Volume 2: Empire Chapter 96: Harvest Festival
Another night passed, and the next day the Western Region Harvest Festival began.
This is the biggest celebration of the year in the West. All the territories and tribes in the West will bring their own season's output to the Sun City to exchange for the goods they need.
The city market of Sun City could no longer handle the increasing amount of goods a few days before the opening of the Harvest Festival, and all subsequent caravans moved out to the wild areas west of the city.
They formed a circle with their caravans as units. In the middle was a tent for the caravan members to stay and live. The goods they brought were placed on the outer layer of the circle, and a sunshade made of rags was erected above it for the guests to choose from.
Sun City will send soldiers to maintain order at the Harvest Festival, and will also send arbitrators to resolve disputes in transactions.
The caravan members tried their best to sell the goods they brought.
In the market, there are food, fur, oil, herbs; magic books, alchemical materials, mysterious props; locomotives, steam engines, pedal sewing machines; treasure maps, unknown adventure notes, astrology maps, magic potion formulas...
Here is a mixture of the advancement and backwardness of this era, with cunning, simplicity, mercenary and generosity. Some people want to get rich overnight, while others just want to sell the goods in their hands as soon as possible so as to buy the goods they need to go home.
The Harvest Festival does not have an elegant and luxurious opening ceremony, but it allows everyone to feel the enthusiasm of the desert and look forward to returning home with a full load.
Sandpaper was bouncing around the market, tossing a few coins up and down in her hands, her pink ponytails swinging as she bounced. She would stop at a stall from time to time to buy some food or pick out interesting mechanical items.
Along with Sandpaper came Kestrel and Abyss Panther Sally.
Hong Falcon has no interest in shopping, she prefers to spend her time practicing swordsmanship and meditation, or just sitting quietly piecing together the memory fragments in her mind. So Hong Falcon just follows Sandpaper, stops when she stops, eats when she gives herself food.
Abis Leopard Sally is the porter. Sandpaper hung a large space backpack on her back and put all the bought things into the backpack.
"Red Falcon..." Seeing that Red Falcon was not in a good mood for shopping, Sandpaper said while chewing a piece of candied cactus: "The Governor said that we will leave here and return tomorrow. We only have one day off to participate in the Harvest Festival. Don't act like an adult. We are children and should do what children should do.
Fei Teng is injured, let's think about what gift to buy for him."
Red Falcon was wearing a small swordsman's suit, with a rapier on his waist, wads of armor on his forearms, and a candied cactus in his hand.
"Children don't come to the market alone. If Sally hadn't followed us, someone would have snatched the coins from your hands."
Sandpaper grabbed the coin and stopped throwing it. She looked around and saw that many people were looking at her and Red Falcon with ill intentions.
If it weren't for the high-level alchemical puppet like Abyss Leopard following them, they would probably have taken action.
Feeling that these people were no match for him, Sandpaper started throwing coins again.
"If anyone dares to rob us, they will be the ones who are in trouble. I think we can give Fei Teng a cloak. When we fight in the future, Fei Teng will look absolutely majestic wearing the cloak."
Red Falcon said pragmatically: "In battle, the cloak will only be a burden."
Sandpaper took a big bite of the candied cactus, making a crisp sound. “This will test my design ability. It must be both majestic and able to automatically detach in an emergency. Maybe I can design the cloak as an offensive and defensive weapon.
This requires an alchemist...
Anyway, let's go pick out a cape for Fei Teng. What color do you think looks good?"
Hong Jian looked at the candied cactus in his hand: "Green?"
"Does green look good?" Sandpaper imagined Boiling wearing a green cape: "I think red looks better."
"Red?" Hong Xun was thinking seriously about the appearance of Boiling wearing a red cloak.
At this time, a voice sounded in front of a stall not far away: "Red-haired sister! Red-haired sister!"
Sandpaper first saw a little boy shouting and waving excitedly over here. There was a lady next to the boy, who seemed to be his mother.
"Is that guy calling you?"
Hong Kuznetsuo turned around and recognized the other party: "When I accompanied the Governor to the Slave Corner, I asked him to redeem two slaves. They are them."
The boy had already pulled his mother over and ran over: "It's really you, red-haired sister. The day before yesterday morning, that adult came to Slave Corner, and we didn't see you following him. Mother and I were very disappointed. I didn't expect to see you at the Harvest Festival."
