Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 496 Rebuilding the Nation (Part Twelve)

[The Montagne Family Living Room]
Just as little Priskin uttered the name that didn't surprise Winters, Anna entered the room carrying a glass and a drink.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the flyer Winters had placed on the small table. The sensational headline immediately caught her attention, making her take a second look.

"What is this?" Anna asked Winters curiously as she poured drinks for the guests.

Overwhelmed with gratitude at being personally entertained by the "Wolf Queen," young Priskin quickly picked up the porcelain plate with both hands.

“This?” Winters reached out and placed the flyer in front of Anna, then glanced meaningfully at little Priskin and said sarcastically, “It’s Mr. Kai Morland’s ‘masterpiece’.”

Little Priskin stared awkwardly at the scum in the dish, not daring to lift his head.

Anna subtly slapped Winters' hand—the well-mannered Mrs. Navarre had never liked Winters speaking in such a sarcastic tone, especially in front of outsiders.

Next, Anna poured Winters a drink as well, then turned her gaze back to the flyer. Instead of picking it up, she sat upright and read it quickly.

"So it's about Mr. Kai's escape from Kingsburg?" Anna smiled and commented, "Very interesting."

"What's interesting about it?" Winters reclined in his armchair, comfortably propping his boots up on the small table, and lazily commented:

"Escape from the jaws of death is thrilling and full of twists and turns. It has both good and bad characters, including treacherous villains and heroes who step forward. Most importantly, it has a happy ending. What a great subject matter! But he wrote it like plain water."

Especially this title, with so-and-so, so-and-so and so-and-so, who can understand it?! Is he still very proud of himself?
"Well, that makes sense. How much can he write on a half-sheet of paper... um!"

Just as they were getting into the conversation, Winters was suddenly struck hard on the shin, the pain making him jump up from the recliner instantly.

Anna loosened her fist, carefully smoothed out the wrinkles in Winters' tablecloth, smiled, and softly reminded him, "Don't be so harsh."

Winters dared not be presumptuous any longer. He sat up straight, reorganized his words, and said to little Priskin, "What Kai Morland wrote is fine for the gentlemen of Maplestone and Artemis. But if we want more people to know what happened in Kingsburg, he wrote it too formally."

Faced with Blood Wolf's sudden serious comment, little Priskin was somewhat at a loss: "Uh, this..."

“However, Kai Morland sent you to me with this paper, so he probably didn’t want to have a literary discussion with me.” Winters crossed his arms and asked with interest, “So, what does he want?”

Encouraged by Madame Montagne's gaze, young Priskin cautiously replied, "Mr. Kai wants to borrow the printing press at the town hall. He says he wants to print thousands of copies of this leaflet and distribute them throughout Palatine, so that everyone knows about the crimes of the puppet government of the Kingsburg. He also hopes to publish an article in your newsletter to expose the true face of Grove Magnus to the people of the newly reclaimed lands."

Young Priskin tentatively asked, "I wonder if you..."

Winters remained noncommittal, instead focusing on little Priskin and asking with a smile, "It seems 'Mr. Kai' must be quite popular. Since when did you become his mouthpiece?"

“Absolutely not! I… I was there to keep an eye on Kai Morland for you! That guy has been getting close to the city's bigwigs lately, I don't know what he's up to, he's definitely up to no good.”

Young Priskin jumped up from his chair in shock, immediately ready to sever ties with Kai Morland: "I'll go and refuse him right now!"

“No rush.” Winters gently raised his hand, stopping young Priskin from heading towards the door. He stroked his chin. “The printing press is fine; just have Tribunal Mason schedule a few more shifts. Publishing articles in the *Communiqué* is fine too; although his writing isn’t great, it can always be polished. But…”

Winters stretched out his finger and rubbed it on the flyer; the fresh ink immediately left a black mark on his fingertip.

“He’s already printed it.” Winters scrutinized little Priskin and asked coldly, “Why does he need to borrow my printing press?”

Blood Wolf didn't get angry, and Little Priskin knew that Blood Wolf wasn't angry, but when Little Priskin faced Blood Wolf's gaze, which seemed to be able to peel away his skin, he still trembled uncontrollably.

Young Priskin explained hastily, “Kay Morland uses a small printing press from Gevadani Yuzhov’s workshop. He says the machine is too small and prints too slowly. He guarantees that this leaflet won’t appear anywhere outside the workshop without your permission—except, except in your house! This one I brought is the only leaflet I took from the workshop, just this one…”

“Don’t be nervous, Mr. Priskin.” Anna picked up the glass pitcher and poured a glass of cold water for little Priskin, gently reassuring him, “He’s just questioning you as if you were Kai Morland.”

