Chapter 32: Ice and Snow

In the bathroom, with the door closed, Olivia turned off the system and did not forget to symbolically pour a bucket of water into the toilet to cover up the traces of using the toilet.

She pushed open the door and walked out, going downstairs. As soon as she pushed open the narrow arched wooden door facing the backyard, heavy snow poured into the house with the wind.

She walked out with difficulty, holding up her skirt, and saw two bulging carts leaning against the backyard. They were full of goods. It was difficult for Letilen to take a detour with all these things.

The cook and Lucy were drawing water from the well. Olivia discussed dinner with them as usual and hid in the kitchen to avoid the wind.

All of Letilen's men had been taken to the village, and the kitchen was empty. She sat down by the fire, took the tongs, and casually built a fire.

Lucy and the cook were kneading dough while gossiping. The border was usually quiet and such things rarely happened, but this year they happened one after another.

Even the cook, who worked all day in the manor, felt something was wrong.

"Never before has there been such heavy snow, and disasters are everywhere. What is going on? Has the king angered the gods?"

It’s almost as bad as forty years ago.”

The cook is Alta, who fled from famine in the south. When she was a child, the southern countries were in chaos due to wars, and tens of thousands of people fled to the sparsely populated north, so the north has the current population.

"Mother, this isn't the King's business. The only thing to blame is the Earl. Perhaps he didn't give the Archbishop the money to repair the church."

Olivia listened to the mother and daughter talking and couldn't help but pursed her lips and smiled.

In this stressful time, it is useless to worry, it is better to talk and laugh.

The fire in the pit was burning brightly, and the red flames gathered together, making the whole kitchen warm. Olivia felt that the temperature here was more than ten degrees higher than outside.

Now if you could bury some sweet potatoes and potatoes in the ashes, they would be roasted to perfection.

After a while, Adam ran back from the village. He didn't see his wife in the main house, so he went to the kitchen and pushed the tightly closed door, and sure enough, he found Olivia.

"Ma'am! Something happened!"

"What's the matter? Tell me slowly."

He was still gasping for breath when he came in, with a layer of snow on his hat. After he recovered, he reported the latest news:

"Madam, someone from Reno Manor said that thieves might be planning to attack Baskin Manor. Your Excellency has led the soldiers to ambush these thieves."

Lucy was shocked when she heard this: "Will there be thieves here?"

The cook had lived for many years and had seen a lot of things in the world. She kneaded the dough calmly and comforted her:

"Don't worry, the Lord has already arranged for guards."

Not only had the strong men in the village started patrolling long ago, but Letilen's men had also been sent back to guard the vicinity of the manor as soon as they heard the news. They had to protect the goods.

Adam said, "Before leaving, the Lord sent someone to the riverbank to inform the troops over there. I heard that the sheriff has also arrived at the riverbank and may come to support them soon."

Olivia opened the map and saw Caesar and George riding in front. They rushed in the snow for a while, met up with the soldiers from Reno Manor, and ambushed them in Baskin Manor.

Mrs. Baskin was in a panic when she heard that thieves were coming to her house. She didn't believe it at first, but when she climbed up the watchtower and saw a group of people coming to her house from the mountains, she was so scared that she quickly took her family and hid in the cellar.

She didn't expect that the manor on the river bank, which was easily invaded, was not robbed, but instead it was her that was robbed. It was really terrible.

The mercenaries who thought that there was no one guarding the Baskin Manor were also confused.

But Tokson said that Baskin would definitely go out to look for him. When his house was empty, he would tell them to burn down the granary, steal some money, kill a few people and leave. They would definitely not encounter any soldiers.

A group of mercenaries rushed down the hill, only to find a group of soldiers rushing towards them from behind the manor. The leader was horrified, not knowing how his whereabouts had been exposed. He couldn't turn back, and seeing that there were only a few people on the other side, he made up his mind and rushed forward with swords in hand.

The Baskin Manor, covered in snow, is located in a valley, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Helions Manor, inside the kitchen.

Olivia wanted very much to show her concern, but her acting skills were poor, so she could only sit quietly by the fire and play with the tongs.

