Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 370: Casting stones to ask for directions
[early morning]
[Steel Castle, NA District, Rose Lake]
When Vahika led [Borso da Este]’s servant to Winters, Baron Granahy and his private priest were doing their morning exercise by the lake.

The so-called morning exercise consisted of the priest sullenly throwing stones into the lake, while the baron kept trying to shoot small stones into the air and shatter them.

The days spent traveling in the Republic of Monta were a rare moment of leisure for Winters.

He no longer had to be on high alert, and he had plenty of time to appreciate beautiful scenery, investigate local conditions, draw maps, and experience local delicacies.

He even picked up his spellcasting practice again after a long hiatus, and even had the energy to develop some new tricks.

……

If nothing unexpected had happened, Winters should have had one such happy day when he graduated from the Army Academy two years ago.

Because every officer cadet is required to return to their hometown for a year of practical training and internship during their fourth semester at the Army Academy.

At this point, all the trainee officers from Venetta would invariably choose to travel the long distance and volunteer to return home by land.

The young military cadets, dressed in fine clothes and riding spiritedly, will visit famous cities, historical sites, and battlefields along the inner sea coast, returning home amidst revelry and merriment.

This ceremony is known within the Vinnetta officer corps as the "Victory Parade," signifying that the officer cadets have finally made it through nine years of hardship at the military academy.

It was also jokingly called the "Journey of Losing Virginity" because the vast majority of Vineta officers lost their virginity on one of the nights of the victory parade...

Every year during the victory parade, the trainee officers would cause a series of mishaps. However, the military high command in Venetta always tacitly approved of these incidents, treating them as nothing happened as long as no one was killed, and often even helping to clean up the mess.

Unfortunately, when it was Winters' turn to "parade," the cadet officers, for the first time ever, boarded a ship heading home. Instead of enjoying the unbridled pleasure, he and his classmates were intercepted by pirates halfway home.

This trip from Palatine to Steelburg inadvertently made up for the regret of two years ago.

……

Thinking of this, Winters sighed inwardly.

The pebbles on the shore are of varying sizes and shapes, making them unsuitable for casting arrow-throwing spells, as their flight trajectory is difficult to control.

Winters' attention was slightly distracted, and the stone he shot immediately went astray.

Kaman, oblivious to anything amiss, continued to toss egg-sized pebbles onto the lake. Judging by his gritted teeth, it was as if the lake's surface wasn't ice, but Winters's face…

Although the priest was not particularly burly and had a gentle demeanor, he possessed considerable strength in his arms and waist, and his movements were fluid and powerful.

He swung his arm and twisted his waist, seemingly making a light, effortless move, and the stone traced a graceful arc before landing on the ice in the distance.

Winters estimated the distance between Kaman and the point where the rock would land to be at least thirty-five meters. He picked up a rock and weighed it, feeling that he probably couldn't throw it as far as Kaman.

"Why! Why do I have to do this!" Kaman grumbled as he threw stones at the ice. "I'm playing with stones with you!"

Winters calmly shot out a pebble: "If I ask someone else for help, wouldn't that expose my identity?"

"So I won't be exposed if I come?"

“You are a priest, and I am a spellcaster. We can keep each other’s secrets,” Winters said casually. “Besides, you know all my cards.”

"Enough with the nonsense!" Kaman's temper flared, and he threw the stone with three times more force: "Your little lackey Charles, Pierre, and your other men, are they all no good?"

“Why aren’t they here? Charles and Heinrich are protecting Berlion, and Pierre is waiting outside the city.” Winters spread his hands innocently. “Of the rest, I trust you the most. I practice my magic, and you vent your emotions. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.”

"You practiced magic, and now you've annoyed me again," Kaman retorted. "A win-win situation? You mean you win twice?"

“You’re finally starting to have a sense of humor, Priest Carman,” Winters said with a laugh. “That’s wonderful.”

Suddenly, the wolfhound guarding the two of them raised its head alertly and growled at Winters' back.

Winters turned around and saw Vahika leading someone over.

"Quiet," Winters simply ordered, and the two wolfhounds immediately sat down obediently.

Vahika brought [Borso da Este]’s servant to Winters, and the servant, dressed in a cloak, bowed respectfully in greeting and then presented an invitation with both hands.

The invitation, decorated with gold foil patterns, features a short, flowing cursive script:
[Dear Sir and Madam, if you have no better entertainment in mind and are not worried about being bored while spending an evening with me, please do not hesitate to visit my humble abode tonight. You will be most welcome.]
The paper is signed "Borso de Esther" and has a watermark in the shape of a "spread-winged eagle".

Winters nodded, and Vahika was about to lead the servant away. However, the servant's movements were somewhat slow.

“[Old saying] Wait a minute.” Winters stopped the two men, handed the servant three gold coins, and then uttered a series of old sayings.

Kaman, standing to the side, paused for a moment, then hesitated briefly before reluctantly translating, "The Baron thanks His Excellency Esther for the invitation and will certainly attend."

The servant thanked him repeatedly and followed Vahika, satisfied. After the two had gone some distance, Winters took out the invitation again and carefully examined it inside and out.

