Under the azure sky, a slate-gray giant hawk beat its wings, cutting through the thin, frigid clouds. Its sharp gaze swept over the vast forest blanketed in snow and the ruined towns reduced to broken walls by war.

Cold wind howled past its flanks as it finally dived toward the towering Stone Fortress on the horizon.

In the main square of Iron Thorn Fortress, snow had been shoveled to the sides, exposing wet flagstones. The giant hawk folded its wings, whipping up a gust as it landed in the center of the square.

Princess Louisa, who had been waiting there, stepped forward to greet it, while Chen Yu crouched on her shoulder.

“Celeste, thank you for your hard work.” Louisa said gently.

The giant hawk gave a cry in response, then began to transform, becoming a tall, graceful woman.

Celeste stretched and yawned, her voice carrying the slight fatigue of a long flight. “I’ve already gathered the intel you wanted.

“Those big green fellows really are packing up at their camp on the Frost-Speaking Plain and showing signs of moving north. Looks like they did take Little Majesty’s words to heart.”

“Also, they sent an envoy detachment that’s on the way to Iron Thorn Fortress. They seem to be carrying a lot of gifts. But—” she glanced at the party and frowned, “I noticed quite a few orc warriors among them. They don’t look like ordinary guards. Are you sure it’s safe to let these orc overseers mix into the legion?”

Louisa’s eyes flashed as she considered this. She inclined her head slightly. “What can orc overseers possibly see or learn? As long as they’re on our territory, I can manage and control it all.”

“Don’t worry. They won’t have access to the core armory, the alchemy workshops, or our true strategic plans. But what I’m more curious about—”

She turned her head toward Chen Yu on her shoulder, “Your Majesty, what exactly do you want to convey to those orcs?”

Chen Yu bounced down from Louisa’s shoulder, his sword hovering in the air, level with their eyes.

He said lightly, “Of course we show weakness. We downsize the legion, hide the number of alchemical cannons, only reveal the parts they expect to see—a limited, reliant vassal force that needs the orcs to complete missions.”

“If we control it properly, we can steer and moderately slow the pace of the campaign against the Southern Territory. That way, the Orc Court will lower its guard toward us and focus on fighting the Demon Legion.”

Celeste folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. “I’m not great with military intricacies, but deliberately slowing a war will cost time, right?” 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

“When spring comes and ice melts, roads open. If we fail to cut the Demon Legion’s supply lines from the Southern Territory as planned, wouldn’t that benefit the demons and the rebels? They could use the chance to consolidate defenses, even go on the offensive.”

Louisa analyzed calmly. “We have Your Majesty supplying us with food, coal, winter clothing, and other necessities from the kingdom. We are not afraid of winter warfare’s cold or logistical pressure.”

“Compared to those fragmented rebel forces in the Southern Territory, who struggle with supplies, we have an advantage launching operations in winter. If the plan is sound, we can begin gradual cleansing operations in winter and still not fall far behind by spring.”

Celeste nodded thoughtfully, then raised another point. “But what about the demons? Demons aren’t afraid of cold, and they have the Abyss fissure for supplies—those are the real hard nuts to crack.”

“Not to mention several demonic lords are entrenched in the Southern Territory, high-ranking demons. If we act slowly and let them keep expanding, they’ll swallow up all the human rebel forces. Eventually the Southern Territory will become a demon domain, and it’ll be much harder to clean up later.”

The question made Louisa fall into brief silence. She furrowed her brow and thought for a long moment. Finding no answer inwardly, she turned to Chen Yu, waiting for his response.

The giant hawk remained composed as it hovered, and then shared its thought: “It’s complicated. You can directly strike at those demonic lords, but you must make sure others don’t take action.”

Celeste looked at Chen Yu and asked, “Big Sister Chen Yu, among those remnant nobles in the Southern Territory, aren’t there people you could secretly contact or even support?”

