Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 32 An old friend comes

"General, the major has gone deaf."

Upon hearing Winters' words, Brigadier General Layton was shocked. His eyebrows rose, his pupils dilated slightly, and he asked repeatedly, "What happened? How did you become deaf?"

Who could possibly make Major Moritz, who is both a spellcaster and a master swordsman, deaf?
It is himself, of course.

The thunderclap on the dock still fills Winters' ears with a faint shriek. The deafening thunder was not Zeus venting his anger, nor Thor swinging his hammer, but the effect of the major's angry shout amplified by the Sound Burst spell.

Both Burst Sound and Amplify Sound belong to the category of sound spells. Simply put, Burst Sound is an Amplify Sound spell with increased power.

Amplification simply amplifies a person's voice several times, primarily used to convey commands; while sonic boomerang amplifies the sound with the power of thunder, capable of disrupting a person's balance. If amplification is like a small water pipe or a firearm, then sonic boomerang is like the legendary Urban catapult.

This incredibly powerful sonic boom repelled the black-robed assassin and saved Winters' life.

But it also caused Winters to still have tinnitus, and it even ruptured the major's own eardrum.

The Sound Burst spell is widely recognized as the most powerful sound-based spell, but also the least practical.

The Sound Burst spell is an indiscriminate attack; the closer one is to the sound source, the greater the spell's power.

Generally speaking, who is closest to the sound source? It's the spellcaster himself, of course.

Especially in a situation like a major who is both the caster and the sound source, no matter how powerful the sonic boom is, the one who will suffer the most severe damage is always the caster himself.

This is why the Burst of Sound spell is currently considered impractical.

On the dock pier, Winters realized that the major was a spellcaster. Seeing the blood flowing from the major's ears, he immediately realized that the major had used the Burst of Sound spell in his haste to save him without wearing any protective gear.

He explained the principle of the sonic boom technique and the major's eardrums being ruptured to the major general and his classmates as simply as possible, leaving everyone deeply moved.

“We can communicate with the major using paper and pen. The major can only hear, but he should have no problem speaking and reading.” Winters frowned and offered a solution. He was filled with guilt and remorse for the major, because the once dashing Major Moritz had ended up in this miserable state all because of saving him.

Everyone agreed it was a good idea and quickly fetched paper and pens.

Brigadier General Layton dictated, and Winters wrote it down, the quill pen scratching against the paper, as a line of text flowed from the tip: Major Moritz, Rost Layton is speaking to you. Please judge for yourself whether you have regained consciousness.

The major stared at the paper and nodded.

Another line of text: Do you still remember who we are?

The major nodded again.

The third line reads: What does the number 4 represent?

The major smiled helplessly, took the quill from Winters' hand, and wrote in a crooked hand: I just feel dizzy and tired, but I am mentally sound.

Winters took back the quill and continued transcribing Brigadier General Layton's words: Can you hear me now?

The major gently shook his head.

Winters continued transcribing: You may be deaf now.

The major's expression was as calm as a deep lake. He nodded slightly, as if his eyes were saying: I know everything, I understand everything.

Brigadier General Layton then asked: "Can you speak now?"
A helpless smile returned to Major Moritz's lips. He cleared his throat and answered loudly, three times his usual volume: "I can't hear! I can't control the volume of my voice! I can speak! But I don't want to speak right now!"

Brigadier General Layton asked a few more trivial questions, which Major Moritz answered one by one.

Seeing that Major Moritz had indeed regained his senses, Brigadier General Layton's furrowed brow relaxed slightly. Noticing the major was still quite fatigued, he asked if the major wished to leave the "room."

After receiving a rejection, Brigadier General Layton left the major in the care of the warrant officers and left the cell decisively, seemingly off to vent his frustrations on the customs officials.

Winters had intended for the exhausted major to rest, but the major stubbornly refused to lie down. He gestured to the warrant officers to help him to the wall so he could sit up against it.

A higher rank can be incredibly powerful, let alone a rank four ranks higher. Even for the sake of the major's health, Winters could only weakly offer his "written advice": You should take a good rest.

The major took the quill pen: I'm fine. I just need to know our current situation. I have some questions that need to be answered.

Winters then retrieved a quill pen: "Have you ever used the Sound Burst spell before? Can your hearing be restored?"

Seeing Winters' worried expression, the major smiled and wrote: "I'm not completely deaf. I can still hear the sound of teeth clattering, which proves that I only have a damaged eardrum. I've experienced this once before, and my hearing will recover after a period of rest. Don't worry."

Seeing that the major had personally confirmed that his hearing could be restored, Winters finally breathed a sigh of relief and felt more at ease.

The major's pen moved slightly as he inquired in detail about the events that occurred after the Skua docked.

Although Winters wanted the major to rest, he could only go along with it and answer each question with the most concise language possible.

The two people used pens as their mouths to begin a conversation, repeating a question-and-answer process.

As he gathered more and more intelligence, the major seemed to be in increasingly better spirits, and even drank another glass of red wine midway through his meal.

