Iron Powder and Spellcaster

The "preparatory meeting" is obviously not intended to give subjects time to prepare in advance.

Because there was only one day between the issuance of the exam notice and the exam.

On the day of the exam, Hodel got up early, went to the river to take a quick bath, then returned to the camp, shaved his face carefully, and finally put on clean clothes.

After doing all this, it was already bright.

Hodel yawned and walked slowly towards the gate of the military camp.

When he arrived at the gate of the military camp, Hodel was not in a hurry to go out. Instead, he stood in front of the bulletin board and pretended to read it for a while.

It wasn't until Doug tapped him on the shoulder from behind that Hodel came back to his senses.

Doug brought Hodel a piece of thick bread stuffed with bacon and sauce. While the two of them ate, they checked their military badges at the gate and registered their entry and exit before leaving the camp.

There are two roads outside the gate of the military camp.

The road on the left leads to Maple Leaf Castle, which Hodel often takes recently.

Because the Iron Peak County Army was working hard to repair Maple Leaf Castle under the auspices of Tribune Mason, everyone had to work except the sick and wounded who could not move.

The road on the right, leading to Maple Stone City, was rarely taken by Houdel.

The few times I went to the city, I went to your home to pick up and deliver things. I always went and came back quickly.

Hodel has not yet had the opportunity to take a tour of the "big city" that others call prosperous, lively, and full of gold-selling caves.

But today, Hodel had no choice but to go to the left.

But there was no choice. The examination room was not in Maple Leaf Castle, so Hodel could only look at each other and take steps toward Maple Stone City in the morning light.

The military camp of Tiefeng County Army is very close to Maple Stone City.

Before the bread was finished, Hodel and his friends had already walked from the path to the main road. Once on the main road, the gate of Maple Stone City is right in front of you.

The flow of people on the road suddenly became denser.

Farmers carrying vegetable baskets, butchers leading livestock, water workers driving horse-drawn carriages... all kinds of figures were walking on the road, and there were so many people that it was like a sacramental procession.

Although there was no difference in the clothes he was wearing, Hodel could still tell the difference between civilians and soldiers among the people entering the city at a glance:

Because the former went to the city to earn a living, and although they were carrying handbags on their shoulders and sweating profusely, they walked with wind under their feet and full of energy;

Although the latter's shoulders and hands were empty, their steps were sluggish and extremely heavy, because they were going to undergo a "test."

Hodel soon saw some familiar faces in the crowd, all reserve officers from other companies.

Everyone briefly greeted each other and continued on their way in silence.

However, on this short stretch of road leading to Maple Stone City, some new faces merged into the crowd.

Unlike the civilians who entered the city and the soldiers such as Hodel, the clothes on the new faces were cleaner and the fabrics of the clothes were also better.

What they wore on their feet were not the straw sandals and soft-soled leather sandals uniformly issued by the Tiefeng County Army - the latter of which Hodel was reluctant to wear - but genuine boots.

Hodel would not be jealous if he was simply not as well dressed as others.

What dazzled Hodel was the arrogance and lighthearted expression of the new faces.

"Look." Hodel whispered to his friend: "What's the origin of the guy wearing boots?"

Doug picked up the last crumbs in his hand: "Commissioned officer of friendly forces."

"They also want to take the exam?" Hodel was surprised.

"It's a test." Dao Moyan replied concisely and concisely: "That's what the announcement said."

"We take the exam because we want to go to your school." Hodel frowned unconsciously: "They also take the exam, can they also go to your school?"

"That's how it should be."

Hodel was speechless for a while, then spat angrily: "Why?"

"Do you still want to eat?" Doug asked his friend.

Hodel had no appetite at all, so he handed the small half piece of bread to his friend.

Doug cleaned up the remaining bread from his friend, and then said calmly: "Maybe they are also curious about why you and I can go to your school."

Hodel wanted to refute but had nothing to say, so he simply turned his head away and just went on his way without looking at the rich kids wearing boots.

But sometimes, the more you don’t want to see something, the more you move closer to it.

To enter Maple Stone City, you need to pass a checkpoint at the city gate.

The scene in front of the checkpoint is literally "thousands of troops crossing the single-plank bridge", so everyone has to queue up.

The same goes for Holder and Doug.

The wait was nerve-wracking, a small step forward in the queue seemed to take a hundred years.

Hodel sighed and looked at the crowd in front of him. At this juncture, a burst of laughter floated into his ears from behind.

Turning his head, Hodel was surprised to find that the rich men in boots were not far behind him, chatting and laughing, as if they were going for an outing.

