However, Myjack wasn't in a rush. He whispered, "Sir, I saw her go up the mountain with a basket. Now that she's going down empty-handed, the basket must be in the forest."
"Let's go take a look. I'm interested in what's in the basket," Claude said with a nod. Just what kind of secret were the villagers hiding?
The basket was easy to find. The last time Myjack saw it, it was placed under a large cherry tree. That was the most obvious place in the grove. There was also a large stone under the tree. The village elder's wife had placed the basket on that stone.
The three of them quietly walked into the grove. Sure enough, they found a basket on a large bluestone under the cherry tree. The basket was covered with a piece of linen cloth.
Claude pricked up his ears and didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. He pointed at the basket and said, "Light it up and see what's inside."
Big Gummy lit his torch with a flint, and Myjack pulled back the linen cloth that covered the basket.
However, the contents of the basket disappointed the three of them. There was a wooden plate of oatcakes, half a piece of black bread, a sausage and a bag of salt.
"Sir, the black bread, sausage and salt seem to have been bought by the village elder from our canteen.
The copper coins you paid them for the basket were used to buy food from the canteen. You were the one who agreed to let them buy it. "
Myjack looked at the food in the basket and recognized that it was his squadron's rations.
There was plenty of food and it would be the rainy season soon. Many things wouldn't be able to be stored well and mold would easily.
Not to mention, the battalion would be transporting more supplies after the rainy season in March. It wasn't like the enemy would attack during the rainy season.
Claude suddenly realized that his prematurely stocking up on ammunition and rations wasn't a wise decision. Instead, it was unnecessary.
So, he decided to sell some of his excess rations to the villagers of Squirrel Village so that they could get closer to each other.
Not to mention, the villagers didn't have much money, so he didn't have to worry about their rations dwindling.
Big Gum looked at the basket and said, "Sir, I think someone from the village is hiding in the forest. That's why the old village chief's wife sends him food once every three days.
Look, the food in this basket is enough for a normal person to eat for three days. "
It was enough for a normal person to eat for three days, and for Gum, it was just enough for one meal.
Claude was disappointed as well. He guessed that she was a young widow or something in the village who was afraid of being taken to the barracks to serve the invaders, so she fled up the mountain.
They only sent food every two to three days. No wonder the village elder and the other villagers didn't dare to let him stroll up the mountain. They were afraid that he would find the traces of the people who were hiding.
"Let's go and extinguish the torch. Don't let the villagers find out that we're going up the mountain.
I thought they were hiding something. "Claude turned around and left. He wasn't really interested in the young widow.
But after walking for a while, he stopped and felt that something was amiss.
First of all, the villagers of Squirrel Village didn't have much of a sense of nationhood. All they knew was that their lord was Baron Norwelick Wei Flinsland and they were his subjects. Everything in Squirrel Village belonged to the baron, including their lives.
While Claude and the others were foreign invaders, they were there to liberate them and change their tragic fate as subjects of their land.
When Claude told the villagers that the baron wouldn't be able to oppress them anymore and that they wouldn't have to pay so much as taxes to the baron, the villagers were genuinely happy and wholeheartedly supported Claude and his men.
Also, Claude's band was stationed in Squirrel Village and treated the villagers fairly and kindly. They even found them some work to earn some extra income. Their relationship was like that of soldiers and soldiers. There weren't many secrets that the villagers would hide from him and be wary of him going up the mountain.
Secondly, the people hiding on the mountain definitely weren't young widows. In this era, the chastity of widows wasn't much of a concern. Just as Mazik said, if there really were young widows, they would be more than happy to be stationed there. Not only would they be able to find a way to earn money, they might even be able to leave behind a son or daughter for old age.
"Let's go back and hide. Let's see who takes the basket away," Claude decided.
The three returned to the forest and found a hiding spot about 50 meters away from the basket. They stared at the basket on the rock under the cherry tree.
After an unknown period of time, a black silhouette dashed past the tree and approached the basket on the rock.
Myjack tugged on Claude's clothes nervously. Both Claude and Gum's eyes widened. They didn't expect to see such a scene even in their wildest dreams.
A black wolf the size of a pony appeared beside the bluestone under the cherry tree. Its two green eyes were exceptionally bright in the darkness, but strangely, this black wolf was biting the handle of another basket in its mouth.
The black wolf placed the basket in its mouth under the rock. Just as it was about to bite the handle of the basket, it suddenly lowered its head and sniffed around the rock. After sniffing for a while, it didn't bite the basket. Instead, it growled at the rock where Claude and the others were hiding in frustration.
It was obvious that the black wolf had sensed their scent and sensed that they were hiding near the rocks.
The black wolf took a few steps towards the rock where Claude and the others were hiding and looked back at the basket on the rock before retreating.
It spun around on the spot and growled in frustration. It seemed like it really wanted to pounce on Claude and the others, but it remembered the basket of food on the rock and couldn't bring itself to do so.
After a while, the black wolf stopped and raised its head in the direction of Claude's group. It twitched its nose as if it was trying to remember their scent.
Finally, it growled softly and leaped onto the rock. It bit on the handle of the basket and darted into the depths of the forest in a flash.
