Chapter 5 Shepherd "Then let's go find your father." Lumian stood up quickly. He has always been proactive, and he knows very well that the investigation of the village legend cannot be delayed. If it is delayed for too long, it will be easy for his sister to find out, and his sister Auror will definitely not allow him to continue. This is because in Auror's eyes, the pursuit of supernatural powers is a very dangerous behavior. How could I not know there was danger? Aurore wouldn't lie to me about this. But even if there was a sea of knives and fire ahead, I would go on. I couldn't let Aurore face it alone... As he stood up, this thought flashed through Lumian's mind. Whenever Aurora mentioned that the world was becoming increasingly dangerous, the seriousness and worry on her face could not be faked! Raymond Craig was even more confused: "What are you looking for him for?" "Ask about how long ago the wizard's legend took place." Lumian looked at Raymond. Why can't this guy understand what people say? It seems necessary to find an opportunity to test his IQ.
Raymond's face was full of doubts. He looked at Lumian and said: "Why do you ask so clearly?" Uh... should I just find a random excuse to fool this guy, or should I just say it directly? Lumian immediately fell into deep thought. Considering that it would be impossible to completely hide his subsequent investigation from his friends, and that the very reason of pursuing the truth of the legend sounded like a lie and no villagers would believe it if he spread it, Lumian quickly came up with an idea. He instantly revealed the smile he usually showed when he lied to others. "..." Raymond took two steps back, "Speak properly!" Lumian adjusted his dark short jacket and the linen shirt underneath and said with a smile: "I think the legend of that wizard is worth pondering." "What's there to think about?" Raymond thought for a while before saying. "'There used to be a wizard in the village.'" Lumian said seriously, "Think about it. When I make up a story to deceive people, I definitely won't say the time, place and background that everyone can immediately confirm. But the legend clearly mentioned that there was a wizard in the village, our Koldu village. If this is a lie, wouldn't it be easily exposed by everyone?" "But that was a long time ago," Raymond retorted. “I’m referring to the people who heard this story a long time ago when it first started to spread. They should have been able to easily confirm whether a wizard had died in the village at that time.” Lumian smiled and said, “Since this story has been passed down, it means that it is very likely to have really happened.” This reason did not convince Raymond: "But when you make up a story, you often use terms like 'over a hundred years ago', 'hundreds of years ago', 'a long time ago' to make it impossible for people to verify it." “That’s why I have to ask your father for confirmation!” Lumian had an expression that said, “Now you know why I have to ask your father.” "That's right..." Raymond accepted this explanation, but he always felt that something was wrong. As the two left the square and walked deeper into the village, Raymond finally came to his senses: "But why do you want to confirm whether such a legend is true or false?" "A wizard, that's a wizard! If we can confirm which house he lived in and where he was buried, maybe we can discover his secrets and gain magical powers beyond ordinary people." Lumian said the truth that sounded like a lie. Raymond really showed an expression of "Don't lie to me":
“Most of those stories were made up to scare children, how could they be true? "Besides, pursuing the power of wizards will lead to being thrown into the Inquisition!" The Republic of Intis is located in the northern continent of this world. The orthodox gods are "Eternal Blazing Sun" and "God of Steam and Machinery". The churches of the two have divided up almost all the people's faith, and do not allow the "Goddess of Night" Church and "Lord of Storms" Church of the Kingdom of Loen, the "Mother Earth" Church of the Kingdom of Feynaport, the "God of Knowledge and Wisdom" Church of the Central and Southern countries such as Renburg, and the "God of War" Church of the Feysac Empire to come in to preach. The Inquisition of the Church of the Eternal Sun has always been feared by the people. Countless heretics and pagans have been imprisoned there and suffered cruel treatment. Lumian laughed: "Why are you worrying about this now? You said it yourself, most of those legends are made up, and the possibility of finding the remains of the wizard is almost zero. "Besides, even if we really find the remains of a wizard, we don't have to inherit that forbidden power. We can just hand it over to the church in exchange for their reward. Well, as a wizard, there must be a lot of treasures among his burial objects." The church that Lumian was referring to was the Church of the Eternal Sun, because there was no Church of the God of Steam and Machinery in their village of Cordu - this was often concentrated in major cities and places with factories. Seeing Raymond's heart beating so fast, Lumian secretly sighed and added: "Do you really want to be a shepherd?" The shepherd he was talking about was not the idyllic shepherd that city dwellers knew, a shepherd who was not a member of the family and who only had to drive a few sheep to graze every morning and take good care of them. In the Darliege region of the Leiden Province where the village of Cordu is located, shepherding is a profession that is destined to be hard and lonely. They are employed by sheep owners and drive dozens or even hundreds of sheep back and forth between mountains and plains. This is called transhumance - every autumn, when the alpine pastures in the mountains around the village of Koldu wither, the shepherds will drive their flocks outside the mountain pass