The first snow in Swadia befell this fertile land before people knew it. When Mu saw the white elves dancing freely with the north wind, he suddenly realized that winter was really coming.

Due to the obstruction of the Jelberg Mountains, the first snowflakes began to fall in Svadia when the Nord houses were about to be buried by heavy snow. Normally, at this time, the Nords, who lack food and clothing, will cross the Gerburg Fort en masse with the determination to die, and then go to the territory of Svadia to get a vote. If you can go back alive, then you can survive this cold winter with the spoils of war safely. If it is dead, it is even better, and there is another brave soul who returns to the throne of the King of God and does not have to suffer in this damned world. However, this winter, the Nords are afraid that they will not be able to do this, and the conflict between King Ragnar and Olafjarr has broken out in full swing, and the two sides have gathered all their forces and are engaged in an endless decisive battle, in this case, it is estimated that no one is willing to provoke the old lion of Svadia.

For Mu, winter is not a problem. Although they live in a village in the mountains, they are still quite rich in supplies, the food has long been purchased, and the trees in the forest are God-given firewood, not to mention that sometimes, the mercenaries who go out on patrol will occasionally bring back some snow chickens, wild wolves and other prey. Mu looked out the window at the mercenaries who were excitedly skinning a bear, smiled and shook his head, these days, there is really nothing to be picky about.

At the wooden table behind her, Princess Asona and the Knight of Fatis were arguing fiercely about something, completely oblivious to their respective identities.

"Haraus will do it at the end of next spring!" said Fatis, "it is already winter, and it is snowing now, and the army will not be able to attack, and after the spring it will be muddy for a while because of the melting of snow, and his cavalry will not be able to move at all, and will have to wait until the ground is dry again." In addition, in late spring, spring ploughing has ended, and the impact on agriculture has been reduced a lot, so the late spring attack should be the best choice. ”

"No, no, no, Knight Fatis, don't you forget, Haraus is an army mobilized in the name of a birthday banquet, have you ever seen a banquet that has been open for half a year?"

"Excuses, wording is hard to find, Your Highness Princess?" Fatis retorted, "but Paraven is a small aristocratic army, although there are many of them, but they are scattered, they are all scattered, and it is impossible for Haraus to let such troops go into battle! After such a delay, it is time for heavy snowfall, and we can only wait until late spring to set off. ”

"Paraven is a city by the sea, knight," argued Isona, "and Harlaus can march by boat, and besides, there is no snow in Rhodok. ”

。。。。

Mu listened to their argument and shook his head helplessly. He felt that it was not up to Haraus to decide when Swadia would send troops, but it was Hakim who had the final say. Otherwise, the early dispatch of troops will only attract all the attention of the Rhodok army, and correspondingly, the pressure on Salander's side will be greatly reduced, and he will take advantage of the weakness by the way. Unless Harauth was willing to be a substitute for the Salanders, he would certainly not have done it before Hakim.

However, Mu still shook his head, he had commanded caravans to fight a lot with bandits from all over the country, but when it came to the large corps of the regular army, he still had no experience at all, even if he had been a "blood blade" military advisor before, but the mercenary group at that time was only a hundred people, and it was not a large corps at all. Therefore, Mu decided to simply leave these troubles to the professionals. And the two professionals seemed to understand Mu's thoughts, and they didn't stop him from leaving the table.

In the cold season when the snow is falling, staying by the comfortable fire can really be said to be a crime, the warm flame makes Mu slack off, just sit for a while, the thick tiredness comes up, making him almost fall asleep. So, he opened the door, and the cold wind immediately swept in, which lifted his spirits. Master. Not far away, Jamila was trotting towards this side, still holding a stack of papers in her hand, "The last convoy to buy grain has returned, and I have made a count of the grain and the like that have been purchased." With that, he handed the document to Mu.

"Thank you. Mu took the document and flipped through it roughly. Jamila's statistics are very detailed, not only listing the amount brought by each convoy, but also intimately recording the data after picking up the moldy grain, and there is even a table at the back, filling in the types of food they currently have and the corresponding amount. After he quickly skimmed through the data, his eyes were fixed on the remaining line, and he could no longer move.

"This... Didn't you say that this year's acquisition situation is not very good?" Mu asked with some surprise.

"That's true. Jamila is still calm, "This year Uxhall has not sold grain at all, and Paravon has also sold a small amount. In addition, the lords of various regions have also reduced the amount of grain sold, and only Suno is still the same as usual. Also, the balance you see is the result of deducting the grain you gave to the Nords. ”

"Even so... Mu rubbed his forehead a little helplessly, "This amount... Even if we don't do anything, we can eat in this mountain for half a year. Is agriculture in Svadia already so terrifying?"

