Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 459 Cumulonimbus Clouds

   Under the shade of a tree, Winters glanced at the note in his hand, and then looked at the preparatory student who brought the note.

   "The Mason Tribunal sent you to find me?" Winters asked in surprise, "Didn't say anything else?"

   "No." The preparatory student in front of him answered blankly.

"Okay, please wait for me for a while." Winters tucked the note into his wrist armor, and pointed to the clothes and bag under the tree: "There is water and food, if you are hungry, take it yourself. ."

   Then, he saw the preparatory student named "Hodel" walking stiffly under the tree, his legs straighter than the tree trunk.

   "Sit down." Winters couldn't help but smile: "It's okay."

   But the preparatory student still stood up straight. He was obviously at a loss as to whether to treat the tribune's words as a courtesy or as an order to obey.

   Winters was somewhat used to this. He cleared his throat and ordered in a deep voice, "Soldiers, stand at attention!"

  Prepare students to subconsciously bring their heels together and tighten their knees and shoulders.

   "Listen to the command - sit."

  The preparatory student pressed his **** to the ground with the fastest movement.

   Winters nodded, pulled down his shield, turned and walked towards the other swordsman who had been waiting, and the two picked up the conversation that had just been interrupted.

   "We continue." Winters held the wooden sword firmly in both hands.

   The swordsman in front of him also stood up, and a dull voice came from his helmet: "Have you heard the speech of Speaker Milehouse?"

   "Which speech are you referring to?" Winters nodded, motioning for the opponent to attack: "In Vine? Or after returning to the province?"

   "After returning to the United Provinces." Winters' opponent finished speaking and stabbed in one step without warning.

   However, the sudden attack had no effect on Winters. He raised his arm and knocked open the oncoming long sword, and pointed the tip of the sword at the opponent while the blades were intertwined. The whole process was smooth, light and natural.

   Winters even had the time to chat: "I heard it, but it's similar to gossip. I want to hear your version."

   His blade stopped a foot from the opponent's shoulder - the opponent stopped voluntarily, stepped back half a step, raised his hand, and then walked towards the starting position.

   Raise your hand to admit that you have lost points, which is the etiquette of the official game.

   However, there is neither a referee nor a scoreboard next to this small open space under the shade of a tree, and the only audience is a guy who has not yet figured out the situation.

  In the eyes of the bewildered spectators outside the stadium, the match between the tribunal and the sparring was like a cut-off.

   I can't blame the audience for their clumsy eyes.

   Winters and his opponent lacked the necessary protective gear, so their lives depended on their opponents rather than themselves—although they were using wooden swords, a sturdy blow would still pay off.

   Only on the premise of absolute trust in each other can both parties "play" like this. Since it is "playing", then naturally it seems that all points are reached and there is no winner or loser.

"You should have heard the content of Milehouse's speech at the Alliance Conference, and it is not too different from the declaration of war." Winters' opponent returned to the other end of the open space, moved his wrist, and clenched his long arms again. Jian: "When he returned to Guitu City, he immediately gave a public speech at the Martyrs' Square. The content was even more shocking than the speech at the Alliance Conference."

   After saying that, he attacked Winters with his sword.

  Winters still deflected the opponent's wide-open swipe: "Tell me about it."

   "Speaker Milehouse personally identified the 'April 1st Revolution' as a rebellion." The opponent took a step back, raised his hand, and took a breath: "Illegal armed rebellion."

   Winters frowned involuntarily. He lowered the tip of his sword and asked, "The Interprovincial Army didn't respond to this?"

"I don't know, at least when I left the castles of the kings, I hadn't heard of any big movement in Guitucheng." The opponent's laughter escaped from the helmet, and it is completely conceivable how gloating the expression under the mask was: "But That guy at Cornelis must have had a hard time, going from a 'hero' to a 'traitor' all of a sudden."

   Winters lowered his long sword and said thoughtfully: "Tell me about the speech of the new Speaker of the Union."

   "Clicho." The swordsman standing opposite Winters also put the wooden sword on his shoulders, and answered lightly and happily:

"First scold, how corrupt and incompetent the previous federal government was; then cry, how hard the people of the federal province live; then alarmist, scare people with civil strife in the Empire, Veneta and Palato; only at the end say To be honest, he admitted that the 'April 1st Revolution' was an armed rebellion, but he also made an excuse, saying that because 'the Lionel regime is too corrupt and incompetent', 'the army had to come forward to temporarily take over the country' ."

   "Temporarily?" Winters keenly captured the unusual.

"Yes, temporarily." The swordsman who had just talked witty became hesitant and hesitant, and he said slowly: "Speaker Milehouse publicly promised to reorganize the National Assembly, re-elect representatives at all levels, and within three years Gradually return state power from the military to the new National Assembly."

