I am the son of the traveler

Chapter 176 The Poor Village

Seeing that Antico was staring at her without speaking, Beverly frowned. Just when she was about to say something, Antico looked away and spoke.

"Listen to your tone, have you encountered such a thing before?"

Beverly was stunned, and said: "I didn't, but because Uncle Fogg next door didn't salute a nobleman who came out of Siraya in time, he was ordered by the nobleman to have his legs broken and thrown on the side of the road. He died in pain within a few days after returning home."

"So bad?" Antigonus curled his lips, "This is impossible to happen in the Kingdom of Macedonia."

"That must be because you haven't seen it before." Beverly retorted, but she didn't believe Antico's words.

Antigonus opened his mouth, not knowing how to explain to her the identity of the citizens and nobles of the Kingdom of Macedonia, hesitated for a while, and simply shut up, let her think so.

Seeing that Antico stopped talking, Beverly also closed her mouth, and the atmosphere became silent. After a few minutes, Beverly picked up the wooden stick that Antico had thrown on the ground, and flicked it. The fish grilled on the fire took the initiative to break the silence.

"Your fish is already cooked."

"En." Antico responded, and reached out to pick up the wooden stick pierced through the grilled fish. After thinking for a while, he handed it to Beverly and asked, "Are you hungry?"

Beverly nodded sincerely, took the grilled fish, and put a piece of fish with spines on it, and said at the same time: "There is a famine in the village recently, so I came out alone, trying to try my luck."

"Then you caught my 'prey'." Antico took her words and said jokingly.

"It can't be said to be prey." Beverly shook her head, with a blush on her face, "I'm just afraid that you are the spy of those robbers. After all, it hasn't happened before."

"Oh? You mean, you are often targeted by robbers?"

Antico asked curiously.

"Almost." Beverly chewed the cooked fish and swallowed it, and said, "But they usually go back without grabbing much."

After finishing speaking, she spat out the fishbone in her mouth.

Antico didn't continue, he slowly took off a piece of meat from the belly of the grilled fish, threw it into his mouth and began to chew, because the taste of the grilled fish was not very good because there was no seasoning, just There was only the fishy smell of the fish itself, and Antigon was not in a position to be picky, so he could only eat it as he could.

In this way, the two divided up the small broad-finned mullet. In the end, only a complete spine and head remained of this fish, which was bigger than Antigonus' palm.Looking at the gradually scorched fish bones thrown into the fire, Antiko was still a little hungry. He glanced at Beverly, and the other party was the same.

"Where are you going to rest tonight?" Antico asked.

Now the night is deep, and the surroundings are pitch black, and only their fire is still emitting light, giving people a sense of security.

"I can only stay here." Beverly shrugged, and said helplessly, "Going back now, I'm afraid I'll be eaten by a wild beast that sprang out somewhere on the way."

Antico chuckled, and said, "Then go to sleep tonight, I'll watch the first half of the night, and you will watch the second half of the night."

"Let me watch the first half of the night. It must be very hard for you to escape from the attack." Beverly shook her head and said.

Antico knew that this was just an excuse, and she didn't fully trust herself, so she naturally didn't dare to let him watch the first half of the night. Seeing that she had said so, and Antico was really struggling, she nodded and agreed.

Then, the two chatted for a while before Antigon leaned against the tree trunk and closed his eyes.Although he closed his eyes, he didn't fall asleep right away, but was thinking about what he had just talked to Beverly.

According to Beverly's words, Antigonus is now located in the Viscounty of Dunla within the Earl of Siraya, which is not far from the Viscounty of Trollope who was ambushed, but there are still many obstacles to get there. Dangerous road occupied by bandits, if only Antigonus is alone, it is better not to venture back.

