Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 54 The Guard of Honor

At dawn, a beautiful three-masted ship appeared on the sea. The main mast of the ship was flying the flag representing the emperor of the Muro Empire, while the second tallest mast was flying the coat of arms of a nobleman whom Winters did not recognize.

While both ships have three masts, this one is far superior to the small boat like the Skua. This three-masted ship is an imposing warship, with its stern and forecourts both three stories high, the majestic superstructures resembling two camel humps standing on the deck.

A small ship like the Skua is like a dwarf in front of a giant; it could be crushed with the slightest movement of the other ship's finger.

"Finally here! We've been waiting for so long," Andrei complained to Winters in a low voice.

Winters yawned: "So mysterious, I wonder which important person it is."

As temporary members of the honor guard, Winters and Andrei were already waiting at the naval dock outside Aquamarine City before dawn, and were now extremely sleepy.

Bud was fortunate enough to be left out because he was a little short. Winters, Andrei, and eighteen other trainee officers were unfortunately chosen and are now serving as an honor guard, carrying halberds and wearing armor, to support the army.

Once the investigation shifted its focus to the Army, Winters found himself with a lot of free time. All the regular officers were of higher rank than him, and a probationary officer had no right to question any of them.

Although in theory the military police are tools used by the army to deal with its own people, the military police department under Field's command was different.

The Army Headquarters Military Police were essentially just gatekeepers; the headquarters wall served as the boundary of their jurisdiction. The "military police" were only responsible for standing guard at a few gates and had never arrested anyone.

So Winters has been spending most of his time in the office lately, doing odd jobs like receiving and sending documents and scheduling the gatekeepers. When he has free time, he spends it chatting and drinking tea with the scribe Moruc. He also has plenty of time to handle his personal matters, such as ordering a steel awl, making a scabbard for Elizabeth, and getting blueprints for Giovanni.

Meanwhile, the two officers were out working hard to investigate the case.

There aren't many army officers who meet all these criteria: proficiency with firearms, skill with a swift sword, a chin injury, and no alibi on the day of the assassination.

Most army officers only knew how to use firearms; they were commanders of musketeers, not musketeers themselves. And as Instructor Nair pointed out, many officers abandoned their swordsmanship after leaving military school because it was rarely used. For example, Warrant Officer Montagne hadn't practiced swordsmanship since boarding the ship home; his victory over Major Moritz was entirely due to his past experience.

A hundred years ago, even kings and dukes would wear armor, ride warhorses, and charge into battle on the front lines.

However, with the transformation of military doctrine and the increasing size of armies, officers have become a technical profession. The Northern Empire, despite having readily available military aristocrats as officers, has in recent years followed the example of the Confederate States of America by establishing military academies.

Individual bravery is no longer the primary criterion for evaluating commanders; therefore, only those who genuinely love swordsmanship and shooting will persist in practicing these skills.

Major Moritz, who had been hiding his leisurely life, could no longer pretend to be deaf and dumb, because Winters' description reminded him of a small group—the Duelists Club.

The Duelists Club is a small association within the Army, primarily composed of Army officers who enjoy hand-to-hand combat techniques involving both cold and firearms. They meet and compete regularly. It's not considered a secret society; any Army officer who is interested can join.

Moritz thought they could start by investigating the members of the Duelists Club, and unusually volunteered to take on the task of obtaining the Duelists Club's membership list—since the Major himself was also a member of the Duelists Club.

But after only two days of leisure, another assignment came up: headquarters had selected the twenty tallest officers from this year's probationary officers. Winters was informed that he had been honored to be selected for this year's officer honor guard of the Venetia Army.

Winters then learned that every year, twenty tall officers were selected from among the Army's probationary officers to form the so-called "officer honor guard." Simply put, they were dressed in imposing attire and then acted as puppets at various important Army events.

Because any minor or major incident would require them to be called upon to act as human statues, no regular officer wanted to do this job. In the end, they could only select people from the probationary officers, rotating them every year.

Andrei and Winters were both unfortunately selected, so they stood dumbfounded at the dock early in the morning, their armor covered in dew, and they didn't even know who they were there to greet.

As the ship passed the gun emplacements surrounding the naval dock, the gun decks and sterncastles of the approaching ship opened one after another, revealing the dark cannons.

From Winters and Andrei's perspective, the warship was spewing plumes of blue smoke, followed by thunderous roars from the sea.

The warship is firing its cannons in salute.

Reloading cannons takes time, and the 32-pounder short-barreled cannons used for close-range destruction of enemy ships even required sailors to hoist them over the hull for loading. When warships entered another country's port, firing empty cannons was a way of indicating that they had no hostile intentions, and over time this evolved into a special form of etiquette.

The navy's gun emplacements also fired in return.

It wasn't until they got closer that Winters realized the warship's hull was lavishly decorated with oil paint, wood carvings, and gold plating.

The lavish decorations served no practical purpose in actual combat; they were purely for displaying royal grandeur and majesty, which made Winters despise this flashy and impractical imperial style from the bottom of his heart.

Guided by a pilot boat, the magnificent and imposing warship slowly lowered its sails and gently docked at the naval pier.

"First artillery group! Ignite!" At this command, the army's artillery was fired.

For over two decades, the Army and Navy in Venetta have been locked in a bitter rivalry, fighting over everything from military budgets to chairs on the Thirteen-Person Committee to the most trivial matters.

