Munitions Empire

When Tagg saw the Banner of the Northern Ridge hanging above Wolf City, he was so excited that he almost shouted out loud.

He swore that in his whole life, he had never so eagerly anticipated returning to Wolf City. He almost wanted to spur his horse furiously and race toward the gates of Wolf City.

Similarly, it was also his first time, despite already seeing the majestic walls of Wolf City, to be thinking of another place not so far yet suddenly so important—Brunas.

It was a strange feeling, an experience Tagg found awkwardly indescribable. He looked forward to bringing a surprise to the Earl upon returning to Wolf City, yet he wished he could immediately set off to deliver the supplies that Tang Mo needed to that small workshop billowing with black smoke.

However, he knew that if he acted so rashly, the convoy following him would be startled, so he could only forcefully resist the impulse to gallop to the city, walking step by step alongside the vehicles toward the familiar city gates.

"Commander!" A young soldier at the city below, upon seeing Tagg approaching on his high-headed horse, stood at attention, saluted, and raised his forehead in greeting.

On his shoulder, he carried a beautifully maintained Shireck Flintlock Gun, gleaming and obviously well taken care of.

However, Tagg didn’t even glance at that broken plaything before nodding his head slightly, and asked, "Is Lord Earl in Wolf City?"

"Yes!" The soldier guarding the gate immediately replied: "Miss Alice has also returned! Just yesterday."

"All right! Have someone arrange for the convoy to disband! The remaining soldiers escort this carriage! Follow me!" Tagg yanked the reins of his battlehorse, making the high-headed beast turn around on the spot, and followed by a group of soldiers, he escorted a heavily laden carriage towards The Earl’s Mansion.

"My lord! Sir! Captain Tagg has returned escorting a carriage full of goods!" A guard reported to Earl Fisheo with a face full of surprise, knocking excitedly at his door.

The door was suddenly pulled open, and Fisheo emerged without even putting on the black cape he was fond of, hastily walking toward the doorstep.

By the time he reached the entrance, he saw Tagg just dismounting, and the heavy carriage had already stopped in the courtyard of The Earl’s Mansion.

"Lord Earl! I have completed my task without disgrace! I’m back! And I’ve brought back what you asked for!" Tagg said with a smile to Earl Fisheo.

"Excellent! Tagg, your loyalty is beyond doubt!" Fisheo excitedly slapped Tagg’s arm, unable to hide the smile on his face.

At last, he would have another batch of Quick Guns, which meant he could train his soldiers even faster.

Thinking of this, he looked again at the dusty Tagg, smiling as he asked, "How many Quick Guns did you bring back? Fifteen? Or twenty?"

Seeing Tagg’s somewhat embarrassed expression, he suddenly realized that maybe he had been too anxious. It hadn’t even been a month, and it seemed unlikely for Tang Mo’s small workshop to produce one rifle a day.

So, he took a deep breath, adjusted his mood, and after thinking, he finally spoke: "It’s all right, Tagg! It’s all right... Even five is not too few, at least it’s a good start, isn’t it?"

While saying this, he also looked toward Alice, who had come out upon hearing the news: "As long as there are plenty of training bullets, I’ll be very satisfied."

"S-sir... I’ve brought back 62 Quick Guns this time..." Tagg glanced at Alice approaching and bowed slightly, saying, "My lady."

"It’s fine, it’s fine! Tagg... There’s nothing to be upset about bringing back only 62 Quick Guns..." Fisheo began, but he was at a loss for words.

He looked at Tagg, his eyes wide with shock, and then he suddenly turned to the carriage, unable to help but take another glance at Tagg.

In the end, he fixed his gaze on the carriage and walked quickly over, pushing aside the soldiers guarding it to personally open the carriage door.

Then, he saw that the cargo box of the carriage was neatly filled with seven crudely nailed wooden crates.

The splinters on these boards had not even been cleaned, and in a grimy, nauseatingly crooked handwriting scrawled in black soot, they were labeled: "Handle with care."

"How many guns did you bring back?" Earl Fisheo couldn’t believe his ears, nor could he trust his eyes at the moment, so he asked Tagg again, his voice trembling.

He was afraid this was all a dream, scared that everything before him was a hallucination caused by the fatigue of days filled with longing and contemplation.

A feeling similar to the fear of approaching home, in the face of these munitions and arms, made him timid, fearful that his joy might turn out to be in vain.

