Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 112: Victory is underway, and victory is on the way to new victories.
In the city of Aquamarine, a grand parade is underway.

Leading the way was a black-robed monk carrying an incense burner. A strange fragrance wafted from the swaying burner, permeating the entire street.

Amidst the swirling smoke, the atmosphere of the parade became mysterious and enchanting.

Four priests followed closely behind, carrying the remains of Saint Mark contained in a golden casket. Since two Venetian merchants stole the remains from Conquest Port and brought them back to Hailan three hundred years ago, Saint Mark has become the patron saint of Hailan and even the entire Venetian region.

Winters, clad in full ceremonial armor, rode the magnificent steed 'Strong Fortune,' carrying the captured Tanilian banner upside down, following behind the saint's remains. The other Venetian officers returning from Red Irrigation Island did the same.

Behind the knights' procession were three prison wagons. The Aquaman didn't recognize the prisoners' faces, but he knew without a doubt that they must be important figures from the Tanilia Federation.

They were right; the famous pirate, captain, and explorer William Kidd was imprisoned in the middle of the prison van.

The prisoners brought back from Chiliu Island were not limited to those in the prison wagon; General Serbiati and General Layton sent all the prisoners back to Hailan to participate in the prisoner presentation ceremony.

However, the transport ship carrying ordinary prisoners tragically sank, leaving only a few important prisoners held in solitary confinement alive, all of whom were in the prison van.

Although the ranks of prisoners looked somewhat shabby, it did not diminish the Venetians' joy.

Following the prison cart were two elaborately decorated carriages. Clowns dressed in fine clothes grabbed handfuls of silver coins and spice powder from the money bags on the carriages and threw them at the crowd, causing a scramble.

It was as if the carnival had arrived early, and the whole city was in a frenzy.

The streets and alleys were packed with people, children ran onto rooftops, and women leaned out of second-floor windows, waving bouquets and fans. Many ordinary people followed the procession with great joy.

With cannons firing and bells ringing, people set off fireworks and held thanksgiving services, turning the city into a sea of ​​joy and happiness.

The long procession circled the city once, eventually returning to its starting point, Parliament Square.

As captured battle flags, weapons, armor, and even four cannons were thrown one by one into the Loggia—right at the feet of Perseus, who held up Medusa's head—the crowd grew increasingly frenzied.

The euphoria was contagious, and everyone caught up in it was unable to extricate themselves. The people gathered in Venetia chanted "Victory! St. Mark! Victory! St. Mark!" over and over again, desperately reaching out to touch the golden casket containing the saint's remains.

The atmosphere was hazy and fervent, with people giving thanks to the gods and saints for the victory and yearning to receive even the slightest blessing themselves. In a sense, this victory parade had become a religious procession.

Even the officers' honor guard became the center of the storm.

The reserved girls and young women, overwhelmed by excitement, threw themselves into the Sea of ​​Senas, showering the imposing knights with bouquets and silk fans.

Many daring women even removed their masks and veils and threw them to the officers who served as honor guards—a very, very explicit suggestion in Venetian culture.

For a moment, Winters felt as if a rain of hard objects were hitting him; the Tanilians' arrows had never been so dense. He was only thankful that he was wearing full plate armor and a helmet, otherwise he would surely have been covered in bumps on his head.

After seven rounds of salutes, the figure of Governor Debella appeared on the Loggia.

The consul began a passionate speech, but Winters could barely hear a word.

In fact, no one in Parliament Square could clearly hear what was being said. Each sentence Debera spoke was met with a deafening roar of cheers from the crowd. The cheers even interrupted Debera's speech several times, forcing the consul to wait until things quieted down slightly before continuing.

Winters, however, paid no attention to what the people in the loggia were saying. According to procedure, the guard of honor could be dismissed once the consul began his speech.

The noise made Strongy uneasy; the three-year-old colt snorted in discontent, and Lieutenant Montagne just wanted to get away from the frenzied atmosphere of Parliament Square as soon as possible.

Taking advantage of the crowd's attention shifting to the governor who was giving a speech, the officers who had returned from Chiliu Island exchanged gestures, dismounted, and struggled to squeeze their way out of the square, leading their mounts.

Of course, the honor guard couldn't just leave quietly like that. Along the way, the girls stuffed jewelry, paper slips with addresses, and handkerchiefs embroidered with family crests and initials into the young men's arms.

