Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 960 - 77: Ava’s Question

Chapter 960: Chapter 77: Ava’s Question

At this multi-party meeting, most powers had sent their real authorities as envoys and, along with the envoys, also dispatched a force ostensibly as guards but actually as participants in military exercises. Among all the participating countries’ forces, the Falar Empire had the largest contingent. Not only did they dispatch one of their national protectors, Duke Grinfar, but they also selected the finest one hundred knights and their auxiliary troops totaling one thousand one hundred and forty-two personnel. After twenty days of intensive training, they visited the Neville Federation. The strength and will of these one hundred knights had been strictly screened in the Falar military, where nearly every one of them held at least the position of a squadron leader. Leading their auxiliary troops, they assembled and made their appearance on the soil of the Neville Federation; had it not been for diplomatic notification, many might have assumed that another war had erupted—none would have guessed that such elaborate selection and a long journey were merely for an exercise.

However, it was quite clear that Prince Nicholas, representing the will of the Emperor of Falar, was very satisfied with the performance of the knights. Compared to the loosely formed and laxly disciplined Beastman forces and the mixed strength of the Neville Federation military, which relied entirely on equipment, the knights of Falar were the epitome of military discipline, like a blade forged of metal. Nicholas smiled, unable to hide his pride, nodded at the other envoys on the high platform, and said nonchalantly, "These are the Empire’s knights, the Empire’s army, all composed of such knights. The Empire’s regular forces number five hundred and eighty thousand. Should the Undead War truly break out, my father the Emperor will allow me to mobilize four hundred thousand troops as the first echelon to strike at the Undead in the Sighing Desert. If the situation turns dire, the remaining one hundred and eighty thousand troops and hundreds of thousands of reservists could be ready to move to the battlefield for support at any moment."

The words of Prince Nicholas caused a subtle change in the expression of everyone on the high platform. Although no matter how numerous Falar’s legion of knights was, for most of those above Legendary Rank on the platform, it posed no threat; yet, when numbers increased to a certain extent, a quantitative shift brought about a qualitative change. Such a vast legion could achieve effects in war against the fearless, undying Undead that even several more powerful Demigods could not. Perhaps the only comparison to the effectiveness of this vast legion would be the Elf forest guards numbering several hundred thousand, all of Gold Rank.

"The Falar Empire is indeed formidable," said another representative from the Neville Federation, the rotund Duke Windsor, his eyes crinkling in a smile. "Truly worthy of being the land of knights, from the Emperor to the common folk, all are so courageous—truly admirable."

"Of course, although not every person in the Empire is a knight, the spirit of the knight is already deeply etched in everyone’s heart. At my father’s command, every warrior of the Empire would willingly sacrifice for loyalty," Prince Nicholas stated, puffing out his chest and speaking loudly with maximum volume, "After all, this is a battle for the entire Yarran World. To sacrifice on such a battlefield is the highest honor for our warriors. Our knights of Falar are not ones to falter at such times, wouldn’t you agree?"

"Honor." The knights, statuesque in their black armor, whether truly hearing Nicholas’s words or by prior arrangement, raised their weapons in unison, issuing a thunderous roar just as the prince finished speaking.

"Hehe, big sister, your old friend here is quite interesting," Freya mentioned cheekily, resting her chin on her hand and staring intently at Nicholas from afar: "He cannot be serious, can he?"

"What do you think?" Catherine released Pannis’s hand subtly, her heart harboring mixed emotions, and gave Freya a displeased look: "Asking such a foolish question, do you find it amusing?"

"Tsk tsk, he knows he’s talking nonsense, everyone knows he’s talking nonsense, he also knows that everyone knows he’s talking nonsense, and everyone also knows that he knows everyone knows... Oh dear, bit my tongue." Freya grimaced, sucking in air to soothe the pain in her tongue before continuing, "But he talks about it with such seriousness, and everyone pretends to take it seriously as well. Hehe, it really must be hard for them to maintain their seriousness now."

"He’s just playing the role he’s supposed to play," Catherine shook her head and said, "In that position, even if you know you’re spouting nonsense, you keep saying it reluctantly unless you’re willing to leave that position, just as Lady Nellie did back then. But obviously, he doesn’t have the courage, or rather the will, so he just keeps going. It’s just that their decision this time is really hard to comment on, alas..."

Ava had been crammed next to Pannis the whole day, sitting on a chair with an expressionless face like a lifeless doll, until that moment when she suddenly moved, turning to pull on Pannis’s sleeve and staring at him with her large eyes without blinking, making him nearly break out in cold sweat, before she said in a mechanical voice, "Explain."

Although Ava’s words were so simple as to be nearly incomprehensible, Pannis seemed to have guessed her inner doubts and explained, "They are commenting on Nicholas’s speech, just now his speech was basically all lies and nonsense."

"Why?" Ava still showed no emotion, but her query revealed her confusion, "Sending out more troops would improve the chances of defeating the Undead, wouldn’t it? What’s so bad about that?"

"Of course, there’s nothing bad about it, but it might not be so good for the citizens of the Falar Empire, so Catherine said it’s hard to comment just now," Pannis explained, "Actually, the main thing is just what he said just now, for the entire Yarran World? Perhaps some knights might think that way, but he certainly does not think so, he and his father, the Emperor of Falar, have their own agendas."

"Explain." Ava repeated the original question, again in terms so simple as to be maddening.

"Uh, this would be quite complicated to explain; I’d need to do a detailed account," Pannis said, scratching his head and looking troubled, "I won’t explain the specific accounts to you, just to put it simply, first of all, because of the unified logistics and shared burden, sending soldiers out costs them far less in supplies than keeping them in their own country." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)