Chapter 1626 - 100: Fox and Rat Game (10)

Chapter 1626: Chapter 100: Fox and Rat Game (10)

[Maplestone City Officer Academy]

Because he was punished by the pretty boy to clean the toilets, by the time Houdel arrived at the venue, the seats near the podium were already packed.

A glance revealed a crowd bustling under the oak tree in the corner of the playground, more cramped than infantry square formations surrounded by cavalry.

"If a cannonball were to come," Houdel mused, "wouldn’t it take away twenty people?"

The esteemed Principal John Jeska attached great importance to the lecture by a certain "special teacher," ordering that all able-bodied staff and students must attend, and even requiring that bedridden patients, as long as they weren’t deaf, be carried to listen.

His Grace the Principal even wanted to make this "special teacher’s" lecture an open lesson for all new army officers.

For this, the old man personally went to headquarters to call out to all departments, asking anyone with available time to come and listen.

However, everyone must have been very busy because, after searching around, Houdel found only a few officer uniforms floating alone in the sea of student uniforms, as sparse as meat chunks in cafeteria soup.

Blood Wolf didn’t come, neither did the bald guy or glasses, nor any other officers, only Lord Mason came with his subordinates to support the old superior.

It seemed that everyone wasn’t very interested in this "legendary Empire general."

Even so, the venue was still incredibly crowded.

Because the impoverished Maplestone City Officer Academy didn’t have indoor space to accommodate such a crowd, it could only erect several sunshades under the oak tree in the northwest corner of the playground, barely serving as a classroom. Even the podium was temporarily nailed together from grenade boxes.

The shaded area under the canvas was quite limited, and with the summer sun so vicious, everyone tried to squeeze under it, making Houdel feel sticky just looking.

"Hope the pretty boy didn’t forget to take the grenades out of the boxes," Houdel thought wickedly.

Imagining the scene where the pretty boy really forgot to remove the grenades and the Imperial Guy gets blown up by the sun halfway through the lecture, ascending right there, delighted Houdel to the point of trembling.

But all he could do was fantasize. The most pressing issue now was finding a seat.

The shaded spots were already gone, and Houdel, in despair, realized that even if the pretty boy had forgotten to empty the grenade boxes, he himself would definitely get roasted before the grenades.

So, a bold idea emerged—since attendance wouldn’t be taken, why not just skip the class, comfortably nap, and return later?

As Houdel pondered whether to leave immediately or sit for a while and sneak away later, Claude, who had reserved a spot in the shade, spotted him.

"Hey! Monkey!" Claude shouted, "Over here!"

Next to him, Little Majiya also waved vigorously to Houdel.

Houdel wished he could sew their mouths shut because their shouting immediately attracted the pretty boy’s attention.

"Houdel," the pretty boy walked around from the edge of the venue and asked with a smile, "Finished cleaning the toilets?"

"Yes, officer, finished," Houdel hurriedly replied, afraid of getting more points deducted.

"For a soldier, cleaning toilets is also an important task, not easier than feeding pigs," the pretty boy said with an even broader smile, "Keep it up."

"Yes," Houdel saluted, humiliated.

The pretty boy nodded, turned to leave, but then came back after taking one step, looking Houdel up and down and jokingly asked, "You’re not thinking of skipping class, are you?"

"No, no," Houdel shook his head frantically, "Absolutely not, I love classes the most."

"Then sit down."

"There’s no space..." Houdel kept wiping his sweat. ℯℯ𝘭.

"Isn’t there plenty of space?"

"Too... too sunny."

The pretty boy scanned the area and pointed at Little Majiya and Claude: "Over there, haven’t they saved you a seat?"

Houdel was genuinely unwilling to go to Claude and Little Majiya because they were seated in the middle of the crowd, once in, there’s no coming out.

But with the pretty boy watching, Houdel could only bite the bullet and squeeze into the crowd.

Over there, Claude and Little Majiya continued waving vigorously at Houdel.

Here, almost every step Houdel took, he either stepped on someone’s fingers or brushed against someone’s pants, complaints were endless.

"Forget it!" Houdel couldn’t bear squeezing any further and backed out of the crowd, helplessly telling the pretty boy, "I’ll just sit outside."

"Alright," the pretty boy kept smiling, but his words were ominously authoritative, "but I must remind you, you’re running low on points."

"Understood," Houdel was drenched in sweat.

The pretty boy pointed at his eyes, then at Houdel, and left with a smile, leaving Houdel on the verge of tears.

The sand and stones on the playground were baked scorching by the sunlight, and as soon as Houdel’s butt touched the ground, he jumped up, yelping in pain.

"Get some leaves," a fellow student, equally roasted, advised nearby.

Only then did Houdel notice that everyone else had something under their butts.

He thanked them, dashed to the woods at the edge of the playground, and broke off a large bundle of leafy branches.

From a tactical standpoint, this was the best chance to retreat, but the threat from the pretty boy before he left still echoed in his ears. So, Houdel didn’t dare linger longer, gathered up the branches, and hurriedly returned to the venue.

Unexpectedly, Claude and Little Majiya were waiting for him.

"What are you guys doing out here?" Houdel held onto the branches, saying helplessly, "Your position was so good!"

