The weapons I forge are absolutely flawless.

Chapter 170 The Master of Feigning Confusion

Only a small number of knights from the Holy Knights Order are admitted to the academy.

Their main task was to assign the trainees to their respective teams.

Viner glanced at it briefly and found that the distribution was quite even, with almost every squadron of the Knights receiving ten students.

Once all the cadets in a squadron have received their uniforms and horses, they will set off under the guidance of a member of the Knights Order.

"Here, this is your equipment."

Field handed a packaged set of standard equipment to Wiener.

Viner only weighed it briefly before hanging it on Little Ma's back.

"Don't you want to take a look?" Field asked curiously.

“Even if it’s broken, it’s just a matter of fixing it. It’s not difficult for me,” Wiener explained.

"That's true, then we can probably set off now."

"Just the two of us?" Wiener asked, puzzled.

“There’s another one that’s already been taken over,” Field replied.

If Aloy hadn't made an exception and recruited Wiener into the Miku Squad, he probably would have gone back alone.

“Alright then.” Wiener naturally had no objections.

Field led the way on horseback, and with a quick squeeze of his legs, Little Ma followed.

As Wiener was about to catch up, Field cracked his whip and began to accelerate, the horse galloping forward like an arrow released from a bow.

Vina didn't need any further instructions; Little Ma had already sped up on his own.

The distance between the two horses kept decreasing, clearly indicating that Little Ma's horsepower was superior.

But it had no intention of overtaking, and instead followed closely behind the rider in front.

At first, Wiener didn't understand how Little Ma knew how to navigate social situations, never exceeding or even keeping pace with the horses leading the way.

It took him a while to realize that this guy was treating Field and his horse as windbreakers, while he was just paddling along behind.

In just a short while, the two men and two horses had left through the academy gates, and a quarter of an hour later, the academy had disappeared from sight.

This was the first time Villi had left the college since enrolling, and the air was filled with an atmosphere of freedom.

After galloping for about an hour, Field began to slow the horses down.

“We’re almost there.” Field glanced back at Wiener. “You still need to practice your horsemanship.”

“I’ll do my best,” Viner replied, hugging Marc Jacobs’ neck.

He shouldn't have ended up in such a sorry state.

When Field realized that Wiener was following closely behind him, he whipped the whip again and sped up, wanting to see where Little Ma's limits were.

Faced with this obvious provocation, Pony Ma did not back down and began to accelerate.

It was just a pity for Vina, whose riding skills were only good enough to ride a horse. Without reins to hold him, he could only grab onto Little Ma's neck.

Even with someone constantly holding him back, Ma Ge (Little Ma) was not left behind, which shows his potential.

Soon, Wiener spotted a makeshift camp ahead.

"We've arrived." Field dismounted, took the reins in one hand, and led the horse into the camp.

At the entrance to the camp, several wooden stakes were nailed together, tethering three warhorses that had been stripped of their armor.

In addition, there were two large carriages pulled by four horses, and an older, shorter knight was cooking soup in front of the campfire in the camp, wearing a shirt.

If nothing unexpected happens, the two large wagons should be filled with equipment and supplies.

"This is too much..." Viner was at a loss for words.

If Field hadn't brought him here, he would have believed you if you said this was a caravan.

"What, disappointed?" Field seemed to have anticipated Wiener's thoughts.

"I wouldn't say disappointed, just a little surprised... wait, when did you change your clothes?"

By the time Wiener noticed Field again, he had already taken off his dazzling silver armor and put on a set of inconspicuous leather armor.

"This is a basic skill; you'll learn it in a couple of days."

Field said that such a trivial skill was not worth mentioning.

According to the standards of the Paladin Order, even if one has taken off all their gear and is already asleep in bed at night, they must be fully dressed and assembled within three minutes of hearing the assembly call.

The Miku squad has fewer members, making it easier to assemble, so the squad leader set a rule of assembling in one minute.

“Each squadron has a different mission. The other eight squadrons are in the open, while our squadron is in the shadows. I rarely wear that armor; it's too conspicuous,” Field explained to Wiener.

"Field, you do know how to come back at mealtimes." The middle-aged man who was simmering soup said.

“Of course, if it’s late, I’ll have to cook for myself. I rushed back as fast as I could just to have a bowl of hot soup,” Field said to the middle-aged man.

No wonder he kept speeding up on the road.

"Aren't you going to introduce this person?" the middle-aged man continued.

"This is also a temporary member of our squad, his name is Viner. Viner, this is our Third Battalion's quartermaster, Vandrey," Field introduced them.

The quartermaster is the officer in charge of the team's living, food, lodging, and finances.

"Welcome, young man. Remember to come over and try my thick soup later. I just happened to cook an extra batch today," Van der Ley greeted Vigna warmly.

"I didn't expect to be able to enjoy such a delicious meal so soon after arriving. Thank you very much, Quartermaster," Viner replied with a smile.

As the group was talking, a voice suddenly came from inside the carriage.