Claude and the others only snapped out of their shock after the black wolf left for quite some time.
They didn't expect a big black wolf to come for the basket.
"Is … Is this black wolf a spirit?
I heard from the old people that there used to be fiend beasts. Some of them can even speak like humans and are really smart, "Myjack muttered.
"That fiend beast is a dragon. According to the books, the only fiend beast that can speak is a dragon, not a black wolf.
This black wolf had obviously been trained by someone, so it could restrain its wildness.
If it really was a wild wolf, it would've pounced at us the moment it caught our scent and wouldn't be hesitating over the basket.
Also, the basket is filled with food for humans, not food for wolves. "
Claude knocked on Myjack's head and said to Gemi, "Light the torch. Let's go see what's in the basket the black wolf brought."
There were two green clay jars about the size of Claude's fist in the basket. The jars had a large pine cork on them.
After pulling out the cork, a sweet smell assailed their noses under the light of the torch.
"This is wild honey," Claude said as he tasted it. It was indeed honey.
Myjack pulled out the other jar's cork. "Ptooey, this smells so bad. What kind of medicine is this?"
Claude took a look at it. Wasn't it the dark green paste the villagers gave him?
It was mainly used to treat headaches, fever, and the common cold.
A few of his men had used it to drink a bowl of water mixed with a few spoonfuls of it. They slept through the night and were fine after sweating profusely. Its effects were comparable to those common cold concoctions.
He even went to ask the village elder about the concoction and brewing method. He was prepared to spend a large sum of money to buy it for five crowns.
However, the village elder refused to divulge anything. Claude thought that the elder treasured the recipe and didn't force him.
Only now did he find out that the medicine was obtained in the same way.
Looking at the dark forest, Claude gave it some thought and said, "Pack up the things and put them back. We're going down the mountain."
"Sir, don't you want to know who's hiding in the forest?" Myjack asked.
"It's not someone from the village," Claude replied, "I think it's someone who doesn't want to show his face in the forest. Even though I want to know who he is, I don't want you to take the risk.
A person who could control such a large black wolf must have some extraordinary abilities.
As long as he doesn't get in our way, let him be.
He shouldn't be a vicious person to be able to trade with the poor villagers of Squirrel Village. "
"Sir, even if he can control such a huge black wolf, he won't be able to stop our muskets, right?
Why don't we gather our brothers tomorrow and turn the forest behind the village upside down? I don't believe anyone can escape our search. "Big Gum said unhappily.
Claude shook his head with a smile. "There's no need for that. The forest is huge. There are plenty of places to hide if he wants to avoid our search.
Besides, we have nothing to worry about, so why would we search for the person hiding in the forest?
Although we will be stationed here for a long time, to the villagers of Squirrel Village, we are just passers-by.
Let them keep their secret with the person hiding in the forest. As long as he doesn't get in our way, we'll pretend we don't know about it. "
"Yes, Sir. We'll follow your orders," Myjack and Gum replied.
"Get some rest when you get back. Don't tell the soldiers about this, lest they get curious and go looking for this person in the forest.
Sometimes, it's not safe even with a musket in hand. That black wolf is really agile. It'll be hard for anyone to guard against it if it wants to ambush someone in the forest.
I don't want our brothers to get hurt because of their curiosity. Got that? "Claude warned Myjack and Gum.
Perhaps because of Claude's stern warning, Myjack and Gum had no choice but to consider the consequences if they were to leak the news to the soldiers. The two of them swore to keep it to themselves and wouldn't tell another soldier about what they saw that night.
"Alright, I believe you."
Claude gave it some thought and said, "Go back to camp tomorrow morning and get some insect-repellent potions and powders from Major Ledefonk.
The weather is getting warmer and many of the bugs are coming out. We have to make preparations for that as well.
Also, I'll give you some money to buy some good ingredients from the town near camp. Buy some rye wine and fruit wine.
If you don't, I won't be able to keep the two bottles in my room. Mazik has been eyeing them for a long time. "
Myjack and Gum laughed. The old drunkard's alcohol addiction was acting up, but there wasn't any in the camp. There were only two bottles left in Claude's room and he'd always wanted to get his hands on those two bottles to quench his cravings.
Unfortunately, he didn't have the strength to do so. No matter what he did, he couldn't get any alcohol from Claude. He even lost all his money in a bet with Claude.
So much so that he had no choice but to take a leave two days ago and go to Moriad in Blackstone Village to swindle a drink. Only then did he manage to curb his addiction.
"Sir, you're buying them for Sergeant Mazik, right?" Myjack asked with a smile.
Claude smiled back. "That fellow lost all his money to me, so how could he have any left to buy alcohol? I'll buy more this time and let him have his fill.
I told him to stop drinking if he wants to be promoted to second lieutenant. Otherwise, it'll be hard for him to get any higher.
He said he had no choice. It's just a habit he got from the battlefield.
Every time he's lucky enough to survive, he can't sleep without getting drunk. Come to think of it, he's quite a pitiful man. "
"By the way, Sir, the road conditions are so bad. What do we do if we can't transport the alcohol in?" Gum asked.
"It's fine. I'll just spend a bit more money to hire a pack of horses. I can still afford that," said Claude.