"That's why they can fight against the Five Nations alone. Jamila said calmly.

"Report, Deputy Commander!" a "Blood Blade" mercenary hurriedly ran over, stood still in front of Mu, and gave a chest-beating salute, "There was a truck claiming to be an Austin caravan that wanted to enter the forest, but was stopped by our patrol. ”

"Austin... Mu pondered and felt that the name was very familiar.

"Master," Jamila whispered into Mu's ear, "Austin is a caravan that I have acquired, and its leader is Mr. Kinzel. ”

"I see!" Mu suddenly realized, "It's the one here, hurry, quickly bring them in." ”

"Yes!"

Under the guidance of the soldiers, the wagon, which was heavily guarded by more than a hundred guards, finally came to Mu, and among the guards, there was a woman who was quite conspicuous, only to see that she was wearing a Rhodok priest's robe, but she was wearing a sheepskin cloak of Kuji Special Beggar, on her head a rough looking Nord shaman's wolf head hood, holding an Orodin sacrificial crescent axe in her left hand, and carrying a Allah holy relic incense burner in her right hand。 However, it was also officially this unique style, so that Mu quickly recognized the identity of this group of people.

He walked up and pleasantly greeted the lead escort, "It's been a long time, Mathilde's 'Highness', how does it feel to hold the axe again?"

"It's a hundred times better than a loom. The leader smiled, and this voice turned out to be a woman, "However, compared to the adult next to you, I, 'Your Highness', really don't deserve it." ”

"Hehe, what's wrong with the famous 'Princess of Thorns', the one next to me also admires you. As he spoke, the merchant's expression froze, and he continued, "Although my caravan is still searching, after so many years... ”

"I understand, Boss Mu. Mathilde sighed, and with the only remaining eye, he looked back at the sisters behind him, and the last 124 of the original elite of the princess army of more than 500 people remained, "This can only lament that they are not lucky enough." Still, I thank you for bringing so many of my sisters together. ”

As soon as Mathilde's words fell, the strange mixed woman also came out in crowd, but the female warriors of the "Princess Army" looked at her with a somewhat complicated look. Seeing Mu's gaze projected, she quickly bent her knees, bent over, bowed her head, and then stroked her chest with her left hand, while drawing a cross on her chest with her right hand. The merchant was stunned for a long time before he realized that this person was saluting. Yes, this action contains the curtsy of the Swadian noblewoman, the chest caress of the Kugit or Salander, the bow of Vegia, the chin of the Nord, and the cross prayer of the Order of Rhodok.

Mu felt the corners of his mouth twitch, and coughed lightly twice before he spoke, "Eh, Ms. Selma, I remember... The last time we met, you said you converted to Merandot, right? ”

"Yes, boss. The woman meekly replied, "It is because of my naivety that so many sisters have died." My sins are not to be atoned for, but the God-King has not opened his eyes to us poor women. Only Merando, who did not despise me for her filthy work, rejuvenated me with her sweet fountain and heavy sacrament. From that moment on, I was no longer Thelma, the female warrior of Nord, but a faithful Melando believer. ”

The corners of Mu's mouth twitched even more, and others couldn't hear it clearly, but Mu knew the inside story completely. When the princess army was defeated, Mu happened to come to Nord for the first time to run a business, and when he got lost, he happened to meet Mathilde, who was being hunted down. After helping her send off her pursuers, Mathilde makes a reluctant request to save her sisters.

The merchant agreed without hesitation, for the simple reason that he had just opened a textile factory in Djerkhara and was worried that there would be no enough cheap female workers. As for what happened later, it is easy to say, while he was doing business, he inquired about the news of the princess army. The Nord's character meant that most of them were unreliable, so he quickly collected a large number of Mathilde's old subordinates and sent them back to Djerkhara.

One day, he heard that a female warrior had been taken away by a certain Yar, so he immediately brought a gift to the pier. But before he could get to the door, he saw two men carrying a naked woman out and throwing them into the snow. Mu hurriedly went up to ask, and spent a little money to finally get the identity of this woman from the mouth of the smiling subordinate, the traitor of the "Princess Army", Selma. It was she who fell madly infatuated with one of Ragnar's young Yars, and under his inducement, opened the gates of Fort Crown in the middle of the night. It is also because of this that the once-prosperous "Princess Army" was wiped out. However, she didn't end very well. She was indeed taken away by that Jarl, but not as a wife, but as a slave girl. No, after all the insults and abuses, he was thrown out when he had one breath left. Before leaving, the two subordinates kicked the woman who had already lost consciousness twice, spat in disgust by the way, saying that even inferior people like them would not be able to do the betrayal of Yunyun, and then left with a sense of superiority.

