Chapter 526 Where is the adulterer running! (6.8k 2-in-1)
Among these villagers are not only the mountain giants under Skadi's rule, but also frost giants, elves, dwarves, humans... and even a few magical beasts with wisdom and intelligence, as well as some half-bloods who are not welcomed by all races.
Seeing Skadi driving over, the villagers of mixed backgrounds came forward one after another, either bowing respectfully or cheering and greeting:
"Morning, Lady Skadi."
"Master Skadi, you are here? I just collected some of the best nectar from the forest. When will you come to my house? I will entertain you personally."
"The fruits in the orchard are ripe this year. When you return to the castle, I will bring you a few baskets for you to taste."
“…”
As they talked, faces of all ages and of all skin colors revealed smiles that came from the bottom of their hearts.
Skadi slowed down the chariot and patiently nodded in response.
Although this indifferent goddess of winter still had a serious demeanor, her every move revealed a sense of relaxation and comfort, which was completely different from the tense and alert state in the castle.
It seems that this is her real home.
Seeing such a complex village appear in the Giant Country, Loen was surprised. He couldn't help but cast a probing look at Skadi and asked:
"What's going on?"
"The space of the nine kingdoms is not stable, and people are often sucked into space cracks and fall into the giant kingdom. If there is no external help, most of them will not survive for a few days and will be eaten by wandering giants and monsters, or buried in the snow and die of hunger and cold. I feel sorry for them, so when I encounter such a situation, I usually pick them up and find a safer place to settle them. Over time, a settlement was formed here."
Skadi's tone of reply was very calm, and it was obvious that she didn't take this matter too seriously.
But after listening to it, Loen couldn't help but stand in awe of the goddess of winter.
In the harsh living environment of the Nordic Age of Gods, being able to refrain from bullying the weak and to live in peace is already considered a good person with moral standards; being kind-hearted and willing to take action for it is rare; and people like Skadi, who not only saves giants of the same race but also lends a helping hand to wanderers of other races equally, is extremely rare.
However, when Loen thought about how Skadi had offered a helping hand to the Dwarf Kingdom when it was hit by a dragon disaster, without asking for anything in return, he felt somewhat relieved.
Obviously, Skadi is not pretending to be anything, but she has a simple sense of justice and the pride that the strong need to protect the weak.
It's inexplicably cute.
Lorne smiled and watched the interaction between Skadi and the villagers with interest.
Because there were so many villagers coming to welcome them that the road was almost blocked, Skadi had to park the chariot outside the village, get off and walk into the village with Lorne.
Not long after walking, a blonde girl with green eyes, a black headband on her head, and a turquoise long skirt, about fourteen or fifteen years old, squeezed out of the crowd with the advantage of her petite figure, and happily rushed into Skadi's arms, giving the Winter Goddess a big hug:
"Sister Skadi, you finally came to see us!"
Skadi didn't mind the somewhat presumptuous title. Instead, she patted the girl's head and explained softly,
"There's been some trouble in the Land of Noise recently, so I've been a bit busy. By the way, Gerda, how is your sister now?"
"She has gotten much better now. After she woke up, she kept thinking about you and wanted to thank you in person. If you don't mind, you can come to my house as a guest."
The girl named "Gerda" answered in a deep voice, her rosy little face filled with sincere gratitude.
She and her sister were both daughters of an ordinary family in the courtyard world. Their parents died young due to hunger and cold. In order to survive, she had to take her sister into the dangerous Iron Forest to collect mushrooms and wild fruits to fill their stomachs.
However, during one of their collections, they encountered a space storm and were swept into the Land of Giants by a space rift that suddenly appeared in the Iron Forest.
As weak human cubs, they had not walked for long before their bodies were frozen to the point of losing consciousness. They also encountered groups of magical beasts and were about to die in their mouths.
Fortunately, Skadi happened to be out hunting at that time.
Skadi saw the human sisters in trouble, rescued them, and brought them to the village to settle down.
But due to the invasion of cold and the fright of monsters, Gerda's younger sister survived but became seriously ill.
Fortunately, the village was full of talented people. A half-elf doctor who had learned medicine treated Gerda's sister. Skadi also sent some medicinal and nourishing herbs, which helped Gerda's sister escape from danger successfully.
