Iron Powder and Spellcaster

I don't know if it was because she offended the tax collector, but the Skua waited at the anchorage all night and all morning. It was not until the sun turned west the next day that she was allowed to enter the port.

When the trestle was visible to the naked eye, Winters began to repack his gear. Only then did he understand why Instructor Narr said that people no longer used long swords, but chose to wear more portable weapons.

Because compared to the swords of Major General Leighton and Major Moritz, the long sword used by the military academy is too "long".

Winters made several gestures repeatedly and hung it on his belt? The bare scabbard doesn't look good either.

Insert it diagonally into the belt? The scabbard easily rubbed against the ground, and it was uncomfortable to wear a 1.3-meter iron bar on my waist.

Behind your back? Strangely, I haven't seen anyone carrying a sword.

Hold it in your hand? He probably looked like a gangster who was about to fight with others.

After much thought, it might be more convenient if it could be hung on a horse.

The swords of major generals and majors are one-handed swords that can be easily hung on the belt.

Their swords were shorter, lighter, and more ornate than Winters' sword.

I don’t know how effective it is in actual combat, but compared to its portability and decoration, it can knock Winters’ long sword into pieces.

Winters looked at Bud and Andre and suddenly smiled. He laughed at himself for being timid about being close to home. He was so nervous that he was at a loss as he was about to go home.

After thinking about this, he stopped worrying about how to wear the long sword more handsomely. He directly tied the sword and the luggage bag together and walked onto the deck carrying it with his hands.

The Skua is very close to the free berth. The sea blue port is full of ships, and it will come into close contact if you are not careful.

Therefore, the sails of the Skua have been furled, and the sailors are holding long wooden poles to carefully guard against collision.

Feeling that the distance was almost there, the acting captain took up the first mate's job again, picked up the rope and threw it hard to the berth of the dock. The dockworker who had been waiting at the berth neatly caught the cable and tied it to the wooden pile.

The sailors on the boat shouted and exerted their strength, and several other sailors held long wooden poles to help, and steadily parked the boat at the berth.

The sailors began to put up planks between the trestle and the ship's side. Winters just stepped forward to get off the ship, but he was called out by the major.

Winters keenly noticed that the major's usual habit of unconsciously playing with coins had disappeared, and even his hands were shaking slightly. It was obvious that alcoholism and dehydration had taken a toll on him.

The major's voice became hoarse even when he spoke. He said listlessly to Winters: "After you get off the boat, take your classmates to form a team first. Don't break up all at once. Report to the military headquarters first, and then you can go home."

Winters took the order, saluted, turned and disembarked.

In fact, he was a little surprised why the major stopped him. Could it be because he had a drink with him so he looked familiar?

On the trestle, the acting captain was handing over the bill to the customs officer at the dock.

As a commercial republic, customs is an important source of revenue for Hailan, and successive ruling committees have attached great importance to customs construction.

In Hailan, the tax collector will board the cargo ship to inspect the goods before it enters the port, and is responsible for collecting customs duties. The tax collector will take one copy of the bill in triplicate and leave two copies for the merchant ship as a tax payment certificate and port entry permit.

After entering the port, the customs officers at the dock will inspect the goods again and take away a receipt left by the tax collector for reconciliation and cargo inspection. The merchant ship can unload the goods only after the inspection is correct.

This simple and effective system has inhibited corruption within the customs to a certain extent, and can be regarded as a model of efficient administration in this era.

After walking across the long trestle of the pier and finally stepping onto solid land, Winters suddenly felt uncomfortable.

After regaining consciousness, Winters almost threw up his stomach due to seasickness. But after he had become familiar with the Skua, which was always in a bumpy state, and set foot on the land again, he actually felt seasick again.

It was clear that there was solid land under his feet, but Winters only felt that his steps were shaky and his whole body seemed to be shaking involuntarily.

Fortunately, the situation was not serious. Winters braced himself and glanced at the Hailan Port pier, his familiar yet unfamiliar hometown.

There are some subtle differences between Hai Lan and his own memory, but his temperament is still the same, busy, noisy, and people coming and going.

Everyone is busy with their own things and walking their own way. No one notices or cares that a young officer who has been away from home for many years has returned to his hometown.

Putting a hand on Winters' shoulder, Bud said to Winters with a smile: "Is this the largest port in the alliance? Compared to Guitu City, it does feel more vibrant."

