Chapter 779 - 778: Friends in Conversation

Matilda Augustus, one of the most outstanding offspring of Emperor Rosetta Augustus, is praised as the Highmountain’s Flower of the Empire, the most radiant jewel of Aldernon.

These dazzling halos added to her already remarkable demeanor, making many naturally feel awe and dare not approach.

Yet even so, she still has her confidant and close friends.

The heir of the Wendell clan, who inherited the title of Wolf General, is one of them.

"We’ve already met ceremonially, we can relax a bit," the imperial princess smiled, nodding gently to Andresha, "We haven’t seen each other for almost two years, right? Last time when you returned to the imperial capital, I happened to go to the fiefdom to handle affairs and missed it."

"The necessary etiquette must still be observed," Andresha relaxed a bit but still stood straight, appearing rather meticulous, "Last time returning to the imperial capital... was due to the defeat in the Palamere Highlands confrontation, really not a glorious affair, meeting you then would probably be quite awkward for me..."

"The confrontation in the Palamere Highlands... I heard about the process," Matilda, in her black dress, said with a bit of sigh, "You can’t put all the blame on yourself, the battlefield situation changes rapidly, your judgment at least brought almost all soldiers back to Winterwolf Fortress."

"... It truly is hard to express in words." Andresha recalled that rainy night, finally ending with a sigh.

The members of the envoy who accompanied Princess Matilda were soon arranged to rest within Winterwolf Fortress, while Matilda and Andresha left the castle’s main hall together to the high walls of the fortress, walking along the patrol route that soldiers used daily, on this frontier at the empire’s northwest edge.

The cold winter wind blew across the walls, raising the flags hanging atop them, but this cold wind could not affect the powerful high-order Transcendent at all. Armor-clad and sword-wielding Andresha walked steadily on the outer side of the walls, with a solemn expression, as if reviewing this fortress, while the black court gown-wearing Matilda walked silently beside her, the beautiful and floating gown seemingly mismatched with the cold winter wind of the eastern frontier and the mottled, heavy walls, yet on her, there was no discord.

This Pearl of Aldernon walked on the towering walls of Winterwolf Fortress, still as graceful and dignified as walking through the palace corridors.

"You look as though you are inspecting the troops, seemingly ready at any moment to lead the knights onto the battlefield," Matilda glanced at Andresha beside her, speaking gently, "Is this how you always are when on the border?"

"It can indeed turn into a battlefield at any time here," Andresha said solemnly, "We cannot afford to be lax on the frontier."

Matilda’s gaze seemed mildly helpless, shaking her head after a shallow smile, "Tell me about the Cecil Clan, tell me your impressions of them. I am tasked with going to that nation, but the ’Anzu’ I know is in the past — how different is the new Empire from Anzu?"

"Cecil... Cecil is far more dangerous than Anzu," Andresha paused for a moment in her steps, then continued as she walked, "Anzu is a decaying old beast, once powerful and glorious but has become rotten and weak due to its rigid systems and internal conflicts, while it still retains the strength for one last struggle, just dragging on for a while will see it fall into near-death by itself;

"Cecil, on the other hand, is a newly arisen beast within the flesh of this old animal, developing and maturing at a speed far beyond what we imagined. It has a very wise, broad-minded, and experienced ruler, as well as a highly efficient system of officials assisting in governance. Just from a military standpoint — as that is what I am most familiar with — the Cecil Empire’s army has undergone much deeper reforms than us.

"No, that phrasing isn’t accurate, it’s not a reform since the whole warfare system of the Cecil Clan is newly forged, I have seen their speed of mobilization and execution capability, efficiency that old-style armies could never achieve regardless of reforms — in this regard, perhaps only a few of our Transcendent armies could match them."

Matilda couldn’t help but slow her pace, her eyes looking at Andresha with a hint of surprise, "It sounds... you are not optimistic about the situation at all?"

"I am only stating the facts."

"...With such a personality as yours, you’re indeed not suited to stay in the imperial capital," Matilda shook her head helplessly, "Just based on your candid statements, you’d already be receiving countless questions and criticisms in the Congress."

"Debating in Congress isn’t going to increase our army count," Andresha said very straightforwardly, "Anzu was weak back then, that’s a fact, and Cecil is strong now, that’s also a fact."

"...In your view, Cecil is already stronger than us?" Matilda suddenly asked.

Andresha did not immediately reply this time; after pondering for a moment, she seriously said, "I do not think so."

"Oh? That doesn’t quite align with your previous ’stating facts’."

"I have been collecting intelligence about them, though our spies placed there suffer great setbacks, they are still operating, and leveraging that, my advisors and I analyzed Cecil’s situation," Andresha suddenly stopped, looking into Matilda’s eyes, her gaze carrying a sort of fervor, "That Empire is stronger than us in certain aspects, strong in a more efficient official system and more advanced Magic Guide Technology, yet these two things require time to fully convert into ’national strength’, and currently they are far from fully achieving this conversion.

"Order after the war needs reshaping, many officials are struggling in this aspect; a large population needs pacifying, destroyed lands need rebuilding, and new laws require promotion; rapidly expanding territories and relatively fewer military forces lead them to deploy many soldiers domestically to maintain stability, while newly trained troops have yet to fully develop fighting capabilities — no matter how easy to operate those Magic Guide gears are, soldiers require periods to learn and familiarize themselves;

"They have relatively advanced Magic Guide Technology, but those blueprints can only queue up in factories because minerals won’t be mined within minutes, nor will steel transform into machines instantaneously. Though their emperor established new-style schools, how many students can be trained at one time, and how many can smoothly transition into workers, officials, and soldiers?

