When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Wheels with angled treads approached from afar, the axles emitting peculiar clicking sounds as they rolled over the weeds on the road.

In the long mountain gorge, clouds and mist swirled, and the vertical cliffs were covered with moss, revealing their dry, bluish-green skin.

On the wave-like undulating mountainside, the black-clad citizens of the Papal State formed two long lines, cautiously passing through the zigzagging mountain path with trepidation.

They carefully pushed their carts, wearing straw sandals, and tapped their staffs on the ground one after another to prevent themselves from falling off the road.

To the right of the mountain path was a slope covered with fluffy short grass, and to the left was a horseshoe-shaped mountain body, with the hillside rolling down in rounded, terraced steps.

From time to time, stones from the upper layers rolled down the slope, hitting the citizens climbing below.

Falling from here wouldn't necessarily be fatal, but it would at least result in broken bones and tendons.

The original elms, irises, and long grasses gradually transformed into firs, spruces, edelweiss, and the like as the altitude increased.

When someone looked up, there were hills above hills, and peaks above peaks.

Looking left and right, it was as if they were being held in the palm of a giant hand, with only a glimpse of the pale sky visible through the fingers.

As the terrain became higher and higher, the weather became colder and colder.

Even the citizens of the Papal State, who had black vests and short capes over their usual clothes, couldn't help but shiver at this moment.

After finishing the smooth avenue, the speed of Horn and the others slowed down in this mountain path.

Two days had passed since Danji's death, and in these two days, Horn and the others had traveled about 30 miles.

There were still about 60 miles to go before entering the Black Bone Marsh, and as for Jeanne d'Arc Fortress, there were still 410 miles.

"Where are we now?" Horn asked Sissi, who was sitting on a large rock resting.

After two days of rest, Horn's leg injury had improved a lot, but he was about to get a stomach injury from the carriage.

Sitting in this kind of carriage without rubber tires was almost deadly.

At this moment, he leaned on the Papal Staff, walking slowly like everyone else.

Of course, in exchange, Horn had armored vehicles protecting him in front, and four companies of child soldiers acting as guards around him.

"This section is the most difficult to walk. After climbing these mountains, we will reach Mount Yier.

After bypassing Mount Yier, there is a trestle road. Going down from the trestle road, we will descend from the mountain highlands."

Sissi stood up when Horn arrived and began walking forward again, leaning on her crutch.

"How long is this distance?"

"Including going down the mountain, it's about 20 miles, but don't worry, we are only around the waist of the mountain highlands, so going down the mountain is not difficult." Sissi touched her smooth chin. "After going down the mountain, there is a stronghold nearby called Anderbrug, where we can replenish supplies."

"Okay, pass it on, hold on, we'll reach the supply point in one more day. When we reach Jeanne d'Arc Fortress, I'll treat everyone to a three-day banquet. Good days are ahead!"

"Pass it on, three-day banquet when we arrive at Jeanne d'Arc Fortress!"

The child soldiers stood on the edge of the mountain road, one facing upwards and one facing downwards, shouting Horn's orders.

"Oh, right, where's my big bow?" Horn's waist swayed with the Cloud-in-Snow, only revealing the word "Snow". "I gave it to you the day before yesterday, isn't it adjusted yet?"

"It's broken, it's being repaired. We have to wait for Jeanne to come over at night to recast it with lightning," Sissi replied unhappily.

Horn was shocked: "Broken? How could it be broken?"

"Nonsense, this orichalcum also has a deformation limit. I don't know what you shot yesterday, but it did break the orichalcum's limit."

Horn frowned: "Impossible, I checked it when I came back, it was fine."

"It's damaged internally." At this moment, Sissi tied up her hair and changed into hunting clothes. She was clearly a man, but somehow looked like a woman disguised as a man.

"To be honest, this is also the first time I've seen pure orichalcum appear in this situation. Generally speaking, we believe that the elasticity of pure orichalcum has no limit for humans."

Speaking of this, Sissi couldn't help but recall the scene of Horn kneading the orichalcum rod that day.

She didn't know if she had seen it wrong, but the orichalcum rod had returned to its original position several times, but then twisted in the opposite direction.

