1 Chapter One: The Arrival of Old Friends Amidst Snow

历史是由英雄塑造的,还是英雄是由历史创造的?这一直是一个需要辨别的复杂关系.然而,从红月历203年开始,随着一位名叫埃里克·戴文的年轻雇佣兵进入艾尔多利亚大陆的史册,似乎在第一个十年,历史在塑造一个英雄,而在接下来的十年里,英雄与历史共舞.——第十二代后裔和大陆历史学家尼尔斯·索伯恩（Niels Thorburn）对埃尔里克的研究笔记

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"呜呜~~~" "呜呜~~~"一连串急促的喇叭声从平客村北侧响起,紧接着是沙哑的声音由远由近传来:"雪狼来了,大约有二十只.大家,躲起来吧!他们十分钟后就到了.一个猎人气喘吁吁,急需通过,骑在雪鹿上,出现在村子的北入口处.在村子里,每个上班的人都停下了脚步.男人,女人和孩子都赶紧把雪鹿从犁上解下来,把屋檐下的雪鸡赶进笼子里,把喂食的雪猪捆在篮子里...每家每户都迅速采取行动,将牲畜关在屋内或带回家.他们一起掀开被褥,露出一个隐藏的铁舱口,他们迅速将动物扔进一个宽敞的地下避难所.然后,每个村民都下到避难所,从里面牢牢地锁上了铁门."埃里克,快进来,"一个苍老的声音从村子南边的一间茅草屋里传来,"雪狼随时都会来找我们.塞德里克·索伯恩（Cedric Thorburn）声音中的紧迫感变得更加紧迫."等一下,爷爷,我马上就到.昨天孵化的两只小雪鸡跑进了灌木丛,"艾尔里克年轻的声音从栅栏外回应道.远处的嚎叫声弥漫在空气中.从小屋里,一个高大的身影出现了——一个名叫塞德里克·索伯恩的白发苍苍的长者,他冲到门口,从灌木丛中抓住了一个小男孩的衣领,无视他的抗议和挣扎."爷爷,放开我!我快到了.否则,它们会被吃掉.呜呜——放开我,爷爷!然后,这些人消失在他们家的地下避难所中.当雪狼到来时,铁门刚刚咔嚓一声关上,它们的爪子在活板门上徘徊,四处嗅探,它们的呼吸在冰冷的金属上雾化."呜"埃里克,听着,我们总是可以孵化出更多的小鸡.下次还会有更多,"塞德里克心情沉重地安慰他的孙子."爷爷,为什么村里的猎人不能击退雪狼?我们曾经一起打倒过一只雪熊,它们比这些狼强悍多了.为什么我们现在不能做同样的事情呢?埃里克的声音被啜泣哽咽了.塞德里克深深地叹了口气,"雪狼...他们不会受到伤害.杀人就是给自己招来诅咒."但是那些进来杀了这么多人的雇佣兵呢?三十多人被杀!埃里克抗议道,他的精神没有被击垮."他们是雇佣兵,埃里克.他们按照不同的规则生活,"塞德里克回答说,不愿意深入研究解释."长大后,我也想成为一名雇佣兵,"埃里克宣布,坚定地握紧拳头.平家村位于冰冻大陆暖水河东侧,根据艾尔多利亚帝国和哈密王国的边界划分,从技术上讲属于哈密王国的领土.然而,自古以来就习惯于在寒冷和雪中生活的哈密人发现,温水河和雪月潭周围地区——一个由火山喷发形成的温泉湖——独特的无冰雪,这在冰冻大陆上是罕见的.纵观艾尔多利亚帝国500年的历史,曾多次试图通过外交,战争和欺骗手段获得雪月潭和温水河的领土,但均未成功.在红月历的3年,12年,35年,47年,52年,在短短的五十年内,艾尔多利亚帝国的两代统治者发动了五次针对雪月潭和温水河的领土的大战,动员了包括龙骑兵在内的所有军事力量.每次战役都以灾难性的失败告终.在大陆的南端,埃尔多利亚帝国经常在最短的时间内占领所有土地——并不是说"征服"是正确的术语,因为哈米王国从未在该地区驻扎过一名士兵.一旦战争开始,大批哈密狼骑兵战士将沿着冰冻大陆上唯一的龙牙山公路向艾尔多利亚帝国的北部联邦发动攻击.冰封大陆上,无论军事部门如何,面对白发苍苍的哈密人,身穿白熊毛战服,骑着白雪狼,在一片全白大陆的背景下,只有一个结果:撤退.Every military branch could exert less than 10% of its combat effectiveness on the Frozen Continent. Even the invincible dragon cavalry could not exert more than 50% of their power. How many dragon cavalry did the Eldoria Empire have? Not even as many as a small squad of Hami wolf cavalry.Some rulers of the Eldoria Empire hoped to acquire Snow Moon Lake and Warmwater River through diplomatic means or deceit. However, the simple-minded Hami Kingdom would refuse any agreement that mentioned their land.The only reason for this situation was that the founding emperor of the Eldoria Empire, Eldor I, successfully deceived the ruler of the Hami Kingdom once, acquiring territory equivalent to 25% of the original empire's land and establishing the northern federations of the Eldoria Empire. Eldor I promised the Hami Kingdom the best territories of his empire—the Flower Language Plains of the Eldoria mainland—in exchange for the southern territories of the Frozen Continent, showing the Hami Kingdom's ruler the rich variety of fruits and animals produced there. The ruler of the Hami Kingdom at the time, Myral VII, was greatly tempted and, against the vehement opposition of his brother and the dowager queen, signed a land exchange agreement that shocked both continents. After the agreement was signed, nearly everyone thought Eldor I was insane for trading the empire's richest territories for the most barren land—except for the Hami Kingdom's dowager queen and the brother, who angrily returned to his territory, risking execution to declare independence and establish the Northern Hami Kingdom.At that time, Myral VII was eager to relocate the capital to the Flower Language Plains and made significant decisions to gradually abandon the territories on the Frozen Continent, not bothering to argue with his brother. Taking advantage of this precious time, his brother quickly expanded his domain from the co-capital of the Hami Kingdom, eventually occupying the entire land north and east of Dragon's Tooth Mountain.The arrival of Myral VII and his court to the Flower Language Plains felt like entering paradise. The northern part of the plains was spring-like all year round, with moist air and continuous blooming of various flowers. Riding across the plains, one would always see flowers and smell their fragrance. The southern part of the plains was a humid, rainy area with a large broad-leaved rainforest full of sweet fruits.However, during the five years of establishing the new capital, Myral VII's city was breached three times by surrounding nations. In the last breach, Myral VII charged into the enemy ranks, washing away the shame of his erroneous decisions with his blood.Why did the most powerful country on the Frozen Continent become so vulnerable upon reaching the Eldoria mainland? Where did the invincible snow wolf cavalry