"Where did the invitation come from?" Kaman asked.

“A gift from Mr. Ed.” Winters glanced at the text on the invitation: “Judging from the contents, many copies should have been sent out. There will be quite a few guests attending the party.”

Kaman nodded.

Winters sniffed the invitation paper and chuckled, "It's been scented; the White Eagles are truly extravagant."

As he spoke, he tried to peel off the gold foil from the invitation cover, but to no avail.

"I casually rewarded the errand runner with three gold coins." Kaman mocked without any politeness: "Now you know how to be stingy?"

Winters put away the invitation and said helplessly, "Vasha gives one amount, and I give another. Vasha is a dullard. If it were Pierre, he would have taken care of everything without anyone even having to hint to him."

“Don’t you think you’re being hypocritical, Mr. Montagne?” Kaman pointed to the buildings by the lake. “You’ve received so much gold and are staying in the best hotel in Steel Castle. Is it really necessary for you to pretend to be heartbroken over three gold coins?”

“Living here is a status requirement,” Winters said, unmoved. “And it’s not that I’m stingy with the money, I just feel sorry for the waste.”

Kaman remained noncommittal.

“You know that all the gold bars melted down from the sacrificial statue belong to the public, and you were a witness during the collective vote.” Winters was a little indignant: “Even if I really feel bad about it… I didn’t use the public accounts when I stayed in the hotel, I used my own money, so why can’t I feel bad?”

"Where did you get the money if you didn't use official accounts?"

"Salary!" Winters said with a clear conscience, "I haven't received my salary for over a year! Can't I at least get it back?"

Kaman and Winters looked at each other for a while, their attitude softening, and they praised each other half-jokingly: "You really are very good at separating public and private matters, Your Excellency Montagne."

Winters felt wronged: "Keep public and private matters separate? I haven't even calculated Anna's salary yet!"

Kaman fell completely silent. After a moment, he surrendered and said, "Mr. Morozov is no good. Why don't you just call Pierre back?"

“Then who will take care of the people left outside the city? I only have a few capable helpers, and I need to put them in the most suitable positions.” Winters put his arm around Kaman’s shoulder and said affectionately, “That’s why I need you to help me train them, dear Father. I’m so grateful that you’re willing to be my translator.”

Kaman slapped Winters' arm away in disgust: "Why do we have to use old phrases? Is it fun to play the aristocrat?"

Winters replied matter-of-factly, "Pretending to be an aristocrat is boring, but if I speak Common Tongue, my accent will give me away."

“Ha.” Kaman sneered: “You think your old language is very standard, huh?”
Winters touched his nose, a little embarrassed: "Does my old language have an accent?"

Kaman didn't answer, he just kept sneering.

"No matter what, it doesn't matter if they don't understand."

“Oh?” Kaman retorted, “Then why is it that you’re playing the aristocrat, and I’m playing your personal priest and translator, instead of the other way around?!”

"Great idea!" Winters exclaimed, as if he had found a treasure. He earnestly promised, "Next time you play the bishop, and I'll play your butler and valet. I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

"There's going to be a next time?!" Kaman exclaimed anxiously.

“I mean,” Winters quickly reassured, “if there’s a next time.”

Kaman stared at Winters, his shoulders twitching, and the stone in his hand snapped in two.

"[You shall not steal, nor deceive, nor lie to one another.] [You shall destroy the one who tells lies. Those who love bloodshed and deceit are an abomination to the Lord.]" Kaman solemnly warned, "Mr. Montagne, lying also leads to purgatory."

"Purgatory?" Winters was a little surprised. "I thought you were going to say Hell..."

Kaman took a deep breath and threw both stones away.

Winters stopped joking and the two silently "sparred".

After a while, Kaman said sullenly, "The lineages of the imperial nobles are registered by special personnel, and can be easily checked. You can only fool them for a while by making up a surname, so it's best not to be too high-profile."

"Ok."

Kaman silently threw a few more stones.

"...What is the Beast Spirit Speaker?"

Winters didn't tease Kaman as usual; he didn't stop what he was doing and said casually, "I'll tell you now."

[Too short, this doesn't count as a chapter, consider it an apology letter... (facepalm) (Orz)]
[This chapter is not counted in the daily update; any chapters owed will be added to the "debt pool".]
[The current repayment plan is as follows: the baseline update frequency remains "three updates per week," but the author will do their best to update "one update per day" until the previous missed update period is paid off. After paying off the missed update period, the author will continue to try to maintain one update per day.]
[Why not just stipulate three updates a week? Why use this inconsistent algorithm?]
[Because the author discovered that if a direct rule of three updates a week were imposed, the author probably wouldn't even be able to maintain three updates (facepalm). Aiming high, one only achieves the middle; aiming for the middle, one ends up with the lowest… Only in this way is there any possibility of paying off the debt (facepalm)]
[Thank you all for your understanding, thank you to Comrade Qinghan for keeping the accounts, and thank you to all the readers for your collections, reading, subscriptions, recommendations, monthly tickets, rewards, and comments. Thank you everyone!]
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(End of this chapter)