Warlords of the witcher world

Chapter 18 The Cossack Feast
That night, Ataman's banquet really opened Heme's eyes.

Heme had seen all kinds of banquets in the army and in towns before, but the banquets of the Atamans were completely different from that, very different.

This banquet was completely informal, and the gnawed bones flew around, hitting people from time to time, but they didn't care about it, and continued to eat and drink.

It can be said that this is a carnival without order.

The food at the banquet consisted mainly of various meats, which undoubtedly explains the eating habits of the Cossacks.

The beef and mutton on the wooden stick exudes a charming light against the spices, and people keep picking it up and throwing the stick aside.

Roast chicken and duck are neatly placed, just waiting for people to eat, and the thick soup stewed from various ingredients—mainly various meats—exudes a charming aroma.

The salad made of a small amount of wild vegetables and mushrooms was put aside, it should be used to relieve the tiredness, but I didn't see many people eating it, but Hemei liked it quite a bit, and the sauce tasted very good.

The atamans wiped out the food like a storm, and some people threw it while eating, looking very chic, and then crazily poured wine into their stomachs.

The sons and cronies of the atamans were also entitled to attend the banquet, but most of them were busy drinking like their fathers and masters, and the rest went outside to compete in martial arts with their peers.

Some people are purely drinking, pouring glasses of vodka into their stomachs, as if drinking water.

Hemei reckoned that if he drank so much, he would have fallen to the ground long ago. As a result, most of the atamans continued to drink like normal people.

There were several women in the venue, but their arms were as strong as men, and their faces were full of flesh. Hemei didn't think that they would be worse than men in fighting, and none of them were as beautiful as Katya.

Speaking of Katya, Herme subconsciously remembered his previous contact with the daughter of Braven.

When Herme and Bravin talked before, Katya left the tent directly. Bravin just shook his head to his daughter, and was not angry because of her daughter's departure. He said a word to Herme,

"To tame this child, you will have to spend a lot of thought in the future."

Herme was very satisfied with Katya. He was ready for Katya to marry her even if she was an ugly monster. Now that he saw such a beauty, he was naturally very satisfied.

But Katya is a very indifferent beauty, exuding an aura of not being close to strangers all over her body.

But if that's the case, it's just a beautiful vase in the end, but her swordsmanship is on the same level as her beauty.

Hemei has seen Katya fight. When Katya wields a scimitar on the training ground, no one can fight her. Hemei's eyelids jump when she sees this skill. Katya's swordsmanship is definitely better than him. of.

Besides, there are a group of loyal men and women beside him, all of whom are rogues and outlaws, but they all worship the "big sister" they call like a god, and regard her as their ataman.

These guys will always follow her side like guards guarding the queen, and the scene of hugging her is as if she is the queen.

Therefore, Hermi did not approach her foolishly, but kept a distance from her.

It is better to be cautious when contacting such a woman, because she is not interested in her, so let her father formally introduce her.

Anyway, the marriage contract between them is there, there is no need to rush this kind of thing, instead of rushing up to leave a bad impression on the woman, it is better to wait patiently.

"This banquet is quite good, Commander Herme, you must learn to blend into this atmosphere, and the Atamans hope to see you like this."

Marondo, who was holding vodka, said, Herme's thoughts were interrupted.

The captain of the guard didn't feel any discomfort with all this before him, on the contrary he seemed very eager to try, obviously more suitable for such an occasion than Herme.

It's not surprising that Heme arrived. Marondo has always had a lot of love for the Cossacks and their culture.

It is estimated that he participated in such banquets when he was sent by King Demavi to survey this land.

"Ah, I'm not used to it after all, it's too... wild."

Herme paused for a moment. Originally, what he wanted to say was more offensive, but considering the bad influence, he changed the word.

Hemei didn't like such a frantic scene from the bottom of his heart, but he was still a little thankful that these Cossacks were just wild, not lewd, and he wasn't allowed to watch the live broadcast.

"Baron Herme, Baron Herme, we have found you."

The eager shouts came suddenly, and a group of atamans were approaching. The atamans would not call Heme the commander, but the baron.

Herme was a little strange, how come they knew him even though he had never met these people before.

And this is something that Herme doesn't know, he doesn't have the temperament of the Cossacks, so he is still very conspicuous among the crowd.

And the obvious northern-style decoration on his body is like a guiding light, so these atamans found him shortly after he entered the venue.

The atamans all wore cuffed fur hats with ornate bird feathers and embroidered button-breasted coats.

Although the atamans are dressed in gorgeous clothes and their fingers are full of rings, their standing posture and rough palms undoubtedly show their status as fighters.

Cossacks would only follow fighters, and if an ataman could not prove himself on the battlefield, he would be abandoned by the people.

Seeing the atamans coming forward, Marondo also retreated, not affecting his lord's conversation with the atamans.

"Ah, Baron Herme, I am Ataman Volod."

