Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

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"Are you going to kill us or release us!" Lieutenant Adam kicked the door fiercely, roaring at the guards with a furious bellow, "Make it quick! Why torture someone like this! Bastard!"

Regrettably, the soldiers outside were like the deaf, turning a blind eye to the raging lieutenant captive.

This only fueled Lieutenant Lofvensikes Adam's rage even more as he slammed the door violently, "Open the door! Open the door! Open the door!"

The ceiling quivered with his pounding, fine dust falling and dancing in the sunlight.

The soldiers outside remained silent, simply propping up the door with several pieces of wood.

"Enough!" Major Ronald from the cell next door scolded the lieutenant, "Save your energy! Don't hurt yourself."

At the words of the major, Adam stopped, panting heavily.

The captured officers were confined alone in a farmhouse outside of Revodan.

They were neither killed nor released; they were simply detained with two meals a day.

Initially, some believed that Winters intended to persuade them to defect, and they all agreed not to be traitors.

But the younger brother hadn't shown his face from the beginning to the end.

Then, some thought that Winters was using them to exchange for ransom, or as bargaining chips for negotiations.

But the guards outside never seemed to indicate this; to be precise, they simply didn't communicate with the prisoners at all.

Thus, the agitation and unease in the hearts of the captured officers grew with each passing day.

"Senior!" Adam approached Captain Apel, "Say something, will you? What's happening outside? When can General Adams send troops? What's actually wrong with you?"

The farmhouse was tiny, with only two rooms. One for Major Ronald, the other for the junior officers.

Among the officers, Captain Apel had been the major's second-in-command, so naturally, the other officers looked to him as their backbone.

But ever since the captain had been locked up, he hadn't said a single word.

He became like a soulless body that moved but showed no worry, anger, or anything but numbness.

Despite Adam's yelling and shouting, Apel didn't even glance at him, continuing to hug his knees and gaze out the window.

"Montagné that bastard, what exactly did he do to you to make you like this?" Adam was heartbroken and angry, rushing to the window and yelling at the guard, "Bring Winters Montagné here! What kind of sorcery has he used on senior Apel! [Racially discriminatory remarks against the Venetians]"

"Adam." Apel suddenly spoke up, "Come here."

Adam was startled at first, then subconsciously walked over to his senior.

Apel patted the floor, "Sit down."

Adam obediently sat down.

Then, Apel returned to his prior state, looking out the window without a word.

Adam sat for a while, then stood up angrily again.

"[In old language] I think I have an idea of what Winters is up to," said Lieutenant Istvan, arms crossed, leaning near the window, carefully observing the outside of the farmhouse, "[In old language] Quite interesting."

When the officers didn't want the guards to understand their conversation, they would switch to the old language.

"[In old language] You know what he's scheming?" Adam asked excitedly.

Istvan exhaled a single word, "[In old language] The Reclamation Decree."

"[In old language] What?"

"[In old language] The 'Reclamation Decree' from the Legion headquarters — it's for recruiting refugees to develop new land. Haven't you noticed, not a single refugee has been seen around here these past few days?"

"[In old language] Whatever Montagné is up to isn't important," Adam's mind was entirely on another matter, "[In old language] Senior Apel's mind has been damaged by witchcraft. You take the lead, let's figure out a way to escape!"

"[In old language] There's no escape. We don't even have horses, how can we flee?" Istvan chuckled lightly, "[In old language] But we can try."

…

Winters was not intentionally leaving the seniors hanging; he was simply too busy, so busy that he had forgotten about them.

Winters had deployed all his available Scouts toward Iron Peak County and the neighboring counties of Mont Blanc and Vernge, to monitor every move of the New Reclamation Legion.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Moritz, Lieutenant Juan, and Andre were leading cavalry patrols day and night, monitoring all the major and minor roads leading into and out of Iron Peak County, setting up nets to intercept scouts coming from Mont Blanc and Vernge Counties into Iron Peak County.

Winters had issued a [Blockade Order]: Without permission from the garrison, no one was allowed to leave Iron Peak County, nor allowed to enter.

He wanted to hide Iron Peak County as much as possible in the mist.

And all of Winters' energy was now focused on the refugee camp outside the city, where he even ate and slept.

Most of the time, Bard stayed in the city, handling all matters of Revodan.

As for Captain Richard Mason, ranked second in military status, Senior Mason disappeared all day, riding out of the city every morning and only returning at night, reportedly looking for a bell maker.

…

In the refugee camp, the atmosphere was somber.

A great number of fleeing peasants arrived in Revodan begging for aid, but Revodan didn't allow the refugees into the city, only serving congee outside the gates daily, even hastily constructing makeshift walls to block them off.

The displaced people outside set up their tents with a few sticks and barely settled in; they kept gathering, eventually forming a huge, dirty, and muddy camp.

This so-called camp had neither camp walls nor any "boundaries."

But now, it did.

After Moritz and Tang Juan stormed Revodan, their first move was to take control of the refugee camp.

When Bard arrived in Revodan, he even tightened the control over the refugee camp.

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