Wearing black silk for a foreign woman

Linde looked at the Minotaur sisters and the white-haired little Schnee quietly.

I feel like Katie’s words just now contained a lot of information.

When rebuilding the tribe, why should we place special emphasis on men?

There was some indescribable emotion hidden deep in Katie and Kitama's eyes when they looked at Lind.

On one side are a beautiful noble lady and a lovely daughter, and on the other side are plump Minotaur sisters and a white-haired little loli. Lind couldn't make up his mind for a while whether to return to the Holy Empire to develop or to establish a tribe on Ivozhen Island.

The Holy Empire is more civilized and developed, but it has no status. Although the Island of Ivozhen is backward, it has the support of the Mother Goddess of the Earth and at least has a certain status.

Linde couldn't make up his mind for a moment, so he decided not to make a decision until he helped Mrs. Ilufa find a boat tomorrow.

There was no conversation that night, and he slept peacefully, but in his dream, the Earth Mother Goddess came to harass Lind again. In the dream, the Earth Mother Goddess told Lind that she had convinced Thrall, and Thrall agreed to keep her relationship with the God of Plague secret. She also gave Lind a resounding name, and he was definitely not the chosen one of God.

The Mother Goddess of Earth kept the details a secret. She finally instructed Lind to help transform the Chaos Beastmen and then went offline.

The next morning, everyone got up on time. After enjoying the sumptuous breakfast prepared by the new beastmen, the group set off.

The first target was Dundalk City. To show respect, Shaman Luger sent some new beastmen as escorts and several centaurs for the two knights to use as transportation. Not only that, Luger also provided two carriages full of supplies, which he said were found in the forest and were probably left behind by the fleeing humans.

The ox cart that had been in use since the beginning was finally turned back into a horse-drawn carriage. Inside the carriage, Lind, Schnee, and the Gaines mother and daughter were sitting inside.

The space in the carriage was not large, and only four people could sit without squeezing in. From the perspective of respecting the elderly and loving the young, the three children and a lady finally sat in the carriage.

Of course, judging from her appearance, Ilfa doesn't look old at all.

"Linde." Inside the carriage, Ilufa looked at Linde with a friendly expression. "Can I call you Linde?"

"Of course, ma'am." Linde smiled. Usually only the more intimate people would call you by your first name.

"Well, Linde, what are your plans after we leave the Holy Empire?" Ilfa continued to ask.

"I haven't thought about it yet. Maybe I'll go back to see my aunt." Lin De said casually.

"That won't do." Ilufa shook her head immediately. "You were thrown here by your aunt."

"Auntie has a suggestion. How about you be my son?"

Chapter 50: Sister-Brother Relationship

Linde was stunned for a moment, staring at the Countess in front of him with a blank look.

Sister, what did you just say?

Although she was Elisa's mother, Mrs. Ilufa didn't look old at all. Judging from her appearance, Mrs. Ilufa was only about 23 or 24 years old, which was the most youthful and beautiful age in a woman's life.

Linde did not ask how old Ilufa was. First of all, it was very rude to ask a woman's age. Secondly, there was no need for Linde to ask. This was not to collect medical history. How old are you, Auntie? Why should I care? Thirdly, Linde thought Ilufa might not be that old. In this world, people generally get married at a very young age, especially children of nobles. Many of them get married as soon as they reach adulthood, and it is not uncommon for them to be engaged as soon as they are born.

But now I call myself auntie...

"Mom!?" Before Linde responded, Elisa spoke first. She looked at her mother in surprise and asked in confusion, "What are you talking about!"

"I said I wanted to adopt Lind as my godson." Illufa repeated with a smile. "Is it not possible?"

This is not a question of whether it is possible or not, Lind complained in his heart.

It happened so suddenly that the beautiful countess suddenly wanted to adopt Lind as her godson.

Because she had no change of clothes, Lady Ilufa was still wearing her armor, but the outer metal armor had been removed. The beautiful lady looked at Lind expectantly, waiting for Lind's answer.

Schnee changed into a more comfortable position while lying on Lind's lap. She didn't know what a godson was, nor did she know what a mother was.

"Ahem~" He coughed to ease the embarrassment. After calming down his surprised mood, Lin De said seriously, "I'm sorry, ma'am, your proposal is really too sudden. I'm a little... too surprised."

"It's okay, I understand." Illufa smiled and nodded. "So what's your answer?"

"Can I ask why you want to be my mother?" Linde asked seriously.

It is not uncommon for nobles to adopt adopted sons and daughters. Sometimes this is also a way to make illegitimate children legal. However, the treatment of so-called adopted sons is actually similar to that of illegitimate children. They have no inheritance rights and must serve their adoptive parents.

