Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Antonio leafed through the report without any casual conversation with his nephew, and Winters stood at attention, obediently waiting for orders. In the barracks, there was only the Legion Commander and the Trainee Warrant Officer, no private identities were involved. Experience exclusive tales on empire

Sitting to one side, Layton had no idea of the familial relation between the two, and after staring at Winters for a few seconds, he suddenly stood up, walked over to Winters, and exclaimed with surprise, "Hm? Aren't you the Warrant Officer who broke the chains at Red Sulfur Bay? Is that you? Am I mistaken? It's you, right?"

Winters's face felt a little hot as he stood at attention and replied, "Report, General, it was me!"

"Kid, why did you end up working on a road?" Layton asked with a somewhat strange expression. He squinted his eyes, thought for a moment, and then said, "Winters... your name is Winters, right?"

This question was one Winters couldn't answer; he certainly couldn't reveal that he didn't want to be on the front line. He could only reply, "Report, General, because I received transfer orders!"

Layton was clearly satisfied with this answer, and he turned to Antonio, laughing as he said, "I tell you, General Serviati, you're really not doing your job as Legion Commander. Such fine steel is being wasted in your hands. You let such a fine frontline officer go repair roads?"

After criticizing his old classmate, Layton looked back at Winters, slapped him on the shoulder in a hearty manner, and said, "Do you, lad, want to lead troops under me? I tell you, after this battle with the Tannies is over, who knows how long until the next one. If you don't think of ways to distinguish yourself now, the highest you'll ever reach is Colonel. You're still in training, right? Once you're officially commissioned, come to my legion, and I'll give you a position as Centurion of the first company! What do you say? Will you come? Your name is Winters... uh, Winters Montaigne, right?"

Antonio, sitting behind the desk, spoke without lifting his head, "Lieutenant Montaigne, feel honored. General Layton remembered your name after only seeing you twice. When we were in the military academy, he couldn't remember my full name for two months."

"Montaigne... Montaigne..." Layton mulled over the surname, furrowing his brows for a while before his face broke into a smile, saying, "I like this surname, Montaigne is a good name! I had a Montaigne in my time too, but he was in the cavalry... you're in the infantry, aren't you? It doesn't matter... this means we're fated! Come lead troops under me, kid!"

Winters recalled the swollen cheeks of Senior Tang Juan and thought to himself that he didn't want to get slapped every now and then. He played a bit of a word game: "Report, General! I'll go wherever the orders send me, right?"

"Good! Good!" Layton thought the young lieutenant was agreeing with him. He slapped Winters's shoulder hard twice, joyfully saying, "Good! Work hard under me! One day, you could be sitting where I am now."

Although Layton was nearing forty, he was still very strong, and his slaps left Winters in pain.

Winters saluted, and Layton said no more.

After finishing the report, Antonio scribbled the command for the construction headquarters on a piece of paper, sealed it with wax, and handed it to Winters.

"The road is almost finished, and the remaining heavy artillery can be deployed on the front line the day after tomorrow."

"Is that so? Great!" Layton was thrilled to hear the heavy artillery was finally ready.

Antonio looked out the window and sighed softly, "The order for slaughter has been issued, and the warhounds will ravage the Tanilians, along with us."