Witch, Fireball and the Evil God of Steam
Chapter 103 - 102: Large Online Chatroom

Chapter 103: Chapter 102: Large Online Chatroom

"Hello? Calling Nana, I feel like having some stew. Bring some meat when you come back. This is Hereafter."

"And bring me some lamp wicks too, this is Ave."

"Don’t forget to feed Miss Keroy, she’s home alone. This is Teacher Cat."

"Roger that, we’ll have savory stew with shepherd’s pie tonight. This is Nana."

"We have a lot of yogurt and jam at home, eat more of it recently, and don’t let it spoil. If you can’t finish it, remember to feed it all to Miss Keroy. This is Teacher Cat."

Ethan was walking on a small path outside Ximu Town, and the energy crystal hadn’t stopped buzzing. He never expected this group to turn it into a large chat room. Even going out to buy something required constant communication. Even the well-informed Teacher Cat was the most eager to chat.

Teacher Cat always sat on his shoulder without walking, and all her free time was spent chatting—she never talked this much when there was no phone.

This atmosphere...

is like an elementary school student who just got their first cellphone!

Ethan recalled his elementary school days, wishing to chat with classmates via text when he first got a phone—things that modern people take for granted were beyond the dreams of people in this era.

"You really are a genius!"

Teacher Cat’s tail lightly brushed against Ethan’s cheek, her eyes squinting with a smile.

Finally, a student has achieved something!

The more she thought, the happier she became, so happy that she couldn’t help but place her mouth on Ethan’s cheek with a "smooch," "I told you my teaching methods were fine; it’s those students who are both stupid and lazy!"

The originally tedious journey also became much more interesting because of Ethan’s invention of the phone.

"Are you talking about your previous students?"

Ethan knew that before joining the Seven Council, Lindong had worked as a teacher for a few years in the academy, but it seemed her teaching career wasn’t very successful as she never mentioned it proactively.

Today, it was rare for Teacher Cat to be so cheerful, and it was evident from the frequency of her tail wagging.

"It’s about the ones I wrote ’Magic of Fireballs and Ice Arrows’ for. None of them studied well; instead, they learned spells secretly behind my back!"

Talking about her former students made her angry.

Many wanted to take shortcuts from the start, going against her teaching philosophy. Later, they even blamed her teaching content, some of whose parents were Elemental Shapers, sent to the academy from a young age. There’s nothing wrong with spending a few years laying a foundation in a place where they’d stay for over ten years.

But Ethan is a good student, smart and diligent, increasingly likeable the more she looked at him.

"Smooch~"

Another soft sound.

"What was that sound? Is something up on your side? This is Nana."

Far away in Ximu Town, Rowena didn’t miss that suspicious soft sound. After which there was no signature. With her rich dating experience, she immediately discerned that someone was doing something sneaky in a place unseen!

"Teacher Cat, don’t play dumb; I know it’s you. What are you doing? Don’t tell me you’ve snuck off to the woods under the pretense of official business! You can’t fool me, the one with decades of dating experience! This is Nana!"

"Smooch~"

Still, an unsigned soft sound seemed to carry the echo of a scornful laugh. Rowena, at the marketplace, felt thunderstruck, her steps unsteady, feeling dizzy and disoriented, holding her bag to steady herself before regaining composure.

The public chat room forbids public displays of affection!

She realized there was a huge problem with this phone, one that actively attacked its users and needed modifications!

"Ahhhhhhh!"

Ethan faintly heard what seemed like a war cry starting phase two from the energy crystal. Before Rowena could launch a full-scale reprimand, Teacher Cat promptly cut the communication, wagging her tail, continuing to hum a tune Ethan hadn’t heard before.

Meanwhile, Captain Hagrid led the Guard Team, each with a grave expression, everyone feeling conflicted.

Many miners who revolted grew up playing with them, now standing on the opposing side.

Haywood Mine wasn’t far from Ximu Town, just a few hours on foot. Besides Ximu Town, residents from Riverside Town, Twilight Town, and several other small towns worked there. Periodically, the Imperial Reserve represented the Imperial Military Industry for recruitment. Most who went seldom returned soon, occasionally sending letters back for assurance.

As the outline of Haywood Mine became visible, everyone in the Guard Corps furrowed their brows.

They smelled blood.

Even some time after the riot, the smell lingered.

Corpses lay everywhere outside the mine, with miners and musketeers intertwined, still wearing vicious death scowls. Despite being riddled with holes, they took a bite out of the gunmen at the end.

The first charge of miners was nearly wiped out; most fell on the way forward. Yet, they didn’t retreat in fear. Once they neared the gunmen, they used pickaxes and other tools to attack, successfully seizing firearms and reversing the tide with their numbers.

Hagrid walked among the bodies, imagining the battle’s brutality.

The Firearms Team was entirely eradicated.

"Who are you?"

As they approached, the musketeers, holding torches and blocking the mine entrance, leveled rifles at Hagrid and others, sharply questioning them.

Each was robust, wearing finely made armor, clearly an auxiliary unit sent later by the Imperial Military Industry, led by a skinny man in a gray robe, a distinctive outfit of an Astrology Guild magician.

Hagrid’s expression darkened.

A Transcendent had intervened.

Hagrid loudly declared, "I am Captain Hagrid under Baron Gledin of Ximu Town, here by the Baron’s orders to support."

Hearing this, the musketeers sighed in relief, and the gray-robed man approached Hagrid, saying, "We have cleared the miners outside the mine, but the interior’s terrain is still complex. They’re armed, and none of our reconnaissance troops have returned."

Faced with this situation, no one was willing to take the lead anymore.

They weren’t knights. Most were former mercenaries, working for the consortium for money, not wanting to risk their lives.

Moreover, they felt the miners were doomed, with water and supplies running out soon. They only needed to secure the exits to starve them. However, the Imperial Military Industry urged them to quickly quell the rebellion and restore operations of Haywood Mine.

The musketeers eyed Hagrid’s group—this Guard Team from Ximu Town—thinking they could serve as