A carriage was driving on the street leaving Baliyahat, heading east.

It was a pure white luxury carriage with some gold ornaments. In the past era, carriages were still a common means of transportation for nobles. However, in today's Semilia, whether it is in terms of comfort or speed,

In other words, limo cars are the more common choice.

Two dignified "knights" were waiting in the driver's seat, while two "noble men" were sitting in the carriage.

The two people in the car are the "Minister of Closbell Affairs" and the "Minister of Disregard" who occupy the last two seats among the nine ministers of the current imperial cabinet.

"Well, it feels like we've seen each other for a long time, Sir Rufus."

"It's been a whole year. The last time we met was at the birthday party of the eldest prince Oribat. I didn't expect that in just one year, we have climbed to our current status, Dr. Astre, no, Mr. Astre

.”

Ling used his first name when calling Rufas. That was because in the empire, "Sir Elbarea" specifically refers to another person - Helmu, the lord of Cruchin State among the four famous noble families in the empire.

Te Albarea.

In contrast, Rufus still calls Ling by her last name to show respect.

"Ah, just call me Ling. Well, is it okay if I just call you Rufas?"

"Oh, that's fine. It's not working time now, so there's no need to be as formal as in the palace."

Among the group of Thors graduates at the last birthday party of the eldest prince Olibat, Rufas and Ling were the alumni who graduated closest to each other. Rufas was a graduate of the 212th class, and Ling was a graduate of the 214th class.

Graduates. Even closer than Wores, who graduated from the 207th class of Thorz, and Alleria, who graduated from the 208th class.

The first time the two met was at the Thors Academy Festival in 1199. Ling was an invited guest at that time, and Rufus had just succeeded as the director of the Thors Military Academy, and they did not talk in person. Second

The first meeting was Olibat's birthday dinner four years later. It was the first time the two chatted. Now it was the third time, and they met alone in this closed environment.

The two of them did not talk about state affairs, but started talking about the people around them.

"I'll ask you to take more care of my brother-in-law when he's in Thors."

Rufus' younger brother Jussis, Ling also met him once at last year's banquet. In addition, she also met him in the student auditorium at Thors's opening ceremony yesterday.

"Basically, I don't care about things over there. If you have any intentions, why not go directly to Levi to complain? He is the senior instructor of 'Class Seven'."

"Ha, I'm sorry, I just said something very rude. Even if I am anxious, things will not go smoothly. I should be more relaxed and look forward to his growth."

"What is the so-called elder brother like father... I have heard a little bit about your family. Hmm..."

Ling herself didn't have much room to intervene when it came to other people's family issues. She also had difficulties on her side that were no less than those of the brothers Rufus and Jussis, so she planned to drop the topic.

"The artificial knight statue has entered the trial operation stage. As an important member of the Noble Alliance, they should have told you about the production of Mecha Soldiers (Pa)."

"Using that blue knight statue as a prototype...is it ready for use?"

"Well, I'll take you there. There is the assembly workshop of the "Falcon" in the big forest."

After talking to Rufus, she pulled the lever and explained to the two "knights" outside how to get to the secret path.

Ling has always hidden her identity as the "Purple Initiator" from the outside world. Except for a few people, very few people know about it. She doesn't know if Rufus is aware of it, but at least the information from the Imperial Military Intelligence Agency

There is no relevant record. According to Ling's judgment, if Osborne didn't tell Rufus, he probably wouldn't know.

Few people know that Rufus, who appears to belong to the Noble Alliance, is actually the "Iron-Blooded Son" under Osborn. Although Ling knew this, she had no intention of exposing this.

In fact, she was not sure that the civil war would continue as she knew in the plot of Trails of Cold Steel. Before Crossbell's Orchid Tower was completed, and the Three God Machines had not been delivered to Dita, Crossbell now

He probably doesn't have the guts to be independent. And if there hadn't been Crossbell's independence, would the noble alliance have directly raided the capital like in the plot?

This is one of them.

Secondly, there are also forces that oppose early war in the noble alliance. Ling and Mitina have always kept in touch with each other through letters, and they also know that the forces behind her support do not want the noble faction to break up with the reformist faction now. Even if the current one

Mr. Kane intends to go his own way, and is in a state of being unable to be slapped.

