Section 4: Family Financial Crisis

  There were few tools available in the forest, but after a careful search, some useful things could still be found. Arwade used his sword to cut off a branch, and from behind a large tree, he found a withered vine. In the forest, there was a gentle stream with several smooth stones, and apart from that, there was only mud and sand on the riverbank.

  As he approached with his sword, the knight who had been galloping wildly became cautiously alert as soon as he entered the forest, the low shrubs and dense woods hiding a sense of danger.

  "Whoosh! Whoosh!" A gray shadow suddenly leapt out from the thicket, and Ippo immediately let out a loud cry, charging in that direction with his sword thrust out.

  "Yip yip." A dog fox cried out, struggling on the ground, blood dripping from its fur and into the mud. It was just a small animal startled by Yifu.

  "Damn it." Yifu suddenly stood up, cursed a few words, walked a few steps and inserted the sword into the dog's neck with all his might.

  "Whoosh." Just as Yori drew his sword and attempted to wipe off the bloodstains, a shadow flew out from behind the tree. Before he could react, something had already wrapped itself around him. Upon closer inspection, it was a withered vine, both ends of which were tied to two goose eggs. As the processed vine flew over, its inertia caused it to entwine Yori's body and arms.

  "Arwade!" Yifu started with some confusion, but he quickly reacted and loudly called out Arwade's name.

  "Kill!" Ah Ruo deeply thanked his university military training instructor, although he always had a dark face and made them cry to the heavens, but their bayonet skills were all top-notch. Ah Ruo held the sharpened tree branch and charged at Yifu's chest, aiming for the Tan Zhong acupoint.

  "Oh." The stabbed Yifu only felt that all the blood in his body had gathered in front of his chest, and he involuntarily arched his back like a shrimp, his face also losing its usual rosy color. However, his strong physical constitution allowed him to stiffen up and only let out a few stifled grunts.

  "Hmph, grass." Although he had hit Ivo's weak point, he hadn't thoroughly defeated him. Arwade immediately withdrew the branch to prepare for another attack, but at this time, the enraged Ivo suddenly let out a loud roar and actually broke free from the flexible vines.

  "What are you doing?" Just as both sides were already red-eyed, a low and stern voice of a middle-aged man rang out.

  "Father." The two saw their father, Sir Wendel, mounted on a horse, standing at their side rear looking at them.

  Sir Wendel looked sternly at the two brothers who were fighting, having received a report from the villagers that his two sons were fighting in the woods, and he hurried over on horseback to stop them.

  Yifu broke free from the tree vines, furiously kicking Arwade to the ground. Holding his own sword, the sharp blade pointed at Arwade's chest, his eyes blazing with anger stared fixedly at Arwade's face, but he didn't see any fearful expression on it.

  "That's enough, I say that's enough." Sir Wendel rode forward on his horse, using the horse's side to block them in between. This fine steed was Sir Wendel's favorite, meticulously groomed with a shiny coat and exceptionally spirited, and it had an extremely harmonious partnership with its master.

  "I'll get him sooner or later." Yifu threatened furiously and left without looking back.

  Sir Wendel watched with interest as Arwod got up from the ground, the crudeness of the eldest son was nothing new, in this turbulent era, having a violent heir was not a bad thing, but it was unexpected that his own soft and weak second son would have the guts to face Yifu's anger.

  "I once thought of sending you to your uncle's monastery, but now I'm glad I didn't." Sir Wendel shook his head slightly and turned the horse's head outward, walking away, the spirited horse jumping lightly between the trees, carrying its master.

  "Damn it!" Arwade cursed, spitting out the mud and saliva from his mouth onto the ground. He didn't want to come to this era either. He felt dirty all over his body. Indeed, he hadn't taken a bath for a week. Taking a bath was a complicated process for people in this era. The European climate was cold at this time, so he couldn't go to the river to take a bath, or he would catch a cold and die. So, he had to burn a lot of firewood to boil several large buckets of water, find a large enough horse trough to hold himself, close the doors and windows tightly, and only after all this was done could he comfortably enjoy the pleasure of cleanliness.

  For the peasants, they didn't have enough firewood to boil water, and the dry branches and leaves they picked up in the lord's forest were only enough for cooking. Most of the nobles, however, were too lazy to bother with such trivialities, so people here always reeked of a strong body odor, which almost made Arwod faint when he first arrived in this era. But later on, Arwod probably got dirty himself and got used to it all. His patience was gradually wearing thin, and with his unlucky brother and cold father, he deeply missed his messy, dirty room filled with modern circuit boards, the narrow bathroom's cold showerhead. He never thought he would miss these things so much.

  At the same time that Arwed was troubled by all these things, Sir Wendel also welcomed his own troubles. Duke Meissen finally had a dispute with Duke Saxony over territorial disputes, and the two noble nobles were tongue-in-cheek in the Imperial Council, but their mouths could not solve the problem. After Duke Meissen stated his rights in the Imperial Council, he immediately ordered his nephew Count Lauditz to summon his vassals, because he knew that Duke Saxony would also make the same plan.

