Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Although Winters, having left Wolf Town, had more than once entertained the thought of "simply escaping back to Vineta," he never put it into action.

Not to mention what would become of his military registration after his escape, relying solely on one horse was insufficient to sustain a long-distance trek. Furthermore, as a foreigner, how would he shake off pursuit on this unfamiliar land?

Escape was highly impractical, so Lieutenant Montaigne could only resign himself to thinking about it.

Winters had not left Wolf Town intending to flee, but rather to find Andre.

His new comrade was called "Rejek" by the Dusans, meaning a reddish-brown horse. Consequently, Winters also named this three-year-old colt "Red Mane."

Mounting Red Mane, Winters immediately decided to make a trip to Blackwater Town. To see Andre and, incidentally, to test Red Mane's mettle.

The Alliance army's horsemanship divided warhorse gaits into five categories: walk, trot, canter, gallop, and jump. If one did not wish to exhaust the horse to death, the latter three gaits could not be sustained for long periods.

Therefore, the most one would use for daily riding was the trot, and a warhorse making seven or eight kilometers per hour was considered satisfactory.

Yet Red Mane, trotting and resting intermittently, took only about six hours to bring Winters the more than fifty kilometers to Blackwater Town.

This speed, considering the negative factor of Red Mane's unfamiliarity with a new rider, suggested that its pace would improve once it grew accustomed to Winters' weight.

It seemed the young horse trader Anglu wasn't wrong—Red Mane's legs were indeed exceptional.

Although Winters knew Red Mane was a good horse, he had not yet realized he had actually stumbled upon a great deal. Because buying a warhorse already trained by an experienced rider was much easier than training a fresh one from scratch.

The owner had been willing to sell such a fine horse to Winters purely out of respect for Gerard Mitchell.

Infantry Officer Winters might not recognize a bargain, but Cavalry Officer Andre sure did.

Just as when he first saw Tess, upon laying eyes on Red Mane, Andre could not look away. His eyes sparkled as he walked around Red Mane, marveling and stroking it, almost drooling with appreciation.

If it weren't for the fact that Winters had no other mount to return to Wolfton, Andre would have wanted to borrow Red Mane to ride for a few days by any means.

"Hey! How can an infantryman like you always get such fine horses?" Lieutenant Cherini lamented, stroking the horse's mane: "It's a pity Bard isn't here! He would definitely love this horse."

The woeful demeanor of his good friend made Winters barely suppress a chuckle.

Winters patted the horse's rump and said to Andre, "Then you get me a horse, and I'll give you Red Mane. We can switch rides, how about that?"

"Get lost!" Andre responded more sorrowfully, "Where am I going to get the money to buy a horse?"

"Well, we'll talk when you have the money. I came to you for serious business," Winters said, his smile fading as he turned serious. "Has anyone from home been looking for you?"

Truth be told, Lieutenant Montaigne had been quite comfortable living in Wolfton.

For Winters, who had grown up in the cramped, dirty, and busy atmosphere of a city, the natural conditions in Wolf Town were second to none.

Located on the remote borders of Paratu, this place was sparsely populated and at a high altitude, hence the air was refreshingly clean. Everywhere he looked, there were no cramped houses, only the boundless wilderness.

And as one of the only two civil servants in town, he enjoyed almost half the status of a feudal lord. No longer subject to anyone's commands, Winters found this incredibly comfortable.

But Wolfton was just too isolated! There was absolutely no channel to glean information about the outside world.

Since Winters had arrived in Wolfton, aside from a few itinerant merchants, he had not seen a single person from the outside.

Lieutenant Voyik had said that military mail carriers would visit Wolfton on a regular schedule, but Winters had yet to see a shadow of one.

Having only stayed for less than a week, Winters was eager to know what was happening in the outside world:

Had the disputes between Vineta and The Federated Provinces quieted down? How were the negotiations between Paratu and Vineta faring? When could he go home?

But trapped in Wolfton, Winters was clueless. This isolation was almost a form of torture for him.

When asked about this, Andre's expression turned somber, "No! In this godforsaken place, I haven't seen a single Venetian!"

"I thought Blackwater Town was bigger than Wolf Town and would have more up-to-date news," Winters said, disappointed.

"How much larger can this dump be? I sent word to Bard to see if he has any news," Andre said with a helpless shrug, "I'm just biding my time here, taking it one day at a time. I've come to terms with it—if I can make it until we go home without working though still drawing pay, then that, my friend, is victory!"

The two brethren in misfortune exchanged glances, sighed in unison, and then burst into wry laughter together.

Although Winters hadn't received any news, his trip was not entirely fruitless.

The next day, when returning from Blackwater Town to Wolfton, Winters' saddle bore two extra heavy matchlock muskets.

The guns were borrowed from Blackwater Town's armory. Being far more prosperous than Wolfton, Blackwater Town could afford genuine weaponry.

The muskets in Dusa Village had very small charges, suitable for hunting, but they lacked the impressive caliber needed for large wild beasts.

Thus, Lieutenant Cherini, with a grand gesture, lent two of the finest matchlock muskets to Wolfton at no cost. Read new adventures at My Virtual Library Empire

Hearing that large predators roamed the forests around Wolfton, the hitherto bored Andre suddenly became extremely excited.