For the puppet leader of the Barda tribe, Avala, this winter was both a blessing and a curse.
Roddy did not return with his team as planned, which caused the puppet leader to have many thoughts. But before he could do anything, the loud voices of Irwin and the others completely dispelled his thoughts.
The countless giant armors and weapons pulled on the sleigh made the surrounding barbarians widen their eyes. The Fendi elk, which was as sturdy as a mountain, even deterred a group of barbarian warriors who thought of themselves as capable. Needless to say, Roddy had already reached an unshakable position in their eyes. But when these fellows heard from Irwin that the ten thousand snow monsters had all been killed, the crowd of onlookers completely quietened down.
"Ten thousand snow monsters are all dead? How is that possible … "
The power of magic was something that these barbarians could not understand at all. So no matter how Irwin and the surviving mercenaries described it, the others in the tribe did not believe it was true.
Roddy did not expect this group of illiterates to understand anything. He only appeared to explain the cause of the dead barbarians and compensated the families of these barbarians with several sets of armor and weapons. Then, he went to discuss other matters with Sodelor.
The barbarians were already indifferent to death. In the past, it was normal for a few people to die when they went hunting. But now, they had never heard of "compensation" for the dead. Irwin did not understand either. He came over and asked for a long time. After learning the term "compensation", he explained it to the group of illiterates. Only then did they roughly understand. The result was that they supported Roddy even more and forgot the original leader, Avala, in a corner.
Roddy did not care what the barbarians thought at all. What he was considering now was the problem of how to expand the source of troops here.
"Irwin, if we go east, how many tribe encampments can you find?"
In the warm room, Roddy, who was warming himself by the fire, asked the big guy beside him. The latter was holding a deer leg and gnawing on it with grease dripping from his mouth. Hearing this, he wiped his mouth and replied, "Boss, finding seven or eight shouldn't be a problem. I've been to those places. It's just that it'll take a few days to get there in the snowstorm. "
After the battle in Solomon's Instance Dungeon, Erwin was completely convinced by Roddy. He kept calling Roddy "Leader". Seeing that he was determined to follow him, Roddy gave him Sauron's battle axe. He also let Erwin follow him as his "bodyguard" and let him call him "Boss". This made Erwin so happy that he could call him "Boss".
"Are you familiar with those leaders? How is their relationship with the Barda tribe? "
"Leader Vargro and I get along quite well, and Sloth, who is heading west, is also quite good …"
Erwin looked silly, but in fact, his memory and judgment were not bad, and his ability to express himself was not bad. Therefore, Roddy quickly learned about the other tribes from him and made a plan in his heart.
In his memory, there was no "human encampment" in the glacial plains because there was nothing interesting in the Barbarian Tribe. The so-called "mercenaries" would only appear when the Barbarians took the initiative to walk out of the snowy mountains.
But now that the threat of the snow monsters was gone, and he had opened up a new situation, what was he waiting for? The best choice was to turn this place into a "rear base" as soon as possible.
In his memory, even when the Undead Orcs were wreaking havoc in the country, no one had ever come to the glacial plains to cause trouble. Therefore, it would be a waste for Roddy to not have this kind of territory that stood aloof from worldly affairs and was full of excellent soldiers.
With a decision made, all that was left was action. The next day, Roddy had the soldiers begin to dismantle and modify the giant armors. He then had the "Train King" pull the three large sleighs and bring Erwin and the others deeper into the territory.
At the same time, Sodelor, who stayed behind, began to record and map the nearby terrain, making early preparations for the construction of the city in the future.
Rody only returned after ten days. When he once again arrived at the Barda tribe's encampment, the number of barbarian 'mercenaries' following behind him had increased by fifty-four barbarian 'mercenaries' compared to the beginning.
In fact, the total population of the seven tribes he visited had already exceeded two thousand, but this was, after all, their first contact with humans outside the glaciers. It was already a good start for Roddy to be able to rely on goods to exchange for three years of employment with these barbarians.
Of course, Erwin's testimony and the size of the Fendi Elk also played a big role.
Fifty-four barbarian soldiers wasn't a lot, but this was just the beginning. Roddy believed that … when the construction of the base here was completed, these outstanding soldiers would continuously replenish his troops.
It was an indisputable fact that the level of the barbarian civilization was low. If everyone had a full stomach, perhaps Roddy really wouldn't have been able to get so many young and strong lads on his first trip. These guys were all about the same size as Erwin. The main reason why they were pushed out by the leaders was that they consumed too much food and did not have enough hunting skills … Exchanging a group of "good-for-nothings" for a batch of weapons and equipment was probably a good deal for the leaders.
These young men who were sold out by the leaders also knew their limits. None of them had any arrogance at all. They all waited anxiously for their punishment. But what they didn't expect was that on the second day of the team's return, it happened to be the traditional "New Year's Day" in the Kingdom of Karen.
So, under Roddy's orders, the soldiers slaughtered sheep and deer to make soup and drink. A full meal made these guys completely loyal.
