Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 7 Mass-produced Magic Combat Tools

After laughing, Winters still kindly reminded Ike: "The descriptions of magicians in ancient books are definitely exaggerated, but since court magicians can serve as the emperor's personal henchmen, they must have real skills."

Perhaps they are the true magicians, and the spellcasters are merely mass-produced tools of magical warfare.

“Magic will definitely be of great use on the battlefield.” Although Ike had never been on the battlefield, he was clearly a staunch supporter of the army’s policies: “The court mages are [the Mad Emperor] Richard’s most trusted executioners.”

"You can't find a spellcaster as powerful as the court mage in the entire alliance. On the battlefield, spellcasting is like a megaphone."

Ike didn't understand Winters' meaning.

“This isn’t my opinion, it’s what General Taylor said.” Winters mimicked General Taylor’s hoarse voice: “Amplification is great! It’s excellent for commanding in battle! Snare drums are almost obsolete. Practice amplification properly, and stop with all that useless nonsense.”

“Listen to what the army’s top leader has to say about spellcasters—useless magic.” Winters had a ridiculous idea: “If there were portable fire, fire magic would be obsolete. If someone invented a megaphone, spellcasters might all be out of a job.”

“You’re all the eyes and ears of the Army!” Ike asked Winters resolutely, “Do you know about [the personnel changes of the past eight years]?”

"What do you mean?"

"For military personnel to be promoted, the first requirement is years of service – accumulating years of military service. What is the next requirement?"
"Secondly, we need to identify vacancies—there need to be available positions."

"Many senior students, even if they accumulate enough years of military service, will not be promoted; the higher they go, the harder it becomes. But spellcasters will definitely be promoted as long as they have enough years of military service. Eight years after graduation, they will definitely be promoted to major; two eight-year periods after graduation, they will definitely be promoted to colonel. That's the idea."

“This is unfair.” Despite being a beneficiary, Winters still believed: “This is misrule.”

He had never heard of "eight-year major," and even if he had, he wouldn't have paid much attention to it.

He had no interest in this area since childhood, nor was he keen on "becoming a high-ranking official," and he didn't even particularly like attending military academy.

He also immerses himself in the world of gears, springs, and drive shafts: tinkering with small machines, making miniature models with wooden sticks, and reconstructing objects based on ancient books...

Winters became a soldier because he couldn't take any other path.

Born into a military family, following in his parents' footsteps was as natural as breathing.

Even he couldn't imagine what [Winters as a carpenter and blacksmith] would be like.

"Alright, let's not talk about that." Seeing that he was about to give the generals another critique, Ike quickly ended the conversation: "Why aren't fire magic strong? Why aren't you good at controlling flames?"

Winters sighed: "Fire magic doesn't control flames, but rather uses magic to replace flames to achieve the effect. Without fuel, there is no fire. Things like stones, even if you summon a court mage, they won't burn."

Therefore, fire magic relies heavily on alchemical materials, while speed magic only requires some hard objects, and sound magic doesn't even need casting materials. "If it's a life-or-death struggle, you'll kill me with a single sword strike before I even have a chance to pull out my casting materials."

"How could that be?" Ike said with a smile, "Didn't you just burn my hair? If we were really fighting, wouldn't you have won by setting my hair on fire?"

This lewd idea gave Winters some inspiration: "It might be difficult, but it's still feasible."

The more he thought about it, the more amusing it became: "What a filthy idea! I'll write it down in my spellbook. Now you have your own original spell. How about calling it [Axel's Hair Burning]?"

"This is magic? It's too childish!" "Why not? An arm, a sword, can be used in countless ways. If you come up with a unique use for a fire-based spell, why doesn't that count as inventing magic?"

"Then let's call it Hair Burning Technique," Ike replied casually.

"Now that we have an idea, all that's left is experimentation and practice. We need to find some real hair to practice with. Would you like to donate some to me?"

"If I shave my head completely, will this trick still work?"

“Well…” Winters thought for a moment, “…then I’ll just have to go back to my old tricks. A flash spell, then I’ll swing my sword and slash.”

Ike chuckled softly, “I really want to be a spellcaster, even the worst one. Not for the ‘Eight Years Major’ title, not for anything else, I just love magic.”

Winters could understand what Ike was thinking. Who didn't dream of becoming a knight or a magician when they were young?

When he learned that he was a spellcaster, he was so excited that he couldn't sleep all night.

Unfortunately, the abilities of an untrained spellcaster are like tiny sparks from a flint and steel.

But if you want to start a fire, you need at least a small spark, not to mention a flame.

If there isn't even a spark, how can we start a fire?
"If you actually become a spellcaster, you might find it's nothing special."

"Tell me more carefully what it feels like."

“It hurts, it really hurts, like being tortured, the kind of torment you can’t imagine.” Winters’ face was a little red. “But it’s also a little addictive. When you exit the spellcasting state, you feel a bit empty.”

"Addicted, and very painful?" Ike asked.

"Yes."

Isn't that contradictory?

“It’s not contradictory.” Winters’ face turned even redder: “Without some kind of compensation, who could withstand the torment caused by using magic?”

"Ultimately, it was still pretty fun, right?"

"That's not true..."

"Is it because your needs are rather unusual?" Ike became increasingly suspicious.

Winters roared in fury: "Of course not!"

“Forget it, no need for tomorrow, today it’s fine.” Ike gripped Winters’ arm tightly, his expression serious. “After class, take me to see that [Christian] instructor. I think… I might be one of those who slipped through the net!”

(End of this chapter)