Chapter 742: Problems and Choices in the Plan

Jier was telling the truth; in his view, every one of the four designs was quite good.

The first option, using thick, hard cowhide armor for the entire horse, had the advantage that he himself was quite familiar with this hard cowhide material, and thus could have an experiential familiarity with its defensive power. Consequently, in potential future battles, he could pre-judge which attacks the horse armor could withstand and which it could not.

The second option was lighter and more flexible, focusing on combat protection while the horse was moving; the overall weight was lighter, which suited the current load-bearing capacity of Tianxuecao. After all, although Tianxuecao had an extraordinary bloodline, it was still a prairie horse, unable to compare to the incredibly powerful warhorses used by Knights. Whether in stamina, charging speed, jumping ability, vitality, or load-bearing capacity, it was far behind those monster-like warhorses.

One must know that Jier's own weight was already over eighty, nearly ninety kilograms. If one were to add a full set of metal armor, heavy Long Sword and full Metal Double-Edged Long Spear, as well as the accompanying bow and Arrow, this weight was already heading toward one hundred and sixty kilograms.

Although Tianxuecao, this young lad, was strong, one still had to consider its load-bearing capacity after being fully armed for a long time.

As for the third and fourth options, both were overall heavy armor models. The former added Metal Armor Plates to the entire body on the basis of a full-body leather armor base; its advantage was that it balanced protection and weight, ensuring a relatively good usage experience. However, the large number of Metal Armor Plates made manufacturing quite cumbersome and troublesome.

The latter, however, was completely and utterly treating Jier's horse as a true warhorse for a Knight to be equipped.

However, the heavy armor style of the fourth option clearly also contained the style of the Southern Province. Although it was also heavy armor, compared to the steel armor of Kela Knight's warhorse, it still felt a bit more "lightweight" and "ostentatious."

Jier suspected that this reflected the difference between the warhorse protection style of local traditional Knight Families and that of the Kingdom Army.

On the pattern provided by the middle-aged Craftsman for the fourth option, one could see that compared to the simple, unadorned, and purely thick defensive armor of Kela Knight's warhorse, the pattern he drew added some artistic decorations to the horse's protection, striving to satisfy the requirements for heavy protection while ensuring a beautiful and magnificent style.

To summarize, it leaned toward the magnificent side in terms of balancing magnificent style and focusing on protection.

Jier didn't think there was anything wrong with that. Although he was a pragmatist, he also liked good-looking and magnificent things. But the prerequisite was that it did not affect his own survival.

Therefore, the fourth option was the first to be ruled out by him.

Facing Jier's answer, Mr. Scott laughed, and after walking over, he also helped examine the several designs in Jier's hands.

The Craftsmen and apprentices present paid their respects to Mr. Scott with a posture several times more enthusiastic than they had shown Jier.

But Mr. Scott did not care about this.

He himself was quite capable and gave Jier an important hint.

"Manufacturing time, my friend. These designs look okay, but they surely don't understand that this is a task that needs to be completed as soon as possible. I know you can't stay in town for long, which is why I called them all over at once today."

Mr. Scott pointed at the two patterns for metal horse gear in Jier's hands: "You can ask them how long it will take to make these two things."

Once reminded by Mr. Scott, Jier finally understood where the key to the problem lay.

Time!

He was only temporarily resting his team while passing through Duoen Town; tomorrow or the day after, he would have to lead the young Villagers to continue on the road again.

So, whether these metal horse armors with heavy defensive power could be forged for him was still a question.

"You two, I would like to ask how long it would roughly take for you to forge your respective designs?"

Jier took out the two heavy-protection design plans and asked the two middle-aged Craftsmen.

These two were a bit nervous, but they still answered honestly.

"In reply to the Knight, my set of things was forged once before. I took my two apprentices and spent a whole winter forging all the steel armor plates and the matching hanging leather armor."

Upon hearing this, Jier covered his face with his hand.

