When Henry and his party set off from Xinjing to Fusang on horseback, the last day of December had passed. However, with the arrival of January, the temperature around Xinjing, which is located in the central and southern part of the country, has not risen but dropped. You can often see hoarfrost on the surrounding leaves in the early morning and night, and it will not appear until the sun rises at 9:10 in the morning. Melt slowly.
This experience is even more severe on cloudy and rainy days. When riding a horse, the inner calves and other areas close to the horse's abdomen are very warm, while the exposed knees and toes feel very cold.
In addition, the hands holding the reins are also hardest hit by the cold.
The gloves in Kazuto clothing culture are mostly made of cloth and embroidered for decoration, but even the leather gloves that Rigar people prefer to use have a relatively average thermal insulation effect, especially after they get wet.
The best choice is often made of wool, but there are not many sheep in the entire Crescent Continent. Woolen cloth is even rarer than leather in the Moon Kingdom. Because animal skins can still be obtained by mountain hunters hunting various creatures. Although leather such as deerskin and pigskin tend to be thinner and less durable than cowhide, similar results can be achieved.
Without ideal thermal insulation materials, the only solution is to use stupid methods. Either endure it, or tie it up with cloth strips a few times to keep warm.
According to a local resident, Ms. Doctor, it seems that cold waves always hit the end of winter and early spring near Xinjing. The coldest period of winter in the north is actually a comfortable and pleasant climate, and you don’t need to wear too much equipment when going out.
So they chose a worse time to leave the city.
After January 2, it rained continuously in the mountains near Xinjing, and the sun often did not appear in the sky when the rain stopped for a few moments. Although the group had prepared appropriate rain gear, it was still inevitable to get a little wet during the action.
This kind of wet and cold wind and rain is more durable than the dry cold in the north. It is pervasive and always surrounds the surrounding area once it invades. When resting on a day's journey, everyone often feels that their fingers are cold from the cold. Not to mention doing some delicate operations, even the action of taking out the flint and charcoal cloth from the pocket to make a fire seems stiff and full of mistakes.
Even though he was wrapped tightly, his whole body was still shivering. There was no such fabric as wool in the Crescent Continent, and the parts that the group had brought from Rigar were also badly worn after a year of ups and downs.
"It would be nice to have a wool blanket." The Luoan girl muttered this more than once, but fortunately when the firewood stored in the waterproof leather bag was lit in the middle of the tent, the temperature also increased a little bit.
Under the influence of warmth, the ends of the cold limbs gave off bursts of tingling sensations, similar to the feeling of getting up after squatting for a long time, and then gradually regained consciousness and control. After lighting a fire and regaining their mobility, the group of people went about their duties. Galeva and Joshua went to pack their belongings and set up a shelter for the horses. The remaining people were setting up pots to cook some hot food.
This was the most purposeless and most like an outing in a long time. After a year of travel, they actually no longer have a particularly clear goal. The battle between the domain and Xinjing is not something they have the right to intervene, and other threatening factors will only usher in resistance and contempt even if they are informed of the outcome.
Except for Ms. Doctor, who already had a worry-free life, everyone else also received adequate salary remuneration. As there was no particularly suitable job for the time being, their trip to Fuso was more like traveling and relaxing.
Although considering the dangers in all aspects, after receiving the privileges granted by Xinjing, the group also made preparations to roughly repair and purchase weapons and equipment just in case.
Without the ready-made support of the Qingtian family, and because they had the privilege of riding horses, they purchased additional horses. They also purchased many necessary items for travel convenience.
Joshua, who was blind and could not ride alone, was riding with Galeva, and all five of them, including Medea, were equipped with good saddles. Although Lulu was born among the Yi people and the Yi people were not good at riding, she learned quickly and quickly mastered the skills of riding and even riding and shooting.
Each horse's saddle is unique because it is custom-made by craftsmen who spend money to make it according to their personal and team needs.
The saddle used by the tallest and most muscular unicorn, Medea, is also larger, or it may be more appropriately called a vest, even though it is only light armor. Its front chest and rear hips are padded with thicker hides, and the side of the saddle is close to the right hand side of our Roan maiden. There is an additional set of mounting points so that she can hang her sword. on top.
