Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 121 Blackwater Town and the Horse Knife
Although Winters had the thought of "just running back to Veneta" more than once after leaving Wolftown, he never put it into practice.

Leaving aside the question of what would happen to his military status if he escaped, a single horse wouldn't be enough to sustain him for a long journey. Furthermore, how could a stranger in this unfamiliar land possibly evade capture?

Escape was impractical, so Lieutenant Montagne could only dream about it.

Winters left Wolf Town not to escape, but to find Andrei.

His new companion was called "Rejk" by the Dusa people, meaning reddish-brown horse. Winters then named the three-year-old stallion "Redmane".

Winters, riding on Redmane, immediately decided to go to Blackwater. He would see Andrei and, incidentally, test Redmane's abilities.

The Allied Army's equestrian system categorizes warhorse gaits into five types: trot, walk, canter, gallop, and leap. The latter three gaits cannot be sustained for extended periods to avoid exhausting the horse.

Therefore, daily riding was at most a trot, and a warhorse that could run seven or eight kilometers per hour was considered qualified.

Redmane ran and rested along the way, and it only took him about six hours to bring Winters to Blackwater Town, more than 50 kilometers away.

There's also the negative factor that Redmane isn't used to new riders at this speed; its gait will be even better once it adapts to Winters' weight.

It seems that the young horseman Anglu was right; Redmane's speed is indeed superb.

Although he knew Redmane was a good horse, Winters hadn't yet realized that he had actually gotten a great deal. Buying a warhorse trained by an experienced rider was much easier than buying a raw horse and starting to train it from scratch.

The horse owner was only willing to sell such a fine horse to Winters because of Gerard Mitchell's influence.

Infantry officer Winters was clueless, but cavalry officer Andrei knew it all.

Just like when he first saw Qiangyun, Andrei couldn't take his eyes off the red mane. His eyes shone, and he circled around the red mane in amazement, looking at it and touching it, almost drooling.

If Winters hadn't lost his mount and couldn't return to Wolf's Village, Andre would have definitely borrowed Redmane's mount for a few days.

“Hey! How can anyone complain about this? How come you, an infantryman, always manage to get such fine horses?” Lieutenant Cellini stroked the horse’s mane and said with a pained expression, “It’s a pity Bard isn’t here! The bishop would definitely like this horse.”

Winters couldn't help but chuckle at his friend's sighing and lamenting.

Winters patted the horse's rump and said to Andrei, "Then you get me a horse, and this Redmane is yours. We can take turns riding it, how about it?"

"Get out!" Andrei cried out in even greater anguish, "Where am I going to get the money to buy horses?"

“We’ll talk about that when you have the money. I have serious business with you.” Winters’ smile faded, and he asked Andrei seriously, “Has anyone from your family come looking for you?”

To be honest, Lieutenant Montagne was very comfortable living in Wolf Town.

For Winters, who grew up in the crowded, dirty, and busy environment of the city, Wolftown's natural conditions couldn't be better.

Located on the outskirts of Palathu, this place is sparsely populated and at a high altitude, resulting in fresh and clean air. Looking around, there are no cramped houses, only boundless wilderness.

Moreover, as one of only two civil servants in the town, he practically held the status of a feudal lord. No one was giving Winters orders anymore, which made him extremely comfortable.

But Langtun Town was far too isolated! It had absolutely no channels to learn about the outside world.

Since Winters arrived in Wolftown, he hasn't seen a single outsider, except for a few traveling merchants.

Lieutenant Wojc said that the military mailman would come to Wolftown regularly from now on, but Winters has yet to see the mailman.

Having stayed for less than a week, Winters was eager to know what was happening in the outside world:
Has the dispute between Veneta and the United Provinces been resolved? How are the negotiations between Palatul and Veneta going? When can I go home?

Trapped in Wolftown, Winters knew nothing. This isolation was almost torture for him.

When asked this, Andrei's expression darkened: "No! I haven't seen a single Veneta in this wretched place!"

