Chapter 5 The Strange Old Man in the Small Town

Whenever people talk about the Yalfheim area in the south of the New World, they always use such a vivid metaphor: If a squirrel keeps jumping from one tree to another, she can jump from Yalfheim without touching the ground. Brass Pass at the southernmost end of Falheim jumps all the way to Port Princes at the northernmost end.

Long before the large-scale immigration of human beings, the "Great Forest of Yalf" was once a paradise for goblins and elves. Now times have changed, and human immigrants from the Old World are replacing goblins and elves as the new masters of this land.

Thanks to the warm and humid climate, the flat and fertile land, the vegetation in the Yalfheim area is dense, the river network is criss-cross, and there are countless prey in the forest. Groups of waterfowl and beavers live on the river beach. Colonists from the mainland continued to pour in, and a southern society based on agriculture was gradually taking shape.

In this agriculturally developed southern colony, wealthy planters controlled most of the fertile land. In order to increase their social influence and that of their families, they also actively participated in public political activities, serving as town councilors and military generals. The power and wealth of the big plantation owners are comparable to the princes of the old continent. They raised groups of servants in their own manors, built luxurious houses, lived a luxurious life of aristocrats, and took cruises abroad on vacation regularly. The social circles of the upper class of the "civilized world" maintained close ties.

The socioeconomic status is inferior to the plantation owners are the self-cultivating farmers. They are committed to developing new land outside the good land occupied by the manor owners, dreaming that one day they can become manor owners themselves. Poorer than the owner-peasants are those "indentured servants" and hereditary serfs. Not only did they have no property of their own, they didn't even dare to hope for freedom.

Joan's hometown "Delin Town" is a typical southern small town with farmers as the main body. Most of the more than 2,000 residents in the town are descendants of the colonists of the Old World. They have cultivated farmland by the river for generations, and they mostly make a living by cultivating grains, tobacco and cotton. Leaders of guilds from all walks of life jointly formed a "town council". All council members elected a mayor to manage daily administrative affairs, and appointed a veteran to serve as the sheriff and militia company commander.

It's midwinter right now, and the Delin River is covered with ice, and the river flows quietly under the ice. The fields on both sides of the river bank are covered with thick snow, which looks a bit desolate.

When the sun was in the west, a tall and strong half-breed winter wolf dragged a sled and galloped along the river bank. Perhaps because he finally returned to his hometown after a long absence, Jamie screamed excitedly. When the wild dogs wandering around the town heard this domineering roar, they were all frightened and ran away with their tails between their legs.

Joan looked away from the spell book, reached out and touched Jamie's back to calm him down.

The half-breed winter wolf lowered its head docilely, and dragged the sled through the streets of the town, and did not slow down until it was near the woods at the northernmost edge of the town.

Joan ordered Jamie to stop, got up and jumped off the sled, moved his hands and feet that were frozen and stiff, and suddenly remembered that there was still a person on the sled. Looking back, he found that the little Asa girl was still unconscious. His face seemed to be paler than in the morning. Joan had to worry that she wouldn't wake up like this, and he didn't know medical skills, so he hesitated for a while and had to drag the sled to find his grandfather.

Both Joan's parents and grandfather used to be professional adventurers, and they lived in the wild all year round, so it was inevitable that they would be unlucky sometimes. Just before Joan was born, grandpa and his parents encountered an accident during the expedition. Grandpa lost a leg because of this, and his father rescued his pregnant wife, but he died unfortunately.

Soon after Joan was born, his mother also died of illness, and he was raised by his grandfather Guillaume Thiel. As an orphan, Joan's childhood was not very happy, but at least he didn't have to worry about being cold or hungry.

Joan was very attached to his grandfather when he was a child, and often pestered him to take him to the river to fish, to hunt hares in the woods, and to pick wild fruits. However, as he got older, especially after insisting on learning arcane knowledge by himself against his grandfather's wishes, his relationship with his grandfather took a sharp turn for the worse. Grandpa was deeply disappointed because Qiao An didn't listen to his advice, while Qiao An felt aggrieved by his grandpa's brutal way of obstructing his pursuit of his dream. If they don't speak first, the other party will never take the initiative to communicate. The grandfather and grandson are in a stalemate like this, and sometimes they don't say a word for several days.

Qiao An’s family has two wooden houses, front and back. The front house is larger and has two rooms. It was the residence of Qiao An’s parents before his death. Now he lives here alone; Usually rarely go out.

Joan returned to his room first, opened the door and went in to have a look. There was a layer of dust on the ground, the room was silent, and all the furnishings were exactly the same as when he left. After putting away the luggage, Joan dragged the sleigh and the Asa girl who was still asleep and walked towards the back mountain. When they reached the outside of the grandpa's house, he hesitated before raising his hand to knock on the door.

