Iron Power And Sorcerer

Iron Power And Sorcerer Chapter 30

2021-01-30

Chapter 30 Wharf
I don’t know if it’s because I offended the tax collector, the Skua is at the anchorage Waited night and morning until the sun set in the west on second day before being allowed to enter the port.

When the naked eye of the trestle was visible, Winters began to repack, and it was only then that he understood why Instructor Gnar said people had stopped using the long sword and opted for more portable weapons.

Because the long sword used by the military academy is too "long" compared to the swords of Major General Layton and Major Moritz.

How many times did Winters swipe and hang from the belt? The bare scabbard doesn't look good either.

On the belt at an angle? The scabbard is easy to rub against the ground, and it is uncomfortable to have a one-meter-three iron bar on the waist.

Behind your back? Strange, I have never seen anyone carrying a sword.

In your hand? It probably looks like a gangster who is going to fight with others.

After thinking about it, it may be more convenient if it can be hung on the horse.

Major and Major's sabres are one-handed swords that can be easily hung from their belts.

Their saber was shorter, lighter and more ornate than Winters' long sword.

I don't know how effective it is in actual combat, but compared to portability and decoration, it can beat Winters' long sword injured badly with many teeth knocked out.

Winters glanced at Bud and Andre and smiled suddenly. He laughs at his timidity because he is close to home, and is so nervous because he is about to go home that he is at a loss.

After he figured this out, he no longer bothered about how to wear the long sword more handsomely. He bundled the sword and the luggage directly together, and walked onto the deck with his hands.

The Skua is very close to the free berth. The sea blue port is full of ships, and if you accidentally make a close contact.

So the Skua's sails were all put up, and the sailors were cautiously guarding against collision with long wooden poles.

Feeling that the distance was almost there, His Excellency the acting captain picked up the work of the chief mate again, picked up the rope and threw it to the berth of the dock with all his strength. The dock worker who had been at the High Level of the berth quickly caught the cable and tied it to the stake.

The sailors on the boat shouted and tried their best, and a few other sailors held the long wooden pole to help and stably parked the boat at the berth.

The sailors began to put up planks between the trestle and the ship's sides, and Winters had just stepped forward to prepare to disembark, but was called to live by the major.

Winters was keenly aware that the Major's usual habit of unconsciously playing with coins was gone, and even his hands were shaking slightly. Apparently, alcoholism and dehydration had tortured him enough.

The major's voice even became a little hoarse. He said to Winters listlessly: "After you disembark, bring your classmates to form a team first, don't break up at once. Report to the military first, and then you Go home again."

Winters took the order, saluted and turned to disembark.

Actually, he was a little strange why the major would stop him, is it possible that he was familiar because he had drunk with him?
On the pier, the agent captain is delivering the bills with the Customs Chief-In-Charge at the dock.

As a commercial republic, customs is an important source of income for Hailan, and the previous ruling committees have attached great importance to customs construction.

In Hailan, the tax collector will board the ship to check the goods before the cargo ship enters the port, and will be responsible for collecting customs duties. The bills in triplicate, the tax collector will take one and leave two for the merchant ship. As a tax payment certificate and entry permit.

After entering the port, the customs officers at the terminal will check the goods again, and take a note left by the tax collector for reconciliation and checking of the goods. The merchant ship can be unloaded only after the check is correct.

This simple and effective system has suppressed corruption within the customs to a certain extent, and can be regarded as a model of efficient administration in this era.

Crossing the long trestle of the wharf and finally stepping on solid land, Winters suddenly felt uncomfortable.

After regaining consciousness, Winters almost vomited out of his stomach because of seasickness. But when he was already familiar with the skua, which was always in a bumpy state, and stepped on the ground again, he actually felt seasick again.

It was clear that there was solid land underfoot, but Winters only felt that his footsteps were vain, and his whole body seemed to be shaking involuntarily.

But fortunately, this situation is not strong, Winters raised his head and glanced at the Hailangang dock, and glanced at his familiar and unfamiliar hometown.

There are some subtle differences between Hailan and his own memory, but the temperament is still the same, busy, noisy, and people come and go.

Everyone is busy with their own business and walking their own way, no one notices and no one cares that a young officer who has been away from home for many years has returned to his hometown.