“I thought Blackwater Town was bigger than Wolf Town, so the news would be more readily available,” Winters said, a little disappointed.

"How can this lousy place compare to anything else? I sent a message to Bader through someone, let's see if he hears anything." Andrei shrugged and said helplessly, "I'm just muddling through life now, taking it one day at a time. I've figured it out, taking money without working is rebellion, and getting home is fucking a victory!"

The two unfortunate brothers looked at each other, sighed in unison, and then gave a bitter smile.

Although he didn't get any news, Winters didn't come away empty-handed.

The next day, on their return journey from Blackwater to Wolftown, Winters had two heavy matchlock guns on his saddle.

The guns were borrowed from the armory in Blackwater. Blackwater was far more prosperous and wealthy than Wolftown, so it could afford real weapons.

The muskets in Dusa Village were all hunting rifles with small powder charges, and they desperately needed such powerful large-caliber muskets to deal with large wild animals.

So, Lieutenant Cellini generously lent Wolf Town two of his best matchlock muskets free of charge.

Hearing that large wild beasts roam the forests surrounding Wolf Village, Andrei, who was bored out of his mind, suddenly became extremely excited.

If it weren't for the rule that garrison officers couldn't leave their posts for too long without permission, Lieutenant Cellini would have personally taken his gun and ventured into the Wolf Town forest to "eliminate the scourge for the people."

Even though he couldn't go to Wolf Town to keep watch, Andrei still grabbed Winters and repeatedly told him that if there were any confirmed traces of the giant beast, he must send a fast horse to inform him.

Andrei patted his chest and promised to bring the best hunters from Blackwater Town to help.

Winters knew that Andrea Cellini was just bored out of her mind;
He also knew that if it weren't for the wolf attack, his mental state would probably be similar to Andrei's.

Winters, who returned to Wolftown with two heavy muskets, was surprised to find that Wolftown had already caused quite a stir in just one day since he went to Blackwater.

Ever since they heard about the ferocious beasts in the forest, the villagers now see everything as a ferocious beast.

Several villagers came to the town office in one day, claiming that they had seen a ferocious beast near the village.

But when Mayor Mitchell and his men arrived at the sighting location, they couldn't find a single animal, let alone a single hair.

When questioned again, the villagers' descriptions changed to "saw a black figure" or "heard the roar of a ferocious beast."

This kind of thing happened again and again, and coincidentally, the resident officer Winters went to Blackwater again, leaving Mayor Mitchell, a man in his fifties, exhausted.

On another occasion, a villager from Hexi Village was so frightened by the "huge black beast shadow" he described that he ran away and lit a beacon fire in a panic.

When old Sergei and his men rushed to Hexi Village, they found that the villagers had already gone back to work in the fields as if nothing had happened, which made the old man so angry that he cursed.

Back in Wolf Town, Winters and the hunter Ralph went around again, checking every place where they claimed to have "seen the beast," but they found no evidence of claw marks or animal hair.

Although the villagers swore they had definitely seen the beast, Winters was 80% sure they were just scaring themselves.

On the way back to the town hall, Winters asked the hunter, "Did you find anything in the woods during my day in Blackwater?"

"Reporting to you, sir, I found some trees with peeling bark in the woods near the Protestant village, and I found dark brown animal fur on them." The old hunter Ralph answered respectfully, his expression reserved. "Judging from their habits, the beast might be a bear; bears like to rub their backs against trees. But even if it is a bear, it must be a very, very large one. However, bears usually eat more pine nuts and berries, so they might not necessarily come to attack us."

"Keep observing, be careful, and report to me immediately if anything happens," Winters instructed, then asked the hunter, "How is your son settling in with Mitchell's?"

For safety reasons, the hunter and his son temporarily moved out of the cabin. Girard invited them to stay at his home, but Ralph resolutely refused to stay in the guest room as a guest, instead staying with his son and the Mitchell family's farmhands.

"Thank you for your concern, sir." A smile appeared on Ralph's weathered face when he mentioned his son: "Captain Mitchell has always treated my son and me very well, and I am very grateful."

