Iron Powder and Spellcasters

  Chapter 30 The Dock

  I don’t know if it was because of offending the tax collector, the Skua waited at anchorage all night and morning, and was not allowed to enter the port until the sun was westward the next day.

  When the trestle was visible to the naked eye, Winters began to repack, and then he understood why Instructor Gnar said that people had stopped using longswords and opted to wear more portable weapons.

  Because the long swords used in military schools are too "long" compared to the sabers of Major General Layton and Major Moritz.

How many times did    Winters make repeated gestures and hang it on his belt? The bare scabbard doesn't look good either.

   on the belt at an angle? The scabbard is easy to rub against the ground, and it is uncomfortable to have a one-meter-three iron bar on the waist.

   on your back? Strange, I have never seen anyone carrying a sword.

   in hand? It probably looks like a gangster who is going to fight with others.

   After thinking about it, it may be more convenient if it can be hung on a horse.

   Major General and Major's sabres are one-handed swords that can be easily hung from their belts.

   Their saber was shorter, lighter, and more ornate than Winters' longsword.

  I don't know how effective it is in actual combat, but compared to portability and decorativeness, it can hit Winters' long sword all over the place.

   Winters looked at Bud and Andre and smiled suddenly. He laughs at his timidity because he is close to home, and is so nervous because he is about to go home that he is at a loss.

After    figured this out, he no longer bothered about how to wear the long sword more handsomely. He directly tied the sword and the luggage together, and walked onto the deck with his hands.

  The Skua is very close to the free berth. The sea blue port is full of ships, and if you accidentally make a close contact.

   So the sails of the Skua have been folded, and the sailors are carefully guarding against collision with long wooden poles.

   Feeling that the distance is almost there, Your Excellency the acting captain picked up the work of the first mate again, picked up the rope and threw it to the berth of the dock with all his strength. The dock worker who had been waiting on the berth quickly caught the cable and tied it to the stake.

  The sailors on the boat shouted and tried their best. Several other sailors held long wooden poles to help them and stopped the boat firmly at the berth.

  The sailors began to put up planks between the trestle and the sides of the ship, and Winters had just stepped forward to prepare to disembark, but was called to live 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. Apparently, alcoholism and dehydration had tortured him enough.

Major   's voice became a little hoarse. He said to Winters listlessly: "After you disembark, bring your classmates to form a team first, don't break up at once. Report to the military first, and then you can go home."

   Winters took the order, saluted, turned and got off the boat.

   Actually, he was a little strange why the major would stop him. Could it be because he had drunk with him, so his face was familiar?

   On the pier, the captain of the agent is handing over the bills with the person in charge of customs at the terminal.

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

   In Hailan, the tax collector will board the ship to check the goods before the cargo ship enters the port, and is responsible for collecting customs duties, three copies of the bills, the tax collector will take one, and leave two copies for the merchant ship as tax payment vouchers and port entry permits.

   After entering the port, the customs officers at the terminal will check the goods again, and take a note left by the tax collector for reconciliation and checking of the goods. The merchant ship can unload the goods only after the check is correct.

   This simple and effective system has suppressed corruption within the customs to a certain extent, and is a model of efficient administration in this era.

   Walking across the long trestle of the pier and finally stepping on solid land, Winters suddenly felt uncomfortable.

   Just after regaining consciousness, Winters almost vomited his stomach because of seasickness. But when he was already familiar with the skua, which was always in a bumpy state, and stepped on the ground again, he actually felt seasick again.

   Obviously there is solid land under his feet, but Winters only feels that his steps are vain, and the whole person seems to be shaking involuntarily.

   But fortunately, this situation is not strong, Winters raised his head and glanced at the sea blue port wharf, and glanced at his familiar and unfamiliar hometown.

   There are some subtle differences between Hailan and his own memory, but the temperament is still the same, busy, noisy, and people come and go.

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

   put a hand on Winters' shoulder, and Bud said to Winters with a smile: "Is this the league's largest port? It does feel more vibrant than Guitucheng."