Since then, the two little girls settled in the village and have always wanted to thank their benefactor Skadi.
At this time, hearing this enthusiastic invitation, Skadi nodded in agreement.
Then, she brought Lorne and, under the guidance of Gerda, came to a relatively low wooden house.
The door opened, and a little girl with the same blonde hair and green eyes, about ten years old, poked her head out.
It seemed that she was in good health, and the little girl's face still had a sickly paleness.
But after seeing Skadi, she immediately perked up, and led them into the house with surprise. Together with her sister Gerda, she was busy entertaining them:
"Sister Skadi, we planted a lot of flowers behind the yard. We dried the petals and made them into flower tea. Then we brewed it with wild honey collected from the forest. It tastes great. If you like it, you must drink more."
"You guys are out of the village again?"
Skadi looked at the two little girls in front of her and couldn't help but frowned.
Gerda stuck out her tongue and whispered, "We didn't go far. We were just collecting some honey and flower seeds. There's no danger."
"Besides, we can support ourselves and don't want to trouble you and the uncles and aunts in the village all the time." My sister lowered her head and added seriously.
Her name is "Gai", which is very boyish.
Because the parents hoped that the second child would be a boy so that he could shoulder the burden of the family.
Although younger sister Kay does not have the optimistic and cheerful personality like her older sister Gerda, this little girl also has a tenacity that ordinary children do not have.
Gerda? Kay?
Hearing the names of the two sisters, Lorne couldn't help but think of Andersen's famous fairy tale, "The Snow Queen":
Two pieces of the devil's mirror were injected into the heart and eyes of the little boy Kay, making him cold and ruthless. He was taken to the ice palace by the Snow Queen. The little girl Gerda was Kay's good friend. In order to save her good friend, Gerda personally searched for the legendary Snow Queen and lifted the curse on Kay. She encountered many difficulties on the way but they were finally overcome. The two finally lived happily together.
If I remember correctly, this fairy tale is a mixture of folk tales from Finland and Denmark by Andersen.
Finland and Denmark happen to be the birthplaces of Norse mythology.
So, these are the three protagonists in that fairy tale?
——The Snow Queen Skadi, the little girl Gerda, and the “little boy” Kai?
But stories are just stories after all, and they require some interpretation.
This ice queen in the Norse Age of Gods is not only not cruel, but also a kind person who helps and saves Gerda and Kay.
Lorne looked at Skadi beside him with a softer gaze.
At this time, Skadi saw that although the two little girls grew up in hardships, they did not complain about their fate and were so sensible and independent. She couldn't help but feel pity for them. She pointed at Lorne beside her and said thoughtfully:
"It just so happens that I came to the village today to find a family to settle this man. He is also from the Central Courtyard and is of the same clan as you. If you have no objection, let him stay here temporarily for the next few days."
"no problem!"
The two little girls nodded in agreement, their faces turning red with excitement.
Obviously, the two sisters were sincerely happy that they could help Skadi and repay the kind goddess.
"Big brother, were you also picked up by Sister Skadi?"
"Don't worry, you'll be safe here. Stay here and don't be afraid. Everyone in the village is a good person."
The two sisters asked curiously and at the same time comforted the new member like little adults.
Loen, who was being coaxed like a child, nodded repeatedly on the surface, but he felt a little amused and helpless in his heart.
As early as the dragon disaster incident in the Dwarf Kingdom, Skadi had witnessed his approximate strength, and the impression he had was that he was at least at the same level as a god.
Therefore, letting him stay in the home of the little girls was not to let him be taken care of by them, but mostly to hope that he could take care of the little girls who had a hard time surviving.
However, the feeling of having my head touched by two little lolis from a fairy tale is really magical.
Loen smiled secretly, and while playing the role of "the unlucky guy who accidentally entered the land of giants", he got a lot of information about the village from the two little lolis.
There are about a thousand people in the village, from all races.
Most of the outsiders, such as elves, humans and dwarves, were unlucky people picked up by Skadi, while the few giants in the village fled here for a stable life, away from their fierce and aggressive compatriots, as well as the conscription and oppression of the monarch.