Mu looked at Thelma, who was no different from the corpse, and found that she still had a breath, so he moved her into the truck with the attitude of doing his best and obeying the fate of God. As a result, this tenacious woman miraculously woke up. The first thing I said was to ask

"Where is this?"

Mu was in a hurry, so he replied casually to Svadia. Then the woman fell into self-reproach and depression, and the two of them did not speak again, except for eating, camping, and the like, until Djerkhara handed her over to Mathilde.

Later, when he went to Djerkhala to discuss business, he also visited the textile factory several times. The second time we met, Thelma politely thanked Mu for saving her life, and then told him that she had converted to Merando, and after a few times, Mu began to see some strange religious ceremonies, of course, not as much as today... Peculiar.

Mu snorted and said, "Didn't you say that you believe in Merando, what... How this dress. ”

"Indeed," said Selma, with a fervent smile, "I have taken a special leave of absence to study the doctrine in order to better serve Merando. However, there is not even a serious clergyman to be found. Thelma complained, "So, I had to ask the old farmer for advice at the shrine." But, the way they pray, too... It's simple, and I can't show my respect for the gods, so I have to use what I think is the most solemn way. ”

I see. Mu rubbed his forehead with some difficulty, what is better to worship Merando, this girl is simply engaging in the hegemony of the whole religion. It was also thanks to the Order's killings that she didn't find out, otherwise she would have been burned to ashes by the Inquisition.

After Thelma expressed her gratitude, she bowed down, and Mu quietly leaned over to Mathilde's side, whispering, "I know your sisters don't like her very much, but aren't they also persecuted too harshly?" ”

Mathilde laughed and cried, and explained, "Boss, since my sisters and I are willing to stand with her, it means that we have forgiven her. At that time, she did go very far, but she also got retribution, seeing the tragic situation when she was sent back by you, it is estimated that no sister is willing to care about this, not to mention that she was also deceived. Mathilde looked up at Selma, who was building a stone altar beside the procession, praying devotionally, despite the strange eyes of the sisters, and sighed, "I guess she just can't get past herself." ”

Mu also sighed, how difficult the world is. "Then Mathilde, you take your sister over there," Mu gestured in a direction, "Next, someone will take you to the camp." ”

"Nice boss, thank you again for your help. Mathilde bowed his head, then picked up Selma, who was still kneeling, and walked towards the camp.

As for the leader of the caravan, he waited diligently for Mathilde and the others to leave before he stepped forward to talk.

"Long time no see, boss. ”

"Long time no see, your boss, Mr. Kinzel, is good. Mu responded with a smile.

"All is well," said the chief, grinning, handing over a booklet, "This is a report of this month's business of Rhodok, which I brought to you by the way." ”

"Well, thank you. Mu didn't move, Jamila stepped forward and took the booklet, and then, the merchant looked at the barrels on the truck, "This is?"

"Yes, boss, our boss has put a lot of thought into this thing," the guy smiled wryly, "I accidentally burned a car while I was doing the experiment, and this is the last thing." ”

"It's hard for him," he said, not asking for any help, and stepped forward, picked up a crowbar, and struck open a barrel in between, and in between was a smaller barrel, wrapped tightly in a great deal of snow and ice.

Mu was stunned for a moment, "This is... How do you make ice dew?"

Ice dew wine, one of the most famous Rhodoc wines. The fermentation flora of this wine is unique, and they multiply so quickly that even at room temperature, a barrel of glycol agar can turn into sour swill in a matter of days. However, when the winemakers were researching how to deal with these little things, they were surprised to find that the bacteria can ferment even in the very low temperatures of winter, and although the speed is much slower, the wine produced is crystal clear, the aroma is long, and the taste is mellow but fruity, which is really a rare and excellent product.

In high spirits, they dug deep cellars dedicated to the production of this wine. However, the wine must be kept at a low temperature, otherwise if the temperature rises even a little bit, the flora will quickly become active and destroy the whole barrel. In order to get the wine out of their estate, the winemakers pondered and meditated, and finally imitated the way the cedar mushroom was preserved, escorted by snow and ice all the way. In this way, the wine became an instant hit in the aristocratic circles of Rhodoc and even the entire Calradia. Of course, it's no surprise that this wine has become expensive. [.]