The voice sounded somewhat familiar to Wiener at first glance.

"Vandre, how long has it been since you last checked this lousy ledger!"

Anna, clutching the ledger in one hand, lifted the back curtain of the carriage with the other and jumped out of the cabin.

"Do you know how many things should have been reported as damaged, and you didn't record them...Vina? What are you doing here?" Anna only then noticed Vina's presence.

"I'd like to ask you the same thing. Why are you leaving your perfectly good shop here?"

Vena was quite surprised to see Anna in this place.

"I should thank that bastard who messed up the dungeon, which resulted in me being banished to the Knights Order. I'm earning thousands of credits a day, and I'm here doing my apprenticeship?"

Anna looked resentful and didn't even bother to act anymore.

Words like "harm" and "exile" came out of her mouth all at once.

Anyone who didn't know better would think she had some kind of problem with the Knights.

Vena looked at the other two official members of the Knights, wondering what they thought after hearing Anna's words.

“Hey, Field, come and taste the saltiness of my soup.”

"Ouch, this soup... it's a little hot."

"Then I'll cook it a little longer."

"I'll go and gather some more firewood."

It was unclear what Anna's background was, but she managed to force the two of them to become masters of feigning ignorance.

“Speaking of which, what about you? You still haven’t told me how you got here,” Anna pressed Vina.

"Well... I was also brought here by that bastard."

Chapter 171 The Second Generation of Merchants

"Ha, I don't believe it."

Anna rolled up the ledger, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and looked at Venus with a suspicious expression.

"No one can get into this logistics unit even with connections. You're saying someone tricked them into getting in? There's no such thing as a free lunch."

"Actually, Captain Aloy recognized my strengths and recruited me specially."

“That’s more like it.” Anna nodded, seemingly accepting the explanation.

Viner secretly broke out in a cold sweat; he had just thought he had been exposed.

"So how did you get in? You couldn't have gotten in by cheating on your way in, could you?" Wiener asked curiously.

Credits are a valuable asset within the college, but once you leave the college, they become worthless.

"Why would I need to pull strings? Don't you even know who's supporting the entire St. Freya Knights' logistics?" Anna said dismissively.

It's clear that Anna has been suppressing her feelings for too long at the academy, and now that she finally has a chance, she wants to put on a good show in front of Viner.

However, someone was not cooperating.

"If I actually went to find out, I'd probably wake up the next morning and be arrested and interrogated the first thing I did, right?" Viner said irritably.

This issue is common knowledge to those involved, but it is a complete military secret to outsiders.

"..."

Anna also realized this problem.

"So you're not a working person at all, but a second-generation businessman who's going to go back and inherit the chamber of commerce if you don't study hard, right?" Viner countered.

"Oh, Vena, you're joking. I'm just—" Anna switched back to business mode, trying to get away with it.

“Right?” Viner was clearly not buying it.

"Tch." Anna spat softly, tilting her head slightly to the side.

This attitude already implies acceptance of Wiener's speculation.

In this way, many things can be explained.

"Oh ho ho, seeing that you two get along so well, I'm relieved." Vandley laughed heartily as he looked at the two young men.

"Don't laugh so soon, I haven't settled accounts with you yet." Anna turned her attention to Vandley.

"Why are you keeping so many of the transport vehicles with equipment nearing their expiration dates instead of reporting them for replacement?"

“Many of them haven’t even been opened yet. I’m thinking I can still use them if I maintain them,” Vandley said, troubled.

Is now the time to save on these things?

After hearing Vandley's reasons, Anna continued speaking without any appreciation.

"In the past month, the frequency of monster attacks on villages has increased several times over. Even armed caravans are constantly being attacked."

"To fend off these monsters that appeared out of nowhere, the Paladin Order has been working day and night, barely having a chance to catch their breath. Nobody wants to suffer casualties because of equipment malfunctions, right?"

In response to the current situation, Anna's merchant guild increased its military spending support for the Holy Knights by a full 30%, resulting in unprecedented financial abundance.

“Of course,” Vandley affirmed.

"Then why don't you just get rid of all those nearing-expiration equipment?" Anna asked.

"this..."

Van der Ley had been the quartermaster for almost ten years, and having grown accustomed to a life of hardship, thrift had become an instinct ingrained in his very being.

He felt somewhat reluctant to discard so much equipment that was still usable in his eyes.

"There's no need to be so absolute," Viner interjected, trying to smooth things over.

"What will happen to these replaced equipment?"

“They will be sent to the rear, where specialized craftsmen will inspect them. Those that can still be used after repair will continue to be stored as emergency backup equipment. Those that do not meet the requirements will be destroyed,” Van Drei replied.

This is a measure taken to prevent the Paladin Order's equipment from being lost abroad.

Each set of equipment is printed with a unique serial number.

The equipment that Wiener and his team received was spare equipment that had been phased out from the front lines.

"That's easy to say."

After receiving the answer, Wiener felt reassured.

"How long does it take from submitting the damage report for approval to the new equipment being put into storage?"