Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Anna paused for a moment, then sat down beside the stone platform and took a small sip, "Sweet?"

"Sweet beer, it's not hopped, so it can't be kept for very long, it's always brewed and sold on the spot." Winters took a large gulp himself, "When I was at Lu You, I always came here with friends to drink sweet beer. I didn't expect that six years later, that beer lady would still be selling this stuff."

As he spoke, Winters took another gulp and smacked his lips, "It just tastes a bit different, though. In my memory, it was always tastier."

"Do you still come here to drink sweet beer with your friends?" Anna, holding her cup with both hands, sipped it gently and asked Winters.

Winters thought of Benwei, who was hiding out in a farmstead on the outskirts, and shook his head, "Not now, my friend is... quite busy."

A gentle breeze blew as the two sat silently in the corridor, drinking the sweet beer.

Anna suddenly mimicked Winters' carefree way of sitting, no longer keeping her legs primly together, but stretching them out comfortably instead. She leaned back against the statue's pedestal, stretching languidly.

Winters extended his beer cup toward Anna. She stared for a moment and then laughed as she clinked cups with him.

As she looked toward the direction of the parliamentary square, she said softly, "Thank you, this might be the only time in my life that I've come to the Guard's Corridor in person to enjoy these sculptures."

"You give me the design, I do you the favor, a fair trade." Anna's sudden niceness caught Winters off guard, and he took a small sip of beer to hide his embarrassment.

"Actually, I'm very envious of you," Anna whispered, "Because I'm a woman, I can't go watch dissections, I can't go see models, I can't look directly at nude statues. No matter how well I paint, I can only hang them in my own bedroom; no art dealer would take a female artist's paintings. Even Lady Angui Sola can only paint portraits for others. I used to only see these sculptures in paintings. Even though they are right there in the parliamentary square, I've ridden past here several times, but I have never gotten off the carriage to walk here."

"Actually, just like now, you can come here anytime you like," Winters retorted.

"That's only because I have... a guard with me, then I dare to come here," Anna said a bit irritably, "Mr. Montaigne, you still don't understand! For ladies, there's no safe place outside their homes."

"Who's been telling you this?" Winters couldn't help but want to laugh.

"My mother! And other respectable ladies!"

Winters thought that Anna was simply a contradiction, possessing an unrestrained side, yet constantly bound by her own constraints.

He finished the rest of the sweet beer in his cup and then took Anna's cup. Anna stood there, stunned, watching as the man before her guzzled the sweet beer from her cup in one go.

After that, Winters returned the cups and, leading the horses, guided Anna through a few twists and turns in the narrow alley next to the parliamentary square. They arrived at a small clearing.

Anna, led by Winters through a haze to this grassy space between houses, was puzzled.

"Okay, here we are. This is where we used to play with swords," Winters said, happy as he drove a stake into the ground to tie up the two horses.

"What did you bring me here for?" Anna asked, her arms crossed protectively over her chest.

Winters waved his hand dismissively, "Relax, I'm not interested in men."

Annoyed and embarrassed, Anna made as if to kick Winters.

Winters unfastened the sword in its sheath, pulled out the blade, handed it to Anna, and kept the sheath in his own hand.

This was a typical ceremonial straight sword, short, light, and narrow, but also a real sharpened weapon.

But Anna didn't reach out to take it.

Winters said seriously, "Miss Anna, I agree with what you said. There's a natural physical gap between men and women, and although there are frail men and robust women, in this world, most men, if they want to harm you, you really wouldn't have much of a good method to defend yourself. But I can teach you some swordplay for self-protection in a crisis, hoping there will never be a day when it's needed."

He then pushed the ceremonial sword into Anna's hands.

"There's only one thing I want to teach you—courage," Winters pointed at his own chest, throat, and eyes, "Many times, it's not about skill, it's about bravery. If you dare to stab powerfully toward these parts, stabbing deep enough, it'll cause serious injury if not death. Come on, try stabbing me."

With that, Winters stood in front of Anna, holding the sheath in his right hand.

"What are you thinking? Get on with it!" Winters adopted the tone of Drill Instructor Nal, "I'm asking you to stab me."

Anna was close to tears, "I... I can practice on a dummy when I get home, can't I?"

"Can a dummy fight back? Can a dummy bleed?" Winters rebuked sternly, "Didn't you paint that warlike Aphrodite? When it's your turn, you get scared?"

"You... you knew?"

"I'm not a [profanity a gentleman should never utter in front of a lady]!" Winters scolded loudly, "Stab it!"

Anna closed her eyes and stabbed out.

...

...

In Lady Angui Sola's atelier, Elizabeth, seeing Anna with red-rimmed eyes, expressed her surprise, "What's happened now? My brother is not a bad man, there must be some misunderstanding..."

Anna shook her head but was thinking about what Winters said when he escorted her back.

...

"What's with the tears every time something happens..."

Anna, sitting on the horse, just wiped her tears, not saying a word.

"Isn't it just that I knocked the sword out of your hands? It's a common occurrence in sword practice."

Anna remained silent.

Winters carefully asked, "After today, does that mean we're even with the designs?"

"I gave you ten drawings, and you provided half a day's guard duty, how can we be even?"

"Sigh, what else do you need me to do, then? Tell me all about it at once," Winters said in resignation, "Actually, I still suggest you have them changed into silver coins, I could simply pay you."

At these words, Anna asked angrily, "Do you want to avoid seeing me that badly? I don't want to see you either!"

"No, it's not like that, Miss Anna," Winters said with a bitter smile, "I'm off to war. If I don't come back, you won't be able to collect your debt... You see, although men are safer than women, sometimes men have to go to the most dangerous places too, don't they?"