Home Popular Risou no Himo Seikatsu

Risou no Himo Seikatsu Volume 6 prologue

听书 - 唐朝好驸马
00:00 / 00:00

+

-

语速: 慢速 默认 快速
- 6 +
自动播放×

御姐音

大叔音

萝莉音

型男音

温馨提示:
是否自动播放到下一章节?
立即播放当前章节?
确定
确定
取消

  The calendar on the South Continent, including the Carpa Kingdom, was a lunisolar calendar based on the moon phases with a leap month.

  Their lunisolar calendar did not have three-hundred and sixty-five days per year, but rather had three-hundred and fifty days as a rule, except for when a leap month was added every four years; then the year had three-hundred and eighty days.

  Zenjirou had been used to the solar calendar, so it was extremely confusing to him, when some years lasted a whole month longer.

  Anyway, the terminology for the beginning and the ending of a year obviously did exist, since there was a basic parameter for one year, probably a solar year, and the custom to celebrate these days obviously did exist as well.

  The New Year Festival in the Carpa Kingdom in particular had a lot in common with the New Year in j.a.pan.

  Of course that did not mean that they were ringing a bell in the night of the last day of the year, nor were they eating Soba on New Year’s Eve.

  Neither did they have the custom to celebrate the first sunrise of the year, nor the custom to visit the shrine first thing in the new year.

  Considering all that, it might be a bit of an exaggeration to say that they had a lot in common.

  Nevertheless, the general procedure revealed similarities, seeing as they calmly did a major cleaning at the end of the year and then celebrated extensively for three days starting with the New Year’s Day.

  The end of the year was spent fasting and cleaning.

  The first day of the new year was spent lively at home without going out much.

  And on the second day, the first big event took place.

  The people bought a lot of things on that day, because a myth said that “anything you buy on the second day of the new year will last longer”.

  Of course the clever merchants did not miss out on that opportunity. All the merchant houses across the country acknowledged that day as the busiest time of the year and prepared all kind of attractive products.

  As a result, all the famous shops in the Capital were obviously crowded with customers on the second day of the new year, but even the stalls on the streets and parks, especially authorized for that day alone, were redundant with customers.

  “Table wares! Buy your table wares here! Just look at this wild grain and greasy gloss! It pushes the price a bit, but they will last forever!”

  “Miss, if you are looking for textiles, I am the right man. Take a look at this cotton cloth. Despite its firmness, it is not the least bit uncomfortable on the skin. I can guarantee you that it will make great trousers or s.h.i.+rts that will last a long time!”

  “Kitchen knives, normal knives or pots! Do not forget to buy your ironware today! After all, today the s.p.a.ce-Time Spirit gives their blessing to us commoners as well! If not buy it now, then when?”

  It was nothing special for the coa.r.s.e street merchants, but even the famous shop owners, who were usually picky about their customers, had staff stand in front of their shop today and let them attracted customers with loud voices.

  Just like the advertis.e.m.e.nt had promoted, a myth of the Carpa Kingdom said that the s.p.a.ce-Time Spirit, which usually was only benevolent to the Royal Family, was giving its blessing to all living things in the Carpa Kingdom on the second day of the New Year. It was the reason why it was said that anything you bought on that day would last longer.

  Of course there was nothing to prove it, but with a history of hundreds of years, it was no longer a superst.i.tion, but rather a myth. Moreover, the myth was extended in the recent years by saying that the blessing of the s.p.a.ce-Time Spirit should be even stronger in the Capital, where the Royal Family resided, since the Spirit was their Guardian. That far-stretched rumour sounded so plausible that more and more people came all the way to the Capital on the second day of the New Year, just to do their shopping.

  Thanks to that, the economy of the Capital was flouris.h.i.+ng, but the soldiers guarding the Capital got the short end of the stick in exchange for it.

  “Hey! No fighting on the street! Or do you want to spend the long-awaited New Years in jail!?”

  “The street is getting crowded! Stop haggling over the price! The Spirit won’t bless the miser!”

  “No pus.h.i.+ng. No pus.h.i.+ng… I SAID NO PUs.h.i.+NG! Stop it or I’ll nab ya!”

  The leather armoured soldiers were shouting at the top of their lungs while sweating all over.

  Trying to hold their temper, the soldiers fended off the pus.h.i.+ng crowd with wooden clubs in their hands.

  Normally the guards of the Capital would equip a short spear with an iron tip, but they were holding a blunt wooden club just for today.

  The usual short spear acted as a “deterrent”, but on the day of the first shopping, they needed an utterly “practical” weapon.