Mr. Scott, who was nearby, was not annoyed; he laughed and interjected: "If we take your design as the main one and let the other three Craftsmen and their apprentices assist you, how many days are you confident you can finish this set of horse armor you designed?"

"Think carefully before answering."

The middle-aged Craftsman who was asked began to think distressingly, while Jier looked at him with expectant eyes. However, this middle-aged Craftsman looked hesitantly at the other three armor Craftsmen; one of the old Craftsmen was even his own teacher.

"A, about, uh." Hesitantly, this middle-aged Craftsman replied: "At the fastest, twenty days? No, that's not right, I have already done it once, and with the experience from last time, some trial-and-error processes can be omitted. So, in reply to the Steward, eight days; if everyone works together, eight days to forge it."

Jier felt a wave of disappointment upon hearing the time.

Eight days—if it were any other time, he would wait in Duoen Town specifically for the completion of this horse armor, and could even find time to wander around the surrounding wilderness and forests, cleaning up Bandits or Monsters and wild beasts to kill time and find work.

But now.

Not only was there the so-called mission entrusted to him, requiring him to save the abducted Changmai Village Villagers as soon as possible, but he also had to properly settle the hundreds of Refugee Villagers under his command before the blessing ability on Bataer Jiaoshi disappeared.

Most importantly, he wanted to finish these things as soon as possible and hurry to the Province Capital of the Southern Province, so as not to miss the day the Kendall Army departed to rendezvous with the other local Noble armies.

Although the latter date was only a rough estimate, Jier still did not want to be late.

Because the Province Capital of the Southern Province was at least a place that could be found; once he was late and the Kendall Army set out on the expedition, it would not be easy to find the Kendall Army on the chaotic, long battlefield.

Moreover, without following the army on the expedition, what reason would he have to participate in it then?

Although his deal with Kela Knight did not include him participating in the war, Jier already considered himself more than half a person of Kendall County. Those Militia and guards who had traveled south with him, as well as Kela Knight, who could be considered his Knight mentor, were all parts of him that he could not abandon.

Fighting together was something everyone had agreed upon during their chats while camping every day.

Jier did not want to be a deserter, nor did he want to break his promise.

Otherwise, as a traveler from another world who was already rootless, if he lost the place of Kendall County as well, he would truly be like the bird of paradise in legends.

A life that can only keep flying; once it lands, it is the day of death.

"Eight days, too long."

Jier shook his head and said so.

Regarding his words, Mr. Scott nodded, knowing that for Jier the Knight, staying in Duoen Town for eight more days was indeed a bit too long, and even if Jier the Knight were willing, their Merchant Union would not be.

If such a force of over seven hundred people lingered and refused to leave, then after a long time, would Duoen Town still be under the control of their Merchant Union?

He clearly knew the temperament of those small and medium-sized merchant guilds; once they had the opportunity to lean toward a Noble, that shameless way of clinging on—yuck—not to mention how disgusting it was; some guys could even perform the act of kissing boots, it was possible.

Even if those boots had stepped through the mud of the slums, it was the same.

That guy Deripari, the "Thin Aolier" in their Merchant Union, was just such a guy; he had to find every way possible to marry his precious little daughter into a Noble family.

Scott was disdainful of this, especially two years ago, when Deripari even wanted to get mixed up with Autosfiten and wanted to marry his little daughter to the sickly Lipuerde.

But Autosfiten did not take a fancy to Deripari's little daughter.

Back to the present.

Mr. Scott then used his chin to signal to another middle-aged Craftsman: "What about your design? If everyone helps you together, how much time will it take to make your design?"

Before this Craftsman could answer, Jier shrugged; the middle-aged Craftsman now being asked was the one with the design that had the heaviest and strongest protection.

The former took eight days, so there was no need to mention this one.

Sure enough, after some distress, this middle-aged Craftsman gave an answer of fifteen days.

More than double the time of the former.

