Iron Powder and Spellcaster

As soon as the officers appeared, the big meeting hall fell silent instantly.

The free men from all counties either sat upright with respect on their faces, or shrank their shoulders like cicadas beaten by frost. In short, they all closed their mouths and watched silently as the officers filed in through the gate.

The officers who entered the main meeting hall did not go to the seats reserved for them. Instead, they stood on both sides of the passage, forming two human walls.

First there are the low-ranking officers with blue ribbons.

Then there are the mid-level officers with blue ribbons.

Finally, the faces that made many free men unconsciously tense up - Geza Adonis, Skull Mecklen, Matthias Colvin, and the above-mentioned school officials who stood beside them seemed too much. Young Winters Montagne also walked into the Great Council Hall, came directly under the skylight of the dome, and stood at the end of the human wall.

Some free men were still curious as to why the officers did not take their seats.

People with sharp eyes have already seen that there is an honor guard outside the gate escorting something in.

Suddenly, a low drumbeat sounded in the Municipal Square and entered the Grand Council Hall, followed by a desolate horn and a long flute.

The sound of drums, trumpets and flutes intertwined into a lament, echoing in everyone's ears.

Under the watchful eyes of all the "free people", the mighty honor guard walked into the grand meeting hall holding flags stained with smoke and blood.

Almost no military flag is intact, and many military flags are dilapidated and covered with traces of war.

Gilad understood clearly in his heart that this was a ceremony to pay tribute to the victims.

He stood up, put his right hand on his left chest and saluted.

At the same time, people from other county sectors also stood up to pay their respects.

Soon, all the "free men" stood up one after another, whether voluntarily or forced by the atmosphere.

The guard of honor marched all the way to the lecture hall in the center of the Great Chamber, and stood at the edge of the lecture hall, facing the "free men" on the stepped seats, holding flags and standing solemnly.

The next second, deafening thunder exploded outside the Great Council Hall.

Then the second sound...

The third sound...

Four bronze heavy cannons roared in turn at half-minute intervals.

Not far away, the bell of Gevaudan Cathedral also rang.

Gilad listened to the sound of cannons and bells, stared at the military flag on the speech field, and was moved by the scene, thinking of his young partners. He still remembered the laughter, blood and tears, but could not recall their appearance, only the blurry faces.

He looked at his companions beside him, and was quite surprised to find that "Fat Man" Nandor, who had been smiling all the time, was quietly wiping the corners of his eyes.

Nandor seemed to be aware that someone was looking at him and looked up at old Dusak.

The two people's eyes met, and they both found some solace in each other.

The salute was fired twelve times and the bells were rung twelve times.

After twelve sallies, the silence ceremony ended, the honor guard withdrew the flag, the officers entered the reserved sectors in an orderly manner, and the free men of each county sat down again.

Careful free men - such as Richard of Blackwater - observed that the officers seemed to know where they should sit, and they sat in order of seniority and distance from the central oratory.

Moreover, the seats of the officers seem to be just right, with no one too many and one too little.

This is in sharp contrast to the situation where free people in various counties are either so crowded that there is no place to sit, or they are so comfortable that they can lie down.

Since then, some free people who already lacked trust in the "military group" have become more convinced that the "preparatory meeting" deliberately arranged the seats in this way in order to impress all the free people on their power and let them understand who is the new leader. The real owner of the land.

To be honest, this idea is not completely wrong, but it is only half right.

The fundamental reason for the insufficient seats is the insufficient capacity of the venue.

The full name of the "Grand Council Hall" where the Freemen's Assembly is held is "Maplestone City Grand Council Hall".

In other words, it is an annex of the Maplestone City Government, not the Xinhuang Provincial Government.

The design goal of the Grand Council Hall was to accommodate all the municipal representatives of Maplestone City, and it was never thought that one day it would have to accommodate all the free people of the newly cultivated land.

