Aris Province, Iris City
The city that originally belonged to humans has now changed its flag.
Aura warriors from the wilderness stood on the street. They were tall, heavily armored, and their cold and ferocious aura silenced every passerby who had no choice but to lower their heads and walk hurriedly.
This once prosperous city has now been officially taken over by the Aura Kingdom.
Violet Avenue, the busiest place in the past, has lost its hustle and bustle and fragrance of flowers, and has been replaced by a depressing silence.
The bluestone road was polished by heavy footsteps and horseshoes over the past few days, and there was dust that had not been swept away in the gaps. The air was filled with a faint fishy smell caused by the friction between dust and metal, and there was an indescribable chilling atmosphere.
Bard Caleb hugged his badly worn pearwood harp, tightly wrapped his old washed white cloak, and walked slowly against the wall.
His eyes were lowered, but he couldn't help but quietly scan the city that had changed hands.
The street scene is fragmented.
The familiar shop signs were still swaying slightly in the wind, and the aroma of wheat was faintly wafting from the bakery, but standing at the key position were no longer the serious or lazy faces of the Theo guards he was familiar with.
A Ogre warrior stood on the street corner like a weathered stone statue.
He was wrapped in thick iron armor and held a mace full of blunt thorns in his arms. His huge size and steel weapons were intimidating.
Ogre's eyes were slightly closed, and a subtle and even snoring sound came from under his visor, as if he was taking a nap and lazy.
However, whenever someone comes within ten steps of him, his eyes will open a crack, and the yellow-brown pupils will pass by indifferently, and then close again after confirming that there is no threat.
Caleb was looked at by Ogre.
He instantly felt cold all over his body, his steps froze in place, and his heart beat violently in his chest.
Countless terrible thoughts flashed through his mind.
He was afraid that Ogre would come towards him, grab him with his big palm-like hands, chew him up and swallow him like a chicken leg.
This is very possible.
According to what Caleb knows, the status of people from ceded provinces like them is not much higher than that of slaves.
Even if the enemy is a human country, its soldiers will often not be severely punished for killing some civilians.
What's more, the opposite side is a wilderness monster known for its savagery and ferocity, and is said to eat raw hair and drink blood.
Under Ogre's gaze, Caleb even had hallucinations, as if he saw his long-dead grandmother waving to him. Memories of his childhood surged into his mind uncontrollably, and cold sweat soaked the back of his thin shirt.
But that's just him worrying too much.
Ogre The guard just glanced at him, confirming that the thin human did not have any weapons and did not seem to be doing anything dangerous, and then closed his eyes again as if he was taking a nap.
Ru Mao and drink blood?
If the Ogre guard knew what Bard was thinking, he would definitely laugh.
A country bumpkin who only takes it for granted... Not to mention him, including Ogre of his father's generation, unless they are on the march when food is extremely scarce, they rarely eat raw meat directly. Even if it is not possible, they will grill it and eat it.
Ruining hair and drinking blood was a habit of the older generation in the wilderness.
As for the new generation, they do not reject raw meat and will eat the blood of their enemies on the battlefield, but this is more like a ritual tradition or a sense of honor, not everyday life.
Their Aura Ogre have long been completely different from the original Ogre tribe scattered in the wilderness.
For example, although the previous Ogre also had big shoulders and round waist, he was full of fat and was just puffy. However, Ogre of Aura has muscles all over his body and looks like an iron tower.
This is like Goblin and Mattena Kingdom in the wilderness, those Goblin who can read and write, and are even proficient in alchemy technology.
Due to the different education they receive, the resources they enjoy, and the environment they live in, although they have the same appearance and race, they think and behave like two different species.
In fact, wilderness creatures have never lacked intelligence, but environmental conditions do not allow it.
When they gathered together in the form of a kingdom, and when a powerful emperor gave order, their development speed was staggering.
On the other side, after Ogre looked away, Caleb took three breaths of relief before daring to continue moving.
He continued along the street and saw many Aura guards along the way.
Several Werewolf patrols passed by in neat steps, carrying standard scimitars on their waists, and their furs were neatly combed; two Trolls walked out of the alley carrying weapons, their heavy footsteps shaking the ground slightly; Centaur archers could also be seen on the towers in the distance.
As time went by, Bard's nervous heart slowly calmed down.
There was no burning, killing, looting, or wanton atrocities as expected.
Although the streets were deserted, there were still a few shops open.
Aura's warriors seemed extremely restrained, with a rough but clear sense of discipline, which was different from all the stories about monsters massacring cities that Caleb had sung.
This made him reflect a little.
He also thought of the changes in the Kingdom's previous reports on Red Emperor. The headlines of the daily newspapers that he had seen and heard in the tavern were spinning in his mind like a revolving lantern.
