Chapter 78： Blizzard is coming

When Otto led his troops back only four days, the sunny days came to an end.

The sky started to snow again, and this time it was accompanied by strong Arctic wind.

The blizzard hit Scandinavia for half a year and hit the whole of Europe. Those Danes and the inhabitants of the Frankish Kingdom really felt the cold this time, and people were forced to hide in their respective homes.

The houses of the nobles were more protected from the cold, and those poor people froze to death on a large scale.

The lords of the northern Frankish territory lived in their own thick houses made of stone and wood, and their cronies were better protected. Only a large number of self-cultivating farmers died of winter wheat, livestock and poultry, and even many people died in the wind and snow.

But the nobles cannot count how much damage this cold current has caused to themselves, but they can realize that the cold weather has also dealt a heavy blow to the Danes in the north. It is foreseeable that when spring arrives, the hungry Danes will cross the stone wall they built and head to the south to raid.

Maybe this is what humans have in common.

As long as the residents living in the north, they always show bravery and good fighting, because the strong ones are often the ones who survived the bad environment.

The sudden extreme cold destroyed many of their wealth, such as freezing cattle and sheep, and killing a handful of crops. In order to survive, these brave and powerful men went south crazily under the **** of hunger, like wild beasts.

People who survive in extreme cold weather are strong, and of course the animals that survive are also strong.

This cold snap is still going on. The Danes, the Mindling League, and even the Norwegians on the west side of the foothills continue to suffer from it.

The situation of the Ross tribe seems to be better.

Because they moved to the edge of the Arctic Circle for nearly seventy years, the first generation of immigrants was left with only one priest Veria who was about to die, and the immigrant tribes also developed to the fifth generation. Everyone has adapted to the extreme cold weather that occurs every year, even in the face of a colder climate, they can carry it hard.

The wooden houses of many small families are actually made up of tree trunks, and they are often covered with a layer of soil to keep out the cold. But this is not very beautiful, as if I were a mouse living in a hole in the ground. For this reason, many wooden houses have to pile stones on the outside, or pave a layer of wood.

The house has become very thick, and the interlayer soil is also good to avoid heat loss, so that the snow outside has gradually flooded the waist, and the interior is still a warm nest.

As long as they are not alone in the open air, the residents of the Ross tribe will not be frozen to death.

But the deer they brought back really suffered a disaster.

Many of those who followed Otto's victory return with at least one live deer.

The deer that can travel two hundred kilometers in a short time are also strong in the deer, their new owners are naturally stronger, and they are not properly taken care of after they are brought back.

Too much physical strength was lost. The deer had to eat a lot of grass, but few people would take the deer to graze, just fed some hay.

Some hungry deer simply went to eat the thatch that was dropped by the new owner's longhouse. This behavior was naturally curbed, and they became fresh deer skins and fresh meat for a small family to eat for a long time.

Otto’s own deer herd is an exception. Twenty heads were well taken care of in a short period of four days.

Everything is the credit of Lu Mia, the only deer breeder girl.

In the short four days before the cold snap, Rurik had a deeper understanding of the girl's identity through the inquiry of the priest Veria.

"I really didn't expect this girl to be three years older than me, that is, a mere ten-year-old child, why is she taller than me? Is it because I am too short, or is she too short?

"She is a Sami, maybe life in the Arctic Circle is really hard, she can only look like a dwarf if she doesn't eat enough food."

"If I give her enough meat and bread occasionally now, she is only ten years old, can she grow better?"

Lurik has too many questions, and even from these questions, he also has more good feelings for this Lumia.

After all, the soul lodged in Rurik's young body is forty years old, and he is more rational and caring, and as a result, he naturally lacks the impulse and prestige that a child should have. He is more willing to analyze everything quietly, rather than being swayed by his own emotions.

But he also understood that many people in the tribe are emotional. Such people are the easiest to be used. A smart and rational person can use his knowledge to make full use of other people’s impulsive characteristics and tame them into Own fans.

