The bitter cold has gone.
Spring planting is the theme of the season.
In addition to wheat and beans, the Noah people's crops are mainly potatoes and turnips.
They are not only hardy, but also relatively easy to take care of.
Based on the lessons passed down from "The Bitter Cold Years" to the present, local lords will choose a piece of land to plant "winter crops" during spring plowing.
The output of this arable land will be used as local reserves to survive the hard times.
In the Lord's Longhouse, Willie Dale's hand wanders between several candidate crops."Soybeans and peanuts are better for preservation, but our people are more used to potatoes."
Little Willie picked up the radish that his father had set aside and bit off a piece."Why did you give up growing turnips? You know they don't compare to potatoes in their crunchy sweetness."
"When you sit on the lordship, you'll know that filling your belly is more important than satisfying your tongue, little cub." Willie Dale responded.
The two were talking when Sela walked into the Longhouse."Lord Willie Dale, I have brought you a better selection." She put down the basket and took a piece of red rhizome from it, "This is a plant I have spent several winters cultivating.
I call it 'Red Potato'.
It is very hardy and divides faster than potatoes.
The most important thing is-"
Without waiting for Sela to finish, little Willie took a taste for the villager in the style of a lord.
Soon after, he spit it out."Ugh! This stuff is as hard to swallow as your potion.
I bet even wild boars and rats won't eat it." He said, mimicking an adult's tone.
"That's precisely why it's better for preservation.
As soon as it's cooked, that bitterness will fade." Sela explained.
"Did you say 'fade', not 'disappear', if you heard correctly?" Thinking about it, Willie Dale finally shook his head, "No, apothecary.
You'd better make the potion in peace.
Overwintering crops should be the concern of the lord.
I will plant peanuts first and potatoes towards the end of summer."
Sela has long been accustomed to the conservative thinking of these people and has long learned to do more with less."Okay.
In that case, I will distribute these rhizomes to those who need it.
If you change your mind, you can come to me."
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At the end of spring plowing, villagers put together a long table in front of the waterwheel to drink and celebrate.
A half-loaded wagon train presses old ruts to the outskirts of the village.
The horses interrupted the clinking of the locals' glasses with a tedious neigh.
Most of the visitors wore fur armor and had the emblem of "Prime-wind Iron Fist" painted on their chests, the warriors of the Lord of the Highlands.
"It's really nice.
Everyone is here." The Highlander at the head of the group walked up to the waterwheel.
"Lord Jester, are you here to join us in celebration?" Willie Dale stepped forward to exchange pleasantries and handed over a glass of berry wine.
"I wish it were that way, but I'm here for something else." Jester took the glass and raised the volume, "By order of the Lord of Hillen Highlands, the Veyar Prime-wind, I have come to the Golden Waterwheel to enlist warriors.
The chosen men are to return with us to PW City (Prime-wind City) to participate in the preparations for the war against Windrose Valley.
Prepare rations for them.
They are to be self-sufficient until they return to the Highlands."
The words were followed by a cacophony of locals.
"..."
"Rusty hammer! I don't want to hit anything but iron!"
"Fuck this! Let the lord have mercy! I lost my husband in the last war! I don't want to lose my son again!"
"At the beginning of winter, he came to draft food.
Now the crops are in need of care, and he comes to levy warriors.
We will be starved to death without waiting for the war!"
"His butt-hole must be stuffed with bones, so in the head to hold out this shit like ideas."
"Maybe drinking a cup of horse urine will clear his head."
"..."
Seeing how resistant the villagers were, Willie Dale hurriedly stepped forward, "Lord Jester, let me say a few words." He turned to the villagers, "You have cursed enough.
Now have a drink and hear me out.
Yes, this call for lordship was indeed hasty.
But you've had it in your hearts for a long time, haven't you? Yesterday, right there in the tavern, one of you said he could gouge out the enemy's eyes with a spoon, and another said he would mash the enemy's egg yolk with his fist.
But now, you hate to throw away the contents of your pants as a burden! Don't forget that the Lord of the Highlands gave you the land here! So if He calls, you should take up arms and fight for Him!"
After the crowd dispersed, the Highlanders first made their way to the home of the local lord.
They were greeted with honeyed wine from Willie Dale's cellar.
"Lord Willie Dale, by order of the Lord of the Highlands I must take your son.
He is already taller than the roof.
As the son of a lord, he should stand up for the Highlands and earn his place at the lord's long table."
"Yes, Lord Jester.
Our land was given to us by the old Prime-winders lords, and I will not forget it.
Besides, we Highlanders have never been cowards.
However, as you can see I only have one son.
He hasn't taken a wife or even had a meat yet.
If he dies, I will have no successor.
So I hope the Lord of the Highlands will place my son in a stable or something."
"What am I going to do to win the chair that belongs to me if I stay in the stable?! I can fight." Little Willie fiddled with the longsword his father had used."It's the only decent weapon in the village.
I don't want to see it rust."
Willie Dale grabbed the longsword, "You think swinging your fist with the village brats is a war? Do you think you can prove your valor by slaughtering a few animals? You should look down and carefully count how many XX hairs you have!" He reprimanded.
