Chapter 993: Chapter 50: Mountains_4

“Captain, there are no civilians here, don’t brush us off with lies we both know are false!” Colonel Seber suddenly stood up: “Where on earth did Winters Montagne go? When can he return?”

“How would I know?” Mason, heart full of sorrow, said to no one: “I don’t know either!”

“Then what do we do? What about the soldiers at the settlement?”

“This… Winters must make the decision; no one else can call the shots.”

“When can Captain Montagne return?”

“Don’t know.”

Colonel Seber stared at Mason for a while, and after confirming that the latter was not lying, he slumped back down, wearily propping his forehead: “Forget it. My apologies if I spoke out of line.”

Mason looked at Colonel Seber, then at the other alumni who had just returned from the wasteland in the corridor, and couldn’t help but feel a lot of sympathy.

When they stepped into the wasteland, they were army officers with bright futures. When they returned to Paratu, not only had their country vanished, they didn’t even know what they were anymore.

“Don’t panic, you have food and shelter, take care of your health first,” Mason put his hand on Colonel Seber’s shoulder: “I know you want to go home, I also believe Winters will respect your wishes.”

Colonel Seber, hand on his forehead, asked, “When is Winters coming back?”

Mason was stunned: “Don’t know.”

“Then you do your job,” Colonel Seber lifted his head, resuming a proper sitting posture: “We’ll continue to wait.”

Mason stood still for a moment, then turned to open the door. His fingertips had already touched the doorknob when he turned back around, proactively suggesting: “Actually, there are two other decision-makers in Iron Peak County, Lieutenant Bard and Lieutenant Cherini. Maybe you could pay them a visit? By the way, Colonel Jeska has recently been compiling textbooks and could use some help; you could also assist there.”

“Colonel Jeska has people helping. Lieutenant Bard is in Blackwater Town, hundreds of kilometers from here,” Colonel Seber snorted coldly: “Lieutenant Andrea Cherini is even more cunning, having snuck off to the city’s outskirts stables early on.”

“So.” Mason asked word by word: “Blocking my door is because…”

“Right, because you’re the only one we could find,” Colonel Seber patted Mason’s shoulder: “In Revodan, it’s only you who’s working.”

Mason, struggling, didn’t let others see the tears in his eyes and forcefully pushed open the office door.

“I won’t be working anymore either,” he thought fiercely, but he immediately reconsidered: “But if I don’t work, how will the usual matters be handled?”

At that moment, there was an excited shout from outside the corridor: “They’ve returned! They’re back!”

Mason was startled, loudly asking: “Who’s back?”

“The delegation!” the messenger beamed: “Everyone is back!”

Mason’s heart bloomed with joy, no longer caring that others were present: “Quick, lead the way!”

…

Meanwhile, in Winters’ camp.

“You asked for me urgently, saying there was an emergency, and it’s for this?” Father Kaman glared at Winters, suppressing the urge to curse: “Do you realize I was in morning prayer? I thought you had slit your own throat!”

“This is the emergency,” Winters answered seriously, then threw the stick in his hand far away.

The two shadows sitting in front of him instantly vanished into the mist.

Soon after, a big dog looking like a wolf joyfully ran back with the stick, followed by another big dog looking like a wolf, looking dejected.

“Emergency.” Kaman clenched his fist: “You’re saying watching your dogs fetch?”

“No.” Winters smiled enigmatically, stretching out his right hand, dangling a peculiar bone whistle: “It means I’ve figured out the principle behind Hurd’s Divine Arts of beast speaking. Want to hear it?”

…

[Outside Revodan]

“Major! Where’s Winters?” Mason grabbed Major Moritz’s shoulder, yelling in anger and despair: “Where is he? Did you drink too much and leave Winters in the wasteland? Winters! Winters Montagne!”

“Stop looking,” said a groggy Moritz Major with a yawn: “He’s not here.”

Mason felt like crying: “Then why have you returned alone?”

“Oh? Oh.” Moritz said slowly: “He asked me to bring these things back.”

Having said that, Moritz, who was sitting in the carriage, casually lifted the blanket beneath him.

All those who came to greet him gasped in unison: gold bars, a layer of deep yellow gold bars paved along the bottom of the carriage.

It turns out the Major had slept on top of gold all the way.

Mason immediately pounced to straighten the blanket, tucking it in carefully as if afraid the gold bars would catch a cold.

“Did you find it?” Mason asked softly.

“Hmm,” Moritz yawned again, absent-mindedly fiddling with an arrowhead: “Found it.”

He patted the carpet beneath him and pointed to the back: “Three carriages, check them. Oh, and another carriage was taken away by Winters.”

“Ah? Right!” Mason, immersed in joy, suddenly remembered another crucial question, “Where exactly did Winters run off to? Does he know how hard I’ve…”

…

Meanwhile, in Winters’ camp.

Just as Winters was about to haggle with Father Kaman, Pierre arrived: “Centurion, Mr. Ed from the Navarre Commerce Iron Fortress branch is here, he wishes to see you and your wife.”

“Alright.” Winters hopped off the carriage, smiling in reply: “Mr. Ed’s arrival means we’ve got our ‘invitation’ to enter Iron Fortress.”

Just then, a gust of wind cleared the mist in the valley.

The trail, pond, and the hillside covered with a thin layer of snow, with flocks of sheep, cloud-like, strolling on the slopes.

Looking out from the mouth of the valley, one could also see the mountain peak covered with perpetual snow in the distance.

Pass through the mountain pass ahead, then another mountain pass, and Iron Fortress is fully in sight.