Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 125 Beast Hunting Team

   At the dining table of the Mitchell family, a heated debate was going on.

   To be precise, this is not a well-matched debate, but a one-sided rout.

  The old friar won a great victory, and Father Antony was getting closer and closer to being **** off.

Priest Anthony of Wolftown Church blushed and said in a hurried voice: "...the essence of Catholicism is the cult of the personality, and the Lord is truly incarnated as a man, not in the form of a pharaoh, king and emperor, but in the form of a Galilean humble man. The image of the farmer. It's an unprecedented concept, and that's what's driving more and more people to convert to the Gospel."

But the old sannyasin Reid laughed and asked back: "Then go and tell the believers that the Son of God is just a humble farmer in Galilee? See if they were moved or if you were stoned to death? What is the deification of a man? Here If you travel thousands of miles to the east, there are still people who can transform into the religion of God!"

   "But doesn't the fact that we can replace the ancient cult shows the destiny of Catholicism?"

"The rise of catholicism only shows one thing, and that is that there are people above who can do things better. The Western church, supported by the empire, has finally changed from a church of the poor and the oppressed to a church of the powerful. I would like to ask you, in Sarah Another pagan religion in the land of the Senren has also achieved the same status as the Catholic Church, where the Eastern Church can only be a second-class citizen, do you also agree with the destiny of the pagan religion?"

   Father Anthony's breath was stagnant, and he almost lost his breath.

  The old friar took a leisurely sip of wine, and the smile on his face made Father Anthony suddenly want to punch him in the nose.

   The two used the old language, and there were many ancient language words in the middle.

   Apart from the two arguing, the only people in Mitchell's family who could understand these words were Father Carman and Winters.

  Mitchell's son Pierre went to find Anglo, the pony, and there was only the Mitchells and their unmarried daughter Scarlett at the table.

  Girard's little daughter was all thinking about the second lieutenant, and she had been sneaking a glance at the second lieutenant Montagne. Girard did not understand why the two priests were arguing, although he could not understand what they were arguing about.

   But the Mitchells should be thankful that they couldn't understand the "shocking" speeches of the two clergymen, which were considered heretical in the eyes of ordinary people, so that they could continue to maintain respect for the two priests.

   Of the two people who could understand, Father Kaman was expressionless, while Winters was absent-minded.

   Nothing was found in the pursuit of the beast, and the blood and breath disappeared in a small stream. The thing waded a distance, the current obscuring its tracks.

  Winters and his people searched for miles up and down the mountain stream, but the best hounds in Dusa couldn't smell where the thing came ashore.

  This virgin forest is so vast that hundreds of people throwing it in is like pouring a glass of water into the desert. The search range is extremely limited, like looking for a needle in a haystack.

  Seeing that the sun was gradually setting in the west, and it was inconvenient for humans to move at night, but the beasts were like a duck in water. Worried that the "human hunters" would become "beast hunters", Winters had to let the militia team withdraw from the mountains.

   Compared to the failed hunt, what angered Winters more was the indifference of the two Protestant villages to the plague.

   Before leading the Dussacks into the forest, Winters sent riders to the other four villages to assemble the militia. The militia teams from Hedong and Hexi villages came quickly under the leadership of the village chief and joined the search operation.

   Nanxin Village and Beixin Village did not send any personnel from beginning to end.

   But when Winters questioned the village chiefs of the two villages, they both shied away with the excuses of "thinking that Dussac was teasing us" and "it doesn't matter whether we go or not".

   is more hateful than the enemy's attack, only betrayal.

   If it wasn't for the fact that the two Protestant village chiefs were not soldiers, the enraged Second Lieutenant Montagne would have killed the two trash on the spot.

   An outsider was so indignant, let alone what the Dussacks thought.

   Sergei, the elder of Dusa Village, drew his sword and hacked to death the two Protestant village elders. The old man who was pulled beat his chest and swore that even if the apostates died, they would not lend a helping hand to them again.

   A small wolf town, but the people's sentiments are so complicated that they can't be sorted out like a mess.

   Winters had no intention of intervening, he just hoped that the villages could work together to solve the wolf disaster as soon as possible. Because he knew that he would go back to Veneta sooner or later, and he didn't want to leave a mess.

   But the beasts haven't been seen yet, and a fight is about to break out between several villages.

  Lieutenant Montagne even misses those hard battles in Taniria. At least at that time, the enemy was the enemy, and the friend was the friend. It was annoying to not have these trivial things in front of him.

   Winters, having no appetite, thanked Mrs Mitchell for her hospitality and left the table.

   After a while, Father Kaman also got up to leave. After he left the dining room, he walked straight to the back of the house.