Putting a hand on Winters' shoulder, Bud said to Winters with a smile: "Is this the league's largest port? It does feel more vibrant than Jade City."

p>

"Ah, Lord Bud!" Winters right hand held his heart and made a weird bow, then moved towards the bustling crowd at the pier, waving his hand to Bud with a smile, "Welcome to the distinguished The heart of the Republic of Veneta, the gem on the inland sea, the city of commerce, the city of wealth - sea blue!"

Bud returned the salute in a strange manner, and jokingly said to Winters: "But how did I hear that Aquamarine is the city of masks, intrigues, assassinations and secret societies? Isn't Veneta most famous for assassin?"

"Hey, that's all in the past." Winters The old face blushed, and he didn't say anything to refute, because Bud was right.

The Veneta people have a violent temperament, committing suicide and taking revenge. In addition to the custom of wearing swords and masks, they also have the tradition of secret associations.

For these customs, outsiders do not understand, but the Veneta people do not think there is anything to be ashamed of, they are proud of it.

But Winters has lived in the Interprovince for six years, so he also finds the Veneta culture of masks, poison and daggers unfriendly.

He repeatedly waved his hands and explained to Bud: "That's all a matter of the imperial era. Besides, what we Veneta assassinated were the royalists and the old aristocrats, and those assassins were all heroes of the alliance. ”

Thirty years ago, when the Catholic Church had not yet been divided again, the Veneta people were revolted by brutal heresy suppression.

The Veneta with poisoned daggers hidden under the cloak roamed the streets of Hailan, assassinating Catholic clergymen in the streets. A large number of Catholic clergymen lay dead in the streets, and the remaining bishops and inquisitors hid in the fortress shiver coldly dare not take a step.

When the noble faction and the militia within the alliance broke apart, the Veneta also actively assassinated a large number of Gulf nobles. In addition to the members of the pseudo-Imperial Family, the last legal successor of the Piedmont Duchy was killed by Veneta's assassin, which directly led to the complete extinction of the Forsland family and even the side branches.

"Is it the past tense? Why do I think there are still pedestrians wearing masks on the street now?" Bud's eyes turned into two crescents, and he pointed with his hand: "Look, there are also Over there, the people next to the carriage are all wearing masks."

Winters followed Bud's direction and looked over, two black four-wheeled carriages parked on the stone pavement by the pier. These two four-wheeled carriages are fully enclosed cars, painted black and trimmed with white wood trim. The small windows on the carriage were also drawn with curtains, making it impossible to see who was sitting inside.

Around the car stood four people wearing black three-cornered hats and black cloaks. The face is wearing a white fool's mask, which is a full-coverage mask, only the lower half is slightly raised, shaped like a bird's beak.

Vinetta is extravagant because of its wealth, whether it is clothing or accessories, it is gorgeous and beautiful. This four-person two-car parked on the edge of the pier is simple, but it is conspicuous when it is set off by other flamboyant pedestrians and carriages, making it impossible for people not to notice.

"Not all masked persons are assassin. Wearing a mask is just a custom. You don't understand this, right? No matter how ugly men and women wear masks, they will add a third of their beauty. You haven't Have you seen the carnival scene? At that time, everyone in the city had to wear masks." Winters looked at these black robed men carefully for a while, but couldn't see why they came: "Should they be servants of some luxurious family? Come here? Pick up at the dock."

"Shouldn't the servant wear a livery?" Bud was rather interested.

Before Winters could answer, a gruff voice broke into the chat between him and Bud: "What about the family? Some people like to use this dress as a livery for the servants to wear. ."

You don't even have to look at it, as soon as you hear the sound of this sandpaper, you know it's Andre. Seeing that Andre was carrying a large luggage bag in each of his hands, he looked extremely heavy, and he was so tired that he was brow beaded with sweat after walking a few steps off the boat.

"Hoo! How much did you bring back?" Winters was taken aback by Andre's luggage.

Andre panted, "I brought everything back!"

Andre even made a metal crashing sound when he put the luggage on the ground I don't know what's in it.

"Don't you have to go back again? How about two?" Winters didn't know whether to cry or laugh by Andre's brute force, he remembered the whole team the major gave him. The mission, seeing that the classmates have come out, said to Andre and Bud: "Tell the people who have come out, don't disband first, wait in line here for the major. I'll go to the exit of the trestle bridge."

Bud nodded, Winters carried his luggage to the intersection of the pier trestle and the ground, and conveyed the major's order to every classmate who had just disembarked from the boat.

