Iron Powder and Spellcaster

[Outside the King's Castle]

"...When you use the shovel, remember one thing," Mason lay on the ground and turned to look at the preparatory students behind him, "never expose any part of your body outside the bunker."

After that, Mason began to demonstrate how to use the shovel in a lying position. He changed from lying down to lying on his side, holding a sawn-off pointed shovel horizontally, flying his arms up and down, and constantly filling the soil into the woven basket next to him. In the blink of an eye, , and a shallow pit was dug out under his body.

During the whole process, Mason's body was almost stuck to the ground, and even his elbows were not exposed outside the basket weaving.

Behind Mason, reserve officers from the Second Army Academy, including Hodel, lined up to watch the Chief of Staff rolling in the dirt.

For the reserve officers who took Major Richard Mason's class for the first time, you looked at me and I looked at you, feeling both funny and incredible.

A reserve officer named Richard snickered and asked the classmate next to him in a low voice, "Why do you look like a maggot?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Richard felt an external force coming from the crook of his leg - the person behind him kicked him without warning, causing him to stagger and almost fall to his knees.

"What the hell are you doing?" Richard regained his balance and asked the person behind him through gritted teeth.

The student who kicked Richard had a nonchalant expression and looked at the speaker provocatively.

Richard recognized the man who kicked him: a mud-legged man from Tiefeng County named Hodel.

He was about to reason on the spot, but then he thought about it, but instead of having an attack, he just sneered, turned around, and said contemptuously at a volume that could be heard clearly by everyone around him, "That's right, you are all mud." Maggots wallowing in it.”

The next second, Richard was pushed down from behind.

Hodel rushed towards Richard angrily, raised his fist and hit the latter in the face.

But before he could relieve his anger, he was pulled away. Hodel wanted to break free and continue to hit Richard, but the arms holding him were as solid as iron and did not move at all.

Hodel turned to look at the person holding him—it was Doug.

Doug silently but resolutely shook his head at Hodel, and Claude and Little Majia also jumped over one after another, blocking the way between Hodel and Richard's friends.

The conflict between Hodel and Richard was like throwing a grenade into the queue, and the shock wave spread in all directions instantly.

Everyone was looking in their direction, and even the instructors around them noticed this little commotion. Only the Chief Bursar at the front was still digging the soil selflessly, and did not notice that the students' attention was no longer on him.

Being stared directly at by hundreds of pairs of eyes made Hodel sober up a little. He whispered to Doug, "I'm fine."

Doug nodded and let go of Holder.

On the other side, Richard was also helped up. He threw away the arm that was holding him up and rushed towards Hodel angrily.

At this moment, the baby-faced voice sounded, "Hodel, five points will be deducted for you."

The district captain's voice calmed everyone down. Under everyone's gaze, Baby Face walked over from between the queues.

He was not anxious at all, let alone angry. Instead, there was a faint smile hanging on the corner of his mouth.

But when it comes to deducting points, Baby Face is not polite at all.

"Lendiel Richard, you will deduct one point." The two children walked between the two sides that were faintly confronting each other. "Others, please return to their original positions within the five-digit count."

"Do I also want points deducted?" Richard asked in disbelief.

"Who made you lose?" Baby Face said with a smile, "Another point will be deducted from you because you questioned the deduction."

The reserve officers present were dumbfounded.

"Three..." The baby face looked around at the students who had not moved, and counted down from "three", "Two..."

Everyone fled to their original location like flying. Claude and Xiao Majia looked at Hodel worriedly before leaving, but Doug just patted the young man on the back.

The queue of students returned to order in an instant.

On the other side, Mason finally dug the tunnel for demonstration. He stood up, dusted off his body, pointed to his work with satisfaction, turned around and explained to the students, "Dig to half a meter deep and half a meter wide, which is enough." If you take action on your knees, the first step is..."

The more he spoke, the quieter Mason's voice became. No matter how dull he was, he could still tell that the atmosphere at the scene was a bit strange.

"What's wrong?" Mason turned around and asked the faculty member beside him in confusion.

"It's settled," Kadar stepped out of the queue and replied loudly, "Your Excellency."

The reason why Kadar said this was not because he was pushy, but because none of the other junior faculty members present did not need crutches to walk. He was the only one with flexible legs and feet, so he had to put out fires everywhere.

