I Created Scientific Magic

Chapter 253: Chapter 240: Musketeers and the Approaching War (Subscription Request)

Before they knew it, summer had arrived, and the fierce, scorching sun hung high in the sky, baking the three thousand soldiers standing on the training field. They were drenched in sweat, which poured down their foreheads and seeped into their collars, making them miserably wet, yet none dared to move an inch.

Old York had been standing in the training field for a full two hours, every part of his body aching, but he still clenched his teeth and persevered until the whistle for rest sounded at noon, and he finally let out a sigh of relief.

However, he barely had time to rest and hurriedly sprinted to join the long queue, ready to receive today’s lunch—two pieces of white bread, a small pot of vegetable soup, and a hand-sized grilled fish or an equivalent amount of camel beast meat.

To Old York, this was indeed a luxurious indulgence. Although joining the musketeer squad came with a salary of twenty silver coins a month, they would usually not allow themselves such luxuries.

It was only here that they received three meals a day, each one with meat, whereas they usually had only two or even one meal.

“Old York, do you think the City Lord summoning so many people for training means that war is coming?” During the break, a tall, strong man patted his shoulder and couldn’t help asking.

This had been the rampant speculation throughout Yiyeta Harbor recently, and nearly everyone with a bit of intelligence could see that a war was looming.

After all, Yiyeta used to be managed only by some peacekeepers, but now suddenly three thousand had been conscripted to form a musketeer squad, the implication was clear.

“Probably so,” Old York mumbled, biting into his piece of white bread with a sense of foreboding in his heart.

In Wizard Land, they hadn’t experienced the so-called wars, but every year on the Day of the Moon, the dockworkers who arrived at Yiyeta would spend copper coins in the taverns and complain about their hardships in the outer world.

In the Sekas Empire, whether one was farming the land or working as a laborer, the minimal earnings had to be partially given to the local church for atonement of that year’s wrongdoings, and then there were taxes to be paid to the so-called nobility, leaving only a small fraction for oneself.

This made the residents of the harbor town all the more convinced that the outside world was a savage hell. If they lost the war, their families would be brutally killed, their land taken, and their property plundered.

Old York, who had just seen some hope in life, naturally did not want everything he had worked hard for to be stolen, so he took his training very seriously.

What puzzled him, though, was that the training exercises were quite bizarre.

Each day involved running several laps around the city, shouting slogans, or maintaining a standing position under the sun for hours, and sometimes it meant stabbing a dummy with a pole topped with a long blade for more than an hour.

The strangest of all was the requirement to keep their beds made neatly and to jump up at the sound of a whistle, no matter the time, to gather at the training field within a set time. The formation could not be the slightest bit disorderly, or the whole squad would be punished.

These strange regulations made Old York and others complain endlessly; in their eyes, these exercises seemed pointless, as if they were purposefully torturing themselves.

They had heard that after some time, the Wizards even planned to bring over some earth giants for them to deal with in teams of eight, to test and improve their courage and ability.

“Isn’t this just making life difficult for people?” Old York bit into a piece of white bread, complaining silently in his heart.

Having once been a hunter, he was well aware of how tough these magical beasts were to handle. A small team of eight, even fully armed and holding crossbow arrows, would have to pay a price of more than half in casualties to come out victorious, and more likely, face complete annihilation.

After about an hour of rest, the piercing whistle sounded again, and Old York immediately climbed up from the ground, finding his spot in the formation in less than half a minute.

Generally speaking, the afternoon was dedicated to practicing stabbing, but this time was different. Their City Lord, the actual ruler of Yiyeta, Lynn, had also arrived at the training ground.

For a moment, Old York and the others suddenly felt their waists were no longer sore, their legs no longer hurt, standing straighter than ever.

Instead of distributing those club-like objects, their instructor Lowen handed out a finely crafted long staff, topped with a gleaming bayonet.

Could this be a spear?

Old York was utterly bewildered. The wooden targets in front had also been fitted with a layer of armor, presumably to simulate those fully-armed enemies.

The City Lord soon told them this device was called a fire gun, a creation of the alchemy workshop, an improved second-generation product, and personally instructed them on how to use this new type of flintlock.

The members of the fire gun squad were so excited their hands trembled, yet they still managed to grasp the basics of handling the device within half an hour. @@novelbin@@

“First three hundred, step forward, load your ammunition, aim at the targets ahead, maintain your balance, pull the trigger!” Lowen shouted loudly.

Old York promptly took two steps forward, somewhat awkwardly shoved the round lead bullet into the barrel, then aimed at the target about ten meters away, pulling the trigger as Lowen had instructed.

What followed was a thunderous sound beside his ear. Completely unprepared, Old York only felt a buzzing in his ears before he fell to the ground under the force of the hefty recoil.

“It’s thundering… it’s thundering!”

With a series of thunderous gunshot sounds, the neatly lined three hundred people on the training ground immediately became scattered. About a quarter of them fell to the ground unprepared by the recoil, and several were so startled by the sudden blast that they felt dizzy, continuously shouting “It’s thundering!”

Ron’s face turned unsightly. He immediately blew his whistle, and the chaotic troop instantly quieted down, conditioned as if by reflex. Old York and others subconsciously jumped back up and returned to their original positions.

It was then that Old York noticed that their target in front had been shattered, and even the sturdy armor was pierced directly. The immense power left everyone dumbfounded.

Only now did many remember what Lynn had mentioned earlier – the device was a creation of the alchemy workshop, which meant it likely contained magic from the Wizards, such as gathering the forces of thunder and flame into this fire gun to achieve such formidable power!