The pier was crowded with people. In addition to merchants, sailors, and passengers, there were also a large number of porters. A sturdy porter in short dress passed by Winters. Winters suddenly felt that the back of this man was very familiar to him. Suddenly remembering who this is, he rushed towards that and shouted: "Benwei? Benvenuto?" He rushed over, laughed and hugged Winters.

Ben Venuto is a friend of Winters at the Army Junior School, Ocean Blue. After graduating from Hailan Road Primary School, Benwei did not continue to study, and Winters went to the preparatory school in Union Province. The two corresponded occasionally, but hadn't seen each other for six years.

"Look at you! They're all real officers!" Benway punched Winters in the chest with tears in his eyes.

Winters also laughed and hammered back: "You have grown taller and stronger now, how is your family now?"

"Alright! My mother is still here. I'm talking about you!"

The two who hadn't seen each other for many years wanted to talk a lot, and they couldn't say a few words at all, so they could only explain the current situation. Not far away, Benwei's co-workers were urging him to go back to work.

"Your family hasn't moved?" Ben Wei asked reluctantly.

Winters hurriedly shook his head: "I didn't move, and your house didn't move, did you?"

"I didn't move either. I'll go back to work first, and I'll go after work at night. Looking for you!"

"It's settled!"

After a brief conversation, the two parted again. Winters never thought that he would meet the old times on the dock just after returning to Hailan. friends and classmates.

Just as he was feeling that he had never met in life, the four passengers on the Skua also disembarked and walked towards Winters from the pier.

Passing Winters, one of the travelers raised his hat and greeted Winters with a smile and a nod.

Because they once fought against pirates together, although Winters didn't know who the four passengers were, they also had a sense of comrade-in-arms, so they smiled and nodded in return.

Winters watched the backs of the four passengers walk off the trestle, and the bustling pedestrians who went straight through the pier went straight to the two black carriages.

He immediately looked towards Bud and found that Bud was also looking at himself, and obviously Bud also noticed the four passengers. The two grinned and glanced at each other. They never thought that the people the two black carriages were going to pick up were actually the four passengers on the Skua.

Winters turned his gaze back to the four travelers, but what he saw made him suck in a breath of cold air.

A black robed man and the traveler who had just nod to him seemed to be hugging each other, but Winters could clearly see a blood-stained sword stick coming out of the traveler's back. , trembling slightly in the sun.

Next moment, the black robed man and the traveler begin to draw swords to fight. A shrill female scream pierced everyone's eardrums, and some pedestrians noticed the brutal fight taking place on the pier.

Among the three remaining passengers, one passenger is giving his life to stop the black robed man, and the other is protecting the higher-ranking passenger and fleeing to the Skua, the higher-ranking man. Passengers screamed for help.

Winters watched this happen, and subconsciously decided to do something because he couldn't watch these "comrades" get killed in broad daylight.

With no other weapons beside him, he took out his unbladed training sword and rushed up.

The incident happened in a flash, and the warrant officers didn't understand what was going on, they all stared at the two black robed men with swords chasing two passengers.

Seeing that the passenger who appeared to be the escort could not get away, he turned to face him and tried to intercept the two black robed man.

And seeing the guards stop, a black robed man also stopped and pulled out a particularly short musket from his robe. I didn't see him bothering to hang up the matchlock. I saw that he just pointed the muzzle at the guard and fired the musket directly.

Red light flashed, along with a puff of white smoke, gunshots resounded throughout the dock. If people were still at a loss as to what was going on just now, then the gunshot immediately caused all passersby on the pier to panic.

Although it's not known how the black robed man fired his musket without firing a fire, Winters knew there was no reason to miss such a short distance, and the guard would die.

However, what didn't expect was that the guard who was hit by the musket at close range not only did not die, but also charged the black robed man with his sword, as if he was not shot at all.

The older, high-ranking passenger was scrambling for the Skua, screaming for help, when Winters passed him and met another black robed man.

Without time to think, Winters instinctively slashed in the face with fury. This is Winters' full-strength sword. Even a long sword without an edge in his hand can smash bones. The opponent must avoid it if he doesn't want to die.

However, the opponent's one-handed sword bypassed the long sword's path with a flexibility that a long sword could never achieve, and stuck straight into Winters' chest like a poisonous snake.

——————I’m the inconvenient dividing line ——————

Dürer’s “Knight, Death God, and the Devil” shows that era How the soldiers carry weapons, in the painting Knight is hanging diagonally on his waist is a two-handed long sword, and interested officials can come and appreciate it.

(end of this chapter)