Arad's unruly savior

Chapter 3747 A Favor I Can't Refuse

Hyde ate and drank to his heart's content, and the bone residue in front of him piled up into a small mountain. He made a lot of money for himself, completely disregarding his usual cold and serious image.

Anyway, most of the subordinates were still in Xiatli and had not returned yet, so no one else saw it, and those present were all friends.

As for the dining etiquette of the nobles, well, can that thing relieve your hunger? Can that thing turn one piece of meat into two pieces?

"Finally I can eat meat other than canned meat. I never thought that one day I would be so greedy." Hyde looked as if he couldn't bear to recall the past.

The supplies that the Empire transported to Shatley consisted mostly of meat in canned form for easy transportation. However, no matter how good the quality of the canned food was, or how much solid meat was inside, it was still far less delicious than fresh meat.

The Iron Wolf Knights once made a sincere request to the Empire's military supply officer, asking them to stop sending canned food and instead send some live cattle, sheep, and pigs. There are still plenty of wild grasses in Shatley that can be used as fodder, and at least we can raise them in captivity and eat fresh meat.

The military supply officer said that whether from the perspective of transportation costs or storage durability, fresh livestock are far less practical than canned food. Transporting a 500-pound fat pig does not mean that 500 pounds of meat can be produced.

Don't listen to what they say about raising them in captivity, that's all nonsense. If the livestock sent there can survive for more than a week, they are considered to have a long life.

After drinking a large bowl of wine, Hyde took the tissue handed to him by Hannah, wiped the corners of his mouth, breathed a sigh of relief, and said jokingly: "The Bantu people's kumis is indeed quite flavorful after you get used to it. It stimulates the taste buds. But if you ask me if I miss kumis, I can only say that I would rather go to a tavern and drink a large glass of dark beer for a few dollars."

"Grain is precious in the Stone Snow Region, so they can't make grain wine. That's why they are obsessed with making mare's milk wine, and then they brag about how delicious it is. I really believed their lies at the time."

Hyde was born and raised in the First Territory of the Delos Empire, and his family was one of the three most powerful dukes in the empire. Although he himself was not pampered and well-fed, but was adventurous and willing to join the army and start from the bottom step by step, his eating style still tended towards the First Territory.

That is, eating bread, eating large pieces of meat, and drinking wine.

The Delos Empire is divided into the first and second territories. The north is the second territory, with the Gray Desert, Shatli, Sterri Plateau, and Delos Mine as the main areas of the second territory.

Queen Josephine's father, the Marquis of Aswan, was a great noble of the Second Territory and the most powerful person in the Second Territory except the emperor.

The area centered on the golden capital of Vetalon and the port city of Cape Dia is the First Territory, where most of the empire's nobles live.

Ye Lin remembered something and asked with a smile, "You are stationed in the border town of Xiatli, so you naturally have many opportunities to interact with the Bantu people. Have you ever bought some beef from them? Bantu beef is really special."

Sophie, who is known as the "natural enemy of cattle", most recognizes the Bantu cattle thighs, saying that the meat is delicious, delicate and uniform, and is top quality no matter how it is grilled or fried.

Hyde shook his head regretfully, saying that although the borders of the Empire and the Snowy Region of Stone maintained a peaceful scene, a fixed trading market had not yet been formed, and things were only exchanged very occasionally.

To put it bluntly, both sides are border guards and are nominally hostile. The Bantu beef will definitely be supplied to them for their own consumption first.

Moreover, the main sales markets for Bantu products such as beef, snow mandrill skin, ice tiger skin, and totems with magical powers are in the Principality of Belmar.

Hyde scratched his long hair and said in a dissatisfied tone: "I asked Orca privately whether we should set up a trade zone near Shatli and trade at a fixed time every week. This will benefit everyone. I will do my best to support it. But that guy said that the chieftain Buwanga has ordered that we cannot trade with our empire."

What? The money of their Principality of Belmar is money, but the money of our Delos Empire is not money.

Queen Josephine was magnanimous, far-sighted and wise. Although she sent a secret letter to the Bantu chieftain, Buwanga, stating that there was no room for negotiation on territorial integrity, she left room for trade and allowed the Bantu people to come to the empire to do business.

However, the Bantu people did not seem to care much about this aspect, and they were vaguely opposed to the Empire's merchants doing business in the Stone Snow Region.

"I guess they think that eggs cannot be put in the same cage. The Bantu people are already restricted by the empire in terms of territory, so they must avoid relying on the Delos Empire in terms of trade." Hiat analyzed, she had already put down her knife and fork.