During the thirty years of rule of the New Reclamation Corps, no one probably ever thought that one day the freemen of the New Reclamation would be called together for a meeting - although in theory, the "General Assembly of Freemen" is the new Reclamation the owner of supreme power.

If the Maplestone City Grand Council had not set up auditoriums and left some redundant space when it was being built, then everyone present might have had to press their chests against their backs before they could be squeezed into the Grand Council.

In fact, after searching all over Maple Stone City, there was only one building that could easily accommodate so many adults.

That is Maplestone City Cathedral.

But Winters firmly opposed holding the convention in Maplestone Cathedral.

Although the Diocese of Maple City is now almost responsive to Winters' requests, it even offered to lend the cathedral to the "preparatory meeting".

However, it was this kind of cooperation and flattery that was close to flattery that made Winters wary.

What's more, if a major political meeting is held in the cathedral of the Catholic Church, it will definitely strengthen the authority of the Catholic Church in the newly cultivated land.

As a result, Maplestone City Cathedral was unfortunately eliminated due to strong opposition from Winters Montagne.

Then, the only indoor venue available is the Maple Stone City Grand Council Hall.

As for the problem of insufficient capacity in the Grand Council Hall, Winters proposed many solutions, such as removing the chairs and adding additional seats...

But this time it was Geza Adonis's turn to play devil's advocate.

Colonel Geza’s objections were based on three grounds:

First, time is tight. The sooner the conference is held, the better. It is too late to modify the seats;

Second, the Free People's Congress was only held once, and they went to great lengths to hold the meeting, and then had to change it back after the meeting, which was a waste of public funds;

Third, Colonel Gesar did not care much about the health of the knee joints of the "free men".

Colonel Gesa’s original words were as follows:

"Just let them stand for a while, what's the matter? We fought the war, they came to take advantage, what else can they be dissatisfied with? Humph?!"

In this way, the seating arrangement of the new freedmen meeting was determined.

Just as Richard of Blackwater Town was complaining about the arrogance and rudeness of the "New Legion", Gilad Mitchell was craning his neck and looking around in the officer's seating area next door.

Soon, he spotted the figure of his youngest son - in the first row.

"There!" Gilad happily hugged the fat brother next to him and pointed proudly at Pierre's back: "Look! My son!"

Nandor rubbed his eyes, carefully looked at the back pointed by Old Dusak, and then turned to look at Old Dusak.

Except for the same brown curly hair, Nandor was completely unable to connect the handsome young officer sitting in the first row of the officers' section with the tall, thick-set old Dussac with a rough smile next to him.

But looking at old Dusak's proud expression, it was obviously impossible to make a mistake.

"The first row is really incredible. Madam must be even more incredible..." Nandor praised him without thinking, and continued with envy: "It's a pity that I don't have such a promising son."

The free man of Niu Tu Valley rubbed his hands and asked tentatively: "But I have several daughters. Brother, even if I don't look very good, all of my daughters are..."

It's okay not to mention it. When talking about his youngest son's marriage, Gilad still felt a little regretful. He sighed: "Pierre is already married."

"Oh!" Nandor was even more regretful than Gilad. He clapped his hands and couldn't hide his disappointment: "It's too early for your son to get married!"

Old Dusak scratched his beard and said nothing.

"However, as far as I know, Montagne has many unmarried talents under his command?" Nandor quickly found a new target. He held the old Dussac's hand affectionately and asked pitifully. : "Brother, I have to ask your son to help me pull the strings. You are also a father. You also know that your daughter makes your father worry a lot..."

"Okay." Richard interrupted Nandor abruptly: "The show is about to begin."

Facing these two friends who were both "free men" but closely related to the "New Legion", Richard from Blackwater Town was angry and jealous, and his tone of voice was unconsciously heavier.

"No more, no more, we'll talk about it later." Nandor was not annoyed and made a silent gesture with a smile.

But the next second, Nandor looked at the officer's seating area and couldn't help but speak again, asking in surprise: "Huh? Why is the first row full?"