Villa uses the power of faith to make the people awe.

Otto’s deeds can always bring wealth to the tribe’s satisfaction and make them happy to follow.

Then, how can I make them recognize me? Is it just because of the illusory oracle of "Odin's Blessing"? Do not! I can bring them a lot.

Lurik believes that as long as they bring a steady stream of wealth to the people, they will always feel happy.

The most critical problem now is that the wealth of the tribe is really good. A little meat and some leather goods can easily satisfy the tribe. Solving the problem of eating and dressing is supposed to be the most basic thing, but the tribe has not actually solved it well.

It is unbelievable to grow flax locally. Importing flax from other places also requires high wealth.

The only thing the tribe can make in large quantities is leather clothing. The tribes who sweep across the vast area like locusts are clever hunters, but not excellent herders. They had to go to the legendary end of the world and get a large number of deer by attacking the deer breeders.

Ordinary people don’t know how to raise deer, and no one teaches them. I’m afraid they don’t even think about it.

Maybe they don't understand the principle of sitting and eating the sky. When the nearby resources are exhausted, they can only row a long boat to looting further places.

How much room can a group of gangsters have for development?

If you can't change them instantly, let's do a remarkable demonstration by yourself!

Before the cold current and heavy snowfall, the outdoors was still shining brightly. Although the climate is cold, the world is still a blanket of snow. This kind of environment is the best for reindeer grazing.

The girl Lu Mia didn't have any shackles on her body. She was personally dragged to the priest's steam bath room by the lower-level priestesses, like they were carrying kittens.

Even in the cold climate, the Ross tribe already pays attention to their personal hygiene, whether they are men or women.

I don’t know when, when the Germans who immigrated to the Baltic Sea region invented the steam bath. They don’t seem to get inspiration from the ancient Romans, but in countless cold winters, they boiled hot water in their indoor charcoal fire. The hot water was accidentally knocked over. As a result, the whole house was filled with hot steam and the house became special. Hot and humid.

For this reason, some people took off their thick leather clothes, and the skin became moist directly under the steam, and the dead skin on it was easily rubbed off by the wooden block. After scraping off the annoying old skin, the whole person becomes particularly comfortable, so I naturally fall in love with this cleaning method.

They are human beings, and they are born with creativity!

So next to the big wooden house of the priests of the Ross tribe, there is a sauna.

The sauna room is also quite particular. If I want to come to Odin, I feel very disgusted with the mortal priest who prays for help and blessings, and the whole body exudes a foul smell.

For major sacrifices, bathing and changing clothes are therefore necessary.

Lu Mia’s simple leather suit was put aside, and she was cleaned of dirt by two powerful lower priestesses.

Although the work ended in Lumia's horror, when she was taken back to the warm priest's cabin, the whole person was shed a layer of skin in a sense.

She put on a new linen dress, just like the clothing of other lower priests. A layer of leather is worn on the outside. If you go out, you also need to wear a hat made of a whole Arctic fox fur.

Her original hairstyle has also been changed, and she puts up the usual braids of the girls of the Ross tribe.

At first glance, Lumia has completely changed and has truly become a member of the Ross tribe.

But, her identity is still a servant. Even though Rurik intended to treat her well, the priests, including Veria, who was regarded as an enlightened person by Rurik, still believed in their hearts that Lumia was just a humble servant, perhaps only better than some tribesmen. The hound is a little bit senior.

This servant is extraordinary, she is the servant of Rurik, the servant of the future leader.

But she is still a servant, even if she puts on very good clothes, she doesn't have to worry about eating every day, she is still a servant.

Otto publicly announced the gift of five deer to Veria as a sacrifice for some time in the future. The other deer in the family are also "deposited" with the priest.

Otto showed the generosity of the generosity, he declared boldly: "All my deer are prepared for sacrifice, and the servants will definitely breed them into a larger herd, so that Odin will be happy to see us more and more. The more offerings, the more blessings we will be."

