Matilda Augustus, one of the finest children of Rosetta the Great, is known as the flower of the empire and the brightest pearl of Aldenan.

These dazzling halos are superimposed on her already good temperament, which can make many people involuntarily awe of her and dare not approach her.

But even so, she has her own confidants and friends.

The heir of the Wendell family, who inherited the title of wolf general, is one of them.

"We've already seen the ceremony, we can relax," the Imperial Princess smiled and nodded lightly to Andessa, "We haven't seen each other for almost two years, haven't we?" Last time you returned to the imperial capital, I happened to go to the fiefdom to deal with things, and I missed it like that. ”

"The necessary rules still have to be followed," Andesa relaxed a little, but still stood up straight, rather meticulous, "Last time I returned to the imperial capital...... It's because of the loss of the confrontation in the Paramel Heights, which is really not very glorious, and I am afraid that I will be a little embarrassed when you and I meet at that time......"

"Confrontation in the Paramel Heights...... I've heard what happened," said Matilda, dressed in a black dress, with a slight sigh, "I can't put all the blame on you, the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and your judgment has brought at least almost all the soldiers back to Winterwolf." ”

“…… It's hard to put into words. Andesa recalls that rainy night, and finally stops with a sigh.

The members of the mission who had followed Princess Matilda were quickly arranged to rest in the Winterwolf Castle, while Matilda and Andesa left the main hall of the castle and walked to the high walls of the fortress, following the path that soldiers routinely patrolled, at the forefront of the northwestern frontier of the empire.

The cold winter wind blew through the city walls, raising the flags hanging on the walls, but this cold wind could not affect the powerful high-level transcendents in the slightest. Andelsa, who was in armor and holding a sword, walked calmly on the outside of the city wall, with a serious expression, as if she was inspecting the fortress, and Matilda, who was wearing a black court dress, walked silently beside her, the gorgeous and light long dress should have been completely incompatible with the cold wind and cold east border and the mottled and heavy city walls, but in her, there was no sense of disobedience.

The pearl of Aldernan walked slowly on the towering walls of Winterwolf Castle, still as graceful and majestic as walking in the cloisters of the court.

"You look like you're reviewing your troops, as if you're ready to rush into battle with the knights," Matilda glanced at Andesa next to her and said gently, "You've always been like this when you're at the border?" ”

"This is going to be a battlefield at any moment," Andesa said with a serious face, "and the border cannot be relaxed. ”

Matilda's eyes seemed to have a hint of helplessness, and she smiled lightly and shook her head: "Tell me about the Cecil, tell me your impression of them." I was ordered to go to that country, but all I knew was the 'Ansu' of the past - how different was the new empire from Ansu? ”

Cecil ...... Cecil is far more dangerous than Ansu," Andesa paused for a moment, then said as she continued on her way, "Ansu is a decrepit old beast, once powerful and beautiful, but it has become decaying with the rigidity of its own system and internal contradictions, although it still retains the strength to fight back, but as long as it drags on for a few days, it will fall into the near death of itself;

"Cecil is a beast born out of the flesh and blood of this old beast, and it is developing and maturing faster than we can imagine. It had a very intelligent, knowledgeable and experienced ruler, as well as a very efficient system of officials to help him achieve his rule. Only from a military point of view - because I am also most familiar with this - the army of the Cecil Empire has achieved a deeper reform than ours.

"No, that's not accurate, it's not a reform, because the entire system of warfare of the Cecils has been rebuilt, and I've seen the speed of their movements and their ability to execute, which is an efficiency that the old army can't achieve no matter how much it is reformed—at this point, maybe we only have a few Legions of Transcendents who can match it."

Matilda couldn't help but slow down, looking at Andesa with a little surprise in her eyes: "Sounds ...... You are not optimistic about the situation at all? ”

"I'm just stating the facts."

“…… It's really not suitable for you to stay in the Imperial Capital," Matilda shook her head helplessly, "The facts you have frankly stated are enough for you to receive countless doubts and criticisms in the Parliament. ”

"Playing tricks in the council can't make our army bigger," Andesa said very directly, "It's a fact that Ansu was weak back then, and it's also true that Cecil is strong now. ”

“…… In your opinion, Cecil is already stronger than us? Matilda asked suddenly.

Andesa didn't answer immediately this time, but thought for a moment before she said seriously: "I don't think so. ”

"Oh? This is not consistent with the list of 'facts you just stated'. ”

"I've been gathering information on them, and the spies we have placed there are still active even though they have been hit hard, and with the help of these, my advisors and I have analyzed the situation in Cecil," Andesa stopped suddenly, she looked into Matilda's eyes with a certain burning in her gaze, "There are places where the empire is stronger than us, they are stronger than us in the more efficient official system and more advanced magic technology, but these two things, it will take time to transform." 'of national strength', and now they have not fully completed this transformation.

"The post-war order needs to be rebuilt, and a large number of officials are struggling to do so; Large populations need to be pacified, destroyed land needs to be rebuilt, and new laws need to be extended; The rapid expansion of the land and the relatively small military strength meant that they had to devote a large number of soldiers to maintaining domestic stability, and the newly trained troops had not yet had time to develop their combat effectiveness—even if the magic equipment was easy to operate, the soldiers needed a process of learning and familiarization;

"They have relatively advanced magic technology, but those drawings can only be queued in the factory, because ore can't be mined in a moment, and steel can't be turned into a machine in an instant. Their emperors set up new schools, but how many students could be produced at the same time, and how many of these students were successfully transformed into workers, officials, and soldiers?

