Chapter 1176: A [Flaw]
Roland cast Edith a surprised glance.
After the ambush’s miserable failure, governmental officials had turned their criticism on the General Staff — and on its chief, Edith Kant, in particular. The Administrative Office weighed in; so did the Sleeping Spell. Tilly silenced the skeptics swiftly enough that the outbreak of resentment left almost no lasting mark.
Edith had requested disciplinary action herself when she returned from the front. Roland had declined and buried the matter.
Because he knew the fault was not hers.
Whatever its political cost, the “Torch” campaign had been a genuine victory. Nearly twenty thousand demons dead at the cost of five hundred lives, and Taquila — lost to the demons for hundreds of years — reclaimed. The General Staff’s contribution to that outcome was beyond dispute.
Roland had discussed it privately with Tilly, Agatha, and Alethea. All of them had arrived at the same conclusion: the misjudgement traced back to enemy behavior that no one could have predicted. Even the Three Chiefs of the old Union would not have foreseen that the demons would surrender an entire continent rather than risk a handful of witches.
Still — Edith had lost to Ursrook. Roland had braced for despondence, for the first crack in that composure. Instead she stood before him, poised as ever, and produced a wholly different kind of problem.
“What’s wrong?” Roland asked.
“These last two sentences,” Edith said, pacing with her head lowered. “If he succeeds, the demons should increase their forces tenfold. Doesn’t that sound strange? If the demons’ ultimate goal is to exterminate the human race, they should have taken Taquila far more seriously. I understand they’re hard-pressed in the Sky-sea Realm, but the letter implies they planned to return and finish us. They should not have abandoned Taquila entirely.”
Wendy blinked. “It does sound strange. Why didn’t they simply do it?”
“The Red Mist?” Nightingale offered, propping her chin on her hand.
“They wouldn’t need to send everything,” Agatha said, frowning. “A tenfold increase only requires more transportation units. They have weapons like the giant skeletons. We needed over half a year to build ten railway stations — the demons had time enough to make a choice.”
“The General Staff built the operation plan around Kabradhabi’s testimony,” Edith said, eyes fixed on the Senior Demon glowering from the interrogation stand. “According to him, the demons are locked in a fight for survival against the enemy in the Sky-sea Realm. Yet this letter suggests that even if they lose, they would survive — and might still snatch victory. So why not send reinforcements to Taquila? Their stated intention contradicts their action.”
The room went quiet.
“And this passage: I know my action will subject you to criticism, but I don’t think it’ll affect your plan for the Western Front.” Edith read it meditatively. “At first glance it seems harmless. Look closer. He pursued the witches, and he lost Taquila. Will that truly not impact their entire plan?”
“Perhaps Ursrook was hoodwinking his superior?” Roland said. “Nobles tend to do that.”
“Your Majesty.” Edith’s voice went flat and sharp. “Treat him as the most dangerous enemy we have ever faced. Another version of me — working for the demons. Would I do something like that?”
Roland looked at her clenched fists. The composure he’d admired was real — but it was chosen, not innate. She heard every remark whispered behind her back. She had simply decided not to let them land.
She did not want to lose to Ursrook. Not even in her own estimation.
“Alright,” Roland said. “If he’s being sincere, then Taquila was only their second choice. Which means I’m inclined to believe the demons have found a way to advance on the Four Kingdoms without erecting a new Obelisk or extending the Red Mist.”
“We discussed this at the beginning of ‘Torch,’” Agatha said. “I still think it’s impossible. If the demons no longer needed the Red Mist, they would have pushed into our territory by now. Why was saving Taquila worth anything to them at all?”
“Wait — why are you all arguing about impact?”
Nightingale’s voice cut through the debate. She sounded genuinely puzzled. “Doesn’t Western Front sound strange to you? The demons are on the other side of us. The area west of Neverwinter would be east from where they stand. So why would they call it the Western Front?”
“Position is always relative to the observer,” Celine explained pleasantly. “The world isn’t flat, either. The demons come from another continent. If Ursrook places his own continent at the center, then not only Taquila but the entire Four Kingdoms lie to his west — the Western Front.”
“Oh. So their west isn’t the same as our west.”
“Hang on.” Edith’s head came up. “What did you just say?”
