Iron Powder and Spellcaster

"Tiefeng County gets flour, the Veneta Army gets war horses, and the Platoans get money and ordnance." With Antonio's final answer, Winters asked Leo directly: "As a middleman, what do you want to get? ?”

"Stable supply of raw materials." Leo had already prepared the plan and added calmly: "And stable trade channels."

Winters frowned, tired of Leo's diplomacy.

No matter what question he asked, the fat Navarre partner could answer it with impeccable nonsense. Every punch he threw seemed to fall into the air.

Staring at Leo's submissive smile, Winters discovered angrily that he was not good at such scenes.

A restrained politician might have the patience to slowly figure out Leo's trump card, but Winters wanted to overturn the table and punch the smiling face in front of him.

The familiar rage welled up from the deepest part of his chest, and was quickly suppressed.

After taking a deep breath, Winters spoke again: "Mr. Leo."

Leo nodded slightly.

"If it was a year ago, you would have been taken to the dungeon and tortured by now." Winters said sadly and sincerely: "That was a really good time."

"Yes." Leo's smile was still respectful: "The past times are always beautiful."

"You think I'm threatening you?" Winters continued to ask.

"What I think is not important." Leo replied in an unassuming tone: "What you think is important."

"This is the far frontier of Plato, the corner of the Alliance, and can even be said to be the edge of the civilized world. In Hailan, speaking in a roundabout way is regarded as a language art. But in Tiefeng County, that kind of language art has no meaning. " Winters' eyes moved back to Leo from the window: "I just want to tell you this."

Leo tilted his head slightly, waiting for the young man with a complicated identity in front of him to continue.

"Just say what you want and what you can provide, and I will answer you directly." Winters' mood gradually turned cold: "There is no need to waste time on meaningless things."

Leo maintained his smile and shook his head slightly in his heart. The more anxious you are in a negotiation, the more you will suffer. Setting a deadline is also a strategy, but it is not suitable for now.

But after asking himself, Leo also felt that what the other party said made sense - this was not Hailan, and this was not a negotiation, not to mention that he was not here to embarrass the other party.

"Please believe that we are on your side." Leo leaned forward, spread his palms, and explained: "Tiefeng County is in urgent need of food, and the army is in urgent need of war horses. If we want to solve the problem as soon as possible, we need a third party to provide turnover ."

Leo's strategy is simple to say the least.

He sees the local government of Palatu as a “reservoir”.

One end of the pool is connected to Tiefeng County, and the other end is connected to Veneta. Water enters one end and water comes out of the other end at the same time.

Tiefeng County delivered war horses and funds to the Palatuan people, and Veneta also delivered weapons and food to the Plattuan people.

For its part, Plato allocated food to the nearby Tiefeng County and war horses to the Veneta Army.

"Very bold." After hearing Leo's [big plan], Winters commented expressionlessly: "It's also very imaginative."

"It's very courageous, but it takes a huge risk." Leo immediately understood the implication of Winters and said with a smile: "It's very imaginative, but it's impossible to realize."

Winters's idea was revealed and he snorted softly.

Leo's plan sounds simple, but in fact it's like a fantasy.

From Tiefeng County to Veneta, we have to cross three provinces and pass through countless counties and towns.

A caravan might be able to disguise itself as a Platuan caravan and move inconspicuously. However, for such a big move like what Leo said, how many military and political personnel would be involved?

"I believe you can bribe one Platoon, and I also believe you can bribe ten Platoon people." Winters asked inexplicably: "But can you bribe all the Platoon people?"

Mr. Leo smiled and shrugged: "You don't have to worry about that."

Winters' eyebrows knitted together little by little, and his expression became serious. He looked into Leo's eyes carefully and asked in a deep voice, "You won't...really bribed all the Platoans, right?"

"If you trust me." Leo stood up and bowed slightly: "I am willing to represent you to discuss with the people in Plato involved in the plan."

"What do I have to offer?" Winters asked.

"War horses, funds." Leo replied: "And sincerity."

"Sincerity?"

Leo explained calmly: "Plato needs some time to confirm the supplies and open up the joints."

"What do you mean?" Winters was no longer asking, but sneered: "I will hand over the things first, and then we will see whether the food will be shipped in, and then we will see the faces of the Platoans?"

"No, no, no, Plato will deliver it to you immediately after receiving the baggage provided by the army. It just needs two-phase confirmation, and the return of the messenger will also delay time."

"Isn't that the same thing!" Winters also stood up suddenly: "How do I know they won't default on the bill?"

"If you are really worried." Mr. Leo's fat face shone with sincerity: "Our firm is willing to provide a guarantee."

Winters wanted to retort, but he vaguely felt something strange. He sat up slowly, Mr. Leo's eyes following him.

After thinking for a moment, Winters raised his head: "That's not right."

