Chapter 1671 - 233 - The Storm Hits (3)

So it wasn't only the countries on this continent that were being affected by the conflict.

Even across the Great Ocean, the effects of the war were already spreading, reaching places that I had initially thought would remain relatively distant from everything happening here.

The more I thought about it, the more obvious it became that this wasn't going to remain some simple regional conflict that would eventually disappear after a few battles.

It was already becoming something much bigger.

"Maybe it's finally time for me to meet the Mermaid Kingdom," I said while rubbing my chin thoughtfully. "I mean, I still have their princess with me, after all, so I suppose I have at least one reason to start that conversation."

"I would recommend that you put that plan aside for the moment, Master," Amon replied.

I immediately looked toward her.

That answer caught me off guard.

Amon had never really told me to abandon or postpone one of my plans before. Usually, she gave me the information she had gathered, explained the possible consequences, and then allowed me to make the final decision myself.

"The Mermaid Kingdom is already in a rather unstable position," she explained. "Considering everything that is happening there right now, approaching them could create more complications than benefits. More importantly, there are several matters within this country that currently require your attention much more urgently."

She brought up her tablet and turned the screen toward me, displaying a large map of the surrounding region.

"I would suggest that you focus on improving your relations with the people of this country first."

She then pointed toward a particular area on the map.

"The Duchy of Lerbia, huh?" I said as I looked closely at the location she had indicated.

The Duchy of Lerbia was a relatively small country, and from everything I knew about it, there wasn't anything particularly remarkable about the place.

It had a few agricultural advantages, along with some other minor resources, but compared with the other territories we had been dealing with, Lerbia wasn't exactly a country that immediately stood out.

Still, those agricultural advantages were actually pretty appealing.

With a major war approaching, having as much food stored away as possible would obviously be important, especially if the conflict dragged on longer than anyone expected.

Weapons and soldiers were useful, obviously, but people still had to eat.

That was one of those annoyingly simple facts that became much more important whenever an actual war started, because even the strongest army in the world would have a difficult time fighting after running out of food.

"So you're suggesting that I focus on Lerbia instead?" I asked while looking over the information again.

"At least for the moment, yes," Amon answered calmly.

I looked at the information for a little longer before slowly nodding.

She had a point.

The Mermaid Kingdom wasn't going anywhere, and there was no immediate reason for me to force a meeting with them while their own situation was already unstable.

Lerbia, meanwhile, could potentially provide something we were going to need regardless of what happened next.

Food.

Considering how quickly everything was deteriorating, having reliable access to food could become just as important as having weapons.

"Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, Amon," I told her with a small smile.

"I'm sorry if I overstepped your decision a little, Master," she replied.

"It's fine," I said while shaking my head. "I asked for your thoughts, and you're simply telling me what you think would be the best course of action."

I looked back toward the map displayed on her tablet.

"More than anything, I think it's actually a good thing that you suggested this, because I probably would've gone straight toward the Mermaid Kingdom without thinking about everything else that was happening."

Amon nodded quietly in response.

The Duchy of Lerbia was already slowly being erased from the political map because its current Duke was corrupt and had driven the country into an increasingly miserable state.

Fortunately, I already had a solution in mind for that particular problem.

While I was still thinking about how I would handle the situation, a sudden alarm echoed through the room.

The sound immediately snapped me out of my thoughts.

Amon's expression changed at once.

She quickly switched what was being displayed on her tablet before bringing up the system's detection interface, which was designed to identify major incidents and sudden threats from across our territory.

Her eyes quickly moved across the information appearing on the screen, and the relaxed atmosphere we had only moments ago disappeared almost instantly.

"A missile has struck Guardian Version 2.0," she said.

So it was starting now.

***

Lilia and I immediately made our way toward the place where the Guardian Version 2.0 had been struck, moving quickly while a large number of soldiers followed closely behind us through the battlefield.

Among them were soldiers from the Great Forest, members of Leonamon's entire mercenary subsidiary group, and several magic knights from Milham, all of whom had gathered together to see what was happening and determine whether the barrier was still capable of holding against the continuous bombardment.

We eventually reached the area where the Guardian 2.0 had taken the attack, and the sight in front of us was enough to make the situation feel considerably more serious than it had sounded from a report.

The barrier continued to be bombarded by missiles from somewhere far beyond our current position, with explosions repeatedly flashing across its surface and briefly illuminating the surrounding area before disappearing again into the darkness.

There seemed to be some kind of missile launcher positioned somewhere in the distance.

I couldn't determine its exact location from where I was standing, but considering the range of the attacks, I had a fairly good idea of where it might have been placed.

It was probably somewhere within the Republic.

That meant they possessed a weapon capable of attacking us from this far away without requiring their soldiers to leave their own territory or even lift a finger from wherever their base happened to be located.

That was honestly rather annoying.