"Hey, if I had agreed to help Reider negotiate back then, do you think this war wouldn't have happened?" I asked Adrian, feeling a bit regretful. I could feel him standing next to me.
"Maybe. But both sides might not have agreed in the end. If the talks failed, the result would still be the same..." Adrian looked at the distance silently for a while before answering. Then he held my hand and said softly, "So it's not your fault. Don't think too much about it."
"Okay..." I nodded, sighing quietly. I knew he was trying to comfort me, and what he said was true. But I still felt a bit of regret in my heart. Maybe Reed was right - was I overreacting by hiding my past from Adrian all this time? Or maybe I could have found a better time to tell him...
For a while after that, the area around the Earth base became quiet again. The empire lost completely, as expected. The Earth army didn't chase after them.
Of course, Earth suffered some losses in this battle. For several days, besides cleaning up the battlefield, they were busy rebuilding. Scout teams were still sent out every day, and friendly visits spread to farther cities and villages.
News of the war's result spread fast. Within a week, everyone on the continent knew about the Earth army! With the empire army gone, the base grew bigger than ever. Supplies from Earth kept coming to this world, and they started trying to trade with nearby cities.
Finally, after about a month, good news came from the empire. Under pressure, the top people in the capital agreed to start peace talks. They sent the empire Princess to discuss details. Both sides agreed to have the talks in Sifur, where the Sebastian family lives!
"Huh? Why isn't Reider negotiating himself? He wanted peace so badly before. Now that he has the chance, he's just sending a Princess and not getting involved at all!" I asked, confused after hearing this news.
This Princess 's background is also strange. Her full name is Katarina Cedric!
Cedric was the name of the royal family that Reider overthrew a few years ago. The old emperor, prince, and royals who fought back were all killed. But Katarina survived because she quickly surrendered. She's still alive now.
But even though she's alive, all her power and status disappeared like smoke. The empire doesn't belong to the Cedric family anymore. Katarina kept her life, and because she's a woman who isn't married and doesn't have children, Reider let her stay in the palace. But she's treated badly, like forgotten nobles that no one cares about.
Now the empire has lost the war and needs to ask for peace. It's such a big deal, but they're sending this "leftover from the old dynasty" to negotiate! It doesn't make sense! Even if some other important officials are accompanied, it still doesn't explain why Reider is doing this.
"I don't know the exact reason. The whole empire is in chaos now. I just got this news from Edenmere!" Serena shook her head and answered. She came out of the Spiritual Network and suddenly suggested, "But the negotiation team left the capital a few days ago. Sifur should have gotten the news by now. I heard you have a good relationship with the lord there. Maybe you can go check things out, and also visit Elder Gwendolyn for me!"
"Huh? You want me to go?" I pointed at myself, surprised. I suddenly remembered the proud head maid who lives in the lord's house. I haven't seen her for a long time. I wonder how she's doing now?
Serena's First Legion also has work to do. They need to go to the Crestvale Republic in the east to talk with them! Earth's army doesn't care about country borders. Rumors say the republic officials already contacted the other world a few days ago. Serena and her team need to go check out the situation.
I've been bored just hanging around in the Light Elf village, so of course I didn't say no to going to the city! But I decided to go alone because it's not convenient to bring Adrian. It's not far, and we won't be apart for long, so I just told him and left.
Even though Sifur city wasn't directly hit by the war, things aren't good there now.
When the empire was preparing for war, they took many soldiers from here, even some women and children! These kinds of soldiers were just there to make up numbers on the battlefield. After that big battle, almost none of them survived. Only a few lucky ones escaped through the forest and came back.
Sifur city is more empty now. The streets that used to be busy have few people walking around. You can see some locals sometimes, but it's not as lively as before.
But unlike this, the city walls are full of soldiers, like they're ready for a sudden battle. All the city gates are tightly closed.
"Strange, are they defending against the Earth army? Did the fight come here? But that doesn't make sense..." I was confused seeing this. I didn't hear any news about this before! Since the Earth army came to this world, they've always been friendly and cooperative. They usually don't use weapons unless they're defending themselves. They definitely wouldn't attack a city like this.
Also, I stayed in the sky watching for a while, but I didn't see any obvious army near Sifur. But then again, there are big, thick forests not far from the town. If some small group is hiding in there, it would be hard to see them.
Anyway, I have important things to do! So I just flew straight to the lord's castle.
The Sebastian family's castle was quiet. I couldn't see anyone around. I landed at the front door, and soon a maid came to welcome me. We know each other, so she happily led me inside.
Just after I sat down, Gwendolyn quickly came. Surprisingly, she was alone.
"Where's Altima?" I asked right away. To be honest, I quite like this female boss. Her personality and way of doing things suit me well.
"She went to the town defense office. Why did you come at a time like this?" Gwendolyn looked a bit happy to see me, but she quickly hid it and asked coldly, "The city is so messy today. Don't you think we're busy enough here?"
"What exactly happened?" I asked back right away. Thinking about what I saw earlier, I was almost sure that Sifur's security measures weren't for nothing.
"What else could it be? It's those bandits!" Gwendolyn rolled her eyes. "Right now, Sifur's defenses are super weak. The whole city only has about 100 regular soldiers. This includes the few who escaped back from the big battle. We can't fight like this! Those bastards are taking advantage of the situation. Looks like Sifur will fall soon!"
"What? Since when did the empire's bandits get so strong?" I was shocked. I've heard about these bandits suddenly appearing. Some of their leaders are quite strong, but usually the whole group is weak and untrained. They can't compare to real armies, let alone attack cities! I had to ask, "Wait, isn't this a city? It has walls and defenses! Even if Sifur doesn't have many people, it shouldn't be this bad, right?"
"It's because there are way too many bandits. There are thousands of them. Even with city defenses, it's not enough!" She sighed and explained the situation to me.
After the big battle between the empire and Earth, the empire army ran away in all directions. Many soldiers ran to the nearby forests. In this situation, people who lived nearby naturally ran back home, including many from Sifur.
But the biggest problem is with the soldiers who came from other areas! The empire is so big that it takes months to walk from south to north. The soldiers who can't go home gathered in the forests again. They don't have enough food or clothes, and no one controls what they do. So they decided to become bandits, robbing people to survive.