   "Three years?" Winters raised an eyebrow.

   "Yes, three years."

   "Counter-provincial army counterattack?"

   "There was no counterattack. On the contrary, several generals came forward to endorse the promise of Speaker Milehouse. There is also a ghost inside the Interprovincial Army, there are many factions, you bite me, I bite you."

   "Where's Minister Cornelius?"

"I'm no longer the Minister, and I haven't heard of any new appointments. After Speaker Milehouse disbanded the Provisional Military Council, Colonel Cornelis should have been sent home." The swordsman standing in front of Winters He shrugged: "Cornelis took advantage of the coup d'état to rise to prominence, and I don't know how many people are jealous. He is not a popular guy. I don't find it strange that Speaker Milehouse uses him to quell the public's anger."

   Winters thought for a moment and asked the swordsman who practiced: "Do you believe it?"

   "Believe in what?"

   "Meyerhouse's Promise."

"I..." fell silent to the swordsman, and after a while, he said distressedly: "I don't know either. But according to the current situation, if I am from the United Province, I can only hope in Meier. Speaker House returned the power of the state? After all, he made a public commitment."

   Winters listened and sighed: "Then let's wait and see."

"Speaker Milehouse still expressed his position in the communique." He added to the swordsman in a low voice: "The federal trusteeship government will make every effort to promote the peaceful settlement of the civil strife in Palatu. He also promised that the federal army will never be involved in Palatu. Tu civil strife - as long as Veneta doesn't interfere in Palato's affairs."

   Winters snorted softly, turned the blade around, and held the hilt with both hands again.

   The swordsmen who were training against Winters also hurriedly prepared.

   The two sides slowly approached each other, and the next second the sword tips collided, both of them moved.

   In the blink of an eye, Winters let the opponent who had rushed forward fiercely and patted the latter's shoulder with his left hand.

   stopped his steps towards the swordsman and raised his hand in frustration. He felt Winters' mood change, so he changed to a more relaxed topic: "There's another big case in the north, have you heard?"

   "What big case?" This Winters had never heard of.

   "Of course it's a major case of the Southern Army."

   "Didn't the false emperor disband the Southern General Army?"

   "It's because the Southern General Army has to be disbanded, so the big case is brought up." He asked the swordsman enthusiastically: "What do you think the false emperor is using to clean up?"

   Winters replied without hesitation: "Corruption?"

"Smuggling! The Southern General Army is up and down, and everyone has a share!" He laughed at the swordsman: "The Southern General Army, which was established to prevent us, turned out to be the largest smuggler in the empire, and the fake emperor lost his face. It's over!"

   Winters also smirked, but he was not as optimistic as he was about the swordsman: "The false emperor's determination to pull out the poisonous sore is not necessarily a good thing for us."

"What about him?" He didn't care about the swordsman: "Anyway, the imperial guy killed the imperial guy, no matter who dies, we earn. The fake emperor has already executed three earls, and according to the news from the north, this is just the beginning. . In a few years, the Southern General Army should not even think about rebuilding."

   Winters sighed: "That's even worse."

   "Yeah, I understand what you mean." His emotions towards the swordsman suddenly sank, he lowered his head and said gloomily:

"The pseudo-emperor doesn't even hide his strategy, he just wants to sit and watch the civil wars in the republics. The way to break it is also very simple, as long as we don't kill each other. I can think of it all, will the generals and parliamentarians not understand? But they...but me, what can I do? I'm just a little lieutenant..."

   The swordsman's voice became quieter as he spoke, and suddenly, he felt a palm resting on his shoulder. He raised his head and met the unreproachful calm gaze of the senior.

   "It's their fault, not yours." There was a reassuring power in Winters' peaceful voice: "Don't worry about it, we're all swept away by the river."

   "Yeah." He sniffed hard at the swordsman.

   Winters tapped the swordsman's shoulder armor affectionately, held the long sword upside down, and walked towards the roots of the tree where the clothes and water were placed.

"I don't know if you understand." A small voice to the swordsman sounded behind Winters: "In the Kings Castle, there are also many opponents of Grove Magnus... This time the fiasco in the new reclaimed land. , it will surely shake... no, it will disintegrate the rule of Grove Magnus..."

   Winters replied without turning his head, "I don't mind less bleeding, even if it takes longer."

   "Hmm!" There was excitement in the voice of the swordsman.

   "But don't be too optimistic." Winters turned around, his eyes deep like a pool, he said slowly: "Because you still don't understand what a gambler who loses all his chips will do next."

   Having said that, Winters squeezed the shoulders of the swordsman and walked towards the shade with his sword.