Hearing this, Loen was a little surprised.
Skadi took a sip of the scented tea and said in a deep voice:
"Just like you humans, not all of you are bad people, and not all of the Titans crave war."
Loen raised his hand and knocked his head, and couldn't help but smile awkwardly.
He had said similar words at the dragon-slaying meeting in the Dwarf Palace, and used them to help Skadi resolve the targeting of the god of poetry Bragi and others.
Although he was just talking, Skadi was actually practicing it behind the scenes.
After the meeting, the two little girls went to the kitchen to prepare food to entertain the two guests.
Seeing two little girls who were just as tall as the stove busying around in the house, Loen took the initiative to stand up and go to help.
After Lorne showed off his cooking skills, the two sisters immediately handed over control of the kitchen, followed him to help, and tried to learn some cooking skills from him.
Loen was not shy about his skills. He taught while cooking, patiently teaching the two little girls how to make a fire and cook by themselves.
Soon, plates of simple yet delicious food made with local ingredients were served on the table.
The four of them pulled out chairs and sat down, enjoying the rare leisure moment together.
After devouring the meal in a flash, Skadi, Gerda and Kay leaned back in their chairs with satisfaction, praising today's dishes highly.
And then, Loen brought out his killer move from the kitchen.
The adult and two children sitting at the table subconsciously twitched their nostrils and immediately smelled a sweet and sour scent of cream and fruit.
The three of them looked up at the "castle" made of ice and snow and decorated with cream and fruit pulp on the plates in front of them. They couldn't help but move their throats and asked curiously:
"What's this?"
"Dessert after dinner. I made it with the ingredients I had on hand. You can call it ice cream."
Lorne replied with a smile, and handed the small wooden spoons to the three people, motioning them to taste it.
The three of them carefully surrounded the ice cream that looked like an ice castle, looking left and right, but were reluctant to eat it, just like three little girls who had received a precious gift and could not bear to destroy it.
Finally, as an adult, Skadi hardened her heart, picked up a small spoon, carefully scooped a spoonful from the corner of the ice castle, and put it into her slightly open mouth.
Suddenly, the appetizing yogurt, mixed with the fragrance of vanilla and the sweetness of fruit pulp, bloomed on the taste buds as the coolness spread.
After just one bite, Skadi was completely conquered by this delicious dessert. She quickly waved her spoon, unceremoniously dismantling and devouring the exquisite "ice castle" on the plate.
Seeing Skadi eating so happily, Gerda and Kai couldn't help but feel curious and reluctantly destroyed the exquisite "Ice and Snow Castle" to taste the delicious food inside.
Soon, the three of them finished the ice cream on their plates and looked at Lorne eagerly, as if they wanted to say something but hesitated.
Lorne couldn't help laughing, turned around and walked into the kitchen, and brought out a full clay pot:
"Don't worry, there's more."
As he spoke, he picked up the wooden spoon and served the three diners a full spoonful of cream ice cream. Even Jörmungandr, who was standing next to him, was lucky enough to get a portion to try.
In a short while, three human-shaped greedy cats and one real greedy cat had eaten up a full can of ice cream.
"It's gone. It's really gone this time."
Loen waved his hands repeatedly to explain, and the three people and the cat immediately hung their heads in disappointment, regretting that the food was sold out.
However, after seeing Loen's cooking skills, the three people and one cat couldn't help but urge him to prepare more delicious food for them to try.
Loen had no choice but to use his power to make some mead and fruit wine in order to get rid of these four greedy cats.
After a few drinks, the four greedy cats were drunk and staggering, and then they became completely obedient.
After carrying the two little lolis and Jörmungandr to the bed, Lorne helped up Skadi, who was flushed and slightly drunk, and prepared to let her take a rest and sober up.
But the winter goddess insisted that she was not drunk. She staggered to her feet and stubbornly got on the chariot alone, preparing to drive back to the castle.
However, after walking crookedly for half a mile, the chariot crashed into a giant tree, and Skadi was thrown off by inertia and fell into the snow on the side.
I told you long ago, don’t drink and drive.
What's more, it was a creation of mine that added the power of Dionysus.
