Three Philosophical Questions for Travelers

The witch said: "In your world..." She pondered, "What do you eat every day? Please explain in detail."

I thought you were going to ask some complicated question, Haven thought.This is no secret, so he said to the witch: "Take my three meals a day-oh, I'm an ordinary person over there. I usually have some pasta for breakfast, with milk or soy milk... ..."

"Be more specific." The witch reminded, "You only mentioned nouns, I don't know what they are. You have to tell me the ingredients, taste and price."

He didn't understand what the witch was trying to do. "Okay. Mince pies for breakfast, or steamed white bread—so you understand?" He saw the witch nodded, and continued, "Milk It’s just milk, but it’s just processed bagged milk, which is clean and hygienic; and soy milk is a drink made from soybeans that are ground, filtered, and boiled. Sometimes I also eat Western-style breakfast, such as butter or jam. Bread, served with fried eggs, bacon and fried fish - I don't need to explain these? There may be a vegetable salad, which is a variety of fresh vegetables washed and cut raw, and then mixed with a sauce called 'salad dressing'; Of course, this is just my breakfast habit. If I really want to say it, I can name hundreds of breakfasts. Well, then there are more choices for lunch..."

At this time, he found that there was something wrong with the way Gelieta looked at him. At this time, he realized the meaning of the question asked by the forest witch: the amount of information derived from this question was not usually large.The daily diet of ordinary people can intuitively reflect the productivity of a society, and also reflect agriculture, industry, service industry, etc. from the side.In Mustang Town, the food of ordinary people is bread and vegetable soup, and occasionally a little meat; the poor here eat two meals a day, and the variety of food in their entire lives may not be as much as what Haven used to eat in a week.

There was a long silence between them before Gerrit asked, "My lord, were you a nobleman in your previous life?"

"I said, I'm just an ordinary person."

"Then how do ordinary people get together fish, eggs, milk and a variety of fresh vegetables in one breakfast?" She rubbed her temples, "I don't understand. Fish spoils very quickly, meat is generally expensive, and eggs may It's more common, but it's not something you can eat every day; as for the milk... oh, you say it's processed milk, who processed it for you? A servant? Where do you get fresh vegetables from? Do you have a farm? It may be reasonable to eat one or two of these things, but they appear on an ordinary person's breakfast table at the same time..." She was stunned for a moment, and then apologized to Haiwen and said: "Sorry, I asked too many questions, now it's time You ask."

If this goes on, there is no head.Haven said: "Miss Witch, I think that if we want to understand each other, we can't communicate in this way of intrigue and questioning; let's find some free time, you tell me about your history, and I will tell you How about my daily life?"

"Do you trust me?" Gerette asked him.

Hai Wen nodded and said, "I trust a little more than before."

"why?"

"Because the first question you asked was not for yourself, but for Isrit... Although the method is open to discussion. But from this, I can think that you should be a good person."

"Hmm..." Gerrit groaned thoughtfully, and then said, "Okay, Your Honor, you are superior. The Witch of the Woods is willing to bow down." After she finished speaking, she drew a smiling face in the air .

And Haiwen finally understood the reason why the witch drew symbols:

That's her emoji.

Chapter 15: On the way home

Chapter 15: On the way home

Then he and the witch went back to the manor to have breakfast.On the way, they saw many crops that had been gnawed by locusts, and he remembered the thing about making pesticides before.He asked the witch: "Do you know how to prepare poison?"

"Of course, my lord. The reason why witches are taboo is largely because we are good at using poison. The poison Isrit uses is taught by me." She took out a small medicine bottle from her sleeve, "My lord, Who do you want to poison?"

"I want to poison the locusts, okay?"

"What?" She stuffed the medicine bottle back into her sleeve, "What did you say?"

"Locusts, I want to use poison to kill the insects and avoid the plague of insects."

The witch shook her head again and again, and said, "My poison is much more expensive than food and gold. Do you know how much this small bottle of mine is worth?"

"Then I hope you can configure a cheap pesticide. People in our world use this to control pests."

Gerrit asked, "I've never tried this, do you have any recipe?"

Haiwen is a liberal arts student, so of course he doesn't know the elemental equation, but he has read many history books. He remembers that the ancients used realgar to control pests, and the old family also said that tobacco ash and lime powder can repel insects.He told Geralte about this, the witch thought about it, and said to him: "Regar, tobacco ash and lime powder, this sounds like the category of an alchemist, I can introduce you to an alchemist, let You go talk to him."

Haiwen is happy to meet more capable people and strangers, which can help him solve many problems that modern knowledge cannot solve.

