"Do we have one more companion? Then we need to prepare food for one more person, and we have to recount the camping supplies. Yes...... What a hassle!"

Ramsden slammed down on the table, the chalk on the table jumping and tumbling.

Feige leaned over and stared at it for a moment. "Is this the equation? Are you listing the shelf life, weight, and volume of different things?"

"yes. Ramsden sighed, "I went to the paladins and asked them where they had the last accident, and found that it was far from the village and other fortresses. In other words, we need to solve all the problems of eating, drinking and lodging by ourselves to the greatest extent. But there is a limit to our burden, and it is impossible to carry it all on our backs, right?"

Feige nodded, looking at Chubby's list on the blackboard again. Hard bread, cottage cheese, jerky, dried pickles...... "These are all hard dishes!

"Well, there are springs and rivers in the Sunset Mountains, so water isn't a big problem. If it's somewhere else, add water as well. The water is heavy, and that will be more difficult. ”

"I kind of understand how you calculated in the past, it's ...... Raw. Feige shook his head: "You forgot three important parameters, and you didn't organize the data correctly. ”

"What does that mean?" Ramsden's eyes widened, and his ears pricked up.

"The first is weighting. Different things should have different importances in addition to weight, volume, and shelf life. Clothing, food, water, medicine, and weapons have different effects on survival and mission completion, and you should take them into account. ”

"Then there's co-ordination. I think you want to simply increase the amount of use, but in practice, what is more important is how to arrange the order in which items are used. You seem to have simply and naturally followed the basic principles: use what is perishable early, bring it less. But in fact, there is still a huge potential to be tapped. Reasonable arrangement of pasta and meat makes more sense than simply eating less. ”

"In the end, it's the biggest and the most economical. This number on your blackboard is a weight, isn't it? It's too small. We have just left the fortress, this time is not dangerous, we don't need to calculate according to the average economic volume of combat adventure, we should be treated as donkeys and horses! We can hide some supplies with long shelf life in some safe places on the road, this is called preloading, and then we can release the weight and enter the battle state lightly. In this way, the supply distance is shortened, that is, the difficulty of supply is reduced. ”

After Feige finished speaking, Ramsden's open face was completely stiff, and his two round eyes focused helplessly on the void. "This ...... It's so complicated that no one knows how to calculate it, and no one can figure it out. ”

"Not really. An exact and general dynamic matrix is not an option, but an approximate optimal solution for the current situation is not. Alas, if I had a Tai Electric...... Forget it, don't talk nonsense, let's hurry up. Can you help me mark the weights...... Oh, just tell me about the importance of everything. ”

"How does this become a number?"

"It's just a score from one to ten. Start by finding something you're bound to bring, such as jerky. Then roughly show the relationship between each thing and it, and then you don't have to worry about the rest of the calculations, I'll do it. Oh, it would be nice if there was a map, can you get me one?"

"Yes, of course!" Ramsden licked his lips, "Feige, these ...... Can you teach me?"

"No problem, it's just some data organization and algorithms, and it's no different from when I used to do optimization. Feige picked up two pieces of chalk and handed one to Ramsden: "Come, let's hurry up and get started!"

Ramsden took the chalk and nodded vigorously. He was the youngest member of the Icepeak Fortress, and he was chubby, not because of his lack of training, but because he was too interested in managing the warehouse and kitchen. As the youngest child, I usually only listen to other people's arrangements. But being able to get apples, ales, flour, and bacon to do his bidding, made him feel like he had some kind of "power."

It turned out that this job belonged to the old man Kiplin, but he was older, so everyone was happy that Ramsden would take this work over. In case he doesn't make it to a good Eagle School monster hunter, but with the ability to manage the fortress's storage, he can still live well.

Ramsden himself vaguely understands this truth, so he is very attentive to his work and never lazy. So Feige was there to explain and count, and he listened carefully and tried to comprehend. Even if you can't grasp it right away, it's useful to remember it as much as possible. The more he listened, the more he didn't understand, but he also admired it more and more. Ramsden thought to himself, this nobleman is really powerful, he understands such complex knowledge, no wonder it is the nobleman who leads the army to action!

However, when Ramsden looked at Feige's expression, he noticed a problem. Fitch, immersed in numbers and algorithms, has blood-red eyes. It is like a solid flame burning deep in the pupils, emitting a breathtaking light. A faint black dust mist curled from his nostrils, making him look like a monster from hell.

"Feige?"

