Chapter 954: Chapter 953: Andresha’s Headache

Gawain and his companions were escorted out of the hall of the Upper Sanctum by the high-ranked Dragon Priest Helagol. Personally, he led them to the gate, and then two other priests, equally clad in luxurious robes, emerged from an unknown place to guide them towards the long bridge that connects to the elevator.

During the first half of the journey, an unusual silence reigned, possibly due to the solemn atmosphere of the temple still exerting residual effects, or perhaps because Amber and Veronica felt they were still under the scrutiny of a deity, prompting caution and reluctance to speak freely. Yet halfway through, Amber couldn’t help herself and glanced at the silent guiding Dragonkin priests, who seemed like mere tools, and quietly nudged Gawain’s arm: "Hey, don’t you find this a bit odd?"

Gawain glanced at her: "What’s odd?"

"It’s kind of strange that it suddenly stopped being talked about..." Amber said cautiously in a whisper, "I feel like the Dragon God had a lot more to say... Moreover, he specifically emphasized that we should first tour Talronde..."

"Since he wants us to tour, why not take a look? Isn’t it nice in its own way?" Gawain said nonchalantly, "As for whether he has thoughts left unspoken... that’s his business."

Amber blinked, looked at Gawain, then turned back to glance at the majestic temple beneath the stars, showing a thoughtful expression which swiftly gave way to abandoning the thought process.

She patted her cheeks, seemingly swiftly putting aside her confusion, while muttering to herself: "Ah... it feels like night, can’t help feeling sleepy..."

Gawain slowed his pace a bit, glanced at Amber, seeing that the half-elf had already rejuvenated, as usual, a perpetual grin that seemed ever present.

...

"My Lord," Heragor returned to the magnificent hall of the royal temple and bowed before the God, "They have already departed."

"You seem to have accumulated many questions?" Enya, who had returned to the central throne, looked down upon his priest, "Today, do not be reserved, speak freely."

Heragor glanced up, hesitated momentarily, then spoke: "My Lord, why would you mention the events of... one million eight hundred and seventy thousand years ago? Such secret ancient knowledge doesn’t seem to be part of the plan..."

"Some ancient and secret knowledge is kept from mortals by the Gods because they cannot bear it, but upon seeing today’s guests... I found out that perhaps I can reveal more," the mystical voice of the God echoed, carrying a slight joy, "I thought only that ’Gawain Cecil’ was somewhat special, yet they all are. Listeners are less prone to ’damage’ like ordinary mortals, which makes me quite glad."

He paused here, then sighed: "It’s been a very long time since I talked so freely with someone... I am quite looking forward to the next encounter with that ’Gawain Cecil’ alone."

Heragor raised his head unexpectedly: "You wish to meet alone with that human monarch next time?"

"A ghost surviving for a thousand years is merely a ghost, one crossing the boundary from dreams into the real world is merely a resident of the Shadow World, but one disguised as an ordinary human, someone even I cannot fully understand... is much more intriguing," the God said leisurely, "Next time, I wish to discuss with him alone, and I am also curious about what intriguing new insights he may have after personally witnessing the details of Talronde.

"Heragor, let that young blue dragon handle accompanying the guests in the future. You just need to keep an eye on the guests’ movements and ensure their safety. If unnecessary, do not disturb them."

Heragor bowed his head again: "Yes, My Lord."

The voice of Dragon God Enya simply responded with a hum, before suddenly lifting her head and gazing towards Loren Continent, her expression showing a hint of solemnity.

"So soon..." she sighed softly, speaking as if to herself, "Luckily... it’s not too far out of expectations..."

...

As Fog Month approached, the temperature rapidly dropped across most northern regions, with Winterwolf Fortress at the Empire’s northern border among the first affected. Cold winds from the northern regions swept past gentle hills and plains, blowing across the wilderness and valleys, relentlessly harassing the highlands and checkpoints where the pioneering knights stationed, as if overnight, this border land became desolate, vegetation yellowed, and the winter chill descended on the earth.

Andresha Wendell, dressed in warm yet light knight’s casual attire, traveled through the marketplace’s streets with only two attendants, the cold wind lifting the gray-white strands of her temples, causing her to slightly squint her eyes.