After learning what Winters and the other warrant officers knew, the major closed his eyes and tapped his fingers rhythmically on the paper. The warrant officers looked at each other, bewildered, as the major seemed lost in thought.

The major seemed to have fallen into a light sleep, and after a short while, he opened his eyes again.

This time, his eyes regained their former brilliance, and he quickly wrote a line on the paper: "So it seems we have suffered an undeserved calamity this time."

The major was right. Winters wrote: "Yes, the assassins' target was clearly those passengers; we were just dragged into it. Now that customs can't find the assassins, they won't let us leave, probably trying to make us take the blame."

A disdainful snort escaped from the major's nose. He shook his head dismissively and wrote: "Tell everyone to relax. This has nothing to do with us. Customs can't do anything to us. Has the military received any information?"
Winters nodded and wrote: One of the conditions for our “cooperation with the investigation” is that the War Department must be notified.

Major Moritz, though pale, seemed quite relaxed. He smiled and wrote: "Then customs should let us go by tomorrow at the latest. If the high-ranking military officials pay a little attention, we might be home tonight."

Major Moritz's confidence inspired the warrant officers, igniting a flame of hope in their hearts. Hope is the most precious thing; with hope, even being trapped in this prison would be unbearable.

The major's pen moved slightly: "Let everyone rest. Don't crowd around me. I'm fine. You can eat and drink as you please, and just wait to go home."

After receiving their orders, the warrant officers returned to their cells in twos and threes, each finding their own way to pass the time.

Winters was about to help the major lie back down on the straw bed to rest when he suddenly remembered something—a potentially important piece of information, a message he wasn't sure if he could share with his classmates.

He glanced around and saw that everyone else's attention was no longer there; even Bud and Andrei had returned to their luggage. He then picked up his quill, dipped it in ink, took out a new piece of paper, and quietly wrote to the major: "You're an army spellcaster, aren't you?"

Major Moritz, puzzled, nodded.

Winters continued: The assassin fired a shot at you, and if I'm not mistaken, you used a deflection technique to deflect the bullet, right?

The major nodded again.

Winters continued: Deflection is a very difficult spell, isn't it?

The major was perceptive; he seemed to have a slight premonition of what Winters wanted to say, and nodded with his lips pursed.

Winters looked around again, making sure only the major and he could see the paper in his hand. After much hesitation, he finally decided to write: There were also spellcasters among those four passengers.

The major frowned and slightly raised his chin, signaling Winters to continue writing.

Winters jotted down his words rapidly, his handwriting becoming scribbled: If I'm not mistaken, one of the guards among the four travelers also used a deflection spell on the dock. The musket fired at him at close range, but the bullet struck the ground.

The major's expression turned serious, his eyes fixed intently on Winters. Winters read the major's unspoken message in those eyes: Are you sure?

Winterstan nodded firmly. He had seen with his own eyes that the black-robed assassin's musket was clearly pointed at the guard, but the bullet inexplicably hit the stone slabs on the dock. His writing became resolute: I'm sure I saw it correctly, and there must have been others who saw it, but I dare not confirm it with them.

Major Moritz let out a heavy sigh. Winters' expression and attitude had clearly convinced him; he believed Winters wasn't lying. The major gritted his teeth, deftly tore the last two paragraphs of Winters' words from the paper, tore them into small pieces, and swallowed them with his wine glass. Winters stared dumbfounded at the major's "destruction of evidence," momentarily stunned.

Major Moritz put down his wine glass and quickly scribbled the following on a piece of paper: "Don't tell anyone, don't let the customs officers know. We'll discuss this after we leave here."

The major paused for a moment, then added: "Secret discussion."

Winters nodded in understanding. In the Senas Alliance, mages are exclusively a class of soldiers, and the spellcaster training system is basically a patent of the army. If customs found out that one side of the conflict at the dock had a spellcaster, customs would definitely not let it go.

The major smiled and wrote another sentence: Just in case, you can eat the rest of the paper too.

————This is the dividing line for destroying evidence————

Bud looked on in surprise as Winters walked back from the major's side and began to gulp down the major's wine. He stared at Winters and asked, "Don't you not drink?"

Lieutenant Montagne let out a long burp and replied angrily, "I choked."

"What does choking have to do with drinking?" Bud was confused.

"Take a dip."

"Can't I just drink water?"

"Drinking this wine makes me feel great."

"Are you drunk?" These inexplicable answers left Bud speechless. He looked up at the other end of the cell and asked, "How is Major Moritz?"

"Hmph, she's fine," Winters said with a hint of irritation. "She's asleep again."

Bud was even more confused: "What's wrong with you? You seem to suddenly have a big problem with the major."

Beside Bader, Andrei, his face hidden by his hat, was fast asleep.

"I'm so full." Winters pushed Bard and Andre to the sides, then lay down on the ground with a flourish: "Move your butts a bit, give me some room too, I want to sleep for a while."

