“Chairman Xu, do you see the river in front? This is our northeast province’s biggest river, the Banau River. It flows through the entire northeast province before heading east into the Drake Duchy and the Fenno Kingdom, before connecting to the Gain River.” Count Longley pointed at the silver waters in front of them as he introduced this river to Xu Yi.
Xu Yi looked up at the waves in front of him and the reflected bits of broken sunlight on the river, finding it a bit strange.
“Isn’t winter in the north very cold? Why isn’t the river frozen?”
Count Longley laughed, “That is because of the river’s biggest specialty. Although this is in the north of the kingdom, it actually never freezes in winter.”
“The reason?” Xu Yi was a bit surprised.
Although the Lampuri Kingdom wasn’t considered the most northern part of the continent, the temperature in winter was still negative ten to twenty degrees. This river wasn’t considered wide, so it should freeze.
Count Longley laughed, “You’ll understand the reason later.”
Xu Yi couldn’t help rolling his eyes, he never thought that this Count Longley had this bad habit of keeping people in suspense.
The horse carriage headed across a dirt road with the two of them before finally stopping at a village that wasn’t considered that big.
Count Longley’s horse carriage had just stopped when a group of people came forward.
“Lord City Lord, you’re here again.”
“Lord City Lord, are you here for another soak?”
“Lord City Lord, the weather is good today, so it’s right for a long soak.”
“Right, Lord City Lord, you haven’t been here in a few days. Come, come, come, let’s have a meal at our house first. I went to hunt for some deers yesterday and I kept the leg, so you came right on time.”
“Lord City Lord, I want to eat candy……”
……
Seeing the villagers happily surround Count Longley, Xu Yi was a bit surprised.
Back in Banta City, Count Sean could be considered popular, but he wasn’t the same as Count Longley. He couldn’t let the villagers feel no pressure when they saw him and treated him like an old friend.
Count Longley also had a smile as he happily greeted everyone, he even reached out his hand to pick up the child who wanted to eat candy. He waved his hand at Xu Yi before heading to the house of the senior who invited him for a meal.
Xu Yi followed him into the village and whenever they passed by a house, there would be someone who greeted Count Longley.
When they arrived at the old farmer’s house, Count Longley put down the child and gave him a piece of candy. He patted the little kid on the but and had the kid go home, only then did he invite Xu Yi in like this was his house.
When they came in, Xu Yi immediately smelled a mix of scents that almost choked him and he couldn’t help knitting his brows.
The old farmer in front had already guessed that Xu Yi’s reaction was from the scent, so he turned back to look at Xu Yi with an embarrassed smile, “This guest might not be able to bear the smell, but there’s no other way. It’s like this in the countryside, so please bear with it.”
Count Longley on the side explained, “It’s too cold today, so they had to use some methods to keep the room warm.”
Xu Yi looked in and found that there was a stove in the less than twenty square meter room. There were several logs burning in the stove and it was releasing a faint smoke that seemed to wrap around the room like smog.
Adding in the pan on the stove that was giving off an unknown fragrance, it really was strange.
On a worn out bed in the corner of the room, the bedding was so dark that its original colours couldn’t be seen at all.
Two children wrapped up in the bedding who didn’t seem to be more than ten years old saw the two guests coming into the room. After a while, the two children jumped out of the bed and into Count Longley’s embrace, cheerfully welcoming him.
Seeing this, Xu Yi looked at the old farmer with an apologetic look with a smile and said, “It’s fine, if the Lord City Lord can bear with it, of course I don’t have a problem.”
The old farmer revealed an honest smile and walked into the back, calling out to someone.
After a while, the old farmer and an old lady came back and gathered around the stove.
Count Longley and the two kids were already sitting by the stove together with smiles on their faces, waving for Xu Yi to come over.
“Come, chairman Xu, sit down. Old Hal’s roasted deer leg is a rare delicacy, even I haven’t eaten it many times. Your luck is good today, you can eat it on your first day.”
Hearing Count Longley’s praise, the old farmer called old Hal revealed a smile. He kept throwing many different ingredients into the pot that Xu Yi didn’t recognize at all.
When old Hal finished cooking the deer leg and put a full bowl of soup in front of Xu Yi did he finally feel that today was a bit strange.
He thought that Count Longley had him stay another day to discuss something special, but he never thought that he would bring Xu Yi around Basaru City without saying a thing.