Feige looked up, and all the out-of-phase disappeared in an instant. "What's the matter? I don't understand? It's okay, I'm short of time today, I'll calculate it first, and then I'll slowly explain the truth to you in detail. ”

"So...... How did you learn such a complicated thing? I've never seen these symbols you use. I don't mean anything else, I'm just saying that at least there's no such thing in the books on calculations in the library. ”

"Wouldn't it be sad if we didn't do better than the people who came before us? Feige didn't notice any difference and continued to do the job at hand. Only this time, when he used his brain with all his might, he didn't show the characteristics of the devil again.

He quickly adapted to the intelligence from hell.

After his optimization and re-arrangement, the group seemed to have some surplus to carry. Of course, in fact, this surplus does not exist, everyone still has something to bring to meet their personal needs, and the weight will always be filled.

"Set up two supply points, and if Giles comes back early, we can help replenish them, so that our pressure can be reduced a lot. Do you think there are any more problems?"

Ramsden shook his head. He witnessed the composition and implementation of the entire optimization algorithm and knew that he could not give any advice. Of course, he could say that some of the "weights" could be improved, and some of the "data" were not perfect...... But these only make the results more precise, not more "correct". What they were looking for was a credible, measurable estimate, not a precise prediction of everything in the coming month.

"Feige, I'...... Is this what Lord Snowy Owl said, the power of numbers?"

"Of course not, numbers don't have power, thinking does. Feige looked off the list, scanning the large storage room shared between the kitchen and the miscellaneous items. "Ramsden, what other good things do we have here? Go out for a month at once, and you have to have some fun and relax. ”

"There was a lot of wine, some of which were good for ageing—all of which had been given to Lord Snowy Owl in the past, but when he was completely deaf and afraid that drinking would affect his eyes again, he almost gave up. ”

Feige shook his head. His soul doesn't taste wine, he doesn't drink much pleasure, and his body used to be tossed with alchemical potions, and when he drank it, he felt like he was drinking medicine—many alchemical potions use wine as a solvent, and the smell will not go away.

"We still have a few bottles of honey here, which is a good thing, as long as the lid is closed, they won't go bad for decades. Ramsden counted the treasures, and said a dozen things that had been treasured here but that Fitch did not yet know.

"What's in the box over there? There's a lot of ash on it, I think it's been a lot of years, right?"

"Oh, there's no food in there. There have been a few years when a lot of berserk bears have suddenly appeared in the Sunset Mountains, with strong attacks and very intelligence, causing a lot of threat. The stuff in there is for catching bears. Ramsden scratched his head: "Later, after everyone's efforts, the number of berserk bears dropped sharply, and those specially built things were useless. Lord Snowy Owl said that if you need to build equipment in the future, you will melt those things to use. ”

"Bear catchers? Unfortunately, not griffins. Bears can't fly......" Feige said with pity, but his footsteps moved anyway.

"Feige. Ramsden suddenly stopped him: "I'll go and prepare things according to the blackboard list, you can walk around here yourself, just don't break the jar." Also, you take something and write it down, and I'll make a statistic at the end. ”

"Okay, okay, no problem. Fei Qi waved his hand: "I don't have anything else to do, let's see you tomorrow morning?"

Chubby nodded, and the two of them went their separate ways.

The Ice Peak Fortress is perched on a mountain cliff, with mountains to the west and low hills and plains to the west, so the night is always early and the morning is punctual. As the orange-yellow sunlight shot out from the edge of the horizon, piercing the gray-black clouds, the group of five and two horses was ready to go.

"Feige, didn't you make an appointment with the Paladin, when will she come?" Tron breathed hard into the cold morning air, as if this would calm his restless mood a little. Then, he asked himself: "Paladins can't lie, she must have been delayed by something......"

Feige was silent, then yawned heavily.

"Feiqi, your face is so bad, the dark circles under your eyes look like you've been punched. Didn't you sleep last night? Too nervous?"

"Don't you talk a lot when you're nervous?" Feige smiled. He was tired, but he had a confidence that Tron couldn't understand. "I had been meditating on the top of the tower last night, thinking about the task, and I ended up getting so engrossed that I didn't sleep all night. It's definitely not tension, it's ...... Focus!"

"Okay. Anyway, if you really start the mission, it won't be like this again. You have to get back from a break, because each of us has a role to play. Tron looked at the silent Kellet, and then said, "At most, when the sun is completely above the ground, we must set off." ”

"Here, here, someone. Ramsden said.