"Winter has arrived a bit early this year..." the Wolf General murmured, "I wonder if the Green Forest Valley and Long Branch Manor areas are affected..."

One attendant responded immediately: "The Imperial Granary has remained abundant over the years, cotton and textiles have been adequately supplied for the past two years, I believe except for the western areas near the polluted zone, all regions need not worry about how to survive the winter."

Andresha said nothing, merely nodded, while before her, a small troop carrier bearing the Typhon Empire insignia rolled down the street, escorted by floating combat Mages. Inevitably, the shopkeepers along the street were slightly disturbed, subsequently attracting curious passersby who craned their necks, gesturing towards the departing troop carrier, while merchants resumed attracting customers, pitching peculiar goods arriving from both south and north.

This year’s winter indeed arrived earlier, even the temperatures during the same period this year are much lower than in previous years. However, in this town built upon the Winterwolf Fortress, half military, half civilian, it is bustling more than ever.

The increasingly stable peace between the two empires and expanding trade activities ultimately show their impact, regardless of whether the hawks are willing or not, cross-border merchants and goods are increasingly appearing in various places, forming the main theme of relations between the Cecil Clan and the Typhon Empire.

Even at the border’s critical location in Winterwolf Fortress, although the imperial soldiers always remained tense, they could not prevent the gradual prosperity of civilian commercial activities—after all, this too comes from Aldernon’s will.

And as the commander of Winterwolf Fortress, Andresha, although she did not anticipate all this, now she must accept it calmly.

"It’s a lot livelier here this year, General," a retainer beside her remarked, "And according to news from home, big cities like Aldernon and Talronde are quite different now—it’s said that companies invested by the Cecil Clan are bringing many new and wonderful things. Are you planning to go back and have a look this year?"

"I do not intend to use up my holiday this time," Andresha said casually, then glanced at the retainer who had just spoken, "are you interested in those new things from the Cecil Clan too?"

The retainer immediately showed an embarrassed and nervous expression: "I... General, I don’t mean that..."

"It’s alright; the new things they’ve brought are indeed very appealing, and most of them are quite beneficial," surprisingly, Andresha did not show any intent to blame; the Wolf General simply showed a thoughtful expression, "I just regret... these things were not originally invented by us, the people of Typhon."

She looked toward the marketplace; along the streets that were just renovated last year, new-style street lamps and magic web devices used for energy transmission were visible—all these technologies originated from the Cecil Clan. They were first brought to the Typhon borders by merchants and technology exchange delegates from Cecil, then brought here by local merchants and experts. These things are proof of the increasingly close ties between the two nations; some people feel joyous because of this, while others inevitably feel anxious.

As far as Andresha knows, those magic web devices used for transmitting energy are currently one of the things causing the most anxiety among domestic experts, because until now, one of the key raw materials for making those obelisks—the Holme Crystal Ore—remains tightly controlled by the Cecil Clan, despite the scholars of the Imperial Construction Association having successfully solved many of the technical challenges of the obelisk. However, as long as the source of Holme Crystal remains controlled by the Cecil Clan, Typhon’s magic web can never be completely autonomous, and the speed of the magic web’s deployment will be limited by the export quota of crystal ore set by the Cecil Clan, while Typhon...

Typhon is forced to spend a significant portion of its annual export profits to purchase those crystal ores—on this commodity, the Cecil Clan never offers any discounts.

It’s said that the Emperor has been paying serious attention to this matter, and after learning about the discovery of Holme Crystal Ore, he dispatched a large number of exploration teams to the western polluted area border regions to seek mining veins belonging to Typhon... So far, none of those exploration teams have sent back any definite good news.

Hopefully, they will find something.

As for Andresha herself... Facing more and more "Cecil things" at home, she is neither among those who rejoice nor those who are anxious and fearful.

She just follows the order from Aldernon to uphold Typhon’s interests. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

At this moment, one of her retainers interrupted Andresha’s thoughts with a voice from beside her: "Was that the supplementary personnel for the Mechanized Mage Battalion just now?"

