The familiar fragrance of "night" is floating in the elegant and sophisticated hall. The Wendell family's "Wolf Armour" emblem hung on the light golden pillars. The sunlight near noon shines into the hall through the colorful crystal windows on the south side, shining on the portrait of Tillian Wendell hanging on the wall. In my memory, the forever majestic and powerful grandfather was standing quietly in front of the portrait of the family's ancestors, with his back facing the door, as if he was in a daze.

The attendant on the side wanted to come forward to inform, but Andesha stopped the attendant. She walked into the hall alone and stopped a few meters behind Duke Peidinan. The soft sunlight of Aldernan shone on the air between them, and slight dust was flying in the sun, like an elf in the atmosphere.

"Grandfather, I'm back."

"Seven hundred years ago, when Tyrian Wendell completely defeated the Western Front Distorted Legion, he was the same age as you," Pei Dinnan said slowly, "It was a winter. The knights fought on the snowy field, united like wolves, brave, fought for three days and nights, and annihilated five times the enemy. After the victory, the founding king appointed Tyrian Wendell as the first generation of wolf dukes."

This is a history that every descendant of Wendell is familiar with, and Andesha lowers her head: "I always remember the glory of my ancestors."

"The ancestors are indeed glorious," Pei Dinnan finally turned around, and the still majestic face was a little older than Andesha's memory, "or in other words, every pioneer is equally glorious, and this glory requires matching abilities - including Tillian Wendell, and naturally Gowen Cecil.

"The Cecil's magical legion was formed and trained by Gowen Cecil himself. Compared with other "Glory Legions", the most powerful thing about that legion is that they are the "first generation". As a young commander, you are qualified to compete with such an enemy without losing."

Andesa calmly faced her grandfather's gaze, and as she looked at those eyes, she knew there was a follow-up.

Duke Pei Dinnan continued, "However, as the highest general of the Winter Wolf Legion and the first commander of the Imperial Line, you are no longer qualified when you go to the Paramel Heights."

Andesa took a breath, straightening her body in front of her grandfather as if she was a child.

Pei Dinnan looked into Andesha's eyes: "What is the order given to you by His Majesty on the Long Wind Fortress?"

Andesa immediately replied: "Keep continuous monitoring and confirm the actual strength and deployment of Changfeng Defense Line at any time. If there are no loopholes, do not take the initiative. If you find an opportunity, you can choose your own opportunity and attack immediately."

"That's right," Pei Dinnan nodded, "So from the perspective of simple orders, you do nothing wrong with it, and Your Majesty will not make any punishment for your failure in your actions, but did you really 'just execute the order' when you execute this order?"

Andesa's face was tense until a few seconds later, she nodded in Pei Dinnan's gaze: "Yes."

"When you are nervous, your eyes always look at the lower left corner habitually," Duke Peidinan shook his head, turned around, and looked at the colorful crystal window that was sprinkling in the sun. "You did not send spies to conduct disguise reconnaissance, but chose to take the Knights directly to the Paramel Heights. After discovering that the Cecils' positions were fake, you did not search and confirm the surrounding environment of the battlefield and sent a signal. All of this happened when rainfall, vision was blocked, and the reconnaissance efficiency decreased... This should not happen to you."

“…I have nothing to say.”

"Hate has temporarily lost your judgment. You have been waiting for this opportunity for many years. I understand your urgency at that time, but you are not a knight fighting alone, but a commander. More importantly, as your Majesty's general, your personal feelings must be placed after the emperor's orders and national interests - you must remember that even if the Cecils kill me in front of you today, as long as your Majesty orders you to establish a peaceful relationship with Cecil, you must live in peace with them on the border. This is the responsibility you must fulfill when you pick up the knight's sword."

Andesa was silent for a moment, and finally took a deep breath, her eyes firmed again: "Yes, I understand."

"You will do it because your surname is Wendel," Pei Dinnan nodded slowly. "What I am most pleased with is that at least some of the choices you have made in a timely and accurate manner. These choices have allowed you to successfully withdraw the Winter Wolf Castle with the Knights - not being left on the Paramel Heights, which is your greatest success. This avoids the empire being passive in its righteousness, and also prevents you from becoming a victim of negotiations and taking all the infamy in your personal name."

Grandfather's preaching was as merciless as in memory, and Andesha also found that she could not make any rebuttals as in memory. She lowered her head and accepted everything until her grandfather suddenly changed her tone: "The preaching time is over, and you should also give you some praise - you have successfully brought back direct information about Cecil's magical army, which is more precious than anything else."

The old duke paused when he said this, and then asked, "What does that thing look like? What weapons do you have? How to fight?"

Andesa immediately sorted out the sentences and showed a serious expression:

“It is built of a large amount of steel, with a shape and volume close to the ‘train’ you described in the letter, equipped with extremely powerful magic weapons…

"It was hidden behind woods and rocks at the time, but due to its large scale and its orbits with eye-catching rune markings and large raised structures, it is easy to observe from the air, and I think it is a weapon that is not suitable for hiding, and its main function should be to attack and serve as a moving fortress...

“It should be able to accommodate large numbers of soldiers and supplies, and can fight for a long time away from the stronghold…

“…Although there was no fight, I can be sure it had some kind of shield…

"If war is needed, destroying its tracks in advance should be the top priority. In addition, its long-range attacks are fierce and concentrated, and it should be regarded as a magician group protected within the city walls and able to move at any time during confrontation...