"Wow, what a group of great lads."
Sodelor rubbed his chin and clicked his tongue in admiration. He was very satisfied with this group of immature guys. Soldiers were trained, and it did not matter if they had hunting skills because going into battle was a whole different system of things. Most importantly, they had a good foundation and were still young. The military instructors liked this kind of students who were as white as paper.
"They'll probably become talented in a few months. After killing a few battles, I'm afraid they'll be able to do whatever they want in the Kingdom."
With an average height of two meters, powerful bodies, and the talent of 'Berserkers', they could even suppress the Beastmen on the battlefield. When he thought about how he could command such powerful soldiers, Sodelor felt like he would wake up laughing even in his dreams.
"You can do as you see fit. But … I'm afraid we don't have much time left." Roddy patted Sodelor's shoulder and looked at the endless snow-capped mountains in the south. "Once the preparations are done, let's prepare to return."
"The last time we celebrated the New Year, we were on the way to Sora Outpost. This year, we're in this godforsaken place again. What a rush …"
Rody looked at the heavy snow that was falling again and his heart was filled with emotion.
*****
Elon Calendar, Year 590, 12th of January.
At this time in the past, Hollier, the largest city in the northwest of the Kingdom of Karen, would hold many large-scale celebrations since the beginning of the New Year. All kinds of banquets would be held endlessly, and the entire city would often be brightly lit until the end of January.
But this year, Hollier was as quiet as a graveyard.
The main streets of the city were empty. As far as the eye could see, all the buildings seemed to be covered with a thick layer of white cloth. The falling snow made the snow even thicker, and the white smoke rising from the chimneys made everything look like a silent oil painting.
The snow had been falling intermittently for two months.
This New Year was very depressing for the nobles. Due to the blockage of the roads, the originally moving caravans basically stopped, so they could only sit in front of the bright red fireplace, wrapped in fur blankets, and pass the day in a daze as they looked out the window at the feather-sized snow.
As for Hollier's castellan, Sally, she was currently praying in the Rose Cross Monastery with her eyes closed.
After a few months, the female Duke had grown a little taller. Her brows had become more dignified due to her high position, and her face had thinned quite a bit. Dressed in a blue and white priest's robe, she was especially eye-catching among the nuns and friars in the church.
Ever since Roddy left, Sally would come to the statue in the monastery every day to pray. Even though the weather was getting worse, she was never an exception.
After praying, Sally would politely bid farewell to her comrades in the church. Although she had a smile on her face, her mood was as gloomy as the weather.
"Miss, these are the letters that just arrived today."
After returning to the mansion, the butler John brought over a stack of letters of different sizes, and at the same time began to summarize the information he had gathered over the past few days. "The feedback from the merchants in Paar City says that they have almost cleared out all their goods, and their profits are a little more than expected. However, because they have been suppressing prices, a few places have been attacked by local bullies, and there have been some losses …"
"The situation in Hollier is still stable, and the food that was hoarded earlier has stabilized the price. The nobles who want a share of the profits are more restrained now …"
"Restrained? You call that restraint? Hmph. "
Perhaps it was because she had been repressed for a long time, Sally was a little annoyed by these few messages, and her brows furrowed deeply.
Speaking of which, before Roddy left, he had already told her everything that might happen this winter, and Sally had listened to his advice. She had secretly started to hoard food and all sorts of winter supplies, so as to prevent people from losing their lives due to a 'food shortage' — or in other words, 'not being able to afford food' — during the coming of the harsh winter.
In fact, the nobles rarely took the initiative to help the commoners in times of natural and man-made disasters. Because of the feudal system, the lords could not wait to squeeze out all the money from their subjects, so why would they care about things like giving out food? Only a compassionate nun like Sally could distribute bread in the slums, and the work of 'helping the refugees' was usually handled by the cloisters, and had little to do with the nobles. At most, they would just give some sponsorship money when they were in a good mood.
As more and more people realized that the harsh winter was a disaster, the prices of food and firewood naturally began to soar. This was caused by the supply and demand of the market, and Sally had no way to make the merchants and nobles lower their prices with a single decree. So she chose to use a large amount of stock to squeeze into the market to stabilize the prices, and successfully pulled down the prices in one fell swoop.
Working together with her was the 'Paar City Merchant' that was controlled by Roddy. Due to the 'absurd' behavior of selling firewood since September, the name of the trading company that had spread out inside and outside the territory had long been deeply remembered by the people. Therefore, when the snowstorm continued and the bitter cold descended, without exception, these shops became the first choice for people to purchase supplies, and they squeezed out the shares of the trading companies that originally belonged to the other nobles in the market.
As a result, more commoners in the territory could survive the harsh winter. At the same time, the nobles who stockpiled food inside and outside the territory also hated Sally to the bone, because they could not sell at a high price as expected and make a profit.
Blocking one's way to wealth was like killing one's parents, and Sally soon paid the price for her actions. The nobles began to unite and play their schemes in all aspects.
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