Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

The military academy's surrounding wall was built with bricks, and to save money, it was not even 1.7 meters tall. Winters believed that the female thief must have climbed over the wall. Now that the person had fled, the whole school could only check their belongings to see what was missing in order to know what the thief had taken.

"Where is everyone! [Expletive]! Where are the guards!" A roar came from outside the building.

Damn it, Winters's heart skipped a beat, preoccupied with chatting inside, he had forgotten his duty to stand guard. The four cadets hurriedly ran out of the duty office.

A senior officer riding a chestnut horse dismounted and without a word, lashed the four cadets with a whip, cursing furiously, "Not even [Expletive] standing guard?"

"Report! North gate nighttime guard duty! Six should be present! Only four are present!" Winters, confused as to why he had been whipped, felt a burning pain on the spot where he had been struck and a surge of anger welled in his heart.

But he knew the military academy was no different from the army, and this was definitely not the time to talk back. The lighting was poor, and Winters couldn't make out who the person was, but the uniform made it clear that it was a senior officer of at least the rank of lieutenant colonel.

"Where is the duty officer?" the senior officer demanded sternly.

"Report! Went to investigate the location of the fire!" It wasn't until this moment that Winters could finally see clearly the officer before him.

He had a face with sword-like eyebrows and piercing eyes, a high nose bridge, and thin lips; he was the head of the academy, effectively the second in command of the Provincial Army's Officer College, and the actual individual in charge.

"Why wasn't there a report about the fire situation!" the head of the academy's anger did not subside.

"Report! I didn't know!" Winters retorted loudly, discharging his frustration, and indeed he had no idea about it.

Most of those living in the school were low-level teaching staff with ranks below lieutenant colonel, residing in officer dormitories. Although individual residences were prepared for school officers and higher-ranking military officers, senior officers generally opted to find their own property outside the school.

The reason the instructor on duty tonight with Winters had not reported wasn't for lack of wanting to, but because he really didn't know which school leader was staying at the school tonight; he had thought to clarify the situation before making a report.

"Ring the assembly bell! Emergency assembly! Get everyone up! Have all personnel form up at the north gate training ground!" The head of the academy didn't continue to make things difficult for the four cadets, and immediately issued orders to them.

"Yes, sir!" Winters and the others accepted the orders and immediately ran to ring the assembly bell.

"Wait a moment," the head of the academy stopped Winters with his riding crop as he was about to walk away: "What happened to your arm?"

"Report! There was a thief! The thief wielded a knife! I repelled her!" Winters replied succinctly, using his most concise language to describe what had happened.

Facing the infuriated head of the academy, Winters did not dare to say "the thief ran out from the school, I did not stop her, and let her escape," but he also believed he had not lied.

"Which daredevil dares to run wild on Provincial Army territory!" The head of the academy became furiously enraged, his reaction identical to that of the duty instructor: "Come see me tomorrow, give me a detailed report."

"Dong dong dong dong"—the assembly bell was rung ferociously, and immediately afterwards, the piercing whistles of the nighttime guard cadets sounded. Like a beast awakened from its sleep, the Provincial Army's Officer College, in slumber, was roused by the assembly bell.

The nighttime quietude was replaced by chaos, as cadets awakened in their dormitories jumped from their bunks, grabbed their clothing, and quickly pulled it on. With no gear needed to carry along, they hastily made for the door once dressed.

Outside, someone shouted, "Assemble at the north gate training ground! Assemble at the north gate training ground!" These were the nighttime guard cadets who had received orders from the head of the academy.

In an era without portable fire-starters, the military school's emergency nighttime assemblies had no time to light lamps. Everything had to be carried out in the dark, as cadets navigated their way to the north gate training ground guided by the faint glimmers of moonlight.

The crowd moved silently yet in a disciplined fashion, packed together like a school of sardines in the sea, creating a strange yet orderly aesthetic.

The cadets who rapidly emerged from all dormitories quickly joined the ranks at the north gate training ground. Point leaders formed the head of the line, while others swiftly found their places in the formation.

Winters had also run back to the formation by now, startling Aike with the wound on his shoulder. However, since idle chatter was not permitted within the military ranks, the two could only communicate with their eyes. Each district's teams began to count off and report in sequence.

The instructors came over from the stables, riding horses as they patrolled around the cadets' square formations. Spellcasters among the instructors brought over a pile of torches from the armory, igniting them with a fire spell before distributing them to various instructors.

Only then was the entire north gate drill field illuminated by the light of the flames. The cadets stood in well-ordered squares, waiting for orders.

The Head of the Department, mounted on his beloved horse at the forefront of the parade ground, watched the Provincial Army Military Academy cadets assemble in an orderly fashion amidst the darkness, and with an imperceptible nod of his head, showed no emotion.

"First-year corps, 174 expected, 174 present!"

"Second-year corps, 175 expected, 173 present!"

"Third-year corps, 172 expected, 172 present!"

"Report to the Head of the Department! Cadet battalion! 521 expected, 519 present! Reporting complete."

"Attention, everyone!" The Head of the Department's deafening voice echoed through the entire school, evidently using an amplification spell, "Three minutes! Take all your tools! Depart to fight the fire! Dismissed!"

The academy's formations swiftly disbanded, and Winters hurried to the armory to grab tools. However, he was somewhat puzzled; a fire is just a fire, what does a fire in the residential area have to do with the military academy, and it can't burn all the way here to the military academy.

The duty officers who had gone ahead to scout the fire situation also returned at this time, quickly reporting to the Head of the Department.

After hearing the report, the Head of the Department immediately sent messengers to inform other senior officers of the military academy and the Provincial Army, and at the same time, summoned aid from two infantry battalions of the Provincial Army stationed outside Guidao City.

The cadets quickly returned and once again formed into neat and uniform squares, only this time each person was equipped with an assortment of tools.

Without a word, the Head of the Department gave a grand wave, and the entire military academy cadets advanced in six columns along the main road towards the port area of Guidao City.

"What happened?!" It was not until the formation set off that Aike found a chance to ask Winters.

"Ran into a thief, got stabbed," Winters summarized the whole affair as succinctly as possible.

"What kind of thief would use a knife?"

"I don't know."

"Are you alright?"

"Just a flesh wound."

"Shut up!" An instructor patrolling on horseback alongside the column of cadets barked at Winters and Aike to stop their whispering, and the two dared not speak anymore, quietly following the column.

They marched through the outermost circle of run-down slums, past the ruins of the demolished old city wall, past the tanners' workshops reeking with an awful stench, past the disorderly residential houses in the port area, until finally, they arrived at the site of the fire.

It was not until then that Winters understood why the military academy had to come out in full force to fight a fire in the residential area.

Because the first armament factory of the Senas Bay National Alliance Army was ablaze with roaring fire.

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