When they returned to the manor, everyone was ready to have dinner and waited for Haiwen to take his seat.He apologized to Ge Lumeng, and then hurriedly asked everyone to have dinner.For breakfast, I eat buttered bread, fresh mushroom soup picked in the morning, some pickles and dried bacon; the eggs are boiled and served on the table; each person has a large glass of ale.Haven looked around but couldn't see Estherite, until he called her name, she quietly poked her head from the door of the back kitchen, and then ran towards him with the hem of her skirt.Haven realized that Israet was very uncomfortable with her new identity. When he was not around, the little girl didn't dare to sit with men at all.

"Come, sit beside me." He took his fiancee's hand to let her sit down, and had dinner with her.While dealing with the greetings from his brother, Haiwen cared about Israet from the corner of his eye.He saw that Islet's body was only one-third of the chair, she tore the bread with her fingers, dipped a small loaf of bread into the soup and ate three bites; she seldom touched the dishes far away, especially the plate She just tried to eat a little bit of jerky and stopped moving; as for the bowl of eggs in the center, she was even more afraid to take it.

A peasant girl who has been poor for more than ten years should not eat like this. She is as reserved as if she entered a palace.So Haven served her vegetables, brought her eggs and peeled them for her.The little girl was flattered, and quickly whispered to him: "My lord, this is inappropriate." Ge Lumeng on the opposite side also said: "This is a servant's job, brother, you can call the maid next to you."

"It's okay, I like it like this." He put a clean and white egg into Islet's plate, "After dinner, let's go and see the house, I have to choose a suitable place for Miss Gerrit..."

"no problem."

After the meal, he and Gerrette went to a hut at the back of the manor under the guidance of Gelumon. "This place used to be a stable, but since the landslide destroyed the road, the horses here have moved away, so this place has been empty. The west side is our farm, and the other three sides are wasteland. The place is very hidden, and You can't hide people around. If you think it suits you, I'll send someone to clean it up and renovate it..."

At this moment Gerrit sniffled and said, "It smells like horse manure."

"It's okay, I'll get someone to clean it when I come back, and I promise you won't smell it at all."

"It doesn't matter." Gerrit walked in, "The forest witch is not afraid of the smell, sir—this is right here, this is my laboratory."

"As long as you're satisfied." Gelumon said goodbye, saying that he was going back to invite someone to decorate Geralte's new home.

So they set up a laboratory here.Zhe Lite said that she would stay here first, and if there was anything to do, she would use the carrier pigeon to contact her. "The Witch of the Woods can direct pigeons—coo, coo!" she imitated the sound of pigeons, and soon some birds came from afar—but they were not pigeons, but three sparrows, two crows, and a owl.

"Does this thing work?" Haiwen looked at the birds and asked, probably for a bird?

"It works." She said to the birds, "From today onwards, you are pigeons. Ma Pigeon will follow Lord Haven, and Black Pigeon and Owl Pigeon will follow me."

However, the birds stared at Gerrita with mentally retarded eyes, and there was no sign of turning into a pigeon.Gellette looked at them with a serious face, and then said to Hai Wen next to him, "Ask someone to bring a chicken."

Haiwen didn't know what kind of medicine she was selling in her gourd, so she called for someone to fetch a chicken.After a while a servant came with a fat hen.Gellite snatched the chicken. She grabbed the chicken's neck, took out a knife from the sleeve, and then cut off the chicken's head, and pressed it to the ground to bleed.Ma Pigeon, Black Pigeon, and Owl Pigeon watched this scene with serious faces—all in silence.

Gerrit threw the dead chicken to the servant and said, "Go and give it to the kitchen." Then she slapped the bloody chicken head in front of the pigeons, with a cold face, arms folded and silent.

Seeing this scene, Hai Wen thought of the scene when the underworld was collecting debts.After a few seconds of stalemate, Gerrit asked the birds, saying:

"Goo?"

"Cuckoo-cuckoo-cuckoo-cuckoo!" Several pigeons flapped their wings, scrambling to "cuckoo".

Gerrit wiped the blood from her hands, then bowed to Haven, and said, "My lord, the pigeons said they are willing to work for you."

Haiwen looked at the "Cuckoos" on the ground and nodded, and said, "I am also willing to hire them...Miss Gerrit, is this how forest witches communicate with animals?"

"Oh, of course not. In fact, real forest witches or druids have the ability to live in harmony with animals. I call them 'academics'; and I belong to the category of witches who have no communication talent but force themselves to be witches." , we belong to the 'Liberals' - as the saying goes, 'the Witch of the Woods has her own tricks,' my lord."

