Chapter Sixty: The Loquacious Old Man

  Even if you have a great physique and can run naked in the snow for three laps without stuttering, don't try jumping into icy water, especially without any preparation.

  Wales was indeed a son of Odin, a Northman, a sturdy Ossetin. Even under such extreme conditions, he could still struggle to shore. When Wales cowered on the beach in shock, Lancelot felt that his face had been lost by this useless guy.

  However, Lancelot didn't continue to bully Wales either. He would just tease and play pranks on him from time to time, which the adults thought was just childish mischief. But causing someone's death...

  "Jony, take him to the church and consider it the start of his heavy training." Lancelot gave Jony a difficult expression and quickly left the scene.

  Joni initially ridiculed Lancelot's self-inflicted humiliation and the tragic fate of this seemingly loyal little follower. When Wales retreated back to shore in disarray, Joni felt a bit sympathetic towards him. Living under the tyranny of this little girl with completely disproportionate combat power and maturity for all these years must have been tough!

  He actually taught his own granddaughter the brutal technique. How can Stephen be a grandfather? He's too doting on children!

  Looking at the back of Lancelot who was running away in a hurry, Johnny let out a sigh. He looked at Wales, who was shrinking on the ground and trembling with fear, walked over, picked up the clothes that had been taken off before, and wrapped them roughly around Wales' body.

  "Let's go." Johnny lifted the man on the ground onto his shoulder. "You northerners aren't anything to brag about either."

  Poor Wales was trembling, with occasional guttural sounds coming from his mouth, but he had no strength to refute.

  Carrying this sturdy young man, Johnny didn't think it was particularly heavy. After all, he was just a teenager, and no matter how strong he was, he couldn't be heavier than that log from the other day. Even if it were that hundred-plus-kilogram log, for Johnny now, it would be completely no problem - as long as he only had to carry it back to the church.

  "What's going on?" Udis was handling daily affairs in the nave of the church, saw Joni carrying Wales in, and asked somewhat surprised, "What happened to him?"

  Jiang put down the person on his shoulder to the ground, stood up and stretched his waist, then replied: "He fell into the water just now, but it seems that he couldn't hold on and came back up."

  Udis furrowed his brow and stepped forward to take a look: "It's okay, no life danger, but he can't avoid catching a cold. Didn't he do any warm-up exercises before going into the water?"

  "No." Johnny shrugged. "It was your daughter who kicked him out."

  Joni didn't like tattling, but tattling on Lancelot was a pleasure. Besides, this doesn't count as tattling, does it?

  Udith listened to the story and was visibly angry, but he didn't lose his temper: "Alright, go train first. The lumber warehouse is on the west side of the village, ask the villagers. Wales has to receive treatment at the church."

  "Well, I'll be off then." Johnny bid farewell and left.

  The village is not big, and the villagers are relatively enthusiastic. Joanie quickly found the location of the warehouse. The vicinity of Vishir Village is rich in giant trees, which are also a strategic resource essential to Orvisa Castle, so the storage capacity of the village is not small. Joanie looked at the rows of long and thick wood in front of her, which had not been processed at all, and was at a loss for what to do.

  "What's wrong?" An old man came out of a small wooden house beside the open warehouse and walked to Johnny.

  "I want to take a piece of wood for weight training." Johnny felt that this way of speaking was a bit awkward, "but these look too big."

  "Weight training?" The old man looked Joni up and down, "You'll be fine when you follow the logging team to the mountains to transport logs. Why do you need special training? By the way, young man, I've never seen you before."

  "I just arrived two days ago. Lancelot told me to train my body first." Johnny introduced himself simply.

  The old man nodded and took another look at Johnny, shaking his head.

  Joanie felt annoyed: Why does everyone here want to shake their heads at me?!

  Shaking his head, the old man spoke up: "You're from the south, huh? Even after arriving at Othello's place, you still need to train your body first. Alas, you southern people... aren't you just separated from us by a border line? It's said that you're the descendants of those so-called Chosen Ones, but why are you all so weak? In my lifetime, I've seen many southerners, and there are hardly any who are stronger than our village children. I really don't know what's going on with you people. Look at you, you've grown up so big, you look like you eat well, and your physique is good too... why do you still need to start training from scratch? Have you learned the giant sword techniques? Are they practiced well? Alas, it's not that I'm saying you're no good or anything, but...