"Its main weapon was huge. It pointed to the Changfeng Plain at that time. Judging from its deployment location, its range was at least ten kilometers, which was far beyond the scope of traditional spells..."

Andesa said one by one, and Duke Peidinan nodded from time to time. After Andesa finally finished speaking, the old duke thought for a moment and broke the silence with a little sigh: "...You are lucky that the Cecils are not yet skilled in mastering it, just like when we first formed the Iron River Knights a few years ago, those Cecils are not mature in supporting tactics for new weapons."

"Is it immature?" Andesha was a little surprised.

"If you mature, you won't be back," Pei Dinnan glanced at her, "Do you think the only thing that lets your Knights evacuate alive is just that perfect rain?"

Seeing Andesha showing a thoughtful expression, Duke Pei Dinnan nodded slightly, then walked towards the exit of the hall: "Your Majesty is in the Obsidian Palace, go to see him with me."

Andesha woke up from her thoughts and immediately turned around and followed the old duke's footsteps: "Yes, grandfather."

Duke Pei Dinnan nodded, but as he was about to enter the corridor, he suddenly stopped. Looking at Andesha, who also stopped and showed a puzzled expression on his face, the old man nodded softly: "I forgot to say it just now - welcome home."

After a moment of dazed, Andesha reacted and a smile finally appeared on her face.

In front of the porch of the Duke's Mansion, Andersa did not see the carriage she was familiar with, but saw a strange car with four wheels and an iron shell parked under the steps.

"This is the magic car I mentioned to you in the last letter," Duke Peidinan said before Andesha asked, "It is the third one - with more than half of the parts in it being handmade by craftsmen. Your uncle built a factory on Golden Shell Street and is trying to use machines to make the skeleton and shell of the magic car. If you have time this time, you can check it out.

"You have left the imperial capital for too long, and there have been many changes here. Some new things cannot be described clearly in the letters. You should take a look more. These insights will be useful to you."

"There are similar things in the Cecils," Andesha said, "that they have recently appeared near the Long Wind Fortress, and they use larger magic vans to transport supplies."

"The magic car was originally born in Cecil, and our craftsmen and scholars copied it. As you have seen - the Cecils first created magic and have gone a long way in this technology. We are catching up now, which makes many empire nobles used to pride attitude very uncomfortable, but that's the case," Peidinan said as he walked towards the magic car. "The 'war machine' you mentioned is obviously also the creation of magic technology - we have created a powerful legion of extraordinary people, but the Cecils are using magic technology to smooth out the gap in this area. If we don't want to fall into a disadvantage, we must abandon the meaningless pride mentality and start catching up from now on."

Andesa sat in the car and observed everything in her sight with irrepressible curiosity and joy. Her fingers ran through the inner wall of the car door. After seeing the Cecilian war machine with her own eyes, this thing inevitably seemed simple, but when the tremor of the mechanical operation came from under her body, she couldn't help but sigh softly: "...This is what we made..."

"Yes, this is what we have created. We should thank every scholar, mage and craftsman of the Imperial Society, especially Master Daniel, the leader of this project. Although I don't like the overly gloomy temperament of the great magician, his wisdom and talent are admirable," said Duke Pedinan. "Don't envy the tools used by the Cecils to transport supplies. The Winter Wolf Castle will soon be used. Your uncle has received the guidance of Master Daniel. When his factory officially starts to run, we no longer have to rely on the artisan's hammer to make the shell of the magic car."

With the tremor of the mechanical device, the magic car started. The incredible machine drove out of the Duke's Mansion and headed towards the Obsidian Palace. Along the way, he met some pedestrians, who stopped to watch, but Andesha's attention was completely out of the street outside: "We can build this thing, that train..."

"Train... Train is another concept," Duke Peidinan shook his head with a wry smile, "I know what you are thinking, I am thinking, and His Majesty is thinking, our scholars, craftsmen and wizards are thinking, but it must be admitted that we cannot build yet...at least we cannot build something of the same level as the Cecil Magic Train. As far as I know, there are a group of craftsmen trying to build simple, small rail vehicles, and I hope they can succeed."

Listening to her grandfather's words, Andesha slowly calmed down. She raised her head and looked at the road that kept retreating outside the car window, watched the noon sunlight dispel the mist on the streets of Aldernan, and watched pedestrians who were much less rare than they remembered were walking hurriedly on the streets, her heart tied to the Winter Wolf Castle and tied to the front line finally slowly returned here.

The car drove past the intersection and passed a mother and daughter walking. Through the open window, Andessa heard a vague sound from the wind:

"Mom, there are so few people on the road... Where are everyone?"

"They are in the factory..."

Times are changing, and this city is really unfamiliar.

But this is her home after all.

...

In the Obsidian Palace, a servant walked into Rosetta Augustus' room and bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Grand Duke Peidinan Wendell and General Andesha Wendell have arrived."

Rosetta, who was reviewing a document, looked up from his work: "Let them come in."

The patriarch and heir of the Wendell family walked into the room and bowed according to the etiquette. After Rosetta returned the gift, his eyes fell on Andessa.

The young wolf general stood upright and greeted the emperor's gaze calmly. After the deep gaze finally retracted slightly, she heard a question:
Chapter completed!