Chapter 192 - Fish, What a Huge Fish
When the morning’s first ray of sun basked on the ground, Pea had already woken up.
The first thing she had to do was to head to the plaza at “Knight Street” to draw water.
“Knight Street” was one of the earliest districts constructed on the territory. It was said that this place was originally the old barracks for the soldiers that garrisoned here. Initially, there were unending and orderly military tents and multiple warehouses to store military supplies. However, half a year later, this place now had two rows of neat and tidy brick houses and also a plaza at the end of the street.
The soldiers of the Cecil army would mostly reside in this district. On one side of the street was the new barracks, and the other side was the feudal lord’s residence and the offices of a few important departments. As such, Knight Street could also be viewed as the innermost defense line of the Cecil territory.
To be able to stay here seemed to be the dream of many of the territory’s young people.
This meant that the soldiers possessed the most reputable status, and they could also wear awe-inspiring magic armor and could also wield the legendary heat-ray gun that was very powerful. Furthermore, their job qualified their families to enter as “city residents”.
Pea arrived at the territory when brick houses on Knight Street were halfway through the renovation process. She had personally witnessed the workers on this land using astounding efficiency to tear down the tents and wooden boards before building firm and secure brick houses. The front of each house was also fitted with a magic-driven magic crystal lamp, allowing this place to be even brighter and more beautiful than some of Tanzan Town’s most prosperous streets. She accompanied her foster father, the territory’s Chief Knight Byron, and entered one of the first few brick houses that were already built on Knight Street. Right now, she had the status as the Chief Knight’s daughter and also the “mute young lady” of Knight Street.
To Pea, the changes in life didn’t seem to overly affect her. Perhaps, it was because no one was able to figure out what this mute girl was thinking in her heart. She was unable to speak, and such “silence” would give others an easy reason to make wild guesses. Therefore, she used to work silently and finish the tasks she was given silently. She wouldn’t be curious nor would she attempt to make contact, and she wouldn’t invite trouble to herself. This was the life wisdom that Pea had accumulated from her past life experiences. Even after shifting to an unfamiliar place, even after residing in a firm and big house, it was still the same.
However, as she continued to stay in this place, she realized that this place was indeed different from the environments she was familiar with.
After closing the doors, Pea carried the water bucket and walked on the path to the plaza. On the sides of the road were neat and tidy rows of two-floored brick houses. These houses that combined the classic Anzu style and Duke Cecil’s “pragmatic” style were houses that couldn’t be seen anywhere else. At the very least, residents in other places couldn’t possibly be so extravagant as to embed magic crystal lamps at their doors. On the streets, there were basically no men; only married women would be working at the front of the doors, and only while doing their chores.
The men of Knight Street were mainly soldiers of the Cecil territory. Even if they weren’t soldiers, they would be workers in the various factories. The former would spend most of the month in the military camps or standing at lookout posts as sentries. The latter would need to work during the daytime. As such, only women could be seen on the streets during this period of time.
Madam Myelin was sun-drying the fish jerky at her doors when she saw Pea. This plump madam was one of the fortunate survivors from the old Cecil territory, and her husband was a veteran soldier; she also had quite the prestige in this street. After seeing Pea holding the water bucket, the prestigious madam immediately yelled out and greeted, “Pea, are you drawing water? Do you want help?”
The difference between Cecil territory and other towns: someone would help me.
Pea let out “ah ah” sounds and shook her head to Madam Myelin as an indication that she was fine on her own.
“You are such a fine young lady.” Madam Myelin was a person that loved to talk with others. She was so good at this aspect that she could have a long conversation with a mute person. “Is Sir Byron still not back yet? Or has he gone out again?”
Pea was holding onto the water bucket, and after thinking for a long time, she didn’t know how to reply to this complicated question and could only shake her head in an apologetic manner.
Madam Myelin wasn’t really concerned if Pea was able to answer or not as she started saying, “Hey, I heard that he is scouting the ancient fortress in the mountains. My husband had also gone with him previously but didn’t say anything to me after he returned. Tsk tsk, men always have secrets.. Pea, are you going to visit Miss Betty at the castle?”
Duke Cecil didn’t build a traditional “castle”, but it was obvious that everyone was still used to calling the feudal lord’s residence a “castle”. In their plain and simple minds, the feudal lord had to reside in a castle.
After mentioning Betty, Pea finally smiled and nodded happily.
The difference between Cecil territory and other towns: even the chief maid in the feudal lord’s castle was a good talker. She would also bring a newcomer like me on a tour of the territory. She also shared sweets that were bestowed by the feudal lord with me.
Even though it seemed like the feudal lord only had one maid..
