Chapter 697 — The Enemy

"Beyond that, have An Luo return to Aldenan before long. She is the only one who has confronted the Cecil arcanotechnical legions face to face, at close range. There are many things I wish to discuss with her in person. You will see to the defense of the border.

"Order the Winterwolf Legion to build additional forts along the Winterwolf Keep line. Your earlier proposals for 'border rotation' and 'new recruits breaking ground' were excellent—now I mean to use them. The Empire's newly raised regiments and trained recruits will rotate on a three-year cycle to assist the Winterwolf Legion in holding the northwestern line. I do not require that they break into Longwind Fortress, but they must exert sufficient pressure on the Cecil people."

Pei Yi immediately grasped the purpose behind the Typhon ruler's latter arrangements.

The Cecil people must not be allowed to bury themselves quietly in development. They must not be allowed to free their hands from Longwind Fortress.

Compared with Cecil after the great calamity, the Typhon Empire had far more reserve manpower and construction materials. This time the Cecil people had built eighteen dummy positions and dummy blockhouses along the border; Typhon could throw up twenty-eight real ones along that border without pausing for breath.

Whether it was the garrison of Longwind Fortress or that war machine of unknown manufacture, both must be held fast to the border—and even a great portion of Cecil's reserve manpower at home must be pinned along that long borderline.

Having made these arrangements, Luo Yan Augustus let out a long breath.

Duke Pei Yi looked up. He saw the expression on the Typhon ruler's face. After losing such a deeply lamentable opportunity and welcoming such a deeply alarming enemy, what he saw on the Typhon ruler's face was a pair of exceptionally bright eyes, and a full measure of fighting spirit and delight.

That expression took Pei Yi aback. He had not seen such a look on Luo Yan Augustus's face for many years. He vaguely recalled that the last time he had seen the other man wear such an expression was shortly after his coronation, when he had decided to reorganize the Council of Nobles.

"Cecil is truly a formidable enemy, is it not, my lord Pei Yi?" Luo Yan said cheerfully. "Like Prince Malic in those days, and Duke Fabro and Duke Colmanroni... perhaps a bit stronger than they were?"

"A bit stronger than they were," Pei Yi said at last, breaking into a smile after his brief astonishment. "After all, the 'Trio of Rebels' in those days only wanted your life."

Luo Yan was briefly taken aback, and then he laughed heartily. "Hahahaha..."

...

A shrill whistle rang out across the docks. At the harbor of Sacred Frost Rest, the arcanotechnical warship Pioneer, bound for the south, was slowly pulling away from the riverbank. The powerful thrum of its arcane engine and the low rumble of its ballast tanks rose steadily in pitch, and the arcane wing-plates at the rear of both sides—like mechanical wings—unfolded little by little under the action of gears and levers, looking majestic and imposing, yet possessed of a strange beauty.

The citizens and soldiers gathered along the riverbank cheered; curious children shouted and hollered from the high rooftops and the embankment, while in the dock square the two dukes, Victoria and Bai Yu, dressed in full ceremonial attire and come to see the ship off, stood quietly in the company of their attendants, gazing after the departing arcanotechnical warship, and for a long while did not withdraw their eyes.

The arcanotechnical warship began to slowly gather speed, and the escort vessels took up their appointed screening positions. The towering walls of Sacred Suniel shrank little by little in the view and were at last swallowed by the rolling hills and woods of the plain. Only when they could no longer be seen at all did Gao Yang turn his gaze back from the porthole.

"We're finally heading back," Amber said beside Gao Yang, stretching with exaggerated vigor. "I'd nearly forgotten what the Southern Frontier even looks like!"

"You've been gone less than half a year—don't talk like you've been away for half a lifetime," Gao Yang said, glancing at the half-elf from the corner of his eye. "And speaking of contact with the Southern Frontier, as head of military intelligence you must be in touch more often than anyone."

Amber pursed her lips and turned to the dark-haired maid beside her. "You'd better be careful, Miss Maggie. Our emperor here is the sort who can wring water from a stone—one slip and you'll be piled with assignments, and he won't even raise your wages..."

Maggie stood aboard the new-model mechanical warship, gazing absently through the crystal-glass porthole at the riverbank receding endlessly behind them. This incredible magical construct filled her with fascination and curiosity, and it stirred in her a flicker of anticipation for the "advanced magical technology" Rebecca had described. She was so absorbed that she never heard a word Amber said, and her response came half a beat late: "Ah? Sorry, I didn't catch that..."

"Pay her no mind—she's just overexcited, and at times like this most of what she says is nonsense," Gao Yang said with a wave of his hand, then studied the black dragon maid before him in earnest. "Though I truly never expected Rebecca to actually succeed in 'borrowing' you from Victoria. When she first told me about it, I thought she'd gone and stirred up trouble again."

Rebecca's reckless blurt—"Go on, transform for me"—rose unbidden in Maggie's mind once more, and she smiled faintly. "Princess Frosthua's sincerity and the wondrous knowledge she commands moved me. As for my mistress... in most cases, she respects my judgment."

"It seems there are still many secrets between you and Victoria, but rest assured, I won't pry," Gao Yang said. "For the time to come, I hope you'll enjoy life in the Southern Frontier."

Maggie slowly revealed a sincere smile. "Yes, I'm very much looking forward to it."