69novels Chapter 149 Village
Chapter 149 Village
Ina looked embarrassed and scratched the back of her head. She didn't mean to make fun of Rick.
But there is really nothing to do...
Seven hours was enough for the three of them to catch up on recent fun stuff, trivia, news, and by the way, to dig up all of Mitokol's dark history as a child and at the Meikos School.
There was even a seminar to exchange ideas.
She almost revealed that Princess Mera and she had joined an organization that illegally traded banned items...
Ina actually had something to entertain herself for just such a situation—a book of magical lore, two somewhat flimsy books, and two decks of playing cards.
The option of reading books was abandoned by her soon after she started.
It was so crazy that she couldn't even watch it.
Or rather - the words in the book caught her eyes.
As for playing cards, Ina originally planned to play a game with the three of them. The game originated from the Southern Empire and was slowly accepted by the people of various kingdoms and principalities over hundreds of years of history.
The core rule is to compare cards from A to K, from big to small, and use certain combinations to play the cards in your hand first.
Different from Texas Hold'em and Blackjack that often appear on gambling tables, it is more like social entertainment card games such as bridge.
Therefore, in their spare time in class, Ina and Mitaokel also dabbled in it.
However, to Ina's surprise, Xilia didn't know this.
They don't even know about bridge, which is favored by middle and upper class families and gentry social gatherings, and Texas Hold'em, which is very common in casinos.
After all, the cheap papermaking technology was invented in the Southern Empire and spread through the Adventurer's Guild and the Magician's Association for thousands of years.
Paper products have long become very cheap in the human world, and poker is no longer exclusive to gambling tables and aristocratic card tables.
They can be small after-dinner pastimes for civilians, or they can be pubs and bars that provide some of the few entertainment options.
After that, she immediately realized that she had taken it for granted.
Miss Xilia's family still needs to repay the debts that increase from time to time, so they don't have the time to understand these things.
After muttering a few words to herself, she stopped talking about poker and started talking about the past until recently.
An hour later, the tent of night completely covered the last trace of gold on the skyline, and the double moons with star rings became clearer and clearer.
As the warm sunshine completely disappears, the surrounding temperatures begin to approach true autumn nights.
A tractor-trailer with a lantern hanging on it slowly drove into a small village.
The flickering flame emitted a not-so-bright light through the glass, but compared to the hazy moonlight, it could at least illuminate the darkness more than ten meters around.
It can prevent the cart from tipping over due to potholes on the road.
Most of the houses in the village are thatched bungalows, or houses with one floor and attic.
There was a faint light coming from inside, like a candle, or the faint light produced by some kind of oil lamp.
Not a fireplace or a kerosene lamp.
Long before food production increased significantly, villages had the habit of exchanging surplus food for goods with passing merchants.
Now more affluent and with tenant farmers who saved, free farmers had come to see exchanging and even buying goods brought in by merchants as a normal practice.
The fuel used in oil lamps and animal fats are naturally not an unaffordable expense.
At least compared with iron pots, pans, farm tools, and alchemical reagents, their prices can be described as cheap.
Seeing the arrival of strangers, several families immediately closed the wooden boards of their windows.
Ina could also hear a series of wooden fittings snapping together.
It was obvious that the people in the room were quite nervous.
After all, apart from the bandits and robbers in the wilderness jungle, there are very few people who would come to such a remote village at night.
Unable to sustain their inns and taverns, even merchants only use these villages as temporary exchange points.
Generally, we calculate the time and go directly to large villages or towns.
The small village does not welcome outsiders to set up tents without permission, and does not allow campfires to be lit - this is both troublesome and dangerous.
For the caravan, this was more uncomfortable than sleeping in a tent in an uninhabited wilderness.
The village rents a certain number of rest rooms to villagers unless they are willing to pay high accommodation fees.
The cart just stopped at the entrance of the village and did not go any further.
Ina and Mitaokel got off the carriage one after another.
They need to find a place to rest tonight - of course, this is a nice way of putting it, but in reality they still have to see if the other party is willing to agree.
Otherwise, you can only camp in the wilderness far away from villages and wheat fields.
As for why it is Ina and Mitaokol.
Or maybe it was because Cirilla, who had not yet become the owner of the herbal medicine shop, was not good at negotiation.
One of the two professionals, Ina and Rick, has to stay behind to look after the horses and cart.
The former is more approachable in terms of age, while the latter is more reliable in terms of strength.
More importantly, Rick can "see" a wider range and farther.
"You might want to try the one on the right first. That is, the fifth farmer's house from the entrance."
Rick took out another kerosene lamp, handed it over, and pointed in a direction with his chin.
Both of them nodded and followed Rick's gaze towards the slightly larger thatched-roof house.
He walked to the front of the house and knocked on the door with his fingers.
Some subtle sounds of communication reached Ina's ears through the rotten door panel.
Then she heard footsteps and rustling sounds.
Soon after, a vigilant voice asked from behind the door:
"What do you want to do?"
Strangers who come to visit under the cover of night are either rapists or thieves, or are just looking for a place to stay.
Both parties knew the truth, but in order to find out Ina and the others' intentions, the owner of the house still asked a question casually.
"We hope to have a place to rest. I wonder if you can spare us a room, sir. We are willing to pay the corresponding fee."
Ina answered the question politely