Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 34 Visitation

   The middle-aged man who was waiting for Winters in this small room was the husband of Winters' mother's sister, the same period of the military academy who was born and died side by side with Winters' father, and Winters' closest relative - Antonio Seretti.

   "I just said how could Customs know everything!" Winters cheered in his mind. He thought he was going to go to a prison sentence, but now he found out that it was just a "prison visit", and he couldn't help but be overjoyed.

   The head guard who brought Winters here bowed respectfully and left the small room.

   The heavy wooden door was screamed and shut, and now only the uncle and nephew were left in the hut.

Antonio strode happily and hugged Winters tightly, rubbing his hair, and sighing sincerely: "Stinky boy, look at you! You are really a man now! It's like when you were young. Your father was carved out of a mold, and I even thought that a **** brought me back twenty years ago and let me see your father come in from the door."

   Uncle Winters' voice is deep and mellow, with six parts joy and four parts sadness.

  Winters was emotionally infected by his uncle's emotions on the one hand, but on the other hand, he had goosebumps all over his body at the sudden intimacy.

  The six-year closed boarding school for boys had a profound impact on his character. During the same period, he was not a family member, and men would not express their emotions in such an intimate way—men did not communicate emotions at all.

Therefore, Winters, who has left the ivory tower of the military academy, is very uncomfortable with this intimate body language. In Antonio's eyes, Winters is still the child who is pestering him to learn swordsmanship, but Winters feels more now. Embarrassed and helpless.

   "Is Kesha okay? Is my sister okay? Are the generals and generals okay?" Winters hurriedly tried to use words to get rid of his uncle's arms "pincer attack".

"It's all good, I miss you very much." Antonio let go of his arm, he wiped his eyes with his palm, and sniffed again, as if he hadn't come out of his sad mood: "Let's sit down and talk. ."

  Antonio took Winters by the arm and took him back to the table.

As soon as    Winters' **** hit the chair, he couldn't wait to ask in a low voice, "Does the military know that we are locked up by customs?"

Seeing Winters' cautious appearance, Antonio couldn't help laughing, and hummed and laughed: "Of course I do. Not to mention the 'Palace', the sound of the pier will be known to the entire Hailan City within two hours. Now, the rumors outside are overwhelming. There are crazy rumors in the city that the army's smuggling was intercepted by the customs, so they fought hard, and some people say that hundreds of people were killed, and all of them have noses and eyes."

  The Royal Palace is the representative name of the Veneta War Department, because it was built too luxuriously and was ridiculed by the citizens like a palace. Over time, palaces and palaces have become the names of the Army Department in the mouth of the soldiers.

   "Then Uncle, you were sent by the War Department to pick us up?" Winters was overjoyed, thinking that everyone would be able to leave this hellish place soon.

  Antonio smiled and shook his head gently: "No, I'm just visiting as a relative now."

   "Why?" Winters froze in a stunned smile. "Since the War Department already knows we're locked up, why didn't they send someone to get us out?"

"Hmph, of course it's because the idiots from customs have done a big stupid thing." Antonio snorted coldly, and his smile added three points of contempt and contempt: "The minds of this group of customs choppers are all muddy, first of all I can't help but imprison you all. Now that I can't move forward, but I can't let myself down, I actually want the joint meeting to send a letter to 'apply' to take you back from the customs. Do you think the 'Throne' will agree?"

Since the Ministry of the Army is dubbed the "palace", the small conference room where the joint meeting of the senior commanders of the army's highest authority is naturally the most powerful room in the palace - "the throne room", so the joint meeting of the army's senior commanders is also the most powerful room in the palace. Dubbed "The Throne".

   "This is too shameless!" Winters was shocked and angry when he learned of the small abacus of the customs decision-making layer. His eyes were wide and his nose moved violently, and he stood up suddenly and knocked the chair into the air.

   Winters said angrily: "Why would they do this? We're just getting involved."