"What..." Leo asked with interest, "wrong?"

"You are not here to convince the Platoans." Winters looked at Leo: "You are here to convince me!"

Mr. Leo was still smiling and noncommittal.

Winters organized his thoughts and said slowly: "Although I don't know where you got such a big energy, I have a vague feeling that you have bribed the Plato people. I just can't figure it out. In this case, why do you come? Convince me? Is it difficult for the caravan to bypass Tiefeng County? What do you want?"

Leo circumvented the trap lightly and replied seriously: "Actually, the matter is not as complicated as you think. Our trading house - or all members of the Veneta Wool Textile Association - in the final analysis, we just want wool. .”

"You still haven't answered my question." Winters pressed on to the key point: "Why me?"

Mr. Leo originally wanted to use his usual diplomatic rhetoric, but after a pause, he smiled again: "Because it's you, it's you."

Winters' first reaction was that Leo was prevaricating him, but Leo's expression was extremely sincere, and his instinct told him that the other party was not lying.

I'm afraid I won't be able to find out anything if I ask again, unless I'm tortured. There is no point in continuing to dwell on it.

"This matter... I can't answer you now." Winters stood up and said goodbye to Leo: "I need to discuss it with other people before I can give you an answer."

As soon as he finished speaking, Winters saw something on Leo's face for a moment... strangeness, surprise, and interest.

And it was only for a moment, so short that Winters couldn't help but suspect it was an illusion. You must know that during the entire conversation, Winters never saw Leo show any "undefensive" emotions.

"No problem." Leo smiled, bowed slightly and saluted: "Just wait for the good news."

Winters originally wanted to talk to Leo about Anna, but the atmosphere of the conversation had changed, and he was no longer interested in talking about personal matters. So he nodded, saluted, and left.

A little later, Winters came back with an answer.

Extraordinary resolution meeting - Winters, Budd and Mason voted 2 to 1 to pass the following: "War horses can be delivered in one phase first, which is the number of two squadrons. But the currency is not good, and the treasury in Tiefeng County Now I can’t even spare a dime.”

"No problem, with the supplies provided by Veneta, it is enough to make the water flow." Leo agreed, and suddenly smiled brightly: "As for the money problem... maybe there is a way."

…

…

What method Leo said is not mentioned here for now.

The hour hand moves forward and returns to the farewell party.

Winters and Leo gave Andre a general explanation of the "displacement trade" in Iron Peak County, Plato and Veneta.

When he heard that the horse was going to be handed over to the Platoans, Andre was very unhappy.

"Then...how much do you want to pay?" Andre asked Winters with a sad face.

Winters didn't want to mention the secret in front of Leo, so he comforted Lieutenant Cellini: "Let's talk about it when we go back. Let Senior Mason explain it to you carefully."

Andre wanted to ask more questions, but seeing Leo present, he understood what Winters meant.

Feeling aggrieved, Andre pointed his finger at Leo: "What does this have to do with you?"

"Me?" Mr. Leo pointed at himself, looking surprised.

"Even if we are talking about business." Andre asked fiercely: "Why are you negotiating on our behalf?"

Before Winters could speak, Leo had already answered. He explained with a submissive expression: "Please rest assured that I have never betrayed the interests of your Excellencies. I went to negotiate because only if I go can there be room for relaxation. .”

"Oh?" Andre disagreed.

"If your Excellency, you go to negotiate." Leo looked at Winters again and said with a smile: "Or Your Excellency Montagne comes to negotiate. Once the negotiation breaks down, there will be no chance. And I, an insignificant person, will appear first, Even if the negotiation breaks down, a few of your Excellencies can save the situation. Do you think this is the case?"

Andre smacked his lips: "It seems to make sense."

Winters took a sip of the fermented water - the situation was not right, so just let it go if you can for now, and you can explain it to Andre later.

Mr. Leo understood Andre's hostility and did not intend to talk any more. He found an excuse and left.

Winters and Andre were left alone in the small talking circle.

After drinking a small bucket of fermented water, Andre loosened his gold-embroidered red satin belt and said seriously: "No, I have to go to the toilet."

After that, he turned around and left.

"Wait, are you trying to escape from the battlefield?" Winters grabbed Andre.

"How could I be that kind of person?" Andre suddenly became anxious: "I really need to go to the toilet!"

Winters let go of his hand suspiciously, and Andre strode away, leaving Winters alone in the banquet hall.

The two of them drank and chatted, but the difference was not obvious.

When Winters was the only Venetian left in the sea of ​​Plato dialects, a certain feeling of loneliness suddenly came over me.

Looking around, the officers from Plato were laughing, singing, and drinking to their heart's content, while the gentlemen from Gévaudan were in small groups, each in a circle.