A small folding fan made of fragrant wood was even shoved into the observation window of Winters' helmet. The foreign object was aimed straight at his eyes, and Winters instinctively dodged, only to bump into another woman.

The officers squeezed out of the square in a rather disheveled manner, and only when they reached a sparsely populated area were they able to remove their helmets, which were making it difficult for them to breathe.

"Huh? Where's Don Juan?" Lieutenant Pisani counted the heads and realized the number was wrong.

"Huh? He's gone?" Winters exclaimed in surprise. After counting, he realized that Don Juan wasn't the only one missing. "Could he have been trampled?! I'll go back and look for him!"

After saying that, Winters mounted his horse and headed into the crowd.

Captain Lelo reached out and grabbed the reins of the Strongwheel, saying helplessly, "You rascal, really... Since those guys didn't come with us, they must have somewhere to go. Don't recklessly ruin their plans!"

Winters then understood what was going on, and, with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, dismounted again.

“Montagne is too green to understand,” Pisani teased. “But what about Senior Lelo? What brings you with us?”

Lelo and Pisani exchanged a glance, and both gave each other knowing, meaningful smiles.

Not long ago, Winters was in the hellish siege battlefield. Now, he's a war hero, back in the prosperous, crowded, bustling city of Hailan, where his friends talk about nothing but women, women, and women.

Winters has yet to adapt well to this stark contrast in distance; the magnificent scene before him always feels like a dream, completely unreal.

In the square, the clamor of voices gradually coalesced into one name: "St. Mark! St. Mark! St. Mark!"

Hearing the shouts of the crowd, Winters chuckled: "I don't recall Saint Mark ever killing any Tanilians."

The other officers around Winters looked somewhat embarrassed by his rebellious remarks.

“We are the hands of Saint Mark! Hahaha, this is just for fun, to make everyone happy.” Pisani immediately laughed and put his arm around Winters’ neck: “Do you think the old man wants to go to the loggia and spit? But the Venetians love this kind of thing. If he doesn’t keep everyone happy, where will he get the money to continue the war?”

Winters realized his mistake and knew that Pisani was trying to smooth things over for him, so he nodded and chuckled a few times in agreement.

"Don't be fooled by the grand spectacle; this is probably the cheapest way." Lelo also seemed a little disappointed. "The people of Hailan will forget our names in a month, but even a hundred years from now, they will remember this grand victory parade. That old man Debera is a master at manipulating people's hearts!"

Not far away, in that familiar carriage, Winters saw the people inside waving to him. Knowing they were getting impatient, he bid farewell to the others. The officers of the honor guard went their separate ways and naturally dispersed on the spot.

Winters tied the reins of the carriage to the back beam and then opened the door.

Anna had been waiting in the car for a long time.

She reached out and helped Wen Tesla into the car, saying with a smile, "I really feel like Hailan hasn't been this lively in a long time."

"The battle isn't even won yet, so it's a bit too early to celebrate victory," Winters sighed, sounding somewhat worried about the matter.

But Winters didn't realize that this wasn't the right atmosphere for such conversation. The air in the carriage seemed to suddenly cool down because of his awkward silence.

Anna held Winters' hand tightly, sensing that Winters no longer seemed as happy as before.

She squeezed Winters' hand, feigning anger, and said, "Mr. Montagne, you really should learn how to please a girl!"

"Haha, then who can teach me?" Winters' face showed a genuine smile for the first time today.

“Of course it is…” Anna’s smile was radiant as she spoke, but her gaze was suddenly drawn to the helmet Winters had placed beside him: “…Hmm? What’s that?”

Before Winters could react, Anna had already let go of his hand and picked up his helmet.

A small, exquisite folding fan was prominently displayed on the helmet.

At this moment, Winters was completely unaware of the crisis before him, and he replied somewhat bewilderedly, "Isn't it a folding fan?"

Anna took the folding fan off the helmet, unfolded it to examine it, and then picked up the helmet and sniffed it. Having reached a conclusion, Anna looked at Winters with a very amused expression.

Lieutenant Montagne then realized something was amiss, and he cautiously explained, "Someone gave it to me... I don't even know who gave it to me... Actually, I didn't want it... This folding fan almost hit my eye..."

Anna fiddled with her folding fan, a faint smile playing on her lips. She remained silent, listening as Winters defended himself.