"Don't worry, don't worry." Antonio pulled Winters to sit him down, his tone was relaxed and pleasant: "Haha, your temper is exactly the same as your father... Hey, people always love memories when they are older. Things from your youth. Sit down and listen to me tell you slowly."

Winters knew that it was very inappropriate to yell at his uncle in his blood just now. He smiled apologetically at his uncle. I don't know how many times he told himself to be restrained and calm in the future, he raised his chair and sat down again. .

"Anyway, this is how things are now. Customs did something stupid, but they didn't want to lose face. They wanted us to wipe his **** and asked the throne to speak first." Antonio spread his hands calmly and said disdainfully: "It's just wishful thinking. Why should the army sacrifice its own face to wipe the buttocks for the customs? You are now caught in the middle. But it's not a big problem. The customs don't dare to do anything to you. They still have to pay for you now."

   "There's no one for us." Winters smiled bitterly: "We're all taken to the cell, but the environment is relatively clean, but there is a seriously injured person I think it's best to take care of it."

   "Severely wounded? Is it a trainee officer?"

   "No, it's Major Moritz."

   "Moritz van Nassau?" Antonio raised his eyebrows with a puzzled expression, apparently the name Moritz aroused his interest.

   "I don't know the major's full name." Winters shook his head, just a few days of contact. All he knew was that the major's name was Moritz, and he didn't know the rest of the major's full name.

"Hmm." Antonio rubbed his chin and said in a hesitant tone, "I've only heard of this person in the War Department called Moritz, who was the third runner-up in swordsmanship at the All-Army Games last year. He is said to be a spellcaster. ?"

   Hearing his uncle's description, Winters nodded: "A swordsman or a spellcaster, then we should be talking about one person."

   "A master swordsman or a spell caster, I'm afraid a full 100-strong team is not enough to kill him. How many enemies have you encountered? Can you make such a person seriously injured?" Winters' words surprised Antonio, who has been in the army for many years.

   "The major was mainly drowning. In addition, his eardrums were shattered by his own spell, and he was temporarily deaf." Winters explained the reason for the major's injury as concisely as possible: "In addition..."

   "Wait a minute." Antonio stopped Winters, took out a small notebook from his arms, and found ink and quills from the drawer in the corner of the room.

After making preparations for the record, Antonio said sternly to his nephew: "Layton, the reckless man, only sent back a few words. The information the palace received was confusing and contradictory. There were rumors flying all over the sky. Please tell me about this afternoon carefully from beginning to end. What the **** happened on the dock."

Winters started talking when the ship docked, and told his uncle carefully the details of the four passengers, the assassin and the explosion, so as not to interfere with the main theme, so he only mentioned the experience of encountering pirates in a word, and he did not have any ears to prevent the partition wall. Mention the fact that there are spell casters among the four passengers. After all, this is the site of the customs. Who knows if they have set up pipes in the dark to eavesdrop?

  Antonio listened seriously to Winters telling about his experience. When he heard that his nephew was about to die, his pupils shrank involuntarily, but he never said a word, just nodded from time to time, and recorded some important points on paper from time to time.

"That's it." Winters finished talking about the assassination and explosion on the pier, and he actually wanted to tell his uncle about the jumping gang at sea and the fire in Guitucheng. He had a lot of doubts and hoped to seek uncle's advice. Wisdom helps, but now is clearly not the time.

  Antonio pondered what Winters had just said in his mind and came to a conclusion.

   He rubbed his temples and said, "Then this has nothing to do with our army at all! Our trainee officers are just acting bravely, so they are involved."

"Yeah!" Winters also patted the table, but he thought of the spellcaster who could use the deflector among the passengers, and said in his heart: Maybe it has something to do with the army, but it definitely has something to do with us trainee officers. It's ok.

"What are the people at the customs thinking? If you don't catch the assassins, you will be locked up." Antonio put away the small notebook: "Don't worry, since this matter has nothing to do with us, then don't think about returning it to the customs. Put the shitpot on the Army's head."

   Winters nodded heavily, encouraged by his uncle's attitude.