When riding, it is different from walking. Longer swords are often more suitable to be mounted vertically. Because you have a higher posture when riding a horse, you don't have to worry about the scabbard hitting the ground. If you mount it sideways like walking, it will easily collide with the horse's body when running.
In addition, because Mitiya was the largest, she carried the most luggage on her lower back and hips. Most of the dry food and the tarpaulin part of the custom-made tent were placed here.
These loads are easy for this strong and graceful horse, but despite this, they have taken maximum lightness into consideration to avoid problems such as the volume of the cargo that affects flexibility.
The taller Rigal horses ridden by the Sage and Galeva also have a similar configuration. However, most of the Rigal horses transported to the Crescent Continent over long distances are only of medium quality and can carry more weight than Mitya. Much less.
Especially since Galeva rode with Joshua, he almost only carried combat-related equipment and not many supplies.
In addition to his personal bamboo water bottle and some small sundries, the biggest feature of the horse Galeva rides is that there is a special lance socket fixed on the line between the pedals and the saddle that is close to a vertical angle to the ground. .
There are two leather hoops on the saddle, fixed with copper hooks. Near the footrest is a triangular thick leather case, which is connected to the saddle body through a thick leather strap.
The two long spears prepared for Leng Tou Qing were inserted into the leather holster with the tip of the gun pointed down, and then the gun shafts were fixed through the leather hoops on the saddle, and the long spears were fixed on the horses.
When needed, just unfasten the copper hook and pull it out. Together with the large lightweight shield hanging on the other side, this young man who is not very good at martial arts can play his most suitable position-to be a human shield.
In addition, Lulu and Ling were riding the shorter but more durable war horses from the Crescent Continent. The things they carried included part of the rations and other supplies, as well as personal items.
These things are complicated and lengthy to describe, but they are indispensable during a journey.
There is a saying among adventurers and travelers in Rigal: "If you don't want to carry a heavy load, you will freeze at night."
Traveling light may sound free-spirited, but the time and frustration spent solving problems due to lack of the right tools can often easily outweigh the initial satisfaction.
And based on the sages' rich experience and knowledge, their customized versions of equipment with the same performance will be lighter in size and weight than those used by others.
The style of the tent is a modification of Suomir's conical shape with an opening at the top. If the fire is lit in the center, the smoke will be discharged along the top and the warmth will be evenly transmitted to everyone.
The most troublesome and bulky tent poles can be solved directly with a custom-made iron ring similar to a brooch combined with Galeva's two spears.
The ends of the crossed spears are inserted into the ground. Kazuto's spears often have wooden scabbards. Their rounded shape and increased area are perfect for holding up tarpaulins.
The place where the two spears cross is covered with an iron ring. There is a small hole in the vertical direction below the iron ring. A lantern is hung here to illuminate the interior of the tent.
A bonfire is lit far below, and a wrought iron stand is inserted into the soil to hold pots and pans, allowing food and hot drinks to be cooked at the same time.
At the end of the cone-shaped tent, there is a deliberately extended portion of fabric, which is folded inward and covered with moss collected from the wild or pine needles cut down. Then the cloth is covered with fur and cloth. The division of labor and cooperation took almost no time, and the warm camp was set up.
The water in the iron pot with pine needles was bubbling little by little. The fabrics on both sides of the tent door were tied up to allow better ventilation to prevent the smell of firewood smoke from being too strong.
The food purchased before the trip was taken out and seasoned, but there was no rush. It was cold, so we put it next to the campfire to preheat before cooking. They chatted all day long, chatting about their views on things and what they liked.
The sky outside is a dark blue with a bit of gray and black, and it is raining continuously, making it difficult to see the scenery more than 20 meters away. The ground in the forest has become dark, and even the eye-catching black shadows of the tree trunks on the light background will quickly merge into one within the next half hour, turning into pure blackness.
But as the bonfire burned slowly inside the tent, it maintained a pleasant warmth and light.
Even the stupid green Kaleva was aware of the current situation and did not mention any previous sufferings and setbacks, as well as the possible threats caused by the rift. They just talked about solutions to some small things, and talked about many things that were not so critical, not so heavy, and not so tiring.
This kind of lazy and leisure time is spent with people you get along with.
The days when you talk about unimportant things with important people are also very important.
The white-haired girl thought so.