Outside the door, in the backyard, Letilen's men were guarding the goods. On the map, she saw the red and white footprints in Baskin Manor fighting and killing each other, which was not very interesting to watch.

The real battlefield is like this. There are no beautiful moves, only charging back and forth. The red footprints disappear one by one, like chopping carrots.

Soon, only half of the red footprints that originally had the advantage in numbers were left.

However, everyone in the kitchen was nervous, only the cook was still kneading the dough, worrying about dinner.

She also tried to persuade Olivia and Lucy, saying confidently, "Don't worry! They'll be fine!"

Hearing this, Olivia turned around and looked at her old lady.

So confident? Could it be that she also has the clairvoyance?

The cook smiled faintly, and continued kneading the dough with her strong arms. She said seriously, "God will bless the pious warriors!"

Everyone in the room became speechless.

After that, the cook cut some butter and threw it into the dough, kneaded it again, and put it by the fireplace to ferment for a while before putting it in to bake.

When the bread is cooked by the charcoal fire, a faint aroma of flour spreads out.

At this time, Ethan, who had gone out to find out the news, pushed the door open and came back. He rubbed his frozen red hands on the fire, and did not take them away even when the flames were about to lick his skin.

Esenya was calmer than Adam. He told everyone in an organized manner that the group of thieves had been defeated and were fleeing in all directions, but they were no match for their opponents. The two adults did not seem to intend to leave any of them alive.

This is usually the fate of thieves who don't escape: they are beheaded and their heads are taken to the sheriff for report.

Waited for a while.

Fanon also returned to the kitchen with Letilan, and they brought news that the sheriff and Knight Baskin had returned and had arrived at Baskin Manor. Knight Toxon was also found in the forest, but he was seriously injured.

Lucy beside her finally breathed a sigh of relief, the crisis was finally resolved.

Olivia threw away the tongs in her hand and asked someone to go to the cellar to get some garlic and dried mushrooms, and then went to the smokehouse to get some grouse that had been smoked all day.

In that case, I might as well make an extra dish of chicken stewed with mushrooms to soothe her frightened little heart.

Soon, order in the manor and fiefdom was restored to normal, and the villagers returned home. It was said that the sheriff learned about the situation and quickly took away the bloody heads of the bandits, saying that he would reward them for their heroic killing of the enemy.

After a while, Caesar and George came back.

They were on horseback and were much faster than the soldiers following behind them. When they returned to the manor, the blood on the tip of the sword had not yet frozen. Adam and Ethan, the two unlucky ones, were responsible for cleaning it up. It took the two of them together to lift Caesar's sword.

Moved it to the backyard and washed it with well water.

As soon as Olivia and Fanon Letilan came out of the kitchen, they covered their noses tacitly, took a detour, and went into the main house to ask Caesar what had happened.

In front of everyone, Caesar didn't say anything, but only said that the soldiers from Renault Manor discovered the thieves while patrolling, and they told the sheriff the same story.

There was the blood of the gangsters on his clothes and even on his face. Olivia frowned when she saw it. She felt very uncomfortable but didn't know what to say.

Letilen breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's okay, it's okay, I'll go back tonight!"

Hearing this, Fanon pointed outside the door and said, "I'm afraid that won't work. Look at the snow outside. It'll be up to your calves in half a day. How can a mule still pull it?"

Letilen went out to take a look, his mind full of lawsuits. He came back and made preparations according to the original plan. He decided to rest for one night and wait until the snow froze solid tomorrow before setting off to avoid getting the wheels stuck.

While he was out, Olivia had already pushed Caesar, who was covered in blood, upstairs to change clothes.

"What's going on? Where did my father get the news?"

In the bathroom, clothes and chain mail were all scattered on the floor. Olivia threw them all into the wooden tub with disgust for Adam to wash.

Caesar was full of energy and sweat even though he was only wearing a shirt.

"My aunt knows the whole story. It was Baron Forrest's doing. He wanted to frame the Lenians and force the Count to make a decision, but we didn't tell the sheriff."

This matter is of no small importance, and since it involves my aunt, it’s better to pretend that I don’t know.

Olivia looked surprised when she heard this.

"Is that so? Did the sheriff see anything? And what about Knight Toxon? What's wrong with him?"