The mother saluted to Hong Kusto and Sandpaper, then took out a purse from her bosom and presented it to them: "Thank you, Miss, for saving me and Oak. Miss Maeve Sman provided us with a place to stay and a job. I didn't touch the money and I am returning it to you now.
May I ask your name, Miss? Oak and I will always remember the kindness you have shown us."
The boy also saluted to Red Falcon and Sandpaper in a proper manner: "Red-haired sister, what's your name? When I grow up, I will definitely repay you for saving my mother and me."
Hong Kushal took the purse and put it away, then said to the oak mother and son, "I didn't do anything. It was that person who gave you your freedom. That person doesn't need you to repay him. Taking care of each other and living well is the purpose of that person giving you your freedom."
Sandpaper bought a piece of candied cactus from the side and gave it to Oak, saying, "Her name is Falcon, and I am her sister Sandpaper. Please have this, it's delicious."
Oak took the candied cactus and asked curiously after hearing Sandpaper's mechanical voice, "Hello Sister Hongku, hello Sister Sandpaper. Sister Sandpaper, is your throat sick?"
Sandpaper said, "My throat has changed because of the secret technique, it's not an illness."
"Wow! Secret technique!" Oak just took a bite of candied cactus and shouted when he heard the secret technique: "Master Mavesman said that as long as I train hard, when I am three years older, he will use the secret technique to improve my strength. At that time, I will become a powerful warrior.
Protect your mother and never let anyone bully her again."
Hong Xun recalled the last time he saw Maeve Siman, and asked Oak: "Did Maeve Siman accept you as his disciple?"
"Yes, Miss Red Falcon." Maeve Siman came over at this time. She put away her pipe and saluted Red Falcon and Sandpaper. "Please forgive me for eavesdropping on your conversation. We are here to participate in the Harvest Festival together. Oak has shown more wisdom and tenacity than other children of the same age. As long as he is taught carefully, he will surely grow into a powerful warrior.
Since I decided not to do my previous business anymore, I had the time and energy to train an apprentice.
Thank you for forgiving me for the crime I committed."
Sandpaper had no idea of the twists and turns inside, let alone Luke's layout in the West. It was just that her intuition made her dislike Maeve Sman a little bit, and she felt that there was an uncomfortable sharpness in her slender eyes.
Previous experiences have given Sandpaper more experience than Kestrel.
"Whether that gentleman forgave you has nothing to do with us. I worked as a repairman for him because of a promise. Hongshun was temporarily loaned to him and must be returned after use.
If you want to express your gratitude, go to him directly."
After hearing Sandpaper's answer, Mavisman's expression indeed showed a little disappointment.
The entire Western Territory is about to undergo a huge change, and the forces of all parties are going to undergo a reshuffle. Anyone who has a little ambition and has learned some information in advance will want to take advantage of this opportunity to rise to the occasion.
Maeve Sman, who participated in the reception of Luke throughout the whole process, knew that the Sand Bandits would no longer have a living space in the West in the future, as the West would belong to Meteorite and Moonlight Court.
Mavisman accepted Oak as her apprentice not only because she really valued Oak's potential, but also because she valued Oak's relationship with Governor Meteorite.
After all, he was a slave who was redeemed and freed by the falling star.
If he could rely on Oakwood to get close to the Governor of Meteorite, he would definitely have a place in the Western Territory in the future.
As a result... Governor Meteorite came to Slave Corner for the second time and did not mention the Oak mother and son whom he redeemed.
This time at the harvest festival, the Oak mother and son happened to meet the Kestrel, and Mavisman felt that this might be an opportunity for her.
As a result... Red Falcon was only temporarily seconded and was not a close confidant of Governor Meteorite. This also explains why Red Falcon did not follow Meteorite when he went to Slave Corner to sign the agreement the second time.
She was probably a high-ranking agent of the Imperial Secret Service.
As for the other girl named Sandpaper, she is a maintenance worker and is indeed wearing maintenance worker's clothes, so you can ignore her.
Mabel felt that there was no need to waste time on two minor characters, so she said, "I will thank that lord in person if I get a chance. We are waiting for the envoys from the Moonlight Court, so we won't delay the two ladies' tour. If you encounter any trouble at the Harvest Festival, you can tell me my name."
"Moonlight Court? I've heard this name several times on the road. What is it?"
Sandpaper was very confused when she heard about the Moonlight Court. She and Red Falcon were busy repairing the boiling water the whole day yesterday and did not hear any news about the Moonlight Court and the World Tree.
Maeve Sman saw that Sandpaper didn't look like he was pretending, and Red Falcon also looked like he didn't understand the Moonlight Court.
