Berserk, Total War: Second Son of Nobles

Winter 1444

As the cold air from the North Sea moves southward into the continent, the battle in Midlan Uda gradually stabilizes. In addition to the fact that the soldiers' combat effectiveness will be affected after entering winter, another factor is the preparation for a Light Festival similar to Christmas. During the year, everyone reunites and gives each other gifts, and then in the evening they review the past, look forward to the future, and end with a good meal.

Of course, the above is only applicable to nobles or those with better living conditions. It does not apply to the common people and the soldiers who go to the front lines. In any feudal country, it is basically the common people who suffer. After paying taxes, the common people still have to serve in the military. The rest of the common people linger in a broken house, eating the few food in the house, praying for the war to end smoothly, for their families to return home and reunite, and for the lords to reduce taxes, which is an unrealistic fantasy.

In the Forest Territory, although the living standards of local people are just so-so, they do not have to pay tithes, let alone housing taxes, head taxes and other miscellaneous taxes, so everyone still has some money. In addition, the territory now has very few restrictions on the people, and brave people can go from one village to another. Of course, leaving the territory is not allowed, but few people dare to leave the territory, because a large part of the people come from outside, and everyone knows what the situation is outside the territory.

Before the festival arrives, everyone is basically preparing things needed for the festival, such as food for the evening and gifts for others. Although they are not as good as those wealthy nobles, this is one of the few joys they have in the world. Unless they can be noticed by some noble lord or wealthy businessman and become his attendants or even adopted children, the only thing they can celebrate in their lives is probably their marriage.

Seeing the prosperous scene outside the castle, John also wanted to see how ordinary people in the Middle Ages celebrated the festival. Of course, before that, he needed to prepare gifts for the officials around him, but since he couldn't ask for too much in the forest, he only brought some spoils captured from Yoda, such as an ancestral armor, a horse, a dress, and a bunch of gold and silver inlaid objects. What he didn't expect was that he also received gifts from his family.

After he joined the army, his father asked someone to find out his approximate location and sent gifts there, which were basically some food, armor and weapons, as well as a bag of gold coins. Although these were better than nothing when used in the army, considering that the family only had the territory of one village, it really cost the family a lot to be able to give them these.

In addition to the gift, there was also a letter. When John opened it, the entire piece of letter paper was folded into many pieces, and the handwriting on each piece was different. The first piece was from John's mother, saying that she was very pleased to see that her son was not only alive but also promoted. She wished her son a successful career in the future and also told her son not to drink excessively and not to learn bad habits in the army.

The second one was from Father John. In the letter, he said roughly the same thing as Mother, but at the end of the letter he added, "I have already spent money to start working in the aristocratic circle of Windham, and results will soon be seen."

John knew that his father had some uncles in Windham. When they were young, they were domineering in the village. His grandfather was so angry that he sent them to a monastery to study the Bible for a few years. It was called "sent", but it was basically no different from kidnapping. A few years later, John's uncles came back and began to become more cultured, so John's grandfather sent them to Windham University for further studies. After all, to get into the world, the most important thing besides background is ability. If your background is not good, you can make up for it with ability.

Later, the uncles basically entered the aristocratic circle of Windham and started to attend various balls. Attending balls cost money, so they began to ask Father John for money. Father John didn't know what was going on, but he really gave them the money. John still doesn't understand until now, if the money was used to build the territory, to build more facilities, and to build more houses to attract refugees, would the family not be so embarrassed.

John was unhappy when he thought of this, so he prepared to go out to inspect the territory and experience the festive atmosphere. Of course, he was not going to go incognito, in case something happened and he died. So he took 20 cavalrymen and set off with flags. Because John did not have any title and his official position was temporary, he used the flag of Midland.

John walked in the middle of the road, guarded by cavalry on both sides. The people were blocked on both sides of the road by the guards. Basically everyone on the street wanted to see what kind of person their lord was.

John, who was being watched so much, felt very comfortable. After all, he had become a superior person. Sure enough, it was this damn competitive spirit that was at work again.

John's team walked and walked to another village. This village was mainly inhabited by Yoda residents. Different from the lively Midland immigrant village, Yoda's village seemed a bit lifeless. There were basically no people on the road, and every household hung a string of bacon. John was also very curious and wanted to ask what this custom was in order to increase the influence of the Yoda people in his territory, so he asked passers-by.

"Let me ask you, why does every household hang bacon? Is this a custom?" John stopped a man on horseback and said.

The person who was stopped was startled. When he saw that it was the lord, he immediately knelt on the ground and said: "Sir, this is to prevent zombies. After eating bacon, the zombies will not attack livestock and humans."