Swords, magic, and martial arts

Rhodes and his three companions rode their horses across the desolate fields, where the land that should have been cultivated was now overgrown with weeds.

If the Kingdom of Nords can hold the fortress south of Winterfell fortress in this year's war, next year many nobles will surely buy serfs and plant crops all over these lands.

In the Kingdom of Nord, it is illegal to capture free citizens and nobles for sale, but trading serfs is not illegal. However, most of the serfs in Nord are bought from the grasslands and the Empire.

They continued walking, the sun high in the sky. Summer was approaching, and the weather was getting hotter and hotter. They were now in the southernmost part of Nord. The high sun made Rhodes, who was wearing dragon scale armor, very uncomfortable. He felt that in a few more days he would not be able to wear the dragon scale armor like this anymore.

The fields ahead were covered with neat rows of wheat, which must have been planted by farmers living nearby.

"There should be villages nearby, and this winter wheat is almost ripe," Weber said, looking at the wheat field ahead.

"The war will begin again once the winter wheat is fully ripe," Baron sighed as he sat on his horse.

"Don't think about it too much. Let's go to the village ahead and see if we can buy some vegetables and fruits. I'm getting sick of eating cured meat every day," Hammer said.

Rod has been eating jerky and bread bought from White Hart Castle lately. A few days ago, he was finally relieved that he had finished the hard bread, but the next few days, eating only jerky made him feel even worse.

In fact, Rod had been unable to stand it for a long time, but he was afraid that they would think he was being dramatic, so he didn't say anything.

As they walked along the ridges of the fields, a village came into view before Rhodes and his companions.

The entire village consisted of only a dozen or so houses. When the farmers who were resting near their homes at noon saw Rhodes and his three companions approaching on horseback, they all ran to the side, grabbed hoes and pitchforks, and ran to the village entrance, looking at them warily.

"Who are you?" one of the strongest farmers asked.

Rod looked them over. These farmers were all quite young, the oldest probably no more than forty, and there were many children among them.

Baron glanced at Rhodes, who then understood and said, "We are just passing adventurers with no ill intentions. We would like to rest here for a while and buy some food."

Of the four, Rhodes had the kindest face. In the past, when Rhodes and Baron went on adventures, Rhodes would communicate with the vulnerable people, while Baron would personally deal with the vicious adventurers and mercenaries.

"We won't do anything to hurt you," Hammer interjected. Although the farmers opposite were also tall and burly, compared to the fierce-looking Baron or Hammer with his blue battle markings, they looked like a group of honest and simple farmers.

Upon hearing this, the farmers hesitated for a moment, then put down their "weapons" and said, "Please come in."

Rod and his companions led their horses into the village.

These farmers seem to be doing quite well; they raise chickens and dogs, and there are two cows in the village.

"Have you eaten yet?" Baron asked, rubbing his stomach.

"We've already eaten," the leading farmer replied.

Their questions and answers made Rhodes feel as if he had returned to the country before he traveled back in time.

"What kind of food do you have to sell us?" Rod asked.

"We have some flour, sausages, and smoked meat that we can sell to you," said a farmer's wife standing next to the leading farmer.

"Can we sell a few of these chickens?" Rod asked, pointing to the chickens strutting around on the ground.

The farmer hesitated for a moment before saying, "That depends on how much you're prepared to pay."

"One gold coin, three chickens, some vegetables, some bread, and a bag of salt," Rod said, pulling out a gold coin and handing it to the man.

The man was taken aback, then quickly nodded. He hadn't expected Rod to pay so much, so he prepared to give Rod some extra vegetables and bread.

Hammer, who was used to spending money lavishly, didn't have any objections. Baron felt a little distressed, but he didn't show it. Weber's attention wasn't on that; he was intently watching the two cows.

Rod was afraid that the people here might have some kind of inexplicable worship of chickens, like in some video game, so he offered a much higher price.

After the man brought out a large bag of vegetables from inside the house and gave it to Rod, he started catching the swaggering chickens on the ground.

"Since you're giving me so much money, I'll pick out the three fattest ones for you," he said.

"Can I use your kitchen?" Rod asked.

The man hesitated for a moment before saying, "Okay."

"Over there," the man pointed to Rhodes.

Rod carried a large bag of vegetables into the kitchen. He opened the bag and saw that it contained cabbage, cucumber, winter melon, turnip, and eggplant.

Never mind, none of them are my favorite foods. Only cucumber is barely acceptable.

Cucumber and chicken cooked together seem pretty good, but I still don't have any soy sauce. I'll have to go to the Alpine Province after I get to Dawn Province to see how Lakar's soy sauce is made.

"Are you going to cook here?" Baron walked in, picked up a cucumber, and took a bite.

"Go and kill the chicken, and pluck all its feathers," Rod said.

"I can kill a chicken, but I can't pluck its feathers," Baron said, scratching his head.

"Just boil some water, throw the slaughtered chicken in and pluck its feathers. I believe you can do it," Rod said. He had only ever seen others do chickens this way before; he had never done it himself.

"Okay, I'll go think of something." Baron took the cucumber and went out.

Baron had just stepped outside when he heard the chickens squawking in agony.

Rod was somewhat helpless. He was still thinking about what dish to make. The ingredients were fine, but he didn't have the familiar seasonings he used to use.

It seems like you can still make beggar's chicken even without any seasonings, but you don't have lotus leaves.

These free-range chickens are best used for chicken soup; it's the simplest way to make them.

Rod searched the kitchen and found a plant that could replace ginger to remove the meaty smell. Its roots and stems looked green and smelled just like ginger.

He cut off a piece and put it in his mouth to taste; it tasted similar to ginger.

Rod washed the pot clean. The pot in the kitchen was an earthenware pot hanging on a fire. It couldn't be used for stir-frying, only for boiling. It should be good for simmering chicken soup.

Some water was added to the water tank and then heated in the pot. Webber took the prepared chicken into the kitchen, and Rod asked him to help cut it up and put it in the pot. After adding the plant and salt, the lid was put on and the chicken was started to cook.

Rhodes didn't know how it would taste. He had tried the onion and chicken soup in the tavern of this world before, and it was alright, although there were only a few pieces of chicken in a bowl. Moreover, there were no chicken bones in the soup; it was all chicken breast. If there were chicken bones, most people wouldn't eat it.

Only the brown soup sold in flea dens in the city has bones.

More than an hour later, the lid was opened, and Baron and his group, who had been attracted by the aroma, swallowed hard.

"Why are there bones in here?" Baron asked in surprise, looking at the chicken soup in the pot.

"It tastes better when cooked with bones," Rod explained.

"Is this some excuse for forgetting to remove the bones before weaving? We've been starving for so long waiting for you to cook, and this is what you give us?" Baron said angrily. "I wouldn't eat a single bite even if I were starving."

"Me too," Hammer chimed in from the side.

"I think we should give it a try first," Weber said uncertainly.

Seeing their performance, Rod felt a little sad...