To the north of Lancaster is a dilapidated slum.

Once upon a time, this was also an ordinary civilian area, although it was not as noble and elegant as the aristocratic district in the south of the city, nor as prosperous as the business district in the east of the city, and there was also a big gap with the slightly chaotic black market in the west of the city, but everyone could at least live a good life.

Until the fall of Tiera.

Lancaster City was not greatly damaged, but it was based on the aristocratic and commercial districts of the city's core.

In fact, the civilian areas were the ones that were most affected by the war, and because they were not managed and repaired, they were now reduced to slums and dilapidated, and many of the buildings that were destroyed by the war are still in ruins that are in danger of collapsing at any time.

In the ruins of one of the houses, three shivering children are trying to draw some warmth from the flames around a campfire that will be extinguished at any moment.

Simba is an orphan whose parents died in the war a few years ago, and the house they left behind was occupied by a gang of ruffians, who not only resisted to no avail, but were driven out by the ruffians who had robbed them of all their money.

Eventually, he ended up in the ruins of the house and met two siblings, Shazu and Nana, who were also orphans.

The three children hit it off and formed a small group, and on weekdays, they helped the merchants in the business district to run errands and do odd jobs, and occasionally petty theft, barely able to make ends meet.

But this year's frost and fog season was unexpectedly long, and their food and firewood had already been exhausted before the frost and fog season came, and even the few coins in their hands were spent, but the sun had no intention of showing its face from the clouds.

"The fire is almost out, so add some more wood." Shazu suggested to Simba with some hesitation.

"No, the wood on this house can't be demolished anymore, it's fragile now, and if it is demolished again, it will only take a gust of wind to blow it down."

Simba shook his head and said.

The long frost season has caused the price of firewood in the shop to rise to a bundle of rien, and Simba and they simply can't afford it.

"Brother"

Leaning on Shazu, Nana, a little girl with yellow face and thin muscles, closed her eyes and said in a voice like a mosquito moaning, "I'm so hungry."

The two boys looked at each other, but at this time, let alone two children, even adults didn't have a good way.

"If I really can't do it, I'll go out of the city to chop some firewood and come back" He gritted his teeth and made a decision: "As long as we can bring back three or five bundles, we will have our own firewood and food for Nana!" ”

"Don't do anything stupid!" Sha Zu's face changed, and he dissuaded again and again: "Few of those woodcutters who are worried about Lien have come back alive, there are many coyotes in the forest this year, and many experienced old hunters and well-equipped city guards have been planted!" And I've heard from the mercenaries in the tavern that they've seen a rather rare dragon-toothed fangs on the outskirts of the forest, which are much more terrifying than saber-toothed tigers! ”

"But there's no other way." Simba said with some pain: "There are no other odd jobs to be found during the frost season, and there are no people on the street who can do it"

Shazu wanted to say something, but at this time, the two boys tacitly stopped talking, and they heard footsteps outside.

It was a very light sound, and if it weren't for the fact that there was a thick layer of snow on the ground that would creak when you walked up, I am afraid they would not have heard each other approaching at all.

Could it be a slave trader?

The two little ones glanced at each other, quietly picked up the stones on the ground, half the size of their heads, and their hearts beat faster with nervousness.

If children like them are captured as slaves, their lives are almost over, and no normal people who need slaves will buy dirty children with yellow faces and thin muscles as slaves, and they will be sent to underground black mines to work until they die of exhaustion, and even be directly used as food for various monsters raised in the gladiatorial arena to be thrown to each other to eat

As a result, when that person appeared at the door, Simba and Shazu both subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, although they were still wary of each other, but they were not as exaggerated as just now.

The man was a tall, thin middle-aged man, who called himself Mufasa, and carried a strange long, thin and long-edged sword that was completely different from the thick long sword of the mercenaries.

But if you want to say that he is a vagabond, the clothes are very clean, without the slightest stain, and there are no unsightly wrinkles on the clothes, and they are very smooth.

Obviously, it takes a lot of effort to wash or iron, so much so that Simba has to wash a garment sewn from rags so often? feelings.

This is not the first time Simba and Shazu have seen him.

Not long after the frost and fog season began, the middle-aged man had excitedly asked them if they wanted to join a mysterious church, but the other party did not say what the specific church was, so Simba once thought it was an unspeakable cult and ignored it.

He didn't want to take the Shazu brothers and sisters to join some strange cult, and in the end he was inexplicably sacrificed to the evil god or something.

Fortunately, the other party didn't bother much, and left after being rejected by Simba.

After that, the other party also appeared a few times, but it was the same as the first time, and the persuasion failed and left directly.

Seeing the two teenagers holding the stones in their hands, Mufasha made a gesture of surrender by raising his hands to show that he was not hostile.

"It's so cold this guy, don't you mind if I'll come and have a little fire, right?" As if completely oblivious to the wariness and hostility on Simba's faces, he gathered around the campfire.

No one saw what he did, but the campfire was suddenly much stronger, and the light of the fire flickered in the room with only half the ceiling left, and the warmth spread so that Simba felt as comfortable as if he was taking a hot bath, even though he couldn't remember the last time he had taken a hot bath.

Mufasha glanced at a corssop in the corner covered in tooth marks and raised an eyebrow.

So he didn't know where to take out a helmet-shaped pot and put it on the campfire, took a handful of clean snow from the outside and put it in the pot to boil, then took out a bunch of spices that Simba couldn't name and put it in the pot, and finally took out a piece of bacon, pulled out the long sword behind his back, brushed the ground a few times, cut it into slices of meat as thin as parchment paper, and put it in the pot and boiled.

This made Simba blink, that long sword is a kitchen knife used to cut meat? But it doesn't feel convenient for so long, and it won't hurt others?

After a while, the aroma of the broth escaped, and Simba and the others couldn't help but swallow.

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Chapter 151: Slums