Chapter 289: Well Loved Gear
Word spread fast through the region, and by the time that Dominic was at the second Huntsman’s house, the third was already out on his porch with a cup of hot coffee, waiting for his arrival.
"This is for you. Not a new piece, well-worn in battle by the Natural Sons’ Regiment, but I’ve patched it up as good as new, if you don’t mind the appearance." Dominic explained as he handed over the rifle and the bag of shot.
"Now this, this is a true work of art, My Lord. But is that not your personal maker’s mark on the receiver?" The Huntsman asked.
Dominic nodded. "I was a gunsmith working for the Royal Forge when these were commissioned. I made each and every rifle that the Regiment fielded during the war, and repaired most of them as well.
If anything goes wrong with it, bring it to me. Nobody in the world knows the design better."
The huntsman was a lean man, toned from a lifetime of stalking prey through the woods, with a face weathered almost to the texture of old leather. But at that moment, he looked like a young boy again, receiving his first bow to begin his training.
"I will treasure this all my life, My Lord. Tell me, how many rounds can it take before rebuilding so that I don’t wear out the action before it is needed in an emergency?"
Dominic shrugged. "If it were new, I would say ten thousand, but this rifle has seen many more rounds than that with a single rebuild, so I doubt that normal use by a hunter will wear it out in a lifetime."
The Huntsman chuckled at the thought. "Ten thousand rounds would take more than a lifetime to fire, and three lifetimes to find enough targets to fire at."
"You’ve got a point. But I should get to the other houses, I’ve got territory to check today." Dominic informed him.
"Good luck. I’ll be at the river for the day. The wife wants fish, so I’ve got to try my luck."
Dominic headed for the last two huntsmen and gave them a quick rundown on how the rifle worked, along with a bag of ammunition. A few hundred rounds wasn’t much for a soldier, but for a hunter, it was plenty.
By the time that he finished, Alexis and the others were in the process of getting their armour on for the expedition.
They were treating it as a proper monster hunting expedition as well as training for the veiled maids, who had weapons, but not armour.
It wouldn’t be practical for their daily lives, except for possibly a light chain vest. So, they were being trained to fight without it. In theory, that would build confidence that many soldiers lacked while out of uniform.
Like them, Dominic was unarmoured. He had plenty, but he was more comfortable actually fighting without it.
"You should at least make an attempt to protect yourself." Wilkes joked when he saw Dominic in mage robes, waiting for them to leave.
Dominic shrugged, and took out his chest plate with pauldrons attached. It was created in the Cogwork Plate design, and the magical circuits would latch the two halves together when he put it on, without need for assistance.
The problem was that it was also very shiny.
The leader of the Royal Guard chuckled. "Ah, I see the issue now, My Lord. Well, we can dull the armour if we need to. But we’re not sneaking up on anything today. If we find the target that we’re after, it will come, no matter how well disguised we are."
Dominic added his weapon belt, with his sabre on one hip and a revolver on the other.
"There. Now I look appropriately armoured." He decided, before pulling on a pair of soft leather gloves.
"So, you fight like a gunslinger?" One of the mages asked.
Dominic shook his head. "No, I fight like a mage. I excel with the arcane blast spell, but I can also use fireballs to great effect. However, I also have mobile artillery. Though, if that comes out, the situation has already gotten much spicier than we are expecting."
Alexis smiled at the mage. "While we walk, you should ask him to tell you all about the time that he charged and killed an Archmage with a kitchen knife. In the middle of a battlefield. Don’t let the baby face fool you, Lord Dominic is a fearsome warrior."
The Royal Guards laughed quietly, and then began retelling the story, starting with the beginning of the ambush, all the way to Dominic being blasted off into a destroyed carriage, and then shaking it off.
The young mages were staring at him in awe by the time that the Royal Guard had finished telling their version of the battle, while Dominic added little background details, like the fact that the wagon he had landed in was his own forge wagon.
"Mighty kind of them to send me all the way back home to rest." He joked.
They walked in silence for most of an hour, circling around the Duchy at a fast march.
"There. Ogre footprints, fresh." Ella called.
Not quite what they were hoping to find for the veiled maids’ first combat outing. But it would have to do.
They weren’t going to just let Ogres roam the area.
"There are human boot prints with them, and what looks like Hobgoblins." Wilkes added.
So, they’d found another of the Dagos ambush groups.
"Strategy?" Dominic asked.
"Take Wilkes, cover your armour, and follow on our right, just out of sight and downwind. We will make them think that we are the entire group. Once the fighting starts, hit from the side." Alexis ordered.
Dominic smirked, and she rolled her eyes at them.
"I swear to the gods, if I hear mortar shrapnel bouncing off armour, there will be hell to pay."
"Got it. No uncomfortably close artillery bombardment."