"I’ve brought back 62 new K1 rifles, Lord Earl! Tang Mo’s production has started to get on track, and his workshop now has the capacity to produce more than 10 K1 Quick Guns in a single day!" Tagg looked earnestly at Earl Fisello as he explained.

"62 rifles... 62 rifles!" Fisello stepped forward to pull out the topmost box, and Tagg hurried to help when he saw this. He didn’t think the Earl’s actions at this moment were reckless at all because when he saw so many of the new Quick Guns laid out in front of him, he was almost in the same embarrassing state.

Ignoring the ungroomed splinters on the wooden box, the Earl put the box down at his feet, and then he turned to the helpful Tagg, pointing excitedly to the box below and commanded, "Open it, open it!"

Tagg took a crowbar from the carriage and inserted it into the gap at the edge of the wooden box. Earl Fisello, somewhat conflicted but unable to wait, stepped forward and pressed down on the crowbar himself, prying open the lid.

The wooden lid, nailed together, wasn’t sturdy and was mostly twisted, distorted, and damaged. But now the Earl didn’t have the patience to care about the useless wooden box, as his eyes were fixed on the brand-new, freshly oiled K1 Quick Gun barrels and couldn’t be moved.

"Gulp..." He swallowed, staring at the neatly arrayed K1 Quick Guns laid in the box, his hands trembled slightly.

Eventually, he reached out and grabbed a brand-new K1 Quick Gun from the box, examining the meticulous, polished wooden stock.

His hand brushed over the cold bolt and caressed the smooth, elongated barrel, as if he were fondling his beloved woman.

Then, through the haphazardly piled leather weapon straps on the lower layer, he spied the second row of K1 Quick Guns, and the smile on his face was uncontrollable.

"Are there ten guns in this box?" he asked Tagg excitedly.

"Yes! There’s one box with only two guns, but..." Tagg replied nervously for the first time, seeing such excitement in the Earl’s eyes.

"But what?" Fisello asked, already calculating the training of 75 soldiers with the new K1 Quick Guns.

"But it includes 1,500 bullets specially for training, with reduced charges," Tagg replied.

"I knew it! That lad won’t let me down!" Earl Fisello laughed as he handed one of the brand-new Quick Guns to his daughter Alice and grabbed another from the box, playing with it as he talked.

Alice had tried shooting the K1 Quick Gun yesterday, and after taking the new gun from her father, she skillfully pulled back the bolt, looked down, and saw that the entire bore seemed to be manufactured so perfectly it was as if it was naturally made, with captivatingly beautiful curves!

She could tell the gun in her hands was a fine piece, far superior to the Shireck Flintlock Gun.

However, no matter how good a weapon’s craftsmanship was, it was still just a matter of technique. What truly caught her attention were some other details.

"Tagg... you went to Brunas for only about 20 days, right?" Alice shifted her gaze from the firearm to Tagg, who was smiling simply, and asked in a calm and unhurried manner.

"23 days, Miss!" Tagg immediately answered Alice’s question with clarity, because he had been counting the days while in Brunas, waiting for the time to return to Northern Ridge.

However, it was only in the moment of returning to Northern Ridge that he realized a part of his heart had been left behind in Brunas...

"Producing three rifles a day... This is no longer just a weapons workshop; this is a weapon factory... And a super large one at that," Alice said, holding the K1 Quick Gun and speaking to Tagg.

She gracefully handed the rifle to Tagg, and without a pause, she said, "I’ve read all the letters you wrote, which took up all of my time after dinner yesterday. Can you talk about it? Tell me about that interesting factory and the fascinating machinery inside?"

"Of course, Miss!" Tagg took the K1 Quick Gun and looked at Earl Fisello, who was moving boxes out of the carriage with another guard.

In fact, he had much more he wanted to tell the Earl, but it seemed the Earl was currently immersed in the joy of having received 60 Quick Guns and was unlikely to approach him for a conversation for the time being.

So, he sighed and followed behind Alice to a shady area under a tree.

"You mentioned in your letter that Tang Mo created a new kind of machine... It’s not a windmill, not a watermill, right?" Alice stopped under the shade of the tree, turned to Tagg who was following, and asked her first question.

"Yes, that’s right, Mathews said that thing is called a steam engine," Tagg replied seriously.

"A steam engine? You’re joking, right? The useless toy the nobility uses for blowing whistles?" Alice, well-traveled and well-informed, had heard of such superficial contraptions.

"Yes, Miss," Tagg nodded, then pointed to a small woodpile not far off, "But Lord Tang Mo made two that are even larger than that warehouse..."

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