Half an hour later, Brendan went to the Mellon family manor to see off Richard's party.
Brendan had arranged 31 guards for Richard, plus Richard's own 6 guards, making 37 total.
Richard's party of 41 people departed around 7 AM for Fresco Town.
No gentleman enjoyed spending nights in the western wilderness, so they departed early.
It wasn't that Brendan didn't want to arrange more guards for Richard, but he was also stretched thin - even these 31 men were his utmost effort.
However, Brendan felt this guard strength should be sufficient.
First, it was only a day's journey with fewer variables.
Second, these 31 guards were family elite troops with good coordination, capable of handling even double their number in enemies.
Few gangs had the strength to take them down, and those with such strength generally had some friendship with the McKinley family.
Of course, there were some feuding gangs, but they didn't operate in this Rocky Mountain region.
Finally, the McKinley family was renowned in this area, with large cavalry escorts frequently operating here. With strong forces, few dared provoke them without mortal grudges.
Moreover, Sean might have already received the telegram and sent people to Death Valley for support.
In fact, without bandits specifically setting ambushes, a dozen guards would be sufficient for safety.
Richard didn't find anything inappropriate - he had never traveled with so many guards even when going out in eastern Pittsburgh.
He knew the West was crawling with bandits, but this was broad daylight, and besides, without personal experience, people couldn't truly understand or pay special attention to certain dangers.
After all, he was only 25, having studied at prestigious eastern schools. Though a commercial genius and elite, his understanding of the West was truly insufficient.
This was why he came to inspect personally this time.
Richard believed no actual verification was redundant.
Moreover, he was quite confident in his marksmanship, archery, and horsemanship.
The two noble ladies Edith and Madeline sat enthusiastically in their two-horse four-wheel hardtop carriage, observing the scenery through the open windows on both sides.
Madeline said with some concern: "Uncle will definitely scold me when he finds out. Edith, you've really given me a difficult problem."
Edith withdrew her gaze from admiring the beautiful natural scenery outside and smiled happily.
"It's fine. If they find out, I'll tell my family it was my idea, and we're only going for a few days. Won't it be okay if we don't tell them?"
"You know how difficult it is for me to get out and breathe fresh air. When I go study in Britain, I'll prepare a satisfying Christmas gift for you and your future nephews and nieces this year."
"Moreover, I plan to write something in the future. Without seeing this world, what could I write? Decades ago, British aristocrats still had the tradition of 'educational travel,' but by our time, this tradition had declined."
Madeline was speechless - as if previous aristocratic "educational travel" had anything to do with women.
But since they were already going, saying more was pointless. Madeline asked: "At last night's McKinley family banquet, there were quite a few young gentlemen. Did you find any suitable ones?"
Edith shook her head: "No, I really dislike those who boast at banquets. Besides, would it matter if I liked someone?"
Madeline stared at Edith with a 'you're still too young' look for a long while until she became somewhat uncertain, then began imparting experience.
"Perhaps not, perhaps useful. Under equal conditions it would be very useful. At minimum, we need sufficient understanding of suitable targets around us. Appropriate preparation sometimes plays a huge role at crucial moments."
"Richard and I were such a case."
"Of course, often this preparation is indeed useless, but as long as there's the slightest possibility it could be useful, we should prepare. Don't you think?"
Edith nodded with a smile, indicating she received the message.
Actually, without Madeline saying so, she understood all this.
Having seen so many happy or more often unhappy elders, they naturally wouldn't be as naive as ordinary girls their age.
About two hours earlier than them, just as dawn broke, Carlos and Pizarro had already departed with their team, leaving two people to maintain contact with Texas. Their 70-man force created an imposing momentum.
However, because it was so early, few people noticed them.
About an hour after Carlos's group left, "Cross-eyed" Frank led 127 bandits out as well.
He had originally wanted to depart earlier, but unfortunately had played cards too late last night.
——
Henry's group had already traveled nearly 4 hours, covering about 30 miles.
Mountain mornings were somewhat cold even in summer.
Now the sunlight was gradually intensifying, making people feel warmly comfortable.
The group had rested for about half an hour along the way. Going forward another thirteen miles or so was a treacherous place - Death Valley.
This location had complex terrain with basins, hills, and dense forests on the surrounding mountains, where hundreds or thousands of people could easily hide without being discovered.
To pass through here, one had to take a winding path about a mile long in the valley, narrowest at 5 meters and widest at about 10 meters.
If carelessly ambushed here, hundreds or thousands of people wouldn't be enough to die.
Legend had it that nearly twenty years ago, an army of over 500 men was ambushed here and completely annihilated.
Occasionally some Native Americans appeared here too.
Basically, large forces reaching here would first send sufficient scouts to reconnoiter and occupy key high points on both sides before passing through.
Even so, it wasn't one hundred percent safe.
Henry planned to travel another hour or so, about 10 miles, before having everyone rest again. Charles and Owen would also retreat back to join them, then he would scout ahead alone while the other 9 officers stayed in place to protect the convoy.
Based on his judgment, since no bandits had blocked the road in these first 30 miles, it indicated the gangs from Fresco Town's direction had been pretty much eliminated by his strikes these past days.
After all, gangs didn't grow on trees. Even not counting the McKinley family's private soldiers, he had cleared out 124 bandits and assassins these past days.
So if there was danger, it would be the latter half of the route closer to Denver that was problematic.
Death Valley was the most likely place.
Because even if you suspected people were ambushing there - and indeed there were - you might not be able to find or discover them.
Charles and Owen were also fathers of six children. If they died normally in battle, that couldn't be helped - life was hard for everyone in this era.
But knowingly sending them into likely enormous ambush danger would be excessive.
Mainly because Henry had sufficient immunity tokens, so he decided to handle it personally.
Including Death Valley and Guillotine, seven or eight miles beyond.
Henry planned to handle both these places personally.
Since they followed him and were essentially carrying out his private mission, Henry would try to bring them back to town safely.
Moreover, these people would likely be Henry's future core team.
(End of Chapter)
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