  Words alone were just not enough for a couple of soldiers to fend off a bustling crowd. So far, the soldiers were just holding the clubs sideways and pushed away the people, but it was not always that harmless. Sometimes they had to resort to using them as the very “impact weapons” they were.

  Sellers and buyers alike became hot-blooded during the dealing and fellow customers quarrelled over the same product, claiming stuff like “I touched it first” and “No, it was me”, not to forget all the drunkards at daytime, since it was a festive day after all.

  It was the job of the soldiers to put these people in their place, yell at them or literally punch some sense into them in the end.

  If they were carrying an iron-tipped spear for that, it would not end well for sure.

  It was one thing to use it against soldiers of a hostile nation or wild beasts, but flas.h.i.+ng sharp metal at merely drunk people of the own country was out of the question.

  Thus, they carried a weapon with a relative low power on days like this, where they were bound to make straight use of it.

  Having said this, the club was still a proper weapon, even if it had less attack power. It could easily break bones, when swung with all its might, and depending on the spot, it could even end up being fatal.

  But that only applied for when a minimum of discipline could no longer be ensured. Otherwise, the Capital was just imbued with a chaotic turmoil today.

  “Hi there. We are here to relieve you.”

  “Oh, wow. You guys are sweating like crazy. Here, a towel.”

  A pair of soldiers, who had fought off the ma.s.ses, turned around, when they were called upon by their fellow s.h.i.+ft workers from behind.

  “Oh, that late already?”

  “Phew. We somehow made it…”

  The well-built soldier in his mid-twenties was sweating to such an extent that it would not be strange to see his whole body give off steam, but he could still maintain a composed facial expression to a certain degree. His partner, a young soldiers in his teens, on the other hand could barely stand anymore and looked like he had narrowly escaped death.

  The young soldier had relative few muscles for a hard-working combatant and stumbled over to his replacing colleagues like a newborn fawn.

  “It’s all yours…”

  “Sure thing.”

  “You okay? That sounded more like a last will. You better wash of that sweat with some cold water before taking a rest.”

  As he no longer had the energy to respond to the joke of his co-worker, the young soldier just nodded once, wrapped the offered towel around his neck and staggered into the distance like a ghost, all the while keeping his mouth half-opened and a blank look in his eyes.

  “Oh G.o.d…”

  “So that’s how we’ll look after our s.h.i.+ft…”

  The soldiers from the s.h.i.+ft change turned all pale, when the almost soulless appearance of their workmate reminded them of their own fate a few hours later.

  “You okay? Here, some water.”

  “Yeah… Thanks…”

  Relieved from the most arduous task for now, the two soldiers walked down a small alley separated from the main street.

  All the people were gathering in the commercial district, so once you got away from there, the Capital became unbelievable desolate and quiet.

  The task of standing watch on the congested commercial district was one part of their job. The other part was to patrol the almost deserted living district.

  In the forlorn living district occurred as many burglaries as quarrels in the commercial district.

  Unfortunately enough, it was the way of the world that some shady characters considered it a “great opportunity for burglary” while everyone was engrossed in the New Year Shopping.

  “So, you calmed down a bit?”

  “Yes. Thank you. I thought I had been prepared for it, but it seems I was too naïve…”

  Finally back on his feet after the consideration of his senior workmate, the young soldier reflected on his gullible resolution.

  The other soldier gave his dejected junior a shrewd smirk.

  “Well, it’s not your fault. You aren’t even from the Capital. It would be ridiculous to expect you to antic.i.p.ate this ruckus beforehand. Anyway, you learned now that the Capital Guards are by no means a breezing division.”

  “And the hard way, at that…”

  The young soldier agreed, using his wooden club as a crutch.

  Unlike the other divisions, the Capital Guards Division suffered seldom if ever any casualties. After all, they were entrusted with the mission to guard the Capital, so even if war broke out, they would not be sent to the frontlines, nor would they get dispatched for a dragon subjugation like the soldiers based in the other Royal Domains.

  The division dealt with “real battles” least of all, but once a year, they had to go through this pandemonium, so it was not really a convenient division.

  And even more so, if you considered the fact that they had to deal with a lot more criminal incidents in the Capital than in the other domains, because of its dense population.

  Even without an enemy force, it was so much more work to protect an exceedingly large amount of citizens than to face an unorganised enemy in the field.

  Anyway, the two soldiers patrolled the living district of the Capital while their clubs made dull noises every time they touched down onto the cobble-stone pavement.

  The noisy touchdown of their clubs as well as their more or less loud conversation were on purpose. They were drawing attention to the fact that the “Capital Guards were patrolling”, prompting any potential criminals, who were up to no good, to behave themselves.

