Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

June, with a blazing sun.

The Iron Peak County Military had "taken over" Maplestone City for seven days, and the siege of Maple Fort also continued for seven days.

The occasional thunder of heavy artillery served as a reminder to everyone that the war was still ongoing.

But life had to go on as well.

Like other cities, the outskirts of Maplestone City had vast farmlands. At present, the rye outside the city had been harvested, and it was time to harvest the wheat next.

Cattle and horses sluggishly dragged heavy stone rollers, flattening large areas of the fields where the crops had been harvested.

The threshed grains were evenly spread out on the ground, drying in the scorching sun.

Looking out, the fields outside the city were dotted with sudden golden patches, as if someone had splattered paint with a brush.

Because the processes of harvesting, threshing, and drying all required a large amount of manpower.

So, during this season, no matter if they were male or female, adult or child, every member of a farming family had to go out to the fields if they had a pair of hands.

Not only were the tenant farmers and self-cultivators of Maplestone City laboring in the fields, but the landless people from nearby villages and towns and even the poor from within Maplestone City were drawn in, relying on selling their labor during the harvest season for a meager wage.

Large groups of temporary workers gathered in the morning like streams and returned home like homing birds in the evening.

The busy scenes of labor were almost indistinguishable from those of June in previous years.

If one were to look towards the more remote Iron Peak County, people would be surprised to find that large refugee farms under rebel control had already harvested the winter wheat and were hastily planting miscellany vegetables and legumes to supplement their food supply.

It seemed as though the entire Newly Reclaimed Lands Province had freed itself from war and turmoil, rediscovering the stability and peace of old.

Yet this tranquility was more like the calm at the center of a storm.

There was no need for deliberate propaganda; the results of the River Valley Village battle naturally spread beyond the Newly Reclaimed Lands, immediately igniting intense unrest within Paratu and even throughout the Alliance.

A new wave of purges erupted in Kingsfort.

The Red Rose faction, split from the old Grand Council, was once again divided based on whether or not to unconditionally support Grof Magnus.

A large number of Red Rose councilors opposing Grof Magnus's policies—especially those local factions vehemently against external powers intervening in Paratu's civil war—were arrested and detained on charges of being "traitors," "spies," and "sympathizers with hostile parties."

Some Red Rose councilors were even publicly executed as "enemy collaborators responsible for the battle's failure" without trial.

Kingsfort returned to the terrifying atmosphere of the last bloody coup: every household had its doors and windows tightly shut, and other than cavalry with warrants, there were no pedestrians to be seen on the roads.

Some say that a dying beast is more dangerous than usual.

But Grof Magnus's actions were not just dangerous; they seemed insane.

One can only wonder if, as they bowed their heads before the executioner's sword, the councilors who once escorted Grof Magnus to the Speaker's seat felt any remorse.

In Guidao City, upon learning of the latest developments in Paratu, The Federated Provinces began a new round of mobilization and armament.

The prices of iron, lead, saltpeter, and sulfur soared, and with them, the price of raw wool also took off.

The Mountain Front Territory Wool Import Guild suggested a quote of one gold shield and two silver shields for a bale of [medium-grade, un-degreased] raw wool—and it was only a suggestion.

Panic-stricken textile factory owners began stockpiling raw materials at all costs, while the prudent ones had already started laying off weavers.

On the other side of the Inner Sea, the impact felt by Vineta was no lighter than that of The Federated Provinces.

The Senas Alliance had not experienced a large-scale battle involving tens of thousands of troops from both sides in many years.

Rewinding a hundred years, a battle of this scale could destroy or elevate a nation; even in today's world, tempered by the struggles for sovereignty, such a bloody battle would still be historic.

However, the Venetians' shock had a more positive connotation.

The previously suppressed "Iron Peak County rebel situation" by the Governor's Office could no longer be contained. The name Winters Montagne spread overnight throughout Sea Blue's high society.

At the Serviati Residence, ladies from Sea Blue gathered, subtly inquiring Kasha Selvidi for information; upon leaving, they headed straight to Navarre Manor, offering half-earnest congratulations to Lady Navarre.

The rumors circulating in Sea Blue's parlors and salons need not be mentioned, nor the reactions of Lady Navarre and Lady Selvidi.

In response to the latest developments in Paratu, the Vineta Governor's Office issued a sternly worded public statement to the Executive Committee of The Federated Provinces—warning the allies not to intervene in Paratu's civil war in any form, lest Vineta be forced to respond.

The situation in the Tanilia Archipelago and Torrent River regions escalated once again, with the leaves of absence for officers of the Third and Fourth Legions canceled, and no idle soldiers to be seen loitering outside the garrison camps.

The Vineta Inner Sea Fleet also departed from its home port, starting a new round of hunting down The Federated Provinces' smuggling ships over the Inner Sea.

On the shores of the Inner Sea, The Federated Provinces and Vineta arched their backs and bristled their fur, bodies pressed to the ground, as if ready to pounce at each other the very next second.

In contrast, on the North Shore of the Ashen Stream River, the Paratu Military Government in Rainbow Creek had a subdued response to the battles on the South Bank.

The Rainbow River Military Government neither took advantage of the enemy's loss of troops to attack the eastern border cities adjacent to The Federated Provinces, nor did they attempt to breach the Ashen Stream River defense line again.