The Empror's Trap

"Um, she's really just resting. She was exhausted after helping me move my desk."

Kenji hurriedly explained.

Faced with Kenji's explanation, Siyue naturally chose not to take him at his word. She looked at the two of them with suspicious eyes before finally sighing. "Fine, fine, fine. I'll pretend I didn't see anything. Oh right, brother, are you preparing to make a move against Samanjiang?"

Siyue asked as if merely making casual conversation.

"Hmm... Huh?!" Kenji turned his head and stared at her incredulously. "Did I ever mention this to you?"

"No, but don't forget, big brother, sometimes I help you deal with some minor military deployment matters. Even though you didn't tell me, all these weapons being transported westward—the west is so far and remote from the capital—surely you're not just changing warehouses for weapon storage?" Siyue said.

Besides reading and painting, Siyue occasionally helped Kenji share some of his burdens. After all, Kenji was busy with many things now and couldn't possibly handle everything perfectly. For sensitive issues like the Samanjiang situation that required discretion, Kenji usually chose the people he trusted most. And his sister was one of them.

Siyue was not only skilled in strategic and tactical operations but also adept at logistics. She was the type who liked to prepare in advance—laying groundwork early was her favorite approach.

Therefore, she often helped Kenji handle various minor matters, such as military equipment deployments and defense arrangements.

"Then why don't you think I'm preparing defenses against the Western Country?"

"That's ridiculous! The Western Country depends on Camelot for survival. Why would you bother attacking them? Do they have rare resources? Do they have large tracts of quality farmland? They only have a good geographical position, nothing worth conquering."

As she discussed these matters with Kenji, Siyue instantly became alert. She unfolded the map with interest and examined the Samanjiang region.

"Well then, respected little strategist, give me some advice."

Kenji laughed, deciding to let Siyue indulge herself—she spent every day contemplating how to play map-coloring games. Since that was the case, he might as well let her exercise her mind.

"What advice could I give? Samanjiang is the best location for the West to infiltrate Camelot. Transportation is relatively convenient, its neighboring country—the Western Country—poses no immediate threat, and from the east, they can harass and infiltrate Camelot at any time. Most importantly, this region was historically a church state, so it has a religious foundation..."

"But ultimately, a small country is still a small country. Camelot can defeat them without much effort. To put it bluntly, even if they mobilized their entire nation, they'd hardly be able to defeat any single division of Camelot's twelve armies..."

"You think it's that simple?"

Kenji couldn't help asking.

"With such a disparity in national strength, yes, it is that simple. However..." Siyue pointed to the west of Samanjiang. "Brother, you should also be clear that Samanjiang involves the interests of the Holy Church. Strictly speaking, this is the Holy Church's bridgehead for infiltrating Camelot—whether they'll allow Camelot to launch such an attack is another matter."

"What's your worst-case scenario?"

"At worst, the Hedian Empire, Iluhe Kingdom, Varian Religious State... these and a dozen other countries led by them would provide aid to Samanjiang. Among them, Hedian Empire would likely personally intervene against Camelot."

Hedian Empire was a country located east of Vishi Empire and one of the major powers in the West. This country was also trying to break free from the Holy Church's control, but since the current emperor had not yet completed weakening the power of the domestic nobility and the country had not reached its golden period of development, they still officially followed the Holy Church's orders.

Kenji analyzed what his sister had said and found it quite reasonable. While Hedian Empire currently wanted to break free from the church, if the church's interests aligned with those of Hedian Empire, then the Empire might very well intervene and solely take on this war, possibly using it to demand benefits from the church as a "crusader."

Hedian Empire's core interest lay in coveting the strategic geographic position of the Western Country, as they were positioned in the east of the western world.

If they could claim the Western Country as their own, they would only need to merge the two small countries, and then the Hedian Empire would exclusively control the connecting routes between East and West. This route would provide a breakthrough for national development for Hedian Empire, which urgently needed to develop civilian commerce and industry.

This was quite a clever scheme, so Hedian Empire would be one of the countries most likely to intervene and cause trouble.

"Then according to your assessment, how formidable is the Hedian Empire militarily?"

"Big bro, you should already have a rough estimate. Hedian Empire is now one of the two powerful countries in the West. Coming all the way to Samanjiang would be a long journey for them, but they would likely have the support and assistance of all Holy Church countries. Moreover, the Hedian Empire's magic arts, rune spells, and other such technologies are already skillfully applied on the battlefield... they're a tough nut to crack."

Siyue had never been to these countries, but thanks to the extremely rich collection of books in Anos family and the daily avalanche of military, political, and other documents, she knew these countries almost like the back of her hand.

She also remembered the history of the Hedian Empire very clearly. This country was both powerful and meticulous. Their magic academies spread throughout the country like a dense network...

Their newly formed Ninth Army could achieve a one-to-one casualty ratio against the blood clan, a non-human species. They also possessed the puppet arts of the Maxon family, one of the most advanced in the human world. According to her knowledge, these puppet arts could create puppets almost indistinguishable from real humans...

Such a country, if fighting Camelot under equal conditions, might not outlast Camelot. But if they received support from the entire Holy Church world, that would be a different story.

"So, we still need to find a way to keep them from getting involved."

Kenji reached this conclusion.

A tough nut to crack? Then don't crack it. He was here for the meat, tendons, and marrow on the bone. How many people who gnaw on large bones actually bite through and swallow the bone itself?

"This country can't be easily bought with money."

The scale was too large. Trying to buy them off would probably make Pluvia faint from the financial hemorrhage.

"Simple. If bribes don't work, then let's talk cooperation."

Cooperation required common interests.

So what common interests could these two completely unrelated countries possibly have?

Hehe, naturally, it was the church.