Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Andre and Mason also noticed the change in Bard's emotions.

"Don't get so worked up," Andre tried to put his arm around Bard's shoulder.

But Bard shook off Andre, staring at Winters, and asked word by word, "So I want to know, what exactly do you want to do by staying here?"

Winters looked at the quietly flowing river and asked in return, "Bard, what happened to the Menai Shoe Society in the story you just told? Did their rebellion succeed?"

"No," Bard responded expressionlessly, "A member went to confess to a priest and leaked the secrets of the Shoe Society. The scale of the Menai Shoe Society spooked all the nobles from the foothill lands. They sent out troops together, capturing and killing. A few leaders of the Shoe Society got away, but those who didn't were executed publicly, and their bodies hung on the castles for all the peasants to see."

The river still flowed quietly.

"How do you know about events from thirty or forty years ago?" Andre said, somewhat unconvinced.

"These incidents, each and every one of them, are recorded in the annals of Green Heart Monastery," Bard said with red-rimmed eyes, staring at Andre, "These incidents, each and every one of them, have been passed on by the mouths of impoverished peasants."

Andre could only offer a wry smile, "Have the peasants ever... succeeded in their rebellions?"

"Yes! The Sovereign War! After the Menai Shoe Society massacre, came the Sovereign War! Peasants bled in the Sovereign War, a lot of blood was shed. But they never tasted the fruits of the war."

Andre pressed on, "Before the Sovereign War, was there ever a success?"

This time, it was Bard who fell silent.

Winters picked up a small stone and threw it onto the surface of the water.

The stone caused a string of ripples before sinking, and then the water returned to calm.

After a long silence, Winters finally spoke, "The people of Palatu have wronged me."

"That's an understatement," Andre's temper flared at the reminder, "When did those sheep-fuckers ever do right by any of us?"

"So when I first got back to Palatu, I actually didn't think too deeply," Winters shifted to a more comfortable position.

He looked at the river and said, "I only wanted revenge. I wouldn't let off any of those who abandoned me and my men on the west bank of The Styx. I wanted them to die painfully, to live a fate worse than death. Those who treated me well, I would also repay them," Winters sighed, "That was my thinking."

"Is that all?" Bard seemed unsurprised, his gaze steady, but with a hint of... regret and disappointment.

"At the beginning, I wanted to go home, dreamt of it. But then on a whim, I stayed. Don't laugh, it was just a rash impulse. I felt like I could do something, couldn't just walk away," Winters said softly, yet everyone could clearly hear, "Apart from seeking revenge and repaying debts, I developed other thoughts."

Bard, Andre, and Mason waited for Winters to continue.

But Winters suddenly changed the topic, laughing and asking his companions, "What do you think about Wolf Town? Is it good or not?"

"Good or not in what sense?" Andre furrowed his brows.

"Good? Or not good?"

Andre said loudly, "Good! Haven't you been managing it well?"

"Good my fucking ass!" Winters slammed his fist on the ground, "The Newly Reclaimed Land at Wolfton, a total of one thousand two hundred sixty-six households. Sixty-five percent of the farmland belonged to sixteen manors. Most families were landless tenant farmers and laborers. The rich had fields stretching as far as the eye could see, while the poor had no place to call their own. The peasants' taxation was exorbitantly high; self-sustaining farmers could never save enough money to buy new land, and their sons had to become laborers."

His expression turned ferocious, he pressed aggressively, "Good? Tell me where is it good? Where? Tell me!"

Andre was taken aback and speechless, even Mason subconsciously swallowed, but only Bard remained calm.

"She's not good, she's very bad, but at least she's full of life!" Winters's voice grew acidic, "At least there's something to eat, a place to live, at least people can survive. They respect me here, depend on me. I like it here, I like the wilderness, I like the fields, I like the sweat of labor. I'd be willing to grow old here, build a little house, live out my life."

In the middle of the river, currents swirled and a flock of crows circled.

