Durin's Diary

Chapter 647 Face
Austin Jacobs.

Deputy Editor, Copenhagen Branch of the God of Knowledge Daily.

The city of Orekhov.

Austin, with some stubble on his face, is no longer the young editor he used to be. However, this time, he still signed up to join the front-line group. It was not for any reason, but because the few young people who were originally selected either just started a family or had children who were still crying for food, and he couldn't bear to see their families broken up again.

At least, it shouldn't be so broken.

They had never been soldiers, and had never even touched a gun, but Austin... had touched it many times.

Today is the day when Austin's infantry squad is on guard duty on the city wall. The weather these two days has been very cold, windy, and even snowy. Even the greenskins don't want to engage in any siege activities - they seem to prefer warm weather.

So Austin's squad sat in a small, semi-open tower, warming themselves by the fire while two soldiers watched outside the city wall through a small window.

Austin was well-liked because he could read, and his infantry squad protected him like a precious object because he would help everyone write letters home.

In this era, many people are still illiterate, and the further away from the civilized circle of the city, the more so. People in towns and villages are likely to only know a few fixed and common words in their entire lives.

I heard that the people of Changtang did very well in this regard. Their civilian literacy rate was as high as 90%. Compared with Copenhagen and Lübeck, except for the two big cities which could reach 70%, the remaining villages and towns can only be described as terrible.

Some people may ask, with such a low literacy rate, even if they write a letter, their family members may not recognize it.

Indeed, but fortunately, the villages and towns all have churches. The priests and deacons of all the righteous gods are literate and are not reluctant to read such family letters to the believers of other gods - because this is a covenant between the gods, and the families of every warrior who has sacrificed and shed blood for this continent must enjoy such rights.

They also have the obligation to write letters to these families to report their safety to each other. Even gods like the God of Knowledge (Lord of Wisdom) can receive recognition and divine grace if their believers and priests write letters for soldiers and their families.

Because of this, any literate person who can write letters for himself and his comrades is the target that these infantrymen are most willing to protect.

There is even a hellish joke on the battlefield that if a literate person and a superior are targeted at the same time, the soldiers are most willing to protect the former because the latter will not write letters for the soldiers.

Thinking of this, Austin stopped writing, because the young man in front of him had finished speaking, and he had also finished writing the letter and left a sentence at the end.

This book was written by Austin Jacob, a believer in the God of Knowledge. May the owner's family be healthy, may they be able to see their children, husband and father return safely, and may their small family be complete again. May God have mercy on them.

This last sentence is mostly expressed as a ghostwriter's identity, and there will also be blessings written in it.

Looking at the young man in front of him, Austin picked up the envelope, put the letter in it, and put it aside. "I'll give it to the postman when he comes this afternoon. Lord Durin should be here tomorrow and will take everyone's letters back with him. Maybe when he comes back in a few days, he'll bring a letter from home that belongs to you."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Austin." The young soldier rubbed his hands, and the middle-aged soldier behind him patted his shoulder: "Brother, it's my turn."

"Excuse me." He apologized, stood up, and bowed to Austin: "Thank you, sir."

"No need to thank me." Austin smiled and pointed to the stove beside him: "Let's warm ourselves for a while. It's cold outside."

This young man was in charge of patrolling the city walls today. Many of the other soldiers patrolled the walls, and they would circulate among themselves, letting two soldiers next to them help patrol his area while he went to write a letter to Austin. As long as the wall patrols were in place, the officers didn't mind if one or two soldiers went to write letters to literate people. In this situation, if they didn't allow soldiers to take time to write letters, they would only blame themselves for being too nosy if they were criticized.

"No need. We've already wasted a lot of time. Someone else wants you to write a letter." The young soldier stamped his feet, then walked through the thick curtains and into the wind and snow.

Austin smiled and took the new envelope: "Name, address."

"George Logan, from the Sidney Lowlands. My home is in Lorheim, a village south of Amsterdam."

"Okay, I'll finish writing your address first."

Although the middle-aged man in front of him couldn't even tell the specific location of his village, Austin believed that the postman god would bless the families of the owners of these letters and that they would definitely receive these letters.

All he had to do was write what he said on the envelope.

………………

The next day, Austin did not see Lord Durin, but a team of silver dragons arrived with equipment, personnel and supplies.

Leading the group was Lady Lina, Durin's Silver Dragon wife. She was young and beautiful, and a true half-step legend. With such achievements at such an age, her future was limitless.

As for why Durin didn't come, Austin soon learned the answer - on the outskirts of the capital of the northern forest, a druid reconnaissance team confirmed the existence of the War Overlord - the largest and most terrifying among the green-skinned orcs.

Why do you say that.

Because they are even bigger than the Warmasters among the Greenskins. The tallest Greenskin Orcs are only two meters tall, and some weaker Greenskin Warmasters and commanders are only about two meters and two.

But the War Overlord, or the more vivid name among the soldiers: WARBOSS, such monsters can reach three meters or even higher. Their bodies are extremely strong, and ordinary hunting rifles and bows cannot even penetrate their skin.

It is said that some powerful war overlords even possess very strange abilities, which allow them to control and manipulate the weak and order them to commit suicide.

In short, according to the soldiers' discussion, this thing is much more dangerous than the green-skinned Warmaster.

At least there was a record of the greenskin warlord being stabbed to death by mortal soldiers with bayonets, but there was no record of the three or four meter tall war overlord being killed by ordinary soldiers. Austin had heard the story of the war overlord leading the warlords into the trenches and sweeping away everything so many times that his ears were callused.

Is Lord Durin going to fight against the war overlord? It will definitely be a shocking battle. It’s a pity that I didn’t have the chance to see this battle.

However, I heard that there are editors from other newspapers in Kiev, and I hope they can use video crystals to record this amazing battle.

Win or lose, how could Lord Du Lin lose? This young man has never lost. Austin believes it all.

(End of this chapter)