"If you like it... I'll give it to you?" Winters said helplessly. But after thinking about it, he felt that such a gift was a bit strange, so he changed his mind and said, "How about I buy you an exactly the same one?"

“No, I want this one.” Anna suddenly closed the folding fan.

"Okay, it's yours."

Anna suddenly stood up and moved closer to Winters. Strands of her hair brushed against Winters' face; they were so close that Winters could almost feel the heat emanating from Anna. Human body temperature should be uniform, but at that moment, Winters could clearly feel that Anna's body was burning hot.

"You...you...what are you going to do..." Warrant Officer Montagne almost stopped breathing.

Anna reached out and wrapped her arms around Winters' neck, and then... unbuckled the belt buckle on Winters' breastplate.

Winters' ceremonial armor was not the crudely made breastplates issued to ordinary swordsmen. Although it didn't fit him perfectly, it was a complete set of exquisitely crafted three-quarter plate armor.

This armor offers particularly robust protection for the core area. In melee combat, it would be enough to give even the most skilled swordsmen a headache.

Even with such a tightly sealed suit of armor, the women still managed to slip several handkerchiefs under their armpits and around their waists. Winters didn't even realize when they were being slipped in—there were just too many people, it was too crowded.

Winters consciously unfastened his arm guards, and sure enough, two handkerchiefs were stuffed into them.

“You’re quite popular, aren’t you… Lord Montaigne,” Anna said, folding her handkerchiefs neatly one by one.

The handkerchiefs were sprayed with perfume, making the carriage smell exceptionally fragrant.

Winters said helplessly, "Once you put this helmet on, you don't know if it's a person or a ghost inside. If anything is popular, it's just this armor. If you wear this and walk around the square, you'll definitely get more than I do."

Anna chuckled and placed the folded handkerchiefs into Winters' hands: "Alright, alright, you can keep these handkerchiefs. When you're old, you can hold them and reminisce about your glorious past."

"Do I need that?" Winters was both annoyed and amused. "I'll show you a magic trick."

After saying that, he put the helmet on Anna's head, grabbed a handkerchief, stuck his head out of the car window, and began to concentrate.

While Winters' magical abilities didn't improve significantly in absolute terms, his skill in using magic had undergone a dramatic transformation after numerous battles. Essentially, his physical strength hadn't changed much, but his power generation and combat techniques had become increasingly refined.

Winters smoothly entered a spellcasting state, unleashing a fire spell that instantly ignited the flammable silk handkerchief.

Anna, having removed her helmet, scoffed, "I'm not afraid of you accepting other people's handkerchiefs."

“I didn’t want to accept it, I was afraid.” Winters felt utterly exhausted.

Anna gave him a playful glare, then suddenly leaned down and gently touched Winters' forehead with her lips. Afterward, she casually tossed the folding fan engraved with a young lady's name out the window.

The black carriage slowly drove away from Parliament Square.

……

In fact, the speech given by the consul de Bella—which Winters did not listen to attentively and the people in the square did not pay attention to—was very important.

Although the war is not over yet.

But De Bella's grand victory parade convinced the Venetians of three things: Venetia had already won, Venetia was winning, and Venetia was on its way to new victories.

Debera took this opportunity to announce three things.

First, the captured Tanilian cannons and weapons will be used to cast a new statue of St. Mark – this is basically a traditional custom of the Venetians, of course using old cannons and weapons.

Secondly, all debtors can receive debt relief through military service;
Finally, conscription will be carried out in the rural areas of Venetia to form two new legions. The war will continue until Venetia achieves final victory;
The second and third things are actually the same thing: manpower.

The standing army consists of recruited, elite professional soldiers; while the reserves are well-trained civilians.

That is, half of the Great Venetta Legion and the entire Saint Mark Legion are composed entirely of urban population—most of whom are citizens of Ocean City.

These conscripted reservists were the city's elite. Received weapons training and carried weapons was a privilege in Venetia; the struggling lower classes had neither the energy nor the money to acquire them.

Therefore, reserve soldiers were essentially "citizen soldiers," consisting of wealthy merchants and artisans from the city. They received military training once a week, and a significant portion of the reserve soldiers purchased their own weapons and armor.

For this reason, although they were not as elite as the regular army, the reserve soldiers also demonstrated strong combat capabilities in the battle on Chiliu Island.