Caesar explained that the sheriff also felt that something was amiss and was already secretly investigating, but the outcome would depend on which direction the Baron was willing to think about it.

Olivia nodded. "We'll do whatever the Baron thinks."

She would never try to influence the Baron's actions like Toxon did. If the Baron found out that he was on Baron Forrest's side, he would be doomed.

Later, Ethan and Adam came to deliver two loads of hot water, and Olivia pushed Caesar into the bathtub.

She got up and got some sheep-fat soap, then took a ladle and scooped up water to wet his golden hair.

"Listen to me, wash up before coming down to eat."

After leaving these words, she took her shirt and left the bathroom, closing the bathroom door with a bang.

Caesar looked bewildered. Compared to other things, the lady seemed to care more about the dirt on his skin. It felt like an invasion of her private territory, which made her uncomfortable.

He silently washed his hair and body several times with soap and decided to use the bow and arrow more often in the future.

After a while, Ethan brought in clean, heated clothes. After Caesar changed, he used a hot towel to wipe the water stains on his short hair.

When he arrived at the restaurant, smelling fresh and neatly dressed, dinner was almost ready, so he went forward and sat down.

The table was covered with linen, and beautiful enamel tableware and glass wine glasses were placed on it. Lucy brought the cast iron pot directly to the table and used a wooden spoon to share the chicken stewed with mushrooms for several people.

Letilen looked at the tempting food with melancholy, feeling that the whole day was like a dream. During the day, he was still struggling in the snow, but at night, it was as if nothing had happened and everyone had a relaxing meal together. His self-healing ability was really strong.

Look at Olivia and Caesar, they are so calm, eating and drinking as usual, and are in the mood to chat. They don't seem to be worried about tomorrow because of the unrest at all.

Watching this scene, he became less obsessed with the peaceful South. As expected, humans are the most resilient species, and resilient people will not lose order no matter what environment they are in.

Fanon sat across from Letilen, enjoying some springy pine mushrooms soaked in gravy during his dietary restrictions.

He was also greatly shocked today. The inside and outside of this city wall are like two separate worlds. If the city of Lavosen is a civilized world, then the world outside the city wall is so primitive that it is heartbreaking.

However, this also made Fanon feel free. At least here, being alive was a lucky thing, and everyone was kind to those they lived with.

No one would find out what he was researching.

Olivia is never stingy when entertaining guests and will not stop until they have enjoyed a good meal.

At night, Letilen rested in the guest room. He arranged for his men to spend the night in the hall downstairs. There was a fireplace and straw mats prepared by the housekeeper, so these people could rest.

However, this night seemed particularly long.

Letilen slept in a simply furnished room. There were no exquisite carpets, no gold-painted ornaments, no glass windows, and no wife whom he missed so much during his dangerous moments. There was only a simple wooden bed and a simple quilt.

He slept relatively soundly, but the more he slept, the more something felt wrong. Every time he woke up and opened his eyes, it was always pitch black, so he had to fall back asleep in a daze.

But when he woke up again, he felt that this was really strange, so he had to get up and dress, pushed open the window and took a look, and was completely dumbfounded.

It's freezing and snowy.

Dark clouds covered the earth, and heavy snow fell as if it was going to fill up all the ravines in the mountains.

The snow had long since accumulated to a depth higher than a horse's hoof, and even pushing the door open was difficult; it could only be pulled inward.

Looking at the backyard covered in snow that was half a person's height, the housekeeper stood at the kitchen door with a confused look on his face.

Then, George, Ethan, Adam, and Lucy in the room all stood up one after another, and like the butler, they were confused by the scene.

However, they soon accepted the facts before them. George knew that they would not be able to patrol today, so he called on Adam and Ethan to shovel the snow in the dark sky and open up a narrow path to the main house.

However, in the main house, Letilen's men were still huddled in the hall and sleeping. They seemed to be very confident in the safety of the manor and were not worried about the goods outside at all.

Ethan even doubted whether they had guarded the truck at night. He went forward and woke up a few people.

"Don't sleep, go out and take a look!"

Meanwhile, Letilan came downstairs and walked out the back door in shock.

Now the mountain is blocked by heavy snow and they can’t leave even if they want to.