Loen didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he hurried over, only to find that the goddess of winter was lying in the snow and sleeping soundly.
In her sleep, Skadi seemed to be enjoying the food and wine. From time to time, she would grab the white snow beside her and put it into her mouth to chew, with a comfortable expression on her flushed face.
Seeing that several villagers had heard the noise and rushed out, Loen had no choice but to carry Skadi into the house to save her face.
But under close contact, Skadi seemed to smell the unique aroma of wine in Lorne's divinity, and treated it as a large wine jug, groping him up and down.
Finally, after resisting Skadi's wave after wave of molestation, Lorne finally succeeded in getting her to the bed.
Looking at Skadi, who was sleeping soundly with Gerda and her sister in her arms, without any goddess airs at all, Lorne couldn't help but smile.
In fact, she is quite rough.
In fact, she was quite confused.
In fact, she is also warm.
Winter has more than one side.
——Exhale.
It turned into snow and everything died.
——Smile.
The ice and snow melted and life began to sprout.
The two are equivalent to her.
And as your relationship with her deepens, sooner or later, she will show her non-queen side.
Not a giant, not a goddess, not a ruler, but a girl who is cold on the outside but warm on the inside.
~~
Nightfall.
A tall and graceful figure sneaked out of the window, avoiding the villagers' sight all the way, came to the outside of the village, boarded the Frostwolf chariot, and quickly fled the scene.
After traveling for a long distance, Skadi in the car finally breathed a sigh of relief. She rubbed her flushed face with both hands, feeling ashamed and angry.
It's so embarrassing that I lost my composure like that.
Next time, next time you must not drink so much!
However, the thing called ice cream tastes pretty good and you can try more of it.
Skadi couldn't help swallowing as she savored the memory, and began to look forward to the next meeting and dinner.
~~
For the next period of time, a certain winter goddess would come to visit every one or two days, bringing with her the prey she had hunted.
On the one hand, it was to see how the little girl Gayi was recovering, and on the other hand, it was to sneak in and eat to satisfy his craving openly.
In response to this, Loen did not expose it. Instead, he used his superb cooking skills to turn the cart of prey brought by Skadi into a sumptuous meal.
With such a rich diet, Gerda and her sister and the Jörmungandr cat also gained weight.
The relationship between the three parties gradually warmed up, and this small wooden house almost became Skadi's second settlement, filled with laughter every day.
The only drawback was that Skadi had not been able to contact Angrboda, so he naturally had no idea where the three goddesses of fate were.
Considering that Skadi is one of the few people who has a close relationship with the three goddesses of fate and is most likely to know their movements at the first time, Lorne can only be patient and continue to wait.
However, he seemed to have the attribute of natural disaster, and his peaceful days were destined not to last long.
A few days later, when he was about to get some wild honey to make some mead to entertain Skadi, he found that the honey had run out.
"We know where to get the honey!"
Gerda and Kay quickly picked up the empty cans and trotted out the door.
After spending some time together, the two sisters have realized that they are the ones who are taken care of.
However, their independent nature makes them unwilling to accept this favor for nothing. They always want to do something within their ability to prove their usefulness.
In response to this, Loen not only did not stop them, but also intentionally or unintentionally assigned some simple tasks to the two sisters.
The wild world of the Age of Gods is different from the future human society. It will not spend extremely difficult-to-obtain resources to unconditionally support some idle people who make no contribution.
Letting these two little girls contribute labor to the best of their ability is not mistreating the children, but is precisely to enable them to better integrate into the primitive social order in the future.
However, Loen waited for several hours, but Gerda and her sister did not return.
On the contrary, the protective spell that was secretly placed on them before seemed to be triggered.
Loen's heart trembled, and he immediately ran in the direction of the magic fluctuations.
~~
At the same time, in a hollow cave.
Gerda and Kay hugged each other and looked around with pale faces.
I saw that there were several stalagmites all around, each of which was long and sharp and very cold.
Just now, after they collected half a jar of honey, they wanted to pick some mushrooms to take home, but unexpectedly they stepped on empty air and fell into this deep pit.
If a flash of light had not suddenly burst out from their bodies, they would probably have been stabbed into a sieve by the stalagmites buried at the bottom of the pit.