Compared to illegitimate children, the only advantage of adopted sons is that their identities are more legitimate, and it is more logical to appoint them to official positions and confer them titles. Some nobles even regard adopting adopted sons as a way to promote sons-in-law of lower status.

Wait... Linde suddenly looked at Alyssa. When Alyssa found that Linde was looking at her, she turned her head away angrily and didn't look at Linde.

"To repay you for saving my life." Ilufa put his hands together and placed them on his chest. "I asked Ram, you are a bastard, right? Your father is the former Duke of Held. After your father died, you lost his protection, so you were thrown to Ivozhen Island at such a young age."

"If you rashly return to the Holy Empire, you will be unable to move without proof of identity. If you go to the Principality of Held, your aunt will just throw you to another colony farther away." Ilufa explained. "So, what you need most now is a name."

"I have nothing else to give you. The only thing I can offer you now is a name." Illufa shrugged apologetically. "So, are you willing to call me mother?"

"Mom!?" Alisa shouted.

"I don't want you to shout." Ilfa looked at his daughter.

Linde was stunned and didn't speak for a long time.

Status?

As an illegitimate child, what the original owner Linde wanted most was a name. As an illegitimate child, officially, Linde had no name, and was a wild child without a father. With his mother's early death, he even lost his mother's name.

Linde wanted a status that would allow him to proudly say that he was not a bastard, and now, this opportunity was before Linde.

But... looking at the beautiful lady opposite, and Alisa's complicated expression...

"Sorry." After thinking it over, Linde smiled bitterly and shook his head. The title of mother was too heavy, and he couldn't just call a woman he had only known for two days mother.

Although whoever has milk is the mother, Ilfa obviously has no milk now.

"I see." Illufa was not angry at Lind's answer, but nodded approvingly. "I respect your decision."

"When we return to the Holy Empire, how about you temporarily become Ram or Winter's knight squire?" Ilufa continued. "As for my proposal, you can consider it. You can change your mind at any time before arriving at the Holy Empire."

"So, please hurry up~" After saying that, Ilfa raised his finger to his mouth and made a gesture that was full of youthfulness.

Linder smiled politely in return.

The matter came to an end, and Ilfa never mentioned it again. However, Elisa looked at Linde with a complicated expression, unscrupulously looking at the man who almost became her brother.

By the way, is Lind older or younger than me?

"How old are you?" Thinking of this, Eliza asked subconsciously.

"Twelve years and six months." After a slight pause, Linde smiled.

She is two months younger than me, which means I am the older sister?

Alyssa straightened her chest unconsciously, and then she realized, He didn't agree! What sister and brother!

Elisa didn't dislike Lind, she even had some good feelings towards him. After all, he saved her life, had fighting abilities far beyond his peers, and was also good-looking.

As an extremely rare only daughter among the nobility, Elisa also longed for a younger brother or sister, but it was still difficult for Elisa to accept suddenly having Linde as her brother.

If I could be mentally prepared in advance, maybe I wouldn't resist. Alisa thought, why did her mother want to adopt a son so suddenly?

As a daughter, Eliza instinctively felt that her mother was hiding something and did not tell her all the reasons.

But speaking of my sister...

"Schnee~ Come and let your sister hug you~" Seeing Schnee leaning on Linde, Alisa tried again, but as expected, she failed again.

After being rejected again, Elisa could only vent her anger on Lind.

The team continued to move forward, and everything was going well, but suddenly it stopped.

"What happened?" After the team stopped, Lind subconsciously clenched the dagger in his hand.

"Ma'am." Winter opened the curtain and reported to Ilufa. "We encountered a group of refugees."

"Refugees?" Ilfa was stunned, then walked down from the carriage.

Lind followed along, and saw a group of ragged refugees right in front of the convoy.

Chapter 51 Let’s Build a Camp

The team escorted by the new beastmen is heading towards the original site of Dundalk. Ilufa hopes to find one or two ships that can still be operated in the ruins of Dundalk.

Chaos Beastmen hate all civilizations and all man-made things. They will break and destroy anything man-made, even a flagpole, in anger.

It stands to reason that a man-made creation like a ship is unlikely to survive the ravages of the Chaos Beastmen, but what if?

In addition to the two large colonies of Dundalk and Velo, there are many smaller human settlements and temporary ports on the coastline of Ivojin Island. Although the two largest colonies were destroyed, it is still possible that some small settlements survived.

Although attacked by Chaos Beastmen, the humans on Aiwozhen Island were lucky enough to escape. Many of them took advantage of the chaos when the city was broken and escaped, and then wandered in the primeval woods.

