Chapter 81 Straight Ball Attack

The girl suddenly leaped over the windowsill and grabbed Elena's neck: "You bastard, don't leave—"

Winter is always difficult, with no game and no fish to catch.

Even in the prosperous city of Rome, there were dark corners where frozen bones were piled up, not to mention the small villages that were at least 200 miles away from the Roman capital.

These deserted villages and small towns hidden between city-states have always risen and fallen quietly.

In good years, they lived in seclusion in a corner, supplying local specialties such as vegetables and herbs to nearby city-states. In bad years or when war broke out, they gradually disappeared like bubbles, and no one cared about them.

But this year, Wild Grape Village was different. Before the first snow fell, it welcomed a group of wealthy Romans who settled in the village with a large number of slaves and wealth and built a tall tower on the hill.

It’s not that no villagers wanted to see what they were doing in the mountains, but soon rumors of “witchcraft”, “magic” and “scary witch doctors” spread throughout the town.

Because every time the weather is fine, there will be a thunderous rumbling sound near the tower! It doesn't last too long, it comes and goes. I'm afraid there is a practicing wizard living there.

The town's original output was wheat and wild game from the mountains. However, the nobles brought their private armies to occupy the mountains, and hunting in the entire town was affected.

They sent people to negotiate and finally got a large amount of charcoal and dried meat, which was much more worthwhile than taking the risk of going up the mountain.

The noble's followers even brought people down the mountain to enclose land, enclosing all the wetlands surrounding the lake, leaving only the small river closest to the village. As compensation, they helped the villagers dig wells and gave them many large chickens and ducks, encouraging them to raise them and promising to buy them back at a good price the following year.

When the snow fell heavily, even the poorest young man in the village owned a brick house: God knows where the nobles in the mountains got so many stones and bricks, and it is said that they were going to sell them to the surrounding city-states.

Villagers can use whatever they want to build houses, and they are even told how to mix the mud.

…

Pasha, pasha, a woman wrapped in a thick robe opened the door.

She had to rush to the river to wash clothes on a sunny day. The eight-year-old child could sleep a little longer, and when he woke up, he had to run to the cowshed to add some hay to the cows.

If only my husband were still alive, maybe I could break the ice and catch a few small fish.

The woman swallowed and continued to move towards the river, afraid of falling on the slippery water.

Before she had taken a few steps, she suddenly smelled the sweet aroma of wheat. She looked up and saw the stalls set up at the edge of the drying yard: Ah, those respectable noble entourages.

Were these people free men or slaves?

Attracted by the fragrance, she couldn't help but take a few steps towards the shack.

The closer we got to the shack, the richer the aroma became: a blend of wheat and milk, perhaps even sugar! Besides the sweet wheat porridge, several other pots bubbled with clear water.

The woman immediately found an excuse to strike up a conversation: "Good morning, why are you boiling water?"

Misha raised her head and stirred the wheat paste with a wooden spoon: "Oh, it's a habit. The lady said that the water must be boiled before drinking."

Making servants drink boiled water? How rich... How could there be so much firewood?

The woman swallowed her saliva: "Oh, then this paste is also..."

"This is oatmeal. Our people in Rome also cook this and share it with everyone."

Although she didn't hold out much hope, the woman touched her wrist, where the bones were visible, and whispered, "Can I, can I get a share too?"

After saying this, he timidly took two steps back: "They never thought of these people when they were eating, and there wasn't enough food. Such precious sweet paste must be shared with their own people."

"Okay, it's just a bowl of oatmeal." Misha scooped a spoonful of the porridge, poured it into the wooden bowl and handed it over.

The weather was too cold and the hot steam from the paste gradually dissipated.

Gulp, the woman took the wooden bowl and wanted to run back to let the children taste it first, but she hadn't had breakfast yet, so she couldn't help but drink a sip.

I gulped down half a bowl in just one mouthful: it was so sweet!

People in the town couldn't afford sugar, and wild honey was a rare commodity that had to be sent to the city-state to be sold.

She looked at the half-full bowl of oatmeal porridge hesitantly, but was too embarrassed to ask for another bowl for the child.

Misha was still stirring the spoon. "Speaking of which, you harvested a lot of wheat this year. Isn't that enough to eat?"

The woman was afraid of being accused of being greedy, so she quickly waved her hands and said, "Ah, these seeds are all on credit. We finally had a good harvest this year, but the price of wheat is not going up... I wanted to keep some food and seeds for next year, so I haven't paid off the credit yet..."

Misha was silent for a few seconds: It’s similar to what the young lady said. Although the villagers here don’t have to pay huge rents, the seed money is still high.

They didn't know how to farm carefully. Every year they just plowed the soil, sowed the seeds, and watered it if it was too dry. Since the land was vast and the population was sparse, they would just move on to another plot of land and plant again after a few years.

Due to low yields, apart from seeds and food, there are actually very few crops that can be sold.

There are many towns like this in all Rome, nay, in all the lands:

They had their own land, but could not pay the heavy tax burden, so they had no real protection. They hid in every corner, lived a "poor and peaceful" life, were born in hunger, and died in hunger.

The aunt in front of them was very slow-witted. After so many days, she never interacted with them. This slowness was very common among the villagers. They were used to blindly following the wise men in the village and did not dare to take the initiative to change their lives, for fear of losing next year's food rations because of small changes.

Rations, rations are important.

Misha stopped the spoon in her hand and asked: "Auntie, how much grain did you harvest this year and how much money did you earn?"

"This...this isn't much, but it's enough for next year."

The woman stammered. She didn't know how to calculate, and she had no idea why the girl in front of her was asking these questions.

"Can it fill up that brick house?" Misha pointed to the newly built warehouse and waved her hands in fear.

