Iron Powder and Spellcaster

When the three of them said goodbye to Lieutenant Mason, the senior was full of reluctance. I just stuffed a few large packages of beef jerky and pork jerky into the saddle bags of several people, saying they were the specialties of the ranch. He also insisted on giving me a ride, and finally sent him more than ten kilometers away.

Before leaving, Mason almost begged: "You must come see me again when you have time, of course." After that, he stood on the dirt slope beside the road and watched, until his sight was blocked by the terrain.

Winters, Bud, and Andre set out on the road back to their base with heavy hearts.

When the horse stopped, Andre said in a depressed mood: "If the Japanese guy doesn't let us go, I'm afraid we will end up like that in a few years."

"Lieutenant Mason's situation is worse than ours." Bud was as calm and cold as usual: "It seems that he is the warden, but in fact, what is the difference between him and the prisoner?"

"Warm water boils frogs." Winters threw the quartz in his hand to the puddle in the distance, and sighed: "I always feel that there is a way out, so I don't dare to give it a try, but I will end up with the worst result. If I just arrived at the Kings When we were at the fort, we fled directly back to Veneta, and maybe we wouldn’t have so many worries.”

The white quartz stone slid through an arc in the air, fell into the water with a plop and disappeared, leaving only a few small ripples.

…

After arriving in Blackwater Town, Winters and Bard changed back to their original mounts and immediately went their separate ways.

Heishui Town and Langtun Town use the Heishui River as the natural boundary. There is no bridge on the river, but there is a shoal that can be wade on foot.

When Winters arrived at the fording site, he found that Angelou had already been guarding the crossing point.

"Ensign!" Angelou couldn't wait to tell Winters: "You have guests! Two guests!"

Waiting for Winters in the police station were two guests he never expected.

"Gold?" Winters couldn't believe his eyes: "You? Why are you here?"

The thin, dark man in front of him laughed loudly, showing his gold teeth. It was none other than "Good Luck" Gold, the former pirate, former sailor, and former sailor.

"I'm not the only one here! Sir!" Gold laughed and said, "There is also an acquaintance of yours."

A young man ran out from behind Gold, rushed forward and hugged Winters.

The sudden situation caught Winters off guard. He was stunned for a long time before he recognized who the boy hugging him was: "Char? Ah? Is it you?"

If he read correctly, the person hugging him was Benvenuto's third brother, Charles. It's just that it's been a year since we last met, and this kid has grown a lot taller. His face lost its childlike look and became somewhat adult-like.

"It's me, Brother Winters!" Ciel said excitedly: "We have finally found you!"

"You...why are you here? Did my letter arrive so soon?"

Winters never expected to meet an old friend in Wolf Town, let alone Ciel and Gold - two people with almost no connection.

"It's a long story." Gold pointed at Charles and said with a smile, "This guy is here to deliver a message to you."

"Who asked you two to send me a message?" Winters asked.

"No, no, no! Without me, there is only him." The former pirate captain shook his head repeatedly and said proudly: "I'm not here to deliver a letter to you. Your mother and your fiancée are worried that this kid is not capable of delivering the letter, so they hired I protected him all the way.”

There were so many questions in the other party's words that Winters didn't know how to speak.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Charles glared at Gold and explained to Winters: "It was Mrs. Serb and Miss Navarre who asked me to bring the letter."

"Letter? Where is the letter?" Winters' breathing suddenly accelerated.

Charles cut open the hem of his clothes with a knife and pulled out a paper roll wrapped in felt.

"What's the use of all this cleverness? You might as well just keep it in the package." Seeing Charles take the letter out of his clothes, Gold was very disdainful.

Charles immediately choked back: "Who knows if there are bad people?" When he said this, his eyes were fixed on Gold.

But Winters' mind was no longer on the two of them. He couldn't wait to open the letter and read it as quickly as possible.

There were three letters in total, one from Kesa, one from Elizabeth, and one from Anna.

There was nothing special in the letter, just a few words. Perhaps out of fear of being intercepted, Winters' name wasn't even mentioned.

But for Winters, these letters were as sweet as the first breath of air a drowning man takes again.

After listening to Ciel's story and combining it with the contents of the letter, Winters roughly figured out what was going on.

Back in time one year ago, Benvenuto was kidnapped by the Monta gang on the dock, and Ciel came to Winters for help. In order to prevent Ciel from being retaliated against, Winters asked Bard to send him to Flower City.

In the following days, Charles had been hiding in a relative's house in Baihua City, listening to the news from Hailan with fear, and did not return to Hailan until the storm gradually subsided.

