I'm sorry that that post was lost.  Very frustrating.  I had seen that you'd been banned for using the word 'Hermes' and tried to reach you (see link below).  I've un-banned that word.I'm guessing that the travel speed boost really works.  NWC could have easily hard-coded that into their engine.  I haven't heard of it being tested, but it should be simple to do.  If you still have the game installed, choose a sufficiently long and relatively straight path through non-hostile territory and record the travel time with and without the boots equipped.  Please tell us what you learn!