Kadar strode to the senior's side and explained cryptically, "There is a little conflict among the students."

"Small conflict?" Mason understood immediately, and his eyebrows raised unconsciously, "A fight?"

"Yes."

The reserve officers present thought that the Chief of Staff was going to lose his temper, but a scene that shocked their jaws happened - Major Richard Mason's brows slowly straightened, and a trace of nostalgia spread across his face. .

"It's nice to be young," Mason commented with a smile.

Kadar also smiled bitterly.

"Who fought whom?" Mason asked again.

"Lendiel Richard, and Hodel."

"How did you punish them?"

"Five points will be deducted for those who are beaten, and one point will be deducted for those who are beaten," Kadar replied simply.

Mason looked at Kadar with great interest and said, "You, like your monitor, are cold-faced and hot-hearted. When I was in school, fights always involved..."

Kadar was sweating profusely and quickly stopped the senior from continuing, "Your Excellency, please continue with the class..."

Mason also realized that he was chatting too much, so he immediately stopped, cleared his throat, and looked at the students.

Some keen students suddenly discovered that during the entire process, the chief of staff only asked the district captain "who fought" and "how to punish". As for "why they fought," he didn't ask a single question.

Mason used a shovel as a pointer and pointed at the small earth wall he had built outside the corridor. "When digging, remember that all the excavated soil must be shoveled to the ground close to the enemy's position. It must not be reversed." "

He looked at the students and asked expectantly: "Does anyone know why?"

The phalanx of reserve officers was silent.

Mason felt a little embarrassed because he had never been a teacher, so he had no choice but to imitate the teacher he had when he was in school and try to encourage the students, "It's okay, just speak up."

The phalanx of reserve officers was still silent.

Mason glanced at the students, but everyone avoided his gaze, which made him feel even more disappointed.

"First of all, of course it is because it will waste earth, but the main reason is..." Mason cheered up and explained with gestures, "If you shovel the earth to the side of the ground away from the enemy's position, when the enemy fires at you When the time comes, the shell may land on the mound and bounce back into the corridor.

"Don't think that the cannonball will sink into the soil. Many times, the cannonball does not hit vertically, but at an angle, and will bounce off the wall; and if it rains and the sun comes out, even the soft soil will It will be hard from the sun..."

Mason's mouth was dry and his throat was hoarse as he spoke, but the students seemed to be like wooden beings. No matter how hard he tried, they wouldn't give him any response.

When Mason saw this, he couldn't help but feel a little discouraged. If it were someone else, he might have been fooled or dumped on someone else. But Mason can't do it. His strong sense of responsibility makes him want to do everything well in everything he puts into his hands.

He held his waist and thought for a while, and decided to change the way he taught class.

"Forget it, don't stand in a square formation. If you stand like this, what can the people behind you see?" Mason laughed and said loudly, "Come on, everyone, come to the front, come to my side..."

The students looked at each other, and the instructors didn't know why.

Mason joked, "This is a wilderness, not a classroom. There are no walls. If you stand like this, I have to shout so hard that the people behind me can hear you. Come forward and save some saliva for me."

The instructors understood what the Bursar meant. Although they did not understand the Bursar's intentions, they still cooperated with the Bursar's order.

So the students hesitantly stepped forward, one after another, and gathered in a half-moon shape around Mason.

"If you all sit down," Mason gestured with a shovel, "if you all stand, won't the people behind you be even less visible?"

The reserve officers obeyed the order and sat down, and the temporary playground suddenly became much emptyer.

The teachers and students of the Second Academy gathered in a small open space. Mason could see each student's face clearly without squinting, and he could hear each student clearly without shouting.

Because he had just been in charge of the demonstration, Mason's waist was sore and painful, so he moved a stack of willow baskets used for demonstration as a stool and sat down in front of the students.

"You are tired of standing, and I am tired of standing," Mason said a little embarrassed, "So I sit and talk, and you sit and listen."

After saying this, Mason finally got some responses from the students - he saw faint smiles on many people's faces.

"A good start", Mason thought to himself. He pondered for a moment and decided to start with what the students were interested in.

The next second, the reserve officers heard the chief bursar say something shocking, "You should all know that I am from the United Provinces, right?"

