Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Kadar Khan was drenched in sweat, hurriedly interrupting the senior to continue the class, "Sir, please continue the lesson...".

Mason also realized he was talking too much idle chatter and immediately stopped, cleared his throat, and looked at the cadets.

A few keen cadets suddenly noticed that throughout the process, the quartermaster only asked the squad leader "who fought" and "how to punish," but did not ask a word about "why they fought."

Mason used a shovel as a teaching pointer, gesturing to the small dirt wall he piled outside the corridor, "When excavating, remember all the dug-up soil must be shoveled to the side of the ground closest to the enemy's position, absolutely can't be reversed."

He looked at the cadets and asked expectantly, "Does anyone know why?"

The square formation of reserve officers remained silent.

Mason felt a bit embarrassed because he had never been a teacher, so he had to imitate his teachers from school, trying to encourage the cadets, "It's okay, speak up boldly."

The reserve officers' square formation was still dead silent.

Mason glanced at the cadets, everyone avoiding his gaze, making him feel deeply disappointed.

"Firstly, it's obviously because it would waste earth resources, but the main reason is..." Mason perked up, gesturing as he explained, "If you shovel the soil to the side of the ground away from the enemy's position, when the enemy fires artillery at you, the shells might land on the dirt pile and bounce back into the corridor."

"Don't think that the shells will sink into the earth; many times, artillery shells don't come straight down, they come at angles and can bounce off walls; plus, if it rains then a hot sun comes out, even soft soil can dry as hard...".

Mason talked until his mouth was dry and his throat was hoarse, but the cadets seemed wooden, no matter his efforts, they gave no response.

Seeing this, Mason felt a bit discouraged. Others might have just muddled through or shrugged it off to someone else. But Mason couldn't do that, his strong sense of responsibility drove him to try and do well with every task handed to him.

He bent to think for a moment, deciding to change his teaching style.

"Forget it, don't stand in formation, standing like this, what can the people at the back see?" Mason said loudly with a laugh, "Come, all come forward, come to my side..."

The cadets looked at each other, the instructors also puzzled.

Mason joked, "This is the open ground, not a classroom, with no walls on all sides, standing like this, I have to shout till my throat breaks to let the people at the back hear. All come forward, help me save some saliva."

The instructors understood the quartermaster's meaning. Although they didn't understand his intention, they complied with his orders.

So the cadets hesitantly came forward, crowding around Mason in a semi-circle.

"Sit down," Mason gestured with a shovel, "Standing like this, the people at the back won't be able to see anything more?"

The reserve officers obeyed and sat down, making the makeshift ground much emptier.

The teachers and students of the Second Academy all gathered in a small patch of ground, Mason didn't need to squint to see each cadet's face, nor shout loudly to make every cadet hear clearly.

Due to his effort in demonstrating earlier, Mason's back ached, so he brought a stack of demonstration baskets as a stool, sitting in front of the cadets.

"You all get tired standing, and I get tired standing too," Mason said a bit shyly, "So I'll stand and talk, you sit and listen."

After saying this, Mason finally received some response from the cadets—in many faces, he saw faint smiles.

"A good start," Mason thought, pondering for a moment, he decided to start from the point of interest for the cadets.

In the next second, the reserve officers only heard the quartermaster say something astonishing, "You all should know I'm from the United Province, right?"

The nominal third-ranking official comes from the Mountain Front Territory, this is one of the "Second Academy's" open secrets. From teachers to cadets, everyone was aware of it but none spoke of it.

On this occasion, when Richard Mason openly revealed this relationship, it caught the cadets off guard.

Even the instructors looked surprised.

Mason did not hesitate but continued to ask, "You should also know, the United Provincials are known for their proficiency in earthwork, so people call them 'mudmen', correct?"

The nickname "mudmen," everyone present among the Paratu People knew, many had recently used it frequently, but the origin of this nickname, many were hearing for the first time.

"But do you know why it's 'mudmen' and not 'earthmen'?" Mason continued to ask.

This stumped the cadets and instructors alike.

Yet Mason wasn't here to quiz them, so he quickly explained, "Because the landscape of the Mountain Front Territory is very low, the groundwater level is high. One spade down, you can see mud; two spades down, you can see water; three spades down...you can raise fish."

A low laugh arose among the reserve officers' group.

"So digging trenches in the Mountain Front Territory is very painful, every spade turned brings both water and mud," Mason smiled, making a digging motion with the shovel in hand, "not like in Paratu, so comfortable?"

The reserve officers looked at the dust on the quartermaster's officer uniform, really couldn't associate "comfort" with digging.

Mason spoke eloquently, "Actually, the term 'mudmen' was originally used by the nobles of the Mountain Front Territory to belittle the farmers, because farmers elsewhere dig for subsistence in soil, but farmers in the Mountain Front Territory must dig for sustenance in 'mud' every day."

"During the Sovereign War, this term was used by the Royalist Party to insult the Mountain Front Territory militia. Because the militia was skilled in excavation, they were scornfully called 'mudmen' by the Royalists."

"What you're learning today, the excavation techniques, traced back to the militia under Marshal Ned Smith from the Mountain Front Territory."

Learning mere knowledge causes people to become sleepy, but listening to little stories keeps everyone interested, and the reserve officers present were no exception.

"Since digging trenches in the Mountain Front Territory is so tortuous," Mason questioned, "Why did the old marshal lead the militia to dig trenches?"

Pausing for a moment, Mason accentuated his tone, answering himself, "Because digging trenches saves lives, because it narrows the gap between the militia and the Knights, and because digging trenches helps them win."

"So, when the Royalist Party uses this term, it's more like they're insulting themselves."

"They scorned the militia who wielded shovels and dug in the mud, yet 'mudmen' defeated them and drove them out of the Mountain Front Territory."

"To mock others while being inferior, isn't that the same as degrading oneself? Don't you all agree with this logic?"

A murmur of agreement responded from the crowd in front of Mason.

Houdel was one of those who spoke up, originally filled with anger, but hearing Lord Mason's words, the blocked feelings in his chest dispersed somewhat.

In fact, Houdel had just been quite displeased with Lord Mason personally demonstrating digging in prone position.

To him, seeing a civil guard officer crawling back and forth on the ground — especially in front of outsiders — really lost face for the Iron Peak County Military.

So when the boy in boots spoke impertinently earlier, Houdel's anger was fully ignited.

From this aspect, Jere Richard just happened to trigger Houdel's bad mood. Houdel's true dissatisfaction was actually directed at Lord Mason.

However, after hearing Lord Mason's explanation of the nickname "mudmen," Houdel vaguely understood the deeper meaning Lord Mason wanted to convey.

For a long time, Houdel resisted the work of digging and burrowing holes.

His jokey remarks revealed his true thoughts, "I dug dirt every day before entering the military academy, and I'm still digging dirt every day after entering the military academy. What's the point of entering this military school then?"

But hearing the explanation of the term "mudmen" by the civil guard officer, Houdel instinctively felt some affinity towards the "Mountain Front Territory militia" in Mason's words, along with a sense of pride in the trench-digging skill which enabled the militia to defeat noble lords.

At this moment, Houdel heard the civil guard officer's voice coming from the front:

"Enough idle talk, time to learn some real skills. Who fought earlier? Come forward, I'll teach you hands-on."