At this time, five full months had passed since the Monta gang was bloodbathed. Ciel wanted to thank Winters, but learned that Winters had already taken the supply fleet to Tanilia for the second time.

Because Winters had said hello in advance, and Kesha also remembered that Charles was the younger brother of Winters’ classmate, Charles had been an apprentice in Giovanni [Antonio’s younger brother]’s workshop for the next six months.

As for the small incident a few months ago, Charles never mentioned it to anyone else. No one in the workshop knew that he was Benvenuto's younger brother, and no one knew that he had asked Winters for help.

Then there was the incident where the Provincial Army sent Veneta graduates to Plato.

While Winters was thinking about "how to get home" all the time, his family in Hailan were also trying to save him.

Due to communication difficulties caused by geographical distance and deliberate deception on the part of the United Provinces, the Veneta side was initially unable to obtain any valuable information.

At first, the Directory only knew that the warrant officers who went to Guitu City to participate in the investiture ceremony were missing, but they knew nothing about the whereabouts of the warrant officers. They thought that the federal provincial military had imprisoned the warrant officers.

The messengers sent back by the consul in Guitu City arrived at Hailan one after another, and only then did Veneta learn that the warrant officers had been sent to Plato.

At this time, it was too late to send people to chase, and the Directory had no choice but to negotiate with Plato.

However, the plateau people who had suffered a heavy loss had a tougher attitude and directly dispersed the Veneta second lieutenants. Before Debela's envoy arrived at the Castle of the Kings, the Veneta ensigns had already been sent to more remote stations.

It was only then that the news of the missing officers and cadets spread from the upper echelons of Veneta to ordinary citizens. For a time, the people in the Republic of Veneta were furious and public opinion was in an uproar.

The family members of the officer cadets were extremely distraught and launched a public petition in Parliament Square. After learning of the treacherous and provocative behavior of the United Provinces, ordinary Veneta citizens who had no connection with the officers and cadets were equally indignant.

For the Directory of Veneta, the sum of the cities equaled the country. Veneta's peasants had almost no political rights, a legacy of the era of autonomous cities and the wars of sovereignty.

As the heart of the Republic, angering Hailan is tantamount to angering the Veneta Republic.

The anger of Hailan citizens was like boiling lava, and the ruling committee was under great pressure from public opinion for a while.

Governor Debela had to personally come forward to appease the people and publicly promised to "save our children."

Despite DeBella's vows and impassioned words, not a single Veneta lieutenant could return home until the Galloping Country was satisfied.

How can we satisfy the Platoans?

Return the Plato officers who were sent overseas.

So the Directory of Veneta could actually do nothing.

Winters was sent to Plato, Antonio was still stationed in Taneria, and only Kesha and Elizabeth were left at home in Aquamarine City, as well as Sofia, who was staying temporarily.

Kesa wrote to Antonio asking her husband to send someone to take Winters back to Veneta. But Antonio rarely opposed his wife's idea.

Antonio's reply contained only one word - "Wait".

But the anxious Kesha couldn't wait, so Ciel came all the way from Hailan to Wolf Town with the letter.

"Have you received my letter at home?" Winters felt something was wrong.

"Letter? What letter?" Charles was also very surprised.

"It's the letter I delivered through the church."

"I didn't receive it, at least I don't know."

Winters thought for a while and asked, "When will you set off from Hailan?"

"Last month, six weeks ago."

Winters' letter had been sent only half a month ago, six weeks before he had been busy organizing a militia.

"Then how do you know I'm in Wolf Town?" Winters became more and more confused.

"I have to thank Miss Navarre for this." Charles said with a bad smile: "Ms. Navarre really likes you, Brother Winters."

Charles explained the relationship again, and Winters realized that it was Anna who, with the help of the Navarre Trading Company, found out that Winters was based in a town under the jurisdiction of Gevaudan.

Anna told Kesha the news, and then Charles and Gold immediately set off from Hailan. At that time, the letter Winters sent through the church had not even been written.

"When we set out, we only knew that you were near the city of Gévaudan, but we didn't know which town you were in. So we had to search town by town." Charles said happily: "My Lord, we only found five. Found it!"

"Wait a minute, are you saying that the Serbs and Miss Navarre asked you to come together?" Winters said the word "jointly" very clearly.

"Yes, actually it's enough for me to come alone." Charles glanced at Gold dissatisfied: "I don't know why I asked this pirate to come with me. This pirate took the opportunity to blackmail the lady for a lot of money!"

