Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Chapter 733 733 49 Iron Bar_3

?Chapter 733: Chapter 49 Iron Bar_3 Chapter 733: Chapter 49 Iron Bar_3 Of the three gentlemen present, who is more skilled in marching and warfare, or in controversy.

But when it comes to winning women’s hearts, even if you tied Winters, Bard, Andre, Mason, Tang Juan, and Moritz together, they would still be no match for Bod Gates alone.

Although the hardship of the wilderness had nearly worn the Colonel down to an old man, it had not crushed his sense of humor.

As they chatted, it was time for the dessert to be served.

There should have been seven desserts for one host and six guests, but only six were brought to the table.

Eileen discreetly passed the desserts to the others while she herself did not take one, “Speaking of desserts, the price of flour in the city has been changing every moment these past few days.”

Winters immediately focused his attention, “Flour prices have gone up?”

“Yes, the poor believers can’t even afford gruel anymore.” Father Caman coldly retorted, “The increase is quite severe. Is this your responsibility? Can you give an explanation?”

Colonel Bod stopped telling jokes and silently savored his dessert as if he were invisible at the table.

“This… I will look into it.” Winters seriously nodded to Mrs. Mitchell and Caman in thanks, “Thank you both for bringing this to my attention.”

Caman scoffed and looked away from Winters.

“Isn’t that simple?” Senior Mason, who had a low alcohol tolerance, spoke with bleary and unfocused eyes, “I heard the Herd Barbarians are coming to kill us. Every household with a little property in the villages nearby has fled into Revodan! We have city walls! How could flour prices not rise? What do you say? Couldn’t they?”

“And you just stand by and watch?” Father Caman frowned and questioned.

“What can be done? Cap prices? The prices would rise even higher! Limit purchases? Everyone would rush to buy!”

Messily fidgeting with his wine glass and sniffling, Senior blew his nose and retorted unapologetically, “To completely solve the problem, we need to open the granaries and sell grain! But do we have any grain? We don’t have surplus grain! The grain in the storage is getting less by the day, and we still need it to fight the Herders! Do you understand our difficulties, Father Caman?”

Senior did not only have a poor tolerance for alcohol, but his demeanor when drunk was not the best… at least at this moment, Mason was nothing like his usually genteel self.

Caman was left speechless by the retort, and as a priest, he had no desire to argue with a drunkard.

And there, Colonel Bod had already finished his dessert.

“I will discuss a solution with Mayor Priskin,” Winters assured Caman and Senior with a smile, “There will be a way, rest assured.”

Seeing that Senior Mason was already quite drunk, Winters had an idea and asked him, “How is that ranch of yours doing now?”

“Which one?” Senior asked, slightly bewildered.

“The one I visited for the first time,” Winters said.

Winters shouldn’t have mentioned it, as by doing so, he had touched on a sore point for Senior.

Under the influence of alcohol, pent-up frustrations, and the emotional banquet atmosphere, Senior Mason suddenly broke down crying, making the mood turn delicate.

Had he overstepped the mark? Winters was a bit panicked himself.

Winters felt a kick under the table and looked up to meet Anna’s radiant smile.

Something was wrong!

With an expressionless face, Winters scratched Anna’s ankle.

Lady Navarre nearly spilled half her glass due to a careless move.

Catherine squinted her eyes suspiciously, watching the two of them.

Soon after, Winters’s shin was kicked even harder.

Bearing the sharp pain, Winters put an arm around Senior’s shoulder, consoling him, “I just wanted to ask how those breeding pigs of yours were doing?”

“They’re all gone, haven’t I told you?” Senior Mason said as he wiped his nose.

Winters was of course aware, as there was the testimony of the victim, Tang Juan. Last time Senior got drunk and caused a scene, he dragged Juan into a whole night of discussing livestock breeding.

“It’s alright if they are gone, you can breed them again.” Winters guided Senior.

“Ah, it’s not the same,” Senior slurred, “For improving breeds, the fastest way is using boars, but the most direct effect comes from sows. I had both boars and sows, all painstakingly selected through breeding, and now they’re all gone… Ronald… Raising pigs for meat is one thing, but who slaughters breeding pigs for meat? I am so angry…”

Winters listened and nodded his head.

Anna, however, was somewhat annoyed; was this really the time to talk about sows and boars at the dinner table? She had clearly signaled to Winters not to continue the topic, but the scoundrel acted as though he couldn’t hear or see, continuing to lead Mr. Mason further into the conversation.

Anna suddenly heard her sister speak up, “Can’t you just buy more from outside?”

There was a lady interested in the topic, and Senior Mason became even more enthusiastic, getting his energy back as he explained, “Most pigs are raised separately by families, lacking the awareness and conditions for breeding. Rearing a large number at once offers many more opportunities to select and improve the breed.”

Catherine smiled charmingly, curiously asking, “Then can’t you just start raising a lot again?”

Lady Walei was much sharper than her sister in some aspects… For example, it was clear that Mr. Winters was intentionally leading Mr. Mason into discussing certain matters.

“Recovering the size of the livestock… that would take many years,” Senior said, his gloom and sorrow deepening, “Gestation takes time, and the young need time to grow, alas.”

“What about breeding horses?” Winters asked.