Chapter 441 Horn: Rough!

Opposite the vast expanses of brown and black fields, green hills continue to extend and grow higher into the distance until they become high mountains that stretch across the sky.

Standing where Horn is and facing the mountains, behind the mountains is the birthplace of the Papal States - Daze Township.

The water currently flowing through Jeanne d'Arc comes from the Ibe River, which relies on canals and several tributaries to flow into the Nauan River.

If the new project to dredge the river in Daze Township is successful, it will be possible to go directly downstream from Qiumu Island to Rapids City.

Of course, from the lake in Daze Township to the plain, there must be a mountain river with a huge height difference and even a small waterfall, so it is very difficult to go upstream.

But as long as there is this one-way river channel, it will be a huge benefit to the closed Daze Township.

Because the wool from the Northern Gravelfields can be easily transported southward by land from North Mound County and Upper River County to the Autumn Sunset Island transfer station, and then downstream to Rapid City and Fort Jeanne.

Rapid City's prosperous dye industry can process these raw materials into printed and dyed cloth, and the price can be raised to a higher level.

If it can also be made into ready-made garments, the price will jump up two levels, relying on the printing, dyeing, textile and light industries.

These products, efficiently produced by Star-cast gears and centralized workshops, can flow down the Nauan River into the land of gold and be transported back as baskets of gold pounds.

Whether the Salvation Army exports to Fran in the southwest or Norn in the northeast, it can earn a large amount of funds.

Once the money starts rolling in, Horn won't be able to forcibly suspend industrialization even if he wants to.

But those were too far away, so Horn shifted his focus to the present.

On the grass not far away, Catherine and Jeanne were experimenting with spells. What was being tested was their control and accuracy over the spells.

Lightning exploded like a storm in the depression surrounded by hills, while the flying vampire vines tore at the ground frantically.

The sweaty black-clad soldiers nearby carefully released a few wild boars, rabbits, chickens, ducks and mice at regular intervals.

For some reason, Catherine was polite to Jeanne at first, but once they entered the testing ground, they suddenly became aggressive for some reason.

For every spell Catherine cast, Jeanne had to cast twice.

For every two spells Jeanne cast, Catherine cast four.

For a moment, the entire magic testing ground was filled with flying blood-sucking vines and scattered electric snakes. The overwhelming overflowing magic power caused some of the more sensitive holy gunners to vomit.

You have to know that witches' souls are quite tough and they don't need to be separated from each other to cast spells like wizards or their followers.

Ordinary people may not be able to feel the constant pulling of mana and spell aftermath, but to those favored by the Saint, it is like a dog hearing high-frequency sound waves.

Looking at the wild boars and rats being torn into pieces and their internal organs burned to the ground, Horn took two steps back, fearing that the blood would splash on himself.

Horn had been experimenting with Catherine's spells for three days. He went out with her early in the morning and came back late at night every day, and finally he had roughly summarized Catherine's plant spells.

In general, Catherine's spells are about controlling and growing plants.

But according to the experimental results, this kind of induction of birth is an act of enhancing vitality by forcibly injecting magic power.

Once the magic power is exhausted, the plants that were stimulated to grow will quickly wither when the remaining magic power is exhausted.

Catherine usually controls the growth of plants during the flowering and seedling stages, but if necessary, she can also directly grow them to the fruiting stage.

Horn once tried to get her to grow an apple tree. Although the tree quickly withered after he withdrew his magic power, the fruits it produced were edible.

The remaining apple core can be planted again, and it will not even affect Catherine's continued use of magic power to stimulate reproduction.

This means that this spell is best used only on annual plants, and not on plants that produce fruit continuously, such as fruit trees.

Another limitation is the range and mana. Catherine can cast spells on a maximum of ten acres a day, and cannot even use it continuously. Moreover, the same piece of land cannot be cast continuously. A maximum of about two hundred acres can be cast in a month.

Therefore, Catherine mostly used it on crops with high economic value, such as annual spices and precious dye crops. Catherine swept the dye market in Rapid City by relying on large quantities of precious dyes.

Take madder as an example. This is a rather delicate dye crop and people grow it in pots. Catherine's single plantation produces enough madder for an entire county in a year.

Of course, this method is still a waste in Horn's opinion. This kind of spell should be used for breeding.

While I was still thinking about Catherine's question, I heard the sound of footsteps behind me.

"Your Majesty." René's cold voice sounded from behind.

Horn turned his head helplessly and looked at Rene's numb and calm face. He hardly even smiled in front of Horn.

This was to maintain his authority and prevent his subordinates from thinking he was a child and trying to bully and fool him, although René had plenty of strength and means to deal with such blind people.

But it is too troublesome to establish authority again and again, and René is not the type who can easily get along with others.

It's funny to say that Rene is only thirteen years old this year. Although he is as tall as Horn, he still looks like a little boy.

But it is this little boy who can actually manipulate many adults.

Among the early Salvation Army children, Rene was the most outstanding. With adequate nutrition, he learned knowledge faster than Horn expected.

However, as his knowledge deepened, the expression on his face became less and less human-like. Currently, the only people who could see René smile were probably his peers Armand and Doillon.

This is also the only evidence that René is still a thirteen-year-old boy.

"what's the situation?"

"We have received the latest intelligence. There are too many people here. This is not the place to talk."

"Why don't you guys take a break? I need to leave for a while." Horn put his palms to his mouth and shouted to the two saints in the test field.

"Go ahead."

"Excellent, just what I want."

Horn felt uneasy because of the words that smacked of gunpowder. He could only tell the few Savior Army soldiers present to fire their guns to warn them if anything happened.

Then, under the protection of the surrounding Salvation Army and gendarmes, he followed René into the carriage.

"Two things," René said briefly as they boarded the carriage. "The first is that we have reliable information that Prince Condé has withdrawn his troops from the High Castle, but he did not go south, but instead headed west back to Flying Castle."

"It doesn't seem like something he would do." After hearing what René said, Horn's heart tightened and he scratched his head. "According to previous information, he should be stubbornly staying at the gate of the High Castle, and would rather exhaust his army than fight hard?"

"He did not completely withdraw. Instead, he built a new fortress near the city of High Castle and stationed the mercenary corps and local knights there. He said something like 'the knights of Upper River County guard the land of Upper River County'. He did not attack but only defended. He still maintained a siege posture towards High Castle."

"Is this a trick? Are they here to attack us by surprise?"

"Impossible. He would have to capture Fort Anson, or he would have to lead the knights over the mountains and forests. Given their current route, neither of these two options is possible, and we would have discovered them in advance."

"We need to think about this carefully." Horn licked his lips. "Let's have the intelligence officers and the cardinals come to a meeting to see what's going on. What about the second thing?"

"A French merchant is here to see you."

"Ah?" Horn blinked. "Receiving French merchants, isn't this what the Gospel Court should do?"

"No, no, no, he has a secret identity." René shook his head mechanically. "He brought the emblem of Francois Chancellor Lornezo and a handwritten letter from our old friend, the Knight of the Charter, Montylac."

"Lorenzo? Montejac? The Franks are going to interfere in the uprising in the Thousand Valley?" Horn leaned forward and was about to ask further questions when he heard two thrilling "bang bang!"

"What's going on?" Horn pushed open the car door and looked out. What answered him was the angry shouts of the two witches.

(End of this chapter)