Although they managed to escape the disaster, a closer look revealed that the rock walls around the cave had rough traces of human excavation, and were engraved with several runes that only intelligent life could master.
It was obvious that the trap was man-made.
A rustling sound was heard, and two heads with brown skin popped out from the edge of the cave.
They looked at the two preys that fell into the trap, drooling, their eyes shining:
"I caught you. There's food!"
"But it's too skinny, no meat, not enough to share..."
"Catch it and make soup?"
“Good idea!”
After a while of gibberish, the two mountain giants stretched out their arms and carried Gerda and her sister out of the cave.
But a strange force enveloped the two sisters, forming an extremely flexible protective film.
The two mountain giants tried several times to crush the shell but failed. In anger, they took out stone spears and wooden hammers and stabbed and beat the two little sisters.
Watching the stone spears and wooden hammers falling from overhead, making a sharp roar, Gerda and Kai hugged each other and huddled on the ground.
Although there are also some gentle giants, like those in the village.
But most of them cannot get rid of their brutal and bloodthirsty nature. Not only are they brave and aggressive, they also like to eat humans and other races as food.
Obviously, these two mountain giants are the latter.
Seeing the protective spell on their bodies gradually covered with cracks under the repeated attacks of the two mountain giants, Gerda and her sister were so scared that their faces turned pale.
Is it going to be eaten today?
"Bang!"
As a stream of golden light fell to the ground, a gentle voice let out a sigh of relief.
“Huh, found it.”
There’s food coming to our door again!
At this moment, two hungry mountain giants heard the noise, looked at the new food with shining eyes, and swung their ice axes and wooden hammers impatiently.
But when the visitor raised his hand slightly, the temperature around him dropped suddenly, and clusters of purple and white icicles spread to the feet of the two mountain giants.
“Crack!!”
The frozen blood instantly pierced the mountain giant's blood vessels and muscles, turning it into a solidified ice sculpture.
The two little girls who had survived the disaster timidly opened their eyes, and after seeing the appearance of the person who came, they rushed over in surprise:
"Brother Luo En!"
Loen touched the heads of the two little girls to comfort them, then his eyes swept over the two mountain giants and frowned slightly.
Judging from his attire and appearance, he seems to be a native of a noisy place.
How come these mountain giants dared to ignore the presence of Skadi nearby and break into the village to hunt?
~~
At night, at the dinner table.
When Lorne told Skadi about this, the Winter Goddess instantly looked gloomy and gritted her teeth and said:
"This matter may be related to my father. He must have heard that I took in foreigners and wanted to use this to force me to submit."
After saying that, Skadi suddenly lost the mood to eat and stood up and said:
"I'll go find him right away!"
However, before Skadi could step out of the door, a hand grabbed her arm:
"I'll go with you."
"This matter has nothing to do with you. You don't need to get involved."
"First, even though I haven't lived here for long, I am still from this village. Second, I am your lover, so how can I be considered an outsider?"
Lorne corrected himself by shaking his head and winking at Skadi.
Seeing that Lorne was determined to take the initiative to share her burden, Skadi felt warm in her heart and stopped trying to stop him.
Driving the Frostwolf chariot towards Shaki's palace, Loen sighed helplessly.
The tree wants to be still but the wind does not stop, this is probably the situation.
Skadi has been going to the village too often recently, and it is impossible to hide it from those who are interested.
Before this, the Winter Goddess reported him to Xia Ji because she refused to marry him. And now with all the behaviors that seemed like they were in love, some rumors naturally reached Xia Ji's ears.
——For example, having a tryst with your lover in the village?
In order to make his daughter change her mind and obey his arrangements to marry the Frost Giant King Laufey or the Vanir God King Njord, the cheap father-in-law probably wanted to eliminate this trend.
Therefore, those mountain giants found the village where Skadi had hidden, probably with the intention of digging out the adulterer. Gerda and her sister were implicated by him.
Lao Deng, please be more sensible and don’t make things difficult for everyone.
Loen raised his head and looked at the towering ice castle under the moonlight, as well as the mountain giant guards patrolling closely inside and outside the fortress, and his eyes gradually narrowed.
(End of this chapter)
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