Chapter 719

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The maze and traps productions were complete. The main body of this attraction, the new Rye Fortress, could almost be considered as complete. All that was left to be done was only some modification works like the trimming of edges.

However, these modification works were really very important. Before Sui Xiong crossed worlds, he knew an illustrator who was clearly very skilled in his work, but his business had never been good. The reason was that this illustrator’s works were unusually simple with almost no background at all. The clothes that his characters wore were also plain without adornment—in fact, this illustrator always had a keen interest in painting characters dressed in the white robes of the ancient Greek. This was his way of realizing his aesthetic standard of “simplicity is beauty.”

From Sui Xiong’s professional viewpoint, that illustrator’s standard was truly excellent. There was nothing wrong with his aesthetic of simplicity was best. However, buyers and players did not agree with this viewpoint. This was why even after Sui Xiong had traversed his world to come to this world, that illustrator was still pretty much down-and-out and was fully relying on his small grocery store to make ends meet…

Sui Xiong was not a keen supporter of simplicity. He belonged to the kind of artists who supported Kitsch. Getting the crowd to like his works was his greatest pursuit. Therefore, he was prepared to spend a little more time to decorate this fortress and make it as flamboyant as possible so that every visitor would be able to relish the beauty of the place.

As for how they would relish in the beauty while being in a maze filled with traps, this had never crossed his mind at all.

So he got intensely busy again. At first glance, the work this time did not seem to be as large-scale as before. In fact, because the nature of the job was more meticulous and delicate, his workload was increased instead of decreased. This was especially so because Sui Xiong had a slight obsessive-compulsive disorder. There could be no repeated set of decoration, and every mural had to have a source. So all the more, his workload was greatly increased.

This was just like a writer working on his novels. If he cleared his mind of random thoughts and merely typed away, he could probably type seven to eight thousand words in an hour. But if he wanted to conceive the plot while writing his sentences, then type while editing his work frequently; then it would be considered highly productive if he could produce two thousand words in an hour.

Sui Xiong kept himself busy inside the new Rye Fortress while the Republic of Northwest began to work on an important job.

Training the army.

The conflict between the merchant party and aristocratic party of the Commonwealth of Gold Coins had roused the entire continent. Every country paid close attention to it. The Republic of Northwest, being a country directly next to the Commonwealth of Gold Coins, was undoubtedly very concerned.

Sui Xiong was currently on the border of these two countries, and with him standing guard, the war would absolutely be unable to spread to the Republic of Northwest. But after a discussion, the leaders of the Republic finally decided that if necessary, the Republic should send its army to support the merchant party.

No matter what, the Republic of Northwest was a country founded by commerce after all. It had even abolished the aristocratic lord system. Though relations with the various countries were quite good at the moment, fundamentally speaking, there were irreconcilable conflicts between them, and the countries were ruled by aristocrats.

So even if peace was still maintained at present, the Republic of Northwest should still step up and strengthen its national defense construction. And also, the Republic should at least render support to the merchant party of the Commonwealth of Gold Coins who also shared the same stand on anti-aristocracy.

As for how strong the support they should give exactly, the leaders of the Republic of Northwest were still discussing, or rather, arguing.

According to Felix, the great governor, he felt that they should fully support the merchant party. It was best if they could bring down the aristocratic party and establish another republic where everyone would watch out for one another. This would then ensure national security.

But this radical proposal met the concerted objections of several other great governors. Whether it was Madam Teague, who was in charge of the people’s livelihoods, or Leonard, who was in charge of the military, or Gerald, who was the church’s representative, no one favored such a drastic approach. Even the leaders from Garth City, Geerteng Hill, Keane Hill and Grey Tower were not in favor of going to such extent.