Another retainer looked toward the end of the street, towards the direction where the troop transport left, then shook his head and sighed, "Mages are wealthy people, even the Mage Battalion in the army is the wealthiest unit... while the knights are still riding horses."

"The Emperor and his military advisors have their arrangements," Andresha suddenly spoke, interrupting the discussion between the two retainers, "and the reason the pioneering knights haven’t undergone re-equipment isn’t due to financial problems—it’s just that most of the legion-level combat techniques depend on traditional military formations and equestrian skills. Without solving this problem, letting the knights sit in battle vehicles would only weaken their combat effectiveness."

The two retainers nodded immediately, then one of them couldn’t resist glancing into the distance—this time looking toward the barracks: "That’s the second batch of supplementary personnel this week."

"... The War Priest is under ’protective observation,’ and some knight officers have undergone early rotation; we need to supplement personnel to maintain Winterwolf Fortress’s combat effectiveness..." Andresha frowned slightly, then shook her head, "Alright, this topic is not suitable for discussion here."

The abnormal situation with the Sect of the God of War at home has become an open secret, and for obvious reasons of national interest, the Aldernon side has recently issued several commands, temporarily adjusting several main force legions. At Winterwolf Fortress, Andresha has recently focused primarily on adjusting the legion’s deployment, relocating potential threat units, maintaining internal stability, and consolidating the border’s combat power. She has had to move many War God Priests who have followed her through life and death, as well as devoted soldiers, away from their posts, even sending some upright and innocent knights to the rear, nominally for protective observation, but actually in a state close to house arrest.

Doing these things is not easy.

Besides the pressure she faces internally, she must also deal with the emotions of her subordinates—soldiers are easy enough to handle, as obedience to orders is the primary mission of the Empire’s warriors, and knights are manageable too; they only need to be counseled and comforted with honor and loyalty, but those priests...

They are mostly very good people, brave and upright, who haven’t done anything wrong, yet she must subject them to unfair treatment. Moreover, those priests are not entirely soldiers; combat priests are essentially ’auxiliary soldiers’ sent by the Sect of the God of War to aid various imperial legions. They obey officers’ orders, but now the orders seem to be covertly targeting their faith... Soothing their emotions has become the most troubling thing for Andresha recently.

And all this is not the entirety of the recent bad news.

The second major piece of bad news is the fall of the Goddess of Magic.

Andresha still finds it hard to believe what she has seen and heard over the past time—a funeral, a funeral hosted by humans for a god, a joint statement by two empires, a eulogy written personally by each of the two emperors, national mourning activities, and a ceremony of scattering "Sacred Ash"... Andresha is not a believer, but these events still exceed her understanding and cognitive habits, so much so that even now, she feels incredulous thinking about this matter.

The fall of the Goddess of Magic undoubtedly had a great impact on the Empire’s vast mage community, even though that "funeral" swiftly diverted public attention in an unexpectedly effective way, alleviating the pressure brought by the fall of the god. However, the mage community remains unsettled, with lingering effects until now. The Empire’s large legions contain a huge number of combat mages, with most officers in the middle and upper layers being followers of the Goddess of Magic, and though their identity as soldiers provides them a stronger sense of responsibility, preventing emotional depression or shaken faith from hindering their duties, they still are, ultimately, human...

Now Andresha’s only solace is that the impact on the combat mage units from this divine fall is actually smaller than she anticipated—because except for officers in the middle and upper layers, most of the ordinary combat mages and lower-level commanders are not followers of the Goddess of Magic, not even counted as shallow believers.

They are produced in batches by the Empire from schools—trained from childhood, with a unified template and curriculum, entirely practical training methods that barely touch on courses related to faith cultivation.

These combat mages cultivated in batches feel nothing towards the Goddess of Magic, offering Andresha the only comfort lately amidst her troubles. She even can’t help but entertain thoughts that some outsiders might deem quite rebellious—

If religious faith could be completely eradicated from the army, it might actually be a good thing, allowing what belongs to the gods to return to the gods, and what belongs to humans to return to humans, perhaps cutting half the troubles in this world.

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