Chapter 578 A Bowl of Hot Porridge
Nora was amazed.
"I've heard that being scolded by a steam engine is also a specialty of Castel. I have to try it. I didn't expect you to experience it so soon."
"It's, it's okay." Gwen scratched his head, grinned foolishly and put his hand on the boiler of the steam engine.
As a result, two red-hot coal balls popped out of the stove and hit her hand directly, scaring Gwen so much that she pulled her hand back.
Nora: “.”
Gwen: “.”
The stoker on the other side was already stunned. He skillfully dodged the coal balls that happened to fly over, and then he came to his senses.
"No, actually this is a very amazing thing! Machine spirits usually rarely pay attention to people, but if they scold you, it means they are interested in you. This is something that many mechanical apprentices envy!"
He looked at Gwen with more than envy, even a bit of jealousy - why did the steam engine only scold you and not me? Obviously I have spent more time with it!
Gwen was a little dumbfounded. She looked at the steam engine that began to spit coal briquettes at the stoker. She stepped back cautiously, hugged Nora tightly, and whispered, "Are all the Castel people so twisted?"
“It should be just an isolated incident.”
I have to say that Gwen was really likable to the machine spirit. She soon started chatting with the steam engine. She told the steam engine about the wind and snow in the north, and the steam engine roared and spewed out a few wisps of flames from the boiler.
Gwen thought most people would be like this, at least the extraordinary people should be, but the steam engine was not very interested in Nora. Gwen hung Nora on the flywheel for a long time, but the steam engine ignored her. Finally, when Gwen tried to stuff Nora into the boiler, she was finally scolded by both the steam engine and Nora at the same time.
"Well, it's probably because you're only halfway here now, and the steam engine thinks you're not polite enough." Gwen wiped the dust off her face with a towel and analyzed it to Nora.
"I think you're even more rude."
"What? You ask me why the steam engine likes me so much? I think it's okay. I just make friends easily. Everyone likes Gwen. Lady Nora, don't be discouraged. Sooner or later, the steam engine will scold you."
Gwen reached out to pat Nora in a cheerful mood, but ignored Nora's increasingly cold eyes, so.
"Ah ...
The steam engine nearby spit out a few coal balls in indignation, which were quickly shoveled back into the boiler by the boiler operator.
No conversation along the way.
After crossing most of the Principality of Tis, the train began to slow down.
Gwen was already wearing full body armor, even the gauntlets. No, especially the gauntlets.
Through the gaps in the armor, you can vaguely see a few tooth marks on her neck.
She held Nora in one hand, like a knight holding his helmet, and looked out the window with some curiosity.
"Is this Blood Harbor? There are so many people!"
"No, we haven't reached Blood Harbor yet." Nora glanced outside. "This is the shantytown near Blood Harbor. Originally, this place was out of the city and belonged to the suburbs, but later, Blood Harbor became larger and larger, and some people began to gather outside."
Gwen looked over and saw that most of the people here were refugees. Due to the constant wars on the continent, they had no choice but to wander around. They picked up some materials outside the city and built a house that could barely shelter them from the wind and rain.
"I thought Blood Harbor was a very prosperous place."
“Any prosperity has its limits. No matter how big a city is, it can’t accommodate all the people in the world, let alone if you look closely at those people.”
Gwen looked closely when she heard that.
Although those refugees were dressed in rags, most of them looked good. There were no dead bodies on the roadside, and there wasn't even much garbage piled up.
"Although this place is outside the city, it is still managed and has basic order. Many people would rather live in this shantytown than leave because there is hope here."
"Hope." Gwen murmured to herself. She was a refugee of White Crow and knew very well what the refugees were like.
These people certainly don't seem to be left to fend for themselves. If you look closely, you'll see that almost all of the people in the shantytowns are women and children.
This is not because there are only women and children among the refugees. Refugees with only women and children cannot survive. There is only one explanation for this situation: all the strong laborers have gone to work.
If you have a job, you won’t starve to death. If you can survive, you have hope.
"Look over there."
Nora suddenly moved on her chest. Gwen looked in the direction of Nora's cricket pupa and found a group of people lined up in a long queue. There were hooded figures on both sides maintaining order. At the front of the queue was a big pot.
Gwen narrowed her eyes. The physical fitness of a superhuman is far superior to that of ordinary people, and her eyesight is no exception, although she does not consider herself a superhuman.
"Holy water? They're handing out holy water?"
Gwen was surprised. Holy water was a very expensive commodity. Not to mention the refugees, even some nobles who had fallen on hard times had to spend it carefully. How could it be distributed so casually?
Looking closely, the "holy water" scooped into the bowl did not seem as clear as the church's, but rather a bit thick. Gwen sniffed and then swallowed.
“That’s holy water for the refugees.”
"Put rice, rye, and whatever food you can get at hand in a pot, add water and cook until it becomes sticky. This is holy water. It can save the lives of refugees, fill their stomachs, drive away the cold, and bring them hope. Nothing is more sacred than this."
Gwen stared blankly at the stall distributing holy water.
"The newly recruited workers in Blood Harbor will worship Hughes as a god. No matter what we do, it can't be stopped. Even if the Imperial Truth sends people to explain ten times, it won't be as good as a bowl of hot porridge in our hands."
A bowl of hot porridge.
Gwen looked at the pot emitting the fragrance, and her throat couldn't help rolling. When they started wandering, they only had bread as hard as stone in their hands. They stuffed a handful of snow into their mouths and swallowed it whole. If she had a bowl of hot porridge at that time, it would have been worth it for her to fight on the battlefield.
Later, when there was no more bread to eat, they drew their swords and cut the flesh from the nobles.
Countless people were buried in the snow and wind of the north.
Cooking porridge does not require any advanced technology, nor does it require those books that make one's scalp tingle. A young man who has bought a shipload of goods on credit can do it after discussing it with his companions.
But all the big shots in the North combined can’t do it.
Gwen suddenly remembered that the resistance army no longer had a shortage of food after they captured the first town.
The lords' warehouses were always full of food. If they were willing to distribute some of it, these White Crow refugees would not risk their lives to rob it.
It is obvious that they don't need much to eat and a bowl of hot porridge will satisfy them.
The sun shines on the land of Blood Harbor, and the wind and frost of the north are no longer seen.
(End of this chapter)
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