“Captain Mitchell?” Winters caught a peculiar title; only the people of Dusa Village would call Girard that. He raised an eyebrow and asked the hunter with some doubt, “Ralph, are you from Dusa too?”

"Previously."

Winters was even more puzzled: "Then why don't you live with the Dussacs?"

After a long silence, the hunter Ralph answered with difficulty, "I'm sorry, sir. I can't remember why."

Although he had doubts, Winters did not press the matter further when he saw that the hunter did not want to talk about it.

……

Upon returning to the town center, Winters first went to the blacksmith's shop.

In this era, only cities had professional artisans, because full-time artisans could not support themselves in the countryside.

Farmers don't need tailors, bakers, or builders... They sew their own clothes, bake bread, and build their own houses.

But the skills to refine metals, heat iron billets to red-hot, and forge and bend molten steel are not something everyone possesses. Furthermore, metallurgy and forging are capital-intensive industries, requiring not only technical expertise but also a wide variety of tools.

Therefore, blacksmiths were among the few skilled professionals who could make a living in rural areas. Farmers could live well without tailors, bakers, and stonemasons, but they needed blacksmiths.

Blacksmiths play an important role in rural life. You need to find a blacksmith to make farm tools, mend pots, and even get your teeth pulled.

The blacksmith shop is also an important part of the Wolf Town commercial street—although the town center only has two dirt roads, one horizontal and one vertical, plus a handful of buildings.

The blacksmith in Wolf Town was also a Dusak, who returned to his old trade after being settled in Wolf Village. The blacksmith's shop was originally in Dusak Village, but after the village was merged into a town, Gerard went to great lengths to persuade the blacksmith to move the shop to the town.

The shop was very simple, without even a storefront; the forge and anvil were openly facing the street.

A young man who looked to be in his early twenties was shirtless, holding a bright yellow iron bar with pliers in his left hand and a small hammer in his right hand, busy at the forge.

The young man was of medium height, shorter and thinner than Winters. Judging from his physique alone, he was quite different from the typical image of a burly and powerful blacksmith.

But the hammer in the young man's hand seemed to possess a special magic. With his light taps, the scorching steel was gracefully bent, and in the blink of an eye, a horseshoe took shape.

Watching the young man forge the iron billet, Winters suddenly recalled Anna's comment on the Loggia stone carvings: "It's not about carving human figures out of stone, but about carving out people who were trapped in stone."

The young man's skill was so superb that even a layman like Winters could see it.

Winters watched until the young man finished forging a horseshoe before asking, "Is the shopkeeper here? Are you the shopkeeper's son? I haven't seen you here before."

Winters spoke first, and the young man, who was completely absorbed in forging the iron billet, realized someone had arrived. He looked up at Winters, smiled, and nodded.

The young man's face was blackened by the smoke, which only made his teeth look even whiter.

Old Misha, the blacksmith's owner, boomed from the backyard: "I'm not so lucky! If my son had even half of Berrian's character, I'd die happy, sir!"

Misha came to the front yard and pointed to the young man, introducing him: "This is Berian from the Protestant village. He went to town to get supplies when you came before. Berian, this is Lieutenant Montagne, the town's magistrate!"

The young blacksmith, Berian, seemed a little reserved. He forced a smile, bowed, but didn't say a word.

"Is he your apprentice?" Winters nodded in return, smiling as he asked Misha, "Your skills are truly excellent."

“Yes, I am Master Misha’s apprentice,” Berion replied awkwardly.

"No need to save face for me!" Old Misha laughed heartily, patting Berrian on the back. "How could I be worthy of being his apprentice? This kid is far more capable than me! Back home, he was a furnace master, but he lost his business while fleeing the war! I consider this lad a partner. My good-for-nothing son of mine is useless; this furnace will belong to young Berrian sooner or later. It's just a pity I don't have a daughter..."

Seeing that Old Misha was rambling on and on about something else, Winters quickly interrupted, "How's the thing I asked you to do going?"