The salute from the artillery battery just now was a gesture of respect from the navy. With the army present, it was obviously not appropriate for the navy to represent Veneta alone. Therefore, the army also specially brought over a dozen cannons to fire the salute.

Before anyone on the ship had even disembarked, two figures circling in the sky gradually grew larger. These figures initially appeared to be only the size of seagulls, but that was due to their immense altitude. Only when they truly approached the ground did everyone on the dock realize they were two terrifying behemoths.

The two birds resembled eagles, but ordinary eagles wouldn't be this large. These two giant eagles had wingspans wider than the warships, and flying in the air, they looked like two dark clouds. The two enormous creatures swooped down, and the gunners were terrified and scattered in all directions, no matter how much the officers shouted, they couldn't be brought back.

Two giant eagles gracefully landed on the dock, spreading their wings in a defiant manner and letting out a sharp cry as they scanned their surroundings with indifferent yellow eyes. Winters estimated that the two giant eagles had a wingspan of at least ten meters, and when they stood up, they were taller than a one-story building, standing on the dock like two high walls.

Winters, of course, didn't run away like the gunners. The officers' honor guard remained motionless, because they knew what these things were. However, if he hadn't seen these two giant eagles with his own eyes, Winters wouldn't have believed that such creatures actually existed in the world.

“[A curse slipped out]” Winters exclaimed in a low voice, “The False Emperor actually has such a giant eagle? I thought it was just a boast in the war history.”

Andrei did not reply; his legs trembled uncontrollably, and his teeth chattered uncontrollably.

Andrei can't be blamed; the fear instilled by such a behemoth was simply too intense, as if a legendary monster had torn open a book and crawled out. Andrei was brave enough not to run away with the gunners.

"What's there to be afraid of?" Winters nudged Andrei secretly. "As long as it's alive, it's bound to be afraid of cannons. It's just a big turkey, right? The pseudo-emperor can come up with this kind of flashy but impractical thing to scare people."

“I’m not afraid at all,” Andrei replied angrily, though his body language betrayed his true feelings.

Two short men dismounted from the eagle's back, causing another gasp from the soldiers. These two giant eagle riders wore no armor, only black leather garments.

One of them stood in front of the army officers' honor guard and the navy officers' honor guard, and said in a loud voice: "The plenipotentiary representative of the supreme Emperor Muro, the Grand Seal Keeper of the Cabinet, Count Narcia, pays his respects to you all!"

This man was not tall, but his voice was incredibly loud, and could be heard clearly throughout the entire naval dock.

"Isn't this just an attempt to intimidate us Venetians? Who are they trying to scare?" Andrei said, clearly displeased.

Winters scoffed, "These idiots who engage in incestuous marriages love to do this kind of useless stuff."

The two men had arrived at the naval dock before dawn to await orders, and now they had been tricked like this, which made them very unhappy. Being at the back of the line, they chatted even more unrestrainedly. A group of soldiers in black half-armor and carrying straight swords were the first to disembark, standing in a line evenly spaced along the entire pier, extending all the way to the dry shore.

"Is this the Loyalists' Army of the Oathbreakers?" Winters sized up the black-armored soldiers. "They're not as powerful as they claim, are they? The fact that they've deployed the Loyalists' Army for protection shows that the Oathbreakers value this so-called Minister of the Seals quite a bit."

The Loyalists were an army established by Henry III, the current Mulligan emperor, upon his accession to the throne. As the name suggests, this army recruited soldiers specifically from the orphans of fallen soldiers and royal officials who died in battle. Their main responsibility was to guard the palace and protect Henry III himself. They were the only army allowed to enter the palace with weapons, enjoying the deep trust of the oathbreakers, and were considered the empire's most elite force.

Andrei said sarcastically, "The oath-breaker himself broke his oath, so he is particularly worried about others betraying him, which is why he created this thing. The father is dead, but the son still has to continue to serve the oath-breaker. What kind of loyal heir army is this? I think it should be called the 'extinction army'."

Those black-armored loyalists couldn't hear Andrei's words; instead, Winters felt a bitter taste in his mouth. Because, in essence, he was also a "loyalist," belonging to Veneta's loyalist army.

Many cadets at the Army Officer School, like Winters, were sons of fallen officers. As Andrei said: "The father dies, the son continues to serve."

Andrei realized his slip of the tongue and slapped himself hard through his helmet: "My mouth... damn it... really... don't mind it..."

"It's nothing...it's alright." Winters knew that Andrei hadn't meant it, and in the end, he was the one who smiled and comforted Andrei.

The honor guard's task was simple: to stand on either side of the road with the naval officers' honor guard, staring at each other. Once the important figures had boarded their carriages and left, the honor guard disbanded.

However, Winters, who was on his way back to Army Headquarters, was stopped by a stranger.

A giant eagle, the Argentavis magnificens, did exist in the Late Neogene period. However, considering the strength of bird skeletons, it likely couldn't carry a person. The giant eagle in the book is a fantasy version of the Argentavis magnificens, with stronger bones, a longer wingspan, and a lighter person could ride it.

Thank you to all the readers who voted for the book before, thank you to reader 烟云散 for the vote, and thank you to reader 20181013204343295 for the vote. Thank you everyone.

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(End of this chapter)