Castle of Black Iron

When the skirmishes in Kalur escalated, Blapei, which was only over 100 km away from Kalur, became a huge frontier material transfer station. The logistics headquarter of the entire Iron-Horn Army was also set in here.

On the ninth day since Zhang Tie woke up on the sickbed, he finally left the hospital. At this moment, half a month had passed since he had left Blackhot City. During this period, Zhang Tie had experienced a life or death situation.

When he left the hospital, if not for his luggage brought by Reinhardt and the other military officers when they came to visit him, he might not have been able to find even a set of clothes after taking off his hospital gown.

Because he had not gone to report to the logistics department, when Zhang Tie left the hospital, he was still wearing the old dark red military uniform of second lieutenant. As he had just recovered from his wounds, he still looked a bit pale and thin. Previously, for the convenience of treatment, his hair had been shaved as well. It had just sprouted out some fresh hair these days. Without the military uniform, Zhang Tie looked like a malnourished adolescent.

Touching his bald head, Zhang Tie gave a bitter smile. He then recalled something and immediately felt dejected.

After standing outside the hospital alone for a long time, Zhang Tie stopped a carriage.

”Where are you going, sir?”

The carter glanced over Zhang Tie with a pair of uncertain eyes as Zhang Tie’s age was really not in line with his military uniform.

”Do you know the logistics headquarters of the Iron-Horn Army?”

Zhang Tie threw his luggage onto the carriage. As to the 10 kg-odd luggage, Zhang Tie had held it like holding a hair before, however, now, Zhang Tie found it heavy after barely carrying it from the hospital ward to here. He felt that he was even weaker than a common 15-year-old adolescent.

”Got it! It’s the previous parliament building in Blapei!”

After replying, the carter shook the rein sand started the carriage.

The carriage was half-open. Sitting inside, Zhang Tie watched the city out of curiosity.

Although the fighting was just over 100 km away from Blapei, he could see no intense atmosphere here at all, instead, this city was filled with sense of relaxation. Besides the soldiers in military uniforms, commoners were walking at medium speed through the streets.

What impressed Zhang Tie were the alehouses on both sides of the streets. On the way, every dozen of meters or so, he would see an alehouse’s brand waving in the air on the roadside. Although the beer business sharply declined due to the war between the Norman Empire and Sun Dynasty, he could still see people sitting inside even in daytime.

As it was located in the plains, there were no sharp magical beasts around the city. Additionally, because Blapei was in the middle of some cities, he had no city walls; neither did it have any army. The moment the Iron-Horn Army drove in here, Blapei’s parliament had already raised its blue-green flag, soon after which, they declared disbandment. The only vigilante group of this city followed the in the same path.

After that, the parliamentary and the vigilante group’s members pretended that the parliament had never existed before and all went back home to find their own moms. Therefore, when the Iron-Horn Army occupied this city, they could not find a single person responsible it.

Residents here seemed to only do two things in their whole lives—farming and drinking beer. Even if the Iron-Horn Army arrived, their rhythm still remained unchanged. They felt that the war between the Norman Empire and Sun Dynasty had nothing to do with them, just as if it was happening on another galaxy.

When Zhang Tie was in Blackhot City, he had heard of such a bizarre city in the Andaman Alliance. This time, after a small circle around the city, Zhang Tie realized that the legends about Blapei were not exaggerated at all.

While the carter was driving the carriage, he took out his flagon to drink beer. Sitting behind the carter, Zhang Tie could also smell the fragrance of wheat drifting from the beer.

”Sir, do you want a try? This is brewed by my wife!”

The carter passed the flagon to Zhang Tie very enthusiastically.

The moment Zhang Tie wanted to refuse, for some reason he suddenly recalled Freo. Beer, cigars, and women were the favorites of that iron-tower like bald tough man. Zhang Tie then felt a faint stab inside...

Taking the flagon, he started to mindlessly gulp it down. Seeing this, the carter revealed a big smile.

When the carriage arrived at the former parliament building of Blapei, Zhang Tie was already covered with the taste of beer. The price was only 20 copper coins; however after Zhang Tie praised his beer, the carter felt very proud and didn’t even intend to take his cash. But Zhang Tie pulled out a silver coin and said it was for his beer. The carter then happily took it and drove away.

In Blapei, if you praised the beer brewed by a person’s family members and wanted to pay for it, you were expressing your largest compliment to that person.

Besides some rich people who were sparsely spread through the the various castles in the city, there were few skyscrapers in Blapei. All buildings were lower than ten floors. The alleged former parliament building of Blapei was only a 6-floor building. Standing before it, Zhang took a good look at it. He felt that the exceptional dome in the middle of the roof was really like a huge beer barrel.