  …

  Under the shade of a tree, Monkey-Holder blankly watched Blood Wolf and his sparring team chat and compete.

  Because he couldn't understand who won and who lost, Holder didn't know whether to applaud or not.

   After a few more moves, the Blood Wolf suddenly stopped and said something to his sparring partner, and then walked straight towards Holder.

  Holder was even more confused for a while, until the blood wolf walked in front of him, he didn't come back to his senses, and a shudder jumped up.

  Holder saw the blood wolf and waved to him: "Sit, take it easy, it's alright."

   Immediately afterwards, the latter began to remove the protective gear on his shoulders and arms.

  Holder was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized that he should help.

   However, without waiting for Holder to step forward, someone had already stood behind the blood wolf, and skillfully helped the blood wolf to unfasten the belt buckles on his arms and shoulders—it was the swordsman who practiced with the blood wolf.

  Holder was embarrassed, looked left and right, and saw the kettle.

   However, someone moved faster than him, and before Holder could bend down, Blood Wolf's sparring had already dashed to the side of the kettle and gave the kettle to Blood Wolf.

   And the blood wolf naturally took the kettle and drank it.

  Holder was in a hurry and began to search his bowels to think of good words that could be used to praise his swordsmanship.

   In the end, it was Blood Wolf's sparring who spoke first, and the sound of "squad leader" made Houdel's skin get goosebumps.

"Squad leader!" Xuelang's sparring touted without hesitation: "Your swordsmanship is too strong now! The real thing tempered in actual combat is not the same as the arrogance! It seems that there are no moves, but every movement is not. A little bit of redundancy, timing is also very precise. I have already played at a high level, but I still can't win even a small point. It's really too strong."

   "How can you say that." The blood wolf also seemed to be useful, smiled, and said embarrassedly: "I haven't practiced for a long time, I have regressed a bit."

Holder on the side of    has already begun to curse in his heart.

   From the first glance at Blood Wolf's sparring, he knew that this guy was a "boots man", and his demeanor, bearing, and the faint "smell" that every "boots man" had betrayed him.

   But the monkey never imagined that "the one in boots" would be so flattering, so flattering, and so shameless.

   "I don't think Master is your opponent anymore." Blood Wolf's sparring looked sincere.

   "Ike? That's right." Xuelang thought of something, raised his chin and clicked on the bewildered Houdel next to him: "Here is the one who captured Axel alive."

   "Ah?!" Blood Wolf's sparring was amazed: "Ah?!"

  Holder has always been regarded as air by the other party, and now he finally regained his face. He felt the other person's gaze sweep from the top of his head to the soles of his feet, and from his shoulders to his fingertips.

  Holder didn't speak, he just tried to straighten his waist a little bit.

   The blood wolf's sparring frowned and carefully scrutinized the big-headed soldier in front of him. He immediately smiled and extended his hand to Holder generously: "I'm Kadar Lagre."

  Holder looked at the blood wolf inquiringly, and when he saw the blood wolf nodded lightly, he wiped the sweat from his palm and took the hand of "Kadar Lagre".

"Senior Axel is the best swordsman of the Army Academy, maybe even the best swordsman since the establishment of the school." Kadar said with a smile: "You captured Senior Axel alive, which means that you have achieved everything we have. Something no one has ever done."

   "The one in boots" was so polite, but it made Holder feel embarrassed.

   "I wasn't alone at the time." Holder said with a blushing face: "And I used a fishing net to sneak attack, which was disgraceful."

   Hearing "fishing nets", Kadar was startled at first, and then burst into a fierce laugh. I laughed so hard that I couldn't breathe.

"When you are fighting between life and death, there is nothing glorious and disgraceful." Kadar wiped away the tears from his laughter, shook hands with the soldier in front of him again, and said solemnly: "Only those who are standing and those who are lying down... This is me. I learned it not long ago."

  Holder scratched the back of his head.

   Winters couldn't help laughing, but it affected the wound, and the pain in his ribs started again. He propped up the trunk and sat slowly on the ground.

   Kadar noticed something strange, hurriedly stepped forward to support the squad leader, and asked with surprise and concern, "Are you injured?"

   "I'm careless." Winters explained lightly: "I haven't seen it for so long, I forgot about anti-magic tactics."

   "Anti-magic tactics?" Kadar's expression suddenly became tense: "Discovery, locking and destroying, what step have you reached?"

   "Destroy."

   "Destroy?!" Kadar's pupils dilated uncontrollably.

   "Destroy." Winters smiled: "But Sanel underestimated me and didn't use enough gunpowder."

  Holder on the side saw inexplicably: "The one in boots", who was still in high spirits just now, suddenly had red circles around his eyes.