"I told your colleagues, don't worry, you should eat and drink. Let's see how long the customs can put you under house arrest?" Antonio Antonio taught Winters the strategy of struggle: "You are not prisoners, what do you need? Just reach out and ask for it, and the customs will smash it through here if you don’t give it. It’s just a few guards, can’t you deal with it?”

  Winters originally wanted to remind his uncle that the partition walls have ears, but he suddenly thought that his uncle might be taking this opportunity to put pressure on customs, so he and his uncle sang a double reed and answered "yes" repeatedly.

   But he remembered Major Moritz, and he couldn't help but feel a little worried, so he lowered his head and asked softly, "What about Major Moritz? He'd better rest in a good place."

  Antonio thought for a while after hearing the words, and then slowly replied: "Moritz can't go out for the time being, the throne can't take the initiative to ask for someone, I will let the customs people ask a doctor to come and treat Moritz."

He added with a smile: "Don't worry, it's Customs now to pray for the health of Major Moritz, and pray that he doesn't die in the Customs cell. If Moritz has something wrong, then the General Administration of Customs can see it. What does the Army's artillery look like?"

   Winters nodded heavily again, no matter whether there are people from the customs who are watching now, Antonio's threat is not a lie.

  The major power institutions of the Ocean Blue Republic are very independent.

   To be precise, it is not the major power departments under the government, but the major power departments that form the Hailan Republic government.

   Therefore, it is not uncommon for major power agencies to gather together to fight because of irreconcilable contradictions.

  Although no one party has used overheated weapons so far, but the army was forced to push up the cannon, and it was not unimaginable for the brothers to feel the "breath of grape bullets".

   As for the inter-provincial republic next door, the situation is even worse there. So much so that the Veneta philosopher Kang Tai once commented yin and yang: "The Army of the Provinces is not the army of the Republic of the Provinces, and the Republic of the Provinces is the country of the Army of the Provinces."

  As the first regime in this continent to overthrow the emperor and nobles after the ancient Muro Republic, the allied countries are crossing the river by feeling the stones for the construction of the political system in the post-imperial era. So far, no party has been able to answer the simple and troublesome question of "what if there is no emperor?"

   "By the way, and this." Antonio took out a small basket covered with a white cloth from under the table and pushed it in front of Winters with a smile: "Guess what?"

  Winters leaned over and sniffed hard, and said happily, "Actually, I smelled the fragrance when I entered the house, but I never had time to ask."

   He lifted the white cloth, and there was a neat layer of small pies inside, and there was a white cloth under the pie. Judging from the thickness, it was estimated that there were three layers in the basket.

   This kind of pie has a special shape and is rolled from the inside out into a chubby cylindrical shape. It is not so much a pie as a burrito.

The    noodles are made of high-quality white noodles, and the meat filling is beef filling seasoned with spices. It is necessary to thin the white dough, spread the beef filling evenly, roll it into a long strip, put it in the pot and steam it, and then cut it into small pieces.

   The ratio of white noodles and water, the strength of kneading noodles, the size of fermentation, and the seasoning of meat fillings, there is a little step, but the final product will taste a lot worse.

   This "dim sum" method comes from Winters' mother's family, and now it is the unique craft of Aunt Winters. Winters dares to pat his chest and say that the whole Veneta is one family, and there is no semicolon.

  Food is the deepest bond in one's hometown. A person's taste is deeply related to his upbringing experience.

Winters didn't care about hygiene either, and put a whole piece into his mouth. The salty, plump and juicy meat filling and the right fermented dough... The familiar taste made him finally feel like going home. , before he could taste enough, a piece of pie was finished.

"Yesterday I heard that your boat has arrived at the anchorage outside the port, and Kesha started preparing it for you in the kitchen early this morning." Antonio watched his nephew lovingly and feasting: "I never thought of such a thing. One thing... I heard that I'm coming to see you, and I'll bring it to you if you say anything. Hey, it's really become a prison visit."

   Winters ate a few, thought of Bud, Andre, and the others, and put the pie back in his hand.