  The heralds and messengers of the Duke of Mason darted back and forth among the vassals, and soon through layers of transmission, Sir Wendel also received this order. As a direct knight of the Duke of Mason's family, he was required to bring his own equipment, horses and ten strong armed servants to arrive at the duke's territory within the time limit, where they would follow the next instructions of the Duke of Mason.

  "My dear, the Duke has ordered me to go on a campaign, and this time I want to bring Yifu with me." In the still of the night, Arwade couldn't sleep because he was thinking about his own affairs, so he heard through the thin floorboards on the second floor the conversation between Wendel Sir and his wife. Yifu was sleeping soundly in another room, his snores shaking down dust from the attic, and between the straw rafters of the attic, you could still hear the mice scurrying by with a faint rustling sound.

  "Bring your husband along?"

  "Yes, I've already paid a large sum of money to make Yves a knight. If he fights well and gains the duke's favor, as well as some spoils from the battlefield, it should be enough to fill our financial gap." Sir Wendel said with some difficulty, his wife comforted him by leaning on his shoulder, she was reluctant to let her son go to the unpredictable battlefield, but how could they make up for their financial shortfall if he didn't fight? The upcoming Harvest Festival required a lot of food and drink, and the hardworking farmers needed rest and refreshment. It was also the lord's duty to entertain the farmers who worked on his land.

  "What about Little A Ruo De? Is he going too?"

  "No, not this time. He's still too young, and besides, I don't have any spare equipment to give him, not even a shield." Sir Wendel sighed, rubbing his temples in frustration at his own helplessness.

  "Everything will be alright, under the Lord's protection." Lady Wendel kissed her husband's cheek, having made up her mind to sell those extra ceramics. That merchant from the provincial guild had taken a liking to one or two of her pieces last time he came, perhaps next time she could negotiate with him, what was that big-bellied man's name again?

  "Who would have thought that after crossing over, I'd still encounter a family financial crisis?" Aruo De shifted his gaze from the gap in the floorboards and lay back down on his bed of straw, the coarse hay making him itch all over. Although before crossing over he had never imagined having German parents, it was clear they loved their family dearly and were doing everything in their power to hold them together during these difficult times.

  The next morning, as usual, the whole family got up and bustled about at the sound of Arwen's little sister crying. Elrond's first task was to strip off his upper body, go into the stable, draw a bucket of water and wash down his beloved horse. Meanwhile, Arwen had to help her mother light the fire and cook breakfast; the simple hearth crackled with a cauldron, inside which a thick porridge bubbled away. Their father, Sir Wendel, was rummaging through the armory for some old leather armor and bows with slack strings, shields covered in dust and dents, several iron parts already rusted. Sir Wendel frowned and shook his head.

  "Father, it's time for breakfast." Arwade walked into the armory, which was usually locked up tight. Although the Arwade family lived in houses made of wood and thatch, this armory was built with stone, obviously to prevent dampness and as a last line of defense in case of attack. It could be seen that Arwade's ancestors had put a lot of effort into maintaining their weapons, but it seemed that his descendants had not been able to afford the upkeep, leaving the armory covered in spider webs and dust.

  "Alright, damn it." Sir Wendel picked up a shield with his family crest on it, but for some reason the leather strap on the back of the shield had come loose and the shield clattered to the ground. Sir Wendel cursed in anger and threw the shield down again, the leather attachment at the back was probably gnawed through by mice, without the strap there was no way to hold the shield on his arm to protect himself.

  "Hmm, the strap is broken, this is a technical issue." Arwade stood at the entrance of the armory, sunlight passing through the window on the top left of the armory, reflecting off the edge of the shield. He saw where the strap and shield met in an intricate joint, and for anything made up of parts, Arwade had an extraordinary interest. When he was very young, he almost disassembled all the electrical appliances at home just to figure out why they worked, and now he was fascinated by this shield.

  "Where has the boy thrown it now, and I'll have to spend more money to get the blacksmith to repair it again, we are powerless." Sir Wendel let out a sigh and sat down on an empty wooden box, thinking of the expenses he had to pay, he felt a wave of annoyance in his heart. But Arrod walked forward, picked up the shield, turned it over and looked at it, muttering to himself as he looked.

  "Ah, so it's actually wrapped in a layer of iron on the outside and wood on the inside. The leather strap was originally nailed directly onto it, but the craftsmanship is too rough and it's easy to break and not flexible. In fact, if you just use a small piece of leather to make a live buckle loop, then you can adjust the length freely later. Fortunately, the craftsman gave us a long enough leather strap." Artoe knelt on the ground and picked up a small dagger beside him, cutting open the leather strap. Wendel Sir's mouth was wide open in shock as he stared at his young son doing this.