Regarding this result, Mr. Scott was the least able to accept it; he waved his hand and said, "Alright, alright, you should just go help the others with their work later."

Having their proposals dismissed, the two middle-aged Craftsmen were both regretful and quite dejected.

It was not that they couldn't earn this money, but rather that opportunities to craft Horse Armor for a Knight were rare; every set crafted served to elevate their reputation.

If that Knight were to become famous later, then as the Craftsmen who provided the Knight's equipment, their own reputations would rise accordingly.

They could be hired by larger Merchant Guilds, their works would sell for higher prices, and people might even come to them specifically to request works. Besides that, the contracts with the hiring Merchant Guild could be modified to gain greater freedom and lower commission deductions.

And the most famous Craftsmen could serve in the workshops of the Province Capital, or even potentially be favored by great Nobles to become lifelong Craftsmen, managing an entire forge or foundry or similar place.

Further up, most Craftsmen could only dream of it, as they lacked the ability. The most outstanding among them could even be favored by Earls, or enter the sight of the Noble Council to work for the Kingdom Army. Or, because of their fame, they could enter the Kingdom capital to forge equipment for the Knights under the King, or even serve the royal family directly.

But these were merely the dreams of every Craftsman; at this moment, these two middle-aged Craftsmen were very disappointed.

The two old Craftsmen then stepped forward, and without waiting for Jier and the other to ask, they each gave their answers.

"My Lords, my design only needs three days! Three days, and I can present the Heavy Armor for this warhorse."

The old Craftsman with the first Horse Armor proposal gave his answer confidently.

But the other was even more impressive: "My Lords, my design only takes a day and a half! If we work through the night, the item can be brought out by tomorrow afternoon."

Jier and the other's eyes lit up! Just as they were about to ask for details, the first old Craftsman didn't believe it and directly raised a question: "Impossible! My design uses full hard cowhide as the main material, which is why I can bring out the item as quickly as possible. Your design still includes Metal Armor Plate; how could it possibly be faster than mine? Just melting the iron and forging it into shape would take at least two days!"

Scott agreed once he heard this; as a Senior Steward of the 'Burning Furnace' Merchant Guild, although he did not possess the skill of forging, he had seen enough to know how it worked. He had grown up in the Merchant Guild since he was a child, and his father was a Steward of the 'Burning Furnace' Merchant Guild, so he understood at least a few things about metal forging.

Not to mention the forging of armor used by ordinary people, horses were naturally much larger than humans, so the metal Armor they used was larger and heavier, which naturally made the forging difficulty greater, consuming more time and Iron Ingot.

To craft usable metal Horse Armor in a day and a half, was this person bragging?

Facing the suspicious gazes of the others, this old Craftsman smiled confidently, put his hands behind his back, and looked proudly at his fellow Craftsman of similar age.

He explained: "I naturally have my methods. Senior Steward Scott, do you need my answer?"

Mr. Scott lifted his chin: "Please speak, Craftsman Kent."

As a Senior Steward of the Merchant Guild, he naturally knew the names and skills of every Craftsman employed by the Merchant Guild.

The old Armor Craftsman named Kent began to state his proposal, but unexpectedly, before answering, he first asked a question that seemed unrelated.

"Steward, is this matter of Knight Jier more important than other matters?"

In front of Jier, Scott certainly could not say it was not important, so without hesitation, he answered directly: "Of course, Knight Jier is my friend, and also a friend of the 'Burning Furnace' Merchant Guild. Not to mention that this Knight is from the Northwest Province of the Kingdom, and this trip to our Southern Province also includes the intention to participate in the war to retake the southern border."

"As such, Knight Jier's matter is the Merchant Guild's highest priority. Say what you have to say."

Facing Mr. Scott's answer, Craftsman Kent finally gave his explanation: "Steward, I have always been responsible for part of the blacksmith shop's affairs, so I know that our Merchant Guild has taken on a large order, one of which is the work of forging fifty sets of simple Horse Armor for Cavalrymen."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Scott's expression changed. He looked left and right, and finding that Jier was the only outsider present, and that Jier was not from the Southern Province, his expression quickly returned to normal. However, he still glared hatefully at Craftsman Kent, blaming him for letting out such confidential information.