"Ah, Lord Bud!" Winters put his right hand on his heart and made a weird bow. He waved to the bustling crowd on the pier and said to Bud with a smile: "Welcome to the noble Veneta. The heart of the Republic, the jewel above the inland sea, the city of commerce, the city of wealth—Aquamarine!”

Bud responded in a strange manner, and he jokingly said to Winters: "But how did I hear that Hailan is a city of masks, conspiracies, assassinations and secret societies? Isn't Veneta most famous for its assassins?"

"Hey, that's all in the past tense." Winters blushed, but he didn't refute, because Bud was right.

The Venetans have a fiery temperament, are willing to take life and death seriously, and seek revenge. In addition to the custom of wearing swords and masks, they also have the tradition of secret societies.

Outsiders do not understand these customs, but the Veneta people do not feel there is anything to be ashamed of. They are proud of them.

However, Winters has lived in the United Provinces for six years, so he also feels that the Veneta culture of masks, poisons, and daggers is not very friendly.

He waved his hands repeatedly and explained to Bud: "That was all a matter of the imperial era. Besides, those we Venetians assassinated were all royalists and old aristocrats. Those assassins are all heroes of the Alliance."

Thirty years ago, before the Second Schism of the Catholic Church, the brutal suppression of heretics aroused the resistance of the Venetians.

Venetas who concealed poisoned daggers under their cloaks roamed the streets of Hailan, assassinating Catholic clergy in the streets. A large number of Catholic clergy lay dead on the streets, while the remaining bishops and inquisitors hid in the fortress and shivered, not daring to step out.

When the aristocratic faction and the militia within the alliance broke apart, the Venetians also enthusiastically assassinated a large number of Gulf nobles. Apart from the members of the pseudo-royal family, the last legal heir to the Duke of Piedmont was killed by the Veneta assassin with a sword, which directly led to the complete extinction of the Forslander family and even its branches.

"Is it the past tense? Why do I see people wearing masks on the street now?" Bud's eyes turned into two crescent moons with a smile. He pointed with his hand: "Look, there is that over there, beside the carriage. Several people were all wearing masks.”

Winters followed Bud's direction and looked over. Two black four-wheel carriages were parked on the stone road beside the dock. The two four-wheel carriages are fully enclosed carriages, painted black and decorated with white wooden edges. The small windows on the carriage also had their curtains drawn so that no one could see who was sitting inside.

Standing beside the car were four people wearing black three-cornered hats and black cloaks. Wearing a white Fool's mask on his face, this mask is a full-coverage mask with only the lower part slightly raised, resembling a bird's beak.

Veneta is rich and extravagant, and her clothes and decorations are all gorgeous. Although this four-person and two-car parked at the edge of the pier is simple, it is so conspicuous when set off by other colorful pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages that it is impossible not to notice it.

"Not everyone who wears a mask is an assassin. Wearing a mask is just a custom. Don't you understand this? No matter how ugly a man or woman is, wearing a mask will make him look even more beautiful. You haven't seen one at the carnival yet. What's the situation, right? At that time, everyone in the city had to wear masks." Winters looked at these black-robed men carefully for a while, but didn't see anything: "They should be servants of some luxurious family, right? Come to pick up people at the dock. ."

"Shouldn't servants wear uniforms?" Bud became interested.

Before Winters could answer, a gruff voice broke into the conversation between him and Bud: "What do you care about others? If not, some people like to use these clothes as uniforms for servants."

Without even looking, you can tell it's Andre as soon as you hear the sandpaper sound. Andre was seen carrying a large luggage bag in each hand. It looked very heavy. He was so tired that he was sweating profusely after just a few steps after getting off the boat.

"Hey! How many things did you bring back?" Winters was startled by Andre's luggage.

Andre gasped: "I brought everything back!"

There was even a sound of metal colliding when Andre put the luggage on the ground, and he didn't know what was inside.

"Don't we have to go back once? How about dividing it into two times?" Winters was dumbfounded by Andre's brute force. He remembered the team task that the major had given him, and when he saw that his classmates had come out a little, he asked Andre Said to Bud: "You guys tell the people who have come out, don't disperse yet, and wait in line here for the major. I'll go to the exit of the trestle."

Bud nodded, and Winters carried his luggage to the intersection of the pier and the ground, conveying the major's order to every classmate who had just gotten off the boat.

The pier was crowded with people, including merchants, sailors, passengers and numerous porters. A sturdy porter in short clothes passed by Winters. Winters suddenly felt that the figure of this man was very familiar to him. He suddenly remembered Who is this? He shouted at the figure: "Benway? Benvenuto?"

