Chapter 2623: Chapter 875: Guardians of the Past, Transylvania Needs You! (Part 2)

Therefore, when Mayor Flanders saw Old Porter visiting, his expression changed.

He immediately knew something was wrong, so he asked his wife to take their daughter to play and gestured to his nervous eldest son to relax and put down his gun. Only then did he sit down with Captain Porter in the backroom of the country house to talk.

Old Porter wasn’t a man of many words, so after a simple greeting, he used his conspicuous mechanical arm to take a letter from his pocket and handed it to Flanders. The mayor frowned as soon as he opened it.

It was a conscription order.

But not a simple conscription order.

Unlike other drafted militias, Flanders’ document had three seals at the bottom, in addition to the personal seals of Governor Murphy and The Grand Duke of Triss, which held special significance for a former Armed Blood Servant.

That is, the mission represented by this conscription order could not be refused!

"Inviting me to serve as a brigadier general for the Transia Militia?"

Colonel Flanders clenched his fist and said hoarsely:

"I know there’s a militia draft ongoing, but has the frontline situation deteriorated to this point? I... I’m not unwilling, but I know nothing about the current construction of the Transia army, and I’m old now.

In today’s modern parlance, I’m out of step with the times."

"Haha, that’s not something you should say to me, Flanders Sir...uh, no, General Sir, if you have an opinion, you should complain to General Kudell on the frontline.

But I guess you won’t do that.

Although Transia no longer has Blood Servants, the education you received since childhood prevents you from refusing a conscription from a Midnight Duke; for you, this even represents an honor incomprehensible to most people."

Opposite him, Old Porter had a deadpan face, seemingly mocking but actually speaking the truth. Yet it made Mayor Flanders want to punch him.

This fellow had a few scars on his face, severely damaging Old Porter’s personal image and making him always look gloomy, like a villain. However, those familiar with him knew that Old Porter was just a hot-tempered illiterate fool.

He wasn’t a bad person, though it was hard to call him a good one.

Porter also sensed that his "comfort" might have been inappropriate, so he thought for a moment and said to Mayor Flanders in a tone of shared suffering:

"It’s not just you; I received a conscription order too, one I can’t refuse either. I have to return to the newly rebuilt White Oak Battle Group of the Avalon Church as a drill instructor... damned! The farm’s about to harvest, and I don’t know if the two brats at home can handle it."

"Don’t worry, my family will help you look after it."

Flanders sighed.

He looked at the conscription order in his hand, and after a few seconds of silence, asked:

"When do I leave?"

"Tonight!"

Captain Porter stood up and said:

"Wind Eagle Knights will be dispatched to pick us up here; I heard Governor Murphy wants to see you, so you’d better tidy up your appearance. You were once a colonel, now you’ve become a general. This is great news, why not smile more?"

"You were once a Witch Hunter with a crime, and now you’ve become an esteemed instructor of a battle group? I haven’t seen you smile either, you bastard."

Flanders cursed:

"We are all people who should be forgotten, with dismal pasts and futures that should be bleak. Being able to live the latter half of our lives in peace is already a blessing from fate, but unexpectedly, we still couldn’t escape the call of war..."

"That’s because this land is calling out; it doesn’t want to lose anything more, so it greedily wants to clutch onto everything it currently owns. And you and I... are the vanguards sent out by this land to protect its present!

If born for it, naturally, we must die for it."

Once a Witch Hunter, Old Porter’s superstitious rhetoric was surprisingly well-practiced. He moved his new mechanical arm and bid farewell to Mayor Flanders.

This piece was a gift from Captain Natalie when she visited an old friend.

It’s reportedly a high-end product brought back from Charldo Harbor, indeed better than the nearly rusted combat claws he once had; at least it’s more convenient for holding shovels and scythes than claws made for slitting throats.

Porter believed that when he used this mechanical arm to wield the Hunter’s Sword once again, he could return to his former role as the ruthless hunter.

He donned his felt hat, saluted to the worried Mrs. Mackent as he left, then walked away briskly.

Holding the conscription order, standing in the backyard, Mayor Flanders looked at the sky for a long time without speaking, until his wife, sons, and young daughter gathered around him. He finally took a deep breath, turned his head, smiled at his family, and said:

"I am going to war.

This is the fate of the Mackent family men; since the era of my great-great-grandfather’s father, we’ve fought for this land under the banner of the Blood Vulture Clan. We’ve been through three Black Disasters, and we’ve had our homes destroyed and lives lost, yet the Mackent family has miraculously endured.

Now it’s my turn to tread the path our ancestors walked."

"But Father! Haven’t you always said that such an evil tradition has been completely ended by Governor Murphy and The Grand Duke of Triss?"