"In the Palamere Highlands, a War Fortress blocked our pioneering knights, we once thought it was a trap prepared early by the Cecil Clan, but later intelligence indicated that this War Fortress likely arrived at Palamere Highlands less than an hour before us! Before this, Longwind Fortress lacked sufficient soldiers and ’Skyfire Devices’!"

Andresha spoke a great deal in one breath while Matilda listened quietly and carefully without interrupting her friend until Andresha paused before she spoke, "So, what’s your conclusion?"

"The Cecil Empire is still weaker than us because we possess multiples more professional Transcendents than them, with decades of reserved Beyonder gears, gryphon legions, Mages, and pioneering knights, which can resist and even defeat those magic machineries.

"But it takes us decades to train a Mage, and once dead, they cannot be replenished in short order; while they only need mere moments to produce a machine, soldiers taking only months or weeks of training to operate them, last time they deployed just one ’War Fortress’, but I strongly suspect their second War Fortress is likely about to roll out from the factory! Do we have a second Iron River Knights?

"As I mentioned earlier, Cecil’s advantage is their Magic Guide Technology and the system known as ’Administrative Office’, though these cannot be immediately converted into national strength, yet it means once these transform into national strength, we will have no chance at all!"

Andresha’s tone gradually became agitated.

In the cold winter wind, atop the centuries-old walls of Winterwolf Fortress, the young female general who commands the Winterwolf Legion clenched her fists, as if trying hard to grasp a fleeting opportunity, as if trying to remind the royal descendant in front of her that there is a brewing crisis, and not to wait until the last moment is missed to realize it’s too late.

"I have already written to His Majesty the Emperor, and explained this point of view to the Noble Congress in Aldernon," Andresha said urgently, "Cecil is very dangerous to the Empire, very, very dangerous. I can feel it, I can sense they are still preparing for war, although they keep sending out seemingly peaceful signals, the changes at Longwind Fortress on the border are evident. I think their current actions—whether it’s increasing trade circulation, establishing embassies, exchanging students, railway cooperation, investment plans—there are issues within them..."

This time, before Andresha could become more agitated, Matilda suddenly interrupted her friend: "I understand, Andresha, I understand what you mean."

Andresha stopped, finally noticing the deep expression on Matilda’s face.

Solemn yet tinged with resignation.

"The magic guide technology and the Administrative Office will rapidly enhance Cecil’s national strength, therefore they will soon become an extraordinarily powerful enemy, and now perhaps is our last chance to extinguish this enemy—otherwise, if we maintain the current direction of development, with each day of delay, this opportunity will grow ever more distant—that’s what you mean to say."

Andresha slowly nodded: "...Yes."

"In Aldernon, similar conclusions have long reached the desk in the Obsidian Palace."

Andresha looked at Matilda in astonishment.

"Curious who reached the same conclusion as you?" Matilda quietly looked at this old friend of hers, seeming to carry a touch of sigh, "It was the Noble Congress you called ’all talk’, as well as the royal advisory board.

"The conclusion was reached three days after you last left Aldernon.

"Andresha, the advisory board in the imperial capital, are far more numerous than here, and the gentlemen and ladies in the Congress are no fools—under the triple spires of the Noble Congress, there may be those who are selfish, but none who are stupid or mediocre."

Andresha’s eyes widened.

Faced with this unexpected truth, she did not feel embarrassed or annoyed, because before those emotions spread, her first thought was a question: "But... why..."

"It’s too late, that’s the only reason," Matilda said quietly, "The situation no longer allows for it."

Andresha couldn’t help but say: "But we still hold..."

"If there were only Cecil and Typhon in this world, things would be a lot simpler, but Andresha, Typhon’s borders do not have only the Winterwolf Fortress which you guard as a defensive line," Matilda interrupted Andresha again, "We missed what might have been our only chance, after you left Aldernon, maybe even after you withdrew from the Palamere Highlands, we already lost the opportunity to easily defeat Cecil.

"Now, even if we still hold an advantage, once embroiled in war we will undoubtedly be torn apart by those steel machines.

"And in the south, our relations with the Highmountain Kingdom are not good, as well as with the silver elves... surely you wouldn’t think that those elves living in the forest, who love art, also love peace?"

Andresha fell silent.

She was merely one of the empire’s border generals; being able to sense some international trends already put her ahead of many people.

But she could ultimately only see a part, the vast expanse of the entire empire’s long borders was too much for her.

Beside her, Matilda slowly said: "We are no longer the only powerful empire in the human world, nor are there any weak city-states or alien races around for us to annex. My father, as well as your father, and the councilors and advisors, are meticulously reviewing Typhon Empire’s foreign policies over the past century, the current international situation, and some mistakes we’ve made, while seeking ways to remedy them. It is for this reason that Earl Hall Mak, responsible for engaging with the Highmountain Kingdom, is striving—his negotiations in the Blue Rock Hills involve more than just doing business with the Highmountain Kingdom and the elves."

The wall fell silent for a moment; only the howling wind stirred the flags, persistently flapping behind them.

Matilda broke the silence: "Now, do you understand the purpose of me and the diplomatic delegation I lead?"

"I’m sorry, Matilda," Andresha took a breath, "I oversimplified some things."

"Don’t worry about it—as a Wolf General, you’re just doing what you’re supposed to do."

Andresha nodded, yet her face looked quite unsightly.

"What’s wrong?" Matilda was somewhat concerned, "Thought of something again?"

"Nothing," Andresha sighed, "Embarrassment... has surfaced."

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