Barnard’s final letter did not reach Lilith, and she was completely unaware that Barnard had already been captured by the tracked Claire.
At this moment, however, Lilith was still extremely busy with matters concerning the Eastern Border. Although Barnard’s letter never arrived, she certainly received the messages from her brother from her previous life.
Strange black clouds and black fog had appeared in the Eastern Border, and those who came into contact with them would turn into the Sludge Monsters that once emerged in the Northern Border’s Golden Spike area.
Moreover, with Lind’s in-depth investigation, the Demon Clan and Demon God Offspring also began appearing in the Eastern Border. Clearly, the Demon Clan had declared war on the Eastern Border without notice.
Furthermore, the Lind family was in grave danger, as Harold had already lost his life while attempting to relay information. Lilith didn’t even have time to mourn this brother before quickly convening a meeting.
At the meeting, nearly all the nobles fell silent upon hearing this news. No one dared to ask Her Majesty how she acquired this information; just by looking at Her Majesty’s serious expression, they understood this was no joke.
The one who found this hardest to accept was Monroe, who knew how the Demon Clan was constantly transporting forces to the Eastern Border. Monroe was also aware of the Demon Clan’s ambitions regarding the Eastern Border, but having secretly sided with the Demon Clan, he chose to turn a blind eye. In Monroe’s design, he thought that one day, if the Demon Clan used the Eastern Border as a springboard to conquer the Kingdom, he could at least secure a title as a founding noble.
It seemed that both sides should have been in a cooperative relationship, but unexpectedly, the Demon Clan had directly disrupted Monroe’s home.
All eyes in the room turned to Monroe, who repeatedly muttered, “It’s fake, it’s all fake. I didn’t even receive any news; it must be fake.”
Even if his home had been disrupted, it would be one thing if the Demon Clan truly wanted to; Monroe would support it. However, the fact that these Demons hadn’t even mentioned this matter to him made Monroe feel an unprecedented sense of crisis.
“Regardless of the truth, we must take action. Your Majesty, we should dispatch a squad of professionals to delve into the Eastern Border and gather intelligence.”
Judith glanced at the somewhat frantic Monroe and said, “Currently, the King’s special authority should be enacted, and you should take over the Eastern Border.”
This initiative was a policy devised by Augustus III to address the Northern Border, intended to provide an excuse for the Royal Capital to take control of the Northern Border when it fell into chaos.
However, this policy had not even been implemented before Augustus III’s sudden death rendered it moot.
“No need to send anyone for reconnaissance anymore; we should go directly into a state of war.”
Lilith shook her head and sighed. The Northern Border would not have issues with her brother there, but fighting on two fronts had already put a tremendous amount of pressure on Cape. Her brother’s suggestion was simple: if they couldn’t win, they should flee. As long as they escaped to the Northern Border, their lives would at least be guaranteed.
But Lilith would not run away directly. If she fled, it would mean the Kingdom would completely lose its backbone. Not to mention the southwestern border, the central area might very well fall entirely, and the Royal Capital would be in imminent danger. Lilith could not so easily abandon the citizens of the Royal Capital.
What worried Lilith more were her family and brothers over there in this lifetime. Lilith quietly wiped away her tears and began to take a firm stance, sending the stationed troops of the Royal Capital toward the Eastern Border direction. The entire Royal Capital entered a state of relaxed externally but tense internally, trying to coordinate with her brother to block the incoming Demon Clan from getting into the Eastern Border without causing chaos.
On the other side, Lind also received Lilith’s message. Seeing his younger sister refusing to flee but insisting on holding her ground in the Royal Capital, Lind couldn’t help but feel that his sister had grown up and taken on responsibilities. However, honestly, this was not a small matter of being bullied. Lind still hoped she could come to him like before.
The Northern Border had officially entered a state of war. It was evident that most people were quite excited, many eager to seek revenge on the Demon Clan.
The joy at the scent of battle was the biggest difference between the Northern Border army and other armies of this era.
According to Lauri’s initial reports and subsequent detailed accounts, Lind had begun to understand the Demon’s intentions. The territories outside the Broken Snow Territory were abandoned by the Demon Clan, who planned to use these lands in exchange for Lind not taking action in this Eastern Border incident.
Lind would obtain the entirety of the Northern Border, while the Demon Clan would gain part of the Eastern Border. Aside from the Eastern Border and Cape, it seemed both sides could accept this outcome.
Subsequent letters from Antipa also hinted at this situation, with Antipa even proposing a division of Cape.
It was very clear that Antipa hadn’t thought this through. In Lind’s eyes, the lands outside the Broken Snow Territory would eventually be reclaimed, and it had nothing to do with whether the Demon Clan abandoned them.
Moreover, just as Lind had told Lilith before, his minimum requirement was also the entire Cape, and it was impossible to negotiate any sort of line with the Demon Clan.
Antipa’s perspective was still somewhat shortsighted; perhaps the Demon Clan had become accustomed to the Eternal Frozen Land and thought everyone else was like them, able to seize any piece of territory.
However, the lands outside the Broken Snow Territory had to be reclaimed, not for other reasons, but to prevent the Demon Clan from sending supplies to the Eastern Border through those lands. Although the demon kin would certainly have other supply routes, what needed to be done still had to be done.
Meanwhile, to ensure that nothing unexpected happened on Lilith’s side, although the railway connecting to the Royal Capital was not yet completed, Lind directly dispatched personnel to prevent anyone from blowing it up. There was no need to worry about the Northern Border; however, Lind was truly uneasy about the Royal Capital’s security checks and intelligence operations.
Additionally, Lind approved White, who was in charge of the Eastern Border defense, to use all available weaponry. Although he had not yet sent the still-adjusting tanks over, some of the weaponry from the territories was already available for White’s use.
The entire Northern Border resembled a finely tuned machine that, after a brief pause, started to operate heavily once again.
Layton, active as a resistance member alongside Isha, was integrated into White’s troops according to his personal wishes after the previous battle concluded.
At this moment, Layton was inspecting the approved weaponry with White.
“Ah, ever since that battle at the Golden Spike, the Northern Border has been getting poorer and poorer. Right now, there’s only one firearm for each squad. Even though the Lord Governor applied for more weapons, he didn’t approve it, saying that the current weapons available to everyone were limited, urging us to overcome the difficulties.”
As White led Layton to the armory, he grumbled.
Layton comforted him, “After all, the Lord Governor has his own difficulties. As his subordinates, we should consider more and alleviate his burdens.”
However, Layton also asked, “But doesn’t it seem a bit too little to have only one firearm for ten people? Our frontline fighters in the resistance could manage with one or two people per firearm.”
Layton knew that the last battle had caused significant losses to the Northern Border; he had not expected them to be this severe.
“Isn’t that right? Ridiculous, Layton soldier, let me introduce you to firearms. Although some of our soldiers have been trained, I still worry that some might not know how to use them or have not used them properly. As leaders, we need to understand these weapons even better than the soldiers.”
Layton nodded. Firearms, though not everyone in the Northern Border could use them, were familiar enough to those in the army.
However, Layton was dumbfounded when he saw the approved weaponry.
“This is a firearm?”
White nodded.
“Are you telling me this is a firearm?”
“Well, what else could it be if it’s not a firearm?”
White lifted the large barrel covered in red, blue, and white cloth, showing it to Layton. Even with White’s professional strength, he could still feel how heavy the barrel was. Yet White showed no concern and casually demonstrated the accompanying equipment to Layton.
“Look, it can even load a belt.”
