Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

From then on, Kelsa called her husband a lieutenant colonel and even forced her nephew and daughter to do the same, so that when Winters met his uncle at the customs prison, he subconsciously called out "Lieutenant Colonel."

"Ella, take your brother to drop off the luggage first." Kelsa remembered that Winters had just returned home and asked with concern, "Are you hungry? You must not have had much to eat at customs. I'll cook something for you."

As she spoke, she stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

"No need, Auntie," Winters hurriedly stopped his aunt. "I'm not hungry, I'm just a bit tired and would like to sleep for a while."

"How can you not eat? I'll make some snacks—quickly," Kelsa said, ignoring Winters's opinion as she walked towards the kitchen.

In the military academy, Winters was the junior class leader; in front of soldiers and civilians, he was an officer; on the Bandit Gull, he was a warrior daring to jump ship; among his peers in Vineta, he was vaguely seen as a leader.

But at home, his family status was still that of a child, slightly higher than his sister and the little general, but much lower than the Great General. So, he could only watch helplessly as his aunt walked through the service door towards the kitchen.

"Brother, let me take you to your room," the young girl pulled Winters up from the soft chair in the living room. "After you left, Mom had the servants clean it every day—it's even cleaner than before you went to school."

Leaving the living room and crossing another corridor, they went upstairs. With a smile, Elizabeth pushed open that familiar door, and memories, long sealed, tumbled out as the door swung open.

There was a charred mark on the wooden floor where Winters had burned it playing with fire as a child. The large and small wooden swords he used to learn swordsmanship with his uncle still leaned in a corner, above which hung a dartboard. The bed was covered with a clean white sheet, the desk polished spotless,

"See? Isn't it cleaner than when you were here? I'm the one who checks it every day," Elizabeth said proudly. But Winters was immersed in memories and heard nothing.

Gently touching these familiar old objects, Winters finally opened the wardrobe.

He had merely opened it casually, wanting to see if the clothes he used to wear were still there. But to his surprise, five or six new outfits, all adult-sized, hung neatly inside.

"These were all made by your aunt," Elizabeth's voice came from behind. She complained to Winters, "You wouldn't send back your measurements despite your aunt asking you to, so she had to guess the size. After you left, she made new ones every year, only to throw them away. She would never dare to send them to you, and just put them here, worried you might come home with no clothes to wear."

"I could only wear the cadet uniform at the academy, so sending back my measurements would have been pointless. The three cadet uniforms I had were enough," Winters said, feeling a warm current in his heart. He gently closed the wardrobe door and smilingly said to his sister, "It's about you, though. Do we still have home tutors?"

The young girl stuck out her tongue, "I've grown past the age of needing home tutors. I'm now learning painting with Madam Anguisola."

"Learning to paint?"

"Yes. Yup, the lieutenant colonel just can't stand to see me idle and has to find things for me to do. Now, Mom sighs every day, pondering how to get me married off."

Winters laughed heartily upon hearing this: "After all, you are a grown lady now."

"But I'm not worried," Elizabeth said with a twinkle in her eye and a mischievous smile. "With you taking the brunt, as long as you're not married, the biggest pressure is not on me."

The sharp retort from the young girl instantly extinguished Winters's mirth. Sheepishly, he placed his luggage on the table and began emptying it out, item by item.

First came some everyday items. Then the more valuable ones: his spellbook, some spellcasting materials he'd sneaked out from his magic class, his handwritten manuscripts from the military academy, class notes, and a few genuine printed books.

To digress for a moment, printing technology had been in Vineta for over a decade, but Winters, like the clergymen in the old church schools, still mainly used manuscripts and copied books himself. Even printed books, which utilized the printing process, were very expensive and mainly used for printing scripture which was always in demand.

However, compared to past times, this was a significant stride forward, mostly because advances in papermaking improved the quality of paper while lowering its cost. In the past, theologians and priests would rent books page by page—note, rent, not buy—as a single book could cost as much as a craftsman's entire annual income. Hence, not only was it expensive to become a priest, but attending a theological college was even more so.

It was the advancement of papermaking and the introduction of printed books that enabled the Alliance army to emulate the structure of theological colleges and establish tuition-free schools to train officers at a lower cost. The fact that the military academy charged no tuition made it highly attractive to a large number of poor but ambitious young people.

But let's get back to Winters.

After taking out the other small items, Winters finally took out his shoulder bag from the deepest part of the luggage.

"Brother, is that blood on the cloth bag?" Elizabeth exclaimed with her hand over her mouth.

"No," Winters replied calmly, "it's red wine."

This bag was the one Winters had used on the night shift when he encountered the female thief, after which he was taken to fight the fire and then lost consciousness, later being carried onto the Bandit Gull.