Compared to the sluggish pedestrians on the streets, the outside of the former parliament building, which was now the logistics headquarter of Iron-Horn Army, brought him an intense sense of war.

Lifting his luggage, Zhang Tie presented his former military officer’s certificate to the entrance guard before entered the building. A young second lieutenant was really trivial in the logistics headquarters of Iron-Horn Army. Few of the to-and-fro walking soldiers would cast a second glance over Zhang Tie.

Zhang Tie asked a soldier in the building about the location of the personnel affairs department. He then came to the office on the third floor of the building.

The door was open while someone was working inside, so Zhang Tie walked directly in.

”Hello, can I help you?”

The moment Zhang Tie entered, a 20-odd female military officer ranked second lieutenant had walked towards him as she asked.

”I’m here to report for duty; here’s my certificate! ”

Zhang Tie gave his military officer certificate to her.

Taking the certificate, the female military officer glanced at it and immediately revealed a faint expression of amazement.

”Are you that military officer from the Iron-Blood Camp of No. 39 Division?”

”If there was nobody else dispatched here, I think so!”

”Fine, take a seat for a moment please. Your personnel affairs archives have been transferred here several days ago. I’ll go report to Colonel Scharto as he had told me that if you came here to report, he wanted to see you!”

”Fine, thanks!”

After saying that, the female second lieutenant immediately left.

Zhang Tie couldn’t help but focus on her butt. Seeing that tightening and raising butt under the dark red military officer dress, Zhang Tie’s heart slightly pounded twice.

He had not tasted a woman for over a month. Now, as he had just recovered a bit, he instinctively started to pay attention to women beside him. However, thinking of his physical condition, Zhang Tie could only give a bitter smile. Donder said, as a man, unless you’re dead, you would take conquering women as the undertaking of your whole life.

Zhang Tie also realized his own change. After becoming a real man, Zhang Tie had started to pay attention to different parts on women. Even if facing the same woman, he seemed to also have a very different sense of her now.

He didn’t know whether each man would experience the same process on the way to maturity, but these couple of days, he usually thought about those crazy days with the girls in Blackhot City and the enchanting night with Pandora before he left.

In the following half an hour, Zhang Tie completed all the report formalities and saw Colonel Scharto, who was responsible for personnel affairs in the logistics headquarters of the Iron-Horn Army. Colonel Scharto, who was already over 60 years old, treated Zhang Tie in a very mild way.

During their conversation, he put it straight that he already knew of Zhang Tie’s heroic actions in the Iron-Blood Camp. For his bravery and military exploits, he appreciated him very much. No matter how poor his health was at present, as a military officer of the Norman Empire who had been awarded with the Iron-Blood medal, he would never be allowed to suffer from any injustice in both the Iron-Horn Army and the Norman Empire.

In the end, Colonel Scharto told Zhang Tie that there were some positions that were suitable to him in this division’s logistics headquarters. Zhang Tie could choose the one that he liked the most.

Zhang Tie knew that he must be receiving the special treatment from Colonel Scharto so as to give face to General Schwartz, the regimental commander of the Seventh Regiment and the whole Iron-Blood Camp.

”Colonel, for the concrete work schedule, I have no other opinions and requirements. I know General Schwartz dispatched me here to let the logistics department take care of me, but I’m not qualified to assume any important position based on my physical condition and abilities. If it’s alright, please arrange an easier position for me so that I won’t make too many mistakes, regardless of the job or the treatment!”

Zhang Tie’s calm and modesty left a good impression on Colonel Scharto. Generally speaking, soldiers of the Iron-Blood Camp who left the battlefield due to wounds would always have a bad temper. According to Colonel Scharto’s experience, all the military officers of the Iron-Blood Camp who had killed numerous enemy soldiers on the battlefields were arrogant and unyielding.

It was also not Colonel Scharto’s first time having contact with military officers of the Iron-Blood Camp; however, few young military officers made him comfortable like Zhang Tie when talking with them. As the logistics department was the most profitable one, many retired military officers tried everything to grab the position with the most profit and power. In contrast, Zhang Tie’s attitude for retirement was highly praised by Colonel Scharto.

’I will not let such an innocent person suffer a loss!’ he mumbled inside.

Therefore, after thinking for a few seconds, Colonel Scharto arranged a position for Zhang Tie, the full title of which was the Director of No. 9 Equipment Administration, Comprehensive Logistics Relief Branch of the Logistics Department of the Iron-Horn Army.