[Red Iron Dragon tyranny is on the verge of collapse, civilization will eventually defeat barbarism]
[The brutal Red Emperor captured Satellite, and the abominable Aura Kingdom captured the border area]
[Bad news, Aura Kingdom broke through Noldon Pass]
[Honorable Red Emperor comes to Iris City]
The last headline appeared recently. The notices plastered all over the streets were replaced overnight, as if yesterday's curse never existed.
"Is my bad impression of Aura due to my own true thoughts or from the Theo Kingdom's previous publicity?" Caleb thought silently, with a trace of confusion in his heart.
As a Bard, he understands better than ordinary people how stories are woven and how discourse is shaped.
But he never thought that one day he would be the one influenced by words.
A few minutes later, when the sky was getting dark and the dusk light cast long shadows on the buildings, Bard came to an open square.
This is also the destination for his adventure today.
He heard that there was food distribution here.
On the north side of the square, long rough but sturdy tables were set up and piled with food.
A large number of slightly rough but solid butter breads were piled into a hill, several large wooden barrels were filled with turbid jam filled with pulp and exuded a sweet aroma, and there were even many large iron pots steaming with a thick soup made of vegetables and some meat.
Food is being distributed in an orderly manner.
The person standing behind the table distributing food is not a human being.
For example, on the long table closest to Caleb.
On the left is Snake Woman.
Above the waist, she has the graceful body of a human female. Her long hair is tied up with a Blue Dragon ribbon. Her face is delicate, but her pupils are the vertical pupils of snakes. Below her waist, she has a slender and powerful snake tail, with dark blue scales shimmering in the twilight. She is currently entrenched on the ground.
She was using her long fingernails to hand the bread and thick soup in the wooden bowl to a shivering little girl.
The one in the middle is the most conspicuous and is a centaur.
Her tall and fit upper body was dressed in a simple linen shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, revealing her strong forearms; her long brown hair was tied into thick braids and hung down on her chest; her lower body was the body of a smooth chestnut horse, with simple shoes nailed on all four hooves to prevent damage to the stone slabs.
She was using a huge wooden spoon to scoop out the jam from the bucket and spread it evenly on the slices of bread.
A little further to the right, a Wolf Woman is responsible for looking after the soup pot.
She has gray-green hair, her big fluffy tail swings slightly behind her, her pointed ears stand up alertly, her eyes scan the queue, and she occasionally calls out in Common Tongue with a slight accent.
"Don't be crowded! We have them all! Get in line!"
Most of the people receiving food are civilians, children and the elderly with sallow complexions and skinny muscles.
Most of them did not dare to raise their heads, took the food silently, and left in a hurry.
But there are exceptions.
A boy of about seven or eight years old stared blankly at the strong and beautiful body of the horse that was trembling slightly with the movements of the Centaur Girl. He almost forgot to reach out to take the bread with jam that had been handed to him.
It wasn't until his mother gave him a panicked hand that he realized what he was doing, grabbed the bread and ran away with his head down.
Hunger finally overcame fear.
Bard touched the shriveled money bag at his waist and found that there were only a few pitifully thin coppers left in it, and he couldn't even afford a few pieces of the hardest black bread.
Hesitating again and again, his sense of shame was overwhelmed by the desire to survive, and he silently queued to the end of the nearest queue.
The team advanced slowly.
When it was his turn, the man happened to be in front of him.
She leaned forward slightly, which lowered her upper body, which was much taller than a human being, to eye level with Caleb. Then, she handed over a large piece of bread spread with jam and a large bowl of thick soup, with steam still rising from the edge of the wooden bowl.
Caleb raised his hand to pick it up, his eyes inevitably meeting hers.
They were a pair of huge, dark brown eyes with very few whites, warm and bright, and the pupils were horizontal oval, like a real horse, but with an expression unique to intelligent creatures.
"Give."
Her voice is not as clear as that of human women, it is slightly lower and has a certain richness. Although she has an accent, her words are clear.
"Thank... thank you."
Caleb took the bread and soup bowl.
The warm touch and weight of the bread made his throat twitch, and the aroma of the soup penetrated his nose.
Iris City was originally a prosperous city, but the war still had a serious impact on it.
Theo Kingdom In order to cope with the frontline war, several special taxes were levied. Coupled with the hoarding of nobles and businessmen, the lives of the lower class civilians were very difficult, and could even be said to be miserable.
Caleb has no special talents and has not embarked on any extraordinary path.
For an ordinary Bard like him who makes a living as a performer, his performance opportunities have dropped sharply, his rewards are also pitifully small, and he has been hungry for a while.
And there will only be more people in worse situations than him.
Caleb took the food and turned around to leave, but paused.