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

  Bud returned the salute with a grotesque manner. He jokingly said to Winters: "But how did I hear that Hailan is the city of masks, conspiracies, assassinations and secret societies? Isn't Veneta the most famous assassin?"

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

  The Veneta people have a violent temperament, commit suicide, and take revenge. In addition to the custom of wearing swords and masks, there is also the tradition of secret associations.

   These customs are not understood by outsiders, but the Veneta people do not feel ashamed, they are proud of it.

   But Winters has lived in the Interprovince for six years, so he also feels that the culture of Veneta masks, poison and daggers is not very friendly.

   He repeatedly waved his hands and explained to Bud: "That's all a matter of the imperial era. Besides, what we Veneta assassinated were the royalists and the old aristocrats, and those assassins were all heroes of the alliance."

   Thirty years ago, when the Catholic Church had not yet been divided for the second time, the Veneta people were revolted by the brutal suppression of heresy.

  The Veneta with poisoned daggers hidden under cloaks wandered the streets and alleys of sea blue, assassinating Catholic priests on the street. A large number of clergymen of the Catholic Church lay dead on the streets, and the remaining bishops and inquisitors hid in the fortress, trembling and dare not take a step.

   When the noble faction and the militia within the alliance broke apart, the Veneta also actively assassinated a large number of Gulf nobles. In addition to the members of the pseudo-royal family, the last legitimate heir to the Duchy of the Mountain Front was killed by the Veneta assassin, which directly led to the complete extinction of the Forsland family and even the side branches.

"Is it the past tense? Why do I see that there are still pedestrians wearing masks on the street now?" Bud's eyes turned into two crescents with a smile, and he pointed with his hand: "Look, there's that over there, next to the carriage. Several people were all wearing masks."

   Winters followed Bud's direction and looked over. Two black carriages were parked on the flagstone road beside the pier. The two carriages are fully enclosed carriages, painted black and trimmed with white wood trim. The small windows on the carriage were also drawn with curtains, making it impossible to see who was sitting inside.

   There were four people standing beside the car, wearing black three-cornered hats and black cloaks. Wearing a white mask of fools on his face, this mask is a full-coverage mask, only the lower half is slightly raised, shaped like a bird's beak.

  Vinetta is extravagant because of its wealth. Whether it is clothing or accessories, the beauty is gorgeous. This four-person two-car parked on the edge of the pier is simple, but it is conspicuous when it is set off by other colorful pedestrians and carriages, and it is impossible for people not to notice.

"Not everyone who wears a mask is an assassin. Wearing a mask is just a custom. You don't understand that, right? No matter how ugly men and women wear masks, they will add a third of their beauty. You haven't seen a carnival. How about the situation? At that time, everyone in the city had to wear masks." Winters looked at the black-robed men carefully for a while, but couldn't see why they came: "Should they be servants of some luxurious family? Come to the pier to pick them up. ."

   "Shouldn't the servant wear a livery?" Bud was intrigued.

   Winters had not waited for an answer when a gruff voice broke into the chat between him and Bud: "What about your family? Some people like to use this dress as a livery for servants to wear."

   You don't even have to look at it, as soon as you hear the sound of this sandpaper, you know it's Andre. Seeing that Andre was carrying a large luggage bag in each hand, he looked very heavy, and he was sweating profusely from exhaustion after walking a few steps off the boat.

   "Ho! How much did you bring back?" Winters was taken aback by Andre's luggage.

  Andre panted: "I brought everything back!"

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

"Don't you have to go back? How good is it to divide it twice?" Winters was dumbfounded by Andre's brute force. He remembered the task of the team that the major gave him. Seeing that some of his classmates had come out, he told Andre. Said to Bud: "Tell the people who have come out, don't disband first, wait in line for the major here. I'll go to the exit of the trestle bridge."

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

There were a lot of people on the wharf. In addition to merchants, sailors, and passengers, there were also a large number of porters. A sturdy porter in short dress passed by Winters. Winters suddenly felt that the back of this person was very familiar to him, and he suddenly remembered Who is this, he shouted at the back: "Benwei? Benvenuto?"

