Roland received a letter from Calvin Kant, Duke of the Northern Region.

It was accompanied by a fingerprinted memorandum that expressed the Northern Region's intent of loyalty to His Majesty.

The letter itself talked about more trivial matters.

First, it asked when Roland would stage his accession ceremony, so that the Duke could prepare his journey to attend. This was the convention every time a new king was soon to be coronated.

The next question asked about the new policies, such as how they should be enforced, what the remaining powers of the n.o.bles were, how succession arrangements should be made and what the management scope of the city hall should be.

These questions were predictable. But it was the last question which surprised Roland.

At the end of the letter, the Duke proposed a connection through marriage. An entire page was dedicated to extolling the beauty and talent of his daughter, Edith. It also claimed that she would be able to handle all kinds of issues and affairs, whether they were domestic or foreign, and therefore, she was the most suitable candidate to be queen. Roland laughed heartily as he read through this section of the letter.

"What're you laughing about?" Nightingale's voice came from the direction of the deck chair.

"A very interesting... father." He raised the letter. "Have a look at this."

Nightingale came out of her Mist, took the letter from Roland, and read it. Then she frowned and asked, "You won't agree to it, will you?"

"Of course not," Roland replied lightheartedly. "I don't need marriage connections to preserve the stability of my throne. Furthermore, the letter makes her sound so able that I won't even dare to let her into the castle. Or else, it may become unclear who the king is."

"You do sound truthful." Nightingale remarked and visibly sighed in relief.

"Hey, don't you believe me?"

"It's not that I don't believe you, but you know that witches can't..." She paused for a moment before continuing. "After our awakenings, we can't be considered complete women anymore."

"I don't think that way." Roland shook his head in disagreement. To him, the social perception that infertility was a defect would be expunged as civilization gradually progressed. Conversely, the beautiful appearances, attractive physiques and incredible abilities which magic power could bring about would become increasingly important and desirable over time. As long as Mankind lived on, witches would inevitably rise up as a group. Fortunately, they could be born in normal humans, and furthermore, there was no specific method to trigger an awakening. These thus allowed witches and normal humans to live and work together or perhaps even to marry.

Just as Roland was about to expound at length on his personal view of witches, a gray falcon flew into the room through an open window and perched on Roland's desk with a loud thump.

A loop of yellow cloth was tied around its claws—this meant that it was a secret letter which arrived from the old King's City.

Roland swallowed his words, took a piece of dried fish out of a drawer, and tossed it to the gray falcon which was already waiting for its reward. Then he unwound the cloth and took out the neatly-folded oilpaper from within.

As the size of the secret letter was limited, the contents written on it had to be extremely concise.

The first sentence of the letter was enough to give Roland a huge shock.

"The palace of Kingdom of Dawn has been infiltrated by the Pure Witch who can defy the G.o.d's Stone of Retaliation to use their abilities."

"Witches who're immune to the influence of the G.o.d's Stone?" As far as Roland knew, only two kinds of beings could do this. The first was Extraordinaries with their enhanced bodies, while the second was senior demons that were called Supermagic.

As Roland continued reading, he realized that each successive line of news got more and more shocking.

"When Prince Appen attempted to resist the Pure Witch, they manipulated his guards to slit their own throats."

"The church's aim is to establish firm control over the Kingdom of Dawn before it places full concentration on attacking the Kingdom of Graycastle."

"Otto Luoxi and Oro Tokat witnessed everything that took place. The three families hope to receive your kind aid."

Roland suddenly realized that his plans to recapture Southernmost Region would have to be adjusted substantially.

Three days pa.s.sed.

Roland convened a strategy discussion meeting in the castle's reception room.

The attendees included City Hall Director, Barov; Commander of the First Army, Iron Axe; Chief Knight, Carter; Longsong Stronghold Consul, Petrov; Witch Union representatives, Wendy and Agatha; a representative of Sleeping Island's witches, Sylvie; and lastly, Pearl of the Northern Region, Edith.

"That's the current situation, basically speaking." Roland concluded after recounting the contents of the secret letter to the attendees. "Although we're unable to verify the information, if everything written in the letter is to be believed, the Kingdom of Graycastle shall unquestionably face its biggest challenge before the next Battle of Divine Will. After some consideration, I've decided that the Southernmost Region's battle arrangements have to be temporarily suspended." He glanced towards Iron Axe. "Will that be okay?"

As the chief commander of the spring offensive, Iron Axe had swiftly seized Willow Town and Fallen Dragon Ridge according to plan, and thus gave Roland control over the gateway towns that connected the City of Neverwinter and the Southern Territory. Iron Axe had intended to build on this success by completing the territorial expansion before autumn arrived. This would include bringing the Sand Nation under the domain of Roland's kingdom. The two people who would then be responsible for establis.h.i.+ng good relations between the two races were Echo and Iron Axe. As both of them belonged to the Mojin Clan, they could serve as mediators in a racial conflict. Iron Axe had especially yearned to return to Iron Sand City to take revenge for being framed. Hence, allowing him to lead the troops to seize the Southernmost Region was the best reward that Roland could have given him. Now that the battle plans were suspended, it was understandable if he was disappointed.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Iron Axe did not reveal any expression, and his reply was as sure as ever. "I suggest that we let the newly-trained soldiers take the place of the First Army soldiers stationed at Fallen Dragon Ridge. They'll have no problems dealing with the n.o.bles there, while this would allow the First Army to gather its greatest strength to fight against the church."

"We'll do exactly that." Roland nodded approvingly before he stood up and walked in front of the large map. "Presently, we face two main problems. The first is that we don't know when the enemy will attack. The second is that we don't know where they'll attack from. The church used to have only one route to invade the Kingdom of Graycastle. This would be traveling directly south through Coldwind Ridge to reach King's City. However, now that the church controls the Kingdom of Dawn, it's possible that the Judgement Army will attack us through their border. Does anyone have a good idea how we can cope with this?"

"No matter where they appear from, they'll first have to go through the Northern Region." Barov was first to speak. "Coldwind Ridge, Deepvalley Town, City of Evernight and Palisade City, all of these are places administered by Duke Calvin. I suggest that we allow Miss Edith to go back and inform her father about this. We'll then keep a lookout for enemies in the Northern Region. This is the most secure way. But, Your Majesty..." The City Hall Director rubbed his hands together. "Do we truly stand a chance against the church?"

This foolish question was badly received by everyone present. Edith unceremoniously replied, "If His Majesty says that we don't have a chance, are you going to wag your tail at the church and beg for mercy?"

"What nonsense are you talking? As the City Hall Director, I have to make contingency plans for the worst that can happen..."

Edith ignored him and turned towards Roland. "Your Majesty, while it's indeed necessary to send people to monitor every road in the north, it won't be an effective method on its own. The response will be slow, and by the time enemies are discovered, it'll mean that they have already begun to act. This'll give you very little time to respond."

"Do you have a better plan?"

"Of course." Edith replied confidently. "We should send people to Hermes."

"The church's holy city?" Carter frowned in disdain. "What use would that be? Do you think the Pope will inform you when he dispatches his army?"

"Also, the people living there are believers and zealots. It'll be difficult for spies to blend in." Petrov added.

"There's no need to enter the holy city." Edith laughed. "All we need to do is to have a nice chat with a nearby merchant."