to the warmer plain pastures in the distance, often crossing the border into the territories of Feynaport and Lenburg. In early May, they drive the flocks back to the villages, shear their wool, and wean the lambs. In June, they go up the mountain, enter the alpine pastures, live in shacks, make cheese, and herd the sheep until the weather turns cold. In this way, the shepherds moved from pasture to pasture year after year, traveling all their lives, and only had a very short time to return to the village. Therefore, most of them were single, and it was difficult for them to get married and start a family. The few widows who had to go shepherding for a living were very popular in this group. Raymond was silent. After a long while, he hesitated and said: "Listen to you, this sounds like a fun thing to do and can be used to kill some free time." Normally, after the family decides which child needs to be a shepherd, they will send him to a shepherd's home to help when he is between fifteen and eighteen years old and learn how to shepherd. Three years later, the child officially becomes a shepherd and seeks employment everywhere. Raymond, who is seventeen years old this year, has been finding various reasons to delay this matter for more than two years. If his life does not change like it is now, he will have to learn shepherding next year. "Let's go." Lumian patted Raymond's shoulder, "Is your father in the fields or at home?" "There has been no work lately, and Lent is coming soon. He is either at home or in the tavern." Raymond once again made an envious voice, "You don't know all this? You are really not a farmer, you have a good sister!" Lumian put his hands in his pockets and walked slowly forward, ignoring Raymond's sigh. When we were almost at the shabby tavern in the village, a man came up from the side road. The man was wearing a dark brown long coat with a hood, a rope tied around his waist, and a pair of brand new black leather shoes that looked soft. "Pierre, Pierre from the Berry family?" Raymond asked in surprise. Lumian also stopped and looked at the road on the side. "It's me." Pierre Berry smiled and waved. He was thin, with slightly sunken eye sockets, greasy black hair in curls, and a beard that seemed to have not been shaved in ages. "Why are you back?" Raymond asked puzzledly. Pierre Berry is a shepherd. It is now the end of March or the beginning of April. He should be grazing his sheep on the plain pastures outside the mountain pass. How could he be in the village? Even if he moved to Lenburg or Feyneport's northern border this time, he had only just started his journey, and it would take about a month to return to the Liege Mountains.
Pierre had a pair of gentle, smiling blue eyes. He said happily: “Isn’t Lent coming up soon? I haven’t participated in it for several years, so I can’t miss it this year! "Don't worry, I have companions to help me watch over the sheep. This is the good thing about being a shepherd. There is no supervisor. As long as I can find someone to help me, I can go wherever I want. It's very free." Lent is a festival widely celebrated throughout Intis, where people welcome the coming of spring in various forms and pray for a good harvest in the new year. This has nothing to do with the Church of the Eternal Sun or the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, but it has become a folk custom and there is no worship of pagan gods, so it has been tacitly approved by the orthodox. “You want to see who will be chosen as the Spring Elf this year?” Lumian joked with a smile. During Lent in the village of Koldu, a beautiful girl is chosen to play the role of the spring spirit as part of the celebration. Pierre laughed and said: "I was hoping it would be your sister Aurore, but she would definitely not agree, and she's not the right age either." "Okay." He then pointed to the tavern not far away and said, "I'm going to the church to pray. I'll buy you a drink later." Raymond responded subconsciously: "No, you don't have much money." "Haha, the gods taught us, 'Even if you only have one copper, you should share it with your poor brothers.'" Pierre talked about a proverb circulated among shepherds in the Dariege area. At this time, Lumian smiled at Raymond: "Pierre has become rich, he will definitely treat us to a drink!" He was pointing at Pierre Berry's brand new leather shoes. Pierre Berry was very happy: "This time the employer was good. He gave me several sheep, and later some wool, cheese and leather." The shepherds' compensation consists of food, a small amount of money, and shared livestock, cheese, wool, and leather. Specifically, how much they get depends on the contract signed with the employer in advance. For shepherds who need to travel long distances, a pair of good and suitable leather shoes is the most urgent and practical desire. As he watched Pierre Berry walk towards the village square, Lumian's eyes gradually became solemn and a little doubtful. He muttered to himself silently: “Just to participate in Lent, it takes a week or two or even nearly a month to rush back?” After thinking for a moment, Lumian withdrew his gaze and walked towards the tavern with Raymond. The tavern has no name, nor does it need one. There is only one in Cordu Village, and the villagers like to call it the Old Tavern. As soon as he entered the tavern, Lumian looked around habitually. Suddenly, his gaze paused at a certain point. He saw the stranger who left early last night. A foreigner who is obviously not in the same group as Ryan, Leah, and Valentine. This is a lady wearing an orange long dress, with slightly curly brown hair, and her light blue eyes staring at the light red alcoholic beverage in her hand. She was beautiful but lazy, and seemed not to be in the same scene as the low, dim and shabby tavern. PS: Thanks to Sikong Yibin for rewarding the Silver Alliance.
(End of this chapter)