Iron Powder and Spellcasters

  Chapter 328 The Dog Going Straight

   Gervodin, the stables of the officers' quarters.

   Father [Emund] of the parish of Gervodin walked into the stable and found that besides the tribune of Montagne, there was another man with an iron mask in the stable. The two were chatting about something.

   "...Stone bridges are much more troublesome than wooden bridges." The iron-masked man's voice was very low: "But...the most important thing you need now is manpower. It's not difficult to repair it..."

   Accompanied by a series of strange noises, Father Emond heard the voice of the Montagne tribune from the innermost part of the stable:

"It used to be before, now it is now, it's different... I didn't get paid before, but everyone could barely accept it. Not now, no one wants to do white labor... Alas, I still miss Teltown people a little... This matter , can I ask you to…”

  The masked man sneered sarcastically: "I eat yours, drink yours, live with you, I have the right to refuse?"

   "Of course there is."

   As for the fierce and famous—no, now he is the famous "Blood Wolf", the masked man obviously lacks the kind of awe in Tiefeng County's heart, he snorted, noncommittal.

   "Then I'll take it as your agreement. How long will the construction period be?"

   "Be optimistic." The masked man replied casually: "Two or three years."

  The strange sound stopped, and the Montagne tribune walked out of the stable with a shovel: "Two or three years?!"

   But that happened to be the case, Father Emond, who didn’t go, didn’t stay, and stood for a while, was noticed by the other party.

   "Your Excellency." Father Emond paddled on his chest and said, "Good day."

   "Good day." Winters recognized the person who came to be the actual steward of the Cathedral of Gervoudin, and nodded in return.

   "Should I retire first?" Emond asked embarrassedly.

   "No." Winters waved his hand: "Captain Morrow and I are talking about building the bridge, so please listen to me too."

   Immediately, Winters looked at the masked man: "Two or three years is too long."

"What you want is a stone bridge, not a wooden bridge." Morrow's impatience could not be concealed even by a mask: "With the span of the St. George River, two or three years of repair are short, and four or five years may not be impossible. Possibly. The key depends on how many people you can send! How much money!"

   Winters swears: "As many as you want! As much as you want!"

   As long as there are other people present, Morrow is reluctant to talk much. He sighed deeply: "Wait...Tomorrow, I will submit a written plan to you."

   Having said that, Morrow is about to leave.

   Winters didn't let the seniors go: "I still have a question, if it's so cold in winter, will underwater construction be dangerous."

   "Underwater construction is not without danger." Morrow replied with disgust: "Wait until the summer and rainy season, you will not be able to repair it if you want to!"

  Morrow then bowed to Father Edmond and walked out of the stable without looking back, regardless of Winters' questions.

   Watching the senior leave, Winters politely explained to Father Edmond: "During the siege, wasn't the bridge demolished? Since it is going to be rebuilt, I think it's better to just build a stone bridge."

   Father Emond’s expression was a little embarrassed, because the old wooden bridge was actually the property of the Gervodin Abbey, and foreigners had to pay the Abbey to cross the bridge.

   "To have such a wise and benevolent tribune as you." Father Emond put his position in position and eloquently outputted his words of praise: "It is truly a gift from the Lord to Gervodin."

  Winters took the shovel and walked into the stable again: "You came to me, what's the matter?"

   Father Emond turned his gaze to the inside of the stable, and behind the gate was a solid black foal and two puppies.

   The foal stood in the corner of the stable, his eyes full of grievances.

  Two puppies were running wild beside the Montagne tribune, but the running position was a bit odd—all with high legs. Not like a dog...more like a horse dance move.

  Emund finally figured out where the strange sound came from: it turned out that the Montagne tribune was shoveling horse dung.

   "As expected of your hound." Edmond struggled to find something to praise: "It's actually on the right track."

  Winters, who was swinging his shovel, froze for a while, his face turning black.

   "This little black horse is also a great horse!"

   Changsheng learned to bark at the right time.

   "Father, what's the matter with you?" Winters stopped and looked at the priest with a shovel: "Please speak directly."

   Father Edmond tried his best to squeeze a pleasing smile: "I heard that your wife can also ride horses?"

"Um."

   "It is inconvenient for a lady to ride a big horse." Father Emond warmly recommended: "I brought you two 'ponies' that the nuns rode, and I hope you will accept them."

   Winters was dumbfounded.

  After the former Bishop of Gervoudin fell to his death, the Gervoudin Abbey and its affiliated cathedral were temporarily taken care of by Father Emond.