"Therefore, for the simple metal Horse Armor used by the Cavalry, we only need to melt two of them, and then use forging techniques to stretch one out to cover the other; this can provide protection exceeding that of simple metal Horse Armor, reaching the general level of protection for a Knight's warhorse. (The general level of protection for a Knight's warhorse here refers to the level of protection that Knights from traditional Knight Family backgrounds in the Southern Province equip their own warhorses with.)"

"Because there are already finished items, we only need to do some simple adjustments to quickly modify them. In addition, I have some Multi-layer Protective Cloth that I developed myself; it is both lightweight and sturdy, and its comprehensive performance is not inferior to thick hard cowhide Armor."

His explanation basically answered the previous doubts.

Jier was very curious about the other's Multi-layer Protective Cloth, while Mr. Scott touched his chin and considered it for a moment before muttering: "Hmm, the delivery date is still far off. Although it's not great to misappropriate custom-ordered goods, since it's just circulating within the Merchant Guild, it doesn't count as a violation."

So he said: "Your method is not impossible. By the way, can those simple metal Horse Armor pieces be turned into Armor plates? I personally favor the metal Armor proposal."

"In reply to the Steward, that batch of simple Armor we have is made of custom-shaped metal pieces specifically designed for the key protection areas of horses, so it's not easy to make them into metal Armor plates. It would be better to just use Iron Ingot to re-forge metal Armor plates."

A middle-aged Craftsman answered Scott's words.

Seeing that his whimsical method wouldn't work, Mr. Scott shrugged at Jier and said: "It seems there is only one way; there's no choice."

Jier smiled: "It's already very good. Thanks, please trouble you all to re-forge the batch of goods that have already been made for me."

"Small matter. Since the plan is decided, everyone hurry up and follow the plan to have the warhorse equipment needed by Knight Jier out by sunset tomorrow. Craftsman Kent, have someone bring out that Multi-layer Protective Cloth you've been tinkering with to take a look. If it's suitable, use it; if not, use thick hard cowhide Armor for the other parts of the warhorse."

"My Multi-layer Protective Cloth guarantees that Knight Jier will be satisfied; it is not inferior to other materials."

Craftsman Kent indicated as much.

Soon, Craftsman Kent sent someone to bring the Multi-layer Protective Cloth he had developed.

This thing was called cloth, but it actually looked thicker than the toughest and thickest wild boar hide.

When a large roll was carried over by an apprentice, Jier even thought the person was carrying a roll of carpet. However, for such a large roll to be carried by one person, it was indeed much lighter than hard cowhide Armor material.

If it were hard cowhide material, such a large roll would weigh over a hundred kilograms, and an ordinary person would definitely not be able to carry it.

Once the item was brought over, Craftsman Kent spread it on the ground to let others inspect his new invention.

Jier squatted down and pinched the thickness with his hand, finding that it was not thin, being more than two fingers thick. Coming to the side to look at the cross-section of the material, Jier then discovered that this thing was composed of at least five different layers of materials combined layer by layer.

"I have a question; setting aside its performance, how is this thing stuck together?"

Jier raised his question. Honestly, without the industrial adhesives of his past life, how were such large sheets of various materials combined together?

And this thing was very sturdy.

But Craftsman Kent did not answer Jier's question directly: "Apologies, Knight, this is a secret. If you can pay a sum of money, I am willing to tell you the secret within it."

Jier shrugged and was no longer curious about it.

"Alright, let's test its protective power. Let's see how it compares to hardened tanned cowhide."

Scott beckoned, and someone went to prepare the things.

Soon, his subordinates moved a wooden model of a horse from the warehouse nearby.

"Come, drape the item over the wooden dummy horse."