Then Anna looked at Winters, her tone slightly reproachful: "Mr. Priskin isn't Mr. Kai, so how would he know what Mr. Kai is thinking?"

Winters shrugged, no longer staring intently at little Priest, and reluctantly forced a smile at him.

Little Priskin quickly stood up, then sat back down at Blood Wolf's prompting. He nodded gratefully to "Madam," took a small sip of cold water, and his unease and tension eased somewhat.

Anna's gaze fell on the flyers on the small table, and she softly reminded Winters, "Sometimes, the people who ask you for help don't necessarily need your help; they just want to curry favor with you."

“He asked to borrow my printing press.” Winters countered, “Is he trying to curry favor with me?”

Anna didn't answer, but simply looked patiently at Winters with her beautiful eyes.

With a tacit understanding, Winters quickly grasped the key points.

He pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "Then let him borrow it—friendship is always delightful."

"That's not enough," Anna reminded her again.

“You mean,” Winters asked, “that I should also ask Kai Morland for a favor so that I can get the right message to him?”

Anna blinked.

Winters smiled unconsciously, as if he had received the most beautiful compliment, but he was also a little troubled: "But, is there anything I need from Kai Morland?"

It's unclear when it started, but little Priskin could no longer keep up with the conversation between the "Blood Wolf" and the "Wolf Queen".

But when young Priskin heard the Blood Wolf talking to himself, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and replied, "Why don't you ask Kai Morland to find you a 'teacher'?"

"Hmm?" Winters looked at little Priskin and frowned subconsciously.

However, soon after Anna reminded him, Winters coughed lightly and forced his brow to smooth out again.

"What did you say?" Winters asked again, this time with an unusually kind expression.

"The upper-class families in Maplestone City all employ tutors to teach their children to read and write. Since Kai Morland is so close to the major families, the prominent figures in Maplestone City will certainly not refuse if he makes the request. In this way, we can easily gather all the primary school teachers in Maplestone City..."

Young Priskin tried his best to remain composed as he explained, but the more he tried to appear calm, the more pitiful he looked: "I heard that the school you're going to open doesn't have enough literate teachers. They've offered high salaries, but no one has applied. It's causing Tribunal Mason a great deal of worry. So…"

Winters listened to young Priskin's advice and fell into deep thought.

……

The average score in the "army-wide test" was worse than the worst expectations.

The academic test scores of the unofficial officers—especially the reserve officers of the Iron Peak County troops—were simply appalling.

The exam consists of six papers covering mathematics and geometry, general knowledge, current events, politics, geography, and grammar, with a total of 120 questions.

Reserve officers who can answer three questions correctly on each test paper are extremely rare.

The current affairs, politics, and grammar sections were the most brutal, with the vast majority of reserve officers failing to score even a single point on these three papers.

Not to mention, a considerable number of the exam papers of non-official officers were marked with a conspicuous "inability to read and write" assessment.

The only thing that pleased Winters was the outstanding performance of the regimental, battalion, and senior company-level officers in the Iron Peak County Army.

These soldiers, who had followed Winters before the first army was established, literally delivered a "satisfactory answer."

At the camp outside Wolf Town, the knowledge that Winters had painstakingly imparted to them was ultimately not in vain.

Of course, much of this is thanks to the "one more" offer.

As for the "commissioned officers" of Baishan County, Leiqun County, and Bianjiang County, although their educational level was relatively higher—still not comparable to regular officers—their military skills were generally inadequate. Theoretically, commissioned officers came from two sources:
One type comes from within the military, namely the promotion of senior non-commissioned officers and meritorious soldiers;

Another category comes from outside the military, allowing eligible individuals to purchase military ranks.

Although almost all the commissioned officers in Baishan County, Leiqun County, and Bianjiang County came from the latter group, in fact, these wealthy young men who "bought their way into the family" were of fairly good quality.

They are generally literate, physically strong, and well-nourished.

The problem is that they only "paid money to get a place in the military" and never thought that they would actually set foot on the battlefield one day.

Therefore, they lack the will and determination to fight even more than their fighting skills.

Some people even deliberately answered the test incorrectly in hopes of being kicked out of the army and regaining civilian status.

In short, you won't know until you take the test, and once you do, you'll be surprised by what you find.

Within the coalition forces, the situation among the informal and reserve officer corps was so dire that it raised serious doubts about their ability to truly support an army in the future.

The "enrollment plan" formulated in advance at the preparatory meeting also had to be adjusted according to the actual situation.