“Their west,” Nightingale repeated, wary now. “It isn’t the same as ours.”
Something ignited behind Edith’s eyes. She crossed to the long desk scattered with maps, unrolling each scroll in turn, glancing once, discarding it — until her hands stopped on a crude, almost featureless rendering. Roland studied it for a moment before he recognized it as a map of the Kingdom of Everwinter.
She pressed her finger to the blank space north of the Snow Ridge — the northernmost extremity of Everwinter — and looked at Celine. “What’s there?”
“Mountains. Thousands of miles of them, running north to south, encircling one entire flank of the Land of Dawn. We call it the ridge of the continent.”
“Did the Union ever explore it?”
“Of course. The Quest Society charted the whole Land of Dawn, including the ridge.” Celine paused. “Only a map, though.”
“No other records? Nothing more detailed?”
“What are you suggesting?” Agatha asked. “It wasn’t easy to chart that range — the mountains go on and on, each enormous. The Impassable Mountain Range alone forms one end of it, and its widest point could swallow our entire castle. The terrain is treacherous, snow-covered year-round. Even if we logged every peak, what possible use could that be?”
“We’ve overlooked something.” Edith’s finger traced the full length of the Impassable Mountain Range. “The Western Front Plan Ursrook mentions has nothing to do with Taquila specifically. It concerns the entire human population. Taquila was just one option among several. The demons’ real objective is to bring the Red Mist over this ridge. As long as they can approach the Four Kingdoms, the entry point scarcely matters — they only need to erect an Obelisk.”
Agatha’s posture stiffened. “You mean…”
Edith raised her eyes from the map. Her voice was grave and even.
“Is there a possibility that unknown God’s Stone mines exist along the ridge of the continent?”
Chapter 1176: A [Flaw] Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Roland cast Edith a surprised glance.
After the miserable failure of the ambush tactic, some governmental officials criticized the judgement of the General Staff, and the Chief of General Staff, Edith Kant, naturally became the target of these unkind attacks. In addition to the Administrative Office, the Sleeping Spell also raised objections. Tilly waved these skeptical voices into silence immediately and thereby reduced the impact of this temporary outbreak of resentment to the minimum.
Edith had also requested for disciplinary action when she had come back from the front. However, Roland had declined her request and hushed up the whole thing.
Because he knew this was not Edith’s fault.
On the contrary to a defeat, the “Torch” campaign was indeed a great success. They had slaughtered nearly 20,000 demons at the cost of only 500 casualties and recovered the Taquila Holy City lost to the demons hundreds of years ago. Undoubtedly this was a major victory.
Everybody knew how much the General Staff had done for the war.
In fact, Roland had discussed this matter with Tilly, Agatha and Alethea in private, and all of them believed the misjudgement was largely attributed to the unexpected behavior of the enemy. Even the Three Chiefs back in the Union would not have been able to predict that the demons would let the opportunity to take over the entire continent slip just because of a few witches.
Nevertheless, it was undeniable that Edith had indeed lost to Ursrook. Roland anticipated that she would succumb, for once, to despondence
because of the scathing criticism, but to his great consternation, Edith remained poised and confident as ever, and again, blurted out a completely different view.
“… What’s wrong?”
“First is the last two sentences,” Edith said while pacing up and down, her head hanging. “If he succeeds, the demons should increase their forces tenfold. Doesn’t it sound strange? If the demons’ ultimate goal was to wipe out the human race, then they should have taken Taquila more seriously. I understand that they’re now struggling to deal with their enemy in the Sky-sea Realm, but they shouldn’t have given up on Taquila completely either, for the letter suggests they should come back and eliminate us.”
Momentarily stunned, Wendy asked, “It does sound strange. Why didn’t they do that in the first place?”
“Because of the Red Mist?” Nightingale said tentatively while propping her chin on her hand.
“The demons aren’t likely to send all their forces, but they could have increased the troops by ten times as long as they sent more transportation units. Plus, they have weapons like giant skeletons,” Agatha said, frowning. “It took us over half a year to build the ten railway stations, so the demons should have had enough time to make a choice.”