Haven asked her: "Which faction does Isrit belong to?" Will she also kill chickens to make an example to others?

"She is an academic, she is more talented than me."

"In that case, wouldn't it be good if you asked Estherite to come? Why bother to kill a chicken?"

"Because the witch of the forest wants to eat roast chicken," she said.

on the way home

on the way home

Because the forest witch wanted to eat roast chicken, so they roasted the headless chicken at noon.Before roasting, the forest witch told the cook again and again: "I want it to be sweet, and the skin should be burnt." It seems that this guy really wants to eat roast chicken.

After eating this meal, Hai Wen planned to return to the city.At this time, you can go home before dark.As a judge, he also has various affairs to deal with.Before leaving, he asked Gerrit again to help him prepare the poison.

The mayor of Mustang is the biggest bully here and he must be eliminated.

The housekeeper Dreyer had already prepared the carriage, and Haven led Isrit out of the manor.Ge Lumeng took his wife and children out to see him off, and even gave him a bottle of good wine as a gift.

Before leaving, he told his brother, "As you can see, my fiancée looks like a peasant girl, but in fact she has a special status. I hope you don't tell anything about her. Especially this name, you Be sure to remember."

Ge Lumeng nodded again and again, and said, "I knew brother, you wouldn't marry an ordinary village girl."

"No matter how you understand it, don't talk too much anyway, or both of us will be in bad luck."

"When do you think I've been too talkative?" He laughed and waved his hand at Hai Wen, "Good luck!"

"Thank you and goodbye."

Just like that, Haiwen and his party got into the carriage.A ten-mile road might have taken a few minutes in the previous life, but the road here is muddy and difficult, and it would take an hour to walk slowly.Dreyer was driving the carriage outside, and there were two guards on horseback escorting him all the way outside, and he and Estherite were the only two inside the carriage.Essrait was sitting opposite, she was sitting on the stool in a dignified posture, looking out the window.There was actually nothing to see outside the window, it was nothing but wilderness and woods, so Haiwen's eyes stayed on his fiancée - the love came so fast that he was a little caught off guard.Suddenly he heard Estelle say:

"My lord, I will be embarrassed if you look at me like this." When she said this, her eyes were still looking out of the window, but her face was red.

"Come sit beside me." He said to Isrit.

"Okay." Estherite stood up and changed seats. The road was bumpy, and Haiwen reached out to help her. At this moment, Dreyer in front shouted: "Sit tight!" Then the car shook violently.Isrit cried out in surprise and lost her balance. Haven quickly grabbed her arm and helped her stabilize.Then Isrit fell down on the seat next to him, her shoulder hit the side of the car.

"Are you okay?" Haven asked her.At this time, Haiwen saw some paste squeezed out of her pocket... It looked like egg yolk? "What's this?" he asked.

"What?" Isrit reached out her hand to touch it with a blank face, and immediately let out a low voice, "Oops! I forgot!"

"what happened?"

"I..." She blushed, "This is the egg you peeled for me this morning. At that time... I didn't want to eat it, and I brought it out without knowing what to think." She plunged into Haiwen's arms , pressed his face against his chest, and said in a nasal voice, "I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize." Hai Wen said with a smile.

"I still don't know how to be a qualified bride." She quickly cleaned the eggs on her clothes, and said with her head down, "People say that a good woman should be diligent in housekeeping, able to receive guests, and it is best to be knowledgeable... ...I can't even write a letter, I can't spell a few words in my head. And...and raising children, I..." She touched her thin, flat chest, and then showed a look of tears Expression, "People say that a good mother needs to have a plump body, just like Miss Violet..." She suddenly covered her mouth when she said this.

Haiwen frowned, and asked her: "How do you know the name Violet?" Maybe Hyacinth?

"I... I'm sorry, my lord!" She moved quickly, as if she wanted to find a place in the car where she could kneel down and apologize.Haven grabbed her, told her to sit still, and said, "Don't be afraid, I won't blame you. I believe you didn't eavesdrop on purpose, but you were just passing by, and I happened to forget to close the door."

"Yes, my lord," she whispered.

No wonder she was so proactive when she went out this time.Haiwen thought to himself, she saw that I went to take care of those two southern girls, she was jealous, or felt a sense of crisis.Seeing Estherite trembling nervously, Hewen felt distressed for a while, and he thought of Estherite's strange appearance last night - she has been living under tension and pressure, and this kind of life almost split her character .

