After the arrival of the Recovery Moon, the weather in southern Anzu began to warm up rapidly.
For those who work in places like the port terminal, this is a welcome change.
The temperature rises, and the frozen rivers begin to thaw. The water frozen on the ground in the form of ice and snow melts into trickles with the power of the sun, and the trickles converge into streams and rivers, and finally As glacier water flowing from the mountains pours into major rivers, as the water level rises, the number of merchant ships moving on the rivers gradually increases, and these merchant ships coming and going feed the people working on the docks. Porters known colloquially as "mules."
Sam is an old resident of Tanzanian Town. His family’s history of settling in this mining town can be traced back to a hundred years ago. The outer city wall has just been built in this town, and there are just two docks. When building a trestle, his ancestor was a "mule" on the dock, and then this profession was passed down from generation to generation, to his grandfather, to his father, and finally to him.
His parents and grandparents have witnessed all the changes in this town over the past hundred years, but for most of that time, the town has actually remained almost unchanged - the city walls are still the same city walls, and the trestles are still the same trestles. , the mines in the back mountains and the farmland outside the city can support a limited population, and the land that the lord can manage is also limited, so when a town develops to a certain scale, it may not change for hundreds of years - in Sam's The greatest thing my grandfather had ever witnessed in his entire life (and the thing he most often bragged to his children and grandchildren) was that he had seen a trestle added to the pier and the lord building a mill on the south side of the town.
As for Sam, in the past two months, he has seen three trestles, two business houses, four warehouses and a new bridge rising in the southwest corner of Tanzanian Town.
He felt that he might be able to witness more things in his life than all his ancestors combined.
The ore production in Houshan has increased several times in the past two months, and the number of merchant ships on the river has also increased several times. There are also many strange machines and magic devices being transported. Entering the city, it is said that all these changes are related to the "Cecil Territory" that just appeared in the lower reaches of the Baishui River. It is said that the lord reached an agreement with Duke Gawain Cecil, and received huge benefits in the process, and the entire town became developed...
But these things are not suitable for Sam. He wasn't easy to understand, and he didn't pay much attention. He was only concerned with his work on the dock-and happily, he had a lot of work.
As an old resident of the town and an old man on the dock, Sam has an unusual status in this increasingly busy place. Although he is also a person who works for others, he has to listen to the assignments of the dock owner. , but Sam is the leader of the "mules", and there are more than a dozen people who have to obey his orders. This is the most "respectable" thing for him.
Early in the morning, after emerging from the dark and damp shack, ShanMu rushed to the dock and directed the brothers to load and unload the ship.
As the water level of the Whitewater River rises, large ships have begun to dock at the dock these days. Most of these ships come from the Carroll Territory or the Holy Spirit Plains in the north, and the ships are loaded with spices. , tea and fine cloth. After being unloaded, these items will be transported by caravan to the "citizen area" of the town and the lord's castle. Then the empty ship will be refilled, mostly with ore - which will be shipped later. Head down the river to Cecil Land, where boat owners can still make a fortune.
"Be smart! It's so early in the morning, don't act like you haven't eaten!"
Sam walked on the trestle that was wet due to the early morning fog, supervising the "mules" As he unloaded the cargo from the ship, his red nose twitched uneasily in the mist, and the smell of alcohol was tempting the glutton in his stomach: In addition to cloth, the ship in front of him also contained half a cabin of good wine. , one of the wine barrels probably cracked while swinging on the river, and a lot of wine seeped out along the hole. It was the best Carna wine. The boat owner was standing next to the gangplank at this time, sighing and frowning. He I'm afraid the merchant will have to pay a lot of money for this loss, and the mules full of clever ideas are scrambling to carry the broken barrel - they must be ready to take a few licks secretly when no one is paying attention.
Sam shook his head. He would not risk being whipped for this temptation, but he was not going to stop those naughty guys. Anyway, with luck, they could taste good wine and go back to meet others. If you brag a bit, bad luck will only result in two lashes.
Another ship approached the dock. Sam raised his eyes and saw that the ship had a high and wide deck and red-painted sides. With his sharp eyes, he soon saw what was under the ship's side. Several covers (where the cabin was located) were opened, and several pairs of eyes were looking out of the narrow windows.
The curious and panicked look was not like that of a sailor on the ship. Sam curled his lips, knowing that those were another kind of "cargo."
It might be a slave, or it might be a refugee from the north who took a hitchhiking boat. Anyway, it’s pretty much the same.
After the New Cecil Territory was built in the south, this kind of "cargo" became a frequent visitor on the river. Basically, except for the days when the river was blocked in winter, there were several ships filled every day. People's ships passed by here, and they didn't know how much land and food the newly developed territory had and how much land and food they could support so many people.
