Chapter 616: Chapter 600 – Into the Harsh Lands

“As odd as it may sound, but the harshest regions often had the people with the best hospitality. Those who live in lands hostile to them know the value of cooperation and unity the most, and hospitality is a side product of those values.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.

“Someone experienced, I see!” said the head of the convoy cheerfully when she saw Aideen toss over the milk and honey to her charges. Even in the Jarldoms not that many people enjoy the strong, astringent tea without cutting its taste with other things, as was evident with how nearly three-quarters of the guard cut theirs with some milk. “Have you been to our wintry lands, Lady Healer?”

 

“Been there in the past, yeah,” replied Aideen with a smile and a nod to match. She left out that it was already decades ago for her, but it was not like it was a lie anyway. She might not be that well versed with the customs of the east, and was definitely unfamiliar with any Vinjaun-specific ones, but Aideen knew the broad strokes of most. “I honestly like the Jarldoms more than most places. The people there know what hospitality means, unlike far too many these days.”

 

“Aye, sadly a decline in the morals of the younger generation elsewhere, I’m afraid,” noted the head of the convoy with a shake of her head. “Someone who flaunts and abuses the rules of hospitality in the east would be cast away from the village, but in these foreign lands… I guess I should not complain since they probably never had the same sense of hospitality to begin with…”

 

“No, no, they definitely had them in the past,” replied Aideen with a shake of her head. “It’s something they gradually did away with, in many places, though some others still keep some semblance of proper hospitality in mind,” she added. “For far too many people though, the moment they are self-sufficient and no longer need to rely on others, they forget all about the times when others helped them in their time of need and start becoming arrogant and uncaring.”

 

“Happens far too often, I agree,” nodded the middle-aged woman with a sigh. “People all too often forget the bad times once they have it good, and even conveniently forget those who helped them when they were down, the ungrateful bastards,” she muttered. “I guess we don’t have as many of those types since we cast them away for the beasts to munch on.”

 

“Something I honestly feel many of the places that consider themselves as pinnacles of civilization could use, I think,” replied Aideen with a sigh. “A bit of hard time builds character. People who have been raised on nothing but good times often fail to build their own characters since they never needed to do so properly, or their parents fail to guide them to do so.”

 

“It is how it is,” noted the head of the convoy with a shrug of her shoulders. “Well, our little lovelies seem to be full, so we’ll likely be on our way in a bit. Once we reached town, may I have the honor of hosting your party, Milady Healer? After all this talk about hospitality I felt like showing what proper Vinjaun hospitality should be like.”

 

“It would be our honor, madam…”

 

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“Ah, where be my manners? Aida Godfridsdottir of Anlef, Milady Healer, at your service,” said the middle-aged woman as she introduced herself with a laugh. “It would be my house’s honor to welcome such esteemed guests.”

 

Much like Aida said, the convoy’s wolves had indeed returned one after another after they ate their fill. Some of the guards also slung the largest of the remaining Snow Raptor corpses over their shoulders for the wolves to feed on when they rested later in the evening. Those wolves they used to pull their wagons were very suited for the harsh, wintry terrain of Vinjaun, even capable of serving as the last line of defense as they were very loyal to their owners, but they also had their own drawbacks.

 

For one, they were obligate carnivores, so the convoy needed to either hunt them some prey or let them loose to hunt on their own whenever they rested. An opportunity like this, where they had plenty of fodder for the wolves free for the taking, was a rare one and saved them at least a couple’s day’s worth of hunting, which was something the guards appreciated greatly.

 

The inconvenience of lugging along the extra weight for a while outweighed the chance to get more proper rest the next time the convoy stopped to take a break, for them.

 

Before long, the wolves were harnessed to the wagons once more, while Aideen and her charges returned to their wagon and fitted themselves in the available room as best they could. Fortunately the rest of their journey proved uneventful, other than some annoying pests – starved wild beasts mostly – trying their luck with the convoy.

 

For those cases though, the guards alone were plenty, so there was no need for Aideen or her charges to join in the fighting. Apparently according to Aida the trip they had was one of the more uneventful ones amongst the many trips she had done, with some of the wilder ones practically seeing the convoy hounded by packs of beasts for days on end.

 

They reached the small town – formerly village – of Anlef after a few more days of travel, where the convoy originated from. It was also Aida’s hometown, and she definitely intended to keep her word about introducing Aideen and her charges to some proper Vinjaun hospitality. Before she could do that, however, she needed to finish her task as the head of the convoy.

 

The convoy headed to the house of the town’s mayor, where they stopped and started to unload their cargo. Apparently the wagons were communal property of the town, and were used to trade for their needs like what Aida had done, instead of anyone’s personal property. While Aida was busy with the unloading of goods, one of the guards explained to Aideen and her charges on how things were done in Vinjaun.

 

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