Mathilda Augustus, one of the most outstanding children of Emperor Rosetta. She was known as the most beautiful flower of the Empire and the most dazzling pearl of the Oldenheim family.
These dazzling halos superimposed on her already extraordinary temperament could make many people involuntarily revere her and not dare to approach her.
But even so, she still had her own close friends.
The heir of the Wendell family who inherited the title of Wolf General was one of them.
"We have already greeted each other, so you can relax." The princess smiled and nodded lightly at Andesha. "We haven't seen each other for almost two years, right? The last time you returned to the capital, I happened to go to my fief to deal with some matters and missed you. "
"The necessary rules still have to be followed." Andesha relaxed a little, but still stood up straight with a rather meticulous look. "The last time I returned to the capital … was because of the failure in the confrontation at Palamel Highlands. It was really not glorious. I'm afraid that when we meet again, I will be a little embarrassed …"
"The confrontation at Palamel Highlands … I heard what happened," Mathilda said with a sigh in her black dress. "I can't put all the blame on you. The situation on the battlefield changes rapidly, and your judgment at least brought almost all the soldiers back to Winterwolf Fort."
"… It's really hard to explain." Andesha recalled that rainy night and sighed in the end.
The members of the diplomatic group who came with Princess Mathilda were quickly arranged to rest in Winterwolf Fort. Mathilda and Andesha left the main hall of the fort together and came to the high walls of the fort. They walked along the path that the soldiers patrolled daily, strolling at the frontline of the northwestern border of the Empire.
The cold winter wind blew past the walls and fluttered the flags hanging on the walls, but this cold wind did not affect the powerful high-ranked Extraordinaries in the slightest. Andesha, who was clad in armor and wielding a sword, walked steadily outside the city walls. Her expression was solemn as if she was inspecting the fortress. Mathilda, who was clad in a long black dress, walked silently beside Andesha. Her long dress was supposed to be incompatible with the cold winds of the Eastern Region and the mottled city walls, but she did not seem out of place at all.
The Pearl of Oldenheim walked slowly on the towering walls of Winterwolf Fort as if she was walking in the corridors of the palace.
"You look like you are inspecting the troops, as if you are ready to lead the Knight to the battlefield at any time," Mathilda looked at Andesha and said gently. "Have you always been like this at the border?"
"This place can become a battlefield at any time," Andesha said with a serious face. "The border cannot be laxed."
There was a hint of helplessness in Mathilda 'eyes. She smiled and shook her head..... Tell me your impression of Cecil's people. I was ordered to go to that country, but I am only familiar with the 'Ansu' of the past. How different is the new Empire from the Ansu? "
"Cecil … The Ansu is far more dangerous than the Cecil," Andesha paused for a moment, then continued walking. "The Ansu is a decaying old beast. It was once powerful and glorious, but it has become rotten due to the rigidity of its system and internal conflicts. Although it still has the strength to fight back, it will fall into a state of near death if it drags on for a few days.
"Cecil is a beast born from the flesh and blood of this old beast, and its speed of development and maturity is far beyond our imagination. It has a very intelligent, knowledgeable, and experienced ruler, and a very efficient system of officials to help him achieve his rule. From a military point of view — because I am the most familiar with this — the Cecil Empire's army has undergone a deeper reform than ours.
"No, that is not accurate. It is not a reform because the Cecil Empire's entire war system is remade. I have seen their speed of mobilization and execution, and it is an efficiency that the old army could not achieve no matter how much it was reformed. In this regard, perhaps only a few of our supernatural legions can rival them."
Mathilda could not help but slow down and looked at Andesha with some surprise. "It sounds like … you are not optimistic about the situation at all?"
"I am just stating the facts."
"… With your personality, it is not suitable for you to stay in the imperial capital." Mathilda shook her head helplessly. "Just based on the facts that you have stated, it is enough for you to receive countless doubts and criticisms in the parliament."
"We can't increase the number of our troops just by talking in the council," Andesha said bluntly. "It's a fact that Anzu was weak back then, and it's also a fact that Cecil is strong now."
"… In your opinion, Cecil is already stronger than us?" Mathilda suddenly asked.
Andesha did not answer immediately this time. Instead, she thought for a moment and said seriously, "I do not think so."
"Oh? This is not consistent with your 'stating the facts' just now. "
"I've been collecting intelligence on them. Even though the spies we planted there have suffered a huge blow, they are still active. With this information, my team of advisors and I have analyzed the situation in Cecil." Andesha suddenly stopped talking. She looked into Mathilda's eyes with a burning gaze. "That empire is stronger than us in many aspects. They have a more efficient official system and more advanced magical technology. However, these two things require time to transform into 'national strength', and they have yet to complete the transformation.
"After the war, order needs to be rebuilt. A large number of officials are exhausted in this regard. A large number of people need to be pacified, destroyed lands need to be rebuilt, and new laws need to be promoted. The rapid expansion of land and the relatively small military force means that they have to use a large number of soldiers to maintain stability in the country, and the newly trained troops are not yet ready for combat. Even if the magical equipment is easy to operate, the soldiers still need time to learn and familiarize themselves with it.
"They have relatively advanced magical technology, but the blueprints can only be obtained in the factories because the ores cannot be mined in a short time, and the steel cannot be turned into machines in an instant. Their emperor has set up new schools, but how many students can be trained at the same time? How many of these students can be successfully transformed into workers, officials, and soldiers?
