When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

#661 - Hornville and the Moulin Rouge

On January 5th, 1447, the afterglow of the New Year's Flower Parade still lingered over the Holy Machine Court.

Strings of colorful triangular flags still hung on the clotheslines between houses, and the air was filled with the aroma of cheese bread and the sulfurous smell of Fireball spells.

Having changed into new linen-wool blend short jackets freshly spun by the Holy Machine Court's textile factory, the citizens took to the streets to enjoy the last few days of their week-long holiday.

But not Horn. After enjoying five days of vacation, he had to embark on a journey south.

Horn's southward fleet could be described as grand, consisting of twenty-five ships and six hundred personnel.

Among them were a guard of five hundred Guardsmen, twenty high-ranking Gospel Court monks responsible for etiquette and diplomatic affairs, forty service personnel including cooks, porters, and servants, twenty honor guards, and twenty recorders and scribes.

These ships, with their sails full of wind and oars churning, lined up in the icy river, smashing the floating ice as they headed south.

Departing from Jeanne d'Arc Fortress in the unmelted snow, Horn and his entourage did not linger, spending eight days sailing to the border of Thousand River Valley and Black Serpent Bay.

When Horn stood at the bow of the ship and gazed south, he could even see the tall walls and towers of the Red Copper Fortress.

However, it was now occupied by Kush Knights, and the city walls were adorned with the black and red sun flag with golden tassel edges.

Various ships were docked beside the pier, which was piled high with neat wooden boxes and scattered ropes, ranging from sailboats to small fishing boats.

The sails were flapping in the wind, and crew members, sailors, and porters were busy moving goods, sorting and loading grains, fish, spices, and silk.

Merchants with wheat-colored skin wearing linen vests from Black Serpent Bay and alchemists in black robes came and went in the streets.

"This town is called Horn Town, and this pier is called Red Mill Pier," Domenico introduced with a grin. "The villagers named them spontaneously and willingly out of respect for you."

Horn nodded noncommittally, while Jeanne couldn't help but frown.

Horn could rationally analyze that this was flattery, while Jeanne intuitively felt that they were probably not so sincere.

Stepping onto the main street of Horn Town for the first time, one could feel the difference. After all, this was a brand-new town, full of different customs.

The Garal Street was paved with cobblestones and mortar, and the street was lined with low wooden houses and shops, with various iconic signs hanging under the eaves.

Blacksmith shops, oil and sugar shops, grocery stores, shoemaker shops, taverns... everything a small town should have was here.

However, the difference was that, because it adopted a new style of planning similar to the Holy Machine Court, the town was composed of four neat blocks, with consistent road widths and building heights.

It was full of an unusual sense of order, which was what pleased Horn.

The town's houses were mainly built of wood, thatch, or brick and tile, using mortar to bond them together. The walls were mostly painted with inferior white-reddish lime, and the windows were made of oil paper separated by wooden strips.

The houses exuded the smell of wood burning in stoves, as well as the daily atmosphere of the living areas inside—such as pickled fish, hay, or greasy vegetable soup.

Don't underestimate these simple houses; the people walking in and out might be Kush Knights or their stewards.

On the way from the pier to the town hall, Horn often saw vendors carrying goods and passing carts, with cloth, pottery, and soybean oil interspersed among them.

After the Thousand River Valley became independent and the Red Copper Fortress was captured, the smuggling trade on the originally narrow waters quickly concentrated in Horn Town.

A large number of merchants and alchemists from Black Serpent Bay came to Horn Town with their goods, some staying here, and some going north to Jeanne d'Arc Fortress to sell them.

Horn Town was basically a transit station and service port, similar in its positioning to Little Pond City.

Although it was established by the Kush Knights, as Horn conquered the entire Thousand River Valley, Grandmother Vivian of the Arco family slowly handed over the administrative power of Golden River Township and Ibe Township.

Monks from the Holy Father Society entered the villages and manors and began the slow process of hundred-household district transformation.

However, precisely because of the existence of the Kush Foundation, which provided an outlet for the knights, the scene here was much smoother compared to the intense scenes in Hotham County and Lower Riverford County.

Sitting in the reception room on the second floor of the town hall, Horn first changed his shoes before asking Domenico, "Where is Grandmother Vivian? I want to visit the elder and listen to some life experiences during this trip south."

"Unfortunately," Domenico coughed, "Grandmother caught a cold and fell ill in the winter. She has been bedridden for the past few days, with a blurred consciousness, and may not be able to meet with you."

Sick? At this time?.

Horn turned his head and glanced at Gretz, the Cheka commissioner of this area.

Gretz, who knelt before Jeanne hoping to kill the devil, had been serving as a quartermaster, but after becoming a Holy Favorite, he did not choose to enter the military academy, but instead transferred to the Cheka.

Because the Cheka was the only law enforcement agency that could use almost unlimited means to interrogate devils.

Commissioner Gretz put his gear-iron hand behind his back and nodded to Horn's gaze, indicating that Domenico was telling the truth.

This old lady is so old and still dares to play such tricks, isn't she afraid of really getting sick and dying? She's really going all out.

"Is that so," Horn stared at Domenico with a smile that wasn't a smile. "That's really unfortunate, after all, I was looking forward to talking to Grandmother."

"Although Grandmother is bedridden, she has instructed us when she is awake," Domenico lowered his head, not daring to look Horn in the eyes. "She said that the Kush Foundation has spread its business too wide, and there is a shortage of gold pounds, so some projects may be difficult to complete on time.

So she hopes to redeem the ownership of the mortgaged manors and fields again, that is, still pay according to the permanent lease right, but with an interest, and completely transfer the ownership to the farmers after paying for a period of time."

Use the ownership of the land on the Ibe Plain to exchange for Horn's leniency?

Horn asked suspiciously, "Can those knights accept such conditions?"

"They will agree," Domenico said with a smile. "After all, they proposed to take on more infrastructure orders."

Horn instantly understood that the Kush Knights hoped to get rich through these infrastructure projects, so the more the better, but if the business spread too wide, there would definitely be a shortage of money.

At this time, if they proposed to completely deprive them of ownership, Grandmother would naturally be able to raise the flag to suppress the knights and agree.

By depriving them of land ownership, it alleviated a lot of the potential threat of localism, but in Horn's view, it was not enough.

Because the Ibe Plain is across the trade route between the Holy Machine Court and Black Serpent Bay.

This old grandmother had already made concessions, and she was also sick, so Horn couldn't force her anymore, and he couldn't force her, after all, the Ibe Plain was full of Kush people, did he still have to forcibly move them all away?

"In that case, I'll visit her when I get back from Black Serpent Bay," Horn snapped his fingers. "I brought a lot of herbs from the Holy Machine Court, which will come in handy at this time. Jeanne, you personally send them to Grandmother."

Jeanne nodded knowingly.

After Jeanne personally visited Grandmother, Horn continued on his way. Not long after leaving Horn Town, there was less and less ice and snow around, and the heat and humidity in the air were constantly increasing.

As the heat continued to rise, Horn could feel that the terrain was constantly decreasing, and the surrounding evergreen trees gradually turned into deciduous plants and tall coconut trees.

By mid-January, he had to change into thin woolen clothing, as if spring had arrived.

At this time, the ship had arrived at the first stop of his southern tour of Black Serpent Bay.

"That is the base camp of the Joan Party, the largest town in the northern county of Black Serpent Bay." Standing at the bow of the ship, Robert, as a guide, had his face brushed by the humid and warm wind, pointing to the dike more than one person tall in the distance. "Long Dike City."