She, Qianying, and Hannah all didn't eat much, and the reasons were surprisingly the same: they wanted to lose weight and reduce fat intake in their diet.

No matter what their body shape is like, whether they are really fat, plump, or slim, women always seem to be on the road to losing weight.

Ye Lin has always been strongly opposed to their weight loss, on the grounds that he needs to eat and he needs to use things, and he cannot let Xiao Feiliang and Xiao Qianying starve in the future.

You can unbutton your shirt, eat to your heart's content, knead the dough vigorously, lift up or take off your skirt and pants, and create layers of continuous hip waves. This is the happiness that only people with a good enough body can bring.

But his objection was ineffective, and finally Ye Lin could only take a step back and beg them to lose a little weight as long as they did not reduce his breasts and buttocks and did not harm his food rations.

Hyde talked a lot about the Bantu people, without shying away from anything, and expressed his opinions frankly, saying that unless there was another crisis similar to the Ice Dragon Skarsa, both sides would abide by the current tacit understanding.

Hyde took the tea Hannah poured for him, took a sip, and said, "The Iron Wolf Knights will still be stationed for a few months. As the leader, I shouldn't come back in theory. This time I brought a few people back to Vetalon because there is actually something very important that I must report to Queen Josephine in person."

"I forgot about it because of the relic incident. I have to go to the palace later."

The fact that he intentionally mentioned it here means that although this matter is important, it does not need to be kept secret from anyone.

Moreover, Xiat, Qianying, and Ye Lin were actually nobles of the Delos Empire and were our own people, so there was no need to hide it.

"Is Fiona managing Shatley now?" Ye Lin asked casually.

Fiona has short white hair, delicate features and big breasts. She is a good friend of Rennie, and they were both apprentice knights in the past.

Due to Fiona's rapid improvement in strength and outstanding performance, she has been appointed as the deputy leader of the Iron Wolf Knights.

"No, the annual apprentice knight training camp is about to start, and she is out training new knights. It is currently being managed by another deputy leader."

Hyde straightened his expression, no longer as casual as he did when he teased the unpalatable kumis and the market trading area, and said in a serious tone: "You all know about the Snow Battles, especially the Second Snow Battle." Ye Lin and they nodded slightly. These were two very sensitive events. There were two Snow Battles in total. The first Snow Battle was in the 502nd year of the Arad calendar. The Bantu tribe suffered from the disaster of the awakening of the ice dragon. In order to survive, they had to move south with their entire tribe and launched an invasion of the southern region.

At that time, the Principality of Belmar had been established for less than 20 years and had a weak foundation. The current territory of the Delos Empire was distributed among dozens of vassal states, which had been fighting against each other for years and had not yet been unified.

In order to resist the sudden Bantu invasion, the vassal states had to temporarily unite, and the Principality of Belmare also participated in the war. The First Snowy Battle lasted for twenty-eight years.

The Second Snow War broke out more than 20 years ago, when Leon Heinrich III was still young. He pretended to abide by the peace treaty between a former emperor of the Delos Empire and the Bantu people, and leased Shatli and nearby areas to the Bantu people to avoid the disaster of the awakening of the ice dragon.

In fact, the Purple Mist Group, a bloody killer group, raided the Bantu tribe. The army then crushed the Shatli tribe. It was rumored that the total number of Bantu people dropped by 80% in that battle!

As a nobleman with a good knowledge background, Hiat continued, "Later, the young, hot-blooded, cruel, cold-blooded, and cunning Emperor Leon Heinrich wanted to take advantage of the victory to exterminate the Bantu people and even kill the ice dragon Skarsa. So he sent elite troops to continue attacking the Bantu settlements. Wherever they passed, no one was left alive. They even occupied their holy land Amroth."

"But he greatly underestimated the severe cold weather in the Stone Snow Region and the power of the Ice Dragon Skarsa in the ice and snow. As a result, an entire elite army of nearly 100,000 people were almost frozen near Mount Kanak, and only a few people escaped in the end."

At that time, Leon Heinrich had only been on the throne for two years. His foundation was not very stable and he did not have many outstanding achievements. The annihilation of his legion almost caused him to fall from the throne.

"So, the third Snow Battle is about to break out?" Hannah was suddenly worried. If Hyde could personally rush back to Vetalon from Chateli, the matter must be serious.

She subconsciously wondered if there was a fierce friction between the Iron Wolf Knights and the Bantu tribe, and the relationship that had been eased had become tense again, and a new war might break out.

"That's not the case. Buwanga and the others are still abiding by the tacit understanding with Her Majesty Queen Josephine." Hyde shook his head. He had just returned and happened to encounter the holy relic incident. He didn't even have time to tell his wife the specific reason.