"But now what? She's dead!" Winters shouted, exploding with rage and resentment, "Thirty years! It took thirty whole years to turn a wilderness into a bustling little town. Three months! The bigwigs only needed three months to turn it into what it is now. People nail their doors and windows shut, dragging their families to flee. Those farmers remaining will have their harvests taken away by the grain requisition squads."

"The bigwigs crush Wolf Town to pieces with a mere flick of their fingertips. And they, they don't care at all! Not one bit! Not! One! Bit! If they cared, understood, felt the pain of the people of Wolf Town, they would never have done this!"

Andre and Mason's expressions grew heavy, while Bard pressed his lips tightly together.

Winters suddenly stood up, directed his fury towards the river surface, furiously venting the anger and unwillingness in his heart, "Fuck your mothers! Fuck your mothers! Fuck you, you bunch of bastards!!!"

He unconsciously entered a spellcasting state, his roar thundering like rushing thunder, scattering the beasts in the forest and causing the crows to flee in panic toward the distance.

"It's not Paratu that's wronged me, but those big shots! They have wronged not just me! They've wronged many, many people! Those who decide the fate of Paratu, who control the flow of the rivers, don't deserve to sit in that position!"

Winters gasped violently, his eyes shining as he looked at his companion, "Now, I can only curse at the river like a useless fool. But sooner or later, one day, sooner or later, I will pull those people down! Smash them! Stomp them into the mud!"

"This is what I think! This is what I want!" Winters had never spoken these words to anyone because it was tantamount to a declaration of war against a nation.

But at this moment, Winters Montagne opened up his chest, showing it off without reservation to others: "I stay here to do this very thing! Fuck the Republic of Paratu! I'm going to smash it to pieces and build a new one!"

"To hell with it! Fuck the Republic of Paratu!" Andre bellowed, leaping to his feet as well.

His eyes red, he grabbed Winters' shoulders, "Do you remember what I told you on the ship back from The Federated Provinces to Sea Blue, that there are tall shoulders to bear the sky when it falls?"

His fingers dug deep into Winters' skin, "I was wrong! Terribly wrong! It's not tall people bearing it; it's tall people using us to bear it! Let's no longer be tools. If anything, we should be the ones using others to bear it!"

"Fucking donkey-rutting sheep herders won't let us go home! Fine! They ask us to leave, we won't leave! We'll go smash! Even if we shatter into dust, we will shake the earth and the heavens! We'll smash until it's cataclysmic!"

Andre pulled out his Sword Grand Cross medal and with a great laugh, threw it into the river.

That medal he had once longed for traced an arc through the air and with a plunk, sank into the water, disappearing in an instant.

Bard stared intently at Winters, and asked word by word, "Have you ever considered, if one day you sit in that position, will you become the person you loathe, hate, and desperately want to smash right now?"

"Don't know." Winters laughed loudly, "Who knows?"

"Don't worry, it's okay." Bard grabbed Winters and Andre's shoulders, "I'd rather it be you who sits there."

The river still flowed quietly.

The three clasped each other's arms tightly, and from this moment on, they were not only classmates, friends, brothers, but they also began to share the same ideal.

"We need Revodan." Winters said softly.

"Hell yeah." Andre laughed wildly, "Let's go take it."

"No." Bard shook his head, "What we need is the whole Iron Peak County."

"No, you're both wrong." Richard Mason was the last to join in, his voice trembling slightly:

"Without control of Blackwater Town and Wugou Town, we can't cover Wolf Town; Without Revodan, we can't control the three towns; And without occupying Maplestone City, we can't hold Revodan."

Winters, Bard, and Andre all looked at their senior.

Mason's voice grew firm, "What we need is the entire Newly Reclaimed Land."

...

The crow tells me,

Two young Venetians and two young United Provincials,

On the frontier's frontier of Paratu,

Have sworn to utterly overturn this country,

That's what happened today;

The elk tells me,

They don't know how they will do it,

They don't know how many difficulties they will face,

But they swear they will do it,

That's what happened today.