When Olivia woke up, she heard someone knocking on the door. She was still curled up in the warm embrace, so she had to wake up Caesar and ask him to go and check.

Caesar got up in response and found that it was still dark and there was no light outside.

He yawned, put on his clothes and went to open the door, only to see Lucy, who looked exhausted.

After Lucy's explanation, Caesar realized what time it was. He seemed to have... overslept.

"It's snowing heavily outside, even heavier than yesterday. It's hard to even move around, let alone patrol. Mr. Letilen's goods are all buried in the snow, and he's leading people to dig them out."

Lucy had just returned from shoveling snow outside the chicken coop; she had finally managed to clear a path.

Hearing the noise, Olivia sat up in the bed curtains and turned on the system.

Extremely cold climate

"Mission progress: 1/30"

It’s only the first day and the system has already started to work hard?

When Olivia finished packing and went downstairs to take a look, she saw that the snow was as high as half a person, which showed how terrible the snow was last night. However, it was much lighter during the day.

She really couldn't have imagined it.

Ledilan and his men dug out the goods and, under Olivia's arrangement, stored them in the main house.

There is no way. I couldn’t walk like that yesterday, and it’s even worse today.

Olivia simply made a decision and arranged for Letilen's men to live in the village and stay in convenient houses. At least they could have a bed to sleep in and eat and live with the families. As for the money for food, they could talk about it later.

"You can stay here with me without any worries."

This was all Letilen could do now, so he took his men and followed the housekeeper to dig a road and settle down in the village.

Olivia watched them go before heading to the livestock area behind the kitchen.

The servants were the first to shovel the snow here and pile it aside.

Caesar and George fed the horses in the yard, and took the opportunity to comb the horses' hair and change their hoof nails.

They were trapped in the manor and had things to do. After packing up the horses, they could also continue to pack up the weapons and equipment that they had not had time to maintain before.

For example, oiling swords, brushing bows, repairing saddles, etc.

Olivia brushed past them and went to the chicken coop next door.

The chicks that were well protected hatched fine and were not affected too much by the weather. More than a dozen chicks hatched one after another, and all fifty would hatch sooner or later. The wooden walls covered with mud could still provide some insulation.

She went to see the cattle and sheep again. They were all covered with wool, especially the sheep, which had not been sheared for two months. Now their wool was swollen like steamed buns. It was very troublesome for Lucy to collect sheep milk every day.

As for cows, they are large in size, docile in nature, and can poop out a large basin of fresh feces at any time.

As for the compartment where the donkeys were kept, it was now crowded with several mules that were pulling goods for Letilen. Her donkey seemed to be in a relationship with one of the mules, and they were rubbing their heads against each other affectionately while eating grass from the same basin.

However, the piglets continued to roll in the grass and sleep as usual, seemingly unaffected.

Fortunately, she asked Lucy to transport fodder to a nearby place, so the livestock had no worries about food and water.

Olivia left the livestock area with peace of mind.

After a busy morning, it was breakfast time. The four of them once again sat at the dining table, looking at each other, and tasted the rabbit meat sauce noodles made by the cook.

In fact, the cook was just surprised to find that noodles were easier to make than toasted bread. She just cut some meat and boiled some bone broth to pour over the noodles, and the taste was very popular.

At times like this, something hot, even with soup or water, is just right.

All plans were suddenly disrupted by the changes in nature, and now everyone has almost no way to resist except sitting down and eating.

However, it was the first time that Olivia had seen rabbit meat with noodles. The taste was harmonious, and she inexplicably found something unique in the shitty bug of the food setting in this game world.

Olivia could see that they were all worried and decided not to waste this good time.

After breakfast, she dug out some wooden boards left over from old wax boards from the warehouse, sawed them open, polished the edges on stone, and asked Fanon to help her carve patterns on the boards and add some color.

In the evening, a set of chess and cards was made. After this thing came out, killing time became completely easier, and it completely attracted the attention of Letilen and Caesar.

There are chess games in this world, but similar to Chinese chess, Olivia explained her chess games in a way that everyone can understand.

Not to mention thirty days, even if it were another thirty days, she could lead everyone through it.

…