   Seeing his nephew stop, Antonio was very puzzled: "What? Did you let it go?"

​​​​​

   "No, I want to keep it and take it back for my friends to taste." Winters carefully covered the white cloth back and tucked the corners of the cloth.

  Antonio carefully looked at his nephew's eyebrows, eyes, bridge of nose and jaw, hey hey smiled: "You are too mature now, I still remember when you were a child and your sister fought over pie..."

   Winters, whose dark history was uncovered, blushed, and quickly stopped his uncle from continuing to dig out more old accounts: "Don't say it, I was wrong at that time, and I deeply reflected on it."

  Antonio laughed, revisiting the dark history of children is obviously a great joy for the middle-aged crowd. But he suddenly stopped smiling and looked Winters in the eyes.

   Winters sensed the change in the atmosphere and listened.

  Antonio asked his nephew seriously and earnestly: "Do you want to get out of here now?"

   Hearing Antonio's words, Winters' first reaction was doubt. Then he understood that his uncle was not joking. If he wanted to go out, Antonio must have a way to get him out of this prison now.

   Winters asked himself: Do I want to leave that cell?

  The answer, of course, is that no matter how good the cell environment is, it is still a cell. It is low, damp, and crowded. The ground is full of potholes and mortar.

  There is no way to pass the time in the cell, only sitting in the cell, every second in it is as long as a century.

   However, if he wants to leave that cell, he is definitely not alone. During the same period, he was in prison, and he ran away alone. What did he say? If you want to leave, you must leave with everyone.

   figured this out, and Winters shook his head: "When everyone left, I went out too."

  Antonio stared into Winters' eyes and laughed suddenly: "Okay! [Enrique Montagne]'s son should have this kind of bearing!"

  Antonio slammed the bell on the table and leaned back on the chair.

   After a while, a middle-aged man in the uniform of a silk customs officer pushed the door and walked in. The customs bureaucrat, with a radiant smile on his face, stood beside Antonio, rubbing his hands together and asking in a low voice, "General Serbiati, are you finished talking with your nephew?"

  Antonio also smiled and said: "It's over. There is something I really need to ask your Excellency."

   "Good to say, good to say." The customs officer nodded hastily.

"This matter is really hard to talk about." The smile on Major General Antonio Servetia's face could melt ice now: "My wife is just such a precious nephew, and she spoils me. I heard that this child Enduring hardship in the customs prison, making trouble at home is really unbelievable..."

"Don't worry, the commander of the dignified Army Corps will personally protect you, then I will give you this face no matter what. I will explain to the director and the general director. You can take your nephew away now." The customs officer quickly followed suit. The rod climbs up.

"That's really good..." Major General Antonio suddenly changed his face and the conversation turned sharply: "But when I got here, I found that the environment of the customs prison is very helpful for young people to hone their minds, Warrant Officer Winters! "

"arrive!"

   "I ordered you to stand by in the customs prison! Without an order from the Ministry of War, even if the customs asks you to leave, you are not allowed to leave!"

"Yes!"

   The customs officer who thought he had solved the difficult problem for the big leader was now dumbfounded, but Major General Antonio did not let him go.

He grabbed the collar of the customs uniform, dragged the customs officer in front of him, and said fiercely: "Listen to me about what I want to ask of you! Go back and tell that old man Hurd, the army will 'rob' someone. Go back, but I will never take people back. If you don't give us an explanation for this matter, I will lead the troops to dismantle your General Administration of Customs!"

   In fact, I think the type of food that best reflects the impact of upbringing on personal dietary preferences is fermented foods. It's hard for adults to get used to unfamiliar fermented foods that they didn't eat as children, because many fermented foods are basically rotten flavors, such as the famous pickled puffins.

   Thank you "Social Justice Pharaoh" for the recommendation.

   I used to vote for myself every day, but I always felt that I was too ashamed to vote for myself. The recommendation vote should be the praise of the readers, not the self-promotion of the author, so I should ask the judges for votes. If there is a recommendation vote, please vote for me, bow and thank you.

   (end of this chapter)