Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 418 Are you a Castel?
Grisha sat on the tree swinging his legs, glancing down from time to time, and occasionally a silly smile would appear on his face.

Lady Nora has been back for several days now.

For some reason, even though there hadn't been any raids in the past few days, and Lady Nora had just been sitting in the camp with her flail, everyone's emotions gradually calmed down.

Those fears and anxieties inexplicably vanished when they saw Lady Nora's weathered armor.

Even if she just stands there, people will feel at ease.

Many people even worshipped her—this had happened before, but Lady Nora had stopped them. Now, she simply stood there quietly, letting people kneel at her feet and weep.

She was originally a priestess of the Silent Sanctuary, and although the sanctuary no longer exists, it's normal to pray to her. Probably.

Grisha didn't quite understand these things; he was just more motivated to keep watch every day.

He was too young to be involved in hunting or gathering berries, and the sentry duty was organized by the group of children themselves.

Although the resistance fighters were forced to camp in the forest, they were actually fed quite well. It wouldn't be difficult to feed these refugees in such a large forest. However, the forest belonged to the noble lords, who would rather let their refugees starve to death than let them fend for themselves in the forest.

Grisha was lost in thought and momentarily distracted. Hearing the sounds below, he realized something was wrong and tried to hide, but it was too late.

"Is this the resistance camp?"

A man looked up and smiled at Grisha.

He was wearing a slightly worn robe over a thick sheepskin coat, and a pair of worn-out boots; he looked quite ordinary.

But this is the forest of the North. Even if Grisha was distracted, the crunching sound of his footsteps in the snow should have woken him up.

But the man not only approached silently, but also spotted him beforehand!

Grisha slowly tensed his body, preparing for the worst.

"who are you?"

"I am Isaac, a member of the Ash Alliance. Could you please inform them that I am a friend from Castel?"

“Castel!?” Grisha was taken aback for a moment, then his eyes lit up with surprise.

He had often heard this word from Lord Nora before. It was said to be an island in the south, but he had no idea where it was or what it looked like. However, Grisha knew that that was the final destination for these refugees.

There was no white disaster there, nor were there any soldiers from noble lords sweeping across the land. It was said that the lord there had promised Lady Nora that he would take in these refugees.

The refugees could survive as long as they had a piece of land. They were all hunters in the North who would break through frozen rivers to catch fish. It was said that the sea there would never freeze, and as long as they cast their nets, they would not go hungry.

It's spring-like there all year round, with no winter.

Nobody knows if such a thing is true. People want to believe it but dare not believe it. Every winter, a number of people freeze to death. Is there really a place where there is no winter?

Lady Nora had told them so much about Castel, a place they had always imagined as a sacred place where they would never have to worry about making a living again.

And the person in front of me is from Castel?
Grisha practically jumped up, frantically preparing to slide down the tree to get help from the camp.

But then his eyes darted around, and he stopped what he was doing.

"How can you prove you're from Castel?"

Isaac couldn't help but smile at his wary look: "Then how do you want me to prove it?"

Grisha paused for a moment.

How can he prove it? He doesn't seem to have thought about that. What does Castells have? Think about it.
"Um, do you have soap?"

“Yes.” Isaac took out a square object and tossed it up. Grisha looked at the square object stuck in the branch with some caution, and after a while, he reached out and touched it.

It's a little soft and has a floral scent I've never smelled before. Is this... soap?
I first heard about soap when Nora was exchanging things with that pirate captain. It can be used to clean the body. Nora got a few bars and treasured them terribly, but unfortunately they were all lost during the raid.

Grisha had only seen such a thing from afar. At that time, everyone was optimistic, thinking that more ships would soon come to pick them all up. Little did they know that the ship would never return after it left.

They gradually transformed from refugees into resistance fighters, having been chased all the way from the eastern coast to the forests here.

Grisha began to believe it somewhat, but after a moment of trouble, he asked, "I heard that Castells also has fries and fish and chips?"

"Yes, yes." Isaac took out two oil paper packages, and the aroma of food wafted out as soon as he opened them.

Grisha swallowed hard, slid down from the tree, and walked over hesitantly.

The fragrant fried fish was still steaming hot, and the fries were golden brown, looking incredibly delicious.

Although he felt a strange sense of unease, Grisha subconsciously ignored it. He approached the man somewhat dazedly, looking at him with eager eyes.

“Eat up, son, it’s all yours.” Isaac smiled and patted his head.

Grisha licked his lips, thanked him first, then reached for the fried fish, ignoring the heat, and stuffed it whole into his mouth.

"Grisha? What happened?"

Suddenly, a familiar female voice came from behind. Grisha looked up and saw Nora. Nora nodded at him and then looked at the man.

"Isaac? What brings you here?"

“Castel sent me here; they’ll be picking you up soon. I’m here to make the arrangements.”

"Great! This isn't the place to talk, let's go to the camp first."

The two started walking into the woods as they talked. Nora turned back to the boy and said, "Grisha, you did a good job. Come on, let's go back to camp, Grisha?"

Grisha glanced at Nora, then at the man, and finally his gaze settled on the fried fish in his hand.

The fried fish still smelled delicious; it was the most delicious thing Grisha had ever eaten.

His hands began to tremble.

"you"

"You are not Lady Nora!"

Everything before his eyes suddenly began to blur. Nora's calm yet concerned voice gradually faded into the distance. The warmth of the food in his hands disappeared, and the howling wind and snow in the woods pierced his neck.

Grisha threw away the fried fish in his hand—which was nothing more than a dry biscuit—and picked up a sharpened stick from behind his back.

He intended to shout to warn the camp, but suddenly a hand landed on his shoulder.

His voice stopped in his throat, unable to come out at all.

The man who was standing in front was suddenly blown away by the wind and scattered into a pile of threads on the ground, like a paper painting.

"That's strange, how did you find out?"

(End of this chapter)