  Jiang looked at the elder in front of him with a smile, his heart churning. Are you done yet, old man? Are you done? Is there nothing else to say? Too lazy to speak?...Damn it, why are you still talking!

  But after all, he couldn't lose his temper. Although this was an old man, it was also an Asgardian. If they really fought, who knows who would teach whom? Moreover, the person in front of him was an old man. Although no one said that you can't be rude to the elderly, but thinking about it, this rule should be universal, after all, everyone will have a day when they grow old.

  "...Are you going to stay here for a long time?" The old man's muttering finally came to an end.

  "Ah," Jóni breathed, "yes, I am a follower of Odin."

  "Oh, a follower of Odin!" The old man seemed surprised. "This is rare indeed, followers of Odin are usually from Asgard. Odin is the savior of us Asgardians, just like in the past..."

  "Sir, I've come for wood training." Johnny couldn't help but speak up.

  "What's the hurry, don't you know it's impolite to interrupt others? The old man was clearly dissatisfied. "The Second Empire of Velsa has always claimed to be a country of etiquette, the successor of the empire, how can you be so ill-mannered? Where were we just now, oh, Odin..."

  Jiang Yi reluctantly found a log to sit on. Today, it seems that the whole day will be wasted here. This old man is obviously bored for a long time and eager to find someone to chat with, and he himself has become a scapegoat.

  The old man's words about Jorvik were basically all familiar to Joni, such as Odin leading the rebellion, Odin resisting tyranny, Odin challenging evil monsters, and Odin saving good people. Jorvik is a great place, the people of Jorvik are very strong, the customs of Jorvik are simple and honest, and outsiders are very corrupt. Joni could tolerate this kind of boasting, but compared to the citizens of Tabriz City, it seemed that Jorvik had an even stronger sense of national pride and regional identity!

  Of course, this also comes with ethnic and regional discrimination. Fortunately, Joanie never really considered herself a citizen of the Second Empire of Velsa anyway, so she doesn't feel uncomfortable about it either.

  So they went on and on for a long time, and Johnny had tried to interrupt the other fellow's remarks, but was always coldly laughed at, scolded a bit, and then forced to continue accepting his historical education.

  It could also be a wild history lesson, who knows. Maybe this old guy is a wandering poet? So he was ostracized by the villagers and had to come see the warehouse?

  Jony nodded and listened to the old man's story about the past, his mind wandering randomly.

  When it was time to eat, the old man led Johnny into the wooden house, closed the door, and isolated the cold outside. He also brought some food. Not fine, but not rough either. While eating, the old man was still talking.

  At least there was some warmth, so Johnny just sat down at ease and no longer considered taking the wood. After all, that wasn't something he could decide on. Now what Johnny resented in his heart was why the old man didn't lead him into the house from the start.

  Is it because he hasn't spoken for too long, and got choked up? Johnny looked at the old man in front of him, whose lips were moving up and down, spitting out saliva from time to time, and his hands were dancing non-stop, thinking so.

  Finally, finally! Johnny cheered in his heart. The old man in front of him who had not yet introduced himself stopped talking. Although the way he stopped and his last words made Johnny very unhappy, he finally stopped!

  "How are you still here? Didn't you say you came to exercise? Are you going to give up?"

  Jony was no longer in the mood to joke around. He quickly admitted his mistake and made his request. Following the old man to the back of the house, Jony saw large and small pieces of wood that had been processed.

  "You choose one yourself," said the old man.

  Jony stepped forward, lifted a piece of wood that didn't look very heavy, and just tried it out. He then heard the disdainful voice of an old man behind him: "Hmph, a young man like you thinks he can practice carrying heavy loads with this little thing? Is this even as heavy as your armor?"

  Of course! You old rascal! Johnny rolled his eyes. He turned around and chose another, slightly larger one, and the voice came again: "Are you a ten-year-old kid?"

  Calm down! Joanie cautioned herself. Having endured for so long, couldn't she endure just this moment?

  He gritted his teeth, bent down and held his breath, and lifted a piece of wood that was over one meter long and had a diameter slightly longer than his forearm. This piece of wood had only been roughly processed, simply cut from the original tree trunk, with even the bark still intact.