"Come in." An old voice came from the room, faintly revealing impatience.

Joan pushed the door open, but didn't enter the room. He just stood in front of the door and watched grandpa who was working hard by the window.

The thin old man with gray hair on the temples was sitting in an armchair near the fireplace, with a crutch standing beside the wall, and a poorly made wooden prosthesis on his left leg below the knee. It would be a big mistake to judge Mr. Guillaume Tell’s carpentry skills by the workmanship of this artificial leg. The old man returned to his hometown of Delin Town to live in seclusion after his adventurous career. All these years he has relied on a pair of skillful hands to make ends meet. The bows and crossbows he made are recognized as top-notch masterpieces, but the old man has an extremely weird temper. If the bows and crossbows he made do not meet his own standards, even if someone is willing to buy them, he will not sell them, and would rather throw them in the fireplace and burn them. Because the old man is too strict with his works, sometimes he can't make a single bow for a whole month. It is impossible for the residents of the small town to spend too much money on bows and crossbows, so his works can't be priced more than ordinary goods sold in grocery stores. Too much higher and the income is just barely enough to make ends meet.

The old man Tire glanced at Joan, turned around without saying a word, and continued to polish the bow arm that was beginning to appear in his hand.

Joan wasn't surprised by this, knowing that grandpa was still angry at him for not saying goodbye. After getting along for so many years, he certainly understands his grandfather's temper. In fact, as long as he takes the initiative to apologize, the old man will calm down.

Qiao Anan understands the truth, but he just can't do it.

Guillaume Tell is a well-known strange old man in the town, and Joan is not much better. Although he doesn't want to admit it, his personality is indeed greatly influenced by his grandfather-the grandfather and grandson have exactly the same withdrawn and surly temper . Qiao An didn't think he had done anything wrong, forcing him to bow down to his grandfather, it was more uncomfortable than killing him.

The grandpa and grandson were relatively silent. In the end, Joan was the first to break the deadlock. He briefly told about his experience of this trip, and the main point was to tell his grandpa that he picked up a girl on the way home. She is still unconscious and worried about her. Just die like this, I don't know what to do.

The old man Tire reached out and grabbed the crutches, stood up with support, observed the girl on the sled through the window, and spoke after a long time:

"It doesn't matter, she will wake up after a while."

"What should I do with her?" Joan asked.

"What 'what to do'?" The old man replied coldly, "You picked it up, you can figure it out yourself."

Joan had already guessed that he would say that, sighed secretly, turned and left grandpa's house, and dragged the sled back to his hut.

Joan's bedroom was his father's study during his lifetime, and he carefully kept all the books in memory of his late father whom he had never met. The next room is the bedroom of his parents before his death. Every time Joan walks into that room, he sees the big bed where his parents slept before his death, and the wooden table where his mother sat in front of the window and made up in the mirror. There is always an inexplicable sadness in his heart. , so he rarely walked into this bedroom, but cleaned it every day, like a silent mourning hall.

In order to accommodate the little girl picked up by the side of the road, Joan had to use the bedroom next door, lay out mattresses and quilts, and pick up the sleeping girl and put her on the bed.

After setting up the "guest", Joan closed the bedroom door and went to the kitchen to look. There were only two black breads, half a pot of salt and a little tea in the cupboard.

Joan quickly boiled water, made tea, put the bread, salt shaker and teapot on the tray, and placed them on the table in the next bedroom.

After finishing all this work, he returned to his room and slumped in the chair like a bag of wet flour, feeling backache and weakness. He really wanted to open the spell book on the table and continue to study the 0-ring trick "Frozen Ray" that he had just figured out. However, the fatigue accumulated from the long-distance travel broke out like a mountain, making him feel powerless, and he really couldn't get up the energy to study the spell.

Just when he was hesitating whether to go to bed early, Qiao An suddenly remembered "Tears of God", struggled to get up and poured a glass of water, and called out "Tears of God" with a thought.

Holding the crystal-clear gemstone in his palm, Qiao An looked at it for a few seconds, then gently put the gemstone into the cup.

"God's Tears" has the function of making magic potions, and the potions that can be made are currently equivalent to the 1st-level magic spell "Secondary Restoration". Although Joan is not a magic spellcaster, after all, he has been a deacon in the church for two years, and he knows that the "secondary recovery technique" has the effect of relieving fatigue and boosting the spirit, which is just right for his current needs.

Joan waited patiently for a minute, picked up a spoon and took out the "Tears of God" soaked in the teacup, carefully observed the water in the cup, it looked the same as clear water, not even a trace of the smell of medicine.

"Does this really work?"

Joan picked up the teacup, and drank the water in one gulp with half-belief.

·The new book is released, and we are in urgent need of support. Please old and new friends vote and collect support, thank you very much.