Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

This was Winters' fourth morning back in Wolf Town, also a Sunday morning.

Winters enjoyed walking around town, occasionally picking up a nail or two from the scorched earth.

Those on their way to Mass saw the Garrison Officer from a distance and waved to greet him; Winters also exchanged greetings with the townsfolk.

When the town was initially formed by merging villages, the center of Wolf Town had only the town hall and a church — to be precise, it was the church that first established the town center.

The majority of Wolf Town's people lived off the land, with the little industry they had scattered across various villages.

Gerard pulled out all the stops to make Wolf Town grow into what Winters had seen upon his first arrival.

Take for instance the blacksmith workshop — Gerard had to get Misha dead drunk several times before he successfully persuaded his old buddy to move the workshop from Dusa Village to the town center.

Fate is a cruel mistress; the people of Wolf Town toiled for thirty years, yet a single military calamity reduced everything to rubble.

Fortunately, Winters came back here, to rebuild her with his own hands.

Then came another military calamity, and all of Winters' hard work went up in flames...

As the saying goes, "Don't spit into the well; you might drink from it someday."

The main person responsible for the "second destruction of Wolf Town" was now atoning for their sins in the labor camp, weaving baskets, while the town Winters so dearly loved was once again brimming with life.

The cold forge burst into flames, and the crisp sounds of hammering were once again heard from the blacksmith's shop. Key components and blueprints remained, so the sawmill was quickly back in production.

The prison rose from the ruins of the barracks — it would be wasteful to abandon the ground that had been so strenuously leveled.

Samukin learned from his Centurion and did well.

Father Caman might be a bit unhappy, though, because his church had just been rebuilt when it was razed by fire once again.

In theory, there was nothing to it; they could just rebuild. Wolf Town had the tools, the manpower, and the timber. Being burned down was actually an opportunity to build a prettier one.

The problem was that Caman was formally consecrated as a clergyman of the Old Church, while Samukin... Samukin was a Protestant.

Therefore, Samukin was able to objectively and calmly assess the importance of the Wolf Town church — undoubtedly at the very bottom of the reconstruction list, and prone to be bumped even lower.

Samukin built a temporary shelter without walls for Father Caman, a place for the Old Church followers to hold their services.

Caman didn't come to Winters to argue, and Winters didn't apologize to Caman or offer an explanation either.

On the first day back in Wolf Town, Winters had sent someone to escort the potter Shaun to Revodan. For the following days, he spent most of his time at Mrs. Mitchell's estate.

Father Caman was indifferent to Winters, but Mrs. Mitchell was quite glad that Winters had returned.

Winters chatted with Mrs. Mitchell about Pierre and Scarlett: Pierre's experiences in the wilderness? What was Scarlett busy with lately?

They also occasionally discussed the current affairs of the Federated Provinces and Vineta, as well as interesting anecdotes and the customs and cultures of the Tanilia Archipelago.

When Winters first met Caman, Caman always had a gentle smile on his face, while Winters was impatient and too busy to pay him any attention.

Now, the way they interacted had completely reversed: Caman looked anxious and irritable whenever he saw Winters, while Winters would amiably initiate a greeting to the priest.

But Winters never once brought up the suggestion to "come to Revodan with me."

The sound of bells from the old church site signaled that the ceremony was about to begin.

Upon hearing the bells, Winters walked back to the labor camp, where Samukin was waiting at the entrance.

"Have the captives assembled?" Winters asked with a smile.

"They're all ready," Samukin saluted.

"Good," Winters handed over the nails he had collected to Samukin, "These can still be used, why not recycle them?"

Samukin, trying not to laugh, realized the Blood Wolf had been digging in the ground like searching for food, just to pick up junk.

Suppressing a laugh, Samukin answered seriously, "Yes, I'll arrange for someone to pick them up."

"Never mind," Winters sighed, "I've been looking all morning; I probably picked them all up."

On the other side, Father Caman saw that the congregation was nearly complete and began to preside over the entrance rite.

Caman was dressed in a long white robe, wrapped in a dark green velvet embroidered chasuble, with the stole hanging in front around his neck, appearing quite sacred and solemn.

He made the sign of the cross, just about to speak, but saw Winters cheerfully walking into the "church tent."

Caman took a deep breath and continued to preside over the entrance rite.

The next moment, the words he had yet to speak were choked back by the chant of "Right! Left! Right..."

The captives marched out of the labor camp in columns, forming a long line like a snake crawling toward the new site of the church. They walked up to the wooden shelter and sat down in the dust in turns, directed by the guards' commands.

The Old Church followers of Wolf Town were confused and even a bit panicked, looking around at each other.

Even the usually composed Caman couldn't contain himself anymore.

He stormed over to Winters, gritting his teeth and asking, "What exactly are you up to?"

Winters was sitting in the front row of the simple church tent, and upon seeing Caman approach in a fury, he thought, "If you initiate a conversation with me, then I've won."

In response to Caman's question, Winters replied uprightly, "Attending Mass."

"You're a magic user, what Mass could you possibly be attending?" Caman's face turned red with anger.

"Keep your voice down," Winters reprimanded, "It's not nice for the congregation to hear you swearing."

"Winters Montagne! Do you think just because you're a magic user, I can't deal with you? Is that it?" Caman was clenching his teeth so hard, his cheeks started twitching, "Do you think you can keep pushing my patience over and over? Is that it?"