Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Winters smoothly obtained an internship opportunity at the headquarters of the military police, but he was the only one. Since he learned that the military police was not a good place to go, he felt there was no need to drag Bard into it, especially since Bard was not one of the Spellcasters.

Bard wanted to go to the Equipment Department's Horse Administration, and Winters asked his uncle for help. Andre found his own way to the Training Department, and the three friends separated for the time being.

Standing at the entrance to the military police office, Winters adjusted his collar, smoothed the wrinkles on his uniform, and straightened his belt. After meticulously tidying up his appearance, he gently knocked on the door three times.

"Come in." A voice slightly lacking in vigor emanated from inside the room.

Carrying his cap under his left arm, Winters pushed the door open and entered. Immediately to the right upon entering was a square table, behind which sat a golden-haired young man in his early twenties who was writing something on paper.

He smartly saluted, and the golden-haired young man, in a fluster, hurriedly stood up, attempting to return the salute. Just as he raised his hand, he hesitated and put it down again, opting instead to bow deeply.

Blushing, the golden-haired young man explained, "I am not an officer, just a scribe. There's no need for you to salute me."

Winters also felt a bit nervous, he even hadn't noticed earlier that the golden-haired young man was wearing civilian clothes rather than a uniform. He smiled and extended his hand to the golden-haired youth, who shook it shyly.

"Are you here to see Colonel Field?"

"Yes, I am Winters Montagne, ordered to intern here for a year."

The golden-haired young man, Morlock, busily came around the table and led Winters further into the office, saying, "The colonel isn't here right now, please take a seat and wait for a while. My name is Morlock, and I am the clerk of this office."

Guided by Morlock, Winters sat down on a long bench at the other end of the room, taking the opportunity to carefully observe the office space.

The room allocated to the military police was situated in a corner on the second floor of the entire Army Headquarters building, clearly someone wanted the colonel to be as far away as possible.

Although the room was in a remote location, its corner position afforded excellent lighting. The office was very tidy, with only a few desks and chairs and several filing cabinets, devoid of decorative items, it felt refreshingly uncluttered to the eye.

Besides the door he had entered through, there were two other doors in the office. The space behind the door to the west appeared larger and was obviously Colonel Field's office. As for the other door, it was unknown what lay behind it.

"Would you like some tea?" Morlock pulled out a set of porcelain cups and placed them on a small table in front of Winters. It seemed the military police hadn't entertained guests in a long while, as the cups were covered in a layer of dust. Morlock quickly took out a handkerchief and started to wipe the cups.

"Don't bother, I don't drink tea," Winters hastily stopped Morlock. People in the Gulf Region liked to brew their tea with spices such as pepper and cinnamon along with leaves from the Far East. Winters always found the taste bizarre and never got used to it.

"Then what would you like? Alcohol? Water?"

"Thank you, but there's no need to trouble yourself." Seeing Morlock's frantic manner, Winters couldn't bear to see him continue to fumble around: "Rather, could you please give me an introduction to the military police office?"

Morlock scratched his head: "I can't explain very well, as I am just a clerk. Please forgive any inaccuracies."

"Please go ahead."

"Actually, there's not much to say about the headquarters' military police. There are two officers—you make the third—and a centurion of military policemen. It's good for you to intern here; the work is very relaxed, solely responsible for standing guard at the Army Headquarters. Anyway, no one dares to cause trouble here, so usually just arranging the guards' shifts is enough."

So that was it. Winters finally understood why his uncle had said that the headquarters' military police was a department specifically established for colonels. Named military police, but actually guards, it was indeed degrading for a colonel to only lead a centurion.

Morlock pointed at the door to the large room: "That's Colonel Field's office."

"And what about the other door? Whose office is that?" Winters indicated the other door that led to a smaller room.

Without looking back, Morlock said, "Oh, the officer for that office took leave and hasn't been here for quite some time. Currently, in the military police, it's only you and Colonel Field."

At this point, Winters started to feel slight regret. Bard had gone to the Horse Administration, where he could enhance the family's traditional horse-raising expertise; Andre had gone to the Training Department, which would presumably be interesting as well.

From the once noisy group of more than thirty peers, Winters now sat here alone, suddenly feeling a bit lonely.

As he sat there lost in thought, the door to the military police was violently kicked open, and a dynamic figure burst into the room, ignoring Winters's presence, and kicked open Colonel Field's office door with equal force before walking in.

A loud shout came from the office: "[Expletives capable of making a deaf person cry]!"

After a short while, Colonel Field emerged from his office with a rigid expression, and Winters quickly stood at attention and saluted.

Field, with a hoarse voice, cut straight to the chase as he asked Winters, "Who are you?"

Winters calmly presented his dispatch letter with both hands, "Interning officer Winters Montagne, reporting as ordered!"

Field took the dispatch letter, glanced over it hurriedly, his attitude neither warm nor cold, "Hmm... Infantry branch?"

"Yes!"

Colonel Field's gaze shifted to the insignia of the Society of the Three and Five hanging on Winters's chest.

"Spellcaster?"