These people were obviously not as good as Bear Grylls. It was difficult for them to survive in the harsh forest environment. After only two days, they were like refugees. They were ragged and skinny. When they saw the new beastmen passing by, these refugees bravely ran over to ask for help.

The difference in appearance between the new beastmen and the chaos beastmen is still very obvious. At least compared to the chaos beastmen, the appearance of the new beastmen is much more acceptable.

There were quite a few refugees blocking the team, about thirty of them, all young people around 20 years old. This was not surprising, as only young and strong people could break through the blockade in such a harsh environment.

The new beastmen did not let them approach rashly, but kept a distance and maintained vigilance. Soon, Winter called Ilfa from the carriage over.

These refugees are supposed to be the survivors of Dundalk, and according to the laws of the Holy Empire, Ilufa is now their lord.

"Madam! It's Madam!" Soon, someone among the refugees recognized Ilufa and started crying to her.

"Are you the subjects of Dundalk?" Ilufa stepped forward and asked loudly.

"We are your subjects! Countess!" one of them shouted loudly, and all the refugees fell to the ground and kowtowed to Ilfa.

Ilfa and Alisa both looked as if it was a matter of course, but Linde, who was following behind them, felt shocked.

More than thirty healthy young people knelt down without any dignity.

For a time traveler from the 21st century, "no kneeling" has long been ingrained in Lind's bones. Now seeing so many people kneeling in front of him, Lind felt that his soul was shocked.

Feudal society, Linde bit his lips bitterly. This world is still a class society with strict hierarchy.

Compared to Linde's throbbing soul, Ilufa was used to it. It had nothing to do with good or evil, it was just that society had been like this since she was born.

The people knelt down to the lord and paid taxes, and the lord protected the people and prevented them from being harmed by other forces. From this perspective, I, as the lord, did not fulfill my obligations.

Of course, most nobles only talk about the so-called lords protecting their subjects, just like the braised beef on the instant noodle packaging, which only exists on the packaging bag.

As the countess, strictly speaking, the responsibility for not protecting the good subjects did not lie with Ilfa, but with the earl who fled from the battlefield. However, Ilfa still felt guilty about it.

After getting Dolind's consent, Ilufa distributed the drinking water he carried with him to the hungry subjects, and continued on his journey after they had eaten and drunk their fill.

Being willing to share precious food and drinking water with the people in his territory is already better than many nobles.

After a brief rest, this group of people joined the team and continued to move forward.

Along the way, Lind was also observing these people. Compared to the civilians in the Holy Empire, these people were slightly better physically, at least they had some meat on their bodies. In his memory, nine out of ten civilians in the Holy Empire were malnourished.

It seems that the lords here treat their subjects better than the lords in the Holy Empire itself.

The so-called subjects are those who pay taxes to the lord in a lord's fiefdom. According to the laws of the Holy Empire, only those who pay taxes to the lord can be considered legal residents, that is, subjects. Those who do not pay taxes are all illegal refugees.

As the number of people suddenly increased, with thirty more mouths to feed, the food the team carried was not enough, so they had to find a way to replenish it.

The new Beastmen who were accompanying them said that their tribe could provide some food, but because of the destruction caused by the Chaos Beastmen, their food reserves were insufficient and they could not provide much food support.

The situation suddenly became a little bad. Whether they could find a boat or not was not the first question. Even if they could find a boat and sail to the Holy Empire smoothly, even if it was a smooth journey, it would take seven days to get there. And it was difficult for the Sami tribe to come up with food for nearly thirty people for seven days.

What's worse is that there is not a single person in the group who can properly sail a boat. Going to the Old World is not just rowing on a lake.

After walking for a day and a night, the group arrived at the old site of Dundalk on the next morning, and found that it had been burned down by the Chaos Beastmen.

Originally, the buildings in Dundalk were mainly made of wood, so once a fire started, it would be extremely powerful and impossible to put out.

As expected, there was not a single ship left at the dock in Dundalk.

For a moment, no one knew what to do next.

"Let's wait here." Lady Ilufa said. "My husband has gone to the Holy Empire to seek help. He will come back sooner or later."

"What if it takes a long time for him to come back?" Linde frowned.

Ilfa subconsciously clenched her hands and calculated the time. Her husband should have returned long ago, but until now, the culprit had been defeated, the harassment of the Chaos Beastmen had stopped, and there was no sign of her husband's return.

Inevitably, Ilufa felt abandoned.

Confusion about the future appeared on everyone's face.

The camp was completely destroyed, not even a piece of wood was left, there was no ship that could leave, and no one knew when the ship from the Holy Empire would arrive. The new beastmen on Ivozhen Island also had limited spare capacity and could not support so many refugees for a long time.