This morning, he had surprised Xu Yi by bringing him to this small village outside the city and now he was having him eat the deer leg that this old farmer had caught.
“This Count Longley, did he make up his mind or is he still hesitating?” Xu Yi asked in his heart, but his expression didn’t change. He thanked old Hal before taking the soup, blowing it and then taking a sip.
The rich fragrance exploded in his mouth and Xu Yi couldn’t help giving old Hal a thumbs up.
“This is good! No wonder Lord City Lord specially brought me here, so it was because he was hungry!”
Receiving Xu Yi’s praise, old Hal revealed a bright smile. It was unknown where he turned to pull out what seemed to be a lambskin sack. He took out another bowl and pulled the plug of the lambskin sack, releasing the scent of wine from within. What was kept inside was actually good wine.
“Come, eat the deer meat and drink some wine, that is the best way to enjoy it.” After Count Longley came here, it was like he was a different person, he didn’t seem like a noble at all. He took the bowl of wine from old Hal and toasted Xu Yi.
Xu Yi clinked bowls with him and drank it all. He found that although the wine wasn’t comparable to the wine from the Sachi Manor, it couldn’t even compare to the wine the dwarves made, but it was still quite good.
So the four adults and two children gathered around the stove. Even the children sipped the wine as they enjoyed the deer soup. After a while, the large pot of deer soup was finished and there wasn’t even a drop of liquid left at the bottom.
After eating to their content, Count Longley rested for a bit before calling to Xu Yi.
“Come, chairman Xu. With today’s weather, after we eat our fill, we should go and take a bath. It definitely will feel good.”
Xu Yi was confused, but he didn’t plan on asking anything.
It seemed like Count Longley was planning on not saying anything until the end, so of course he would patiently wait and wouldn’t force him.
If Count Longley’s thoughts were the same as his guesses, then this matter must be a very difficult decision for him. It was normal for him to feel hesitant.
After leaving old Hal’s house, Count Longley didn’t walk up the mountain, but he took out two packages from his horse carriage. He threw one to Xu Yi while holding the other. He went forward on the road in front and headed up a small mountain.
It was good to take a walk after eating, but climbing up a mountain was a bit hard.
Xu Yi’s physique wasn’t that good and in this condition, he was panting after climbing up the mountain, causing Count Longley to break out in laughter.
“Chairman Xu, I heard that you were a magician. Do all magicians have such weak bodies as you?”
Xu Yi rolled his eyes, but he was too weak to refute it.
At least in the magicians that he knew, there weren’t many with better physiques than him.
It was a good thing this mountain wasn’t high and Count Longley didn’t go all the way to the peak, bringing Xu Yi off on a small road.
After walking for a bit, the splashing sounds of water came from in front as mist drifted over them.
Seeing this scene, Xu Yi was surprised.
Why did this seem like something he had experienced back on earth?
Walking forward a bit, the water vapor became stronger, but he could still see clearly. There was a large basin in front that was around a hundred square meters wide.
The water in the basin was rather warm, sending out steam on such a cold day, making the entire basin look like an immortal’s mountain.
That’s right, there was a hot spring here!
Seeing the surprised Xu Yi, Count Longley laughed before saying, “Chairman Xu, you are someone from the south, so it should be your first time seeing our special product, the hot spring, right?”
Xu Yi wanted to say that he had experienced this thing many times on earth, but he still nodded in agreement.
“Since this is your first time, you have to properly experience it. Let me tell you, in this kind of weather, soaking in the hot spring is the best feeling.”
After saying this, Count Longley took off his clothes without any hesitation at all before entering the hot spring.
Seeing Count Longley waving from the hot spring, Xu Yi helplessly shook his head before taking off his clothes and entering as well.
It had to be said, in this kind of cold weather, soaking in a natural hot spring and being able to see scenery from high up really was enjoyable.
But because Count Longley had brought him here, Xu Yi couldn’t relax and enjoy.
While the two soaked, they also talked.
After a while, Count Longley suddenly gave a sigh, “Although old Hal has this kind of natural enjoyment, they have to worry about what to eat every day, so they can’t enjoy it at all. It really makes one feel sympathy for them, don’t you think, chairman Xu?”
Xu Yi looked at the village at the foot of the mountain before turning back to Count Longley.
This fellow was finally going to talk after waiting for an entire day?
