It had been three days since he left. When he looked up, all he saw was a boundless expanse of white.
Claude sighed and stomped his foot, creating a small crater in the frozen snow.
After some thought, he decided to go back. He shouldn't have come to Swamp Kemda.
He had thought that he could easily hunt a few niros crocodiles at this time of the year, but he forgot that even if there were any, they would hide in the swamp and not come out in such cold weather.
He should have gone to check on the habits of the niros crocodiles. He didn't know if they hibernated or not.
He went to Swamp Kemda to hunt a few crocodiles and sell them for money, but it ended up being a waste of time. He didn't even see a single one after three days of wandering.
He patted Jemmie's back and it snorted, rubbing its long face against Claude's leather hat. It was its way of showing affection.
"Alright, let's go back. It's been hard on you to come all this way."
Claude climbed onto the sled and turned it around. With a shout, Jemmie pulled the sled towards Whitestag.
The wind was bone-chilling. Fortunately, it didn't snow and the weather was clear. Occasionally, the sun would shine down on the land.
It was already the middle of February. In another ten days or so, the snow that covered the mountains and plains would melt. At that time, the mountains and plains would be muddy, and the snow would melt into streams and flow everywhere.
However, that also meant the arrival of spring. The trees would come back to life and the wilderness would be covered in greenery.
However, spring wasn't the best time to hunt either. The animals that survived the winter would have their fur dry up and lose their luster. Even if they managed to hunt them, they wouldn't be able to sell them for a good price.
That was why spring wasn't the best time to hunt. It was best to hunt between the end of autumn and the beginning of winter. Be it carnivores or herbivores, all of them would have to eat until they were fat and shiny.
By then, they would be able to sell their prey for a good price.
Claude felt rather pitiful. As a transmigrator, he had to rely on hunting to buy magic materials for his alchemical experiments. Was there any other transmigrator in a worse situation than him?
Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it. After all, he had transmigrated to a different world, and it was a society that was very taboo against magic. He had to be sneaky even if he wanted to learn magic …
Claude didn't want to talk about the troubles at home anymore. His father was back and he would be in charge of the household. Even though he was no longer an official, Morssen was still very busy. Claude had no idea what he was busy with.
But when he returned home from time to time, he felt that his father had changed quite a bit. Mr. Morssen didn't speak much at home and only smoked his pipe nonstop, hiding his face behind the smoke.
His mother's health had recovered, and she was still in charge of the kitchen and housework. She also took care of his younger brother, Little Booker, and the little snowhound.
His younger sister, Anna, had already started her first year in middle school. She went to school happily every day.
As for Arbeit, he was still the same. He went home every day to sleep and eat, treating his home like a hotel.
It was said that he had returned to Sir Fux as his personal secretary, and that when he came home he was flattering his parents.
Claude resumed his daily work at the wood and went home every few days to check on his family.
There were many times when he wanted to talk to his father about how he spent so much money for his family after his arrest, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. He simply couldn't bring himself to say it.
Claude felt that if he were to ask his father for money, he would be as much of a scumbag as Arbeit. It was all for his family, so he didn't mind spending the money. At most, he would just find another way to earn some more.
However, Claude didn't expect that he wouldn't be able to hunt any valuable prey in the next half a month. The biggest prey he hunted was a lame old mountain wolf with scars all over its fur. It couldn't be sold for much and could only sell for a thale or so at the open market.
Welikro did come to the wood once when he accompanied his father, Kubrik, on a hunt in Egret. He brought back an antelope's hind leg for Claude.
After eating his fill in the wooden hut, Welikro listened to Claude talk about his hunting experience. He told Claude with a smile that if one wanted to hunt good prey at this time of year, they would have to go deep into the forests to encounter ferocious beasts and deer herds.
Unless one was really lucky, they wouldn't be able to find any big prey in the forests around Whitestag.
However, Welikro warned Claude sternly not to wander into the depths of the mountain alone.
Actually, ferocious beasts weren't that much of a threat to humans. What they were most afraid of was getting lost in the forests because they weren't familiar with the terrain.
Not to mention, it was snowing heavily and it was impossible to tell what was under the snow. If one accidentally fell into a snow pit and couldn't climb out, they would freeze to death.
Welikro's words made sense and Claude gave up on the idea of going deep into the mountains to hunt.
He didn't care about ferocious beasts, but it would be troublesome if he accidentally fell into a snow pit in the mountains.
Claude didn't want to take that risk either.
However, when he recalled how he and his father rode their sleds through Swamp Kemda to Egret, Claude thought of the niros crocodiles.
At this time, the entire Swamp Kemda was covered in snow. It was frozen solid, and the sleigh was able to move freely on it.
He could take the opportunity to explore the depths of the swamp. If he could find those niros crocodiles, he would be rich.
However, his wishful thinking was a waste of effort. He had Jemmy pull the sleds around Swamp Kemda for three days without seeing a single niros crocodile.
It was only then that he realized that the crocodiles had to hibernate too. Left with no choice, he returned empty-handed.
