After leaving Blackhammer Castle, Rhodes and Lawrence headed south along the Frost Trail.
Most of the roads along the way were dilapidated villages and wilderness areas. They avoided the forest and tried to take the main road to avoid encountering enemies such as beastmen again. Like the Empire, Kislev was a huge country, but most areas were
Covered by wilderness and forest, except for a few big cities where the population is relatively concentrated, the population in other areas is very scattered, and it usually takes a long time to find a village.
On the third day, Rhodes and Lawrence discovered the first village with living people. Looking from a distance, they could see a dozen low wooden houses scattered in the newly melted snow and mud, with wisps of white floating out of the simple chimneys.
Smoke. When I got closer, I realized that the people here were suffering from diseases.
"My two sons, the eldest son went hunting with an old hunter in the forest a few years ago and was killed by wild beasts. The remaining younger son was bitten by a mouse last winter. He didn't care at the time. He didn't start until last month.
Symptoms of rat fever appeared. One-third of the people in the village were infected."
Rhodes and Lawrence came to a farmer's house and listened to an old Kislev farmer telling the story of his family. This is probably the situation of ordinary farmers in Kislev. Kislev is not a wealthy country.
Located at the northeastern end of the empire, the land here is barren, the climate is cold, and crops are basically harvested once a year. This makes it impossible for the entire country to become rich through agriculture. However, nomadic and hunting, the forest is too dangerous, and other resources are not very abundant.
Rhodes knew that the wrinkled old farmer in front of him represented the life of a generation of lower-class people in Kislev.
As he spoke, he smeared the child's wound with homemade ointment. According to him, this was the only ointment that could treat rat fever. The boy had a high fever and lay quietly in his father's arms, where he was bitten by the rat.
It has begun to fester.
"That's unfortunate, your son is going to be fine."
Rhodes whispered.
"I hope so."
The old farmer said.
"By the way, where are you going? Looking at your clothes, you look like knights?"
he asked next.
"Kislev, the city of Kislev. Yes, we are knights, knights of the north..."
Rhodes replied mockingly.
"Kislev...that's where the Queen lives. Where are you going and what are you doing? It's still far away from the city of Kislev. Legend has it that that place is where the Snow Queen lives. It's a city built of ice, but
I haven `t been there."
the farmer said.
"Maybe, that should be a great city. All cities rebuilt on ruins are great. Let's go somewhere to do something."
Rod returns.
"Oh, I'm sorry...I shouldn't have asked. Lord Knight."
The old farmer said again.
"fine……"
"You are a qualified father. You have done everything you can do."
Rhodes said comfortingly.
"But we still couldn't save my son. He was seriously injured."
The farmer answered. His face became even more sad, and a frown covered his forehead.
"ointment?"
"The ointment is not enough. We made it ourselves. It is made from goat's milk and iced pepper juice. I can get some goat's milk, but the iced pepper is too expensive. My annual income is not enough."
I can’t afford a handful of ice pepper. Most of the ingredients in these ointments are dried goat’s milk, and the ingredients of ice pepper are very few. The effect of this medicine is not enough. Just apply it first and hope it will be useful. Do you think so?
Lord Knight."
The farmer said, squeezed a little more and applied it on his son's arm. He even applied the ointment directly with his hands without worrying about being infected. But if you think about it carefully, his eldest son died and his wife was also very sick.
He had died a long time ago, and now, his only son was about to die. If the little son in his arms died again, he would have no hope, so it would be better to die.
"Ice pepper?"
Rhodes took the ointment, looked at it carefully, and asked about the ointment. He had heard of Kislev ice pepper, but he never knew what it was used for. Today it seems that it is a medicinal material.
And it seems to be an extremely precious medicinal material.
"Yes, ice pepper, it is a treasure. It can only be found in the north..."
"Then why is it so expensive?"
Rhodes asked.
"Because it is difficult to grow... ice pepper is different from other crops. It is an extremely cold crop. The colder the weather, the better it grows. And if it only requires severe cold, then its planting cost is not high. The key is, in
During its harvest season, it requires extremely cold climate temperatures to truly mature, and this extreme low temperature cannot occur in the natural environment, so it requires the frost witch's ice magic to make it mature."
While holding the ointment, Rhodes examined it while listening to the old farmer describing the properties of local specialty crops. In an instant, a bold idea poured into Rhodes' head. Low temperature, snow, frost witch... something about Keith
The information about Kif's ice peppers came together in my mind, and all these difficult growing environments were suitable for my territory. Blackhammer Castle is located at the northernmost tip of Kislev. Needless to say, the climate is cold, and there is snow all year round.
The soil is covered with frost and snow for half of the year. And isn’t the frost witch Caroline ready? Such high-value crops cannot be grown elsewhere, but in their own territory, they meet all planting conditions!
The only one who needs trouble is Caroline, but it shouldn't be difficult.
"Sir? Would you like some hot water?"
The old farmer's words brought Rhode's thoughts back to the present. He was still squeezing the ointment, and the dried powdered ointment was sprinkled bit by bit from the boy's injured area.
"Can you tell me where I can get the seeds of ice pepper?"
Rhodes asked excitedly.
"Are you talking about the seeds of ice pepper? Sir."
The old farmer asked again, as if he didn't understand what Rhode wanted.
"Yes, the seeds of ice pepper."
"Ice pepper seeds are sold in many markets. Sir, aren't you going to the capital city of Kislev? They are sold in the markets there. The price is not expensive, but the key lies in the difficulty of planting. Alas, the Frost Witch can do it
There are so many things to do. We poor people all look forward to having a frost witch in our family, but when they grow up, they often cannot return home. Alas..."
The old farmer said to himself.
"I understand, thank you, friend."
Rhodes said excitedly and then handed a gold crown to the old man's hand.
"Buy your son some real ice peppers."
Rhodes said. You can see the surprised expression on the old man's face. The relationship between the knight and the peasants was originally the upper and lower classes. They were already very happy that the knight did not disturb their lives. But now, the knight in front of him actually rewarded him with a gift.
A gold coin. For him, this was almost a whole year's income. The old farmer was so excited that he couldn't speak. He wanted to grab Rhodes' hand, but he was afraid that his hand would be dirty, so he stretched it out halfway and then retracted it.