"In the Palamel Highlands, a battle fortress blocked our Knight Regiment. We thought that it was a trap prepared by Cecil, but later the intelligence showed that the battle fortress may have reached the Palamel Highlands less than an hour before us! Before that, the Longwind Stronghold did not have enough soldiers, and did not have enough 'Skyfire Devices'! "
Andesha said a lot in one breath, and Mathilda only listened quietly without interrupting her friend. When Andesha stopped, she asked, "Then, what is your conclusion?"
"The Cecil Empire is still weaker than us because we have several times more extraordinary professionals than them. We have decades of extraordinary equipment, the Gryphon Legion, the Magicians, and the Knight Regiment. These things can resist and even defeat those magical machines.
"But we need more than ten years to train a magician, and we can't replenish them in a short time after they die. They only need a moment to produce a machine, and the soldiers who operate the machine only need a few months or even weeks of training. They only sent out one 'battle fortress' last time, but I suspect that their second battle fortress is about to come out of the factory! And do we have a second Iron River Knight Regiment?
"Like I said, Cecil's advantage is their magical technology and the system called the 'Government Office'. These two things can't be converted into national strength immediately, but this also means that once these two things are converted into national strength, we won't have another chance!"
Andesha's tone gradually became agitated.
In the cold winter wind, on the walls of the Winterwolf Stronghold that had stood for a hundred years, the young female general clenched her fists as if she was trying to grab hold of an opportunity that was gradually slipping away. It was as if she was trying her best to remind the royal heir in front of her that she and the royal family behind her were aware of the brewing crisis. She did not want to wait until it was too late to regret after missing the last chance.
"I've already written a letter to His Majesty and the Noble Parliament in Oldenheim," Andesha said hurriedly, "Cecil is very, very dangerous to the Empire. I can feel it, I can feel that they are still preparing for war. Even though they have been releasing seemingly peaceful signals, the changes in Longwind Stronghold are obvious to all the people at the border. I feel that there are problems in their various actions, whether it's increasing the trade flow, building an embassy, exchanging students, railway cooperation, investment plans … "
This time, before Andesha could become even more agitated, Mathilda suddenly interrupted her good friend, "I understand, Andesha. I understand what you mean."
Andesha stopped talking. She finally noticed that Mathilda's expression seemed to have a deeper meaning.
There was a hint of helplessness in her solemn expression.
"The magic technology and the government office will rapidly increase Cecil's national strength, and they will soon become an extremely powerful enemy. And this may be the last chance for us to eliminate this enemy. Otherwise, if they continue to develop in the current direction, this chance will become slimmer with every day we delay. This is what you want to say, right?"
Andesha nodded slowly, "… … Yes."
"In Oldenheim, a similar conclusion has already been sent to the Obsidian Palace."
Andesha looked at Mathilda in shock.
"Are you curious who came to the same conclusion as you?" Mathilda looked at her good friend quietly and sighed, "It's the Noble Parliament that you call 'glib-tongued', and the Royal Advisory Group.
"They came to this conclusion three days after you left Oldenheim.
"Andesha, there are more advisors in the Imperial Capital than here. The gentlemen and ladies in the Parliament are not fools. Perhaps there are some selfish people under the Parliament, but there are definitely no fools." Andesha said with a frown, "There are more advisors in the Imperial Capital than here.
Andesha's eyes widened.
In the face of this unexpected truth, she did not feel embarrassed or embarrassed, because the first thing that came to her mind was a question, "But … … Why … …"
"It's too late. This is the only reason," Mathilda said quietly, "The situation does not allow it."
Andesha could not help but say, "But we still have … …"
"If there were only two countries in the world, Cecil and Typhon, the situation would be much simpler. But Andesha, Typhon's borders do not only have the Winterwolf Fortress," Mathilda interrupted Andesha's words again, "We have missed our only chance. After you left Oldenheim, and perhaps even after you left Palamel Highlands, we have already lost the chance to easily defeat Cecil.
"Now, even if we still have the advantage, we will be torn apart by those steel machines once we enter the war.
"And in the south, our relationship with the Kaolin Kingdom is not good, and there are also the Silver Elves … … Don't tell me you think that those Elves who live in the forest will love peace just because they love art?"
Andesha fell silent.
She was only one of the generals at the borders of the Empire, and her ability to sniff out the direction of the international situation had surpassed many people.
But in the end, she could only see part of the Empire's long borders, which was too vast for her to see.
Mathilda said slowly beside her, "We are no longer the only powerful Empire in the human world, and there are no weak cities and races around us for us to swallow. My father, your father, and the councilors and advisors are carefully sorting out the foreign policy of the Empire of Typhon in the past hundred years, the current international situation, and the mistakes we have made in the past. They are also looking for ways to make up for it. Count Hallmark, who is in charge of contacting the Kaolin Kingdom, is working hard on this. He went to the Blue Rocky Hills to negotiate, and it is not just to do business with the Kaolin Kingdom and the Elves."
The city walls were silent for a moment, and only the whistling wind blew the flags behind them.
Mathilda broke the silence, "Now, you should understand the purpose of me and my envoy's existence, right?"
"I'm sorry, Mathilda." Andesha sighed, "I thought too simply of some things."
"Don't mind it. As a Wolf General, you are just doing what you should do."
Andesha nodded, but her expression was unpleasant.
"What's wrong?" Mathilda was concerned, "What did you think of again?"
"Nothing." Andesha sighed, "Awkwardness … … came up."
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