The Niru nomads were really pitiful, caught between the Nords and the orcs for centuries, and now they could finally catch their breath, and now they had to be greeted by the gracious people from heaven, and then they were kindly taken from their livestock and food for the winter. If they really want to keep the tribe alive, they will probably have to leave the depths of the steppe and surrender honestly to the Nord defenders in the city and outpost.

Of course, this is also a good thing in a sense. After all, the times have changed, and the door of the industrial age of the guiding force is about to be kicked open by a certain protagonist and his friends and a teacher who defy the sky, and if the nomads want to continue to survive, they can only honestly bow to civilization.

If you want to have just the right meal, there is no shame.

However, the throes of civilizational change are always painful. Not only the Niru people whose quality of life is comparable to that of primitive societies, but also those who claim to be in a civilized society.

Now, the time has gradually reached the glorious age, and the sky of Elichar is obviously drizzling, but for some reason, the air in the whole city is full of a tiresome heat. It was as if on the day of the upheaval in Elichar, all the fire and blood remained in every corner of the city, never to be dispersed.

Now, the self-proclaimed "federal legitimate government" of the Emergency Committee has been in control of Elichar for more than three months. And in the past three months, citizens have watched their quality of life decline day by day at an almost visible rate.

Food prices are getting higher and higher, but there has been a shortage. Ordinary citizens queue up in front of the grain store, but they often only have a limited amount of food, barely enough to fill their families. It is not realistic to guarantee the staple food of all-white bread, it must be mixed with a considerable amount of brown bread and potatoes. Fresh meat, fruits and vegetables have not been seen for nearly a month, and only a little salted fish and air-dried meat can be added to the bran porridge.

If you are on the front line of the long-term confrontation, this kind of food is already good, but what is Elichar? O the first good district of the Federation! In addition to the refugees and bankrupts who were about to become slaves in the East Side, most of them were craftsmen, craftsmen, small traders, government workers, etc., who were also the main burghers in the big cities before the industrial age. On average, they work more than 10 hours a day to feed and clothe their family. If you work a little more diligently, you can cut a piece or two of meat from time to time, bring some candy and snacks for the children, change new clothes for the family during the holidays, and even save some money.

If it's in Lu Xi's hometown, what is 996 compared to this kind of work intensity? Red Flag can continue to recruit exhibitions a long time ago. But in the current world, in this era, the small citizens of the city feel that they are very happy, at least much happier than the mud legs who need to dig in the field bitterly.

Regardless, they always see hope.

But now, such a small but real happiness is fragile like a soap bubble under the summer sun, and it is gone when it is gone.

Forty-year-old Taran walked through the alleys of Elichar's eastern district, holding a large paper bag. His steps were slightly heavy, his face was full of exhaustion, but the smell of smoky ham emanated from the large paper bag in his hand. Not to mention the extraordinary time like now, even if it is ordinary, this is definitely a rare delicacy in the slums of Dongcheng. Walking through the streets and alleys with a large bag of ham in such a place, it stands to reason that he should have been beaten a long time ago, but this tired man who is full of vicissitudes of life and exhaustion is like a lion patrolling his own territory, obviously full of flaws, but no one dares to make a mistake. Even as he passed by, two drunken men who were fighting each other at the corner of the street hurriedly stopped. Their bruised and swollen old faces were unsightly, but they also smiled at Taran that bordered on flattery.

Taran snorted, ignoring the drunks and moving on. As soon as he walked away, the two men began to fight each other again.

"It's all in this situation, it's better to move bricks if you have this thought...... Heh, it's hard to even find a job moving bricks these days. The man sighed inwardly. Even he, a man with "modest prestige" in the slums, felt confused, let alone others.

A block from his house, Taran sorted out the contents of the paper bag: a piece of white bread the size of a fist, a black loaf of bread long enough to knock him to death, four dirty potatoes, a stinky salted fish with a faint green tinge, a bottle of canned peas that were at least three years old, and a piece of air-dried meat that was not known how many years old. Theoretically, according to the rationing system now in place in Elichar, this would be the food for the family of six for the following week.

The uncle's mood was suddenly a little low, but fortunately, he still had some way, and finally managed to get a smoked ham on the black market. This almost cost me a whole golden mileage, which is a small treasury that I have saved for nearly half a year. Looking at the remaining few silver horns, he decided to spend them without doing anything. So, after figushing between a small bottle of rum and a bag of candy for five minutes, he finally chose the latter.

The money bag was empty, and Taran's mood was empty for a long time, but when he arrived at the door, he suddenly felt that he was filled up again at the thought of the surprise he would give to his family.

Taran's house is a small three-story building at the end of Grey Worm Lane, which looks quite old, mottled and dilapidated, quite in line with the style of the slums. However, if it is for a family of four, at least the living mask is quite generous.

This uncle, who has a meaty face and a fierce face, can play the gangster boss without makeup, walked to the door, and vaguely smelled the aroma of beef stew. The mellow taste spread from his nostrils to his body, and Taran suddenly felt that he was instantly healed. The fatigue of queuing in a grain store all day, and the humiliation of nodding people on the black market are all swept away. This is the taste of home, this is the most powerful taste in the world......

That's weird! I got a piece of ham from the black market, where did you get the beef?

Taran scrambled open the door and rushed in the direction of the scent. I saw such a disobedient scene.

The eldest daughter, Dorothy, who is sixteen, is busy at the stove. She didn't light her own clay stove, which was full of smoke and fire, but operated an iron plate-like thing. But he only saw a glimmer of red light on the big iron plate, and he didn't see any flames or smoke coming out, and the big iron pot on top of it gurgled and bubbled. The beef, potatoes, and carrots tumble in the soup, giving off an enticing aroma.

