Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Bard was one of only three externally enrolled students in Winters's cohort of officer candidates, and he was probably the most formidable among them.

Most external enrollments at the Army Officer Academy were for the artillery branch, granting exceptions to those with mathematical talent. Yet, Bard was studying Cavalry, and before him, the Cavalry department had not had an externally enrolled student for six whole years.

When the Federated Provinces were still the domain of the Duke of Montefronte, starting with Bard's grandfather, their family made a living by breeding horses for the House of Earl Menai, from the time of the old Earl to his grandson's inheritance of the title.

Whenever they had time, Bard's grandfather would take his two sons to tend to the family's dozen or so acres of land. Life was tough, but there was no worry of lacking food and clothes.

But Bard's family could never have dreamed of the outbreak of the Sovereignty War. Bard's grandfather and father didn't understand why the city folks suddenly wanted to rebel against the Emperor; after all, to them, the Emperor seemed a far and distant figure. In Bard's family's eyes, their life was calm and well-provided for, and they never imagined this way of life being disrupted.

As the Galleon Sect began destroying monasteries everywhere, Bard's family had a faint premonition of the storm to come. Yet for three generations, as dutiful coachmen who bred horses for the Earl, there was nothing they could do but to continue feeding the Earl's horses.

When the first revolt in Guidao City happened, and the militia took control of the city,

Bard's family was feeding the Earl's horses, while the Earl held his troops back because he was not pro-imperial;

When the first uprising in Guidao City was suppressed and the army of the Emperor-appointed Governor entered the city,

Bard's family was feeding the Earl's horses, and the Earl held his troops back because he did not support the militia either;

When the second revolt in Guidao City happened, with militia inside and outside the city collaborating to breach Guidao City and trap the Governor in the castle,

Bard's family was feeding the Earl's horses, while the Earl continued to hold his troops back, choosing to wait and see;

When the second suppression of Guidao City failed, and after the Battle of the Golden Saddle, the pro-imperial nobles of the Duke of Montefronte were entirely wiped out,

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Bard's family was feeding the Earl's horses, while the Earl still held back his forces, intending to observe further;

Finally, the Emperor unleashed his fierce hound, Duke Arlian, who declared that all nobles who had survived the Battle of the Golden Saddle were traitors. He led his mountain militia through the Duke of Montefronte's domain, turning it into rivers of blood;

Bard's family was feeding the Earl's... oh, there was no need to feed the horses this time. Because all the horses had been taken by Earl Menai to war. The fence-sitting nobles of the Duke of Montefronte's domain could no longer sit idly by.

Bard's family switched to feeding the Earl's cattle, sheep, and poultry.

After Duke Arlian's defeat and subsequent suicide, Bard's family thought they could finally go back to feeding horses for the Earl.

But what Bard's family did not expect was that the militia and the anti-monarchist noble army, who had fought side by side just moments ago, began to turn on each other once more.

The knights clad in helm and plate patrolled the royal roads, executing all suspicious passersby without trial, to intercept messengers who were connecting the insurgents of various cities;

Lone swordsmen wandered the forest paths, their longswords and matchlock guns wrapped in oiled cloth on their backs, lying in wait to assassinate any noble they could find.

The war within the Duke's lands in front of the mountains finally ended with the victory of the militia, and no new Duke was elected. Henceforth, this land was renamed the "Republic in front of the Mountains" (also known as The Federated Provinces Republic).

Bard's family no longer needed to worry about when they could go back to feed horses for the Earl because the militia's blades were quicker and more ruthless than those of Duke Arling.

There was no longer an Earl of Menai, as the entire family of the Earl of Menai had been slaughtered. The Federated Provinces Republic would no longer fall into the hands of the nobility, for there were no living nobles left in The Federated Provinces who dared to claim their titles.

The Bard family thought it was all over: even though they could no longer feed horses for the Earl, at least they could go back and tend to their little plot of land.

What the Bard family did not expect was Richard IV leading a campaign of all the major and minor lords of the entire Empire. And this was no longer just about The Federated Provinces Republic, the Royal Sea Blue lands, the Highland Duke's lands... The whole Gulf Region was being dragged into this.

The originally Earl of Menai's domain, now Menai Province, was once again ravaged. Crops not yet ripe were trampled and burned, and fleeing soldiers were more terrifying than bandits. In the chaos, Bard's father lost his own father, brother, sister, and all his children.

The Bard family was completely bankrupt, with a small piece of land but no food. Out of desperation, Bard's father mortgaged their small plot to the Green Heart Monastery nearby, and the couple sought protection from the Monastery, becoming tenant farmers there.

The Sovereignty Wars came to a definitive end, the Emperor withdrew his troops, and after the Gulf Alliance gained full sovereignty, the couple gave birth to Bard.

For Bard's parents, the life of tenant farmers offered no prospects; the farmers could barely feed themselves, doomed never to save enough money to redeem their land. Thus, the only hope for Bard's parents was for Bard to become a monk at the Monastery.

But a monk is an officially registered cleric, and Bard's parents wanted Bard to become a monk? They could wish for it, of course, but it was impossible.

Because the Monastery would not accept a young man who had nothing. To become a monk, one must bring a contribution to the Monastery. The Monastery welcomed those "brothers" who came with deeds and precious metals.

From the time he could remember, Bard served as a servant in the Monastery, initially responsible for lowly jobs like cleaning toilets. He was diligent, careful in his work, and tight-lipped.

So, he quickly escaped the lowest menial work and began to take charge of cleaning the Monastery's scriptorium and library. A kind monk taught him how to read and write in Old Language, and through an Old/Ancient Language dictionary Bard taught himself Ancient Language.

Ever since he could read, Bard spent all his free time in the Green Heart Monastery's library. He read a vast number of ancient texts and materials preserved by the Monastery, teaching himself the Ancient Empire scholars' "Mathematics," "Principles of Geometry," and the Flemish "Medicine Canon."

Meanwhile, his status within the Monastery kept rising: from cleaning the library to specializing in the cleaning of precious relics and holy vessels, and then he became the personal servant to the head of the Monastery, helping the abbot with the accounts.

But the more Bard learned about the Monastery, the clearer it became that there was no possible way for him to become a monk, nor did he wish to spend his life as a tenant farmer or servant. By chance, Bard learned from a visitor to the Monastery about the Military Academy, and that there were no conditions for applying to the Army Officer School.

So, at the age of 16, Bard decided to take a chance. With six small silver coins and three pieces of black bread, he left his home in Gerard Village and walked a hundred kilometers to reach Guidao City.

Thanks to his ancestral horsemanship skills and outstanding scores in cultural subjects, Bard miraculously gained admission to the Cavalry branch of the Military Academy, and he became the only off-campus student in six years to enter the Cavalry.

Bard and Winters met in the equine studies class (equine studies and horsemanship were two separate courses). In horsemanship, Bard wasn't as good as Winters, but when it came to caring for horses, Winters couldn't hold a candle to Bard.

When they first met, Winters only admired Bard's skills in horse husbandry. But as they got to know each other better, Winters increasingly recognized virtues in Bard he didn't possess, such as being gentle and never losing his temper.

Winters, lacking these qualities, unconsciously gravitated towards people who possessed them. And Winters's friendship, free from any sense of condescension, was comfortable for Bard. In time, the two became very close friends.