Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Therefore, the citizens of the old era fervently worshipped the city walls, generously donating vast portions of their wealth to their city. For they shared fate with the city, which, to them, was the only safe haven in a perilous world.

But times are different now, just as Antonio said, the Standing Army is mainly used to deal with internal enemies, and they do it well. Any sizable band of robbers within the Alliance's territory would be swiftly annihilated by the Allied Army, and a few straggling villains could be dealt with by merely a handful of guards.

The Navarre family followed the trend and moved out of the urban area, but Winters did not know the address, simply following his uncle forward.

"What kept you busy today on your first day of internship at the constabulary?" Antonio asked casually.

Winters was about to talk about the day's events but then he remembered Colonel Field's admonition, "keep tight-lipped, follow orders." He chewed over his words for a long time before squeezing out, "Pretty busy anyhow."

"What exactly kept you so busy?" Antonio persisted unwaveringly.

"Please don't ask, I can't say."

Antonio laughed and lightly tapped Winters' shoulder with a riding crop, "Field taught you well. Being tight-lipped is a virtue. Usually, you should watch more, listen more, do more, but speak less. Speak less, and others won't know what cards you hold."

Winters blushed and nodded.

"Even if you don't tell me, I still know what cards you hold." Antonio's smiling eyes were like crescents, "When the Throne voted on whether to pin this mess on Field, I cast the only dissenting vote on your behalf."

"What?" Winters exclaimed so unexpectedly that he involuntarily tightened the reins, causing the spirited horse to halt with a snort. "Were you present when it was decided to hand this case to the constabulary?"

"Of course I was there," Antonio gestured, "Don't just stand there like a fool, walk and talk."

Winters lightly squeezed the horse's belly and trotted forward to catch up with his uncle, "Does the Throne know that even with me included, there are only two officers in the constabulary now?"

"Of course they know," Antonio nodded.

"And they still handed this case over to the constabulary? With only two officers and eighty guards needing to man posts, how are we two supposed to investigate?"

"Quite simple. If Field wants to close the case, he could write a report today, and by tomorrow this case would be closed," Major General Antonio offered a relaxed solution.

The case could be closed at any time if they wanted? Winters' thoughts raced, and in an instant, he grasped the profound implication behind those words, asking his uncle word by word, "Are you implying that the Throne already has a scapegoat prepared for this case?"

"Not bad, a teachable lad," Antonio said with a hint of a smile, praising Winters, who could tell from his tone that his uncle didn't consider the case a big deal, "What's the big deal about an assassination attempt? Doesn't Sea Blue have several each year? If the assassin isn't caught on the spot, how can they possibly find the person? It's sure to become a cold case. The person who took this case from the customs didn't care about the truth; they just wanted to pin the blame on someone they chose in the end."

"Are you saying that the army took the initiative to take over the case from the customs?" Winters could hardly believe his ears.

"What else? If the army didn't want it, could the customs force it upon them?"

Only now did Winters realize that he had comprehended it all wrong; he had initially thought that the customs and the army had reached a secret agreement. The customs discovered that the victim might be a soldier and did not want to meddle in the army's affairs, so they communicated secretly with the army, leaving them to investigate the case.

But according to Antonio's statements, the army was utterly unaware of the victim's identity; someone just wanted to create an issue, proactively taking over the case.

One dared to ask, the other dared to give, both believing that a mere exchange of glances was an adequate understanding, yet in reality, their thoughts were entirely different.

Moreover, from what Winters could see now, both parties had less information about this assassination than he did. In his view, both the customs and the army underestimated the severity of this assassination attempt.

"So, who exactly does the Throne want to pin the blame on?" Winters voiced another doubt.

Antonio nonchalantly gave an answer that Winters did not anticipate, "Pirates."

"How could the assassin be a pirate? I've fought against pirates, I've also fought those assassins, and there is no one among pirates as formidable as those assassins."

"But can pirates come out to prove they are not assassins?" Antonio questioned with an almost mocking smile.

"Framing pirates..." Winters' mind flashed like lightning, as he agonizingly pondered, attempting to connect the fragmented information, to seize the main point from a tangle of confusion.

Seeing him deep in thought, Antonio kept silent, and the two walked in quiet for a while.

Suddenly, Winters sighed and asked softly, "Are we going to war?"

————Delimiter————

Stallions are temperamental and naturally aggressive, but they are easily attracted by mares in heat. History is replete with instances where mares were used to attract stallions for profit in war; mares are gentle and quiet and can also serve as warhorses. However, sending a mare into battle means one less foal for the following year. Therefore, the final solution was to use castrated stallions as warhorses, which the Teutonic knights called 'monk horses' [Mönchpferde]. Another advantage of using castrated horses was that even if captured by the enemy, the enemy could not use them to improve their own horse bloodlines.

Horses have a rich emotional life, so I believe that the reason horses cannot become pets is mainly due to their size and digestive issues.