Hodel turned his head and blocked his ears in disgust. But the more he didn't want to listen, the harsher the chatter of those people became, making him feel unknown and angry.

Finally, Hodel's patience reached its limit.

He came up with a plan, turned around, walked a few steps, patted the shoulder of another reserve officer behind him, and took the initiative to say hello.

The reserve officer called by Hodel was named Claude Lee, who was recommended by Battalion Commander Samutin to become a reserve officer.

Claude is younger than Hodel, but his "military age" is several months earlier than Hodel. Although he knew Hodel, it was just a nod of acquaintance, and he couldn't say how well he knew him.

Therefore, faced with Hodel's sudden enthusiasm, Claude didn't know why.

He replied subconsciously, then continued to stare down at the tips of his shoes, obviously not wanting to say more.

Hodel was not ready to let him go just like that. He held Claude's arm intimately and deliberately talked loudly about the "Second Battalion Commander" who was about to become the "Second Regiment Commander".

Behind him, commissioned officers from other counties were startled by Hodel's loud voice, and their laughter stopped abruptly.

Claude responded politely for a few words at first, but soon felt tired, and finally begged for mercy with a wry smile: "Monkey, I really don't have the time to chat with you right now... Go find someone else."

"Not interested?" Hodel asked knowingly, "Why not?"

"Stop pretending to be stupid for me." Claude didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Don't you want to take the exam too?"

Hodel spat disdainfully: "It's a small exam, what are you afraid of? It's really worthless!"

Claude knocked off the monkey's hand and said angrily: "Stop bragging with me! I heard that if anyone fails in the exam, the matter of going to the military academy will be blown away! Look at you, aren't you doing this on purpose? Have you taken a shower, shaved, and changed into new clothes?”

"Who said I showered and shaved on purpose?" Hodel denied it, and then grabbed Claude's arm with a playful smile: "I shower and shave every day! If you don't believe me, just listen!"

Claude laughed and cursed: "Get out of here!"

"I want to ask you," Hodel caught a glimpse of the commissioned officers behind him who were eavesdropping, so he raised his voice by three points: "Who told you that you can't go to school if you don't do well in the exam?"

Claude hesitated: "Anyway, they all said so..."

"Fart!" Houdel yelled, scaring the surrounding civilians to take a few steps back: "How could the Blood Wolf not let us go to the military academy because we didn't do well in the exam? Don't you think so, Doug?"

Doug replied unhurriedly: "The announcement only said that there was a test, but it didn't say what the consequences would be if you did well or failed the test."

"That's right!" Hodel clapped his hands, hugged Claude's shoulders, and said harshly: "Let me ask you, who runs the military academy?"

"Your Excellency Montagne." Claude replied immediately.

"Yes, it was done by the blood wolf." Hodel looked around provocatively, and finally stared at Claude: "Let me ask you again, who are we?"

Claude was stunned and didn't know how to answer for a moment.

Before Claude could respond, Hodel patted his chest with pride: "We are blood wolf soldiers! We are the wolf cubs who were fought and killed out of the mountain of corpses and the sea of ​​blood! Who can the blood wolf mistreat? Are you going to kill us? You! Just be at ease!"

Hearing Monkey's words, Claude's expression turned a little gloomy. He lowered his head and picked at his fingers, and said uneasily: "You...you are always walking around your Excellency, of course you are not afraid. I...I have always been the commander of the Samujin Battalion. I work under my command, in charge of ships, baggage, and prisoners. I have never fought a big battle with you, and I have never spoken to you. You don’t even know who I am..."

Hodel suddenly felt a little ashamed, and he hurriedly comforted Claude: "Then you are a hundred times better than some loser who has no ability, has never fought in any battles, and relies on a few stinky money to buy his official position! Ten thousand! Times! If they can all go to Blood Wolf’s military academy, I don’t believe you can’t go to it.”

As he said that, Hodel deliberately glanced at the "boot boys" behind him.

The commissioned officers finally figured out who the skinny monkey-like guy in front of them was coming for, and most of them looked unhappy.

At this moment, a hearty voice came from the front.

"Monkey! I heard it was you from afar!" A veteran with a sword laughed and walked from the checkpoint ahead: "You ran out again and embarrassed the first battalion?"

The swordsman veteran has bright eyes and a lanky build. Although he is a veteran, he is actually only in his early twenties, which is a good age for him to be in his prime. Just when I walk, my left leg is a little lame.