The titular No. 3 figure comes from Piedmont, which is one of the open secrets of the "Second School". From teachers to students, everyone knows this tacitly, but no one mentions it.

On today's occasion, Richard Mason took the initiative to point out this relationship, which caught the students off guard.

Even the instructors looked surprised.

Mason did not hesitate, but asked again: "You should also know that people from the United Provinces are called 'mud guys' because they are good at construction work, right?"

The pejorative term "mudbuddy" is known to all the people in Plato present, and many people have used it frequently recently, but the origin of this nickname is the first time many people have heard of it.

"But do you know why it's 'mudbuddy' and not 'mudbuddy'?" Mason continued.

This stumped both students and instructors.

However, Mason was not here to ask questions, so he quickly answered: "Because the terrain in the Piedmont is very low and the water table is very high. If you shovel one shovel down, you can see mud; if you shovel two shovels down, you can see water; if you shovel three shovels down, you can see water." Go down...and you can raise fish.”

There was a low chuckle from the crowd of reserve officers.

"So it's very painful to dig trenches in the front of the mountain. Every time you shovel down, there will be water and mud." Mason smiled and made a digging motion with the shovel in his hand. "How can it be as pleasant as in Plato?"

The reserve officers looked at the dust on the bursar's uniform and couldn't associate "comfort" with digging.

Mason talked eloquently: "Actually, the word 'mudbuddy' was originally used by the nobles in the Piedmont to belittle farmers, because farmers in other places dig into the soil for food, while farmers in the Piedmont have to dig in the mud every day. Plane food'.

“During the Sovereignty War, this word was used by the royalists to humiliate the Piedmont militiamen. Because the Piedmont militiamen were good at digging in, they were called ‘mud guys’ by the royalists.

"The excavation technology you learned today can be traced back to the Piedmont Militia under the command of Marshal Ned Smith."

People will feel sleepy when learning knowledge, but everyone is very interested in listening to short stories, and so are the reserve officers present.

"Since digging trenches in the mountain front is so torturous," Mason asked, "why does the old marshal still lead the militia to dig trenches?"

After a pause, Mason emphasized his tone and asked himself, "Because digging trenches can reduce the number of casualties, because digging trenches can narrow the gap between militiamen and knights, and because digging trenches can help them win.

“So, when royalists use this word, it’s actually more like humiliating themselves.

“They despised the shovel-wielding militiamen digging in the mud, but the ‘mudboobs’ defeated them and drove them from the Piedmont.

"If you laugh at people and feel inferior to them, doesn't that mean you are devaluing yourself? Do you think this is true?"

The dark crowd in front of Mason responded to him with a low voice of approval.

Hodel was also one of the people who spoke out. He was originally angry, but after listening to Mr. Mason's words, the stagnation in his chest dissipated a little.

In fact, Hodel was very dissatisfied with Lord Mason's personal demonstration of prone excavation just now.

In his opinion, the dignified tribune lying on the ground and arching around - especially lying on the ground and arching in front of outsiders - was really embarrassing to the Tiefeng County Army.

So when the boy with leather boots in front of him made rude remarks, the anger in Hodel's heart was completely detonated.

From this point of view, Lendiel Richard just touched Hoder's bad luck. Houdel's real dissatisfaction was actually directed at the tribune.

But after listening to the words of Tribune Mason, Hodel vaguely realized the profound meaning that the Tribune wanted to convey.

Hodel has always resisted the work of digging soil and digging holes.

His joke implicitly revealed his true thoughts - "I was digging soil every day before entering the military academy, and I am still digging soil every day after entering the military academy. So what is the point of me entering this military academy?"

However, after hearing the tribune explain the origin of the nickname "Mud Buddy," Hodel instinctively felt some affinity for the "Piedmont Militia" in the tribune's words. The ability to defeat the noble lord also gave rise to a certain sense of pride.

At this moment, Houdel heard the voice of the tribune coming from the front:

"Enough chatter, it's time to learn some real skills. Who was fighting just now? Come to the front and I will teach you step by step."

[The rhythm has slowed down again recently. I'm very sorry. I feel it has something to do with my poor work and rest schedule (T_T). I'm sorry again and will try to get back to the rhythm next time.]

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