Besides, although the Mecha Soldier is an epoch-making invention, it relies heavily on the skill of the driver. Allowing top-notch warriors to control the Mecha Soldier can indeed exert an exaggerated combat power that surpasses the latest tank "No. 18", but it does not allow ordinary people to control the Mecha Soldier.

When soldiers use mecha soldiers, they are just fragile targets. Not to mention compared with main tanks, their performance in the test is not even as good as that of well-trained armored vehicle units.

The carriage entered the dense forest, and a monster named "Giant Gorilla" appeared on the way. Although the horse was a little frightened, "Giant Gorilla" fled in a hurry, and the horses quickly calmed down.

keep going.

"Ling, just now, did you release your aura a little bit? The monster ran away as if it saw a natural enemy. What happened?"

In the same carriage, Rufus immediately noticed the flash of domineering aura just now.

"Rufus, are you also interested in this? Many warriors can do similar things."

"Strictly speaking, I am not a martial artist. If I want to expel monsters, I would rather use guided magic than swordsmanship."

"Does an expert in court swordsmanship claim to be not a martial artist? This statement cannot be accepted by others."

"To become stronger, you don't have to do it like a warrior."

Rufus did not answer Ling's question directly.

After a while, the carriage stopped in front of a hidden building.

Letting the two "knights" wait outside, Rufus walked into the production workshop hidden underground under the leadership of Ling.

"That's the 'Falcon'." Ling said to Rufus. In the past few months, a total of seven Falcons have been assembled.

The machine is almost three times as tall as an ordinary person and is the smallest among the mecha soldiers.

The total height is 5.6 Torrim and the total weight is 4.6 Thorim.

A lightweight body specialized in high speed and maneuverability, for Ling, it can restore her movements to about 90%. It is a useful substitute when the Purple Knight God has not yet completed regeneration. However, the defense is

Its cover door is made of paper-like ultra-lightweight radiated steel that can be easily shot through even the machine guns of armored vehicles. It is basically not included in the main force considerations.

"This is a special machine, and it takes a lot of time to get started. The real main force is the 'Dragon Man' mass-produced in the western factory. All parameters are relatively average, and it is also the easiest to control."

Rufus was very interested and sat on it to experiment. The result was that, as Ling said, it was a very difficult machine to control. Moreover, the small cockpit made him feel uncomfortable as a grown man.

"As a decisive battle weapon, the degree of completion is quite high. But the problem is the driver." Rufus immediately saw the crux of the problem.

"If you want to train pilots on a large scale, it will be difficult to keep the secret weapons of these 'noble alliances' secret. Or they should not be kept secret at all. In my opinion, the place where mecha soldiers can be active in the future is not just neighboring armies.

Sooner or later, the regular army will have their place. They may become the key for our empire to completely overwhelm the Republic on the battlefield."

Rufus didn't feel much about Ling's statement. Like most people in the Empire, he still felt that the mechanized advancement of tank troops was the strongest combat effectiveness in the world.

Well, of course this idea is not wrong. After all, Rufus still doesn’t know how far a martial arts expert can use mecha soldiers.

"Ling, do you want to disclose the existence of mecha soldiers in advance? Lord Kane will not agree to it, right?"

"I'm just saying it in advance."

Ling pretended not to know that Rufus' true camp was on Osborne's side, and chatted casually with him.

She used intelligence as a inducement, and there were only a limited number of actions that Rufus could take after actually seeing the mecha soldiers. And no matter which one, it would greatly increase the possibility of the mecha soldiers being exposed in advance.

After the two left the hidden production workshop, they returned to the original street and continued towards the Galeria Fortress.

While exchanging information, they discussed the Erebonia Empire's strategy against Crossbell.

As the newly appointed Minister of Crossbell Affairs, Rufas knows that the imperial faction has already gained considerable advantage in the Crossbell Parliament in the Crossbell Autonomous Prefecture. Next, he plans to use "investment and development" as a bait to attract

The empire's power is more penetrating there.

Ling heard that Rufus didn't know what he had already planned in Crossbell. She was actually a little worried about whether the empire's large-scale intervention would disrupt Crossbell's balance.
Chapter completed!