Chapter 122: Backroom Operations
◎Just sitting together and enjoying your favorite food is perfect etiquette.◎
"Mmmmm~"
Melia stretched, arms waving as she lowered them from her face. Ever since Nini ran over to Elena's side, she'd felt completely relaxed. Even the clanging of the door outside didn't seem like a big deal to her anymore.
Wait, another fight?
"Taffy, stay inside and don't go out."
"Miss, please don't go out either."
Taffy grabbed Melia, but was a step too late, Melia had already opened half of the curtain.
Whoosh—a severed arm passed by his eyes, and the whole scene was covered in blood.
I felt a little nauseous at first, but now I feel relieved seeing this situation: there are mercenaries everywhere, not personal soldiers brought by other royal families, so it’s no big deal.
After all, the Grand Wizard hadn't announced the time and location for the forging of the golden man yet, so the royals had all gathered to act. If one died, all would be blown up; no one could escape. This current movement was simply an attempt to weaken the enemy's manpower in advance and cut off some of their strength.
The sound of killing, like raindrops, gradually stopped. The enemy rode away on their horses, just like last time and the time before that.
The Huns were too lazy to chase, and instead happily gathered up the spoils and counted the bodies. Only those whose companions had died had pale faces and stabbed their cheeks with daggers to express their mourning.
They followed Melia's advice and disinfected the daggers in their hands with fire or strong liquor.
Some Huns were busy moving the wounded and transporting them to several special white tents:
This was also her suggestion. The wound was prone to infection, so he had to lie in a clean enough place. All the new and old blankets inside were replaced with cloth that had been washed and air-dried, and strong alcohol was also prepared for disinfection.
At the same time, after the witch doctor finishes praying, he also gives the wounded some light salt and light sugar water - even if it is not necessary, the placebo will have some effect.
At first they were a little nonchalant, and it was all thanks to Sonny's firm pressure that they started to act.
After several battles, the number of people infected with fever dropped by nearly half. The Huns quickly became aware of the situation and followed the rules to take care of their families and friends.
Melia stood by the tent, watching the Huns come and go in silence. They had farmland, but it wasn't much, and they raised sheep and livestock, which made winters difficult. For hundreds, even thousands of years, they had wandered across Eurasia, relying on the weather for their livelihood.
One day, we will persuade them to settle down, graze their livestock in a fixed location, grow grass for hay, and sell mutton and wool...
"Sister~"
Sonny came up from behind and patted her shoulder. Kitty wasn't there today, so no one patted her back.
"Hmm~ Good morning." Her good morning mood was completely wasted. Melia looked at the blood stains on her body and pointed behind the tent: "Go take a hot shower quickly. By the way, have someone bury the body properly. Be careful of the plague."
"Yes, I know. The plague is terrible." Sonny wiped the blood from his nose with his finger, leaving a red mark. "Could it be that my sister has a way to cure the plague?"
The plague encompassed many different diseases, so it was impossible to know them all. Melia shook her head. "I only know of one, cinchona, which treats fever, but the cinchona tree isn't even there; it's far away."
Cinchona tree…Sunny memorized the name and blinked innocently: “Thank you, sister, for the advice on the medical tent and disinfection~Ah.”
"What are you sighing about?"
“If only there were a way to keep food from spoiling for longer.”
Sunny casually lifted his hair, revealing his increasingly perfect profile. "We want to live well too. Every winter, we have to kill a lot of sheep in advance to survive the winter. But where can we get so much salt? Unsalted dried meat is hard to preserve, and eating dry food during migration can even pierce your mouth."
He even poked his lips after saying this, looking pitiful and harmless. Unfortunately, the blade hanging at his waist was still dripping with blood, which really ruined the atmosphere.
Preserving food for a long time? Of course, canned food.
Fruits and vegetables can be dried, but this involves significant losses. Low-sugar and low-salt foods require a lot of seasoning, which quickly increases costs. This is where canned food comes into play: it locks in moisture and preserves freshness.