Madam Teague had always been against military action, and she stood for anti-war. In her view, the Republic of Northwest had the protection of His Majesty, the Void Mask. It was peaceful and free of worries. There was no need to worry about danger. If one fine day, His Majesty, the Void Mask, was no longer willing to protect the Republic of Northwest or could no longer protect it, then no matter how much effort they put in, they might not be able to protect their country. So thinking hard about all these empty and pointless things was simply a waste of time and energy. They should make good use of time by dealing with matters on government administration.

Leonard felt that the merchant party was incompetent. They were simply a helpless bunch with great ambitions but no ability to accomplish. It would not be a big deal for the Republic of Northwest to send some instructors over, but to directly send them the army… He was afraid these good-for-nothings would become a burden to the army. However, he felt that if the circumstances were right, the Republic of Northwest could consider a merger of the merchants for the expansion of its territory. He was willing to lend his support if it was fighting a war for the expansion of territory.

Gerald felt that the merchant party also did not seem to be any better than the aristocratic party. Compared to the latter, it was nothing more than a duo of “bad guys” and “guys worse than bad guys.” There was no need to support the merchant party just for the sake of opposing the aristocratic party. This approach had always seemed a little silly to him. If they must choose a side to support, they should just support the civilians of Commonwealth of Gold Coins in staging a rebellion.

Given his identity, it was inappropriate for Leon to speak up at this discussion. This was why the spokesperson for Garth City was its city lord, Kalisa. She felt that the Republic of Northwest should give support to the merchant party in two aspects, namely material resources and instructors. As for directly sending out their army… Unless the merchant party suffered a crushing defeat such that it needed help, it would be better not to send out an army so easily.

Geerteng Hill and Keane Hill had similar takes on this. But they were slightly more open-minded. Olian and Anna both expressed that they could send out their armies to render support, but it would not be a big army of many soldiers.

Old Hart, the city lord of Grey Tower City, was a little more conservative. He said that Grey Tower City and the various cities in its surroundings could combine forces and send out around a hundred mid-ranked mages. This team would be led by ten advanced mages, and they would help the merchant party to deal with work that was not related to combat. If more spellcasters were required, then these mages could also help to establish contacts. But he stressed in particular that these mages would only be responsible for logistics or support work. They should never be deployed to the frontlines.

Besides them, the other senior figures of the Republic also expressed their opinions. The Chief of Intelligence, Easter, insisted that “intelligence officers should not interfere with the country’s internal affairs,” and firmly refused to commit to taking a side. And even the Chief of Medicine, Steele, who was sprawled across the table in a deep sleep was awakened and somewhat forced to express her opinion.

Finally, the conclusion of their discussion was that the Republic of Northwest would step up its training of its army. However, it would not be sending its army to support the merchant party.

“If we are not going to fight a war, why is there a need to train our army?” Madam Teague asked. She was very discontented and said, “Our soldiers are all young and strong laborers. This is such a waste!”

“It’s always good to be prepared. When there are precautionary measures, we’ll always be safe,” Leonard said. He smiled and added, “Who knows, we might even be able to gain some advantages along the way. If there are no opportunities along the way, then so be it. But if there are, then it’ll be a pity if we were to lose the opportunity because we don’t have enough troops.”

So the Republic itself sent 1000 people, while Geerteng Hill, Keane Hill and Garth City each sent 100 people. Last but not least, Grey Tower City and a few nearby autonomous cities combined forces to send out 200 people. An army of 1500 people in total was soon assembled, and they began training intensively.

This army was unlike the group of new recruits of the merchant party. It consisted of veteran soldiers with a certain foundation. Leonard’s training regime was mainly divided into three parts. The first part was for them to adapt to the new equipment that was specially made for them and get them familiar with the armor and weapons. The second part was to strengthen their running-in ability so as to increase their efficiency of executing orders. The final part was training their ability to deal with special circumstances, like night raids, rapid march and the likes of these. At the crucial moments, they would be able to fight and eventually emerge victorious in the battle

As for how long would the training take? The chief of military affairs, Leonard, said that the training would go on for as long as time allowed. In short, the more elite they were, the better it would be.

“No one will find that his blade is too sharp,” he said.