  There, Lieutenant Montagne was pacing and thinking.

   Awakened by the sound of Kaman's footsteps, Winters asked casually: "Your brother Rhett dares to speak, and he is not afraid of being sent to the stake. That's why you placed him with me, right?"

"Brother Reid is just deliberately angering Father Anthony and playing tricks on him." Father Kaman saluted and sat casually on a barrel: "Theologian's debate is originally like blasphemy in the ears of believers. It's normal. The Catholic Church doesn't have the habit of burning clergy. What's more, Brother Reid has a special status and can speak freely."

   "Where is the special?"

Father Kaman replied indifferently: "The special thing is the 'introducer'. Rhode Island was captured by the Saracens more than 30 years ago, and the abbot Philip of the Knights Abbey was martyred and later canonized. Brother Reid was originally a The Bodhisattva monks converted to Catholicism under the inspiration of Saint Philip, and were ordained as priests by the saints themselves."

   "It turns out that the saints also have nepotism."

"It is said that when he admitted the priesthood of Brother Reid, he wanted to send him to the Far East to preach, but I didn't expect that he would stay here and not leave, which made the previous Pope very annoyed." Kaman smiled: "Brother Reid traveled the world. , is well-informed, and cites widely when debating. Although his theological views are very dangerous, no one can refute him, and many famous debaters have been disgraced by him.”

   "Such a dangerous person, your church doesn't put him under house arrest and let him run around?"

"Who made him just a powerless and powerless pilgrim monk? How many priests in the church can abide by the vow of celibacy and poverty? With the noble character of Brother Rhett, it is no exaggeration to be canonized after death. "

   Winters didn't care: "Does the old man still have this kind of ability? Then I should invite him to Nanxin Village and Beixin Village to see if he can settle the farmers there."

   "Haha, if you send Brother Reid over, maybe you can relieve a heart problem for the bishops' conference."

   "Heart disease?"

   "Heart disease." Father Kaman stretched his waist and said lazily: "I can't argue, but I can't kill it. What is not a heart disease?"

   "Mr. Kaman, you look like this, I am afraid that your followers will be sad to see you."

   "But you don't believe it." Father Kaman yawned: "So there is no need to engage in ritualistic things between us, it's boring."

   Father Kaman took out a pipe filled with tobacco leaves from his pocket and handed it to Winters.

   Winters was taken aback: "I don't smoke."

   "I didn't hand you cigarettes." Kaman said with a smile: "I asked you to light it for me."

   "What do you mean?" Winters became wary.

   "Stop pretending, Lieutenant Montagne." Kaman smiled and asked, "You're a magician, aren't you?"

   Winters snorted coldly, noncommittal.

  Father Carman continued to himself: "There are only two kinds of people in the South who are not believers, one is a magician and the other is a devil worshipper. Are you a devil worshiper? Lieutenant Montagne?"

   Winters ignored him.

   "Since you are not a devil worshiper, you can only be a magician." Father Kaman shook the pipe in his hand: "Second lieutenant, I have no ill intentions towards you."

   Winters took the pipe and lit the tobacco with silent ignition.

  Magic and evil wizards are always confused among the people, so Winters never revealed his identity as a spellcaster after coming to Wolftown, and this was the first time he showed magical abilities in front of others.

   "Those who speak without malice are often the most malicious." Winters handed the pipe back.

  Father Kaman took the pipe, but just held it in his hand and didn't enjoy it: "I'm just curious."

   "Curious about what?"

"I understand your concern." Father Kaman sighed and said seriously: "But please rest assured, as long as you don't hurt the believers in this diocese, I will not reveal your identity as a magician, let alone take it. Do anything against you for this."

   Winters said with a sneer: "It seems that spellcasters are no different from devil believers in your eyes."

   Father Kaman laughed and asked: "Isn't the priest the same in your eyes?"

   Winters suddenly looked into the distance, and he vaguely heard the sound of hooves. The voice was getting closer and clearer, and soon Father Kaman could hear it clearly. That's right, a rider is racing towards the Mitchell house.

   Winters and Kaman looked at each other and immediately went to the front door.

Another bad news from the    rider, the evil beast has reappeared.

   After getting the news, Winters and Girard immediately pulled out their war horses and rushed to the scene in full force.

   It was getting dark and it was too late to call the militia, but Father Kaman volunteered to go with him.

  …

   This time, the place where the evil beasts were attacked was not the five villages under the jurisdiction of Wolf Town, but the forest farm.

   A lumberjack walked out of a shack to urinate, but encountered a beast. The other lumberjacks heard the wailing and cries for help from outside the house, and rescued the unfortunate lumberjack by beating iron.