But the two legions have already drawn away nearly 10,000 of the city's essential workforce—able-bodied adult male citizens.

If the large-scale conscription of reservists continues, the production and daily life of cities like Hailan and Veine TC will inevitably be affected.

Therefore, new legions and reinforcements will be recruited from rural areas... Whether this decision is good or bad, no one knows.

A week after the victory parade, a new fleet assembled at Blue Harbor.

Before their departure, the governor of Debera held a grand send-off ceremony.

Amidst the deafening sounds of gongs and drums and the resounding bugles, clergy performed a religious ceremony to bless the fleet.

Debera handed a battle flag to fleet commander Crozeno. On the red background of the flag was a lion embroidered in gold thread, wearing a crown, with wings on its back, holding a sword in one paw and a book in the other.

The Consul solemnly announced:

God has given you a sacred mission: to defend this republic with your courage and avenge those who dare to insult it and threaten its security. We bestow upon you this victorious and awe-inspiring banner; your task is to carry it in triumph and never tarnish its honor.

Amid cheers from the crowd and the sound of cannons, the fleet slowly sailed away from Hailan Harbor.

However, the ship was only carrying reinforcements and military supplies. The two new legions had not yet been fully assembled, and their unit numbers had not even been determined.

Crow Zeno was only a commodore, whose rank in the military was far lower than that of Nareshaw, Antonia, and Layton.

However, no ceremony was held when the Legion of Vinetta set out, nor when St. Mark set out. Instead, the departure ceremony for a small supply fleet was a grand affair, leaving those who knew the inside story speechless.

Winters was also in this fleet.

His return to the mainland was partly for escorting prisoners, but primarily for recuperating from his injuries. Dr. Kane sternly told him, "If you don't want to have your arm amputated, go home and rest."

However, after three weeks of rest, Winters felt that his arrow wound had almost healed.

He didn't want to fight, but António was on the front lines, as were Bader, Andrei, and Moritz. He couldn't bear to stay in the safety of his homeland and watch his loved ones bleed.
Therefore, Warrant Officer Winters Montagne applied for early return to his post.

The faces of those seeing them off on the shore were no longer clearly visible. Winters returned to his cabin. He carefully opened the exquisite pendant in his hand, inside which were portraits of Kosha and Ella... and Anna's as well.

Anna's gift is that she can capture the soul of the subject with delicate brushstrokes on a small piece of paper.

Anna's voice lingered in his ears: "Write to me! Monsieur Montagne, write me a hundred letters, please write every day. Tell me anything, you can tell me anything! I will write to you every day too! I will wait for you... I will write to you every day! Please write to me too! Don't forget me..."

Winters stared at it for a moment, then closed the pendant, fastened it, and carefully hung it back around his neck.

Before leaving, he promised Anna, "After all this is over... leave the army or apply for a safe position."

“Retiring with the rank of lieutenant colonel isn’t so bad,” Winters thought to himself as he lay in bed.

……

On the shore, the silhouettes of ships on the other side of the sea have gradually disappeared below the horizon.

Elizabeth helped the tearful Mrs. Serbiati, while Sofia held the weeping Miss Navarre.

Ella never expected that in the end, it would be the youngest version of herself who would be the strongest. She actually wanted to cry, but she firmly believed that "Winters will be fine."

……

Along with the soldiers, there were also appointed officials, special envoys, merchants, priests, speculators... The number of these non-military personnel was more than twice that of the military personnel.

With dreams of glory and wealth, Venetia's Fourth Fleet sailed toward the Tanilla Islands.

Note: This story is purely fictional. The "stealing of Saint Mark's remains 300 years ago" is inconsistent with the timeline of this universe. The technological level in the book is roughly between the 16th and 17th centuries, while the "stealing of the bones" in this world takes place in 828. Please do not take the plot of this novel as fact.

Thank you to all the readers who voted for the book before, and thank you to those who voted these past two days: Little Town Boy, Please Call Me Happy Sheep, Black Computer Accessories, Social Justice Old Wang, Justice and Purity is Koala, The Most in Your Life, writersblock, World Under Heaven, Calm Gray, Cloud Moon 1981, Sky Lens, Beauty in the Sky, and Swift []. Thank you everyone. Thank you to Cloud Moon 1981 for the donation. Thank you.



(End of this chapter)