   The porter turned around suspiciously, and immediately fell into a surprise. He rushed over and laughed and hugged Winters.

  Ben Venuto was a friend of Winters at the Army Junior School, Ocean Blue. After graduating from Hailan Road Primary School, Benwei did not continue to study, and Winters went to the preparatory school in the United Province. The two corresponded occasionally, but hadn't seen each other for six years.

   "Look at you! They're all real officers!" Benway punched Winters in the chest with tears in his eyes.

   Winters also laughed and hammered back: "You have grown taller and stronger now, how is your family now?"

   "Okay! My mother is still talking about you!"

   The two of them who hadn't seen each other for many years wanted to talk a lot, and they couldn't say a few words at all, so they could only explain the current situation. Not far away, Benwei's co-workers were urging him to go back to work.

   "Your house hasn't moved?" Ben Wei asked reluctantly.

   Winters hurriedly shook his head: "You didn't move, and your house didn't move, did you?"

   "I didn't move. I'll go back to work first, and I'll find you when I get off work at night!"

"That's a deal!"

   After a brief conversation, the two parted again. Winters never thought that he would meet his old friends and classmates on the pier just after returning to Hailan.

   Just as he was sighing where he had never met in life, the four passengers on the Skua also disembarked and walked towards Winters from the pier.

When    passed by Winters, one of the travelers held up his hat and greeted Winters with a smile and nod.

  Because they once fought against pirates together, although Winters didn't know who the four passengers were, they also had a comrade-in-arms relationship with each other, so they smiled and nodded in return.

   Winters watched the backs of the four passengers walk off the trestle, and the bustling pedestrians who went straight through the pier went straight to the two black carriages.

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

   Winters turned his gaze back to the four travelers, but what he saw made him gasp.

A black robe and the traveler who nodded to him just now seemed to be hugging each other, but Winters clearly saw a blood-stained sword stick coming out of the traveler's back, slightly under the sun. trembling.

   The next moment, the man in black robe and the traveler began to draw swords to fight. A shrill female scream pierced everyone's eardrums, and some pedestrians noticed the brutal fight taking place on the pier.

   Among the remaining three passengers, one passenger was giving his life to stop the Heipao Ren, and the other was protecting the higher-ranking passenger and fleeing to the Skull. The higher-ranking passenger kept calling for help.

  Winters witnessed all this happening, and he subconsciously decided to do something, because he couldn't watch these "comrades" get killed in broad daylight.

   There were no other weapons around, so he took out his unbladed training sword and rushed forward.

   The incident happened in an instant, and the warrant officers didn't understand what happened, and they all stood there watching the two men in black robes with their swords chasing the two passengers.

  The passenger who seemed to be the **** saw that he could not get away, so he turned to face him, trying to intercept the two men in black robes.

   Seeing that the guards stopped, a man in black robe also stopped and pulled out a very short musket from his robe. I didn't see him bothering to hang up the arquebus. I saw that he just pointed the muzzle at the guard and fired the musket directly.

   A red light flashed, accompanied by a puff of white smoke, and gunshots resounded throughout the pier. If people were still at a loss as to what was going on just now, then the gunshot immediately caused all passersby on the pier to panic.

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

   However, what was unexpected was that the guard who was hit by the musket at close range not only did not die, but also charged the man in black with his sword, as if he was not shot at all.

  The senior passenger of higher status was screaming for help and scrambling to flee towards the Skua. Winters passed him and met another man in black.

  Without time to think, Winters instinctively slashed with full force in the face. This is Winters' full-strength sword. Even a long sword without an edge in his hand can smash bones. The opponent must avoid it if he doesn'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 inserted straight into Winters' chest like a poisonous snake.

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

  Dürer's "Knight, Death and the Devil" shows how the soldiers of that era carried weapons. In the painting, the knight hangs diagonally from the waist with a two-handed long sword. Interested officials can come and appreciate it.

   (end of this chapter)