Chapter 61: The Cunning of the Northlanders

Chapter 61: The Cunning of the Northlanders

Bran looked up at the woman before him. It was she who had driven away the curious children with a few casual slaps and then brought Bran into the house at the center of the village.

Bran’s first impression of this woman was her width, like a wall. With his small frame, if he tried to hug her, he would simply flatten against her. His outstretched arms probably wouldn’t even cover two-thirds of this wall.

As the lady of this place, she had already received a message from the castle that little Bran would be passing through. While everyone else was gathered around watching, a child who had been instructed earlier reported to her.

This woman possessed a boldness typical of the Northlands. During the short walk before entering the house, her palm, as big as a fan, slapped Bran’s back more than once, sending him staggering. Through addressing her as “his family’s so-and-so,” Bran learned she was Aisa’s wife—Heavy Axe.

Now the entire village was under the management of this woman named Heavy Axe. In a way, this tough woman was probably the person with the highest combat prowess in the village. Bran recalled a joke among friends from his previous life: “We fat folks never fight; we just gently sit on our opponents, sitting until they cry for their parents, sitting until they can’t take care of themselves.” Could it be that this woman defeated everyone like that…

A fat person is often a food lover. When one has tasted too many flavors and many foods can no longer satisfy one’s taste buds, the ultimate skill is forced to develop: transforming into a cook. Now Bran was facing a big woman who was introducing how to eat well and drink well—the cook Heavy Axe. She kept urging Bran: “Eat! Don’t be polite, eat more. Your small frame is because you eat too little.”

Then she tossed a hock with the bone into her mouth. Under Bran’s gaze, she chewed lightly a few times. Bran heard the sound of the bone being crushed and ground between her teeth…

A 12 or 13-year-old girl sat beside Heavy Axe. Bran could see a bit of Aisa’s shadow on the girl’s face. She had contributed to tonight’s feast. Although Bran didn’t eat much—proportionally, most of the food went into the mouths of this mother and daughter—Bran still felt somewhat stuffed.

…

Bran decided to stop staring at others eating, as it seemed impolite, even though the woman opposite didn’t care at all. He found a topic, perhaps out of some mischievous interest.

“So, Sister Heavy Axe, how did you and Aisa meet?”

“Since childhood, our fathers knew each other. You should know, the Warriors in the castle are like this generation after generation. Just as Aisa assists your father, our ancestors began maintaining this relationship with your family. Most children in the castle are like this; even if not very familiar, they all know each other.

Although we Northlanders practice marriage by capture, it’s mostly just a formality. Both sides need to fancy each other in advance. Then a temporary stage is set up, some people are found to witness, a few fights happen, and it’s lively. According to the agreement, depending on which family the newcomers plan to join, they are captured by the other side, and then the elders give their blessings.

Back then, Aisa wanted it that way too. So I knocked him out first, then scattered the crowd. Then I tied him up in my room overnight. The next day, under the elders’ blessings, we got married.”

Bran asked somewhat uncertainly, “Scattered?”

“Yeah. Back then, something happened to my parents. I was left alone and didn’t want to become a member of someone else’s family, so I decided to capture one. I happened upon Aisa and his group. They were also in a hurry that year, so they all ran away…

I know they saw my situation was bad and couldn’t bear it. That’s why I could knock out Aisa first, and the others took the chance to run away. Though I ruined Aisa’s plan, since we grew up together, they couldn’t just leave me with no one to rely on.”

At this point, Heavy Axe laughed, and her whole person seemed much gentler for a moment.

Bran gave a thumbs-up…

After the meal, Bran highly praised the little girl’s excellent cooking skills and told a few short stories to divert the girl’s attention from the black cat Huahua. The few short stories made the little girl very happy and very satisfied. She said she really liked him and hoped to hear such stories in the future.

…

Having eaten their food, Bran felt obliged. He decided to repay them with his own specialty. So Heavy Axe really took out two heavy axes and placed them on the table where they ate. Two axes like door panels. Bran couldn’t help but deeply admire Aisa’s strength—back then, he was only knocked out, not smashed to death with one blow.

Heavy Axe naturally knew about Bran’s abilities. She had heard too many miraculous things about this child from Aisa, so she was now full of expectation. The material and quality of these two axes could only be considered average, but they were enough to show the superb forging techniques of the Northlands. These things weren’t something ordinary people could make. Bran placed his hands on the two battle axes respectively. Under Heavy Axe’s surprised gaze, the two axes began to transform and be reborn.

Bran withdrew his hands and explained, “The material of these two axes is ordinary, so the improvement in quality is limited. If there were better materials, I believe I could make weapons that satisfy you.”

Then, he was directly hugged into Heavy Axe’s arms and carried into the village’s storehouse. Here, Bran witnessed the power accumulated by the Northlanders over generations. Bran had underestimated the inheritance of the Northlanders over generations and the immense wealth accumulated from generations of iron smelting. He never expected a village storehouse to have a hill-like amount of high-quality metal. Then his hands itched—a habit developed in recent years, a subconscious reaction upon seeing good materials.

Bran struggled out of Heavy Axe’s embrace and instantly spread his perception fully. Heavy Axe felt an invisible wind blow past her face, and the air around her seemed to grow heavier.

…

Heavy Axe watched the little figure jog around the storehouse and then become even more excited. Without any hesitation, he started directing her: this one, this one, and this one…

One metal ingot after another was brought before Bran. Thus, Heavy Axe not only obtained a pair of battle axes she cherished for life, she also obtained a high-quality kitchen knife—a kitchen knife like a door panel—and a huge iron hook. According to Bran, without these two tools, one couldn’t be considered a good cook. Heavy Axe decided to pass these two tools down as weapons to her daughter…

Here, Bran also found two pieces of Dragon Gold. He shamelessly asked for them.

…

At dawn, Bran left the village. From here, Bran truly left the radiation range of the castle. As he was leaving the village, a 12 or 13-year-old girl, dragging a huge kitchen knife with one hand and a huge iron hook with the other, said to Bran with a serious face, “I will become a good cook. I will knock you out and capture you to bring home.”

Bran replied with the boldness typical of the Northlands: “Good! I’ll be waiting.”

Then he fled in a hurry…