   Unlike his slick, sophisticated predecessor, Father Edmond is unworldly, dull, and deeply religious.

  According to Winters' observation, the reason why Edmond was elected was probably because the other monks were afraid of "blood wolves", so he let this honest man stand in front.

   Fortunately, Edmond is a good person and cooperates with Winters' arrangement.

   But the gift can reach the level of discomfort to the recipient, so Gervoudan is probably the only one.

Seeing that the other party hesitated and refused to talk about the subject, Winters went straight to the point: "If you are asking for the post of Bishop of Gervoudin - with all due respect, it belongs to the internal affairs of your church, and I have no intention of interfering. You should still lead the pony. Let's go back."

  The Catholic Church is a centralized, centralized, top-down organization. Although the Pope is thousands of miles away, it is still up to him to decide who will be the next bishop—in theory.

   What is the actual implementation situation? It involves the internal power struggle within the church. Winters does not want to go into this muddy water.

   "No, no, no." Father Emond shook his head desperately: "The appointment and dismissal of bishops should be ordered by the Pope, how dare I plot!"

  Winters leaned on the shovel and did not speak, waiting for the other party to continue talking.

   "You seem to be short of money recently?" Edmond asked tentatively: "How about another cash donation from the Abbey of Gervoudin? By the way! If you build a bridge, donate it in the name of the bridge!"

  Winters was very aggrieved. He wanted to question the other party: "Building bridges and paving roads is a public expense. How can you say that you are giving me money?"

   But when the words left his lips, it became: "How much do you want to donate?"

  Emond said a weight cautiously.

   Winters cleared his throat, brought two benches from his side, and sat down with Father Edmond.

   Then Winters himself sat down, face to face, and asked sternly: "Tell me, what exactly do you want?"

  Emond defended himself anxiously: "I, and the other brothers in the monastery, we do not want to ask you for anything, but that you will respect a sacred pre-existing right of the Catholic Church."

   "What right." Winters observed Father Edmond with interest: "Worth two ponies and most of your money?"

   Father Emond swallowed: "Right to an internal trial."

  …

   After a while.

  Andre came into the stable with two pocket ponies.

   The pony is only about one meter tall, and its back just reached Andre's waist, looking like two large dogs.

   "Where did these little guys come from?" Andre asked as soon as he entered the door: "It's really a rare thing."

   Winters, who was teasing the puppy, didn't look up: "You want? I'll give you one."

   "I don't want it, this is all ridden by the old man and the old lady." Andre found an empty stable and temporarily closed the pony in: "I ride, isn't that riding a rabbit?"

   "From Father Emond of the Abbey of Gervodin."

"That's right, nuns and monks also ride this kind of horse." Andre dragged two big bundles of oat straw, rolled up his sleeves to lay bedding for another stable: "Don't underestimate, this horse is expensive! The legs are short, it rides stably, and it is more valuable than ordinary horses. It is troublesome to raise, and I will leave it to you to raise it. I guess it will die sooner or later."

   "I'll still support you."

   "How can I have time?" Andre spat out the grass clippings in his mouth and stood outside the stable fence waiting for the smoke to dissipate.

Glancing at the two terriers fighting at Winters' feet, he couldn't help laughing: "But I really can't raise them for you, let's see what you raise? Horses learn how to bark, dogs kick straight, but they won't accept it. "

   Looking at the two puppies with raised legs, Winters covered his face and sighed.

  Gillard Mitchell's hound gave birth to a litter of puppies, and Mrs. Mitchell took two of the puppies with her when she left Wolftown.

   Later, two puppies were raised with Changsheng. The final result is that the puppy walks and kicks, and the dog barks that Changsheng can't learn every day.

   "Ronald brought back a captive from Lower Ironpeak." Winters picked up a puppy and brushed it on his lap: "You know what?"

   The puppy, who couldn't stop for a moment, became very honest the moment he was caught by Winters, and licked Winters' fingers with his tongue to please.

  Andre saw that the dust had almost disappeared, so he led the two ponies into the stable: "I heard that they are still priests of the Catholic Church?"

   "Yes. Have you seen that person?"

   "I haven't seen it. I didn't walk with Ronald when I came back." Andrei picked up the empty bucket to fetch water for the pony: "What's the matter?"

   Winters fiddled with the puppy's fleshy ears: "The Catholic Church is going to deal with that captive."

  Andre stopped, looking surprised: "Deal with it?"