The long table next to the kitchen was already filled with several large plates of pies, bread, side dishes and fruit. The eldest son, Pedro, is playing chess with his second son, Charles, who is nine, in the corner of the long table, with a chessboard in the corner of the long table. The chessboard is new, the chess pieces are new, and at first glance they are of the highest quality.

Looking at the dining table, the scene frightened old Taran for a moment and almost fainted. His youngest son, Sammy, five, and his youngest daughter, Rey, are playing around an oversized snow leopard. The carnivorous beast was so huge that it took up almost half of the space in the restaurant, and it felt like it could bite off the little son's head as soon as he raised his head, and then he could disembowel the little daughter with just stretching out his claws.

Taran's eyes were red, and he pulled out the black bread from the paper bag—as I had said before, this thing would kill a man with a hard swing—and prepared to rush forward.

However, after taking a few steps, another figure turned out in the corner of the kitchen.

It was a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl, with green hair, big green eyes, fair skin, a round face with baby fat, a petite and delicate figure, and even felt a little younger than her daughter. Although he is in armor, he still doesn't look like a warrior, but more like a girl playing cosplay.

Taran was in a trance. The girl was certainly not a stranger, but she hadn't seen her in years.

"Alright." The girl said to her daughter Dorothy and handed over a large bowl of eggs that had been stirred evenly.

"Thank you, Sister Jade." Dorothy smiled and took it sideways, only to see her father who was stunned by the door.

"Ah, Dad, you're back."

"This, these ......"

"It's all brought by Sister Jade, and this new ...... Well, what is it called, it's really easy to use! ”

"Yes, and our new chessboard, and a lot of books." Pedro and Charles were also very happy.

"Daddy!" Two young children ran over in high spirits.

Taran looked at the high-end snacks on the table and tried to hide the candy bag behind him, but he was already snatched by the quick-eyed Xiaoshanmi.

"Thank you, Dad." Xiao Yamami happily took the cheap candy and carefully shared it with her sister.

"This, what the hell is this......" Uncle Taran's brain continued to crash.

"Greetings, Mr. Taran." The jade girl, who looked a little smaller than her daughter, greeted her with a bow. Of course, she has been like this for a few years, and time seems to have stood still in her body, but she has no characteristics of elves, dragons, giants, and other immortal species, and she is really a little girl full of mysteries.

"yes, long time no see, Miss Jade." Taran finally regained his ability to think, and the brains of the working people at the bottom, full of life wisdom, spun rapidly: "I remember, you went with Mary and Jock to become a retainer for a big nobleman, right?" ”

"Yes."

"All those gifts that come to your door every New Year, all those Morshire rock wines, roses, nectar, new clothes, toys, new books, etc., are you the ones who send them?"

"It was all arranged by Mary."

"Oh, that's right......"

"Hmmm......"

“……”

“……”

"......" Mr. Taran twitched his cheek in annoyance, although I knew you were a taciturn strange girl before, but how would I answer if you didn't speak first?

However, the "fierce" snow leopard next to him suddenly spoke, and spit out a gentle and soothing voice that even made people want to bully: "Hello, Mr. Taran." The next name is Panarsis, and this time I have asked Lady Rim to visit you. I brought a request from my host, Master Lucy Belencaster. ”

Taran first noticed that the fat snow leopard was talking about "lady", which was not only an honorific title for a woman with a certain status, but also often a name for the mistress of the noble retainers, and then a thunderous name.

A talking snow leopard is nothing compared to that.

Mr. Taran, who is quite famous in the slums, has ever come into contact with the biggest official in his life is the captain of the security guard in Dongcheng District, so when the names of the legendary heroes of the Federation, the living Valkyries, admirals, archmages, and "rebel leaders" suddenly appear in his life, he calms down.

He smiled, and suddenly put on a rebellious face of a low-level person, and said without yin or yang: "Oh, such a big man, do you still know my cheap name?" ”

"I said that." Lim was still expressionless.

…… It's not good, it's almost broken! This little girl is still so good. When I was asked to help her find a job, she stared at me like this, but I was so overwhelmed by her courage.

"Nicole and Mr. Long asked me who I could trust. That's what I mentioned about you. Lim said again.

So, Who is Nicole? Who is Mr. Long?

"Anyway, Dad, I think you should listen to Sister Jade and Mr. Snow Leopard. Now is the greatest period of change in 500 years, and if we want to make our voice heard in the kingdom of tomorrow, we must know where we stand now. Twelve-year-old Pedro looks like a little adult, serious and old-fashioned.

"Stinky boy, when your father was alone in Dongcheng District, you were still in your mother's belly! Are you done with your grammar school class today? Is the homework done? I'll check it out later! ”

"You can't read, so you can't do it even if you want to check it, right?"

Taran was almost so angry that he turned his back on him.

At this time, nine-year-old Charles handed over a thick stack of newspapers: "This is the headline of today's Eli Charles Times." Daddy, look at the headlines. ”

"Nonsense, I can't read!"

Charles chuckled and let out an "oh" as he picked up the newspaper to read.

Taran suddenly found that except for two preschool children, he, the father, was actually the most uneducated one in the family, and suddenly his heart was filled with nothing to add, and he began to wonder if he had made the right choice to take out all his savings and send the children to study at a nearby grammar school.

At this time, he only heard Charles chanting in a cool young voice: "Painful failure! The army at the front was defeated, Lieutenant General Drake Eurentian was killed, and the East fell! Bloodrose sacks Octalia! ”

：。 ：