   "Don't be so nauseous. From your expression, I thought you were attending a memorial service." Winters teased: "But I heard that it seems that a memorial service has already been held for me?"

   "Yes." Kadar wiped his eyes and said with a smile, "Senior Axel cried so badly!"

   "Really? He didn't tell me."

   "How miserable! Howling! We also used your old armor to repair your tomb. On the day of the 'burial', Mr. Christian from the Magic Department came."

   Winters thought: "How is Teacher Christian doing?"

   "Not good." Kadar replied solemnly: "The symptoms of mental illness are getting worse."

  Winters thought of Christian, thought of the Army Academy, and then thought of Guitucheng... His thoughts suddenly drifted to the horizon.

Winters, who had regained his senses, couldn't help but sighed: "I have written the report of the battle of Hegu Village, and it will be sent out tomorrow. Not only will it be sent to Tiefeng County, but also to other areas in the new land. The counties, and beyond the new fields, will also be seen. The list of officers killed and captured will also be issued as an appendix."

   Winters looked at Kadar: "I have ordered the news to be blocked, and the other captives know nothing about your situation. So, choose for yourself."

"Squad leader." Kadar lowered his head: "Since the United Province dares to let me go back to Palatu, they are sure that I dare not join the 'rebels' - just like those classmates who are inclined to Arpad, who are still under house arrest in Guyana Tucheng."

   Winters nodded without speaking, waiting for Kadar to make a decision.

   "If I join your army, my family will become hostages." Kadar whispered: "But if I become a 'captive', after being exchanged back, they will force me to fight with you."

   Winters nodded again.

   "So." Kadar pretended to be relaxed: "Please report me missing."

   "Disappearance and death are only one procedure." Winters asked softly: "Your family will be very sad."

   "If I let them know that I'm still alive, it will only be more dangerous to them." Kadar pretended to be indifferent: "I'm missing, I don't know if I live or die, and there is still a ray of hope."

Winters thought for a moment, then said softly: "Lieutenant Colonel Jesska has a teaching and research room in Gervoudan. Because of the lack of manpower, he has fired at me several times. How about you help him? There is no one in Gervodin. Know you, you are safe there."

   "Okay!" Kadar's eyes lit up.

"Then it's settled." Winters stood up with the trunk of the tree: "I will ask Samukin to send you to Revodan today. Although you live alone, the prison camp is crowded with people. The sooner you leave. , the safer it is.”

   Kadar was silent for a long time, then lowered his head deeply: "Thank you."

   Winters just touched Kadar on the shoulder and said nothing.

   On the side, he felt that he was a superfluous Holder, and was suddenly called by the blood wolf: "Okay, come with me."

   "Okay...Yes!" Hudel hurriedly stood up, he patted the dust off his clothes, and asked inexplicably, "But...where are we going?"

   Winters blew a sharp whistle, and after a while, an extremely handsome white horse came out of the woods unhurriedly.

  The horse is saddled, but not wearing a bit, and there are still young leaves in its mouth - Changfeng prefers the young shoots of broad-leaved shrubs to the rough grass.

   "Go to the stables," Winters said.

  Holder realized something was wrong. He widened his eyes and stammered, "Sir, what are you doing at the stable?"

   "Go and lead a horse."

   "Who will get it?"

   "Of course it's you." This time it was Winters' turn, so he took a note from his wristband: "Didn't Mason Tribunal ask me to teach you how to ride?"

   "This, this..." Holder was about to suffocate: "How could it be?"

"Don't be nervous." Winters smiled tolerantly and comforted the preparatory students: "The Mason Tribunal hates two things the most, the first thing is that he can't find me, and the other thing is seeing me idle. By arranging you, it's like solving the two things he hates the most."

  Holder really didn't know how to react, so he raised his hand and saluted with a sad face.

"Let's go, I'll pick you a tame mare, and you'll learn quickly." Winters patted the prep students on the shoulder, looked in the direction of the castles, and murmured, "Learn to ride as soon as possible. Well, you will soon use this ability."

  …

  …

[at the same time]

  [Outskirts of the Kings Castle]

  Under the scorching sun, two riders, one after the other, were racing towards the west.

  The rider behind looked back at the smoke behind him and shouted in horror, "Major Ronald! They're catching up!"

   Running ahead, Major Ronald heard the call for help from behind him, gritted his teeth, and turned back to the rider who was behind.

Major    forced to stop his companion, and could not help but change horses with him.

   "Don't look back." Major Ronald pushed the other rider into the saddle: "Just run forward."

  The rider who was put on the saddle gasped and asked desperately, "Where else can we go ahead?"

  Colonel Ronald was silent for a while, and answered decisively: "Go to Winters Montagne!"

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   (end of this chapter)