poison precisely because it allows ethnic groups with different skin colors and hair colors to speak the Lamanite language and have Lamanite values.
We can't decide whether this is a bad thing or a good thing, because learning the advantages of advanced culture is indeed the direction of progress. But when a nation abandons all its own traditions and completely learns from other countries for a complete blood change, those cultures that are submerged in the torrent of history and no longer remembered will be more or less emotional.
But let’s get back to where we started.
The things of the Moon Country that have been passed down for four thousand years may not be felt by people like Sakura, Aya, and Narumi Yajiro who are practicing it day and night, but as outsiders, Rigar and his team can. Have personal experience.
From the actions of samurai cleaning their swords to the conversations of the upper class, to town planning and festival celebrations, all behaviors of Japanese people seem to have a certain sense of norms and rituals.
This is a habit that is difficult for outsiders to imitate and is deeply rooted in one’s bones.
Like well-roasted old tea, it is slightly bitter after one sip, but the sweetness and aroma can be savored for a long time.
Many things in this country with a long history cannot be understood clearly by newcomers. Even the same things will have different feelings when experienced again depending on the mentality.
For this reason, the sage became more silent than before after arriving at Crescent Continent.
Kazuto is proud, even prouder than the Padrosi.
When Narumi first saw the plate armor on Henry, he said, "It's the same thing as my country."
This is a kind of affirmation from a high position, believing that the existence that one originally looked down upon has achieved achievements comparable to one's own in some aspect. We can also read a few words from the words used by Kazuto to describe outsiders:
The foreigners who came all the way from Rigal are "Southern Barbarians", while the minority group to which Lulu belongs is the "Barbarians".
Even those who are members of the He clan but are not within Xinjing's sphere of influence are also called "vassal lands". Almost every detail expresses the central idea that Xinjing and human society are supreme, and other areas are regarded as "barbarians".
The deep-rooted nature of this idea can be seen from the vocabulary used by Narumi and others who were rural samurai in the Northern Territory.
The head of the Qingtian family just believed that the Nanman people "have a level comparable to that of the Moon Country in some aspects", and he was already a rare enlightened person in this country. He even went against the trend and tradition, so much so that his biological son Yajiro A dissident who criticized him.
This is a society with a large number of individuals and a very complex one.
Therefore, the sage chose to remain silent. Only our Luoan girl, who is stubborn and yet immature, would choose to express her opinions directly.
But fortunately, Mira's personality has always been straightforward. She is not the kind of person who gets too bored with meaningless things, so after three or five days, she becomes cheerful again.
Putting the overall situation first was a somewhat difficult concept for her, who was still only in her teens. Although it comes naturally to her, it is something that even many adults find difficult to do.
When the team has a common goal, put aside internal differences and work together instead of engaging in internal fighting before achieving the goal. easy to say, hard to do.
With the professional attitude and skills learned by traveling with the sage, even if there is a one-in-a-ten thousand chance that they part ways in the future, the Luoan girl herself will definitely be able to make a name for herself in the world of adventurers.
The sky is cloudless today.
The dirt road, which had been illuminated by the early summer sun all morning, was dry and dusty, and was turned into an earthy yellow translucent vortex by the wind blowing upward from the mountain.
On a sunny day, even the wind is warm near noon. You can only feel a little cool when walking under the cover of trees beside the road.
Because of the following seasons, the costumes of the group have also changed considerably. Including Narumi and other samurai, few were fully armed.
The knights on horseback changed from full armor to lighter light armor. These were originally part of the baggage and were carried as replacement armor.
Narumi changed back into the portable folding gear and folding bag that he wore when he was guarding the Qingzhifu, and most of the other samurai's configurations were roughly the same. The armor is not forged from one piece of steel but is made of small pieces of steel plate connected to provide a better fit, and the gaps between the armor pieces also allow body temperature to dissipate.
The luxurious silk armor underneath - Kazuto's armor - was replaced with linen inner clothing to increase breathability while providing cushioning for the armor. The originally huge shield-like sleeves - the large shoulder armor - were replaced with small sleeves that were only two palms wide side by side.
The complete arm armor was replaced with a half-armor that only reached the elbow, and the thigh armor was also removed, leaving only a separate calf defense.
Adapted to summer travel and more convenient for ventilation and heat dissipation, the light mode is not only cooler than full heavy armor, but also has a considerable weight reduction. The price is naturally a decrease in defense.
Compared with the plate armor of the Rigal Knight, the full armor of the Kazuto Samurai, which is slightly weaker in thickness and coverage area, still has complete protection against bow and arrow attacks. Even if the steps and bows with a length of more than two meters are strong enough to penetrate the surface, they will be stuck and cannot cause fatal injuries to the human body due to the hollowness of the dome structure.
But now it is replaced by small armor pieces that are close to the body and connected by iron rings to form enough carcass armor. There is no buffer space, and there is no rigid structure to resist arrows. If we encounter a war bow-level weapon used by samurai and shoot directly, I'm afraid the casualties will be far more serious than when fully armed.
