Chapter 39: Summer to the North

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The Duke praised the improvised "village" and said that it might later be the prototype of a camp for the garrison of the Frontier.

Of course, among the retainers who came with him was Sheka Hawthorn. The young swordsmanship instructor looked a little tired, but he didn't lack arms or legs. He showed the same smile that he treated his friend when he saw Mo Shi, which made Mo Shi a little happy.

Shekha told him that both the catapults and the crossbow corps had played their part in the war, one for siege and one for defense. And the Duke was also considering what kind of reward should be given to Mostone.

"It is my honor," Moshi asked, "what about the casualties?"

"I haven't done the math yet. The wounded soldiers are now left in the castle. He replied, "Lord Duke is fine, Lord Diffonor once fell from his horse, but fortunately did not break his bones." ”

"Lord Diffonor's body doesn't matter? Didn't he even have a room before—"

"Of course. Shekka gave him a strange look, then pondered for a moment, "No, wait a minute." ”

"Huh?"

"Wait, wait. It occurred to me that you had asked me about Efaya and Orria, and that meant that you had never known about Lord Diffonor...... The Duke would then celebrate him, for he was an adult and a noble Efaya. ”

"What?" Mo Shi began to feel inexplicable, he didn't know enough about Snowkin to quickly understand the meaning of the other party's words.

Shekha tugged at his sleeve and pulled Moshi towards the side of the road, then whispered, "There are so many things that have happened one after another, and no one has explained them to you in detail." Master Diffonor wasn't 'sick', he couldn't leave his room because he was at a critical juncture in the period of differentiation. ”

Seeing Mo Shi's dazed but inquisitive look, Xie Ka coughed a few times and said in a low voice: "In the center, people say that this is the 'good breeding period', but there are more of what we call the 'boom period'. ”

Mo Shi didn't understand it very well, but then, his brain circuits finally connected the snowwalkers with the sexual characteristics of the canines -

"Hair, hair...... Estrus?" He was stunned by what he had said, "That is, Lord Diffonor's first estrus?"

This also explains a lot of things in an instant. For example, there are no women in the army here, and the young men don't often talk about women, and the Hyar travel with maids, and Duna really doesn't encounter much harassment here. If the snowwalker race has an estrus period, it means that their need for sex in normal times will be much lower than that of the human race. However, for the pampered aristocracy, the situation is obviously not so absolute.

Moshi thinks of Pamu Autumn Crow and the series of tragedies he caused.

"So it's estrus, right?" he repeated.

"You ......" Sheika covered his eyes, as if he had heard foul language.

After a while, he lowered his hand and said, "Yes." The first boom will be a difficult transition and will mean eventual differentiation. And Lord Diffindor has divided into Efaya, his smell is strong and oppressive, like a thick oak tree, and the Duke is very happy—when all is said and done, when we return to the Red Sand Castle, the Lord will surely hold a grand dinner for Diffindor and determine his succession. ”

I see.

And that meant he was going to get married. "War is the best gift for a wedding...... I speculate on my own that the Duke wishes to win him a noble wife. ”

"What do you think...... Could that be the daughter of the Marquis of Autumn Crow?" Mo Shi asked cautiously.

"Maybe there is someone else in the duke's eyes. But in any case, there will definitely be another marriage with the autumn crow. ”

Hearing Sheka say this, Mo Shi's gaze couldn't help but fall on Dino Firesparrow standing in the distance.

Dino was grooming his two-horned pony when he noticed Moshi's gaze and turned back to him and smiled. The boy's smile was like a small golden sunflower, and Mo Shi could not associate him with the word "marriage" for the time being.

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Soon, the Marquis of Autumn Crow and the king's envoys also arrived in the Silver Field. They brought with them the first goods to "pay" for the Knights (i.e., the army led by Dino) who had built and maintained the negotiated land, as well as more food and wine.

Mo Shi was a newcomer, and of course could not be of much help in the negotiations, so he only stayed in the house with the retainers of the Firebird family while the king's envoys gave speeches.

He stood with Sheka Hawthorn, and the retainers bustled the room.

The king's envoy walked to the center of the hall.

It was a tall and lanky old man, wearing a tall white hat trimmed with gold trim and a wide white robe, and he looked as tall as an obelisk.

He began to give a long speech, first in praise of the gods, then in praise of the king's fame, and the glory of the two great lords, and this alone went on and on, as if from ancient times to the present day.

Mo Shi was very interested in history, but unfortunately the minister seemed to use some kind of ancient language, and used a poetic recitation style and rhyme, even after the translation of the blue bird, it was a bit obscure for Mo Shi.

The Marquis of the Crow and the Marquis of the Fire Sparrow sat opposite each other on either side of the house.

The Marquis of Autumn Crow lost his heir, and then suffered the devastation of war, and looked extremely decrepit.

He was much older than the Duke of Firesparrow (or perhaps just looked older), mild-mannered, and twitched slightly from nervousness—a pitiful contrast to the strength and arrogance of the Duke of Firesparrow's uprightness.

Then, Moshi noticed a young man standing beside the Marquis. The shape of the young man's ears looked familiar, and he had a pair of emerald green eyes. These physiognomy traits reminded Moshi of Novo Fei.

But he's certainly not Novin Fei. He was much younger, pretty, slender, and at the same time a little neurotic paranoia in his eyebrows.

He looked at Mo Shi.

His eyes were as sharp as thorns, which made Mo Shi a little uncomfortable.

-

In the negotiations, Autumn Crow tries to stall for time and deliberate, while Firefinch, as the victor, does not give an inch and wants to finalize the contract as soon as possible (however, Snowwalker is clearly more concerned about ritual and legitimacy than Moshi thinks).

The negotiations between the two sides continued intermittently for a month, accompanied by quarrels and accusations from the retainers.

During this period, the "summer" of the frozen continent has also officially arrived.

Moshi had nothing to do, and out of caution not to overdo it in the presence of other family subjects, the only pleasure was walking—not easy, and had to be accompanied by a guard.

Regardless, the green fields and warm temperatures are a delight for Moshi.

He also used that time to conceive more about the design of weapons and armies. Modern tactics are ever-changing, and the variety of weapons is endless. Hot weapons such as guns can't be added to the crafting list for the time being, but city walls, stirrups, and even gunpowder can be tried.

Such easy days (for Mosher) ended in mid-August:

Under the arbitration of the king's envoys, the contract was finalized, and the lords of both sides signed noble surnames.

According to the contract, the Marquis of Autumn Raven ceded two hunting grounds in the south, but kept all the cities; the amount of "compensation" was quite large, and the Duke of Firebird expressed full satisfaction with this, and at the same time, the Marquis also married his cousin to the Duke as a side room, which can be said to have minimized his posture; the fourth ......

At this point, Shekha fell silent for some reason.

"What else?" Moshi urged him to continue.

"Miss Dia......" he said.

"Miss Dia?"

"Miss Dia will have a new fiancé. Sheka said with difficulty, as if she had a charcoal fire stuck in her throat, "She will make a marriage contract with the third son of the Marquis of Autumn Crow." ”

Mo Shi was stunned.

Shekha continued: "The third son of the Marquis of Autumn Crow...... He was not yet ten years old. ”

And this will be where Diya Firebird will be.

At first, Mo Shi was stunned and angry, but then he had to realize that this might be the best option for the Duke and many others.

He remembered the maiden standing on the wall, her hands folded and praying to God.

She had expected it then. So she's not praying to God, she's just resigning herself to fate.