Pawn shops in Kazuto society have a widely circulated name among the people called "Eternal Life Bank". This name is closely related to local customs - due to frequent disasters and children often die young, people with a little money will use rituals It is a method of pawning a child to a pawn shop and then redeeming it, praying for peace and longevity and smooth growth.
People who believe in animism are particular about many details. Children from aristocratic families usually don't use formal names until they reach adulthood. When choosing a baby name, it is clear that the eldest son is named Jiro to pray for peace. Common people will also give their children "mean names" because in this national culture with a history of thousands of years, it is believed that the more valued things are, the easier they are to be lost or damaged. Therefore, the way to beg a person to grow up healthily is to declare that he is "not an important eldest son." ” or even “has been pawned.”
This kind of formal practice is used to let the gods, who are secretly jealous of talents and always make heroes short-lived, miss their heirs.
In addition to this custom that is somewhat unbelievable to Rigar and his party, New Moon's pawn shop or Changsheng Treasury is similar in nature to Rigar's lending institutions - people who need a large amount of cash pledge their valuables here and sign a Exchange it into a sum of funds under a contract. The item can be redeemed by returning the principal and interest within the contract date.
There are several reasons why Yajiro chose the longevity bank in exchange for funds.
First, such lending institutions have their own appraisers. They understand the value of items and often have sufficient funds to pay the cash in exchange for pawns. Even though they are both Kazuto, they are still outsiders after all. If you come to a place like Minamata where you are unfamiliar with life, you may not be able to find a buyer if you want to sell things in exchange for mobile funds. You may also be deceived or get into trouble because of your wealth.
A place like this is not only more efficient but also less prone to extraneous problems.
Secondly, many longevity libraries actually have official support behind them, so the items pawned in them will be better preserved. If possible in the future, he hopes to redeem these things.
Minamata's Jangseiku occupies a small area but is well-decorated. Many of the furniture in the store are made of wood produced in central China, which is a rare tree species native to Crescent Island. It has a fine texture and is highly resistant to the environment, and it also has its own fragrance.
Only the royal family and some historic temples can use these woods on a large scale, and although not all of them, this pawn shop also has a considerable part of its woodware made of this material.
It is so luxurious that it dwarfs others. This is the first impression given by this longevity warehouse.
Not all members participated in the pawn shop trip. The team set out in a very small formation, with only Yajiro, Lao Qiao, Kenye, Narumi, our Mr. Sage and the Luoan girl as members.
The warriors of the Qingtian family were the main components of the conversation and contract signing. Henry and Mira were considered as guards but also wanted to see what was in the pawn shop.
Mr. Jian, on the other hand, mainly felt that he was old and wanted to see the world.
But the impact is obviously too great.
As soon as he stepped into the store, Mr. Jian kept arranging his clothes for fear that there would be something inappropriate. Although the clerk and others didn't say anything or even pay attention, he still felt uncomfortable no matter what. His life of servility and humiliation, followed by a nobleman like Yajiro who was relatively less bully, led him to find it difficult to breathe when he entered such a splendid and elegant hall - and this also proves that most Kazuto pawn shops The target customers are not ordinary civilians.
The clerks maintained a neither humble nor arrogant attitude towards the people who entered the store - they neither kowtowed to the nobles nor showed contempt for the common people or even the strangers.
Yajiro took his jewelry for appraisal. Lao Qiao and Narumi originally walked with him, but the young master decided to take charge of this communication on his own. He was eager to grow, so the two of them wisely stepped back and stood outside the counter.
Because they chose to arrive at an unobtrusive time early in the morning, there were no other guests except them. At a loss what to do, Mr. Jian stood there, not daring to go out but also not daring to walk around, while the bold girl Luo An wandered around and looked at the things in the store.
As we mentioned before, the area here is not large, so some things that were obviously pawned by someone were placed in the shop.
Pawn shop loans are not indefinite.
After a specialized appraiser assesses the value of an item, for example, if something is worth 10 taels of silver, they will deduct the handling fee and only issue 9 taels. And these 9 Liang will have a period of several months or up to a year - the longer the period, the higher the interest will naturally be - if the period is exceeded, the items will be left to the Changshengku to dispose of themselves, and can be auctioned or sold to others. buyer.