"In fact, it is like this. Chief Buwanga of the Bantu tribe told us that if the Empire is interested, they can send a small number of disarmed personnel to the Stone Snow Region to bring back the bodies of the Imperial Legion that was once frozen by Skarsa."

"Since that imperial army is a former invader, the Bantu will not provide any help."

Of course Hyde guessed that nothing is absolute, and if he wanted the Bantu to help... he would have to pay more.

"So that's how it is." Ye Lin, Xiat and Qianying were all quite surprised that Buwanga actually allowed the Empire to recycle the bodies of that legion.

This matter is definitely worthy of Queen Josephine's attention. Whether out of a benevolent attitude or the idea of ​​returning to one's roots, the Delos Empire has no reason to reject the kindness of the Bantu people.

Hyde took out a sealed envelope from his pocket and said, "I roughly heard what Orka said. Under normal circumstances, the Bantu would only burn the bodies of the Imperial Legion. There is no way they would return them to the Empire."

After all, this legion was an invader with the blood of the Bantu people on their hands.

"But these bodies are still frozen. If we want to deal with them, we need to spend a lot of manpower and resources to break the ice. If we don't deal with them, they will continue to be scattered around the Holy Mountain of Kanak, which is annoying."

Mount Kanak is the mountain where the ice dragon Skarsa used to live. Before the arrival of the ice dragon, this mountain has always been a sacred mountain in the minds of the Bantu people. All members of the Bantu tribe regard being able to climb to the highest mountain as a symbol of courage.

"The Bantu tribe intends to redevelop the holy mountain, so they need to deal with the bodies of the imperial army. Considering the current peaceful situation in the Arad continent and the general trend in the future, Chief Buwanga made this decision to do the empire a favor."

“I heard that there were some objections from the Bantu people, but he suppressed them.”

"He said that the Imperial Legion that was frozen in the ice had long been dead, and what was left were only corpses trapped in the ice. Even if their corpses were dug out and burned, it would not vent any resentment. Instead, it would intensify the situation that had been finally eased."

Hyde admired Buwanga's style very much. Although he looked a little rough in appearance and his burly physique was like an adult snow mandrill...but he was extremely thoughtful and had a far-sighted vision.

Buwanga's move will make the Delos Empire owe the Bantu people a favor, and there may be room for more easing of tensions on the territorial issue. This is a decision he made after comprehensive consideration and against all odds.

Ye Lin was thoughtful after hearing this, and said, "If it is the remnants of the first Snow Battle, the time is too far away and it will not have any impact, but if it is the remnants of the second Snow Battle, the Delos Empire may not be able to refuse the favor given by Buwanga."

Because the Second Snow War broke out more than 20 years ago but less than 30 years ago, the time is very close to the present. Nearly 100,000 members of the entire imperial army were frozen in the ice. Among those 100,000 legion members, it is estimated that many blood relatives are still alive in the world.

They long for their loved ones to return to their hometown and be buried in peace.

If those frozen corpses could be brought back, it would undoubtedly cause a sensational news in the Delos Empire. There was no reason to refuse, either politically or morally.

After discussing the related topic for an hour, Ye Lin did not give any opinion. This was a legacy of history and was a foregone conclusion.

Hyde treated everyone to a meal and they paid the bill readily. The owner of the restaurant smiled at the distinguished guests and did not want to take their money, but Hyde forced the money into his pocket. He was eating in the name of the Duke's son just for convenience, not to freeload.

"Life in Chatley is hard for the Iron Wolf Knights, but we all get allowances." Hyde gave Hannah a look, indicating that he would give her the remaining money when he got back.

He said goodbye to Ye Lin and others, and went to the palace alone with the letter.

The subsequent developments were exactly as they had expected. The Delos Empire had no reason to refuse the favor that the Bantu people had offered to them.

The letter specifically mentioned that the Delos Empire was allowed to break ice to retrieve the bodies and bring them back for burial, but it was not allowed to set up any monuments, memorial halls or other buildings with positive meanings.

As long as there are enough people, the identity of each soldier can be checked when chiseling the ice and sent back to their hometown.

Queen Josephine wrote back a letter, handed it to Hyde, and said, "Sorry to bother you. Give the letter to Buwanga when you return to Chateli. I believe he will send someone to wait for you there."

She believed that the matter was of great importance, and that Buwanga should send a representative to discuss the specific details, such as time and manpower. Correspondingly, the Empire should also send a representative to be responsible for the entire matter.

Queen Josephine thought of the Marquis of Aswan in the north, the eldest princess Celia, and the second princess Noshadiya.

(End of this chapter)