Sam doesn't like this kind of ship that transports people very much - because this kind of ship often has no work to do, the shipowners usually take over slave traders or the Duke "Gawain Cecil" With the money, he was responsible for sending the people to Cecil's territory. They only stayed in Tanzania Town to replenish some clean water and dry food.
But there may be some ship owners who are just transporting people, and there will be other cargo piled in their cabins, and the slaves and refugees will sleep with the cargo - in this case There is still something to do.
CorrectThinking like this, Sam saw the dock master in the distance waving to him, and then raised his hand to point to the ship with the red side that had just docked on the pier. Seeing this instruction, he quickly stopped thinking and quickened his pace. Walk towards the ship.
The ship was stable and the gangplank was lowered. A ship boss wearing a brown cotton coat came out and nodded to Sam: "Call some nimble mules to unload all the wine barrels in the cabin."
Sam summoned enough people, then jumped on the boat, followed the boss of the boat to the hatch, opened the cover and took a look inside.
He saw that the cabin was filled with wine barrels, and there was almost no room for people to stay. The owners he had seen with frightened eyes before-those people were huddled in the wine barrels. In the gaps between them, all of them looked haggard and looked pale.
Sam frowned. These people couldn't even sit down and rest here, let alone lie down. They didn't know where they came from, and they were in such a bad environment. How long did he stay - but one thing was obvious, these people were certainly not worth as much as the wine to the ship's boss.
The strange thing is that these people are not slaves in rags, nor do they look like refugees. Several of them even wear decent woolen clothes-where do these people come from?
While the guys were working, Sam went to talk to the boatswain who was standing next to supervise the work - he didn't dare to talk to the captain, who was a real decent man - he asked. The origin of those "ship passengers" who were neither humans nor ghosts in the warehouse, but who were wearing good clothes. As a person who made a living on the dock, he inquired about some things on the ship, but after he returned, he bragging to others in the tavern. capital.
"Them? From the Holy Spirit Plains," the boatswain spat to the side, "fleeing people."
"The Holy Ghost Plains? That's far away!" Sam revealed. With a look of surprise, "Why did they come so far?"
"They are all blood god cultists, and there are also a few shadow cultists," the boatswain said casually, "It is said that there are people in their local church who follow Cultists are having an affair, and even those who often go to the church are suspected of being heretics. The Holy Spirit Plains is killing cultists fiercely. The Tribunal of the Holy Light Church has burned thousands of people to death - these people are still alive in the local area. Not going down anymore, he sold his belongings and escaped."
As he spoke, the boatswain shook his head: "There were three people who died on the road. They were all thrown into the river for fear of getting sick."< /p>
When Sam heard that he was related to the cultists, the hairs all over his body suddenly tightened, and his eyes became awkward when he looked at the passengers in the cabin - he looked at those people as if they were really It looks like there are a few cultists hiding there.
"Look at your cowardice - these people will not get off the ship, they will be sent to Cecil's territory," the boatswain couldn't help but shook his head when he saw Sam's appearance, " But it’s up to two people whether Cecil leads these people or not. After all, they are related to heretics... If they don’t want them,, these people would have to be thrown into the wilderness, but that would be better than burning to death. "
Sam wiped his red nose, suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable.
He believed in the Blood God.
The wind had begun to get warmer. , it seemed to be getting cold again.
At the same time, in the only Holy Light Church in Cecil, Pastor Wright ended his morning prayer.
He was a man. A devout believer and a pastor who is passionate about preaching - although many people will be deceived by his powerful appearance, Wright himself knows that he has never been a person who likes to use force - especially the use of force. On the heads of the compatriots.
The Lord of Holy Light protects the world and teaches the vulnerable mortals the art of Holy Light that can heal and exorcise evil in order to protect the world, so the way of Holy Light is The essence should be protection, not destruction - that's why Wright tempered his body. This is because he hopes that even if it is time to eradicate evil, he can use power other than the Holy Light to attack the enemy. , so as not to tarnish the power that should be used to comfort and protect people.
This is his persistence. He knows that this persistence is a bit stupid, but he has no intention of changing it.
But a letter sent to the church a few days ago made him a little confused.
Wright cleaned the church's prayer hall, then sat in the front row and took it out of his arms. I read the church letter from the Holy Spirit Plains again.
“…Evil is growing, pagans are active…it is all ignorant people who believe in strange gods who are polluting the pure faith in the world. ...The Lord hopes that this land will be restored to purity, and the solution is to clear away the confusion and wrong beliefs in the hearts of mortals...
"...Therefore, anyone who does not follow the guidance of the Holy Light does not agree with the Lord's teachings." Those... are all heretics..."
The white letter paper was crumpled into a ball, then re-opened, flattened, folded and put away.
Wright looked up at the bright skylight of the church and the icon of the Holy Light shining in the sunlight from the skylight.
"Lord, do you really think so..."