Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

It was precisely because he knew ordinary people didn't have the courage to fight fierce beasts in close combat that Winters trained the militia to use spears—the hunting tool of ancient ancestors.

What caused Winters even more headaches was the undisguised hostility emanating from those two Protestant villages.

Honestly, before Gerard had mentioned them, Winters hadn't even been aware that Wolf Town had two Protestant villages under its jurisdiction.

The Protestants neither attended the Sunday service nor had much interaction with the other three villages.

In Winters' view, Wolf Town was already remote and secluded, yet within the edges of this civilized world, the Protestants had formed an even more closed-off and isolated community.

In the other villages, it was sufficient for Mayor Gerard to read the appointment letter once for the introduction to be complete. The villagers naturally accepted the new Garrison Officer.

However, in those two Protestant villages, every literate person read Winters' appointment letter, and the villagers still scrutinized Winters Montagne with suspicious eyes.

What infuriated Winters even more was that the Protestants seemed not to believe in the "wolf disaster" warning, nor did they take his orders as the Garrison Officer seriously.

Very few able-bodied men came to the training, and those who did appeared to be going through the motions. A few Protestant villagers even quietly told Winters that the "wolf disaster was just a pretext by the mayor to increase the levy of labor and extort from us."

They behaved as if stricken with a persecution complex, which almost enraged Winters to the point where he couldn't contain his fury. Gerard, however, had gotten used to this and even consoled Lieutenant Montagne.

But neither Mayor Mitchell nor Garrison Officer Montagne had any effective measures for dealing with these obstinate Protestants.

And it just so happened that those two Protestant villages were the closest to the forest edge.

Thus, whenever he thought about those two Protestant villages, Winters' head would split with pain.

The only thing that gave Garrison Officer Montagne some peace of mind was Dusa Village, the settlement of Dusacks.

Upon hearing that a large beast was lurking in the woods, the men of Dusa Village were elated and began to prepare their knives and guns.

Unlike the customs of the east and west river villages and the two Protestant villages, every household in the Dusack community owned weapons.

Sabers hung on the walls, and spears leaned in the storerooms; these were just the basics.

Even Dusa Village possessed about twenty matchlocks, both new and old. The new ones were recently purchased for hunting, while the history of the oldest firearms could even be traced back to the Sovereign Wars.

In Dusa Village, each household also raised horses, and the men's horsemanship was honed from childhood—Winters' own riding skills couldn't compare to theirs.

With the threat of the wolf disaster approaching, the older men were called upon to teach the young how to use spears and military sabers.

The idle and energetic young Dusacks suddenly had something to do, so issues like fights and gambling subsided considerably.

Sergei proudly told Winters, "Officer, could you count on those bumpkins in such a situation? You'd still need to rely on us Dusacks! No matter what comes our way, we'll kill 'em all!"

Since he had such a brave group of Dusacks at hand, Winters saw no reason not to make use of them.

Therefore, in high places of all five villages, Winters ordered the construction of signal fire beacons. If any village was attacked, they would use the beacon to sound the alarm, and the horsemen of Dusa Village would immediately gather to support.

With the signal beacons, the villagers from the east and west river villages were quite happy. But judging from the skeptical expressions of the Protestant villagers, Winters couldn't help but feel that the Protestants might not ask for help from the Dusacks even if a beast did come.

Furthermore, including Mitchell's, over a dozen manor owners from Wolf Town generously contributed funds for the purchase of spears.

In addition to inspecting the villages and supervising the training, Winters also followed Ralph into the woods multiple times to search for traces of the beast.

A multitude of matters weighed heavily on Winters, leaving him extremely tired.

But being busy also alleviated the depression of having his fate manipulated by others—after all, having things to do meant he had no energy left to contemplate how to return to Vineta.

However, on this particular morning, Winters pushed aside all other matters; he had a very important task to do—he was going to... buy a horse.

In the sparsely populated New Reclamation Area of Paratu, a horse was a necessity; without a mount for transportation, it was inconvenient to go anywhere.

Lieutenant Winters Montagne was currently eating at Gerard's, living at Gerard's, and although Gerard Mitchell didn't mind, Winters really felt ashamed to continue using Mitchell's horses.

So Winters very much wanted to buy a horse.

Not only for transportation, but he also harbored a dark thought: if he had a horse, he could directly flee back to Vineta.

But he couldn't afford it.

"Poor lieutenant" wasn't just self-mockery among officers; being an officer was an expensive career, with uniforms, horses, and weapons all requiring personal purchase.

Although the pay in Paratu seemed to be slightly better than in Vineta, it was already good if a lieutenant's income could cover his basic living expenses.

Want to buy a horse?

One could dream.

Therefore, in this era, if an officer did not come from a wealthy family, it was best that he found himself a wealthy father-in-law.

Although there might be a suspicion of overconfidence, Winters still believed that Gerard Mitchell would definitely be delighted to give his daughter in marriage to him.

Miss Mitchell blushed every time she saw Winters, and when she talked to him, her voice was as soft as a mosquito's, which made Winters feel quite embarrassed.

And the graceful and virtuous Mrs. Mitchell seemed to have a fondness for Lieutenant Winters Montagne of Sea Blue origin.