"In this case, the current plan will have to be slightly modified." Uncle Uliyan looked excited as he played with the javelin head in his hand, which was of poor quality and workmanship. "First, we need to reinforce the camp so that everyone has a place to stay. Then we need to find the Kobolds' lair and find a way to break into it and find the iron ore! The rest can be put aside for now." After everyone left, only Wuliyan and Leo were left. Leo frowned and asked, "What's the point of finding the iron ore first? Iron ore can't be eaten, and we don't have a blacksmith. There is no road for more than 30 miles from here to the western sentry tower, and the iron ore can't be transported out. The focus now is to get food first, right?" These questions cannot be raised in front of everyone, otherwise the morale that had been boosted by the iron mine would be hit hard again. "What do you know? Don't worry about anything. Once you've recovered from your injury, go investigate and find the ogre's lair to see if you can take it down." Uliyang habitually didn't explain and just waved his hand to drive him away. Leo had no choice but to shake his head and get out of the tent. Not until everyone had left did Uliyang sit down with difficulty. The excitement and confidence on his face slowly disappeared, and his fatigue could no longer be concealed. Olivia, a blonde girl with a proud figure, walked in. Seeing her father's tired and painful expression, she walked over with a worried look on her face, squatted down, leaned on Uliyan's knees, and whispered distressedly: "Dad..." She lifted up Uliyan's trouser legs and saw that his pale skin was covered with dark blood vessels, spreading from his calves to inside his boots, and emitting a slight stench.
"It's okay, it's just a minor problem, I can handle it." … Leo returned to his little tent and saw that the little mouse had returned from his bath and was struggling to spread the clean snow bear skin on a wooden stick to dry it in the sun. She sorted out the tattered furs that Leo threw outside and piled them back in the corner of the tent. Not a single piece was thrown away, and even the animal hair that fell on the ground was crumpled into a ball and preserved. She was wearing a worn-out thick wool sweater with a linen smock over it, which finally made her look less shabby. However, the two clothes that Olivia lent her were obviously too loose. When she wore them, they looked like some kind of religious robes, and the hems even dragged on the ground. It even seemed to stagger when walking, which was very funny and cute. This was also the first time that Leo had seen her clean. After taking a hot bath, the little girl's face finally had a hint of color. Her face with black hair and black eyes looked delicate, and her skin was as white as the lower class people. It's just that she was too thin. Long-term hunger made her cheeks and eye sockets obviously sunken, which looked a bit weird. In fact, even with her muddy appearance before, it was easy to tell that the little mouse was a little girl, but the original owner, Leo, was brainless and didn't care about her gender at all. Leo even felt that with the original owner's personality, he might not even care about race. If you suddenly feel kind today, you will save every mouse and bring it home. If your kindness is not enough tomorrow, you can stew it and eat it. Leo was still holding the little silk pajamas that the little mouse had taken off. After being washed, they dried themselves without having time to hang them out to dry. It's just a small ball in the hand, as if holding a small piece of cloud. Without unfolding it, you can see the colorful rays of light reflected by the sunlight. In addition to the silky feel, there is a constant sense of warmth. Even Li Ao, who came from modern society, had never seen silk of this quality in his life. Perhaps this is the so-called magic fabric, which is the little mouse's reliance for survival in this cold winter in the northern border. This must mean that the little mouse's identity is not simple, but Leo has no intention of exploring it.
The current main task is to solve the survival problem. Side tasks that require time and energy can be put off until later. "Hey!" Leo stuffed the silk pajamas in his hand to the little mouse, "Put it on secretly, don't let anyone see you, or they will snatch it away sooner or later." The little mouse held his pajamas in his arms, still saying nothing, just lowering his head in silence. "By the way, where have you slept during these days when I was injured? What did you eat?" Leo asked his previous questions. The little mouse opened his mouth and stammered, "Olivia...sister...set up a tent for me." The Imperial language she spoke was very nice and pleasant to the ear, but her accent was obviously not from the North. Leo, who had never left the village in his life, couldn't tell where she was from. Is Olivia so nice? She obviously doesn't seem to be very enthusiastic about the little mouse... But this is also consistent with Leo's impression. When he was in the village, Olivia was responsible for cooking every snow rabbit he caught. But Olivia was often reluctant to kill, especially when food was plentiful. For a while, Leo was lucky enough that Olivia's family had seven rabbits and a fawn. Although the poor and conservative villagers were obviously averse to street children, Olivia couldn't bear to watch the little mouse freeze to death. Glancing at the sun overhead, the little mouse hid his pajamas, then took Leo's hand and led him toward the center of the camp. At this time, the camp was filled with clanging sounds, with people setting up tents, dismantling truck planks, erecting fences, and clearing away dead branches, weeds, gravel and other debris. The villagers looked relaxed and the atmosphere was much more lively than on the road. Rows of wooden fences were erected around the camp, and the villagers' tents were set up against the fences, barely blocking the wind and snow. If attacked, these wooden fences would be temporary defense measures, at least able to withstand long-range attacks such as arrows and javelins. The center of the pioneer camp was quite empty, with only a half-open tent set up between two trucks. This was the kitchen of the pioneer team. There were several cages stuffed under the truck, containing chickens, ducks and rabbits. They have a total of fourteen heads and thirty-eight legs. Seven or eight village women, young and old, were busy preparing food for the convoy. Several girls, led by a strong woman, came back from outside the camp carrying baskets. In the baskets were some plants that Leo could not name but had eaten. It was not yet time for dinner, but several large pots were already boiling, with unknown wild vegetables, beans, chopped radishes, and dried meat bubbling inside. The aroma of baking bread wafted from the tent nearby. The bread was of course not freshly baked, but rather hard bread from stock that was heated up temporarily. The baguette, which can be used as a weapon, cannot be cut into pieces with ordinary knives unless it is heated. The so-called "broth" cooked in the pot is also for eating with hard bread. If it is not soaked in hot soup, the hard bread will be no different from hard wood. If you only look at this scene, you would have the illusion that there is plenty of food. This is also the atmosphere that Uliyan deliberately created by placing the kitchen in the center of the camp. But Leo, as a core member, knew that the entire team only had these two trucks of food left. The little mouse pulled Leo to stand on the side of the kitchen truck, where more than a dozen little kids had gathered. They were all ragged, pale and thin, with expectant looks on their faces.
When they saw the little mouse coming, no one greeted him. Instead, after seeing Leo, they all called him "Brother Leo" and "Captain". These children are all children of the villagers. Almost all of them have been beaten by Leo, but the more they are beaten, the more they admire Leo's strength. But they didn't dare to get close to him like a little mouse to show their affection, and no one could guarantee that Leo wouldn't kick them away. Because the hard bread mixed with a large amount of wheat bran, beans, acorns and cassava was difficult to digest and could easily cause children to die of bloating, the younger children in the caravan had different food.