Chapter 211

"Stranger?" asked an old man with a white beard.

Although the old man is old, his figure is still tall and straight, and he has a strong and mature posture.

Judging from the young and middle-aged people around him, the status of the other party should not be low.

"Yes." Orson nodded, and then continued: "Wise and brave Lapland ancestors, please allow me to offer you my high respect here. We are southern folklorists. We are here. In order to record your stories, your way of life, your heroes, your gods, we are all interested in recording them.

After you come, your story will be told throughout the continent. "

Seeing that Orson made his purpose clear, the old man narrowed his eyes as if he was thinking about something, and then nodded.

"So, tell me, what do you need?" he asked.

"We don't need supplies, food, or shelter. Of course, if you can provide it, we will certainly be grateful to you, but as I said before, we only need stories. I believe that in the vast Lapland, you will definitely There are many stories that have been told from ancient times to the present, and these are the only ones we need to understand.”

"Okay." The old man nodded, and then motioned to the young men behind him to put down their weapons.

Orson gave him a good feeling. Although there was no real sense of intimacy, this polite attitude did make people feel comfortable when communicating.

"There is a vacant house in the village. The owner there passed away last month. If you don't mind, you can live there." The old man said, pointing in a direction.

There are less than twenty houses in this village, most of which are made of earth or wood. Although they are not very effective in keeping out the cold, it is enough to light a fire inside.

"Thank you, generous old gentleman." When Orson heard what the other party said, he quickly thanked him.

"But these are not without cost." The other party then added.

"When you are staying in the village temporarily, you cannot disturb other people. I don't care whether you are here to take notes or for other purposes. Once you disturb our normal life, you will leave here immediately. Do you understand?"

"Of course we know this." Orson nodded, and then led Olivia and Elsa to the abandoned house following the other's guidance.

Because it is in a snowfield, even if the house has been abandoned for a long time, there are no insects and there is not much dust. After a brief cleaning, it can be regarded as freeing up space for three people to live in.

"Orson, are you so good at chatting?" Elsa sat on a wooden chair, looking at Orson who was taking out the ashes, and sighed.

"It feels like those people just wanted to drive us away, but after you said this, they were happy to keep you here."

"Yes, if it were me who was in charge of the negotiation, the result might be different." Olivia also agreed.

"This is the charm of language." Orson said with a smile.

"We all look respectable, but we are incompatible with the people here. They will definitely think that we will talk to them arrogantly and condescendingly. But in fact, after I lower my posture, the contrast will make They think we are kind, of course, and that is actually the case." Orson explained, after cleaning up the ashes, he put them in a wooden basin and buried them in the snow outside.

If you want to save trouble, of course it would be most convenient to go outside, but the impact this would have on others is not very good.

After Orson came back from the door, he pointed to the location of the stove.

"When we light the fire to cook next, the house will be much warmer."

"I know that stoves are also needed in the winter in Prussia."

Although aristocratic homes have magic facilities that can ensure a constant and comfortable temperature, ordinary people have stoves in their homes. Olivia has seen them during her inspection, and this thing is not new.

"Then we have to go and question them now?" Elsa asked at this time.

"No need." Orson shook his head.

"When we came in just now, I took a look on both sides. Most of the people in the village looked at us a little warily, probably because they were afraid that we would be detrimental to them."

Orson explained.

There is no way, after all, in the snowfield, even within the village, internal strife may occur due to competition for some key resources, not to mention the conflict between outsiders and locals.

In this case, knocking on their door rashly will only be considered harassment and no effective information will be obtained.

"Then what are we going to do now?"

"Just live here quietly."

Orson said this, took out a bundle of firewood from his backpack, placed it at the bottom of the stove, and lit it with a fire starter.

"Your Highness Elsa, you haven't experienced living in a house like this, right? Just think of it as a novel experience."

When Elsa heard what Orson said, although she felt a little anxious, she still nodded obediently.

Then, Orson stewed the broth on the stove. For a while, the whole house was filled with the smell of meat, and the temperature gradually became warmer as the fire burned.

Orson's plan is very

Simple.

When he first entered the village, he observed that many people's chimneys were not smoking.

This situation means that there is insufficient firewood in the village and many people have no way to heat their houses.

If they see smoke coming out of their chimneys, they will naturally want to come here to keep warm.

And what kind of people can't resist the temptation?

The first ones to bear the brunt are of course the children.

Chapter 10: Hunting Team

Although Orson's plan is very good, the children are still watched by adults after all, so it was not until two hours later, when the house was warm for a long time, that Orson heard footsteps coming from the snow around him.

However, the other party did not come in directly, but wandered at the door, as if hesitating.

Orson opened the door, and at this time, several children appeared at the door of the house.

Judging from their ages, they ranged from five to twelve years old.

The oldest boy saw Orson open the door, and hurriedly protected several younger children behind him.

Orson looked at the other party's subconscious reaction, smiled, and then asked: "What are you doing here?"

"..."

The boy was silent for a while, then pointed to the chimney.

"I see you are making a fire here."

"Well, so?"

"It should be warm in the house, we want to sit here."

The boy directly stated his purpose.

Afterwards, he thought he would be rejected by Orson, but he didn't expect Orson to nod directly.