  "This is a siege wooden board, you use this one and it's barely enough." The old man's voice sounded again, "After practicing, even if you can't go to the battlefield, you can also transport supplies on the city wall."

  This old venom! Johnny is very indignant. However, what about the wood? Is it common here? Just now he said that these woods are materials from Alverza Castle...

  "Is there a catalpa tree here?" Johnny asked curiously, putting down the wood on his shoulder.

  "Of course it did." The old man gave him a white eye, "I had it when I was a soldier. Don't look down on the Ossetians, I'm telling you, in those years..."

  Jony rubbed his shoulders and sat down on a section of railing he had chosen for himself.

  Orcadin has a catapult, and the Second Empire of Velsa also has a catapult. This most basic siege engine has been around since the First Empire era. Only those regions that have been peaceful for many years or have never had major wars will neglect the importance of defense and gradually forget about such things.

  For example, those Viscount Earls of the South. Except for Marquis Andel, the other small cities didn't even think about defending themselves. This made the Tanias military forces that occupied those cities also helpless.

  Additionally, this old man was once a very brave soldier. This made Johnny, who had always thought he was a wandering poet, feel very surprised. In Johnny's view, old soldiers were all very silent and calm, where did this old soldier get so many words?

  It suddenly didn't seem strange to Johnny when he thought of Odell and his father who seemed to love gold coins.

  By the time the old soldier had said all he wanted to say, the sun was about to set.

  "Alright, go train now, young people can't sit around all day like this old man." The old man waved his hand, "Go quickly!"

  Jiangyi let out a sigh, stretched his waist, and lifted the wooden beam with force. After bidding farewell to the old man, he started running wildly from the head of the village to the end, and then back again.

  He really wants to exercise sincerely.

  When Johnny returned to the church, it was almost completely dark. When he came into the dining room, all Johnny saw was a clean tablecloth and Udis sitting at the table.

  "What's taking so long?" Udith's face didn't look good.

  "It's like this." Johnny recounted his experiences of the day, then said, "Next I started running with that wooden stick. Unfortunately, by sunset I had only run five laps. The remaining forty-five laps can only be done tomorrow."

  Udis's eyes widened: "Fifty trips in one day?"

  Jony nodded: "Fifty."

  "Lancelot is simply fooling around." Udis seemed somewhat angry, "Carrying a log that's enough for one person to train with, even if you run from dawn till dusk, you can't even make fifty laps!"

  It's true. When Johnny came out of the old soldier, he felt it should be around 3 or 4 in the afternoon, and he ran five laps before dark. Although the sun sets early in winter, it shouldn't get dark until 5 or 6 at least.

  "I've got to have a good talk with her, she actually pushed Wales into the ice river today. This kid is getting more and more out of hand! Joni, tomorrow... I'll decide, twenty laps." Udell seems to be really angry now. Thinking about it, there's indeed conflict between a strong grandfather who spoils his child and a weak father who wants to discipline his child.

  "As for the old soldier you mentioned, I know him," Udis calmed down. "He was once a soldier in the Northern Army and became a Decurion through his merits. Later, his army was transferred to the south to confront Tanias' army, experiencing many battles big and small, finally retiring as a Centurion and receiving the title of Lord. But when he returned to his hometown, he said he had to do something, so at first I arranged for him to teach the villagers martial arts, but two months later the villagers all said he was too nagging and didn't want to continue training with him."

  It can be imagined. Joanie said.

  "So later on, he was put in charge of the lumber warehouse, until today. I guess he's been bored out of his mind, that's why he keeps chatting with you nonstop."

  Johnny asked somewhat strangely: "That church doesn't have, what's it called, the duty of listening to believers' confessions?"

  "Did I forgive him? Yes. But, God willing, Odin will pardon me, for from the second year after his return, I have been hiding from him." Udis seemed to be still haunted by fear.

  Is it necessary? That old man is just a bit nagging, isn't he? Are you guys necessary?

  "But his martial skills are quite good. If you can tolerate his nagging, it's worth asking him for guidance - after completing your training." Udis suggested.

  "Alright." Johnny nodded, "I'll consider it."

  (I'm late with the update, I plead guilty.)