The law and order in the Viscount Dunla is not very good, or in other words, the law and order in the entire Earl of Siraya and even the southern part of the Cattelan Kingdom is not very good. This problem dates back to a few years ago when the Ogreel barbarians were still rampant. It's time to invade. Against the backdrop of years of invasion and plunder by the Ogrell barbarians, many civilians who had left their homes were forced to become bandits, or suffered from the exploitation of the lord after barely escaping the barbarian's butcher knife, so they could only devote themselves to the reckless cause .

Now, although the Ogrel barbarians have been conquered by their Macedonian neighbors, they will no longer pose a threat to them, but those bandits have no way of turning back. They can only hide in the mountains and forests and spy on the caravans and passers-by on the road, looking for their hands. opportunity to harm one side.

Speaking of which, before coming here in person, Antigonus was still surprised that so many Macedonian caravans were not attacked. Now that he has personally experienced an attack, and even posted his captain of the guard upside down, he realizes that it was not They were not attacked, but the attacked caravans were basically silenced, so no one went back to deliver the bad news.

……

The next day.

In the early morning of the next day, Antigonus was awakened by a crisp bird cry. He opened his eyes with some difficulty. A pitch-black bird was standing not far away from him, bouncing around. Jumping and pecking at insects invisible to the naked eye on the ground.

"you're awake?"

After Antigonus woke up, Beverly's slightly rough voice sounded from the side. Antigonus looked around, and saw that the huntress was sitting on a rock, sharpening a wooden stick in her hand with her dagger.

After just one glance, Antico remembered what happened yesterday. He touched his head in embarrassment and said, "Sorry, I overslept."

"I saw that you were sleeping soundly, so I didn't call you." Beverly didn't blame him, and there was no expression on her face, "Clean up and get ready, I'll take you to our village."

Hearing this, Antigonus didn't shirk, nodded and stood up from the ground. After sitting all night, his buttocks and feet were a little numb, so he stomped his feet to let the blood flow quickly.

He doesn't own much now, except for a Siphus dagger, a pack horse, and, oh, the ring he wears on his right thumb as King of Macedonia.

This quaint silver ring is not very eye-catching from the outside, but if it is shown to the foreign spies lurking here, they will be able to recognize it at a glance. It is also a symbol of Antigonus' status as king.

After hastily disposing of the extinguished fire, Antigon led the pack horse and left behind Beverly.

……

A few hours later, they came to a village surrounded by deserted farmland. The word poor was written everywhere in this village. The wooden fences on both sides of the road were damaged in many places, but no one repaired them. It is very low, and if Antigonus wants to go in, he has to bow his head. Under the eaves in front of the door, there are some dried animal furs and dark dried meat. The bones of animals can be seen from time to time in the courtyard of the villagers' homes. I don't know if I starved to death or was eaten.

Standing outside the village, Antigonus could still see many villagers walking on the road with yellow and emaciated faces and dilapidated clothes. Their hair and beards looked dirty and greasy due to lack of regular grooming, sticking together in strands.The children were basically naked, chasing and fighting on the road with their buttocks bare, in exchange for scolding from their parents.

It is not true to say that no one works in this village, because on a small piece of land outside the village, thin villagers with farm tools can still be seen plowing the land, but judging by the growth of the weeds on the farmland, Antigonus is not Think how much food they can harvest.

In general, this village can only be described as miserable.

Beverly was no longer surprised. He took Antico and walked towards the village. The sudden appearance of a strange face in this closed village quickly attracted the attention of the villagers. They looked at him with numb eyes. Antigonus, who was leading the pack horse, only showed some expression when he saw the pack horse, and then quickly disappeared, turning his head to do his own thing.The children looked at the sudden appearance of Antigonus and the pack horse he was leading with great interest, and a few brave ones followed behind the pack horse, wanting to touch this rarely seen animal.

Of course, they had no chance of getting it because Beverly drove them away.

The two went straight through the village and stopped in front of a thatched house with a small yard at the other end. Antigonus noticed that there were a few pieces of animal skins spread out in the yard of this thatched house, and the eaves The number of air-dried meat hanging in front of them was significantly more than those of the villagers in the village.