"Anna is still waiting for me, right?" Winters thought to himself. He wanted to leave but couldn't.

Someone was approaching, and Winters instinctively looked at the source of the sound: a bald man with a scarred face and a somewhat thin man pulling another tall soldier over.

The first two people are "Colonel Gesa", the military chief of Baishan County, and "Major Ronald", the former military chief of Tiefeng County.

Winters didn't recognize the person who followed him, but his status was obviously not low.

Gesar and Ronald were both school officers. As a captain, Winters followed the rules and gave the military salute first.

Gesa was startled and returned the gift.

Ever since Winters offered to return a thousand horses, Gesa's attitude towards him had softened a lot.

The bald colonel was happy and agreed to Winters' request to return the prisoners - Winters still had three arrows imprisoned in Geza's prison.

When the strange soldier looked at Winters, Winters was also observing him.

The visitor was tall, with sunken eye sockets, and a somewhat gloomy expression.

"This is the garrison officer of Leiqun County, Colonel Skull." Gesa took the initiative to introduce Winters. As if he was worried that Winters wouldn't understand, Gesa added an additional explanation: "Most of the hussars I brought are Lei. People from Qunjun.”

After hearing this, Winters bowed to Colonel Scull alone.

Colonel Skull did not return the greeting. He looked at Winters with complicated eyes: "What period are you in?"

"Issue 21," Winters replied.

"It's already the 21st issue." Colonel Scull sighed, and suddenly asked Winters directly: "Did you kill Chibber?"

Zipper? Winters felt a twinge of pain, but he couldn't remember who it was. He kept searching in his memory and soon realized that this was the name of the garrison officer of Wargne County.

Sure enough, this kind of thing is inevitable.

"Although I did not kill Colonel Zipper with my own hands. But as the supreme commander of the other side participating in the war, Colonel Zipper did die in my hands."

Hurry up, if you want to insult, if you want to seek revenge, come and have fun.

…

At the same time, on the balcony on the second floor of the banquet hall, Lieutenant Colonel Moritz was passing a bottle of spirits to a drinking buddy he met unexpectedly.

"When we meet on the battlefield, we are enemies, clearly and clearly." Moritz sat in the corner, propped up his legs and said dullly: "Now that we have become cousins, things are constantly being cut and sorted out. It’s hard to separate…”

Captain Moreau stood leaning against the wall and said nothing.

…

Colonel Skull's nostrils expanded, and the words were about to blurt out, but he held back.

The two of them stood face to face, neither of them speaking.

"Don't make it difficult for the kid." Ronald put his hand on Skull's shoulder: "If Qipper has a chance... the same thing will happen."

Ronald was speaking for Winters, but his words stung Winters like a branding iron.

"You don't have to 'excuse' me in this way, and please don't do it." Winters stood up straight. He had a lot to say, but in the end he only filtered out a short sentence: "Kill Colonel Zipper. My behavior followed my subjective wishes. It was not forced by the situation or forced to do anything."

Colonel Skull's body suddenly tensed up, and his cheeks twitched.

If Skull was a reckless, simple guy with one intestine leading to the [excretory cavity], he would yell, yell, curse, and even raise his fists to teach this ignorant boy a lesson.

But Skull is not. On the contrary, he has been known for his deep thinking and excellent eloquence since he entered the Lu Academy.

After just a short conversation, Skull has realized that torture, censure and questioning cannot shake the person in front of him.

In the end, thousands of words converged into one weak sentence: "Is it worth it? Do you really think it's all worth it?"

Winters also fell silent.

Which way to go, Winters didn't know. He doesn't know what the end point will look like. Even what he wanted in the first place was a bit vague.

However, just by taking a groping step, blood filled the footprints under his feet.

The tragic sight of a battlefield littered with corpses in the morning light is enough to make anyone doubt themselves.

"Whether it's worth it, I don't know...I'm afraid I won't know until many years later." Winters replied in a low voice: "I'm not saying this to rationalize my behavior, nor for self-esteem. I'm just sure of one thing, If we allow the status quo to continue, a greater disaster will occur sooner or later."

Colonel Gesar and Major Ronald did not quite understand Winters' "rants," but Colonel Scull already understood.

"Don't talk about these metaphysical things." Skull's eyes were glaring: "I want to ask you a more realistic question - do you want to continue to fight?"

Skull asked aggressively: "Can you continue to fight?"

Winters suddenly realized that his conversation with Colonel Skull could omit a lot of intermediate content and get straight to the point.

And Skull definitely didn't want to test his determination.

"So?" Winters asked.

…

…

Two hours later.

"So?" Andre asked impatiently.

Bud and Mason were also waiting attentively. Except for Mr. A and Mr. B, all the decision-makers in Tiefeng County were already sitting at this small table.

"They want to recruit us," Winters said.

[Late...Orz]

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