If the person who pawned the money comes back after the time limit to redeem it, he can choose to pay huge interest or participate in the auction. In short, it is not as simple as redeeming it on time.
This is a business after all, and a pretty good one at that.
--only.
The Luoan girl looked at the items that had expired and were placed on the shelves outside for sale by pawn shops - she could read the instructions on the wooden boards, so she understood this - if she had walked in in a daze, she would have thought that she In a weapons shop.
Three 18-story weapon racks are filled with gilt and maki-painted tachi and fish-skin pearl daggers.
There is also a vertical gun rack next to it, which houses exquisite samurai spears, naginata and large bows that are obviously very old.
In addition to these precious high-quality weapons, there are two large wooden barrels, which are filled with relatively low-end weapons such as knives.
But that's not the most outrageous thing - there is also a whole row of complete samurai armors inside, all for sale.
"Aren't they, civilians can't hide armor privately?" The curious Luoan girl asked the sage, and Henry shrugged: "The law also stipulates that you cannot kill people."
"There are always endless holes that can be exploited. For example, the pawn shop only keeps it for you, and then sells it to another samurai, so in fact they don't 'own' it, they just 'handle it'."
"And there is always a shadow of nobility behind you." The sage said. Lao Qiao and Narumi, who were idle next to them, also came over, but Lao Qiao frowned after taking one look at the armors.
"What's going on?"
"The structure is sufficient for infantry combat, but it also uses large sleeves for riding and archery. Such heavy armor will only hinder when swinging a sword, and too many copper decorative parts are used." From the samurai profession Judging from the perspective of these armors placed in the store, his evaluation can be said to be quite low.
"It must be well decorated." The person who answered him was our sage again: "A style that was popular in this country in the past was to imitate the gorgeous style of the old-fashioned armor hundreds of years ago in the Legend of Warriors, and to pile up elements. "
He paused: "Decorated armor."
"After so many years, it seems to have become more popular." He glanced over and saw that a whole row of armors were all decorated with various reliefs, enlarging the head and shoulder armor and stacking several layers of bronze sculptures.
"How can this be used?" Lao Qiao felt a little speechless, and the girl Luo An next to him nodded repeatedly. Although Kazuto's armor is a bit thin by Rigal's standards, this is because the battlefield terrain environment is more complex and in pursuit of lightweight--in the environment of Crescent Continent, the knight's full-body plate armor is really It doesn't necessarily appear to be stronger than the samurai's body pill - but this is different.
The adventurer's vision allows her to easily identify what is practical and what is superficial - no matter whether they are Rigar people or Crescent people, as long as they are still human, they will have structural defects in the human body.
As Lao Qiao said, using heavy sleeves on the shoulders is only suitable for riding and shooting. If you have to wield a sword in a foot battle, carrying such a heavy shoulder armor will only make you tired quickly - but the big sleeves look more energetic and eye-catching.
So they used it.
Henry came to this land a long time ago. At that time, this style had just begun to emerge, but now it seems that it has become a powerful trend south of Zhangzhou.
reason.
Nature comes from peace.
Armor, like swords and weapons, is the spiritual symbol of the martial arts family.
Many samurai would display a set of battle armor in the lobby of their home. Those warriors with a glorious and long history usually displayed the armor worn by their ancestors in a famous battle, but ordinary samurai could only pursue appearance. Even on important occasions such as weddings and funerals, they would occasionally wear military uniforms to show respect. Therefore, armor actually also functions as a dress. It is a military dress, and a certain degree of decoration is required.
The same is true for the knights of Rigal. But in an era of frequent wars, the basic function of armor—saving lives—is far more important than decoration. Therefore, decorations often exist in the form of removable helmet decorations, such as the colorful feathers inserted on the helmets of Rigal knights, and the Touchengtai of Crescent Island warriors, which are made of thin brass sheets or other light materials. Helmet made of quality materials.