He turned around, hesitated, and then asked, "Excuse me... why do you do this? I mean, give out food for free." He added, "This doesn't... don't look like something a conqueror would do."
The Centaur girl was stunned for a moment.
Her huge horse's hooves lightly stepped on the spot twice, making a soft clicking sound, as if she was thinking.
After a few seconds, she replied, "It's an order, an order from above."
She paused, recalling the more specific wording, and then continued, "It said that conquest is more than planting a flag. The most important thing is to make the conquered identify with the new ruler from the heart."
"We come from the wilderness and don't know much about your human preferences and habits."
Centaur Girl's tone was very calm, "However, before the great Majesty Ignas founded the country and unified the wilderness, our ancestors all tasted the pain of hunger."
"We all know how uncomfortable it is to be hungry."
"Now, Iris City belongs to Aura, and you will also become a part of us."
She looked at Caleb, the poet's thin face reflected in her horizontal pupils, "And we, the people of Aura, will never sit back and watch our compatriots starve."
"This is the most basic."
Bard was stunned, not expecting such an answer.
At the same time, another Snake Woman heard the conversation. She turned her head, stuck out her forked tongue, showed a sly smile, and added, "After the superiors occupied Iris City, the first thing they did was to clean up the private treasury of the major nobles here and collect security maintenance tax and order restoration tax from them."
"The food you are receiving now, the raw materials were purchased with that tax."
Snake Woman blinked his vertical pupils and said in a sarcastic tone, "Those stingy nobles are very rich in oil and water. If you scrape off a layer, it will be enough to fill the stomachs of all the common people in your city. This is the first batch, and there will be more to come."
In fact, the common people at the bottom of Iris City have been suffering from hunger for a long time, but those nobles seem to have seen nothing. Taxes should be increased, and banquets should be held.
Now, Aura Kingdom takes over Iris City.
The first thing the legendary monsters do is not to Bloodshed suppress them, but to plunder the wealth of the nobles and use it to fill the bellies of common people like them.
Who is civilization and who is monster?
Bard Including other people who heard these words, they had mixed emotions.
Some people showed astonishment, some lowered their heads in thought, and some had long-suppressed resentment towards the nobles on their faces.
Caleb also stirred up waves in his heart.
He looked down at the soft bread and fragrant soup in his hands, then suddenly raised his face and looked at the three foreign women distributing the food.
"Beautiful ladies, your kindness is like a spring flowing through a dry riverbed."
He let go of the harp he had been holding and let it rest against his legs. He held the food in his free hands and bowed slightly, "Please allow me to sing a few impromptu words for you to express my gratitude."
Without waiting for the other party to respond, Caleb took a breath and chanted at a low but clear volume that could reach the ears of everyone nearby.
"When the cloak of dusk covers the edges of the city wall, strange guardians stand at the sentry of the past."
"The hands are not torches and swords, but wheat ears and wooden spoons, which bring food and clothing to the trembling palms and hope to the hopeful eyes."
"Today's food comes from yesterday's greedy warehouse, and today's order is built on the chaos of the past."
"Ah, strange benefactor, I hope this little line of poetry can return a moment of warmth to your side."
"."
The words he improvised were not complicated, but they captured the scene at the moment and the feelings in many people's hearts.
A light and grateful melody was hummed by him casually, and paired with verses, it had the power to soothe people's hearts.
At the end, Caleb bowed slightly again.
"Your poetry... is pretty good, and your voice is good."
Centaur Girl smiled slightly, showing her neat teeth, "Tomorrow, at the same time and at the same place, we will be distributing food here. Remember to come, don't be embarrassed, we don't eat people."
She made a little joke, and the few civilians around her who heard it also relaxed a little, and some even let out a low laugh.
Caleb nodded, carefully picked up the soup bowl and bread, and turned to leave.
He found a stone step at the edge of the square and sat down, wolfing down the long-lost meal.
After drinking the hot soup, your whole body will feel warm.
On the way back, at a certain corner, Caleb stopped.
On a notice wall covered with various notices, he saw a piece of newly posted parchment.
The paper is of good quality and the ink is new, which stands out among the many yellowed and damaged old notices.
[Recruiting people who are good at speaking, Bard will be given priority, favorable remuneration, food security]
There was no specific description of what to do, but an address in the east of the city, with a red stamp representing Aura Kingdom underneath.
"This is...Aura Kingdom's recruitment order?"
Caleb came closer and read carefully, "Instead of recruiting those powerful warriors or Spellcaster, instead recruit Bard? Why?"
He was confused and a little moved at the same time.
The war made Theo's taxes so heavy that he was suffocating. He was already very poor, and he didn't want to keep accepting charity.
If you can make money and support yourself through your own skills, then that is a long-term solution.