As a battle-hardened warrior, Jester couldn't appreciate the courage of the blind either."Your father was right.
You've killed livestock, but livestock don't take up arms to kill you.
It's not as easy to shed blood on the battlefield as it is to listen to a song on a regular basis." He turned to Willie Dale, "I will convey your message to Lord Prime-wind, but things may not work out the way you want them to."
-----------
Seeing that Sanchi's bag contained only red roots, the highland warrior could not help but let out a burst of taunts.
"You're putting the feed in the wrong place.
We are going to war, not to feed the livestock."
"The hunter has no prey in his house.
Heck, I don't doubt he can pull the bowstring, but whose ass he shoots an arrow in is not so sure.
We'll have to be careful when we're fighting alongside him."
Jester walked into the hunter's house."Maybe he was so heavy-footed that he scared the animals away just as soon as he left the house.
Otherwise it wouldn't have raised the family to gnaw on this unpalatable feed." He scanned the hunter's family, his eyes lingering on the child.
Sanchi saw the situation and shook his head to discourage, "No, Lord.
The boy is still young, and he will be a burden.
I will go with you to the highlands."
Jester picked up his men's spears and measured the boy's height."Yes, the little brat can't fight, but he can go serve the lord."
"If you must take our children, I'll come along." Betty picked up her husband's traveling bag.
"Do you know how to fight? If not, you'll just have to go treat the warrior.
That's easy, you just have to lie there and spread your legs.
But that would delay you from nursing your own cubs." Jester's words drew a chuckle from the other Highlanders.
Since the hunter family had no prestige among the highland warriors, they had to go against the grain for this humiliation.
sanchi took back his bag, "No, you will stay and take care of the crops and the livestock." He stroked his wife's belly and sent her a serious look, "And our children."
Betty held her husband's hand and let out a short sigh, "There are not enough people in the village, I'm afraid I can't keep the baby."
"That's enough." Jester interrupted the couple."A woman has a miscarriage and a plague.
Let your wife and child stay at home.
I hope this little brat will come in handy."
At this point, Sanchi's wishes have been fulfilled.
Besides coming back alive, his only hope was not to meet his friends and brothers from Ironstone Town on the battlefield.
He hugged his family and whispered a few words of advice, then walked out of the house.
Due to losing several fingers in previous battles, blacksmith Farrond is unable to use his weapons properly.
In order to maintain the normal functioning of the village, Jester agreed to stay with him, but asked him to regularly build arrowheads, etc.
for the Highlands.
Jester is very fond of Wayne Lingle's (Wayne) berry wine.
After some private discussions, the two men came to some sort of agreement.
Soon, the Highlander loaded most of the tavern's stock onto a wagon, and Wayne got on the wagon and prepared to go to the Highlands together.
Ivan Rader, unwilling to lose his freedom, repeatedly emphasized that he could only write poetry and sing, not fight.
After hearing a song, Jester gladly "invited" the bard to sing for the lord and the warriors in the highlands.
To save his own tongue, Ivan accepted the invitation with resignation.
After the wagon train left, Keane climbed up to the roof and found what his uncle had mentioned earlier, a dagger and a hunting bow, along with a few arrowheads that had not yet been polished.
He pulled down the bowstring with some effort.
"Sanchi says you're not too talented with a bow and arrow, but maybe you'll need these in the future." Betty turned and wiped the corner of her wet eyes, then picked up the basket and walked to the vegetable patch.
Keane was momentarily lost for words.
In his opinion, this spring is not as beautiful as people expect.
In addition to the mountains, there are various plagues that thaw from the snow and ice.
They are like the bitter north wind that makes people's heart frostbite.
-----------
Although the "Hunter and Cripple" was already vacant, people still used to sit inside after working.
Without the gags of the tavern owner and the songs of the minstrels, everyone could only rely on the berry wine left by Wayne Lingle.
Such a night seemed longer than a cold winter night.
".
....."
"No wonder I always felt that this berry wine had a foul odor.
It turns out Wayne has been using pig bladders as brewers."
"Stop this fiddling, you old widow.
Watch out for abscesses on your tongue."
"Hahahaha, he did nothing more than give you some pickled beans, and I can make everyone drink berry wine for the rest of their lives.
When the apothecary returns, all I need to do is ask her for some deodorant and I can start my brewing."
"Sela has been missing for a few days now.
Although she always does this every year when the ice melts, I still worry for her."
"..."
A sudden noise came from outside.
When the villagers came out of their houses to find out what was going on, the golden waterwheel had been occupied by a group of uninvited guests.
Torches illuminated the "Bear Claw Ice Peak" emblem on the chest of these people.
They were clearly the warriors of the Lord of the Valley.
Several of the valley men broke straight into the lord's longhouse and grabbed Willie Dale, who had fallen asleep.
The one-eyed lord of the valley people was not surprised to see that most of the men had been enlisted by the highlander lords."This is not Highlander territory, and the Highlanders are enlisting lords here.