"Israet, relax." Haven said, holding her hand, "You are my wife, my wife, not my slave, and we are not a relationship between superiors and subordinates. Next is a good life, you You can enjoy the warm sun and feather bed every day, no need to get up early in the morning to work; there are new sweets and clean hot water every day, if you want, we can also raise a cat, let it sleep with you every day - Ess Reiter, you can be your original self; you don’t have to force yourself, you can ask me, act like a baby to me, release your emotions to me, and you can treat me as a relative.”

"I may...can't do what you said." She said regretfully, but the corners of her mouth were slightly raised. , "I'm just..." She bit her lower lip, "I dare not."

"I'm not forcing you to change immediately, just take it a little at a time."

"Come in a little bit?"

"Yes, let's start with small things first, little by little."

Hearing this, Isrit raised her head and looked at him.Their gazes met, and Haiwen couldn't help blushing and beating heartbeat under the innocent gaze of the girl. "You..." As soon as he said a word, Estherite kissed her.Their lips touched, but just when Haven was expecting to go further, Isrit retreated, like a bird pecking at food.

"That's 'a little bit.'" She pressed her index finger to her lips, and giggled like a successful prank.

At that moment, Haven's face turned as red as Isrit's.I was teased by this little girl, he covered his face and was teased miserably.

Extra episode, about slavery in this world

Extra episode, about slavery in this world

The continent where Haven is located is a place where slavery is widespread.Slaves can basically be divided into two types, the first is native serfs, and the second is slaves converted from freemen.

About serfs:

① Serfdom in this world

Serfs were proletarians dependent on nobles and farmers.The nobles subdivided the land layer by layer to the lesser nobles, who in turn sold the land to farmers or leased it to serfs.Serfs worked the land of nobles, but received little of the products of their labour.On the harvest day every year, only a very small amount of rations and salaries are received, and their value is often less than one-tenth of the total output.

In other words, 90% of serf production would be exploited.

At the same time, serfs were prohibited from leaving their land, and serfs who left the land were called "vagrants"; once they were discovered, they would be deported to their hometowns, and the result of deportation was often public execution.

Legally serfs could not be bought or sold, but in fact there were not a few slave owners who traded privately.

In addition, serfs had to do hard labor without pay. The content of the labor was completely determined by the requirements of the slave owners, and the production progress delayed during the service was the responsibility of the serfs themselves.

② Hereditary serfdom

Just as nobility would be hereditary, so would slaves.

One generation is a slave and another generation is a slave. The sons of serfs will continue to work for the nobles and be exploited the same as their fathers.

The daughters of serfs were required to marry other serfs, and the local managers would formally contract the marriage, with little autonomy for both men and women.Most of the time, managers will ask women to marry the most motivated or most loyal serfs as an encouragement and further solidify the class.The feudal and backward thinking caused most serfs to resist rebellion, and the ultimate goal of many male serfs was to get the "marriage" of the managers, so as to build new families and reproduce offspring.

From a legal point of view, the serf's daughter can also marry other free people, but this kind of transfer marriage needs to pay a large "transfer tax".Ordinary serf families do not have the financial resources, so the "transfer tax" is basically borne by the man.

Few freemen would marry a slave's daughter.

It was even more unheard of for a free woman to marry a serf.

③The origin of serfdom

At first, this continent only implemented the feudal system, and the feudal nobles occupied the land and paid taxes at a fixed time.However, as the number of nobles increased and the privatization of land became more and more serious, the initial serf system began to appear.

The big and small nobles and farmers divided, purchased, and occupied land respectively, and concentrated the land, thus creating a large number of proletarians.In order to survive, the proletarian can only become a tenant farmer to work for the landlord.

Some of these tenant farmers rely on their personal ability to accumulate property and buy land from nobles, thus becoming rich peasants, self-cultivating farmers or farmers; while the other part of poor tenant farmers can only live by renting land and borrowing debts, and over time they become heavily in debt and miserable. , In the end, he could only sign a contract of sale and become a serf.

④The status quo of the serf system

After centuries of exploitation and plunder, property distribution and class distribution have basically been completed.

Due to the long-term and extremely severe oppression, the serf class has lost the enthusiasm for production and the will to resist.Moreover, due to objective factors such as backward thinking and poor physical fitness, the ability of the broad serf class to resist is also extremely poor.Most of them had the negative thoughts of "surviving on the meddlesome way" and "just getting along"; even because the slave owners deliberately divided the serf class, the concept of "three levels" appeared among some serfs.This situation is particularly prominent in the two duchies of "Northern Mountains" and "Western Plateaus".

The three levels refer to:

Serfs responsible for planting cash crops and engaging in some manual production;

Serfs in charge of livestock production;