Across the Ages: The Mercenary's Dance with Destiny

是历史塑造了英雄,还是英雄塑造了历史?这种关系一直很难辨别.不过,从红月历 203 年以雇佣兵身份进入艾米大陆历史的艾米·哈珀来看,第一个十年是历史塑造英雄,而接下来的十年则是英雄与历史的共舞.大陆历史学家艾米的第十二代孙子尼尔·哈珀 （Neil Harper） 的研究笔记"哇~~哇~~"一连串紧急的号角声从海科村北侧响起.伴随着号角声而来的是一个越来越近的嘶哑声音:"雪狼来了——大约有 20 只.大家赶紧躲起来吧!他们十分钟后就到.一个骑着雪鹿的气喘吁吁的猎人出现在村子的北入口处.村里和村子周围的每个人都停下了他们的工作.他们不分年龄,不分性别,匆匆忙忙地把田里雪鹿身上的活具解下来,把屋檐下的雪鸡赶进笼子里,把吃草的雪猪装进篮子里.每家每户都以最快的速度将牲畜搬进去,掀开床上的被子,打开下面的铁板,把牲畜扔进一个大的地下洞里.然后,所有的人都下到洞里,锁上了上面的铁门."艾米,快进去!"一个苍老的声音从村子南边的一间小茅草屋里急促地喊道."雪狼快到了,"老者的声音越来越焦急和严厉."等等,爷爷,我来了!昨天刚孵化的两只小雪鸡已经跑到草地上了,"小屋的栅栏外传来一个温柔的声音."呜呜呜~~"狼的声音在远处嚎叫.一个高大的身影,一个白发白胡子的老人,从屋子里冲到大门口,从低矮的草丛中抓住一个小男孩的脖子,无视男孩的踢打和哭泣."爷爷,放开我,我差不多找到他们了,不然他们会被吃掉的,哇——放开我,爷爷."那两个人影消失在床下的洞里.就在铁门咔哒一声关上时,雪狼冲进了屋子.最大的狼爪开始撬动铁板,而其他人则在铁板周围嗅探,它们白色的呼吸在空气中起雾."哇,爷爷,小鸡肯定死了,"洞里的孩子喊道,对上面的声音视而不见."艾米,乖乖的.下次我们可以孵化更多的小鸡,"爷爷叹了口气安慰他的孙子."爷爷,村里的猎人为什么不杀雪狼呢?"上次我们一起猎杀了雪熊,熊比狼强悍得多,但我们还是设法杀死了它们.为什么不是雪狼呢?艾米抽泣着,含着泪问道."唉,"老者深深地叹了口气,"雪狼是不能被杀死的.任何这样做的人都会付出生命的代价."那那些外面的人怎么会杀了 30 多只雪狼?"艾米挑衅地问."他们是雇佣兵.雇佣兵可以杀了他们,"老人回答道,不想进一步向他的孙子解释."长大后,我也想成为一名雇佣兵!"艾米握紧了拳头.海科村位于冰冻大陆暖水河东岸.根据艾米帝国和哈米亚王国之间的边界,它应该属于哈米亚王国.然而,哈米亚人传统上生活在寒冷和雪地中,而暖水河的源头是由火山喷发形成的温泉湖（雪月湖）.雪月湖 （Snow Moon Lake） 周围地区和暖水河 （Warm Water River） 河岸是冰冻大陆上独特的无雪地区.500 年来,艾米帝国一直试图通过外交,战争和胁迫来获得雪月湖和暖水河领土,但总是失败.在 50 年的时间里,在红月历 3 年,12 年,35 年,47 年和 52 年期间,艾米帝国的两代君主针对雪月湖和暖水河域发动了五次大规模战争,部署了包括龙骑兵在内的所有军队.每场战争都以同样的失败告终.在大陆的南部,艾米帝国经常迅速征服所有领土——或者"征服"这个词可能不合适,因为哈米亚王国从未在该地区部署过任何军队.战争一旦开始,来自最北端冰雪森林的哈米亚狼骑兵总是沿着冰冻大陆上唯一的龙牙山公路向艾米帝国的北方联邦发起攻击.在冰冻大陆上,没有任何军队能抵挡住哈米亚战士,他们白发胡须,身穿白色熊毛雪甲,骑着雪白的雪狼骏马,穿越雪白的土地.只有一个结果:撤退.军队在冰冻大陆上只能集结不到 10% 的战斗力.即便是无敌的龙骑兵,也只能发挥 50% 左右的功劳.艾米帝国有多少龙骑兵?比一小队哈米亚狼骑兵还少.一些艾米帝国君主还试图通过外交或胁迫获得雪月湖和暖水河,但头脑简单的哈米亚王国拒绝签署任何包含与领土相关的词语的协议.造成这种情况的唯一原因是,艾米帝国的开国君主艾米一世曾经成功欺骗了哈米亚帝国的国王,获得了原帝国面积约 25% 的土地,建立了艾米帝国的北方联邦.艾米一世答应用他国家最肥沃的土地,艾米诺大陆中心的花田,换取冰冻大陆的南部土地.他向哈米亚帝国国王 Myua VII 展示了这片土地上丰富的水果和动物,尽管他的兄弟和太后的强烈反对,他还是受到了极大的诱惑,签署了一份震惊两大洲的土地交换协议.协议签署后,几乎所有人都认为艾米一世疯了,用最富有的土地换取最贫穷的土地——除了哈米亚帝国的太后和国王的兄弟,后者愤怒地回到了自己的领土,冒着被处决的危险宣布独立,成立了北哈米亚帝国.At that time, Myua VII was eager to move the capital to the Flowery Plain and made the significant decision to gradually abandon the Frozen Continent territory, so he didn't bother with his brother. The brother used this valuable time to rapidly expand his territory from the Hamian Empire's secondary capital, eventually occupying all land east and north of Dragon's Tooth Mountain.Myua VII and his ministers arrived at the Flowery Plain in high spirits, feeling like they had entered a paradise. The northern part of the Flowery Plain was spring all year round, with moist air and constantly blooming flowers. Riding on horseback across the plain for three days and nights, one would never be without flowers in sight or fragrance in the air. The southern part of the plain was a humid, rainy area with vast broadleaf rainforests filled with sweet fruits.However, within five years of establishing the new capital, Myua VII's city was besieged three times by neighboring kingdoms. During the last attack, Myua VII charged into the imperial army to wash away the shame of his wrong decision with blood.Why did the most powerful nation on the Frozen Continent find itself bullied in the Amy Nor Continent? Where were the invincible snow wolf cavalry?According to later military strategists, the theories of troop counteraction and troop enhancement were written with the emperor's blood and the blood of a hundred thousand snow wolf cavalry.The Hamians, who lived on the Frozen Continent for generations, had very long hair, especially their eyebrows and eyelashes, to avoid being blinded by sunlight reflecting off the snow. However, on the humid Flowery Plain, this physiological trait became unbearable, with water droplets often