When   Winters and the others arrived at the forest farm, they only saw a bloodied wounded man lying on the plank, dying. The part below the injured person's left ankle has disappeared, leaving only a horrific fracture of flesh and blood.

  An old worker with some medical skills restrained the injured calf with hemp rope to try to stop the bleeding, but the dark red liquid was still seeping out from the wound, and the sheets beside the injured person's feet were soaked with blood.

   For the poor lumberjack, death is only a matter of time, and Father Kaman is already offering his last prayers.

   "Did he see what it was?" Winters approached the foreman and asked, "Did you see what it was?"

   "It's a bear!" The foreman's body was still shaking: "A bear the size of a house!"

  …

   The unfortunate lumberjack died in the night.

  The foreman assigned two workers to dig a shallow pit to bury the body, and the others divided the rubble of the deceased, even if the funeral was completed. The whole process is shockingly scribbled.

When    first learned that there was a forest farm in Wolf Town, Winters thought it was a small lumber mill with a dozen employees.

   After arriving at the forest farm, Winters discovered that it was a large logging team with hundreds of people, and the number was not much different from that of a small village.

  The camp of the logging team is deep in the forest, far away from people, it is like a meal in front of the beast. The steward heard that there was a wolf disaster, and ran back to the county seat long ago, leaving only a few foremen to maintain order here.

   Not only that, but the living conditions of the lumberjacks were unimaginably crowded and harsh, and Winters didn’t know where the stewards had hired workers willing to work in such places.

   "I guess that bear will come again." Winters and Gillard discussed: "This team of lumberjacks are young and strong, can they be incorporated into the militia?"

"I'm afraid not. They are not residents of Wolf Town, they are just hired to cut down trees." Girard said with a wry smile: "They left after cutting down these hundreds of acres of woodland. The wolf disaster has nothing to do with them, and we treat them as well. There is no jurisdiction. If you let them be militiamen, the businessmen who bought the logging rights will not agree, not even they themselves.”

   "Didn't the logging rights be bought from you?"

   "No, I bought it from the county. This forest, this land, and this river are all from the county."

   "I'll give it a try and see if I can convince them"

   The negotiation with the logging team failed completely, Gillard was right. The foreman claimed that they were afraid to call the shots, and that no lumberjacks responded to the proposal to join the bear hunters.

A foreman approached Winters in private and explained: "My lord, these workers have a very hard life on weekdays. Most of them are Protestants, and they are often looked down upon by the villagers. A small number of Protestants go to the town to worship on weekends, those who The Dusa people will trouble them too. There is no way they would risk their lives to hunt bears for the people of Wolftown."

   "Those villages are all outside the forest, but your logging team is inside. Isn't that bear the first to look for you when it's hungry?" Winters was a little displeased.

   "I understand this, but the workers don't!" the foreman said helplessly: "In their opinion, there are more than 100 people here, and it's safer than the village outside."

   The idea of ​​getting the lumberjacks into the bear squad failed, but now Winters at least knew that the beast was a bear, a big one.

   Second Lieutenant Montagne, who returned to the town from the logging camp, immediately formed a bear catching team and sent people to Blackwater Town to borrow more heavy muskets and hunting dogs.

The main members of the    bear catching team are Dusak from Dusa Village. The Dusa people have war horses, weapons, and have a big grudge against the bear. However, neither Nanxin Village nor Beixin Village sent a single person to join the bear catching team.

   In response, the bear catchers from Dusa Village also resolutely refused to patrol and hunt in the forest near Protestant Village.

   Lieutenant Montagne had nothing to do with this. The militia was not a soldier, and he had no right to dispose of it. He could command everyone with trust and respect.

   Winters can only let hunters go to the woods near the South and North New Villages as much as possible.

   For three days in a row, Winters led the bear hunters to search almost all over the forest near Wolf Town, but found nothing.

The    giant bear was not found, but the old pilgrim monk came to the door on the third night.

   "If you have something to say, please hurry up." Winters was tired and tired after drilling in the deep mountains and forest for a day, and he was too lazy to talk nonsense with this old god: "Otherwise I will have to rest."

"Don't worry, Your Excellency Second Lieutenant, I'm here to help you." The old man said with a smile: "I've observed Your Excellency for a few days. In terms of wars, I can't compare to you if you add ten. But there is one thing, a hundred You are not as good as me."

   "What's the matter?" Winters asked with a sneer as he took off his boots.

The friar    pulled Winters' chair over, sat in his clothes, and uttered a word solemnly:

"politics."

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   (end of this chapter)