plumnovel #151 - Reach that beautiful vision
#151 - Reach that beautiful vision
Horn really hadn't expected that the thief locksmith Harken mentioned would actually be a female cat burglar.
This thief, named Haimoting, looked about seventeen or eighteen years old, but was almost as tall as the dwarf Harken.
Even in the dead of winter, she seemed unafraid of the cold, wearing only a leather vest, revealing the muscle lines of her arms.
In contrast, Harken next to her was already wearing a thick padded coat.
Both of them had bruised noses and swollen faces, apparently having had a fight before coming.
"I know why you called me here," Haimoting said straightforwardly, "If you can find the person who makes them, I can make blueprints for any kind of lock I want."
"She's also very skilled with clockwork and gears," Harken, afraid that Horn would think he was fooling him, quickly took out an hourglass-like object from the box and placed it on the table.
Watching the small ball swinging back and forth on the stand and the ticking sound of the gears turning, Horn's eyes widened.
Isn't this a pendulum clock?
"I use this for timing," the girl glared at Harken resentfully, and took the pendulum clock back from the table, "Just a crude little toy."
That's no crude little toy, Horn could see how exquisite it was, requiring a lot of time, and Haimoting had obviously put a lot of thought into it.
Compared to Harken, who rudely picked it up directly, Haimoting's movements were much gentler.
"Okay, you're hired," Horn decisively took out a contract, "A weekly wage of 5 dinars, the same as a stonemason apprentice, how about it?"
"I want 10 dinars, I can also help you scout for information and steal intelligence."
"I probably don't need you to do those things," Horn thought for a moment, "I'll give you 8 dinars, including room and board."
Haimoting unexpectedly agreed readily: "Okay."
Saying that, she pressed a fingerprint on the contract.
"In the next two days, pack your luggage, because we have to leave the day after tomorrow, you have to be at the camp by the morning after tomorrow at the latest."
"No need," Haimoting showed Horn the small box she was holding, "My luggage is all here, I can leave at any time."
"Why do you seem so eager to leave?"
"There's going to be a war soon, if you're not in a hurry, I am."
"...That's true, oh right, Harken, stay with me for the next two days, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, your dad will come to deliver the sword."
After seeing off Haimoting and Harken, Horn was finally able to sit down and arrange his schedule for the day.
Opening the alchemical product list, Horn took out a copy of the "Swamp Town Industrial Plan and Vision", quickly writing on it while copying.
This plan can be said to be Horn's version of the five-year plan, of course, it's just a draft and framework, the specifics still need to wait until he goes to Swamp Town to conduct a detailed investigation.
Time passed, Horn's writing speed became slower and slower, until he simply stopped writing.
He should be happy to have this long-awaited alchemy product list in hand, but the more he wrote, the less he could write, and instead took out another list from his pocket.
That was the list of people who would follow him to Swamp Town, Horn had talked to everyone on this list, and the vast majority agreed to follow him to Swamp Town.
Except for Jeanne.
This little girl didn't know what was wrong with her, she insisted on staying in Jeanne Fort to lead the refugees in fighting against the Church's army.
That was originally the task Horn gave to Thomas and Madeline, why are you joining in the fun?
Horn leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples.
Jeanne's electric arc smelting is an important part of the large-scale preparation of steel, iron, and orichalcum, her staying in Jeanne Fort is a major blow to Horn's development plan.
In this "Vision", there are a large number of process flows that require Jeanne's participation, such as the orichalcum assembly line and the electric arc furnace.
After pacing around the room for a long time, Horn finally stood up and walked to the door: "Duvaron, go, call Jeanne over."
Returning to his desk, Horn poured himself a glass of water to slightly soothe his tense spirit.
Soon, the door of the room was opened, and Jeanne poked half of her head in: "Brother, are you looking for me?"
"Jeanne, sit down."
Jeanne walked to the opposite of Horn and pulled out a chair to sit down.
"Ahem..." Horn cleared his throat, "Jeanne, have you ever thought that one day, people can enter cities sitting in high-speed machines, in that world..."
"Brother, I said it," Jeanne interrupted Horn, "I don't have much value in going to Swamp Town, the refugees here need me more."
"Swamp Town needs you more, Swamp Town is the starting point of everything."
"Why can't Jeanne Fort be the starting point of everything?"
Horn originally wanted to show her that "Vision", but thinking that she couldn't recognize many words, he had to give up.
