Do ratmen dream of the sacred tree of spirits?

Chapter 111 Steel Collar

Fafnir slept well and is in much better spirits now.

Last night, he chatted briefly with the Nina Collings, and Fafnir learned that the couple, who looked to be around forty, were actually only thirty. Perhaps their heavy manual labor made them appear older.

It wasn't cold inside. Koling found a wooden board, laid some dry grass on it, and Fafnir, exhausted, fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

"Good morning, Fafnir! I need to go out and do farm work now. If you need anything, please ask Nina. It's winter wheat planting time, and the land needs to be plowed—"

It took Fafnir quite a while to understand what Mr. Koling was saying. Mr. Koling's accent was quite different from the "Common Language of the Western Continent," and there were also some inconsistencies in the grammar. However, Fafnir could tell that this language was of the same origin as the "Common Language of the Western Continent" and had a high degree of similarity.

Good morning, Mr. Collin.

When Mr. Coling left, it was still dark. Ms. Nina was already sitting at the table, seemingly weaving something: "Good morning, Fafnir. The weather is getting colder now, and there's less work in the fields. When it's busy, I need to work in the fields with Coling. During the off-season, I'm weaving some straw hats out of wheat straw. Haha, of course, there's not much market for them now because of the cold weather, but they'll sell very well next spring and summer. I need to weave more so I can earn more money."

"By the way, please feel free to ask any questions you may have. Also—could you tell me how things are going at the cellar city now?"

"Good morning, Ms. Nina. I'd like to ask you something about the nearby villages or cities. I'm very unfamiliar with this place," Fafnir thought for a moment, deciding that understanding the world was the most important thing at the moment. "Also, I'm not from the Cellar City. I'm sorry, to be honest, I don't understand why you would think I'm a refugee from the Cellar City."

Ms. Nina stopped what she was doing and pondered seriously, "Fafner—I thought you fled from the Cellar City to the Steel Territory to find work—didn't you come here to go to the Steel City?"

Ms. Nina deliberately used the "common language of the Western Continent," which made Fafnir feel very comfortable: "This is really strange—"

Ms. Nina muttered to herself, while Fafnir waited silently for Ms. Nina's answer.

"This is the outskirts of Steel Territory. There are several villages here. Steel City is very prosperous, but it has nothing to do with us small-scale farmers. We rarely go into the city. There is a small market near the villages where we buy or exchange some daily necessities."

In recent years, many people from all over the country have gone there to work. There are many iron and coal mines in the city, and probably many industrial plants as well—I heard the wages are quite good, but it must be very tiring. Some of the information comes from people around here; they used to do farm work in the village, but later went to work in the mines to earn money.

"Thank you for your answer," Fafnir said. "Could you tell me about the Cellar City?"

"Oh, Fafnir, that's strange. You're of my kind, and you speak with an accent from the Crypt City, yet you don't know about the Crypt City?" Ms. Nina asked, puzzled.

"I really don't know about the Cellar City," Fafnir thought, "I must have come from a very far place. I'm sorry, in fact, I might—have some memory lapses." He considered a slightly more plausible explanation: "I had a high fever before, which may have affected my mind. I also fell a few times while traveling, and some memories have been lost—"

"What a poor little guy."

Ms. Nina considered it and chose to believe him, not doubting Fafnir's words too much. She thought the boy might have some unspeakable reason: "Crypt City is a free city-state of all us Skaven, not belonging to any nation. Most of the leaders of Crypt City are..."

It is the Rat People. The Rat People are no longer lowly people without status. I lived there when I was very young, but I haven't been back for many years because of family and life.

However, due to the recent war with the demons, the United Council ordered the conscription of many ratmen from the dungeon city. Some of their conscripted kin chose to escape. This conscription did not discriminate based on age.

So that's how it is— Fafnir felt he roughly understood. Several clues connected in his mind. To be honest, he really wanted to ask which country "all over the country" referred to, and what the "United Parliament" was, but asking these questions would definitely arouse Ms. Nina's suspicion and distrust. He roughly figured that, based on the inscription "Elven Holy Kingdom Finance Committee" on the coin he carried, this might be the Elven Holy Kingdom. Clearly, ratmen were discriminated against in elf-dominated countries. Furthermore, fighting against demons—it sounded like this world must have supernatural powers, so recruiting ratmen was quite understandable; they were probably being used as cannon fodder.

Perhaps we're getting close to the truth, Fafnir thought. The original owner must have been an unlucky guy who was conscripted to fight in the Demon Realm from the Cellar City. He ran away from the Cellar City and ended up here. Maybe he encountered something along the way, or maybe—Fafnir thought about the blood on his clothes and his sword. Could it be that the original owner had already fought with the demons and ended up deserting?

The situation is not looking good.

"Thank you, thank you for your explanation."

"Fafner, what are your plans for the future?" Ms. Nina asked as she wove wheat straw.

"I—maybe I'll go check out the Steel City, or maybe find some work," Fafnir thought for a moment. "Is the Steel City far from here? If it's not far, I'll go there soon."

"It's not far, but it's not close either. It takes about two hours to walk along the road north of Tianpu."

But life there isn't easy when you first get there. I've heard there are all sorts of rules in the city, and some people aren't having an easy time either. Ms. Nina hesitated for a moment, then said, "Fafner, you don't have to rush to the city. I can vouch for you. You can go to the village and find some odd jobs to do first, save up a little money, and then you'll have some confidence when you go to the city."

"Thank you very much, but I'd better go to the city first. I have some money on hand," Fafnir declined the offer, wanting to see the world first.

"By the way, do you know what the prices are like here? How much does a basic meal cost in the city?" Fafnir was still a little worried that he didn't have enough money.

"Probably two copper coins? Grain porridge or mixed wheat bread, plus stew."

"Then how many meals can one silver shield provide?"

"Of course, it's a hundred meals, but you won't get to eat meat at any of them."

Fafnir roughly understood the conversion between copper coins and silver shields. After hesitating for a moment, he finally asked, "Hmm—the Holy Kingdom of the Elves—"

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