"How could there be so much! If the village had stored all the wheat there, there should be some."

Misha withdrew her hand, thought for a moment, and calculated the funds specially allocated by the young lady.

Then he nodded and said, "Okay, will you help us farm next year? You don't have to agree yet. You can go back and discuss it with others, or you can ask someone else to come and talk to me."

"help…"

"As a return gift, we'll fill up that warehouse over there before next winter." Misha picked up the spoon again. "Every day you help with farming and raising chickens, we'll provide free oatmeal and eggs. Every seven days, we'll give five copper coins to anyone who works diligently."

"Misha, the power of an individual is limited."

Melia in her memory closed the scroll. [“Many people’s suffering stems from a lack of information and technology, logistical difficulties, and a lack of organization.”]

"Miss, you asked us to disperse to more distant towns because Shadow Rome can already reach them?"

"Well, I guess so. If you walk out of the archway, you can reach these towns in just half a day. But the more important reason is—"

…

"Huh! It's so cold, meow! Teacher, was this experiment successful?"

A little white cat squatted on the blanket, watching Pados observe the distance through a telescope.

Pardos put down the telescope, walked to the table and wrote a few lines before looking up. "No, judging by the explosion effect, accuracy and range, this primitive stone cannon will not play a decisive role in the war. Even adding 30 more will not be a big deal."

After a pause, he added, "It's useful against small city-states, but it won't work against powerful lords. Magicians have many targeted methods that can destroy them in advance."

"Tsk tsk, magic is so troublesome."

Melia fell headfirst into the basket. She had thought that by creating a new era weapon, she could lead the Roman legion and eliminate the threat of war in the later period of "Rose Queen" in advance, but unfortunately, she was poured cold water by magic.

She raised a paw in frustration: "Teacher, I've troubled you so much lately. It may take many years for it to surpass the magician..."

"fine."

Pardos continued to check without looking up: "It's fun to calculate."

What's so interesting?

Melia didn't want to know the answer to this question, so she quietly jumped out of the basket and went back to Shadow Roma.

She could currently maintain a maximum of six arches simultaneously, which seemed like a lot, but Shadow Rome was now so interconnected, spreading outward like a spider web, extending hundreds of miles. It was definitely impossible to have an arch in every town.

Fortunately, most of the time the personnel were outside or on standby inside, so she only needed to use the cat form and Shadow Rome fast channel to observe back and forth regularly, and open a portal when necessary.

Wild Grape, used as a bombardment experiment and quarry, is the furthest town we can reach. It's actually closer to Greece than Rome.

The little white cat walked through the archway, from Shadow Rome back to its own yard, and jumped lightly onto the balcony.

Humph, just sleep with your belly as your pillow later~ It’s soft and super safe.

"Huh~ Miss, do you know about that?"

"You should, you should know, right?"

What? What? Curious Cat Head hid behind a flowerpot in the darkness. He saw two maids on night watch chatting while cracking nuts, occasionally peeking through the window at the sleeping lady inside.

"Young lady and His Highness the Seventh Prince, are they in that kind of relationship?"

"Of course, His Highness the Seventh Prince has come in here countless times... I even saw the young lady secretly washing the quilt once, but she got so scared that she ran away. When Mi Li found out, she almost twisted my head off."

"It's time to twist it."

"Hello……"

Damn it - I told you not to keep watch so late at night, but you insisted on gossiping about me, right?

The little white cat was so angry that he bit the grass in the flowerpot and grimaced. Why does this grass smell like mustard chicken... Oops, oh no, did he swallow a bug?!

Before Melia could calm down, the maid who spoke first looked around hesitantly and lowered her voice: "The Seventh Prince is going to marry in Greece, but I see that the young lady is in a good mood?

"Maybe, maybe they won't lose contact in the future. Besides, the young lady has been so busy lately... maybe she wants to forget about this?"

“That makes sense!”

There's a shovel-like truth! Hey, hey, hey, am I the only one in the world who doesn't know this?!

The little white cat twisted and distorted in the air: "Great, no wonder Elena hasn't been spending the night here lately. Is she getting married? Occasionally, when she sees me on the street, she greets me like she's checking in. It's like she's cutting ties with her ex-girlfriend in advance."

Ding ding ding ding, a pure green light shines on the cat's head, and the twisted white cat slowly rises into the sky and disappears behind the flowerpot.

"Hiss...I suddenly feel so cold."

"You must be mistaken. It's very cold in winter. Come on, let's go get the young lady a blanket."

"Which one?"

"Green, it's super popular lately."

…

Elena sat at the stone table. The wine on the table had been there for several hours without being touched.

During this time, many beautiful slaves passed by and persuaded her to add some high-quality syrup from [Meliya's House]. Ah, my mood became even worse.

The people at the banquet turned into scattered symbols in her eyes. Elena stood up from the couch and walked towards the lounge prepared by the host.

There was singing and dancing outside, but no one was there inside.

She closed the door, opened the window, and prepared to wash her face with the cold winter wind.

Even the glass was made by Melia's family. The girl's angry face appeared before her eyes. Elena smiled bitterly: If this continues, she will go crazy. She can see Melia's face when looking at the glass.

"Elena!"

The "phantom" standing in the courtyard reached out and grabbed someone by the collar: "Explain to me what marriage means. Huh? What does it mean to get married in Greece?"

Elena was stunned at first, and cold sweat rushed down her back.

"Hahahahaha." She laughed awkwardly a few times, touched Melia's fingers and slowly backed away, then turned and ran to the door: "Ah, it really is an illusion, I love you so much that I even hallucinate."

"Illusion of your big head!"

With the strong support of Taffy and Ronnie, the girl suddenly jumped over the windowsill and locked Elena's neck: "Asshole, don't leave--"