He only returned to the wood on the evening of the second day. He went back to the wooden hut and boiled some water for a hot bath. After filling his stomach with some hot food, he went to the study and stared at the alchemical formation on the table for a long time, feeling rather helpless.
When he didn't have an Alchemy Array, he wanted to make one, but when he finally got one, he couldn't afford the expensive magic materials because he lacked money, so the Alchemy Array could only be used as a decoration.
How long had it been since he last experimented with alchemy?
Claude thought about it and estimated that it had been about a month.
Had it not been for his father's accident that caused him to spend all the money he had, he might have finished his flintlock experiment by now.
He still had eleven shaliuns left. It seemed that he had no choice but to exchange them for some materials for his experiments. However, he would have to go to Hurian's underground shop to exchange for shaliuns.
Claude didn't want to interact with the old man. He felt a sense of insecurity.
Perhaps it was because he was scammed so badly by the fat old man the first time he went to the underground shop, he subconsciously blacklisted Hurian as an unscrupulous merchant and didn't want to do any more business with him.
Should he target Blacksnake? After all, it had been so many days since he was last there. The gang should have reopened for business by now.
Claude seriously considered the idea. Whitestag was still under military control and the prefectural capital's guard was still stationed there.
Even though the garrison had been established, they were still undergoing basic training in the barracks. It was likely that the prefectural capital's guard would only leave after they gained a certain level of combat ability.
In that case, the boss of Blacksnake, Bidlir Blanche, should be in the barracks with most of his gang's fourth band.
A band of around fifty people was basically the backbone of Blacksnake's gang.
This should be the time when Blacksnake's guard was at its weakest. Even if he were to encounter the same situation as last time, he could teach them a harsh lesson and openly rob the gambling den before leaving.
Claude grew excited at the prospect of success. All he had to do now was carefully arrange his escape route in and out of town without being noticed and choose the right time to enter town.
Claude decided to set off from the wood, as all the entrances and exits of town were surrounded by walls made of ice and snow. Only the main gate was left for the guards to guard.
If he didn't enter town, no one would suspect him in the future. The guards at the main gate would testify for him that he was at the wood and not in town.
The weather was good that night. Wasn't there a saying that went, 'The night when the sun is high, the night when the wind is high'? That night was a suitable time for robbery. The moon and stars were dim and the sky was dark, making it difficult to see the scenery in the distance.
Claude put on another black robe and snuck out of the wooden hut and went down the mountain path to the wood.
There was still a lot of snow on the ground, but it was frozen solid and didn't leave any footprints behind.
He just had to be careful not to slip and fall.
After going down the mountain path, he saw the main gate at the end of the street. There was a bonfire there, but he didn't see a single guard at the gate. He guessed that they had probably gone inside to warm themselves.
Claude shook his head. It was common sense. You wouldn't be able to see what was going on in the dark when you were in the light, and you wouldn't be able to see what was going on outside the town even if you hid by the bonfire.
What was the point of having a sentry like that? If an enemy really came to attack, they would only be discovered when they were right in front of them. By then, it would be too late.
However, Claude still carefully made use of the trees on the side of the road to leave the line of sight of the main gate and walked along the side of the town towards the embankment.
There was a steep slope about six to seven meters high there. He could use Featherfall to land on the embankment.
After walking for half an hour, he reached the end of the slope. Below him was the embankment.
The main reason he chose to enter the town was because it was rather desolate and there weren't many houses there.
There would be people fishing there during the hot weather, but it was already close to ten in the morning and the weather was cold. Nobody was willing to come here to enjoy the wind.
Claude took out a roll of fishing line from his backpack and tied one end to a tree on the slope. The other end was tied to a lead pendant and he tossed it down the slope.
He could use Featherfall to get down, but he would have to use it to climb up the slope.
It was best to use a climbing rope, but a climbing rope hanging down a steep slope would be more conspicuous and would be easily discovered.
The fishing line, on the other hand, was rather stealthy. All he had to do was use Featherfall on himself and he would be able to climb up the slope easily.
After descending from the slope, he chose to approach the public dock from the bottom of the embankment again. He passed through the small forest and alleyway he was familiar with. This time, he wanted to enter through the secret passageway from the casino, but he didn't know if it was still there.
After another half an hour, Claude stood outside the rundown hut at the exit of the secret passage.
He strained his ears and listened carefully. There wasn't the slightest sound coming from the hut. He went to the front door and found a large, crude lock on the old wooden door.
He turned around to look at the alleyway. Seeing that there wasn't any movement, he used Magus' Hands and Fine Control. He inserted the needle-shaped Magus' Hands into the keyhole of the lock and turned it into the shape of a key. With a slight twist, the lock opened with a pfft.
He dashed into the hut and closed the wooden door. He found the exit of the secret passage based on his impression of it. However, there was another thick wooden door that was locked from the inside.
After pushing it a few times, he found that it was locked with a latch.
That didn't matter. A single Magic Missile was enough to create a finger-sized hole in the thick wooden door.
Next, he used Magus' Hands and reached in through the hole. He easily removed the latch and the door opened.