Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World-Chapter 649: Barnett’s Letter

TL: Rui88

“Damn it! Do you know who the lord behind us is?”

A man dressed as a merchant shouted at the soldier.

“Sir, according to regulations, everything passing through the checkpoint must be inspected.”

“Soldier, you must be new, right? I ask you to look again, I have a permit for this batch of grain.”

“I see your permit very clearly, sir. But our inspection is to see if there are any prohibited items among the goods.”

The soldier, Jeffrey, was also full of anger, but he did not dare to vent it. The other party seemed to be someone not to be trifled with.

This was Watcher’s Fortress, and he was a soldier stationed here.

Normally, when on duty at the passage, the merchants and travelers who passed by were all respectful to them, sometimes even slipping them a little money.

But today, he suddenly encountered a belligerent one who refused the soldiers’ request to inspect the goods.

Although Ordo allowed domestic merchants to do business with various forces outside the fortress, including the orcs.

But many goods were forbidden from being sold outside.

For example, fine weapons and armor.

There were also many goods that were sold outside in limited quantities.

For example, salt, grain, and cloth. They were often restricted by issuing one-time or limited-period permits.

The reason for the many restrictions on internal and external trade was mainly to guard against the orcs on the plains.

The orcs lived a nomadic life on the plains, but they were extremely lacking in daily necessities, which also limited the growth of their population.

If daily necessities were supplied to the plains without limit, they would likely grow like a snowball and pose a major threat to human civilization.

There were still many merchants who liked to do business on the plains. The cattle and sheep raised by the orcs, as well as various types of furs, were also highly sought-after goods by humans.

Under the lure of high profits, many people would disregard the kingdom’s prohibitions and smuggle goods that the orcs desperately needed to the plains.

Therefore, it was very necessary to inspect passing merchants and travelers at a major thoroughfare like Watcher’s Fortress.

But Jeffrey had run into a tough nut.

The merchant leading the group was dressed magnificently and looked to be of high birth.

His attitude was arrogant, and he refused to let them inspect the goods on his carts, showing no respect for him as a soldier.

While at a stalemate, Jeffrey heard his captain’s voice from behind him.

“Let them pass.”

“Huh?”

Jeffrey came to his senses with a start, looking at the captain who had just returned from relieving himself.

“This is the Bradley Family’s caravan. They can go straight through.”

The captain said with a calm face, as if he was already used to it.

No wonder, Jeffrey thought to himself. The Bradleys were nobles in the northeast of the kingdom, holding the title of duke.

“Hmph!” The leader of the caravan gave Jeffrey an arrogant look, as if to say, “I’ll remember you.”

Jeffrey silently stepped aside, letting the caravan pass.

Before long, the caravan was far away from Watcher’s Fortress.

He thought the matter was over, but soon the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from inside the fortress gate.

A group of knights galloped like a whirlwind to Jeffrey and the others.

“Greetings, Sir Arthur!”

The captain, along with Jeffrey and the others, saluted the leader.

Arthur asked, “Did the Bradley Family’s caravan just pass through?”

“Yes, my lord,” the captain replied.

“From now on, the Bradley Family’s caravans must also be inspected!”

Sir Arthur commanded with a grim expression.

“Uh… yes! My lord.”

The captain felt uneasy in his heart. Had there been some change in the upper echelons?

Another knight asked, “Shouldn’t we chase after them?”

Arthur looked at the dust rising in the distance, shook his head, and said, “We’ll let them off the hook this time.”

……

“Very interesting, my mentor. Look what I found?”

Denson held up a wooden box and said happily to his mentor.

Ordennel showed a smile.

“A clue about Barnett?”

“Yes, Teacher Ordennel. This is what Master Barnett left behind.”

Denson said with great excitement, “I’ve run to almost every inn in this port city these past days, and finally, it wasn’t in vain.”

Ordennel and Denson had arrived at Northwest Bay a month ago.

With them came Mariana and Andy.

After the four of them met up with Nathan and Edward, who had arrived here long ago, they began to search for clues about Barnett.

“I came to the last inn I hadn’t visited, and with an attitude of just trying my luck, I described Barnett’s appearance to the owner. In fact, after running to so many places, I had basically given up by then. But I didn’t expect to find a clue at the very last inn.” 𝑅ΆƝôꞖЁṡ

“The owner is quite old and said his family has been running an inn in Port Fran for a long time. He vaguely remembered that such a person had once stayed in his inn and left behind this wooden box, saying that if any companions came looking for him, he should ask the innkeeper to pass it on.”

Ordennel frowned, “That scoundrel Barnett, why didn’t he follow the rules?”

The Arcane Society had a method of contact in unfamiliar places, which was to leave a message in the third inn, sorted by shop name.

Of course, this was time-sensitive, as inns could open and close, so they would also look for it a bit earlier or later.

This method was only used to leave some less important, supplementary information, such as leaving one’s tracks for companions to find.

“I know the reason for that.”

Denson said, “At that time, Port Fran was just a poor place with only two inns. Master Barnett probably didn’t expect that in the following years, this port city would develop so rapidly, and a large number of inns would spring up like bamboo shoots after the rain.”

“Actually, the owner was planning to throw Barnett’s things away as trash if no one came looking for him after another year. We were really lucky to have come in time.”

“Alright, let’s see if Barnett said what he went to do.”

Ordennel was a little impatient.

Denson carefully opened the wooden box, revealing its contents. Inside was a piece of paper.

“He must have written this letter a long time ago. He still used parchment. Alda paper probably wasn’t common back then.”

Denson said, while carefully unfolding the paper.

Ordennel took out a bottle of potion and sprinkled the liquid inside onto the paper.

A large area of text was revealed.

They read the message left by Barnett together.

“Paul Grayman? Isn’t he the local lord? It was he who defeated Barnett’s agent, Count Kent.”

“So, he went to settle scores with this Count?”

The two figured out what Barnett had intended to do.

The Arcane Society knew about Barnett’s plan in the Northwest Bay: to support the Kent family and indirectly control this piece of land in the northwest of Ordo.

After all, Badi, who had come along this time, had also participated in Barnett’s operation, using a brain worm to control the previous Duke of the Northwest.

But after Barnett lost contact, the Arcane Society paid little attention to this place.

“So this was Master Barnett’s final action?”

Denson said, “Perhaps we should investigate this Count Grayman.”