With current technology, even if you can't afford to use iron to make cans, you can use glass or cheaper jars to store cooked food, add more salt, seal it and heat it. The difficulty of making it is not exaggerated.
The Huns could sell her the mutton they slaughtered for the winter in exchange for a certain amount of canned cooked food.
These cooked foods were ready to eat, easy to carry, and could generate substantial profits. The Hungarians would surely agree. If they didn't, would they simply waste the mutton? Or would they jerk it all to death to save on salt?
But - what did the Huns need portable food for?
After a brief thought, she smiled and nodded at the cunning Sunny: "Don't pretend, I'm not that powerful. But if you raise a lot of sheep, you can consider upgrading your technology~"
With so many sheep raised and so many fields cultivated, the soldiers had no spare energy to plunder and were only concerned with preserving their own three acres of land.
"Sister~ why are you so distant~" Sunny said a few sticky words and finally became serious.
She clapped her hands, and immediately two Huns came out carrying a whole roasted lamb, passed through the door curtain into the tent, and placed the fragrant lamb on the wooden board.
Without being told, they took out their daggers and skillfully cut up the roast meat, removing the most essential lamb chops and placing them in a basin.
Sonny personally lifted the wooden basin and handed it to Melia. "Dear guest, please enjoy." Her eyes were focused, no longer flirting as before. The two Huns who were cutting the meat also put down their daggers, clapped their palms and sang a blessing.
Melia's lips trembled slightly: She had asked the Huns about their customs in this world. Although most of the stories were passed down orally and different tribes could easily have deviations, they were very consistent when describing the Huns' customs of entertaining their most distinguished guests.
They regard the cow's offal as the most precious food, and will slightly roast the surface. The host or even the king will serve it personally, and the servants will sing blessings.
"I thought it was cow's offal~ It seems I am a guest of mutton." She joked to hide her little excitement. Sonny smiled knowingly and picked up the dagger on the wooden board to cut the remaining mutton.
It turned out that the cow's innards were roasted and put into the mutton.
She playfully poked at a small piece of roasted beef heart and said, "Oh my! I thought Sister didn't like eating offal, so I switched to roasting a whole lamb."
"Hahaha, don't you care about customs at this time?" Who was it who scared her that she would be buried alive last time?
Unexpectedly, Sonny nodded and said sincerely, "Of course, rules are rules. If other guests refuse to eat the beef offal I personally serve, they will be enemies the moment they leave."
"Hey, wait?"
"But my sister is different." She chuckled, and the cunning in her eyes turned calm. "My sister never sets rules for others. She always says, 'As long as the intention is there, it's fine.' She believes that there is no supreme being among humans, only the closeness of the relationship."
Perhaps even my sister herself didn't remember that every time she bought a slave and then released him, she didn't feel like she was doing a favor, but rather took it for granted. So she never mentioned the favor of releasing the Huns.
Every Hun could communicate with her normally and even exchange gifts with her like friends.
After that, she pointed the knife-tipped beef heart at herself and opened her mouth to swallow it: "So I think it's the same when entertaining my sister."
Attila's most distinguished guest and the Huns' most equal friend, as long as they sat together and enjoyed their favorite food, it would be perfect etiquette.
“…”
Melia took a deep breath, holding back the tears. Without Sonny's help, she pulled out the dagger she used for self-defense, cut off a piece of beef heart and put it in her mouth.
Ugh, uh!
She covered her mouth desperately: Actually, the taste is okay, after all, it is cooked beef heart and not raw offal, but subconsciously I feel that there is a weird smell, and I want to vomit!
No, I can't vomit. It would be really rude if I vomited...
Sunny watched her painful yet strenuous performance and couldn't help but turn his back, shaking with laughter. The two singing Huns also pursed their lips and ran off at the leader's gesture to chuckle.
After a while, Taffy brought hot tea, and Melia finally calmed down. "Phew~ Thanks, Sonny, I have a solution to the problem you asked me before."