Chen Yu’s eyes brightened as he instantly grasped the hawk’s idea. “His Majesty means… to back local powers, to have us covertly support them to fight the demons?”

The hawk jingled its gel body happily to indicate assent.

“A new legion just hauled in an experimental alchemical cannon from the swamp; it needs battlefield reports. You could secretly send gunners with that cannon to cooperate with selected local forces, forming an independent new legion dedicated to fighting the demonic lords in the Southern Territory.”

“Hmph… those demonic lords and their makeshift defenses won’t withstand bombardment from a new alchemical cannon,” Chen Yu continued with a confident tone.

The new alchemical cannon he described was the experimental weapon Iron Anvil and Master Big Flower had been studying after dismantling and researching an ancient alchemical cannon seized from the Graystone Bulwark, absorbing knowledge from ancient magic arrays and integrating Celeste’s formation studies to produce an improved prototype.

The cannon’s destructive power was said to be far more terrifying than the original. If test firing succeeded, taking out several demon strongholds lacking heavy fortifications would be like smashing insects with a war hammer.

Whether a sturdy stone fortress or demons themselves, in the face of that level of magical bombardment, they would be as fragile as paper.

“An alchemical cannon that can bombard high-ranking demons?” Celeste showed interest but still looked doubtful. “Sounds impressive, but… is there really such a thing?”

She was skeptical that a single cannon could deal with demon lords.

Louisa did not question Chen Yu and instead pondered aloud. “If a mysterious force suddenly appears in the Southern Territory, capable of countering demons but leaving overly obvious traces, the Orc Court will likely suspect the kingdom.”

“We need a plausible identity for this new legion that’s hard to trace.” She looked at Chen Yu. “Your Majesty, any ideas?”

“Hmm…” Chen Yu tilted his gel head as his stomach gurgled and bubbled, as if deep in thought.

Louisa, familiar with this state, realized Little Majesty was likely hatching another of his “special” plans.

Sure enough, Chen Yu straightened his gel body and said solemnly, “They’ll be cult followers of Xirik, the New Sun faith. By some unknown conspiracy, they clash fiercely with the demons in the Southern Territory.”

“These fanatics used a forbidden ancient power to eliminate those demonic lords and paid a heavy price. Thus, it will be easy for us to root out the cult followers afterward.”

Celeste’s expression turned very strange. She blinked. “You want to pin the blame on the New Sun followers?”

She began to suspect those mysterious New Sun adherents might have angered this seemingly harmless Little Majesty.

Chen Yu responded cheerfully, “Whether others believe it doesn’t matter—only the orcs need to be convinced.”

“The New Sun followers already collude with demons; the orcs won’t buy excuses from our enemies. If the demons believe it too, even better. Then we can just sit back and watch.”

Louisa couldn’t help chuckling and shook her head. “As expected of Your Majesty. Now those New Sun followers hiding in the shadows will be the ones in trouble.”

.......

Misty Bay Harbor, the Valen family estate.

In the study on the second floor, Adrian stared with knitted brows at a letter sent back from the capital Triumph City of the Doran Kingdom.

The Misty Bay Harbor Merchant Alliance consisted of many merchant houses and trading families. The Valen family was known for gems, precious metals, and luxury goods trade, and was an important member of the Golden Anchor Merchant House.

Adrian Valen, the family’s second son, was considered capable and shrewd by his family and handled the family’s gem trade with the southern Doran Kingdom.

As the northernmost of the southern kingdoms, the Doran Kingdom housed many mages and was famous for skilled gem cutters and enchanters. Selling gems from the White Horse Kingdom to Doran was a major profit source for the Valen family.

The letter in his hand was written by a trusted retainer stationed there and urgently dispatched by magical courier. Its contents made him uneasy.

The letter mentioned that lately there have been slime adventurers spotted in the markets and near several large merchant houses in Triumph City.

He read it several times to be sure: adventurers from the Slime Kingdom had truly gone south.