"I'll definitely take your orders to heart, sir!" Old Misha chuckled and ran back to the backyard. "Please wait here for a moment!"

A moment later, Misha came out holding a long object wrapped in red cloth in both hands: "Take a look, do you like it?"

Lifting the red cloth revealed three knife strips underneath.

Winters boarded the carriage empty-handed and was inexplicably banished to Wolf Town, without his sword or gun.

But how could a garrison commander not even have a suitable weapon? So Winters approached the blacksmith Misha, wanting to have some swords and knives made.

Winters' order consisted of: a longsword-shaped practice sword, a sharpened longsword, a one-handed saber, and finally, a dussamer.

In ancient languages, the word "dusa" referred to the special type of narrow saber used by the Dusaks; Dusak literally translates to "one who uses a Dusa saber." As for which word, Dusa or Dusak, appeared first, it is now unknown.

Since he had the opportunity to learn the Dusak saber technique, Winters certainly wouldn't miss it. He was currently learning Dusak saber techniques from Gerard, so he added another saber to his order.

But this lucrative order presented Misha with a dilemma. According to old Misha, he was skilled at making swords, but the quality... wasn't as good as the ready-made swords in the city, and they were also more expensive.

The swords currently sold on the market are all produced in Solingen, a city in the Republic of Monta.

According to old Misha, in Solingen, a blacksmith is only responsible for one step in the process, and a single sword blade requires the hands of more than a dozen blacksmiths to complete. The blacksmiths there are highly specialized, and even the blacksmiths responsible for annealing have their own independent guilds.

Therefore, even with shipping costs, sword blades produced in Solingen were cheaper and of better quality than those from blacksmiths elsewhere. Individual swordsmiths were squeezed out of business and many switched to other professions.

Even in the Republic of Palatul, many blacksmiths have given up forging swords. They no longer produce swords, but instead work as sword carriers.

So Old Misha's opinion was: if we're not in a hurry, we should wait until he orders a ready-made sword from the city and sends it over.

The only thing that was easy to get was the Dussa knife. Old Misha said he could go to the village and collect a few unused blades, and his shop could make knives.

These three blades in front of me were collected by Misha from Dusa Village over the past few days.

Winters carefully inspected the three blades and asked with some dissatisfaction, "Aren't these blades a bit too old?"

"Old is better!" Old Misha slapped his thigh, clearly having the opposite understanding: "A good blade can be passed down for generations. Old means it's durable. The blade of my saber was stolen by my grandfather from the northern savages. My grandfather and father used it to kill the northern savages, and I used it to kill the Hede barbarians. It's still very sharp in my son's hands..."

"Alright then." Seeing that old Misha was about to launch into another long-winded speech, Winters quickly stopped him: "Then take this one."

Winters pointed to the longest of the three blades.

"Alright!" Old Misha chuckled and rewrapped the other two. "Belion, take the lieutenant's measurements."

Although the blade is readily available, the handle should still be custom-made to fit your hand shape.

Just as Berrian was measuring Winters's hand with a tape measure, the grocer from the shop next door, Archie, rushed into the blacksmith's shop in a panic.

"My lord!" Archie gasped, "Beacon fire!"

"Dusa" and "Dusac" are words from another world; writing them this way is more interesting and different from our own. I wrote until after 1 a.m. last night, but only wrote a little over 1700 words. I rewrote it twice, but the pace still felt too slow. I didn't ask for leave because I didn't rest either…

Thank you to all the readers who voted for the book before, especially those who voted for the book "Yi Xin", "Your Life Has the Most", "Sky Lens", "Yellow Rabbit from the Flower Country", "I Don't Know What to Call It", "Justice and Purity is a Koala", "Calmly Gray", "Jiang Xue Diao Weng", "Reader 20180828194024530", "Uncle of Ideal Thirty Years", "Kun Kun", "writesrblock", "Reader 150811225630563", "Nothing is Xiao Gao", and "There is a Beauty in Tianshui". Thank you everyone.

(End of this chapter)