"Jeanne Fort is indeed a good place, with a stable source of soldiers, and an alliance with the Duke, but this is not our place after all.
There is no future in being bandits, we need to consider the future, we can't just stare at the present, the army needs a stable and loyal rear.
War is not about fighting, war is about tedious training, camping, marching, deployment, and logistics, none of which do not require a stable rear.
If we stay in Jeanne Fort, we are making wedding clothes for Duke Kush, the Kush family has accumulated a century of reputation, we can't replace it."
There was one more point that Horn didn't say, the people who started the uprising first will face the Church's biggest encirclement and suppression, in the peasant uprising war, it is often not the first movers who win the victory.
From the current point of view, staying in Jeanne Fort and cooperating with the Duke is the best, but if you consider it in the long term, Swamp Town is the real way out.
This is the most rational and correct choice.
"Why replace it? Isn't the victory that the Duke gains the victory of Thousand River Valley?" Jeanne said angrily, "Why do you want to leave Thousand River Valley?"
"The problem is that the Duke can't win," Horn spread his hands, "What else can I say? Without you helping me develop the rear, these refugees are rootless water, and will only be taken by the Duke to waste.
If you stay here, who will provide the refugee army with clockwork muskets?"
"I'm not going."
"What's so bad about Swamp Town, what are you afraid of?"
The latest novel is first published at Six 9 Books Bar!
Raising her head, Jeanne wanted to say something, but swallowed it back, she silently bent her legs and rested her chin on her knees.
Curled up like a baby.
"What are you afraid of?" His voice softened a little, Horn walked around the table and gently stroked her shoulder.
"Brother, do you think I'm very ridiculous," Jeanne rested her head on Horn's belly, "I regarded you as a cowardly betrayer, but I was the betrayer.
I regarded Danji as a self-deceiving clown, but I was the clown.
What I firmly believe is always wrong, and every time I change my mind, I have to pay the price of life.
I don't know whether I should stay here, I think I should stay here, but... Brother, if we leave Thousand River Valley, do you think I will regret it?"
Horn opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word for a long time.
Those images reappeared in his mind.
The increasingly clear license plate, the driver's increasingly terrified face, and the endless blue sky.
The Empire is not his homeland, Thousand River Valley is not his hometown, Galar is not his surname, he has his own relatives and friends, but they are no longer here.
He is a lone guest in a foreign land, he cannot go back to the past, back to Earth, to make up for those regrets, to slap the faces of those who abandoned him.
He can only move forward, where there are magnificent palaces, endless women, and inexhaustible wealth.
When he gets there, he can vindicate Danji, he can establish a security system for the elderly and children, he can drive out the Church and let the blue-blooded orphans go home.
He can make up for the current regrets, instead of, like in his previous life, forever indulging in the regrets of the past, powerless, unable to do anything.
As long as he can reach that beautiful vision...
"Brother Horn?"
Jeanne blinked her eyes, looking a little at a loss at Horn who suddenly hugged her.
"Jeanne," Horn's voice rang in Jeanne's ear, just like two months ago on that rain-covered hill, "I never give up on my hometown."
Warm and humid.
Jeanne's face turned red, but she still wrapped her arms around Horn's neck.
"I know you took that marriage certificate, right?"
"I, I didn't, you, don't talk nonsense! I, I, I didn't take it, I just happened to find it."
Listening to Jeanne's incoherent explanation, Horn's mouth opened and closed, until finally he mechanically opened his mouth.
He thought his voice would be extremely dry, but now it sounded extremely gentle and soft: "Since I'm already a witch, and have no worries, then can we get engaged?"
"Ah... Ah? Are you, are you serious?" Occupied by this shocking news, Jeanne replied dizzyly, "Then, then what about Carrie?"
"She's just my sister."
"But..."
"Tomorrow is Grampwen and Dia's wedding, at the wedding, we'll announce our engagement, and the wedding date will be set on New Year's Day, what do you say?"
New Year's Day is from December 30th to January 2nd every year in the Imperial calendar.
If there are no mistakes, Horn and Jeanne will have arrived in Swamp Town by then.
Watching Jeanne leave in a daze, Horn sat on the stool, he stared blankly at the "Swamp Town Industrial Plan and Vision" in front of him, until night fell.
When the house fell into darkness, he took a deep breath, lit the fluorite lamp, picked up the quill pen again, and began to write rustlingly on the parchment.