The leader’s words are really pleasing, because no matter what, the alliance between the leader and the priest is stronger, and the priests will be able to eat more meat in the future.

is not a vegetarian, who would hate eating meat?

With the rest of the deer, it is natural that Lu Mia, a professional deer breeder, takes care of them.

According to Rurik’s request, Lumia was placed in the priest’s cabin. The girl’s important daily work was herding during the day and studying at night.

A large corral was quickly built, it is a patchwork of wood, and a roof is made of logs. Its exterior was simply piled with some soil and some ice and snow. The entire corral leaves a front door and a number of ventilation holes in the wooden wall.

Although the reindeer are very hardy animals, the deer breeders’ own deer pens are also primitive. Those wild deer are exposed to the natural environment in winter and rely on thick fur to resist the cold.

Since a corral is to be built, Rurik is really worried that the deer will lose even a little bit.

These deer are like seeds, and Rurik cherishes them. For a short time, all the deer wore a necklace.

Hemp rope is strung with some wooden plaques, on which the numbers are chiseled out by the tip of a knife, which is the Arabic numerals of the "Oriental numerals" called Rurik, and also marked with Roman numerals and the tribe's own Luen numeral characters.

It's a pity that those deer breeders only have their own language, not their own alphabet.

Only a handful of people can tell the numbers engraved by 　　Lurik, but even Rumia, a deer-raising girl, understands that her owner has accurately marked all the deer.

Lumia cherishes deer. She regrets the deer who were eaten because they couldn't take good care of them. Seeing this little boy's behavior, she felt a warmth in her heart. It can be seen that these barbarians have built a special warm enclosure for the deer, and this warmth has further increased.

The girl was ordered to herd herd. There were twenty deer by her side, and two priestesses in leather clothes were behind her. In fact, she was watching.

Lumia is very happy that her hands and feet are not bound by any restrictions, and the clothes she wears are warmer than the previous one. The deer is also his own deer, but everything is wrong, all his relatives died, and the deer and himself became barbarians.

She knows she has a chance to escape, but where is home?

The so-called master did not give himself any restraint, as long as he feeds the deer well, he has enough food to eat and can sleep in warm supplies.

Does she really have no intention to escape?

If there are still people alive in the relatives, if they can escape back to their small tent. No matter how warm and rich it is here, it is not my home.

Come back home? The reality is so cruel, maybe I can only pray to return to the old home in my sleep.

After a few days, the hungry deer regained their strength through continuous grazing. Not only that, Lumia is very pleased that in the barbarian tribe their high priest understands their own language.

Lumia is worried that there will be a terrible snowstorm. She is not worried that the deer will freeze to death, nor that she will freeze to death. She is only worried that the deer will starve to death.

She told the priest Veria: "You cannot graze on a snowy day. The deer will starve to death if they don't eat hay. We must prepare in advance."

Even if Veria and her priests didn’t know anything about raising deer, they knew that they would starve to death if they didn’t eat.

The lower priests really prepared a pile of hay. When the priests planned to cut away the snow and cut more buried hay, the climate changed suddenly.

When thinking of Lumia, Veria didn't know if it was a coincidence or Lumia really expected the cold snap.

Any snowfall will not last too long, and the deer will die if they do not eat food during the critical period. Outdoors, there is constant wind and snow, and the deer still have enough food.

I never thought that this is an opportunity for Rumia to change.

Four days have passed, and Veria is not just looking at Rurik's face and treating this girl in good faith.

Lumia didn't mean to run away, at least not on the surface. At night, she also stayed in the priest's cabin to learn the Norse language of the Ross tribe.

Her precautionary requirements have really brought very good results. When other people’s deer are dying on a large scale, only the priests’ deer are still grazing the grass in the warm deer pen.

She, Lumia, not only saved the deer used for Hanukkah, but also saved the deer for the spring festival, and even the future.