Seeing the veteran approaching, not only Hodel, but also Claude quickly stood at attention and saluted: "Sergeant Ish, why are you here?"

"It's not because I'm worried that you might cause trouble, so I sent me to check on you." The veteran replied with a smile.

He gave Hodel a warning look: "Monkey, did you just shout 'that' again? Be careful if your Excellency hears you, and you will be punished to move rocks at Maple Leaf Castle."

Hodel was greatly embarrassed, and immediately made a gesture of "sewing his own mouth", and then lightly slapped himself.

When other reserve officers who were queuing up saw the veteran, they also walked out of the crowd and stepped forward to salute and say hello: "Sergeant Ish!"

The veterans responded meticulously one by one.

…

Sergeant [Ish Sweetwater] is a very special figure in the Iron Peak County Army.

In terms of seniority, he is as old as Tamas and Bart Schalling;

But the latter has now been promoted to battalion commander and acting regimental commander, while Ish Sweetwater is still a sergeant.

People say that it was all because Sergeant Ish was injured on the eve of the Battle of Blood Mud and missed the Battle of Blood Mud, then missed the Battle of Shovel Harbor, and also missed the Battle of Riverdale Village...

In short, Sergeant Ish was unlucky and lucky to miss all the major and minor battles from the "Battle of Blood and Mud" to the "Battle of Artemis" while in bed, and did not return to the battlefield until the siege of Maple Leaf Castle.

So his rank is still sergeant.

But no one in the Tiefeng County army dared to look down on this little sergeant because of this, and no one did not respect him.

…

As more and more reserve officers from the Tiefeng County Army gathered around Sergeant Ish, the ordinary people who had been trying their best to stay away from Hodel and Claude consciously retreated further away.

A large "civilian-free zone" was opened in front of the checkpoint.

Gazes mixed with fear, curiosity, envy and disgust were cast towards the soldiers of Tiefeng County Army in the middle of the "civilian-free zone" from all directions.

Ishi from Ganshui Town sensitively noticed this and immediately told Hodel and others: "Stop queuing and go directly through the checkpoint."

"Is it okay?" Hodel was pleasantly surprised.

"Don't delay the exam." Ishi didn't explain much, just reminded: "But pay attention to your appearance and don't embarrass your Excellency."

Ish directly ordered: "Everyone, listen to my command - single column."

Hodel and other reserve officers quickly stood up as if reflexively.

"Don't wait in line." Ish looked at the commissioned officers behind him kindly and said, "Just follow us."

The commissioned officers hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded gratefully to the Tiefeng County Army sergeant and walked out of the crowd.

"Everyone is ready!" Ish shouted loudly: "Start - go."

The reserve officers of Tiefeng County Army lined up neatly like a long queue, passing through the checkpoint one after another.

The commissioned officers, whose pace was slightly disorderly, followed in small groups.

As if being reviewed, Hodel walked very seriously; when he noticed that the "boot boys" behind him couldn't even stand in line, he puffed up his chest even harder.

However, the formation of Tiefeng County troops did not last long. Due to the lack of a clear commander, the column dispersed as soon as they entered the city and turned into a chaotic group.

Hodel tried his best to urge everyone to stay in formation, but no one listened to him.

Everyone is like a "hillbilly" who has entered the city for the first time - of course, a considerable number of reserve officers have indeed stepped into Maple Stone City for the first time - looking here and there, everything they see feels novel.

Coupled with Houdel's trouble in front of the checkpoint, the dark clouds lingering in everyone's minds were quickly dissipated by the novelty, and the reserve officers quickly restored their lively and active nature of young people - strictly speaking, they Many of them were just children.

On the contrary, the commissioned officers behaved quite calmly, walking on the street as if they were home.

Seeing the "unsatisfactory" performance of his comrades, Hodel couldn't help but sigh.

"What do you think, your Excellency, you just let us go into the city like herding sheep, and you don't send anyone to take care of it." Hodel complained: "Why don't you just take the exam in the military camp? You still have to go to the city to take the exam. ?”

"You're right." Doug said thoughtfully: "Why not take the exam at the camp? Why not send a team leader?"

"Aren't you just repeating what I said?" Hodel asked angrily.

Doug smiled generously.

Fortunately, even if you enter the city like a bunch of ducks, you don't have to worry about getting lost, because there are military police on duty at every intersection to guide you.

A large group of young reserve officers were chatting and laughing as they headed to the examination room.

Until they actually stood outside the exam room door.

Said laughter disappeared.

Because standing in front of them was Maple Stone City Cathedral.

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