Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 175: On the Way

The carriage travels on a winding mountain trail.

“Uncle Osk, you rushed too fast, so the wagon was too upside down...” Claude climbed out of the trunk and sat next to Uncle Osk in the wagon.

“Drive, drive.” Uncle Osk shook his whip twice in the air: "I can't help it. I've been delayed too long in the morning. If I don't hurry, I'll have to camp over the Black Forest at night. There's a pack of wolves out there. If you can't make it to Hesse Town at night, it's probably dangerous. After all, we are not a merchant team, a carriage, two horses, two people. It would be difficult to take care of them if they were caught up by the wolves...”

Claude Khan, I can't help it, it's all his fault, the delay in the morning is all because everyone gave it to him. Today is August 20th, the day Claude is scheduled to leave for Caffirette County for conscription. Though it takes an estimated five or six days to get there based on the miles on the map, Claude decided to leave today for safety reasons. This allows you to familiarize yourself with the new environment even if you check in a few days earlier, and also prevents accidents on your journey from delaying for a few days...

Claude hired Uncle Osk's long-distance carriage for this purpose, at a high cost of two Golden Kroners, and asked Uncle Osk to escort him all the way to Caffirette County, Gonidad City, Fuckabee Hill Army Camp. It was only at 9 o'clock that Claude could not have easily said goodbye to his loved ones and friends and embarked on the carriage.

In fact, Mother woke up early in the morning, weeping and preparing Claude for her last hearty breakfast before she left home. Turns out Claude came out of the pharmacy lab with Caffrey in his arms and found out that Caffrey didn't go back last night and spent the night with Claude in the pharmacy lab. So my mother was happy, she forgot that Claude was about to leave, she circled around Kevin, and even asked Claude what the name should be if Kevin was pregnant...

Claude couldn't help laughing, and Caffrey was shy and manic and could only vent under the table with Claude's shoes on her feet. As it turns out, Mother already thinks of Kevin as her daughter-in-law and even wants Kevin to move to the woods to live with her.

It didn't take long to calm down her mother, and Claude used her breakfast and went back to the study to pick up her backpack and get ready to go. As a result, the mother brought out another big bag, ready for Claude to take it. At first glance, the mother was well prepared and even the winter sweater coat glove scarf was neatly stacked inside.

Claude had to be patient and make it clear to his mother that he was going to enlist in the army, not to travel outside. Military uniforms are issued in the army, no other clothes are allowed, whether in summer or winter, only military uniforms can be worn, so it is sufficient to have a set of washed clothes and two sets of underwear in this backpack, nothing else is required, he has already asked clearly, even towel soap these washing supplies are distributed in the army...

It was 9: 30 in the morning when Claude drove his carriage with his family and Kevin to the town where he had agreed to leave with Uncle Osk. Without waiting for him to say goodbye to his loved ones, Uncle Thomas and Ludhan Butler and others rushed over to deliver him, so it was cold and greeting again, and the time was delayed...

Uncle Osk is also a national, and, like his father, Uncle Kubrick of Velikro, he was discharged from service after 15 years of service as a national. Unlike Uncle Kubrick, who became a hunter, he became a hired escort and broke north with the merchants. Later, when I was older, I used my savings to buy a long-distance carriage, to be a wagon and escort myself, not much business, but life went on.

Claude hired his long-distance carriage at a high price of two gold kroner this time, counting his return and return for up to half a month, and at least one gold kroner's net income, so he promised it painfully. I just didn't expect to see so many people coming. I delayed the departure for almost two hours. Since all the people who came to White Deer City had faces, and Claude was an employer, he had no choice but to speed up the carriage after the journey to make up for the delay.

Claude sat down with Uncle Osk and asked curiously, "Why are there wolves in the black forest? Haven't heard from anyone in a long time. ”

There is only one mountain path east of White Deer City, currently the only land exit across the three southwestern counties, after turning two mountains to Ambrizeshire. However, to reach the human smoke zone in Ambrizeshire, you will also need to cross the pristine black forest zone, and fortunately the road to Hesse town is on the edge of the black forest, taking only about five or six hours, without crossing the entire endless black forest centre.

Claude arrives in Cafelezt County, and in the middle passes through five counties: Ambrizet, Cooklia, Chanyalal, Krusger and Limassosya. According to Uncle Osk, if the journey goes smoothly, six days will be enough to reach Caffirette County. Because with the exception of Limassosya County, the remaining four counties are plains with extremely convenient transportation, well maintained roads and easy carriage.

“There have always been wolves in the Black Forest, but they won't come very easily near densely populated areas.” Around seven or eight years ago, the Hessen Town Guard organized a massive wolf hunt, employing nearly 400 hunters into the Black Forest hunting wolves, "said Uncle Osk. That time, more than 300 werewolves were killed and almost all the wolves wandering along the edge of the Black Forest were hunted down, levelling the wolf disaster around Hessen town. Even teenagers who enter the edge of the Black Forest to pick mushrooms will not be in any danger.

But two months ago, a group of merchants said they had met a group of wolves on their way to Hesse town, about seven or eight, just looking at the merchants from afar, not very close. From time to time, merchants said they had heard wolf howls over the next few days. Although there were no reports of injuries from wolves, Hessen town had issued a circular prompting merchants and travellers to White Deer Town to travel through the Black Forest, preferably alone, in case something went wrong. ”

“Strange, how come we haven't been notified in White Deer City?” Claude asked.

