Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Chapter 326: Chapter 18 Funeral and Militia_2

To protect the horses, Er Maziteleqing fought against a giant bear, but was overpowered. When he was found, his internals had already been devoured—a behavior consistent with that of bears.

The couple secretly meeting in the woods unfortunately became the giant lion’s prey. The giant lion dragged away and ate the girl, and after its feast, it killed the boy who had pursued it.

This explained Ralph’s long-standing question: Why did the beasts, already satiated with horse flesh, still attack the lovers from Dusa Village?

The day the old hunter and the giant lion perished together, the giant lion had actually killed a villager from Beixin, dragging the corpse back to its lair to enjoy—this was the half-eaten body the militia had found.

When Ralph learned that a girl from Beixin had gone into the mountains to gather wood and had not returned, he immediately set out to search. Upon discovering the tracks of the giant beast, he sent his son to seek help from the garrison officer lieutenant, while he himself continued to follow the tracks.

What happened next caught everyone by surprise.

Having been identified by the worldly-wise Brother Reed, the giant lion that died at the hands of the old hunter was likely the legendary “cave lion.”

Named after its depiction in cave paintings, this kind of giant lion is also known from ivory carvings and clay sculptures that corroborate its existence.

However, the issue lies in that the cave paintings and sculptures that recorded the cave lion were created by prehistoric humans, some theologians of the proof-seeking faction even believe that those paintings might predate the construction of the Tower of Babel.

Therefore, even Brother Reed, who had traveled the world, dared not assert that the creature was the so-called “cave lion,” because truly no one had ever seen what a cave lion looked like. The existence of such a beast hasn’t even been recorded in the annals of history.

If that creature was indeed a cave lion, then this species must have a history spanning at least several thousand, if not tens of thousands of years, which is simply unimaginable.

But the old mendicant brother could be sure of one thing: that creature was definitely not an ordinary lion. Of all the people in Wolf Town, only Brother Reed claimed to have seen a living lion—himself.

The old brother adamantly stated that ordinary lionesses do not look like this, nor are they so large. He hasn’t seen such giant lions anywhere, either in the East or the West. Perhaps only the Nemean lion from the ancient myth of the Twelve Labors of the great hero could possess such a size.

Winters had only seen the image of a lion on military banners, and the old Dusacks too had seen it on the enemy’s banners. The others had not even seen a drawing of a lion, let alone a live one.

Thus, Brother Reed held absolute authority, and although others might be skeptical, they could only accept the old brother’s explanation.

The old mendicant brother wrote to some natural history scholars, entrusting traveling merchants to deliver the letters to Revodan Cathedral, to be sent out through the church’s channels. But no one knew when they would receive a reply.

The troublesome means of communication reminded Winters where he currently was—after living in Wolf Town for a while, he had almost forgotten that this place was on the edge of the “civilized world.”

Winters took this opportunity to also send a letter home, using Brother Reed’s church channels as well. The letter itself was a form of information, and he carefully didn’t write too much, merely inquiring about the welfare of his family.

But the verification work was not urgent; another weighty matter pressed on the minds of the people of Wolf Town: why would such a gigantic beast come to little Wolf Town?

Winters contemplated more deeply: this was a mother lion with cubs.

This meant… there was at least the existence of one male lion.

And even considering that giant bear, it surely must have had a father and mother, right?

Could it be that within the depths of the forest, in uncharted regions where humans have yet to set foot, beneath those mountains crowned with gold, there lurked yet more gigantic beasts?

Could these two encounters just be the beginning?

At this thought, Winters shivered. He suddenly realized that although the two ferocious beasts had been slain, the Wolf Town militia could not be disbanded. Not only could they not disband, but the militia training must become a regular practice.

Furthermore, they needed to establish an armory and acquire some “real weapons.” Thus, next time they encountered an ancient fierce beast, the people of Wolf Town wouldn’t have to face it with just javelins and cavalry swords.

Otherwise, when he left his post, if another beast calamity occurred, it would be very difficult for Mayor Mitchell, a man of over fifty, to reorganize the militia completely.

Moreover, the great hero who had dealt with this beast calamity—the old hunter Ralph—was no longer alive. Where could this remote little town find another spellcaster officer?

After Winters shared his thoughts with Gerard, he obtained Gerard’s approval and strong support. Mayor Gerard Mitchell not only supported the normalization of the militia but also strongly suggested establishing a formal guard force in Wolf Town.

For a town, a town guard and a guard force are essential law enforcement bodies. The town guard is generally full-time, while the guard force members can be either full-time or part-time, depending on the size of the town and its budget.

The situation in Wolf Town was somewhat awkward. If you call it a town, it has fewer than ten permanent residents, just two dirt roads crossing each other, and no walls.

By the way, in the common language, the word for townspeople/citizens [Burger] is derived from the word for city walls [Burg], meaning those who dwell within the walls.

Revodan City’s Wolf Town had nothing, but legally speaking, Wolf Town was indeed a “town.” It’s just that before Winters took office, it had neither a town guard nor a guard force.

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