The leader, the Cossack with a mustache, introduced himself. His face was full of friendliness, and the silver cane undoubtedly showed his wealth.

"It was Lord Braven who introduced us here, Baron Herme, we want to buy some weapons and equipment from the West from you. I heard that you have a good source of goods. Lord Braven said that you have spent a lot of money on this. Less effort..."

Hearing this, Herme immediately understood what was going on with these people. Isn't this what Braven and he ordered.

"Everyone, I happened to bring a batch of goods. As you said, it was under the arrangement of Lord Braven that I brought these things in a hurry."

Hemei's answer satisfied all the atamans, and then they naturally discussed the purchase with Hemei. These atamans ate all the goods brought by Hemei.

Herme wasn't surprised by their generosity. It was the eve of the war, and if his subordinates could be better armed, the war gang's losses would certainly be less.

And Herme couldn't help thinking about how much political resources his cheap father-in-law had absorbed through this, but it wasn't a bad thing for him.

Herme learned that Braven's Hackland wife died early, leaving only one daughter, Katja, and Braven never had any children.

Many people think that there is probably something wrong with what Bravin said. As a character known as a quasi-Gettleman, he has never been short of women who sow seeds.

But if there is still no new child for so long, it may only be that there is something wrong with him.

Therefore, it can be considered that what Bravin has obtained now, the future belongs to him.

At the moment, both buyers and sellers are satisfied with this, and everyone gets what they want.

At Volod's suggestion, Herme and everyone present raised the glass of vodka and drank the spicy liquid together as a celebration of the successful transaction.

"Cough, cough, cough."

As the vodka flowed down her throat, Herme felt her throat burning, and couldn't help coughing again and again.

This thing is too aggressive, and it is difficult for him to accept it.

In fact, Herme seldom drank this kind of strong alcohol. For a long time, he only drank Toussaint wine, and he really couldn't accept Hackland's popular vodka.

Vodka, a high-strength grain wine, always reminded Herme of things he didn't like in his previous life, so he always subconsciously rejected it.

He can drink some, but not too much.

Not only was the vodka in hand this time stronger than ordinary vodka, after drinking this glass of wine, Herme felt like a knife was cutting in her stomach, and she felt bad after throwing it away.

Herme's performance naturally made everyone laugh out loud. This was not ridicule, but a smile of kindness and recognition.

In the culture of the Cossacks, if a person knows that he can't drink strong alcohol, but drinks it for business or friendship, and makes a fool of himself in front of everyone, it means that this person is very sincere and trustworthy.

Some people will even give in because of this, and take the initiative to offer some favorable conditions, or they have to drink like this if they want to get preferential conditions.

Such an attitude pervades the entire Cossack society, and there is even a so-called "obedience test", where subordinates are ordered to drink heavily to judge whether a person is loyal or not.

For this kind of culture, Hemei really felt a little disgusted.

Because he thought of some things in his previous life, he hated those things deeply.

But there is no way, Cossack society is like that.

After this cup, everyone chatted for a while, and then gradually dispersed. Now that the business has been discussed, everyone should have some fun.

And Hemei walked to the table full of food, took a bunch of roasted lamb and stuffed it into his mouth. The lamb was marinated and the meat was very tender, so it should be lamb.

The smell of delicious food dilutes the excitement brought by the vodka in Herme's mouth, which made Herme heave a sigh of relief.

Damn, I really don't know why they like that stuff so much.

Thinking of vodka, Herme became annoyed. In his opinion, drinking that stuff was purely a sin.

"It seems you don't like vodka very much."

When Herme was easing up, a cold and familiar nice voice sounded.

Herme raised his head, and sure enough, what he saw was Katya's figure.

Katya was wearing a black button-up coat, the buttons were tightly buttoned, showing the curve of her body, black riding boots on her feet, and the same black gloves on her hands, she was completely dressed like a female equestrian .

Herme felt the suffocation again, the suffocation when seeing a beauty.

"Father asked me to come and see you and meet my future husband. What, what do you think of me?"

Katya's words were still cold, but Herme felt extremely charming, especially when she looked at the cold and beautiful eyes under the short hair.

"You are beautiful and your eyes are beautiful."

Herme felt her mouth dry, and finally expressed her first impression.

Katya is indeed very beautiful, and her dress undoubtedly highlights the temperament of that cold beauty to the extreme.

"Oh, men always do."

There was no emotion in Katya's tone, it seemed that it was because she had seen too many comments like this,
"But I don't intend to criticize anything. My future husband, is there anything you want to know? Father asked me to explain it to you, and tell you what you want to know."

Although it was well hidden, Herme could still hear impatience from Katya's tone.

Reminiscent of Katya's intentional or unintentional dislike of Bravin, Herme couldn't help thinking, what is the relationship between the father and daughter like?

First of all, there is no doubt that they are very similar. Bravin has always been vigorous and straightforward.

And the same is true for this one in front of her. This kind of personality also makes her have a different kind of charm.