So if there are no actual battlefield needs and only aesthetic needs remain, the balance will increasingly tend to regard armor as a special luxurious dress rather than actual protective gear.
Many things will change.
This is not as simple as just one person or a piece of armor - when an influential noble begins to pursue a certain trend, he usually leads other nobles to follow suit; and when the armor these nobles demand tends to When luxury decoration is used without considering practicality, the technical specialization tendency of armor masters will also change accordingly.
"The Beauty of the Sun and the Moon"
An armor maker who is good at hammering out solid armor pieces may not necessarily be able to create gorgeous hollow carvings.
An armor maker who specializes in making armor that fits the body's movement angles may sternly reject armor parts that are too flashy and too large to impede movement.
So they will be eliminated in these two hundred years, and their skills may have been lost. New armor masters only know how to make this more decorative armor, and because the market is full of such armor, the new warriors don't even know what practical armor should look like.
In this pawn shop, the group saw the armor of a samurai from outside the domain for the first time.
And these armors are the ultimate result of this skewed orientation.
--this is a big problem.
Big question.
Even if you don't consider what many samurai do by pawning their family's heirloom-level swords and other weapons in exchange for money, the mere items that were pawned are enough to make people think deeply.
After thinking for a moment, Narumi and the others fell into deep silence.
They were from a vassal territory, and there was a difference between a vassal territory and a directly-governed state.
Moreover, there is also a lack of communication and exchanges with other martial arts families - or in other words, there is no real armed exchanges and training in the Crescent Continent today.
Because New Moon Continent is too big.
What do they have?
The disciples of Ziyun's martial arts family indulged in drinking and debauchery and forgot about their martial arts. Judging from the weapons and armor piled up on one side of the wall, Minamata also looked like a bear.
The spirit of the Wu family may have been corrupted by materialistic enjoyment.
Although swordsmanship tournaments exist and are large in scale, those who blindly pursue the skills of bamboo swords and wooden swords may have long forgotten how to use sharp weapons.
Technology has also changed, pursuing victory rather than life and death.
Even the armor has changed from a solid and practical protective gear to a heavy but fragile dress full of hollow decorations.
Spirit, skills, tools. From the perspective of the more primitive and conservative warriors of the vassal, these three warriors of the directly governed state have become unsightly.
The warrior class is the backbone of New Moon Continent.
But this pillar may have been chewed by themselves, leaving cracks and holes everywhere.
This is bad, very bad - but even if they realize this, what can they do?
Just like when he entered Ziyun fully armed and was laughed at as a country bumpkin.
As samurai in the northern vassal, they were like an isolated island without communication and communication with the samurai from various states.
The sound produced will only be drowned out.
From unbelievable and unreasonable, to the sense of crisis and uneasiness caused by it, in the end it all turned into a deep and helpless "Alas...".
The grown men were silent.
Years of samurai education have made Narumi and others sigh at most and unable to show any degree of weakness.
Hide the sorrow, helplessness and powerlessness in your heart, cover the past with other memories, and don't think about it.
They still maintain a strong appearance, but these things are obviously beyond the capabilities of a mere feudal warrior.
What they saw along the way - especially their interactions with our Mr. Sage - changed their way of thinking. This does not directly mean that they have completely transformed into some kind of existence that is no longer a warrior of the Crescent Continent. It just means that they The perspective of looking at the problem is different.
Happy are those who simply believe blindly in something.
Even though their lives may be frenetic and short, they rarely feel powerless or lost.
But if you can't see the root of the problem and truly understand what happened, then it's impossible to solve the problem.
There are signs of destruction coming.
People who blind themselves and cannot see the crisis clearly can only ask "Why did this happen?" when they are about to die.
The warriors were silent, but the Luoan girl was not.
"Teacher!" Among the pile of dark Crescent Continent weapons, Mira suddenly caught a glimpse of something reflective: "That is it!"
Perhaps some samurai bought the long sword from the Rigar people and placed it among the pile of knives. It was obviously just a collection and it had been sleeping here for who knows how many years.
"I want it!" She said as she grabbed Henry's hand.