As originally planned, the Second Army Academy would provide short-term, intensive military and cultural training to unofficial officers who had already obtained official positions, such as Tamas and Bart Sharing, based on their exam results.

After all, these officers all have official duties and cannot and are not allowed to be away from their posts for extended periods of time.

After the short-term training is completed, they will be granted the appropriate "acting" military rank.

As for when I can be officially hired?

That depends on when some unnamed captain gets promoted.

Those reserve officers and commissioned officers who did not obtain formal positions would become the first and second graduating classes of the Second Army Academy.

According to the original plan, the Second Army Academy would select the first cohort of cadets from among reserve officers and commissioned officers based on their exam results.

Those who are not admitted will undergo basic training courses. After the courses are completed, another exam will be held.

Those who pass the second exam will be admitted as the second cohort of students.

This plan was finally approved by all parties after several twists and turns, but reality still slapped the "preparatory meeting" hard in the face.

If the original plan is strictly followed, the Second Army Academy will inevitably face the predicament of having "no students to teach".

Ultimately, it was Captain Richard Mason who made the decision—to recruit them all, teaching them both tactics and culture.

What should be done with unqualified trainees?
Captain Mason also offered a solution—to move the selection process from the initial entrance exam to the final graduation exam.

Those who fail will have their graduation delayed.

Faced with this "groundbreaking" initiative that completely overturned the teaching traditions of the Allied Army, the other officers at the preparatory meeting felt something was amiss, but they couldn't come up with a better solution.

Thus, the "Mason Plan" was adopted.

The next question is where to find enough "reading and writing teachers" to meet the most basic cultural needs of illiterate students.

However, Mason's plan stepped into a trap right from the start.

It was said that Captain Mason was looking for someone to teach cadets to read, and the regular officers avoided him whenever they saw him.

Mason's clerks couldn't avoid it, so they made excuses and threatened suicide. No matter how much Mason pleaded, no one was willing to teach a bunch of uneducated men to read.

The open recruitment attracted many onlookers but few applicants.

In just a few days, Captain Richard Mason aged several years.

He wandered alone through the Maplestone City Hall, searching for any unfortunate soul willing to become a literacy teacher, much like some lonely ghosts in the city's folklore, wandering the world because of unresolved inner conflicts.

……

“Yes.” Winters nodded seriously. “We should indeed share Mason’s burden.”

Anna asked with some concern and confusion, "Live-in tutors usually teach young children. Can they really help Mr. Mason in any way?"

“It’s alright,” Winters replied with a smile. “A teacher who teaches children is definitely not good enough to teach others, but he’s just right to teach those guys.”

Anna couldn't help but smile.

“Then only one question remains.” Winters looked at little Priskin: “Does Kai Morland have enough influence to make the ‘upper-class’ families of Maplestone obediently hand over their men?”

"Don't worry!" Little Priskin jumped up and down, assuring everyone, "Kay Morland is being choked by Colonel Gaisa right now. Even if you wanted the moon, he'd build a ladder and pluck it down for you!"

“Then I’ll wait and see,” Winters paused, then said meaningfully, “to see if Kai Morland is good enough to sit at the table.”

……

……

No one knows what tricks Kai Morland used, but on the very night that little Priskin brought back "two good news" to the former, Mason excitedly ran to Winters' house.

"The teacher's matter," Mason said cheerfully, "is resolved!"

Winters laughed too, his words carrying a double meaning: "That would be wonderful."

The following day, Winters sent Charles to visit Kai Morland to express his gratitude.

A day later, Kai Morland, now certain he had received the "right signal," sent a message requesting to visit the Montagne tribune in person to express his gratitude for the printing press.

Winters readily agreed.

That evening, escorted by White Mountain County military police, Kai Morland appeared at Winters' doorstep.

After a solemn salute, the White Mountain County military police "handed" Kai Morland over to Winters.

However, the White Mountain County military police did not leave. Instead, they stood guard outside the compound, waiting to take Kai Morland away again.

The front door of the Winters residence slowly closed, shutting out the heat, noise, and White Mountain County military police.

As soon as the last gap between the wooden door and the frame disappeared, Kai Morland, who had just been maintaining his composure in front of the military police, couldn't even wait for pleasantries and grabbed Winters' hand.

Kai Morland had no idea that he had just narrowly escaped death from a skull splitting procedure.

His eyes were red, his pupils were dilated, and his nostrils flared violently with each breath. He gripped Winters' arm like a prisoner holding a file or a drowning man clutching a handful of straw.

“Lord Montagne,” Kai Morland stared intently at Winters, “please save the Kingdom of Galloping Horses.”

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