With the feeling of fullness from the plant fiber and the slight intoxication from the alcohol, Winters quickly drifted into a state between sleep and wakefulness. He could still perceive the sounds of the outside world, but his consciousness was almost in a state of chaos. In a little while, he would fall into a deep sleep.

At that crucial moment, he heard someone shouting, "Who is Winters Montagne? Who is Mr. Winters Montagne?"

Hearing someone call his name, Winters woke up with a start. He sat up straight, patted his head, and spent a few seconds trying to regain his senses.

Once his brain started working again, Winters, still grumpy from being woken up, replied in a very unfriendly tone, "I'm Montagne, what's up?"

"Please come out for a moment." The cell door creaked open, and the cell boss said politely, "Someone wants to see you alone."

Upon hearing this, Winters' heart skipped a beat, then suddenly raced.

His mind raced, one idea after another flashing through his head: "They want to interrogate me alone? Did the customs officers see what I just wrote? Did someone tip me off? Is customs this weird? Should I wake the major up first?"

Winters' mind raced with wild thoughts, but he maintained a calm facade, like someone who had just woken up, and asked lazily, "Who wants to see me? What's the matter?"

The cell boss didn't answer, but simply repeated politely, "Please come out for a moment, someone wants to see you alone."

Winters thought grimly, "Looks like I can't avoid this today. How did customs know what I wrote? That's really weird!"

Fortunately, the major had foresight, and all the evidence had been destroyed. Winters was determined that either customs would cut open his and the major's stomachs, or he would remain tight-lipped and admit nothing.

Having made up his mind, Winters calmly stood up and tidied his appearance.

Bud frowned and questioned the cell boss, "What, are you going to use torture again?"

"He dares?" Andrei shouted and jumped up from the ground. It turned out that this guy hadn't fallen asleep at all.

The cell boss didn't say a word more than necessary, but simply raised his arm and gestured for them to proceed.

Winters patted Bud and Andre on the shoulder to reassure them, loosened his collar, and walked out of the cell with a cold smile under the watchful eyes of his fellow prisoners.

The cell boss walked ahead silently, leading the way. Each cell had two layers of doors. Winters followed the boss through the two doors into a long corridor, with a cell door spaced at intervals on the walls on both sides of the corridor.

The Customs Service's prison was a single-story, detached building, and the large cell where the warrant officers were held was just one of the rooms used to detain minor offenders. The environment was top-notch, so it was made available for these army officers to stay temporarily.

Customs has many more worse cells than this, and they are all full of people.

Customs is an important source of revenue for the Republic and possesses independent anti-smuggling enforcement powers granted by the Senate.

Because cross-border smuggling is essentially undermining customs, customs authorities exert tremendous effort in combating smuggling. So much so that the Anti-Smuggling Division has even allocated land to build a prison specifically to detain smugglers they have apprehended.

Tax collectors' hatred for smugglers is just as deep-seated as merchants' hatred for tax collectors.

Winters followed the cell boss through cell door after cell door, out through a small door at the end of the corridor, and was led deeper into the prison.

Until the prison warden stopped in front of a small door and made a gesture inviting them into the trap.

Winters felt a little scared, but his expression remained calm. He secretly swallowed and pushed open the wooden door with a disdainful look.

The room contained none of the torture instruments he had imagined; there was only a square table in the center, with four chairs.

A middle-aged man sat behind the square table, fiddling with a small knife.

This person is tall and thin, with a large frame and big eyes. His dragon eyes are bright and expressive, and all his features are those of a noble person.

Winters knew this person, and not only did Winters know this person, but this person also knew Winters, even when Winters was still a baby.

Winters' eyes widened and his mouth gaped open. He was about to utter "Uncle" when he swallowed it back down.

But he still couldn't suppress his surprise and called out another familiar name:

"Lieutenant Colonel?!"

……

Excerpt from Winters' Spellbook: Haste Spells

Spell Name: Wright's Deflection
Description: An advanced version of the Arrow Spell, which uses magic to accelerate bullets, arrows, and other objects in the normal direction, causing them to deviate from their original trajectory.

Difficulty: A (Extremely difficult). It requires extremely high explosive power, accuracy, and casting range to accurately cast spells on high-speed moving objects in an instant.

Note: Once you master this technique, it will be difficult for bullets to penetrate (but it probably won't protect you from being attacked from behind).

……

Excerpt from Winters' Spellbook: Sound Spells

Spell Name: Yi De's Explosive Sound Technique

Description: A more powerful amplification technique that can frighten enemies, shatter their eardrums, and disrupt their balance.

Difficulty: B (Hard) Requires the caster to have extremely strong spell burst power, otherwise it is just a loud shout. The spell power increases with the increase of spell burst power.

Note: This spell is really full of flaws. If the technical problem of "damaging the enemy by 800 while losing 2,000 of your own" cannot be solved, then this spell will never be able to be truly put into actual combat.

P.S.: Each spellcaster has their own spellbook, used to record the spells they've learned and the spells they've created, as well as some practical experience and insights.

(End of this chapter)