Roland glanced at the Pearl of the North with some surprise.
After the ambush squad was ambushed by Ursrook's design, a wave of criticism arose among the high-level officials, believing that the General Staff Department should be responsible for this misjudgment, especially Edith Kant, who served as the minister. In addition to the Administrative Hall, dissatisfaction and questioning also spread from the Sleeping Spell, and if Tilly's prestige had not remained, the impact might have further expanded.
Even Edith herself asked him for punishment when she returned from the front line to report on her duties, but he not only did not agree but also suppressed this series of aftershocks.
Just because this was not a man-made mistake.
Not to mention that victory or defeat is commonplace for soldiers, but the Torch Operation wasn't even a failure, but a complete victory—at the cost of less than five hundred people, nearly 20,000 demons were eliminated before and after, and the established mission was successfully completed, and the Holy City lost for hundreds of years was taken from the hands of the demons. If this cannot be called a victory, what else can be considered a victory?
The contribution of its General Staff Department is obvious to all.
In fact, Roland had privately discussed this issue with Tilly, Agatha, Elra, and others. They also believed that the strategic judgment deviated due to some unknown factors. In the era of the Union, demons would never give up the opportunity to swallow the continent in one breath because of a few witches. Even the Three Chiefs wouldn't do that.
However, that being said, Edith will still be in the limelight for a period of time. In addition, this "duel" was indeed a loss to Ursrook. Roland originally thought she would be depressed for a while, or listen more and talk less, so as not to fall into the hands of others again. Unexpectedly, she showed no sign of retreat, and what she said was different from others.
"...What problem?"
"First of all, these last two sentences," Edith lowered her head and took two steps, "If it succeeds, the troops will be increased tenfold, and if it fails, we should go all out—isn't that too strange? Since the ultimate goal of the demons is still to eliminate humans, the importance of Taqila should be as we expected. Even if the pressure from the Heavenly Sea Realm is greater, it shouldn't be abandoned so hastily. After all, in this letter, the enemy even suggested turning around and trying their best to wipe us out."
Wendy paused, "Indeed...why didn't they do this earlier?"
"Because the red mist supply can't keep up?" Nightingale supported her chin with her finger.
"It is impossible to move out the whole nest, but with ten times the force, as long as more transport troops are invested, it is not impossible, not to mention they also have new types of war machines such as giant skeletons." Agatha frowned, "From Taqila Station No. 1 to No. 10, it took us more than half a year, which is enough for the demons to make a choice."
"The initial judgment of the General Staff Department came from Kabradah—also this guy's 'confession': The demons were held back by the Heavenly Sea Realm, and the outcome of the war was crucial to their survival." Edith looked at the high-level demon glaring at the interrogation table, "But judging from this letter, even if they lose to the Heavenly Sea Realm, they won't suffer a devastating disaster, and they even have a chance to turn defeat into victory. Then why didn't the enemy reinforce Taqila from the beginning? This doesn't make sense—from the intention and behavior, the two are fundamentally contradictory."
Everyone couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
"And this sentence—"I know this will bring you criticism, but it will not affect your Western Front plan," she pondered for a moment and then continued, "It sounds like there is no problem, but when you think about it carefully, you always feel that something is wrong...In order to deal with the infiltrated witches, losing Taqila is a real thing, so how could it have no impact on the plan?"
"Maybe Ursrook is fooling his superiors?" Roland thought, "Nobles often do this—"
"Your Majesty, please consider him as the most difficult enemy!" Edith said seriously, "If you can't imagine it, treat the other party as the demon I am—do you think I would do such a thing?"
Looking at her slightly clenched fists, Roland suddenly understood a lot. It turned out that she was not as calm as she seemed on the surface, nor was she completely unaffected by the discussions behind her back, but was holding back a breath in her heart.
——She didn't want to lose to the demon lord.
"Okay, since it's not fooling, it means that Taqila can be replaced in the plan...In this way, what I can think of is that the demons have found a way to not rely on the red mist and can launch an attack on the Four Kingdoms without the need for obelisks."
"This point was discussed as early as the beginning of the Torch Operation," Agatha sighed, "I still think it is absolutely impossible, otherwise, why would they send troops to Taqila? If the red mist cannot restrain the demons, they should have spread everywhere."
"Uh...why are you all discussing the impact?"
While everyone was racking their brains, Nightingale asked in confusion, "Isn't that "Western Front" even stranger? If the demons are opposite us, west of Neverwinter should be their east, right?"
"Positions are always relative, and the world is not a flat surface." Celine patiently explained, "Demons come from another continent. If Ursrook regards it as the center, then not to mention Taqila, even your Four Kingdoms—and even most of the Dawn Border, are considered west."
"So that's how it is...You mean the two wests are not the same thing, right?"
"Wait, what did you say?" Edith suddenly raised her head.
"Two wests...are not the same thing?" Nightingale said uncertainly.
The Pearl of the North's eyes lit up. She quickly walked to a long table piled with many maps, spread out the paper rolls one by one, glanced at them a few times and then threw them aside. Finally, her eyes stopped on an extremely abstract drawing.
Roland looked at it for a long time before he could recognize that it was a map of the entire Everwinter Kingdom based on the handwriting on it.
She pointed to the blank area north of the Snowy Ridge—which was already the northernmost end of Everwinter, turned to Celine and asked, "What is on this side?"
"Mountains, thousands of miles of mountains, like the back of a hedgehog, from south to north, almost encircle one side of the Dawn Border—we also call it the spine of the continent."
"Has the Union surveyed this area?"
"Of course, the Exploration Society has drawn a map of the entire Dawn Border, including the spine of the continent."
"Just drew a map?" Edith asked eagerly, "No more specific records?"
"What exactly do you want to say?" Agatha asked in confusion, "Just making a map is already a very difficult thing. There are not only many mountains there, but also wide—the End of the World Mountains can be regarded as its tail end, and its widest place is enough to fit the entire Graycastle. The mountain peaks are extremely steep, and most areas are covered with snow all year round. Even if every mountain peak is marked, what's the use?"
"I think we may have overlooked one thing—the Lord of the Sky's Western Front plan may not refer to Taqila, but instead refer to the overall offensive against humans, and the Taqila ruins are just one of its choices!" Edith's finger slid along the End of the World Mountains, "The demons' goal is to let the red mist flood this natural danger. If it is close enough to the Four Kingdoms, then whether or not a city can be built becomes less important. As long as they find a chance to erect an obelisk!"
"You mean..." Agatha's face changed.
"Is it possible that there are undiscovered God Stone veins in this area called the spine of the continent?" The Pearl of the North asked in a deep voice.