"I'm all ears~"
Sunny was a bit surprised. She'd asked for the craftsman just as a precaution, a first-mover's guess. After all, the Huns were equally skilled at crafting the statue, so the ultimate decision depended on the shaman and the overall situation.
I didn’t expect that my sister actually had a better idea.
"Yes, but there is a prerequisite."
Melia leaned close to her ear and whispered a place name: "...The casting ceremony must be held here."
"Magus? Why in Magus?" Sunny looked at her in surprise.
"Ahem, I know there's a special magic over there that can help forge a golden man."
Why else could it be? Of course, it was because Magus was the closest Roman city. Her plan was simple: when the Huns reached Magus, she would find a chance to sneak into Shadow Rome and return with the gold and bronze.
Hey, the perfect golden man has been cast ~ it’s purely “handmade”.
Brida rustled open the door curtain. “Convince the Great Wizard. I can help.”
"Wow, eavesdropping!"
Brida ignored Sonny’s exaggerated gestures and looked at Melia. “I want a part in the forging of the golden figure.”
…
Ding-ling--ding-ling-ling~
The ancient silver bells stopped ringing, and the Huns knelt on the barren grassland, listening attentively to the final instructions of the great witch.
They have been recuperating here for several days, and it is time to set off for the decisive battle.
The Great Wizard pondered for a moment. This time, he didn't signal for others to speak for him. Instead, he slowly spoke in a hoarse voice, "The golden man must be cast in Magus."
Magus? Isn't that a city within the Roman territory?
Hulun looked up in surprise: "Great Witch, the grassland is very big, we can--"
"It must be near Magus, it must." The great wizard closed his eyes and pondered in silence.
Everyone looked at each other, then bowed their heads and said, "Yes."
Let Magus be Magus. The Roman garrison should not leave the city to attack the Huns... Anyway, they don’t recognize the Hun royal family and always think that Huns are traveling merchants when they see them.
The matter was settled, and the royal family accepted the divination of the great witch, and the followers began to work, packing up their tents and slowly moving towards Magus, driving the sheep as they walked to let them eat plenty of grass.
Spring has arrived, and no matter which prince becomes the Golden King, they will raise more sheep so that they can exchange the fat sheep for food and clothing before the next winter.
Otherwise, they would have to risk their lives, put on thick fur clothes, and "fight bravely" after the autumn harvest.
Even Hulun couldn't force his tribe to speed up. He was helplessly caught in the middle, feeling extremely depressed. "Damn Attila! He actually teamed up with Brida! Otherwise, why would the Great Warlock choose Magus City? Only Brida could influence him."
They must have made an appointment with some acquaintance craftsmen in the city and wanted to give them a big one.
"Hey, Brother Hulun~ You have prepared a lot." There was only a vague figure in the distance, but Hulun knew it was Attila. Who else could be so smooth-talking except her!
Hulun stopped his horse and wanted to throw stones at the other side: "Don't give me that! Who is more prepared than you?!"
He was furious at this. To improve his chances of winning, he had deliberately taken all the family's wealth with him, only to end up helping the other princes. If he couldn't become the Golden King and open his private vault, he didn't know how to face his people.
As expected, Attila escaped with one blow, leaving behind a burst of laughter as he fled with his large group, leaving him and his unfortunate tribesmen in disarray.
"Your Highness," the deputy lowered his voice, "our boxes are empty."
"Nonsense! Do you deserve a beating?"
"I mean... we have to get some gold, otherwise we can't build the golden man."
Damn, isn't that all just nonsense? Hulun raised his whip and suddenly understood: Oh~~ gold, now everyone is dispersed and there is gold everywhere.
The author has something to say:
Thanks to Yonezu for being a staunch fan of sweet stories!! , Asong, Doubi Xiaomushi, Xuezhong, Go to icgirls, and Yunzhong Feixiang for their support~
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