“The General Staff made the operation plan based on the information from this guy, Kabradhabi’s testimony. According to Kabradhabi, the demons are having a battle of life and death against the enemy in the Sky-sea Realm,” Edith said while glaring at the Senior Demon who glowered from the interrogation stand. “However, this letter is suggesting that even if they lose the battle, the demons would still survive and possibly even have a chance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. So, why didn’t the demons send reinforcements to Taquila instead? It doesn’t make sense. Their operation intention contradicts their action.”
Everyone lapsed into thoughts.
“Also, this one, ‘I know my action will subject you to criticism, but I don’t think it’ll affect your plan for the Western Front’,” Edith read meditatively. “There seems to be nothing wrong with this statement at the first glance, but it doesn’t bear close examination. He went to pursue the witches and did lose Taquila. Will it really not impact their entire plan?”
“Perhaps, Ursrook was trying to hoodwink his superior?” Roland said thoughtfully. “Nobles usually tend to do that…”
“Your Majesty, please view him as the most difficult enemy we’ve ever come across!” Edith said tersely. “Just treat him as another version of me who works for the demons. Do you think I’ll do things like that?”
Looking at her clenched fists, Roland suddenly came to the realization that Edith was not as unflappable as she appeared. She was not completely immune to the skeptical remarks behind her back either but simply had chosen not to listen to them.
Deep down inside, she did not want to lose to Ursrook.
“Alright. Since he’s serious, it means that Taquila has become their second choice… I would be inclined to believing that the demons have found a way to attack the Four Kingdoms without erecting the Obelisk or the Red Mist.”
“We discussed this at the early stage of the ‘Torch’ project,” Agatha sighed. “I still think it’s impossible. Otherwise, why did they still have to save Taquila? If the demons were not relying on the Red Mist anymore, they should have infiltrated our land by now.”
“Er… why are you all arguing about the impact?”
While everyone was puzzled about the demons’ unusual behavior, Nightingale asked in confusion, “Doesn’t that ‘Western Front’ sound awkward to you? The demons are on our opposite side, so the area to the west of Neverwinter should be the east for them. Don’t you think so?”
“We talk about positions always in relation to our own location. Plus, the world isn’t flat,” Celine explained good-naturedly. “The demons are coming
from another continent. If Ursrook views the continent they are living on as the center of the world, then not only Taquila but the Four Kingdoms are also to the west of the Land of Dawn.”
“I see… So, the west he’s talking about isn’t the same west we normally refer to, right?”
“Hang on. What did you say?” Edith asked as she looked up suddenly.
“Their west… isn’t the same as our west,” Nightingale answered hesitantly.
Edith’s eyes sparkled. She hurried to a long desk littered with different maps, unrolled every scroll while casting it a fleeting glance before she put it aside, and then finally rested her eyes on a very crude map.
Roland studied the map for a while until he realized that it was a map of the Kingdom of Everwinter.
She pointed at the blank area to the north of the Snow Ridge, which was the most northern part of the Kingdom of Everwinter, and asked Celine, “What’s that there?”
“Mountains, endless mountains that stretch away for thousands of miles between the south and the north that almost encircle one side of the Land of Dawn. We call them the ridge of the continent.”
“Did the Union explore that area by any chance?”
“Of course. The Quest Society drafted a full map of the entire Land of Dawn, naturally including the ridge of the continent.”
“Just a map?” Edith asked earnestly. “No other more detailed records?”
“What are you trying to say?” Agatha asked in surprise. “It wasn’t easy to draft a map because there are just so many mountains there, and they are huge. The Impassable Mountain Range is just at the very end of the whole mountain range, and its widest part could house the entire castle. The mountains are treacherous and covered in snow all the year round. Even if we marked every single mountain, how could that possibly help us?”
“I believe we overlooked an important fact here. The plan for the Western Front that the Sky Lord is talking about here probably doesn’t refer to Taquila at all but the plan to attack the entire human population. Taquila is just one of their options!” Edith said while running her finger along the Impassable Mountain Range. “The demons’ ultimate goal is to let the Red Mist cross over this mountain ridge. As long as they could approach the Four Kingdoms, it doesn’t matter which city they choose to enter from. They simply need to erect the Obelisk!”
“You mean…” Agatha’s manner tightened abruptly.
“Is there a possibility that there are unknown God’s Stone mines around the ridge of continent?” Edith asked gravely.