Bear School Astartes

King of Yaden, Demavi, reclined in a chair covered with bear fur, dark circles from lack of sleep under his eyes, staring at the wine glass resting on his stomach.

Rulers of Temeria, Ponta, Mahakan, and Sodden, and recently, the seasoned protector of Brugge, Veltrest, turned his head towards the window, leaving behind a noble profile identical to the relief on an Oren Coin.

Opposite the table was King of Codwin, Henselt. He bore a bandit-like beard, and his small eyes, squeezed into slits by his cheeks, secretly glanced at the others.

Queen Miv of Lilia and Livia played absentmindedly with the large ruby necklace on her ample bosom, occasionally curling her full and beautiful lips.

”We must not make any more mistakes.”

Seeing no one speak, Vizimir maintained his usual composure and reiterated his viewpoint.

”We cannot afford to make mistakes now. We must learn from our ancestors’ experiences, when five hundred years ago our ancestors landed, the Elves, like ostriches burying their heads in the sand, refused to face the threat due to their resistance to change and fear.”

”As our ancestors advanced, occupying lands bit by bit, they comforted themselves by saying ’This will surely be the last time,’ retreating ever further. And thus, we became kings.”

”And now.” Vizimir’s face, older than a few years ago, made eye contact with the kings in turn, ”We have become those Elves.”

”I have heard more than once, people in my court say ’The Black Clothes will stop south of the Yaruga’ ’They don’t want to wage war anymore,’ and I believe you must have heard such voices in your courts too.”

”So I must repeat: we must not make the same mistakes as the Elves.”

Veltrest still did not turn around.

Looking out from this window in Haji Fortress offers a view of the torrents of Ponta.

He clearly remembers how, less than half a year ago, this torrent, fearsome to even look at, had suffered a blockage farther downstream.

Ultimately, it was the river itself that accumulated three days’ worth of water, and with Triss Merigold’s explosive magic, it blasted open the waterway, restoring circulation to this major artery for Northern Territory’s river transport.

At that time, the blockage point was near Temeria’s pioneering territory—the Floating Harbor.

According to his loyal intelligence personnel, the massive shattered mountain rocks and giant trees that blocked the river channel...were smashed down from the mountain by some force!

And quite coincidentally... it was a Demon Hunter, summoned at his invitation, who had gone to handle the anomalies in the Ponta River Valley.

Veltrest still remembers the expression on the face of the intelligence personnel who presented the report.

’He must have been terrified.’

King of Temeria’s first reaction was this.

That battle-hardened spy, thriving in the dark and malicious world of espionage... what did he see that left such traces that terrified him?

Veltrest stared out the window in silence, yet someone didn’t want the atmosphere to go cold.

”Do not compare us to the Elves, Vizimir, it is an insult.” Henselt’s bandit-like beard quivered. ”Elves simply do not know how to fight. They did not teach our ancestors a lesson on Sodden Mountain.”

”They would only weakly retreat, surrendering one city after another.”

”But we pulverized the Black Clothes!”

”Remember after Niflgaard’s defeat, how Emperor Enshir purged his troops? There were eight formal mass executions, countless informal or smaller ones!”

”To maintain his prestige after his defeat, to detach himself from the failure, he transformed into someone who initially opposed dispatching troops!”

”When it comes to action, he was truly ruthless. Commanders were almost wiped out!”

Speaking about the post-defeat purging of Niflgaard, Henselt’s expression showed wistfulness, yet he soon smiled again.

”So now, how could he dispatch troops? Commanders were eradicated, who would lead his great army? Those noncommissioned officers perhaps?”

”No, it won’t be noncommissioned officers.” Yaden’s Demavi interjected coldly. ”Leading the troops will be those robust, young officers.”

”Remember Niflgaard’s military school system? This system has stabilized for years, calculate, now is precisely the time when talent emerges.”

”We have all heard of those young men’s names and achievements.”

”They crushed the uprisings in Medina and Nasir, swiftly quelling Aebin’s rebellion. Their killings were efficient, far more decisive than the old men.”

”Those aging generals previously blocked the path for youth promotion, leaving them stagnated in the middle and lower echelons of the army, accumulating experience and knowledge...along with unfulfilled grievances.”