"Hmph, it's a friendly way to deal with it. A more accurate way to say it is..." Winters put down the puppy, watched the puppy run after his brother, and slowly spit out a word: "[Inquisition trial]. "

   "Huh?" Andre was stunned: "Huh?"

   Winters and Andrews had never experienced religious oppression in the imperial era after the establishment of the alliance.

The word Inquisition gave them both the intuitive feeling of seeing an old moldy, moth-eaten, stinky coat pulled from the bottom of a box—familiar and unfamiliar, but mostly uncomfortable. .

   Winters' eyebrows were locked a little bit: "Judging from the price that Edmond offered, as long as I nod my head, I am afraid that the stake will be erected at the stake in Gervodin Abbey immediately."

   "The stake? Wait?" Andrei threw the bucket: "Where did they get such a big hatred? Isn't the prisoner an old man? The old man will be burned too?"

"I don't know either," Winters mused. "According to Edmond, the trial of the clergy is an internal affair of the Catholic Church. He made a high price, hoping I'd respect theirs. Sacred Right'."

  Andre's jaws haven't been closed for a long time: "The Catholic Church? Internal Trial? What's the matter? Really?"

   Winters shook his head: "I still don't know this, at least according to Edmond - it is like this."

   "Then..." Andre was stunned for a while, and then asked puzzled: "Since it's an internal affair, why do you need your consent? A very high price? Are you going to be bought off?"

   "This is the most interesting part." Winters stood up and paced: "It has nothing to do with me, why buy me? Want my permission?"

   "It also makes sense." Andre was relieved: "Without us nodding, who would dare to set up a stake in Tiefeng County?"

   "If only it were that simple." Winters said with a smile, "Do you know what price Edmond offered me?"

  Andre tilted his head and raised his eyebrows.

   Winters uttered a weight, then added a word lithely: "Gold."

  Andre took a deep breath: "Otherwise, you agree to it, anyway, it's the Catholic Church's own business, why do you mix it up? It doesn't have anything to do with us!"

   "If that's the case, why do you charge such a high price? Just tell me a word, or burn it first and then report it?"

  "..." Andrei was asked, "Then you promised him?"

   "I didn't agree, and I didn't agree. In order not to expose the trump card, I hinted to Father Edmond—" Winters picked up a straw and briefly entered the spellcasting state to stimulate his spirit.

  The phantom pain made Winters smile a little weirdly: "I have to pay more."

   It was like an invisible pair of scissors reciprocating in mid-air, the straw shortened inch by inch, so accurate that the difference between the two times could not be discerned by the naked eye.

Winters clarified his thoughts, and he suddenly laughed playfully: "Could that be the case - Edmond thinks we know more information than we actually need to know. That's why he drives such a high give us the price."

   "Well... uh... it seems... makes sense..." Andrei pondered for a long time, then slapped his thigh: "Damn, why are you working so hard! Take that old man here, and you'll know it in the first trial?"

   "That's the problem." Winters threw the last stalk of straw, which was shattered in mid-air. He said helplessly: "The prisoner is not in my hands."

   "Huh? Didn't that old man come back with Ronald?"

"I don't know, I've asked Ciel to investigate." Winters walked in front of Changsheng, who also grunted and stretched out his tongue to lick his fingers: "Even if the prisoner returned with Ronald, I don't know what happened to him after that."

  Andre slapped his thigh again: "Could it be that the old man has already fallen into the hands of the Catholic Church?"

   Winters shook his head: "Then what Edmond brought me should be news of death."

   "I really don't understand." Andrei pulled a few hairs hard, and he picked up the bucket on the ground: "I'd better go feed the horse."

   "It's not complicated. There is another person hiding in this matter, protecting the captive." Winters stroked his long and soft mane, and his thoughts had drifted far away.

He summed up the known information bit by bit: "There is a motive to shelter the prisoner, the ability to shelter the prisoner. Most importantly, it can lead to Father Emond and others to think that 'Winters Montagne is sheltering the prisoner'. People...who?"

  Andre stood still, with a strange expression on his face, and asked in a low voice, "Your daughter-in-law?"

  …

   A quarter of an hour later.

   "Father Kaman!" Winters kicked the door open: "What did you do in my name again?!"

   [It's all weekends before dawn! ]

   [The dog (cat) who is walking on the right foot has a picture, it is not original]

   [Thanks to book lovers for their collection, reading, subscription, recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, rewards and comments, thank you all]

   (end of this chapter)