Therefore, even if entering a relatively safe area could reduce the burden during the march, they still did not change to light clothing out of caution.
Four of the senior warriors on horseback at the front were still fully armed. They were not equipped with large bows but with short spears for riding horses. If there is a crisis, they can use their heavy armor to carry forward in close combat, and then the ashigaru team will press forward, while the other samurai in light armor will use their better mobility to carry out long-range mounted fire output.
This is the team configuration that Narumi improved after his battle with bandits and after learning from sages with rich experience in actual combat. Compared with the original single structure of cavalry and archer warriors, this small team began to become more diverse, with more complex tactics and unit coordination.
The samurai wearing hot and heavy armor in the front will be replaced in shifts. In the absence of direct high-intensity threats, the hot weather has become the biggest enemy. If the same group of people are always tasked with this responsibility, I'm afraid they will be so stuffy and dizzy inside the complete armor like a steamer that they won't get enough rest, and ultimately they won't be able to perform at critical moments.
In addition, after the small-scale conflict with the bandits and the subsequent encounter with the ghoul, Yajiro, who was deeply aware of the importance of lightweight and personal armor that can be worn for a long time, was also very generous and generous in the area near Anshang. Forge House purchased light iron armor for the remaining members of the team, including Mira.
There is no skirt or even back armor, just a short front breastplate worn close to the body and tied with cross straps on the back, but it is enough to make a big difference in the outcome of a small-scale conflict.
Although the Luoan girl is still thinking about her lost Brigandian plate armor, the design of the light armor of the Moon Kingdom is also very outstanding.
The painted short armor has cloth fixed around the shoulders and waist to improve comfort, and the hollows under the armpits on both sides are larger to prevent hindering the use of weapons. The close-fitting design allows it to be worn inside clothing like a Brigand floor armor, making it look like it is not wearing armor, so that the attacker will not attack the head because it is judged that the body is wearing armor. Smaller and more difficult-to-hit but unprotected areas such as the throat and throat.
This is a time-tested and lightweight design. Although the head of the studio keeps saying that Yajiro is a samurai and sells armor, Mira seriously doubts that this highly concealed design is for the purpose of prohibiting classes other than samurai in the Moon Country. Developed to exploit the legal loopholes of having private armor.
All in all, all in all. The whole morning was spent in progress, and at noon, the team found a relatively flat and shady area shaded by trees on the roadside, ready to have a meal and take a rest.
The young master Yajiro was still born into a wealthy aristocracy. Even though his character and samurai doctrine made him more tolerant of a hard life in some aspects, it did not mean that he would choose to eat common people's food for reasons such as saving money.
Summer in the Moon Country is always very long, so what to eat in summer has been a question that has troubled people for thousands of years.
Ice cubes transported from the snow-covered mountains all year round, mixed with syrup and made into crushed ice, were a luxury that only the rich and aristocratic could afford. However, cold drinks cooled with cool underground spring water were extremely restricted by geography. , if there is no underground spring nearby, you can only choose to put it in a wooden barrel and lower it to a deep well to freeze it.
Therefore, the most widely accepted food among Japanese people is the so-called "summer-relieving snack" made of herbs mixed with flour and steamed.
Summer in Xinyuezhou is filled with the fragrance of tea and the slightly bitter taste of grass and refreshing snacks.
Ground grass is mixed with flour, then put into molds and steamed. Even the common people can afford the palm-sized snacks, and the texture of the flour becomes crystal clear after being steamed, and the green color embellished with the grass juice mixed inside makes it visually appealing even if it is not chilled. It can give people a cool and refreshing feeling.
Like any Crescent Island food, the taste of the refreshing refreshments is restrained but lingering after getting used to it.
Yajiro's favorite summer snacks are similar to those eaten by ordinary people but are different. It is said that this tea snack called yokan was named because it was made from mutton in the past. But the monks were vegetarians, so they steamed red beans and flour. As the belief spread, it spread to Japanese society and became a classic snack.
The biggest difference between the version eaten by nobles and the tea snacks eaten by common people is that a lot of white sugar is added. To some extent, it is even a bit sweet and cloying. Therefore, it must be paired with roasted bitter tea to neutralize the bitterness before it can be eaten. .
It’s not that great for storage, and the treat actually goes bad easily in the hot summer weather. But this still couldn't stop the young master from loving it, so much so that he accidentally bought too much, and he couldn't finish it by himself.
As a blessing in disguise, with the idea of avoiding waste, Yajiro shared them. The Ashigaru people who had never tasted this kind of delicacy in their entire life just ate enough in the past few days. The fatigue and slight dissatisfaction of having to help the senior samurai maintain their equipment was gone.
Delicious food can always effectively improve the mood. Just sharing it and raising people's expectations for the next meal is enough to make Ashigaru smile.
The bonfire licked the kettle placed on a simple iron stand, and the crude tea was poured from the package into a tea sieve made of bamboo.
The rice for dinner is washed and put into the pot.
There is an eagle hovering in the clear sky, maybe thinking about what to eat for lunch.
Today is another peaceful day.