go?According to later military scholars, the theories of military branch compatibility and enhancement were written in the blood of the emperor and a hundred thousand snow wolf cavalry.The Hami people, who had lived on the Frozen Continent for generations, had very long hair, especially their eyebrows and eyelashes, to prevent blindness from sunlight reflecting off the snow. However, upon arriving at the humid Flower Language Plains, this physiological phenomenon became unbearable, with water droplets often hanging between their eyebrows. Nobles might have had the time to have someone trim their hair. But what about soldiers? How could they fight under these conditions? The snow wolves' fur was even longer and white. In the hot and humid plains, the snow wolves, unaccustomed to the climate, had no combat effectiveness. In wars, their natural camouflage became the color of their shrouds.In the end, of the large army that entered the Flower Language Plains, only a little over ten thousand returned to their homeland.Since then, the Hami people learned not to discuss territory with anyone.Snow Moon Lake was formed by a volcanic eruption a hundred years after the Hami people retreated to the Frozen Continent, a mistake they would not repeat.Due to the Flower Language Plains, the Hami people kept their distance from Snow Moon Lake and Warmwater River, not stationing any troops but also absolutely refusing to lose this territory. Once a war erupted, they would immediately send troops from the Ice Forest to threaten the outer federations of the Eldoria Empire's capital, Ice Fortress. Ultimately, they would coerce the Eldoria Empire into retreating.Snow Moon Lake and Warmwater River held certain value for the Hami Kingdom as feeding grounds for the snow wolves. To ensure the snow wolves' combat effectiveness, all of them were free-roaming, not kept in captivity. Or, to put it more accurately, after a war began, the Hami people, relying on their innate senses, would recruit wild wolf packs, who cooperated exceptionally well. The war wolves were divided into various wolf cavalry teams, with the pack leader becoming the team captain's mount, and the other wolves assigned to warriors based on their status within the pack.In reality, the Hami Kingdom lacked the resources to maintain so many war wolves. For a nation established on the barren Frozen Continent, any full-scale mobilization could not last more than six months, or the economy would collapse, primarily due to the depletion of resources by the war wolves.The number of snow wolves remained around one hundred and fifty thousand, originally spread across every corner of the Frozen Continent. Since the Eldoria Empire gained territory on the Frozen Continent, the snow wolves strangely retreated to the territories of the Hami Kingdom and the Northern Hami Kingdom, with about seventy thousand in each area. With scarce flora and fauna on the continent, the snow wolves' hunting was extremely challenging, often requiring days and nights of travel to capture a single prey. Thus, attacking human villages not of Hami descent became a main hunting method for the snow wolves. The Hami people did not oppose other races living on the Frozen Continent—as long as they paid taxes—but they absolutely prohibited anyone from harming the snow wolves. In human villages, various methods were developed to avoid wolf packs. Moreover, more and more permanent residents had become accustomed to the "wolves come, I hide; wolves go, I emerge" lifestyle, considering it a form of tax payable to the Hami Kingdom. Given the Hami Kingdom's frugal lifestyle, they did not impose heavy taxes on their citizens, so even with the addition of the "wolf head tax," it was still much lighter than in other countries.Heike Village was such a village that paid the "wolf head tax." The villagers had grown accustomed to the wolf packs taking only the main livestock during their visits, leaving behind enough poultry for the "wolf grandfathers" to enjoy. The wolf packs generally did not stay long, first because they were not accustomed to the warm and humid air; second, the next village was only half a day's journey away, which also required taxation. They typically stayed no longer than half a day."Thump... Thump... Thump..."Amidst the scratching sounds of wolf claws, the iron hatch above Elric's head rhythmically sounded, and a pleasant male voice asked, "Is this the Thorburn residence?"