Gilad looked around and found that the seats in the first row of the officer's seating area were all full, and there were several children he was familiar with—Tamas, Bart Shalling, and Samutin.

But Winters Montagne was not among them.

Looking elsewhere in the Grand Council Hall, Gilad found that Montagne and another Monsignor were talking about something outside the speech venue.

After a while, the conversation ended. Lord Montagne shook hands with another Lord and walked to his seat.

But he did not go to the officers' seating area, but to the free men's section of Tiefeng County.

Fatty Nandor couldn't help but cheer, and the sectors in Tiefeng County immediately burst into warm applause, and Richard from Blackwater Town also clapped along half-heartedly.

There was applause even from sectors in other counties.

Hearing the applause, the young blood wolf was also very moved.

He bowed to the free people of Tiefeng County, then smiled and sat down in the first row of the Tiefeng County sector.

Other senior officers - Gesar Adonis and Matthias Corwin also took their seats in the "territorial" sectors.

The free men of Baishan County and Bianjiang County also followed the "precedent" of the Tiefeng County people and applauded.

However, compared to the warm applause from the sparse free people of Tiefeng County, the applause from Baishan County and Bianjiang County was slightly weak.

Only Colonel Skull Mecklund of Leiqun County did not sit down. After the applause subsided, Colonel Skull walked to the center of the speech field.

The Grand Council Hall fell silent for a moment, and the participants held their breaths, waiting for the "New Legion" to speak for the first time.

"Free people of the new land." Colonel Scull's voice was not high, but with the help of the dome's echo effect, his calm voice reached the ears of the audience clearly: "We have summoned you here for one purpose. You have a sacred obligation to fulfill; you have traveled hundreds of miles to come here, and you also have a sacred right to exercise."

While Colonel Scull was speaking, tables and chairs were brought into the oratory from the side door.

The empty speech venue was arranged in a different way - a half-person high platform was set up at the eastern end facing the gate, with a high chair and a table placed on the high platform.

Below and on the opposite side of the high platform, there is also a chair, surrounded by guardrails.

Two sets of angled copy tables and matching stools were placed on the left and right sides of the high platform, and the scribes took their seats immediately behind.

"The rights granted to me by the Charter of the Union." Colonel Scull took out a beautifully bound booklet from his arms and held it high above his head, with a strange blush on his cheeks: "I demand the convening of a special trial court!"

After saying that, Skull strode up to the high platform, sat down on the high chair, and banged the gavel hard:

“Bring the person on trial to court!”

"Bring the person on trial to court!" the honor guard shouted in unison.

The main door of the Grand Council Hall opened again.

The free men in the meeting heard first the clatter of shackles and the sound of marching boots, and then saw a shambling figure in an officer's uniform.

Although the uniform is worn out, there is no doubt that it is a school-level officer uniform of the Senas Alliance.

The military police took the subject to an area enclosed by guardrails, then locked the shackles on the guardrail, indicating that the subject could sit down.

But the person on trial just stood. He straightened his back, narrowed his eyes, and glanced contemptuously at the faces on the stepped seats around him. Finally, his eyes fell on Skoll Mecklund on the high platform in front of him. .

One of the free men recognized the identity of the man on trial and couldn't help but exclaimed.

"The person on trial, you are accused of being a traitor, a murderer, and an unforgivable public enemy of the New Reclamation." Skull looked down at the prisoners below and announced with a stern face: "The free men of the New Reclamation are gathered here, deeply aware of this land. The catastrophe the land has experienced has decided to liquidate the blood debt.”

"Did you hear me clearly?" Skull Mecklen asked clearly and forcefully: "Sanel Karoi?"

Under the high platform, the former commander of the New Reclamation Expeditionary Force, the executor of the Maple Leaf Castle massacre, Colonel Sanel Karoi, who once brought all the Red Rose field troops under his command and suffered a complete defeat in the Battle of River Valley Village...

Laughed loudly.

[must! Win! ]

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