Subsequently, Madam Myelin continued talking about many things, from the weather after winter to the rumblings of the workplaces, from those mystical machines to this year’s particularly great harvest. It was fortunate that she still remembered that Pea had to draw water, and when the conversation topic was extended to how much bigger Viscountess Rebecca’s Large Fireball could become, she stopped decisively and said, “Hey, once I start talking, I can’t seem to stop.. Hurry up and draw the water! When you return, come over to my place to eat!”
Pea then bowed to Madam Myelin and carried the bucket and walked to the plaza at a fast pace.
Along the way, people would constantly greet her. Most of the people would call her directly by her name “Pea”, while there were a rare few that called her “Byron’s Young Lady” or “Young Lady Kirk”. The latter was due to Byron Kirk’s family name. Pea would respond to each greeting seriously, and a rather relaxed smile would gradually appear on her face.
The difference between Cecil territory and other towns: the people here would call her by her name and not call her “mute” or “thrash”.
Initially, Pea assumed that it was due to her “status” as she had a foster father who was the Chief Knight; therefore, everyone had no choice but to respect a little mute. However, she quickly realized that such an attitude could be seen throughout the entire territory, and everyone treated each other the same way. After staying here for a period of time, she heard a statement from her foster father that came from Duke Cecil:
Most of the bad habits and objectionable practices were due to the lack of food. When people were able to eat to their fill, they would start to consider morality. It might not be absolute, but it was probably the case.
Up until now, Pea still couldn’t understand the feudal lord’s wisdom, but she could feel the reasoning behind this statement. When she was hungry, she had also stolen things, and there was once she suffered lashing from public-security officers for stealing a piece of bread. Furthermore, the public-security officers had declared in public that she had a “habit of stealing that was innate and came from her bloodline”. Right now, when she picked up something that didn’t belong to her, her first reaction would be to hand them to the patrolling soldiers.
She too believed that the soldiers wouldn’t hog the things that she handed to them. On multiple occasions, her foster father had talked to her about how strict the feudal lord was when managing the soldiers, and she trusted her foster father wholeheartedly.
Pea carried the bucket and arrived at the plaza. The plaza was currently very quiet, and she could see the workplace opposite the plaza that was making preparations before working. That place was the new residential area, and the last batch of homeless people that arrived after Fog Month were currently transporting the materials and were given tools under the supervision of the soldiers and foremen. Their faces still had vacant and numbed expressions and seemingly couldn’t understand why they still had to work during winter. However, Pea knew that these people would be buzzing with excitement soon enough. Once they understood the “Cecil housing system” that would be read out by the soldiers, they would understand that they were currently building the houses that they would be residing in themselves.historical
Pea arrived at the well in the center of the plaza. This well’s water was actually connected directly to the White River. The feudal lord might have talked about the concept of “supplying water to the houses”, but no one understood the meaning of it. Everyone in this district would be drawing the water from this well, and in Pea’s opinion, this was already very convenient.
She put her bucket by the side and started to pull the well pulley. She then tossed the wooden bucket that was tied with the rope into the well..
There was a strange “clatter” sound that came from the well, and Pea couldn’t help but be startled. Immediately after, she heard the normal splashing sound of the wooden bucket and was at ease.
Could the wooden bucket have knocked into the wall of the well earlier?
She used two hands to grab the well pulley and used strength to pull the bucket back up.
However, there wasn’t any movement.
Pea tilted her head and tried to push it, but there was still no movement.
The young lady was troubled. She had never encountered such a situation before. She might still be a child, but she had been doing chores since a young age, and her strength was normally sufficient. Furthermore, with the recent addition of a nutritious diet, her body was being nurtured well, and her strength was much greater than before. Drawing a bucket of water couldn’t be so strenuous.
Pea approached the well and carefully held onto the frame of the well pulley before looking down. However, it was pitch-black on the inside, and she couldn’t see anything.
Right at this moment, a voice echoed from the side. “Isn’t this Byron’s young lady..? What’s wrong?”
Pea turned to look and saw a carpenter that she knew. The carpenter was probably passing by, and when he saw Pea looking over the well, he came over to ask. The carpenter was accompanied by his two apprentices.
“Ah.. ah ah!” Pea let out some vague noises while pointing and gesturing at the well, indicating that the bucket was stuck on something in the well. The carpenter and the two apprentices looked at each other and quickly understood what she meant.
“Just watch by the side. We will help you to bring the bucket up.”
Pea obediently stood by the side while the three grown men used their strength to turn the handle. The well pulley frame that was made of firm iron pillars and hardwood was actually echoing with creaking sounds. It seemed like there was a huge person on the rope below. No matter what, the rope was finally moving up.
“It is coming up! Don’t loosen your grip!”
The carpenter yelled, and when he finished his statement, Pea suddenly heard a giant splash from the well.
Splash!
A figure rushed out from the well along with splashes of water. One could vaguely see the upper body of a human and the tail of a fish.
Pea looked at this figure with a blank expression.
The difference between Cecil territory and other towns: fish would leap out from the well, and it was a very big fish..