148 – winter(2)
The winter wind blowing from the floating island is fierce and heavy. In some cases, trees are uprooted by the wind that blows daily, and in other cases, animals that do not hibernate in winter are blown away by the wind.
In a strong wind that might be called a storm, the huge tree that Chester and Monia had made their home was at least one of the most placid.
This is because Chester, who had already suffered from a storm, had already taken a position in preparation for strong winds.
The tall trees surrounding them act as a windshield, weakening the wind as it hits the house before the two of them do, and the weakened wind cannot shake the tree, which is firmly rooted and the pillar of the house, as it is huge.
Of course, the house, which is only tied to the tree, is shaken by the wind, but it was not enough to cause fear that the house would fall off the tree right away.
Monia cooked while listening to the creaking sound of bamboo rubbing against each other as the house swayed in the wind. Today’s meal is a handful of grains and a piece of meat. It was too difficult to divide and eat, so I thought of soaking the grain in water and then boiling it to make porridge and eating it all day long.
If you chew and swallow for a long time, you will feel full for a long time.
Monia had a conversation with Chester while seasoning the porridge she was boiling with a little salt.
“I’m not worried about the house, but will the waterway be okay?”
“Surora. I’m definitely a little worried.”
Of course, Chester did not secure the canal in preparation for such a situation. Since it was set up in the form of hanging it on a tree with a rope, it will not be damaged so easily even if it is shaken by the wind. Bamboo is such a hard material.
However, this is the story of the bamboo itself, the waterway itself. What if the tree itself that hangs the canal is blown over by the wind? In that case, the waterway will inevitably be damaged, and it will be difficult to install it again.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to reinforce the tree? When the wind stops, let’s reinforce it.”
“yes. Ah, it’s been a while since you’ve been moving outside. It must be hard.”
“I hope the snow doesn’t pile up deep, but the Black Wind says that if the winter is severe, the snow can pile up to waist level.”
If the black wind is waist-high, it means that the snow is piled up to Chester’s chest and Monia’s neck. If it piles up like that, you can’t get around.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen snow like this. The dukedom is in a warm place, so it doesn’t snow very often, and the capital is in the cold north, so it snows, but not as much.”
“Well, it snowed a lot at the academy. It has come more than winter in my hometown.”
“Was Chester home in the North too?”
“It was a place that straddled the west and north. In the summer, the wind blows from the west, making it warm, but in the winter, the cold wind blows from the north, so it gets cold quickly. In the winter, I would play with the kids and have a snowball fight.”
“A snowball fight? what is that?”
“It’s just putting snow together and throwing it at each other… … Do you want to try it?”
Monia nodded with an interested face.
“great. So what if the wind stops?”
Monia smiled and clung to Chester’s arms without answering.
After hugging Chester for a while and sharing warmth, he came back to the pot and pulled out the firewood to reduce the size of the campfire.
“It’s done.”
After sharing the porridge in bowls, the two began to eat quietly.
Ant couldn’t eat the hot porridge, so he had to wait for the porridge to cool before he could eat.
* * *
“Winter is coming soon.”
“How about the supply of wires? Snowy areas need to pay more attention to supply routes.”
“Urgent news. Last night, the dukes ambush and cut off two supply lines!”
“Damn it! Again?! Stop eating, you kids! Damage!”
“Fortunately, it can be fixed quickly. However, the supplies that were intended to be moved to the Western Front were taken away… … .”
“Kuk!”
“For that matter, it is said that war on the Western Front is currently at a standstill due to bad weather. The trenches are filled with water up to the neck level, so I can’t do anything without covering them.”
“Ah, with the warm and cold wind blowing wildly, it should be like that. However, in order for the soldiers to survive the bad weather, they must have supplies. It is difficult to wait until the supply route is fixed, so a separate supply unit is organized and sent.”
“All right.”
The tougher the weather, the tougher the wires will be.
Taking advantage of this weather when supply is becoming difficult, if the enemy’s supply is insufficient and their own supply is sufficient, there are people who take advantage of it and attack, and in some cases, the war stops because both sides babble due to lack of supply.
There will be some deserters taking advantage of the chaos of the entire military unit, some going over to the enemy, or some committing suicide because they can’t stand the extreme mental stress of the harsh weather and war.
Now, tribes in the faraway southern provinces, unrelated to the war, can hardly bear the gentle cold wind that does not allow a single snow to fall from the north and endures until the day the cold wind disappears.
The tribes of the desert made of water, who build houses with snow and ice in the north and have to endure the pain of being thirsty without finding a drop of water among the snow and ice overflowing everywhere, move their strong bodies and try to live each day. endure now.
Now that food is running out and the child is crying and rioting at home, the nobles are grumbling that the meat is slightly tough due to the poor quality of logistics, and the duke is sad that he can’t afford to hunt due to the fierce resistance of the kingdom’s army. .
Tiara drank a sip of tea while watching the snow falling outside the window while warming her body that had hardened on a cold morning over the bonfire of the stove lit with plenty of firewood.
Now that Jordy is busy because of the war, Tiara is enjoying the alone time she has had for the first time in a while, and is relaxing and soothing her devastated heart with Jordi.
Fortunately, with Jordi’s arrival, did Tiara’s tortured education stop? It just felt like the mental fatigue from education had changed to the mental fatigue from dealing with Jordi, but because of that, Tiara was satisfied with the current situation.
Because now nothing hurts her.
Unlike Tiara, who enjoyed peace for a moment, the war between the Royal Army and the Duke Army was changing dramatically as Jordi carried out several operations that ignored human rights and the law of war.
They drugged the soldiers and made them charge close to suicide, made and used bombs with gunpowder obtained while robbing the supplies of the duke army, and used insufficient power to attract women and elderly people from surrounding villages to the front line. Making a scapegoat and overcoming it, etc.
Jordi was harassing the Duke’s army by taking actions such as leading the defeated front to victory or drawing a draw at any cost and forcing it into a stalemate.
Naturally, there was dissatisfaction among the kingdom troops, but he was suppressing his dissatisfaction in front of Jordi, who wielded absolute power as a king with a criminal record that was noticeably improved.
At the same time, this act also caused the effect of blocking the movement of nobles or commanders who tried to escape from the kingdom army and enter the ducal army. In the face of fear, he was afraid of what would happen if he dared to betray and was caught, so he could not go over to the Duke Army.
The Duke was having quite a bit of fun.
What Jordy was doing was a foolish thing to do without thinking about the future, but he enjoyed being defeated or defeated by a strategy that was recklessly carried out without thinking about it.
It is a pleasure that cannot be felt when facing the kingdom army, which had been helplessly defeated until now.
It was good entertainment to devise a strategy on how to beat this idiot, just as there are cases in which the beginner’s thoughtless play on the chessboard makes the expert worry.
If this is prolonged, it is unknown how the front line will flow as the absolute superiority the Duke’s army had is lost.
In fact, there was a disturbing movement within the Duke’s army. For example, the barons in the coastal region are building a smuggling passage to move something secretly to the vicinity of the Duke’s headquarters.
“If we are like this, how about a kingdom that has been thrown into chaos by civil war?”
The duke decided to take a strategy that would greatly tilt the battle this winter.
“Move the Revolutionary Army.”
He brings out his forces still lurking inside the kingdom.
“The goal is… Palace.”
It snows.
Of all the winters the kingdom had experienced so far, the harshest winter was coming.
“I think I can spend this winter warmly.”
Tiara sipped tea while saying that without knowing anything.
And at dawn the next day, the royal capital was engulfed in flames.