Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

"Alright, stop flattering me. I'll take care of it," Mason sighed deeply. "But I have a condition."

"Please, go ahead," Winters sat up straight with a serious expression, as it was rare for the elder student to actively make a request.

"Find some copper, I don't believe we can't scrape together a hundred kilograms of copper material in Iron Peak County." Mason also looked out the window. "If we can't cast a large one, let's cast a small one for fun. If I don't fire a couple of shots soon, my skills will go to waste."

...

As Winters rode the carriage to Forging Village, the students of Revodan Accounting School were attending their first class.

Without paper or pencils, each student carried a shallow square tray sprinkled with fine sand, using a stick to draw in it;

There were no textbooks—Lady Montaigne was still composing them;

There were no professional teachers, and the lecturer was the most senior accountant from Priskin trading;

And there was no specialized venue, so the municipal hall's council chamber was temporarily used as a classroom.

As arranged by Lady Montaigne, the first class did not teach arithmetic or literacy but rather the logic of "double-entry bookkeeping."

"The teacher" was a bit restrained, stumbling as he spoke: "...Double-entry bookkeeping is actually quite simple, a column on the left, a column on the right—one for expenses, one for income..."

This senior accountant was already over fifty, but lecturing in front of dozens of people was a first for him, inevitably he was nervous.

The council chamber was a two-story building, with the first floor being a place for citizens to debate and conduct affairs, and the second floor for observers to take their seats.

Anna was sitting on the second floor at that moment, resting her chin on her hands as she listened on the side.

She didn't have a deep connection with Wolf Town, Revodan, or Iron Peak County, nor did she feel much for the accounting school. It was for that person that she'd been bustling about without complaint.

But now, a strange feeling was entangling her thoughts... Pride? Satisfaction? Arrogance? It seemed none of these, yet also a bit of all.

Anna couldn't figure it out, which made her slightly distressed and mostly perplexed.

However, it was indeed interesting: a school founded by a woman, admitting men to study—a first in the history of Iron Peak County, let alone Newly Reclaimed Land—although she was hidden behind Winters.

"...In double-entry bookkeeping, each transaction is recorded simultaneously as both an expense and an income in two separate ledgers. Each ledger serves as a check for the others, creating an interlocking system... Double-entry bookkeeping isn't for convenience, but to restrain greed. Never harbor evil thoughts, remember this! It's the devil whispering to you..."

Anna listened with a scrutinizing gaze.

"This teacher is not very competent, we need to replace him," Anna thought to herself. "We shouldn't have gone for the most senior accountant, but for the one with the loudest voice."

Anna put her hat back on, preparing to leave the council chamber. A casual glance at the students' seats downstairs almost made her cry out in surprise.

She saw Scarlett dressed in men's clothes and trousers, her hair cut as short as a man's, with dirt on her face, quietly sitting in the corner of the "classroom" taking notes.

Although she looked just like a young boy, Anna was certain that the boy was Scarlett Mitchell.

Anna felt a bout of dizziness; she knew Mrs. Michel was daring, but she hadn't anticipated it to this extent.

...

After class, Scarlett was thinking about sneaking out of the council hall.

A woman wrapped in a black veil stood in her way—it was Mrs. Madeleine, Mrs. Mitchell's maid.

Scarlett tried to pretend she didn't recognize Mrs. Madeleine, but Mrs. Madeleine had clearly recognized her.

So Scarlett was taken away on the spot.

Mrs. Madeleine did not take Scarlett back to see Mrs. Mitchell, but instead led her to an officers' quarters near the garrison.

Scarlett thought she was going to be reprimanded by Mr. Montaigne, but it was "Lady Montaigne" who awaited her.

"You silly girl." Anna caressed Scarlett's hair with compassion: "How could you bear to cut it off?"

"It's okay, it will grow back," Scarlett sniffed audaciously.

"Does Mrs. Mitchell know?"

Scarlett instinctively shuddered, begging pitifully, "Please don't tell my mother, she'll surely faint from anger."

"Can you keep it a secret forever?"

"The longer I can keep it, the better..."

"Why did you cut your hair?" Anna, feeling pity, pain, and bewilderment, asked: "Why?"

"I want to take classes." Scarlett answered defiantly, "I want to learn accounting."

Anna was about to ask, "Then why didn't you come directly to me?"

But recalling the awkward scene she had encountered when she first arrived at the Mitchell estate, she had some understanding.

The early stirrings of a young girl's heart, a stubborn nature, fragile and delicate pride... Anna felt as if she were looking into a mirror.

She wasn't angry, just more sympathetic, and a seed began to sprout in her heart.

"If you really want to learn accounting." Anna took Scarlett's hand, asking gently, "Would you let me teach you?"