There were even small trade caravans flying the Slime Kingdom’s banners, making contact and talks with heads of some local merchant houses. They seemed to be testing possibilities for opening southern trade routes, asking about markets and rules for bulk goods like gems, magical materials, and foodstuffs.

Adrian felt uncertain.

The Slime Kingdom?

That rising power in the north that had caused so much commotion recently, supposedly occupying the Dark Realm and Storm Territory?

Their reach extended this far south, into Doran?

This was likely beyond what he could handle alone.

The next day at the Golden Anchor Merchant House’s routine meeting, Adrian weighed his words carefully and brought up the matter.

“Everyone, I received news from Doran… it seems the Slime Kingdom’s caravans and adventurers have appeared in Triumph City.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a low murmur of discussion rippled through the elegantly decorated meeting room.

“Slimes? They went to Doran?” An elder textile merchant stroked his beard, surprised.

“Aren’t they tangled up with the princess of the White Horse Kingdom in the north? Why go south?” a grain merchant asked, baffled.

“Are they trying to open trade routes?”

“Damn, one Gold Lionheart Fortress couldn’t satisfy their appetite, now they’re meddling in our southern business too?”

Discussion grew louder as merchants speculated about the slimes’ intentions in Doran.

“Doran has a great many mages and a steady demand for magical materials and gems. It’s been an important trading partner for our association,” said a sharp-faced middle-aged woman, worry in her voice.

“If the slimes really get involved, using the mineral resources they control in the Dark Realm, will that impact our trade?”

In fact, the Merchant Alliance had sent teams into the Dark Realm to survey mineral resources before, and had found several veins.

Although these veins were in dangerous terrain and the ores lay deep with little value for extraction, who could say the Dark Realm had no other undiscovered shallow deposits?

Legends even said the Stone Giants established cities in the Dark Realm because of its rich mineral resources.

When silence settled and the atmosphere grew somewhat heavy, the representative from the Deepwater family—a bespectacled elder—cleared his throat and spoke from the far end of the long table.

“Gentlemen, there’s no need to worry too much.” He tapped the table with a finger. “The Dark Realm isn’t close to Doran. Many hills and the Death Swamp lie between, making transport costs a problem they can’t ignore.”

“And most of the gems and magical metals we ship to Doran are mined from excellent northern territory deposits in the White Horse Kingdom. Through the trade routes we control, our costs and efficiency are superior.”

He pushed up his monocle and continued, “Even if the slimes somehow transported gem ore over, their prices would not be competitive with the merchant houses. If we slightly lower our quotes, they won’t want to operate at a loss and will slink back north.”

“Moreover, the merchant house has the backing of the entire Misty Bay Harbor Merchant Alliance and controls many of the main sea and land trade routes to the southern kingdoms. If Doran’s council and those mage families foolishly turn to the slimes for bulk trade, the alliance can economically ‘remind’ them of the consequences.”

“Faced with massive profit loss, Doran’s council and the mage families will know what to choose.”

His reasoning was sound, full of merchant calculation and confidence in their own strength.

The tense atmosphere in the meeting eased, and many merchants’ faces relaxed into agreement.

Indeed, the Slime Kingdom was far to the north; attempting to challenge the Merchant Alliance’s dominance in southern trade sounded presumptuous.

Adrian breathed a small sigh of relief, but his cautious nature made him add, “Mr. Hawk raised valid points. Still, to be safe, should we send people to find out exactly what those slimes are doing in Doran? Who they contacted, what they discussed? It’s always wise to learn about your competitors.”

The elder called Hawk nodded approvingly. “Young man, you’re right. Caution is never wrong. Fine—let the merchant house dispatch several capable, reliable people to form an investigation team to Triumph City.”

“Their task is to uncover the slimes’ true intentions, trade volume, and potential partners. All expenses will be covered by the merchant house’s funds. Agreed?”

Most present agreed. Soon, specific personnel and action plans were determined in the ensuing discussion.