Perhaps because they heard the noise outside, the two of them stood there for a few seconds before the door was opened, and a middle-aged woman's head poked out from inside. She glanced at Beverly and Antico, and first I was stunned, and then said: "Beverly, you are back, but why did you bring a stranger back?"

"Mom, this is Antico, a businessman from the Kingdom of Macedonia who was attacked by bandits." Beverly introduced to the middle-aged woman.

"Macedonian?" Beverly's mother was taken aback for a second. She was a country woman, and the concept of the Macedonian kingdom was very far away to her, and she had almost never been able to touch it in her life.

"Yes, I want him to stay at our house for a few days, and then send him to Siraya City." Beverly continued.

"It's not impossible to use it for a few days, but..." The middle-aged woman hesitated. Seeing her like this, Antico understood something, and said with a smile: "When I find my companion, I will pay you the accommodation fee of."

Hearing Antico's assurance, the hesitation on the middle-aged woman's face immediately disappeared, she walked out of the house, and said as she walked, "Then if this is the case, you should stay at our house for a few days, and I will meet you when Morse comes back." Speak to him."

Needless to say, this Morse must be Beverly's father and the head of the family.

Antigonus nodded and said politely: "Then excuse me."

Then, the three of them walked into the thatched hut together. As mentioned before, Antigonus had to deliberately lower his head before entering the hut to avoid knocking his head.Although it is daytime, the house is not bright. It took Antigon a while to get used to the dimness of the room. He silently looked around the furnishings in the house, and it was really poor.

The furniture in the thatched hut was very simple. There was a long table with several incomplete parts and two benches. One of the benches had a short leg, and the bottom was balanced with stones.On the long table were five wooden plates and wooden spoons whose original colors could no longer be seen. Antigonus guessed that there should be five members in this family.

This family does not have a kitchen, and the place where they cook is just a few steps away from the long table. It is a fire surrounded by stones, and a few wooden sticks support an iron pot with a scorched bottom. Ke didn't bother to see what food was in the iron pot. Judging from their poor family situation, the food must not be very good.

The sleeping place was in another room, so Antigonus could not see their sleeping environment for the time being.

At this moment, a child in rags ran out from another room. He looked curiously at the sudden guest at home and asked, "Who are you? Why are you at my house?"

The boy's questioning voice caught Beverly's attention. She didn't continue talking to her mother, but turned to look at her younger brother and said, "O'Connor, why didn't you go out with Tuttle today?"

The boy named O'Connor looked at Beverly and replied, "Tuttle and Dad went hunting in the nearby forest. They didn't let me follow, saying they were afraid that I would be taken away by wolves."

After finishing speaking, he said unconvinced: "How could I be taken away by wolves so easily."

He looked at Antigonus again, and said, "You haven't answered me yet."

"He's my friend, he's staying at our house for a few days." Beverly answered for him before Antiko could speak.

"I didn't know you had such a friend." O'Connor curled his lips and said, although he looked young, but the children of the poor had already started their families, and he matured earlier than others.

After finishing speaking, he didn't care about Beverly's reaction, and said to Antico: "Hey, I warn you in advance, Beverly can kill wolves by herself, you'd better not have any thoughts about her."

"???"

Antigonus was full of question marks.

Beverly next to him rushed forward and grabbed O'Connor by the ear, dragged him to the room, and scolded: "You damn brat, don't talk nonsense to me, or you will be protected by Tuttle You and I will beat you into a pig's head too."

Seeing this familiar pattern of getting along with siblings, Antico smiled gratifiedly. He glanced at the middle-aged woman who had been watching the show by the side, and found that she also had a gratified smile on her face.

As if aware that Antico was looking at her, the middle-aged woman also looked at him and said: "Since you are Beverly's friend, you can also call me Aunt Vera. They all call me that." ."

"Okay, Aunt Vera." Antigonus nodded and replied.

(End of this chapter)