Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters
Chapter 1034: 67: Vortex (Nine)_3

Chapter 1034: Chapter 67: Vortex (Nine)_3

Winters simply drew his sword-wand and flipped the door latch open.

Three of them walked into the workshop courtyard, and a sleepy-eyed, brown-haired young man emerged from the tightly shut workshop.

Seeing Winters holding the sword-wand, the brown-haired young man’s sleepiness dissipated significantly: “Who are you? What do you want?”

Winters sheathed his sword-wand and habitually inspected the surroundings before asking: “How so, not doing business now?”

“Business? Oh! Are you looking to buy horse gear?” The brown-haired young man quickly removed the workshop’s door plank, eagerly conversing: “Saddles? Stirrups? We have everything here. Or do you need repairs?”

“I want to have a look at carriages, the ones for riding.” Winters was concise.

This was a big business deal! The brown-haired young man thought, becoming even more enthusiastic. He swiftly dismantled the door plank and called loudly towards the inside: “Klaus! Go wake the old man up!”

Inside the workshop, another brown-haired youngster was slowly polishing a wheel spoke. Hearing his name called, the half-grown lad lifted his head in confusion: “What’s up?”

“Go call the old man!” The brown-haired young man urged: “We have guests.”

The half-grown lad answered lazily and sauntered toward the inner room.

Winters roughly figured it out; the brown-haired young man and the half-grown lad, who shared a resemblance of about seventy percent, must be brothers, and the ‘old man’ mentioned by the younger seemed to be their father.

“Does your workshop only have three people?” Winters asked.

The brown-haired young man scratched his head: “The others are resting at home.”

“How long have they been resting?”

“Heh, it’s been a while.”

As they talked, a lean little old man came out, and upon seeing the three visitors, he quickly wiped his hands and went forward to greet them: “Gentlemen, what can I do for you?”

Unlike the two young men, the old man’s hair color was very light, so light that it was almost pure white.

Winters smiled wryly, feeling that he had been presumptuous. He cleared his throat slightly: “I would like to have a look at the carriages your workshop makes.”

“Carriages? Please wait a moment, just a moment.” The old man’s eyes lit up, he hurried back to the inner room, and soon returned with a thick portfolio: “Please feel free to choose, whatever you pick, we can make it here.”

The little old man eagerly opened the album, meanwhile desperately signaling the two brown-haired lads to fetch chairs with his eyes.

Winters wasn’t interested in the decoration of the carriages; he asked directly: “Does your workshop have any ready-made riding carriages?”

“As for carriages,” the old man was initially surprised then delighted, rubbing his hands and saying: “Those generally have to be custom-ordered, but in fact, I do have a carriage ordered by Mr. Solis here. If you’re in a hurry to have one, I could ask Mr. Solis to transfer it to you, but it would require…”

Winters nodded politely: “Please show me.”

Mr. Solis’ specially ordered carriage was parked in the back shed of the workshop, while the little old man kept praising how good the materials were, how exquisite the details were, and how lightweight the carriage body was.

Winters circled around the carriage and, under the shocked gazes of the little old man and the two brown-haired young men, climbed underneath it.

After a short while, he emerged again to the astonishment of the onlookers.

Winters patted the dust off his body and asked: “Is this your best carriage?”

The little old man was stunned for a while: “Correct.”

Winters leaned on his walking stick, carefully recalling what he had seen:

The best carriage from the Noifel Workshop had no significant difference from the carriage Mr. Ed loaned to Winters; the connection between the carriage body and frame was made using leather straps, meaning the carriage body was suspended by several one-inch wide leather straps over the frame to reduce vibration while on the road.

Carriages suspended by leather straps were nothing unusual to Winters; he had even used them to transport cannons. However, leather straps were far from durable, and they were easily torn apart with significant jostling.

“Is there a better carriage available?” Winters asked.

The old man didn’t know what to say to the strange figure before him: “How could it be better?”

Winters looked at the old man: “The White Eagle’s carriage.”

“How do you know…” The old man was startled, quickly correcting himself, “Mr. Este’s carriage was indeed sent here for repairs, but I only handle repairs, Mr. Este didn’t buy it from me.”

“Is there a White Eagle’s carriage here now?”

The old man replied hesitantly, “There is.”

“Take me to see it.”

The old man appeared very reluctant. Winters nodded, and Xial directly handed a bag of silver coins to the old man.

The old man’s enthusiasm returned in an instant, as he led Winters and his companions towards another carriage shed.

A carriage painted with the White Eagle emblem was parked inside the shed.

Winters circled the carriage, unable to spot anything unusual. The White Eagle’s carriage looked essentially identical to the previous one: four wheels, frame, body.

Winters stood in front of the carriage, resolute: “Disassemble it.”

“Ah?” The old man was shocked.

“Pay him more.” Winters looked at Xial.

So the White Eagle’s carriage was disassembled on the spot. The cabin was detached from the frame, and the four wheels were also removed.

During the process, the old man sighed in relief. The strange figure didn’t intend to destroy the most expensive cabin, but rather showed more interest in the frame hidden underneath – meaning, it could be put back together, and he could easily earn double the money.

When the cabin was lifted from the frame, Winters noticed something:

The White Eagle’s carriage didn’t use a belt suspension; its cabin was connected to the frame by two sets of arch-like steel bars.

“What is this?” Winters immediately stepped forward to ask.

The old man glanced at it and replied nonchalantly, “I don’t know… maybe some new contraption?”

Winters tried stepping on it, and the steel bar hardly budged – how could a structure capable of supporting the weight of the cabin be bent by stepping on it?

So Winters ditched his walking stick and fully stood on it.

Xial hurriedly ran towards Winters, “Be careful!”

“It’s okay.” Winters wobbled but maintained his balance.

When bearing Winters’ weight, the steel bars underwent a noticeable deformation, and when Winters jumped off, like a sword’s blade, the bars immediately returned to their original shape.

“This is…” Winters raised his eyebrows, reaching out to check the steel bars: “A new contraption from Steel Fortress?”

The old man licked his lips, his expression troubled: “It shouldn’t be, I haven’t heard of anyone using such a thing to make carriages.”

Berlion, who had been silent, came beside the carriage and after a detailed inspection, his expression turned subtle: “These are leaf springs.”

Winters was of course familiar with leaf springs, which were used in Revolver Guns, but he had never seen ones of this size: “They make leaf springs this big?”

“Yes.” Berlion said assertively: “Spring steel leaves.”

“Where are they from?”

Berlion’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and after a silent moment, he murmured: “The Empire.”