"Okay, you can come in."

Orson said so, and took the initiative to make room for several people.

The boy looked at Orson hesitantly, then came to the door of the room, and after watching all the children enter the room, he turned his head to look at Orson.

"Um... Thank you."

"It's okay." Orson shook his head.

The faces of several children were frozen red in the wind and snow. Although Orson was not a compassionate person, he didn't mind helping them in this situation.

What's more, his purpose was to contact them.

Orson and the boy also walked into the room.

"Little guy, what's your name?" Orson asked.

"Goodwin." The boy replied.

After entering the room, the sudden rise in temperature made the boy's nose sticky. After sucking his nose, he glanced at the house and looked nostalgic.

"Have you been in this house?" Orson asked curiously.

"Yeah." Goodwin nodded, and then explained: "My parents and I lived here before, but our tribe went out hunting and was spotted by wolves. My parents died in the invasion of wolves."

"Since then, I have lived in Natasha's sister's house and was adopted by her family." Goodwin said this and pointed to the brown-haired girl who was sitting by the stove with several other children not far away.

"Poor child." Orson heard this, sighed, and gently patted Goodwin on the shoulder.

In this kind of village, every life is a precious resource. The loss of two strong laborers can bring a lot of impact to the village.

"Nothing." Goodwin shook his head expressionlessly. "This is the fate of every Laplander. We devote our lives to the wind and snow, and return to the wind and snow after death. This is what my parents taught me."

"Snow..." Orson nodded, silently memorized this information in his heart, and then he looked at Olivia and Elsa and winked at them.

Just now in the house, Orson discussed the next arrangements with the two of them.

Olivia and Elsa built a good relationship with the children, while Orson tried to join the village's hunting and help the villagers do something.

When the two saw Orson looking over, they nodded and gestured.

"Goodwin, there is broth on the stove. If you are hungry later, share some." Orson patted Goodwin on the shoulder. "I'm going out first. During this time, you can chat with the two sisters here, play games, etc. There is enough firewood."

After saying this, Orson turned around and walked out of the room.

Arriving at the entrance of the village, as expected, the villagers gathered at the door of a large house, and the leader was the old man who had received Orson and his party before.

It was already four hours of daylight now, and the day was already halfway through.

After finishing their housework, it was time to organize hunting and gathering resources.

When Orson just entered the village, he knew that the supplies in the village were almost used up, so he must organize adults to go out today. It was also because of this that the children could sneak out and sneak to the door of Orson and others' temporary residence.

When the villagers saw Orson approaching, they all looked at him with doubts.

"Sorry, everyone, I have no hostility, I just want to join your hunting this time, may I ask?"

"Didn't you say you are a folklorist? People who wield pens go hunting?" The old village chief frowned when he heard Orson's words.

"Or, what you told me before was all lies, and you are not a folklorist at all? Are you a mercenary? Or a fugitive?"

Hearing the old village chief say this, the other villagers immediately put their hands on their weapons. Although their weapons were crudely made and worn out, they did not show any sign of retreating.

"No, no, no." Orson shook his head.

"Of course I am a folklorist, but at the same time, if I was not in good health, how could I have come here through mountains and rivers and through thorns?" Orson patted his body.

"I'm very strong. Although I'm not good at fighting, it's no problem to knock down one or two adults. Give me a weapon and I can contribute to the village. Even if it doesn't work, I can give it to you. Moving things, right?”

"...But we didn't do you any good." The village chief said hesitantly.

"Your willingness to take us in is the greatest help." Orson said with a smile. "And we will stay here for a few more days. During this time, I hope to have a good relationship with you."

Orson said this and took out another book from his arms.

"In addition, as I said, I am a folklorist, so I need to understand your way of life. Being able to survive in such a harsh environment is a great thing, isn't it?"

"..."

Hearing what Orson said, the old village chief nodded, then took off the bow and arrow from his waist and handed it to Orson.

"Can you shoot an arrow?"

"A little bit."

"Well, then you can just follow us." The village chief said and returned to the front of the team.

Afterwards, without any impassioned speeches or inspiring slogans, this team of more than a dozen young and middle-aged men and women walked out of the village, carrying the hope of the whole village in the vast white snowfield. Looking for life.

Orson carried a bow and arrow and walked at the end of the team. Looking at the man in front of him, he began to talk to him.

"Big brother, how old are you this year?"

"..." The man tilted his head and glanced at Orson, then turned his head again.

"Try not to talk when hunting." He left this advice, and then ignored Orson.

Looking at the other party's reaction, Orson sighed helplessly.

There is no way, maybe the other person's lifestyle is like this.

Chapter 11: The situation is tense

In the snowfield, a location that allows a village to temporarily settle down must have its own specific advantages.

Like here, because of the leeward, sunny, low terrain and other reasons, the natural conditions are relatively good in the snowfield.

But even humans know that the conditions here are good, and various animals naturally move around here.

In addition to non-aggressive creatures such as snowshoe hares and fish, wolves, eagles, bears and other creatures are also active here. They are both prey and competitors of humans.

This time they came out to collect firewood and food. The reason why a large team came here was to be wary of wolves that might also hunt together, or strong bears.