Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

"You're right, General, these pirates may not be a match for us in a real fight," the chubby captain muttered as he started tallying, "We have more than fifty men on this ship, each one a brave soul. The approaching pirate ship isn't big, they might not have as many men as us."

"That's right!" the chubby captain decided loudly, "Fight a battle, we're sure to win."

"Then let's do it!" Major General Layton firmly slapped the ship's gunwale.

"Easy there!" Some passengers didn't know how they got dragged into a fight with pirates, "What if they just sink us outright? They have cannons."

"They won't, pirates are after money, no profit in sinking the Bandit Gull," the chubby captain transformed from a surrender advocate to a hawkish stance, "And we have cannons too, right here in the hold."

"You have cannons and you don't mount them on deck, you keep them in the hold for what?" Major Moritz, who had been silent, pointed at the chubby captain's nose and demanded.

"The Bandit Gull has a shallow draft and high freeboard, the center of gravity isn't stable, I'm afraid we'll capsize with the cannons on deck," the chubby captain licked his lips, "We have four six-pounders and several swivel guns in the ship."

"Bring them all up!"

"General! Please wait..." An elegant middle-aged passenger dressed meticulously stood out, "You must understand, you're risking your officers' lives to guard the ship owner's property!"

"I'm defending the honor of the Vineta Army!" Major General Layton retorted sharply.

"This has nothing to do with honor!"

"Honor is the lifeblood of a soldier! If my officers value their lives over their honor, then they don't deserve to be officers! You say I don't care about my subordinates' lives? After boarding, I'll be the first to jump over!" Major General Layton's words left everyone on deck in utter silence.

"Surrendering doesn't guarantee safety," the chubby captain was the first to snap back to his senses, earnestly chiming in, "Pirates will strip all the money from you before taking hostages for ransom. If the ransom can't be paid, you're sold off as a slave to the plantations of Tanilia."

The middle-aged passenger of some social standing fell silent; whether cowed by the Major General's resolve or confused by the chubby captain's mix of truth and bluster wasn't clear.

"Enough talk! Ready the weapons!" The Major General slammed his fist against the capstan at the stern.

He walked to the edge of the quarterdeck, locking eyes with the warrant officers on the deck, and spoke with vehement disdain, "The ship behind us is a pirate vessel; they've come for us. Some say you're worthless, can't stand up to pirates, and might as well surrender. Any coward who wants to give up, step forward, and I'll give you a small boat to surrender in!"

He swept his gaze around, and the warrant officers didn't budge, "Very well, sons of Vineta, how could you possibly surrender to pirates? You are officers trained with great effort by the army; it's time to see what you're made of! Are you cowards or heroes? Try and see today! A bunch of (expletive) worthless scum dares to trouble us? Go get your weapons! Follow me and exterminate these bastards!"

The warrant officers roared with excitement, and Winters felt as if a blaze had ignited in his chest; he jumped from the quarterdeck and dashed straight to the hold for his longsword.

Major Moritz spoke to the chubby captain with a disgruntled tone, "You're lucky today; this fight looks inevitable now. It's indeed not right for the proud army to surrender to pirates. But maybe we can devise a reasonable plan..."

Winters jumped down two levels from the quarterdeck straight to the hold to search for his luggage; his longsword was with it. Even though his longsword was a blunt practice sword used in swordsmanship classes, it was the only weapon he could think of in such short notice.

Only when he actually held the sword did he realize it might not be suitable for use on a ship. The longsword was too long; to swing it freely, the surrounding vertical clearance would need to be at least three and a half meters.

It would be especially difficult to wield it in the cramped, low-ceiling space of the hold, likely hitting the ceiling or the walls. It wasn't much better on deck, either, because of the ropes lying around, which could easily snag the blade.

But Winters had no other weapons at his disposal, so he still secured the longsword to his side; having it was certainly better than nothing.

Suddenly remembering the female pirate's dagger, Winters hastily searched for his belongings. Aike had carefully wrapped his shoulder bag with his luggage, and he found the dagger quickly.

The dagger, having been used for a Luminosity Spell, had transformed from a common metal hue to a red and black mix. Winters tried it out; it was still very sharp, so he tucked it into his belt as a backup weapon.

Bard also entered the cabin to get a longsword and, seeing Winters securing the dagger to his belt, hurriedly stopped him, "Look at the state you're in; don't even think about boarding. Your arm's just been stitched up, any strong movement and it'll rip open, won't it?"

"Then stitch it up again!" Winters couldn't possibly let his schoolmates and comrades fight while he played the invalid in the back.

After clashing with the female pirate, he knew firsthand how dangerous real combat was, potentially lethal, but he was even less willing to be a coward.

"You go help the artillery crew with the cannons; we won't miss one man in hand-to-hand combat," Bard said resolutely.

Winters acted as if he hadn't heard, and walked straight out of the lower quarterdeck that was set aside for the resting spellcaster casualties. As soon as he stepped out, he saw the first mate and a sailor lifting a barrel filled with swords onto the deck, distributing them one by one to the crew.

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