Claude took the branches and replied with a smile, "How could we let you enjoy yourself alone?"

"Alright then," Houdel was indeed touched, but he still wouldn’t let it show, "Let’s enjoy the good fortune together."

"Sitting in the back isn’t so bad," Little Majiya squatted on the ground, laying out branches and talking to himself, "Look, it’s so spacious, you could even lie down."

"Lie down?" Houdel laughed dryly, curling his lips, "You’re dreaming, look at that."

With that, Houdel discreetly pointed at the pretty boy.

Little Majiya followed his gaze and noticed Instructor Kadar’s eyes sweeping in their direction.

"That pretty boy’s a bastard; I could tell just by his posture what color shit he’s about to take," Houdel said angrily, "He’s just waiting to deduct our points! Lying down? Just sit properly!"

After arranging the branches, the three of them sat down on the ground. Although it was still hot under their seats, they at least didn’t have to experience the stone slab roast.

As soon as they sat down, Little Majiya couldn’t wait to poke Houdel’s waist and asked in a low voice, "Have you heard?"

"Heard what?" Houdel yawned.

"What else?" Claude casually pulled a thin branch from underneath him, gestured with it, wasn’t satisfied, and began searching carefully, "It’s about that Earl who’s supposed to give us a lecture."

"I heard," Houdel sneered slightly, "Seems like it’s the guy we caught that day—so that Empire famous general isn’t all that impressive."

Little Majiya whispered, "I still don’t get it, a grand Earl coming to a small place like ours and getting caught by us."

"What do you mean small place?" Houdel got upset, the pride of a New Reclamation person surging within him, "Being caught in Maplestone City, hasn’t he been wronged?"

"Maplestone City may be first here," Little Majiya explained, "but it’s nothing compared to those big cities up north, not even close in history by hundreds of years."

"So what?" Houdel kept up, "Didn’t I catch him in a net? Does a big city Earl not fear a fishing net? You might as well say big city dogs don’t eat shit."

"Little Ma didn’t mean that," Claude finally found a satisfactory branch and began weaving it into a circle, "You think, the biggest battles we’ve fought were few; but they say this Imperial Guy commanded a hundred thousand in a battle and won. Looking at that, that Imperial Guy is more... more powerful than Blood Wolf."

"What are you saying?" Houdel got impatient, "How can that golden-haired brat be more powerful than Blood Wolf? Blood Wolf commanded twenty thousand because we only had twenty thousand; that golden-haired dude commanded a hundred thousand because he could only command a hundred thousand! In an open ten thousand-man battle, Blood Wolf could twist his head off and use it for a goblet!"

"A hundred thousand-man battle means both sides combined make up a hundred thousand, not saying Count Harlan commands a hundred thousand alone..." Little Majiya weakly explained.

"Then he’s not much better than Blood Wolf?!" Houdel’s intensity rose again.

Claude suddenly threw a jab: "But still more powerful than Blood Wolf, huh?"

"I... it was..." Houdel instantly stammered, "A slip of the tongue!"

"Alright," Claude laughed, not sure when he had woven the branch into a sun hat.

Claude placed the hat on Houdel’s head and began weaving another, "I don’t believe he’s more capable than Lord, but I’m genuinely puzzled how such a big shot ends up here."

"Maybe he defected," Little Majiya interjected, "Court intrigues, my dad says nobles love their endless squabbles."

"I think he’s a spy! Espionage!" Houdel asserted strongly, "We caught another guy that day who admitted he’s a spy; that Earl must be a spy too, here to gather intel on us."

At that, Houdel suddenly regretted: "Should’ve just taken him out that day!"

"Forget it," Claude, weaving another sun hat, handed it to Little Majiya, "Major Roson repeatedly ordered prisoners; he didn’t even allow us to use sharp tools."

At this moment, other students dizzy from the sun noticed Claude was weaving straw hats.

"Hey, Claude," a classmate leaned over, lowering his voice, "Make one for me too."

"In exchange, clean the toilets for us once."

"No problem!"

"Hey, if a straw hat can swap for service, then I ought to learn," Houdel pulled out several branches, imitating Claude’s weaving style, and continued bickering, "No sharp tools? I’ll sit on his face and suffocate him!"

Claude, halfway through weaving the third hat, couldn’t help but laugh, "And then he’ll bite off your balls."

"Let him bite, let him," Houdel chuckled mischievously, "If he could open his mouth, could I not let him bite?"

Just then, a cold voice sounded behind them:

"I certainly can’t open my mouth."

Houdel turned abruptly and saw that the ’legendary Empire famous general’ with blonde hair was standing behind him, accompanied by Principal Jeska.

The temperature instantly dropped to freezing, even the sun dimmed.

Houdel wanted to say something, but the golden-haired guy had already strode to the lectern.

"Ambitious, young man," Principal Jeska left a brief comment and then, assisted by the service soldier, turned and left.

Claude and Little Majiya were dumbfounded.

"He," Claude weakly comforted Houdel, "So what if he heard? What’s he gonna do with it? Relax! It’s gonna be fine!"

"Fine?" Houdel was speechless and on the verge of tears, "He’s really gonna bite me now!"