Todd first looked at the wooden "cage" in front of him with amusement, then looked down at the hemp rope wrapped around his wrist like a rice dumpling.

If he wanted to, he could cut the ropes and break the cage in less than ten seconds. But the question is, even if he escaped, where could he go?

Rachel was still running a high fever, and Aisha had a broken leg. In the vast land of the North, trying to enter the "Shadow Country" without a guide was nothing short of a pipe dream.

As darkness fell, most of the people in the barbarian camp returned to their houses to prepare dinner. Only a few mischievous children remained outside the wooden cage, watching the man's every move with fearful yet curious eyes.

The old barbarian with white hair and beard was in charge of guarding the cage. He placed his hunting bow next to the wooden stakes in the camp, and while waving his arms, he shouted loudly, like a farmer herding chickens, driving the group of overly curious children back to their homes.

Todd and the old man were left staring at each other in bewilderment.

"Um... is there anything to eat?" Todd recalled that he hadn't eaten a single grain of rice all day and was now starving.

Seeing that the old man remained unmoved, Todd realized that he was speaking in Common Tongue, which the other man definitely wouldn't understand.

Todd made a gesture of reaching his hand towards his mouth and looked at the old man hopefully, but the old man just grunted twice, leaned against the wooden post and pretended to doze off, completely ignoring him.

Helpless, Todd could only sit down and endure his hunger.

After an unknown amount of time, a familiar voice rang in Todd's ears. Looking up, he saw Rachel, leaning on a wooden cane and carrying a small cloth bag, arguing with the old man.

A few minutes later, the old man covered his head and roared, then waved his hand forcefully, seemingly giving up on arguing.

Rachel walked to the cage, opened the cloth bag, and inside was a wooden tube of water and two pieces of bran cake made from roasted grass seeds.

“The barbarians here live in poverty and have very little decent food.” Rachel turned and glanced at the wary old man.

Todd grabbed a piece of bread and stuffed it into his mouth, completely ignoring the rough, tasteless ingredients and unpalatable texture. As he ate, he asked, "Didn't the barbarian army already sack Silver Ring City? If I remember correctly, they should have returned by now. Why are these people living in such poverty?"

With some effort, she moved a wooden stump over and placed it next to the cage to use as a chair. Rachel slowly sat down and said to Todd, "There are long and short versions of this story. Which one would you like to hear?"

Todd gently patted the wooden cage and said with a wry smile, "It's long, isn't it? The one thing I have plenty of right now is time..."

"This land in the wild north can be roughly divided into the northern and southern regions. More than a thousand years ago, the barbarians in the northern and southern regions were mostly in the primitive clan stage. In countless battles with the Tyro Empire, the northern region gradually absorbed the advanced concepts of the empire's civilization, established numerous monarchical kingdoms, and possessed a fully organized army, relatively advanced smelting technology, and a political system similar to that of a diocese."

Feeling the night breeze growing cooler, Rachel wrapped her cloak tighter around herself and continued, "The barbarians of the southern region, however, adhere to the teachings of their ancestors and continue to live and fight in a clan-based system. Although there have been barbarian leaders in history who have tried to establish kingdoms in the south, without exception, they have all been defeated by tradition."

"In terms of religion, most of the barbarian kingdoms in the north worship the Danu gods, whose doctrines were influenced by the 'Bible' from the Talo Empire, which recorded events such as 'Genesis' and 'The Great Flood'; while the southern regions worshipped the three ancient gods, namely the sun god, the moon god, and the fire god."

"As times changed, the barbarian kingdoms in the north grew stronger through annexation and alliances, while the barbarian clans in the south remained fragmented. With the growing disparity in strength between the two sides, the north eventually declared war on the south..."

Todd sighed: "My former brother has become my slave."

Rachel nodded: "As the victorious side, the barbarian kingdoms of the north divided up the various tribes of the south, incorporating them as vassals into their respective kingdoms. After that, each tribe had to pay tribute to the overlord country regularly, and during wartime, they needed to provide soldiers, but the spoils of war basically went to the northern kingdoms."

The old barbarian walked to the cage and uttered a few disgruntled growls.

Rachel shook her head helplessly, struggled to stand up, and finally said to Todd, "This old man's name is Fried. I've met him a few times. As long as we don't cause trouble, he promised not to target us."

Watching the woman's departing figure, with nothing else to do, Todd closed his eyes, and the day's fatigue quickly helped him fall asleep.

The next morning, Todd was awakened from his sleep by the sharp cry of an eagle.

When he opened his eyes and looked into the distance, an unbelievable scene completely dispelled his drowsiness.

The rising sun tinged the faintly lit sky with its light, and a gigantic figure with outstretched wings pierced through the clouds, heading straight for the barbarian camp.

With its sharp beak, lion's long tail, and jet-black wings, it is clearly a griffin that only exists in myths and legends!

Todd climbed to the front of the wooden cage, grabbed a pillar with his bound hands, opened his eyes wide, and muttered to himself, "Am I dreaming? How could such a thing exist in another world?!"

The old barbarian, Fried, roared loudly, gripping his hunting bow tightly in his hand, but the nocked arrow trembled slightly.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!