"At the Palamel Heights, a war fortress held back our knights, and we thought it was a trap prepared by the Cecils in advance, but later intelligence revealed that the war fortress may have arrived in the Palamel Heights less than an hour before us! And before that, there weren't enough soldiers at all in the Long Wind Fortress, and there weren't enough 'Skyfire Devices'! ”

Andesa said a lot in one breath, but Matilda just listened quietly and attentively, without interrupting her friend, until Andesa stopped, she spoke: "So, what is your conclusion?" ”

"The Cecil Empire is still weaker than us, because we have professional transcendents who are several times as strong as them, and we have extraordinary armaments, griffon legions, mages and knights that have been in reserve for decades, and these things can fight and even defeat those magic machines.

"But it takes us more than ten years to train a mage, and we can't replenish it in a short time after death, it only takes them a moment to produce a machine, and the soldiers who operate the machine only need months or even weeks of training, and last time they only sent out a 'war fortress', but I very much doubt that their second war fortress is probably coming out of the factory! And do we have a second Iron River Knights?

"As I said earlier, Cecil's advantage is their magic technique and the system called the 'Government Affairs Department', and these two things cannot be immediately transformed into national power, but this also means that once these two things are transformed into national power, we will never have a chance again!"

Andessa's tone grew agitated.

In the cold winter wind, on the walls of the Winter Wolf Castle that had stood for a hundred years, the young female general at the helm of the Winter Wolf Legion clenched her fists, as if trying to hold on to an opportunity that was gradually passing, as if trying to remind the royal heir in front of her, so that she and the royal family behind her would notice the brewing crisis, and not wait for the last opportunity to miss it before feeling too late to regret it.

"I have written to His Majesty the Emperor to make this point clear to the Council of Nobles in Aldernan," Andesa said in a hurried tone, "Cecil is very dangerous to the Empire, very, very dangerous, I can feel, I can feel that they are still preparing for war, and although they have been sending out seemingly peaceful signals, the changes in the fortress of the Long Wind are evident on the border. I think there are problems in all the actions that they are doing now, whether it is increasing commercial circulation, whether it is the establishment of embassies, the exchange of students, the cooperation of railways, the investment program......"

This time, before Andesa became more agitated, Matilda suddenly interrupted her friend: "I understand, Andelsa, I know what you mean. ”

Andesa paused, and she finally noticed that there was a deep meaning in Matilda's face.

solemnly and helplessly.

"The Magic Technique and the Government Department will rapidly increase Cecil's national power, so they will soon become an extraordinarily formidable enemy, and now may be our last chance to destroy this enemy - otherwise, if we keep the current development direction, every day of delay will slim the chance - that's what you're trying to say."

Andesa nodded slowly: "...... Be. ”

"In Aldenan, a similar conclusion has long been sent to the bookcase of the Obsidian Palace."

Andesa looked at Matilda in amazement.

"Curious who came to the same conclusion as you?" Matilda looked at her long-time friend quietly, and seemed to sigh slightly, "It's the council of nobles that you call 'playing tricks', and the royal direct advisory group.

"The time you came to the conclusion was three days after your last departure from Aldernan.

"Andesa, there are many more advisors in the Imperial Capital than you are, and the gentlemen and ladies in the council are not fools - under the triple spire of the noble council, there may be selfish people, but there are no stupid and mediocre people."

Andelsa's eyes widened.

Faced with this unexpected truth, she did not feel embarrassed and ashamed, because before these emotions spread, the first thing that came to her mind was the question: "But...... Why ......"

"It's late, that's why," Matilda said quietly, "the situation doesn't allow it. ”

Andesa couldn't help but say, "But we still occupy the ......"

"It would be much easier if there were only two countries in this world, Cecil and Typhon, but Andrisa, Typhon's border is not the only defense line you guarded," Matilda interrupted Andrisa again, "We missed that probably the only chance, after you left Aldenan, and maybe even after you evacuated Palamel Heights, we lost the chance to defeat Cecil easily.

"Now, even if we can still have the upper hand, we will be torn by the flesh and blood of those steel machines when we get involved in the war.

"And to the south, the relationship between the Kaolin Kingdom and us is not good, and there are silver elves...... Do you think that those elves who live in the forest love art and love peace? ”

Andesa fell silent.

She is only one of the border generals of the empire, and she can sniff out some international trends, but she has actually surpassed many people.

But after all, she could only see part of it, and the long border of the entire empire was too wide for her.

Beside her, Matilda said slowly: "We are no longer the only powerful empire in the human world, and there are no longer weak city-states and alien races around us that can be annexed, my father, and your father, as well as parliamentarians and advisors, are carefully combing through the foreign policy of the Typhon Empire in the past hundred years, the current international situation, and some of the mistakes we have made, and are looking for ways to make amends, and Count Hallmark, who is in charge of contact with the Kaolin Kingdom, is working on this - he went to the Blue Rock Hills to negotiate, It's not just about doing business with the Kaolin Kingdom and the elves. ”

The walls fell silent for a moment, except for the howling wind that swept the flags and agitated behind them.

Matilda broke the silence: "Now, you should understand the meaning of me and the envoy group I lead, right?" ”

"I'm sorry, Matilda," Andesa exhaled, "I've thought of some things too simply. ”

"Don't worry - as a wolf general, you're just doing what you're supposed to do."

Andesa nodded, but her face looked very ugly.

"What's wrong?" Matilda couldn't help but be a little concerned, "What do you think of?" ”

"Nothing," Andesa sighed, "embarrassing...... It came up. ”