It was hard to imagine that there were people in Sun City who didn't know what the Moonlight Court was. This also proved that these two little girls were not important characters, otherwise they should have known about the Moonlight Court earlier than herself.
When talking about the Moonlight Court, Maeve Siman couldn't help but raise her head with a proud look on her face.
"You probably don't know about the revival of the World Tree. The new generation of World Tree grew on the remains of the previous generation of World Tree and formed the Moonlight Royal Court together with the Moonlight Queen.
The World Tree once sheltered the ancestors of the Western Barbarians and was the spiritual belief of all the Western Barbarians. However, this belief was buried deep in our hearts when the World Tree was destroyed.
The revival of the World Tree has rekindled the fire of our faith, and the Moonlight Court has given us a spiritual and physical home.
Yesterday, news came from the direction of the Ancient Grasslands that Her Majesty the Moonlight Queen will lead a delegation from the Moonlight Royal Court to Sun City to participate in the Harvest Festival and meet with Princess Agatha of the Golden Shield Empire to discuss the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
We are not interested in anything at the Harvest Festival. We are waiting here just to see Her Majesty the Queen.
I heard that Her Majesty is a very powerful elven magician. When she waved her hand, it rained heavily; when she waved her hand again, it snowed heavily..."
Maeve Siman looked very excited. Yesterday, she felt that the World Tree had responded to her prayers. The drizzle dripped on her body, and she could clearly feel an invisible hand soothing her.
Like a mother's love, and as reliable as a father.
Before this, Moonlight Royal Court and World Tree were probably just names to barbarians like Mavsman. But when the buried faith was awakened, Mavsman could feel the piety left in her blood by her ancestors.
Regardless of individual good or evil, they are all connected to the World Tree.
Therefore, Maeve Sman brought Oak mother and son to the Harvest Festival early to welcome the arrival of the Moonlight Queen.
Oak was also excited to hear Maeve Siman talk about the Moonlight Kingdom: “I met an orc named Ham yesterday, and he said he had seen the Moonlight Queen.
When the Moonlight Queen passed by the Scorched Wood Camp on her way to the Prairie of the Ancients to revive the World Tree, she stopped at the orc Ham's tavern and gave him a bottle of water element essence.
He said that one drop of water element essence can turn into two large cups of water.
At that time, the Moonlight Queen and her entourage ate a kind of food called canned food, and Her Majesty the Queen also kept a talking cat. "
Kestrel interrupted at this time and asked, "Is the cat black?"
Maeve Siman and Oak asked at the same time: "How do you know?"
Red Falcon and Sandpaper looked at each other.
Essence of water element, this is something that many magicians can make, but canning is a cheap food preservation technology invented by Miss Qingkong through secret techniques, and it has not yet been promoted.
As for talking cats, there probably aren't many of them in the world, and they're black cats.
Elf magician, rain and snow.
Kestrel and Sandpaper are almost certain that the Moonlight Queen is Miss Clear Sky.
But when did Miss Clear Sky become the Moonlight Queen?
At this time, someone shouted: "Her Majesty the Moonlight Queen has arrived! Her Majesty the Moonlight Queen has arrived!"
Then the cry of an eagle resounded through the sky.
A large flock of goshawks flew in from the western sky, and the earth began to shake violently.
Not long after, a group of cavalry came galloping from the wilderness in the west. In the front was a group of cavalry composed entirely of elves, wearing simple leather armor, scarves as bright as fire, and distinctive lines on their cheeks.
It was a fierce war song. They once guarded the World Tree Ruins and rarely left the Ancestral Grassland. This kind of fierce war song appeared on a large scale outside the Ancestral Grassland, which was unprecedented in history.
Running at the front of the fierce War Song Cavalry was a female elf. She was riding a black panther that was bigger than a warhorse, had short green hair, and wore a queen's crown.
She is the Moonlight Queen who revived the World Tree and established the Moonlight Royal Court together with the Moonlight Tree King!
Upon hearing the news, all the people at the Harvest Festival gathered together. They automatically made way for the city and knelt devoutly on both sides.
As the Moonlight Court's troops approached, they quickly slowed down, from a gallop to a jog, and then lined up in a regular marching formation and walked into the crowd lining the aisle to greet them.
The black panther carried the queen on its back and walked with a proud cat-like gait to accept people's worship. When passing by Sandpaper and Kestrel, it even cast a wink at the two stunned girls.