But the concern between father and daughter is not bad, and Hemei feels that it is subtle, that is, the feeling of family members who have a bad relationship.

These are all thoughts in Hemei's mind for a moment. In reality, Hemei was silent for a while when facing Katya's question, but the time was not long enough to make people feel embarrassed. He asked a question that he had been puzzled for a long time.

"I'm a little curious, does Lord Braven have any enemies?"

Herme's understanding of the political situation in the Cossack Land is mainly limited to the west, or those parts near the Zaar River.

And the further east, the more he didn't understand the area.

Herme's information on that side can only be collected from various rumors. The information brought by the rumors is really fragmented and cannot be composed of effective information at all.

It's not that there is too little information, but that disputes in the land of the Cossacks are too frequent.

Their constant struggles and constant battles have produced a huge amount of information, and it is still too difficult to analyze from these true and false rumors.

He is clear about the strength of Braven's power, knowing that this ataman is basically the pinnacle of the entire Cossack land.

But even so, he must have some enemies, something Herme didn't know.

"Did you see that over there? The guys that got together."

Following Katya's voice, Herme saw the group of atamans she was referring to. This group of people seemed very abrupt in the venue, because they were self-contained and stood outside the main force.

Among those atamans, there was a man who attracted Herme's attention. It was a man with a shaved head, and there were tattoos on his bald head, so he could not notice it.

"That's Semyon Lenya's man. That bald head is Semyon. That villain has always been my father's worst enemy. He has a very bad reputation in the Cossack land. Colluding with believers who believe in the evil god Niya to attack other war gangs is what he did."

When mentioning that person, Katya's voice was obviously more emotional. It seemed that the eldest lady didn't like that guy very much.

"He didn't hesitate to use all kinds of indecent means. When I was 14 years old, he took me away and blackmailed my father. My father didn't care what he said, and rushed into his territory and snatched me back. It was like robbing me. It’s like a bag of wheat, hum, I was almost disfigured because of it.”

Katya's tone here is somewhat complaining, while Herme continued to ask,

"Since he is colluding with believers of evil gods and cooperating with the obvious Haklan people, why can he stand here without anyone? There are so many people around him?"

"Because he sold those evil believers after using them, and then claimed that he was confused by the evil cultists, so he did such a thing, and then attacked the Haklan tribe and completely destroyed them. As for the people around him... …There are always people who are attracted to scum, such as scum like him.”

"Then will he have an impact on Lord Braven's election as Hetman?"

This is what Herme subconsciously thought of. Although Bravin said it was certain, who knows the specific situation?

If Bravin fails to become Gettleman, then although he is not considered a loss, it is true that his income is not as high as expected.

"Impossible. He and the bad guys around him are just a small number of people and cannot occupy the mainstream. Although the atamans can do anything for the sake of profit, they don't bother to be with these people, let alone that guy Xie Miao It will be very interesting to send a donation to the atamans, and then they will all be 'friends', and they can talk about anything."

Katya's words were almost throwing map bombs at all the atamans. Hemei understood that this young lady was not used to the exchange of benefits hidden under various high-sounding reasons.

Herme touched her nose, feeling a little embarrassed in her heart. Katya said that these must be more or less meant, such as dissatisfaction with her marriage.

Hemei could also understand this. Seeing that this eldest lady is highly skilled in martial arts and has hundreds of loyal younger brothers and sisters, she must be satisfied with being sold by her father like a sack of wheat.

He couldn't say anything about it, but kept silent, and Katya didn't want to say anything more, and both of them were silent like this.

It was still noisy and lively outside, but it was so quiet between them.

In order to cover up her emotional fluctuations, Herme simply lowered her head and concentrated on eating. Katya's expression remained flat, just like her daily life.

This continued until a "notary" appeared, holding a scroll.

This notary is not an ordinary notary. He is the patriarch of the entire notary family. Things that need to be notarized by him will undoubtedly affect the super event of the entire Cossack land.

And after him, Raskit also appeared, still dressed as a shaman, with a solemn expression. It seems that he is quite normal now, without the nervousness seen before.

The presence of the High Priest Cliff undoubtedly indicated that something important had happened.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen, please be quiet, please be quiet, about our Gettlemen, the election has come to fruition!"

While the notary was speaking, several strong Cossack men beat the big drum, and with the sound of the drum, the noisy scene fell silent for a moment.

The election was held before the banquet, and the atamans used the Cliff emblem they had received to vote for the person they chose.

As the most powerful belief in the land of Cossacks, it is an old tradition to use the Cliff God Emblem.

"The new Hetman is the Ataman of the Kulen Cossacks, Lord Bravin!"

This result did not elicit any exclamation from the crowd. Most people cheered directly, while a few remained silent. It seemed that everyone was well aware of this result.

"Well, this farce is finally over."

Katya's cold voice sounded, she was not surprised by the election result,
"Go and have a good rest. It's a waste of time here. Instead of watching how the Ataman flatters my father, it's better to go to sleep."

(End of this chapter)