We should have taught the Highlanders a lesson long ago.
Kill them all!"
"Wait!" A man with a short beard and a hood hurriedly stopped the valley warriors.
He then came to the one-eyed lord's horse, "Lord Schoen Han, killing them will unite the Highlanders even more.
You are unburdening our enemies."
Due to the agreement before departure, Schoen Han must listen to the mage's advice.
He glanced at the guy below, "So what do you think, Frostfire?"
After that, I will send someone to the highlands to spread the news.
The families of these slaves will have no desire to fight.
This will give us a chance to incite civil unrest in the plateau."
"Although you are annoying to many people as a person, which even my horse knows, your idea is too good to refuse.
It's up to you, Frostfire Yush."
"To each other, Lord of the Lords.
Otherwise the Lord of the Valley wouldn't have given you this crap."
"We should warn the Highlanders who visit here afterwards anyway." Schoen Han turned his attention to Willie Dale, the local lord he had just captured."Bring me his head and hang his body on that waterwheel."
-----------
After several days of trekking, the villagers were exhausted and powerless to follow the procession.
The valley people are using this method to pluck those slaves who are out of value.
The crows circling in the sky urged the passage of time with their wailing.
A black feather seems like rusty scissors cutting the silk strings of life between opening and closing.
At night, the villagers gather around a fire to keep warm under the watchful eye of the valley people.
After a short doze, Betty opened her eyes to look around at her neighbors."No one will come to save us.
If we don't escape, we'll be worn out like old widows.
Now we're on our own." She whispered.
"We haven't eaten in days.
We can't run much farther with our weak bodies." Mirei wraps her arms around her daughter and leans against her husband.
"We'll have to wait until midnight, when most of them will be asleep." Farrond looked to the others.
The neighbors responded to the blacksmith with either a small nod or an affirmative look.
The sound of footsteps came from one side.
The one-eyed lord of the valley people stopped next to the crowd."Any women want to sit in the tent.
There's food there, and honeyed wine."
Seeing his enemy slightly intoxicated, Farrond clenched his crippled fist and prepared to launch a surprise attack.
Mirei pressed her husband's hand, "Take care of the baby.
I'll deal with him." Then she kissed her daughter, got up and patted the dust off her body, and walked toward the one-eyed lord."I'll go."
"Very well, you will be rewarded for that."
"I'll go, too." Betty stood up and moved her muscles.
"Auntie."
Taking the opportunity to hug her nephew, Betty removed the dagger the boy had hidden in his waist."Run away the first chance you get.
Don't look back." She instructed and turned toward the tent.
There was no one else in the tent, and some scraps of food were left on the table, along with a few letters.
Schoen Han couldn't wait to embrace the two women to the bunk.
Mirei grabbed a piece of cheese and stuffed it into her mouth, then began to remove the one-eyed man's leather armor.
"Yes, eat.
That way you will have the strength to fight me." Schoen Han laid back down, the one eye staring greedily at the two women's loins."You know, I like the combination of two fluffy potato pancakes sandwiched between schnitzel, or soft, poppy bread with sausage."
Betty sent down the food in her mouth with wine and began to take off the one-eyed man's boots."Lord Lord, our neighbors are hungry, too.
You could give them some food as a handout so they-"
Schoen Han got up and pushed Betty away."I told you to please me, not to please those slaves out there."
"Of course, Lord Lords.
You will get what you want." Mirei immediately reassured the one-eyed man.
She slowly untied part of her bodice and took the one-eyed man's arm again to let him continue behind.
"Yes, Lord Laird.
You will get what you want." Betty came around behind the one-eyed man and cupped his head against her chest.
"And you'll take a tribute from two of our slaves!" With that, Mirei poked her thumb into Schoen Han's only remaining eye and stabbed a ribeye into his mouth with her other hand.
Betty drew her dagger intending to slit the blind man's throat, but was knocked over by a flailing arm.
She lunged again and the dagger nailed her target in the back.
Although the blow penetrated deeply, it did not kill him outright.
The pain drove Schoen Han into a frantic struggle.
He pushed the two men away and stumbled outside the tent."Come on, men! Kill! Kill all these slaves!" He shouted, covering his eyes.
Betty and Mirei grabbed the enemy's weapon and ran outside the tent.
They didn't care about chasing the blind man who rolled aside, they just wanted to meet up with their relatives as soon as possible.
However, some valley men came up to them and blocked their way.
The villagers did not expect things to happen so quickly, they were unarmed and had to run in all directions.
Farrond picks up a burning piece of firewood and knocks down the nearest guard, then picks up the enemy's spear and shield and runs to his wife.
Lilly (Lillian) helplessly follows her father.
Keane panics a bit and subconsciously touches his waist, only to find that his hidden dagger is gone.
While the villagers and the valley people were struggling together, he grabbed the valley people's spear hoping to use it to help his aunt get out of the trap.
The three just ran towards their relatives, but they didn't notice a fireball the size of a shield in diameter coming from behind.
Keane felt the searing heat, heard a loud bang, and his body left the ground.
The next moment, the ground was in sight.