Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

"The entire fleet wouldn't bombard just to intimidate a small town, and it certainly wouldn't look good for the noble Vineta navy to be threatening civilians," Winters mused. "However, I can find a way to bring over a main battleship to fire a salute. No need for money, just hand over all the gunpowder from the town armory."

"Yes, yes!" the old mayor nodded vigorously, then remembered something else, "Would you three officers please leave me a letter of explanation saying that if Sea Blue Town doesn't surrender the supplies, we will use the cannons to blast Sea Blue Town to rubble?"

"I can't possibly write such a thing for you; it's a donation, not a robbery, get it?" Winters said with a big laugh. "But I can write you an equivalent document with roughly the same idea."

——Cut——

Holding a threatening letter that read "If Sea Blue Town does not pledge allegiance to the Republic of Vineta, the Vineta navy will bombard Sea Blue Town to ruins," the mayor of Sea Blue Town hurriedly rang the bell to call a town meeting. Read the latest on empire

After completing the mission, Winters, Bard, and Andre strolled leisurely toward the dock.

"I can't figure out why they call it Sea Blue Town, I didn't see any well in the town square," Andre casually said.

Bard answered unhurriedly, "The sea near this island often sees whales surfacing and spouting water. Ancient people saw it from afar and thought it was a sea fountain, hence the name Sea Blue Town."

"How did you know that?" Andre asked, feeling somewhat unconvinced.

"Because I read books," Bard smiled and said.

Winters undid the buttons under his jaw and took off his plumed helmet. His heavy helmet was steaming with sweat, and his hair was soaked.

"Ah, after all those years at the military academy, now I've ended up doing a pirate's job," Winters sighed and said with remorse, "Thank you both for helping me with this disgusting task."

"Hey, why talk about that?"

To keep the military in check and prevent them from becoming too powerful within the Republic, the logistical aspects of the Vineta military were handled by the civilian departments of the Governor's office.

With the plates in someone else's hands, it was inevitable that things wouldn't be quite to the military's liking.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Moreover, for this hurriedly launched overseas expedition, the Avenger Fleet had already emptied Vineta's war readiness storehouses. Nalesho and Antonio had no confidence in whether subsequent supplies could be provided, so the joint command unanimously agreed not to miss any chance of resupply. Better to throw the supplies into the sea later on than to leave the storerooms empty now.

That was why the "coerced donation" just now had occurred.

Collecting military contributions was theoretically not difficult; the tricky part was doing it elegantly. It had to be done without looking too ugly, yet still managing to secure the supplies. This was why Winters reluctantly sought help from Bard and Andre.

In theory, such dirty work would not be something any honorable officer would willingly do, but it certainly wouldn't call for a mere acting ensign to step in.

But who made Winters stand out in capturing the Avenger, and with the death of the leader, he, an acting ensign, became a Centurion?

And not just any Centurion, but the Centurion of the chief cohort.

A regular cohort had only 80 men, while the chief cohort had 150 men, practically the strength of two regular cohorts.

All coming from the military academy, the seniors hadn't yet managed to become the Centurion of the chief cohort, and here you are, a mere junior officer fresh out of the academy, landing this position—even if temporarily—how could you not be envied?

Even Andre felt a bit of unease, not to mention others.

Only Bard privately advised Winters with concern, "You've not been placed in a good spot, but rather in a viper's nest!"

So Winters became even more unassuming, his demeanor even more humble, saluting his superiors from a distance for fear of others saying, "This young man has become arrogant after becoming the Centurion of the chief cohort."

Fortunately, few knew that Serviati's legion commander was Montaigne Acting Ensign's maternal uncle. Winters bit his lip and endured when people gossiped behind his back. But if anyone dared to sling mud at Antonio, Winters would challenge them to a duel.

Speaking of which, since leaving Sea Blue City, Winters hadn't met with Antonio alone. Once in the barracks, there were no blood relatives, just superiors and subordinates. That was better, at least Winters felt more at ease. He would have been uncomfortable if given special treatment.

So during the days of rest after the Lighthouse Port naval battle, what Montaigne Acting Ensign looked forward to most was the military headquarters quickly sending someone to replace him as the temporary Centurion.

He also couldn't understand why a mere acting ensign like him was temporarily acting as the Centurion of the chief cohort; it made more sense to transfer a senior warrant officer from another cohort.

But when Winters sought out Kongtai'er, the colonel said, "The legion has no personnel authority; commission of officers must be appointed by the army headquarters. Temporarily moving a warrant officer from another cohort to the first cohort would break the combat power of two cohorts. Having you act as Centurion would at most disrupt the combat power of one cohort."

Kongtai'er Colonel patted Winters on the shoulder, comforting him, "This is a great opportunity for experience; you should cherish it. Others would long for such a chance. Besides, you won't act for too long, just hang in there. Don't be afraid of what others say; it's only mediocrity that goes unenvied."