“Simply put, White Deer City is full of large merchants, even individual merchants and travellers, who either partner with the merchants or go to the pier to catch a merchant boat to Port Neru and seldom take a carriage as long as you do.” Uncle Osk replied.

“What if we run into a pack of wolves? I would have brought a crossbow with me. ”

“Nothing, I brought a crossbow, a long bow, a shotgun, a short sword, an axe. Basically only six or seven wolves don't have to worry. Mainly camping in the Black Forest at night is difficult to say, and it is difficult for two people to protect their carriages and horses. ”

Claude was shocked: "Uncle Osk, how come I didn't see all these weapons in your car? ”

“It's all under my seat. It's the safety and security of my long-distance car. How can I not put it better?” Uncle Osk said very bluntly.

“Is it bad security in our kingdom to travel long distances with so many weapons? ”

“This is not to say that the security is poor, the towns and villages are actually very safe, but the inventory is also very rigorous, like you have conscription orders and permits to worry about nothing. Especially on the way there are likely to be fugitives and bandits fleeing military service, who are unable to enter towns and villages to obtain supplies, beat the idea to the merchants and passengers on the way and set up ambushes in some more remote areas, forcing the merchants to supply them with grain or rob travellers.

Like the last time I sent my family to Marieke, Tamorus County, there was a gang of bandits, all fleeing the labour camps and hijacking their homes in the mountains and woods. Local guards and Tamorus County Security Battalion have been cleared several times without success, so merchants and travellers travelling there are required to hire escorts to keep them safe. But when I came back, I saw that a battalion of the Legion of the Lizards was already headed to the mountainous woods where the bandits were running, believing that the bandits would soon be wiped out. ”Uncle Osk and Claude talked about what he heard.

The Lizard Regiment is also one of the four great Ace Field Regiments in the Kingdom of Ovillas, specializing in mountain forest warfare.

Weihua, in the kingdom of Orvillas, there are still bandits who need to send an Ace Field Corps to clean up, which I've never really heard of. Claude opened his mouth in astonishment: "So, Uncle Osk, are there many incidents in the kingdom like those in Tamorus County? ”

Uncle Osk shook his head: "Not much, very little. Tamoroos County bandits are mainly affected by mountains, hills, too many places to hide and not enough men to hunt them down, giving them a chance to take a big seat.

The five counties we're going through, Limassosya County, are a little confused because they're mining development counties. Care needs to be taken to avoid disputes and conflicts with local temperamental miners, and people over there like to use fists to reason, winning ignorance becomes rational.

As for your destination, Cafelezt County, to be honest, I haven't really been there, and this is the first time I've sent you there. Speaking of which, when I was a soldier, this Kafirezt County was still the territory of the Kingdom of Nasserley. Fifteen years as a soldier, three battlefields, but not on enemy territory, it's a bit embarrassing to think of. ”

Two people rush long distances, and the thing that scares them the most is that nobody talks. Since Claude crawled out of the trunk and sat down to talk to herself in the front, Uncle Osk was excited to talk to Claude about his experience as a soldier on the battlefield, and was later hired as a merchant escort to various parts of the kingdom, etc., but it was a great conversation and Claude heard a lot.

Uncle Osk stopped the carriage by a creek until he got off the highway and told Claude to take a half-hour break and eat something, he was going to feed off the horse and give the two pulley horses a break, replenishing the salt and fresh water.

Meanwhile, he picked up that long cushion and asked Claude what kind of weapon he needed. Claude approached me, and really, I had no idea that for so long, there was a weapon box underneath, and what Uncle Osk said about the weapons was really everything.

“I'll take the stone crossbow and give me a short sword. Too bad you don't have one. I'm better at that. But uncle, this double-barrel hunting and robbery is very unique. It must be very troublesome to load a gun...” Claude picked up the stone crossbow in the box, put the crossbow arm and body together, put it on the string, and try to pull it down.

Uncle Osk took out the double-barrel shotgun: “My gun is custom-made, shotgun, not far away, about 70 to 80 meters, but a dozen to one large pieces, no need to aim. It would be most appropriate to fight back with this shotgun while driving a wagon like me. But as you said, this gun is also a hassle to load, two barrels at a time, but it can be used twice, the first to warn, the second to threaten, enough to get me and the wagon out of the way.

Now we've entered the boundaries of Ambrizeshire, and then we're on the national road through the Black Forest Zone. Getting to Hessen town from here is estimated to take another five or six hours, and in addition to parking at several camp sites along the way for more than a decade to rest the horses, we need to be vigilant and be prepared. If the journey is all right, I think we should make it to Hessen Town around 8: 00 p.m. so we can stay in the hotel and get some rest. ”

Claude nodded and went out, preferably following the advice of someone as experienced as Uncle Osk who often traveled north and south, instead of hiring him at his own expense, wandering wildly and doing whatever he wanted, that's what got him in trouble.

“All right, listen to you, Uncle Osk, let's get something to eat. Just in the morning they gave me a little barrel of rye to quench our thirst on the way. Why don't you have a drink first? ”