"Relying on you? If you can't get out of Venetta, you will die." Gold was very disdainful of Ciel's words. He looked at Winters: "Sir, your mother and your fiancée hired me. Although My asking price is a bit high, but it seems like your family is not short of money anyway."

Ciel snorted slightly. He knew about Winters' family connections, but he didn't bother to correct Gold.

"Doesn't that mean that my aunt already knows about Anna?" Winters suddenly realized this, and he suddenly felt dizzy.

While Winters was still in a daze, Gold lightly kicked Ciel.

"Okay!" the former pirate leader said gruffly: "We have already seen Lord Montagne, and there is no one else here. Stop hiding it and take out your things."

When Charles heard Gold's words, he felt as if he was struck by lightning and froze in place.

Gold sneered, snatched the wooden stick from Ciel's hand, put it on his knee and bent it hard.

The wooden stick broke in the middle, and a dozen pieces of finger-thick objects with a dark yellow metallic luster fell out of the wooden stick, making a clanging sound when they fell to the ground.

Winters picked up one of the pieces and could tell what it was without having to identify it.

He raised his eyebrows: "Gold bars?"

"It's gold bars. Twelve of them are here, not a single one is missing. Madam and Mademoiselle Navarre asked me to bring them to you." Charles nodded, and he took out a small wooden tube from his trousers: "Navarre Miss Lei also asked me to bring this to you. She said there is a receipt in it, and you can take it to the goldsmith Albert in the Castle of Kings and exchange it for gold coins."

"This kid is so stupid. He thinks I don't know." Gold chuckled and said, "You have to carry this broken stick with you wherever you go. You even have to hold it in your arms when you sleep at night. No one else is allowed to touch it. Do you think everyone else is a fool? If I had evil intentions, would he still be alive today? Even if I didn't have evil intentions, does he think he can have a safe journey on his own? "

Ciel's cheeks were red and he wanted to choke but couldn't find the words for a moment.

"Why are you giving me money?" Winters asked.

"The madam said you must need a lot of money, and you will definitely need a lot of money when you go out." Charles recounted honestly: "The madam also said that you can understand what she means when you see the money."

It was true that Winters was short of money, but he didn't quite understand what his aunt meant.

"Could it be that they want me to spend money to buy off the Plato people?" He thought: "Or does it mean that I can use the money to escape? But my military status is still in Plato, what will happen if I run away?"

Twelve gold bars, each as thick as a thumb and as long as a middle finger, are heavy in the hand.

Winters took out six of them and handed them to Gold: "Captain Gold, thank you for protecting Charles all the way here. My gratitude is beyond words, please accept my gratitude."

Ciel's eyes widened in surprise.

"Although I want the gold bars very much, I can't accept your money." Gold waved his hands repeatedly: "I have already received a share of the money from your family, and there is no reason to eat both ends. Then am I not a traitor?"

Winters smiled: "Then can I hire you to escort Ciel back?"

Unexpectedly, Charles shouted: "Don't be deceived by this pirate! I won't go back! Brother Winters, if you don't go back, I won't go back either! I'll stay here to help you."

"What stupid things are you saying?" Winters couldn't help but slapped Ciel on the head: "Why don't you go back to Hailan and stay here?"

"Brother Winters, do you remember what I said?" Ciel looked directly into Winters' eyes: "I swore that as long as I can save my brother, my life will belong to you from now on. How can you do it alone here? I'll stay here to help you. I can also stay as a follower, wash clothes, cook, clean, I can do everything."

Winters was about to refute, but Gold agreed.

The pirate leader said seriously: "Sir, this place is different from Veneta. In Veneta, you have many connections. But here you don't even have anyone you can trust. When something really happens, it will be too late. Besides, even if If I take this kid away, he will definitely come back halfway. Just keep him."

Winters didn't know what to say for a moment.

Girard's voice came from outside the house. Old Dussac opened the door and laughed and said: "Where did such a handsome horse come from behind the house? It looks like a horse! Winters, do you know whose it is? Really? Eh...you have guests?"

"What? Horse?" Winters looked at Ciel and Gold in surprise.

"Well, that's right." Charles nodded: "I also brought you good luck."

Thank you to the book friends who have voted for recommendation before, thank you all;

Thank you to book friends Kun Kun, Alexios, book friend 20180307195832293, the yellow rabbit of the flower grower, behere370, Calm Gray Guo, Cang Langxing, black computer accessories, Jiang Xue Diao Weng, book friend 20191007064305842 for their recommendation votes. Thank you all.