Normally, for example, after twisting the orichalcum rod into a "(" shape, it would return to a "|" shape on its own.

But the orichalcum rod twisted by Horn actually continued to deform after returning to its original shape, first becoming "(" and then ")", repeatedly before returning to its original vertical appearance.

According to the alchemists, orichalcum softens when it comes into contact with mana, deformation absorbs and stores mana, and restoring deformation releases mana.

But when deformation absorbs mana, it absorbs more mana than it needs to restore its own deformation, and then discharges the excess mana after restoring its own deformation.

Why would it shake its head like that?

"I thought orichalcum's deformation limit was very high, but it's not that great," Horn complained, trembling his legs.

Turning his head, Sissi looked at Horn like he was a monster.

The two arms of this bow are made of pure orichalcum, a full 16 pounds of pure orichalcum, and the estimated bow force is comparable to a small ballista.

According to the remains of the scene yesterday, Horn shot a half-short spear weighing more than 1 pound.

Even a witch, let alone pulling it beyond the limit, would faint after shooting one arrow, and an ordinary wizard would suffer brain death after shooting one arrow.

But this master not only pulled the orichalcum bow beyond the limit, but also walked back on his own after shooting this arrow.

"How much mana do you have?" Sissi couldn't help but ask, "Even witches don't have as much mana as you."

"How would I know, I can't use magic." Horn slapped his forehead and raised a finger. "Oh, actually, I've always wanted to ask, is this the first time you've made an orichalcum bow?"

"Otherwise?"

"Has no one ever thought of using this to make an orichalcum bow before?"

Sissi shook her head: "There's no need."

Seeing that Horn still didn't understand, he explained it carefully.

Orichalcum is an alchemical product, and its recipe is very simple: 14 pounds of refined iron, 2 pounds of copper, a spoonful of refined ore powder, a spoonful of charcoal powder, two drops of sunflower juice, and four wizards performing an alchemy ritual.

Of course, the orichalcum made in this way is basically sponge orichalcum, full of holes.

If you want to turn it into normal orichalcum, you have to put it in the furnace for recasting.

Because the metal's thermal conductivity in this world is a bit poor, the cost of fire smelting is very high.

In addition, the cost of the refined iron material itself required for orichalcum is also very high, resulting in the cost of smelting 1 pound of orichalcum being enough to make half a set of armor.

For bows made of orichalcum, if the orichalcum content is low, it will be difficult to shoot through armor, and if the content is high, people will basically become vegetables after shooting one arrow.

This kind of orichalcum bow can only be used by people with mana, but since they all have mana, why not use magic?

It is only a freak like Horn, who has mana but no magic, who has this kind of orichalcum bow demand.

The normal use of this orichalcum is for demon hunters to make chest protectors or vest armor, and they are basically orichalcum-iron alloys.

The main purpose is to defend against flesh-oriented witches.

When flesh-oriented witches attack orichalcum armor, mana will be absorbed, and the amplification of the flesh will be weakened. The more deformation, the more weakening.

But this is only damage reduction. Orichalcum deformation has a limit. Breaking the limit will only make the orichalcum explode.

There was a witch who punched through the orichalcum armor before.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

While the two were chatting, they saw a child soldier stumbling towards them from the front.

Horn and Sissi exchanged glances, their eyes becoming a little serious.

This child soldier was assigned to the ten households in the first row. If something happened in front, they would be delayed.

Their itinerary could not be delayed at all.

Although they didn't know why, their scouts had never found traces of the church infantry, but that didn't mean they didn't exist.

Maybe they were waiting for Horn and his party at some mountain pass.

"Ha, ha, Elder Sachis, he asked me, asked me to deliver a message..."

"Don't panic, what happened?"

Horn held his shoulders and asked calmly.

"He asked me to ask, is it true that there will be no sealing of swords for three years after arriving at Jeanne d'Arc Fortress?"

Horn was silent for a full five seconds.

"...Tell him, if his ears don't work, cut them off, and ask clearly before coming to ask questions."

"Hiss." The child soldier hesitated a little, "Wouldn't that hurt him a little?"

"Hurt your head!"

Horn's scolding echoed back and forth in the valley, mixed with the clouds and mist, like beautiful singing.