The porter turned around in confusion, and then he was also surprised. He rushed over and laughed and hugged Winters.

Benvenuto was Winters' best friend at Army Infant School Highline. After graduating from Hailan Road Elementary School, Benwei did not continue his education, while Winters went to a preparatory school in the United Provinces. The two corresponded occasionally, but they had not seen each other for six years.

"Look at you! You are all real officers!" Benway punched Winters in the chest with tears in his eyes.

Winters also laughed and hammered back: "You have become taller and stronger now. How is your family now?"

"It's okay! My mother is still talking about you!"

The two people who hadn't seen each other for many years wanted to say a lot, and they couldn't explain it in a few words. They could only explain the current situation. Not far away, Benway's coworkers were urging him that he had to go back to work.

"Your family hasn't moved, has it?" Ben asked reluctantly.

Winters shook his head quickly: "I haven't moved. Your family hasn't moved either, right?"

"I haven't moved either. I'm going back to work first. I'll come find you after work ends in the evening!"

"That's a deal!"

The two talked briefly and then parted again. Winters never thought that he would meet his old friends and classmates on the dock just after returning to Hailan.

Just when he was lamenting that he had never met again in his life, the four passengers on the Skua also got off the ship and walked towards Winters from the trestle.

When passing by Winters, one of the passengers held up his hat, smiled and nodded to greet Winters.

Because they had fought pirates together, Winters didn't know who these four travelers were, but they felt a sense of comradeship between them, so he smiled and nodded in return.

Winters watched the backs of the four passengers walking off the trestle, walking straight through the bustling pedestrians at the pier, and heading straight for the two black carriages.

He immediately looked at Bud and found that Bud was also looking at him. Apparently Bud also noticed the four passengers. The two of them grinned and looked at each other, never expecting that the people the two black carriages were going to pick up were actually the four passengers on the Skua.

Winters shifted his gaze back to the four passengers, but what he saw made him take a breath of air.

A man in black robes and the passenger who nodded to him seemed to be hugging each other, but Winters could clearly see a blood-stained sword stick coming out from the passenger's back, glowing slightly in the sun. Tremble.

The next moment, the man in black robe and the traveler started fighting with swords. A sharp woman's scream stung everyone's eardrums, and some passers-by also discovered the brutal fight taking place on the pier.

Among the remaining three passengers, one was risking his life to stop the man in black robe, while the other was protecting the higher-ranking passenger as he fled to the Skua. The higher-ranking passenger kept calling for help.

Winters witnessed all this happening, and he subconsciously decided to do something because he could not watch these "comrades" being killed in broad daylight.

There were no other weapons around him, so he directly drew his unedged training sword and rushed forward.

The incident happened in an instant, and the warrant officers didn't understand what happened. They all stood stunned and watched the two men in black robes chasing the two passengers with swords.

Seeing that he couldn't get away, the passenger who seemed to be a guard turned around and tried to intercept the two men in black robes.

Seeing the guard stop, a man in black robe also stopped and pulled out a particularly short musket from his robe. I didn't see him bothering to hang up the match rope. I saw him just pointing the gun at the guard and fired the musket.

There was a flash of red light, followed by a burst of white smoke, and the sound of gunshots resounded throughout the dock. If people were still confused just now and didn't know what happened, then the sound of gunfire immediately caused all passers-by on the pier to panic.

Although he didn't know how the man in black robe fired the musket without igniting it, Winters knew that there was no reason to miss at such a short distance, and the guard would definitely die.

However, what is unexpected is that the guard who was hit by a musket at close range not only survived, but also rushed towards the black-robed man with his sword, as if he had not been shot at all.

The elderly passenger with a higher status was screaming for help and crawling towards the Skua. Winters passed him and met another man in black robes head-on.

Without any time to think, Winters instinctively used the Fury Style to slash at the opponent with all his strength. This is the full strength of Winters' sword. Even if it is an unedged sword, it can break bones. The opponent must avoid it if they don't want to die.

However, the opponent's one-handed sword bypassed the path of the long sword with a flexibility that a long sword could never achieve, and pierced Winters' chest like a poisonous snake.

——————I am a dividing line that is inconvenient to carry——————

Dürer's "Knight, Death and the Devil" shows how soldiers of that era carried weapons. In the painting, a two-handed long sword hangs diagonally on the knight's waist. Interested viewers can find it to admire.