  Under that pretext, the soldiers casually chatted with each other.

  “I’ve gotta say, it’s rather chilly now. Back there, it was as stuffy as during the hottest season.”

  The young soldier had almost choked from the sultriness in the commercial district, so he took a deep breath once again and spoke slowly in order to savour the fresh air.

  “Well, we’re already in the ‘Vibrant Season’. I would be d.a.m.ned if it were still hot.”

  The senior soldier shrugged his shoulders a bit and replied like that.

  Unlike j.a.pan, the Carpa Kingdom divided the year into three major seasons, namely the “Rainy Season”, the “Hottest Season” and the “Vibrant Season”.

  Based on the seasons in j.a.pan, the “Rainy Season” would be Spring, the “Hottest Season” Summer and the “Vibrant Season” Fall and Winter alike.

  In other words, the “Vibrant Season” covered half a year. The first part of it, namely the Fall equivalent, was “a bit hot, but not a hindrance to work”, whereas the last part, namely the Winter equivalent, was chilly in the morning as well as in the evening and mild during the day, so it was the most comfortable season of the year.

  “True enough, but you tend to forget the seasons in there.”

  “Yeah. That crowd really makes you feel like the Hottest Season has come around again.”

  When the soldier in his teens said so in a weary tone, the soldier in his twenties agreed with a wry smile.

  Although the people of the Carpa Kingdom were used to the heat of the Hottest Season, they apparently could not stand the heat generated by a dense crowd of people.

  “The event only comes once a year. You can’t really tell them to restrain themselves.”

  “Duh. If possible, I would have taken part, too. But I know what you mean.”

  “Wait, you are after something?”

  “Well, you might say that.”

  It had been a casual question, but the young soldier flushed his cheek and averted his gaze in response.

  The other soldier seemed to have an idea and showed a somewhat sly smirk.

  “Oho, let me guess: A present for a girl. Right?”

  He jerkily b.u.mped the younger workmate with his right elbow.

  The younger soldier apparently resigned himself to the fact that he was not able to avoid giving an answer, so he looked down with his cheeks still flushed

  “Yes. I want a ring for my lover in the countryside… If possible, a bronze one.”

  and obediently admitted it.

  Bronze was an alloy from copper and tin. Depending on the mixture ratio of the copper and tin, the bronze could have a brown, golden or silver colour.

  Since the metal was cheaper than gold or silver, it was popular amongst commoners to be used for accessories like rings or bracelets.

  Nevertheless, it was quite an expensive item for the still young soldier and not something you bought to simply impress a girl you fancied.

  Instead, it was much more a present for an important person with whom you were going to share a future. Realising that, the soldier did no stop the questioning of his junior.

  “You mean matching rings? You know, these ‘Wedding Rings’ that are common talk right now.”

  Zenjirou had given Aura a Wedding Ring. That custom had spread throughout the Kingdom at an alarming speed in the past two years. The purveyor to the court, who had access to the Inner Palace, where Zenjirou lived, had deliberately pa.s.sed on that information.

  A first-rate merchant would never miss out on such a profitable opportunity.

  And as expected, even commoners with enough saving, not just n.o.bility, had picked up the custom of “Wedding Rings” as of late.

  Apparently the young soldier was also one of the people, who were eagerly accepting that new custom.

  “Yes. I can’t afford anything fancy with my savings, but I should be able to buy two of them, if I count every penny. Besides, they really add to a proposal.”

  When the young soldier said this with his typical for a citizen of the Carpa Kingdom dark-skinned face bright red, even the other soldier nodded heartily.

  “Yeah, that’s for sure. I would have had it so much easier, if I had something like that back in my days.”

  The man was apparently already married and showed a bitter smile, as he remembered how he had asked for the hand in marriage of his now wife.

  It was definitely more rea.s.suring to have pair rings for a proposal than to do it empty-handed.

  Seen in this way, it was a “reliable weapon” for the proposing man and the proposed woman would not be averse to get a ring as a present, either. Needless to say, the craftsmen or merchant selling the rings were delighted, too. Everyone profited from the custom.

  “Certainly. The story of the Wedding Rings has reached my home village, too, so she should know what I want, when I give her the ring by just saying ‘Please accept this’.

  I mean, it’s way easier to say ‘Please accept this’ than ‘Please marry me’.”

  “Just be careful that she doesn’t mistake it for a simple present, though.”

  The senior soldier threw cold water on the pa.s.sionate speech of his junior, but at heart, he was convinced that it was not possible to imagine a Carpa Kingdom without the custom of “Wedding Rings” in the future.

  

Catalogue
Settings
phone
My books
page
play
next
close