”Nowadays, those opportunities, the young people have been waiting like wolves and tigers for a long time.”

”Compared to merits and wealth, the tearful lessons of those annoying old elders can’t possibly hold back the young ones.”

”They’d better not be held back,” Henselt grinned. ”The military academy system is indeed good, I’ve also set up a small one myself to give it a try.”

”But talent is one thing, having more talents doesn’t mean you can conjure up military supplies and resources out of thin air.”

Henselt’s short, stout fingers moved his beer mug on the wooden table but didn’t drink, he just grinned.

”If they want to cross the Yaruga River, where will they get boats and a foothold?”

”The military fortresses on the Yaruga River are on our side, do their boats dare to set sail? Once in the water, do they dare to land?”

”Don’t need the flank? Don’t care about the logistical supply lines?”

”Or crossing the sea instead? Haha, King Bran of the Skellig Islands is on the brink of madness wanting revenge for his brother East Tursek! The Niflgaard people can’t even hold their coastline anymore, their ships are nearly pierced through by Skellige’s longships, would they dare venture into the sea?”

Speaking of ’pierced through’, Henselt laughed and made a rather lewd gesture, clearly likening the longships to something else.

”Those young officers should better not be held back,” Henselt sneered. ”That way, when they impulsively charge across the river without thinking, we can easily reenact the Battle of Sodden Mountain.”

”But don’t worry, they won’t cross the river.”

At last, Henselt waved his hand listlessly, looking as though he found it quite regrettable.

”But suppose,” Queen Miv ignored Henselt’s lewd gesture earlier and suddenly spoke up.

”Suppose the Black Clothes indeed won’t cross the Yaruga River, they well hold themselves back and wait. Then who benefits more from this situation? Who can drag it out longer? Who can’t hold on?”

”Absolutely correct,” Vizimir immediately agreed, ”Miv still cutting straight to the heart of the matter as always!”

The oldest king among the Four Northern Countries paced and walked over to the side of the table next to Miv’s seat, using his stance to express his attitude.

He continued, ”Emperor Enshir has plenty of time. You all can’t figure it out yet?”

”Two years ago, the Niflgaard people loosened a stone on the slope, and now they are waiting for the landslide!”

”Two years ago, that ’small stone’ was something immovable to many, but now it has begun to roll down! This completely invigorated the spirits of those guys.”

”From Gray Mountain to Brimwylf Cape, non-human race guerilla forces are everywhere! If we continue to wait, the free elves of Dor Britanna will have their say too! The dwarves of Mahakan’s autonomous dominion will surely be eager, and Brokilon’s dryads will become more rampant!”

Vizimir slammed his fist on the tabletop.

”The Niflgaard people are stoking the fire while sitting back, waiting for us to become more and more stretched thin!”

”Squirrel Faction,” Henselt now also admitted, ”indeed is already a big problem. They disrupt trade and transportation, obstruct farmers from working... Damn non-human scum!”

”The Squirrel Faction wants war, so we will give them war,” at this point, Veltrest standing by the window joined in. ”I’ve always advocated for peace, but that doesn’t mean I’m lax on force.”

”I hereby make a promise: I will sweep the Squirrel Faction within Temeria out in six months.”

”Even during my ancestors’ confrontations with the elves, much blood was spilled on that land. To me, it was a tragedy. But now, in this critical moment, if they still seek trouble, the tragedy will have to be reenacted.”

Frankly speaking, Veltrest’s statement made the others breathe a sigh of relief.

Because his attitude towards non-human races has been relatively mild, as evidenced by Mahakan’s dwarf autonomy.

He does not, like Codwin or Yaden, directly express a discriminatory attitude towards non-human races in policy.

The discrimination phenomenon within Temeria largely stems from local customs and prejudices rather than policy issues.

However, after Veltrest made his statement, Demavi snorted quietly with laughter.

”Yes, Veltrest. As long as you give the order, your loyal army and Blue-clothed Iron Guard will unquestionably attack the Squirrel Faction or non-human races.”

King of Yaden spoke casually.

But then, he finally sat up straight from his lazy, half-reclining posture on the chair, lowered his face, and asked in a resonant voice.

”But the problem is... will your army, your Blue-clothed Iron Guard, attack humans?!”