novel-bin Chapter 18 Snowball's Past
Chapter 18 Snowball's Past
The saying goes, "You get what you pay for."
Zag's recovery speed is far slower than Snowball's.
It wasn't until Snowball had devoured two small dried fish that the burns on Zag's face gradually subsided. But for some reason, the newly healed skin was itchy, giving Zag the unsettling feeling that something was about to grow out of it.
Lunch was again cabbage soup and baked potatoes, with the addition of a small dried fish.
We could have added two more, but Snowball ate two of them, so there's only one left. That's all the dried fish we have at home.
"I have to go to the market early tomorrow morning. There won't be any dried anchovies tonight, so you'll just have to drink some thick soup with me, or nibble on some dry bread and baked potatoes." Zag said to Snowball while peeling a potato, "And have you been eating more and more lately?"
Snowball grinned angrily, "I'm injured, can't I at least get some treatment?!"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes..."
The potatoes from the eastern border region aren't particularly tasty; they're low in starch and the flesh isn't very tender. These potatoes might be great for making spicy and sour shredded potatoes or crunchy "wolf tooth" potatoes, but as a staple food, they're rather disappointing. Zag can only roast them, cut them into chunks, sprinkle them with salt, and eat them with a thick soup.
Because he really didn't want to eat hard, sour bread anymore.
"I have a question."
After eating and drinking his fill, Zag looked at Snowball, whose belly was visibly bulging like a ball, and was filled with doubt.
If people with low spirituality can't even see the snowball, how does it survive here?
Or did Snowball only pass by when I was traveling through time? And only started following me after discovering my high level of spirituality?
But this doesn't explain why it knew so much about the original "Zag".
"Were you in Cabbage Town before?"
Perhaps because her trust in Zag had increased considerably, or perhaps because she was in a good mood after eating, Snowball didn't hide anything: "Yeah, those sentries all treat the sentry post as a temporary resting place, so they don't pay much attention to what's inside. Like Zag... the old one, he could never even remember how many potatoes he bought, and he especially liked to buy a basket of dried small fish to store as a side dish, so I would often steal a few... anyway, he wouldn't notice!"
"Don't you fairies have any settlements? I mean, where did you originally live?"
Snowball's swaying tail stopped shaking when it heard the topic, but it still answered the question: "No, fairies usually travel alone, which helps them avoid being caught and wiped out by the Norsemen."
Zag was startled: "What...what did the Norse people do to you?"
The Northrends were the first human race to arrive in the northern part of the Dawn Continent and establish a human kingdom. Because their first Eternal Empire (also known as the Ancient Eternal Kingdom) was located in the northern part of the Dawn Continent, they were called "Northrends," which means "people from the north."
Later, another group of humans failed to compete with the Northrends for habitat and retreated to an island in the east to establish a kingdom. Since the first queen was a great female mage who proclaimed herself queen, the island was named "Queen Island," meaning "Queen's Island." The human group on the island became the "Queens," meaning "the queen's people."
Compared to the warlike Northrends, the Quen were more adept at commerce, so before the Great Cataclysm, the Quen and the Gore people had very close ties, and the Quen Strait was the most famous trading region. At that time, Eastgate Harbor was the most prosperous port in the entire Eternal High Kingdom because it was closer to the Gore people to the south, even surpassing Haywindmouth in Haywind County.
However, after the Great Calamity, both sides of the Quen Strait suffered severe setbacks. For a long time, both the Investigators of the Eternal High Kingdom and the Vigilants of the Quen Kingdom were too busy to even have time to drink water, constantly clearing out the mutated magical creatures that had escaped from the destroyed Kingdom of Orodia and protecting towns and cities everywhere. It was not until the Eternal Wall was built that the world finally calmed down.
but……
The Northrends certainly didn't have a good reputation. They waged wars against the pure-blood elves simply because the nobles felt they should control the resources of the Silver Mountains. They also enacted the infamous Slave Act, which presumed all non-Northrend peoples to be legal slaves, leading to an astonishingly prosperous slave trade throughout the kingdom.
However, the Slave Act was repealed after the Battle of Silver Mountain. The severely damaged Northrends not only paid a heavy price for their arrogance in trying to invade the pure-blood elves, but were also severely humiliated by Quen Isle.
These events directly led to the de facto division of the Eternal Supreme Kingdom, namely the independence of the six major territories.
With the support of the pure-blood elves and Quen, Red Maple, Strath, Dawn, and Voldon enacted autonomous laws within their territories. Under pressure from various parties, the High King was forced to grant Northham and Eastfall the same autonomy.
From then on, the six major territories of the Eternal Supreme Kingdom became independent in effect. Although each territories nominally still recognized the Supreme King as the supreme head of state and identified themselves as part of the Eternal Supreme Kingdom, that was all.
However, not all of these six territories are traitors. At least the northernmost territory of Northam and the eastern territory controlled by the Golden Helmet family have always been loyal to the High King, and even pay a considerable tax every year in exchange for some support from the kingdom.
In short, the Northrends, after their split, became much more well-behaved, and for at least the last few hundred years since the Great Cataclysm, they haven't caused any major trouble.
But this doesn't mean the reputation of the Norsemen will improve as a result; at least in Snowball's opinion, none of the Norsemen are good people.
"The repeal of the Slave Act doesn't mean there are no slaves in the Eternal High Kingdom. Those disgusting nobles love to keep all sorts of magical creatures as pets or slaves. Even the Sea Spirits were defiled by the audacious Norther people, and as a result, that noble's entire family didn't survive. Tsk, they deserved it!"
Snowball didn't give a direct answer, but from its muttered complaints, one could glean that it probably wasn't anything good.
"However, we fairies have our own way of communicating, which we call the 'Fairy House.' Fairies can not only exchange messages through the 'Fairy House,' but also temporarily go inside for refuge or to escape for their lives."
"So as long as we don't get discovered by those Norther mages, we're safe."
Zag hesitated: "But the royal city should have some special measures in place to guard against magical creatures. Can you stay in the royal city?"
If Snowball cannot live in the Royal City, or if staying there is too dangerous, then it will have to find another place.
Snowball continued to wag its tail nonchalantly: "Just become a normal cat. Although I don't know why, these ordinary creatures that have nothing to do with us look like our brothers and sisters. But sometimes, turning into their appearance and blending in is indeed the best way to avoid the suspicion of those mages."
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【Battle of the Silver Mountains】: In the eastern part of the Kingdom of Lunaran and the western part of the Eternal High Kingdom, there are endless mountain ranges called the "Silver Mountains". They contain the richest mineral deposits in the entire Dawn Continent, mainly silver, and also produce a magical ore called "Moonlight Ore", which is one of the main magical materials for smelting mithril ore.
The nobles of the Eternal High Kingdom coveted the Silver Mountains and launched a war of aggression against the Kingdom of Lunaran, known as the "War of the Silver Mountains".
The war ended in defeat, and the Eternal High Kingdom was forced to sign the Silver Treaty, suffering a severe blow.
In the same year, Red Maple, Strath, Dawn, and Walden enacted autonomous laws, effectively becoming independent. The following year, Northam and Eastfall followed suit. By then, all six counties within the Eternal High Kingdom had become autonomous territories.