hanging from their brows. Noblemen had time to hire someone to trim them, but what about the soldiers? How could they fight in such conditions? Snow wolves, with even longer white fur, were not suited to the hot plains and lost all combat effectiveness. In battles, their natural camouflage turned into the color of shrouds.In the end, only over ten thousand of the original army of a hundred thousand set foot again on their homeland. Since then, the Hamians learned one lesson: never discuss land matters with anyone.Snow Moon Lake was formed 100 years after the Hamians retreated to the Frozen Continent by a volcanic eruption. The Hamians wouldn't make any mistakes regarding this.Due to the experience on the Flowery Plain, the Hamians kept a respectful distance from Snow Moon Lake and the Warm Water River, deploying no troops, but they would never allow the loss of this territory. Once war broke out, they immediately dispatched forces from the Ice and Snow Forest to threaten the capital of the Amy Empire's northern federation, the Ice Fortress, forcing the Amy Empire to retreat.The Warm Water River and Snow Moon Lake still held some value for the Hamian Kingdom as foraging grounds for snow wolves. To ensure the combat effectiveness of snow wolves, all snow wolves in the Hamian Kingdom were not domesticated but left to roam in the wild. Or to put it more accurately, during wartime, the Hamians relied on their innate ability to locate and recruit wild wolf packs, which cooperated willingly. Battle wolves would be organized into wolf cavalry teams, with the alpha as the captain's mount, and other wolves assigned to warriors according to their rank within the pack.In fact, the Hamian Kingdom lacked the resources to sustain so many battle wolves. For the economically fragile Hamian Empire on the barren Frozen Continent, any full-scale war exceeding six months would lead to economic collapse, primarily due to the financial strain of feeding the battle wolves.The snow wolf population remained around 150,000, originally scattered across the Frozen Continent. After the Amy Empire gained territory on the continent, the snow wolves strangely retreated to the domains of the Hamian and Northern Hamian Kingdoms, each with about 70,000 wolves. Due to the scarcity of flora and fauna on the continent, snow wolves faced great difficulty in foraging, often traveling for days to catch prey. Thus, raiding non-Hamian human villages became a primary means of sustenance. The Hamians did not oppose other races living on the Frozen Continent as long as they paid taxes, but they absolutely prohibited any harm to snow wolves. Human villages had various methods to evade wolf packs, and more and more permanent residents had adapted to this "hide when wolves come, emerge when wolves leave" lifestyle, considering it a form of tax to the Hamian Kingdom. Originally, the kingdom's frugal lifestyle meant they didn't levy heavy taxes on citizens, so even with the "wolf head tax," it was lighter compared to other nations.Haike Village was one such village that paid the "wolf head tax." People were accustomed to taking only the main large livestock when wolf packs arrived, leaving some poultry for the wolves to enjoy. The wolves typically wouldn't stay long due to the uncomfortable humid air and the next village being only half a day's journey away, where taxes were also due. They usually didn't linger for more than half a day."Knock, knock, knock."Amidst the sound of scratching wolf claws, a rhythmic knock came from the iron panel above Amy's head, accompanied by a pleasant male voice: "Is this the Harper residence?"