Julia had been swamped with work lately, not only handling matters related to the steam engines, but also dealing with the endless stream of battle reports arriving from the front line.
And right now, the situation on the front was far from optimistic. The expeditionary force's advance into the heart of the Kingdom of Northland was going terribly. They had suffered two consecutive defeated assaults, and their main army was firmly blocked before the barrier leading into Northland's royal capital.
Moreover, rumor had it that Northland's current general was a short-haired young girl. She claimed to have received an oracle from the Lord, slandering the Pope currently sitting on the throne of the holy capital as a fraud and claiming he was not the shepherd chosen by God at all.
She also claimed that God had granted her a mission: to reclaim Northland's lost territory and defeat the enemies who had invaded their land.
When Julia first heard this news, she found it utterly laughable. No one knew better than she that the current Holy See was the true proxy chosen by the Lord, and that the girl spewing nonsense was the actual fraud.
However, when that girl drew her sword and appeared on the battlefield, Julia couldn't laugh anymore.
It was as if she truly possessed divine protection. Arrows flew past her without leaving a scratch, and she swept through the battlefield without a single opponent capable of matching her—not even the Holy Relic Knights could defeat her.
Her power was bizarre and chilling.
Holy Relic Knights who had faced her on the front line reported that she seemed to use the power of a Holy Relic as well, her entire body clad in a unique suit of armor, though behind her back hung only half a white wing.
Because the expeditionary force failed to break through after prolonged attacks, their morale gradually plummeted. Meanwhile, under the girl's leadership, Northland won battle after battle, their morale surging higher and higher. For a time, some people actually began to believe her words.
Many soldiers on the front line came from the holy capital. They had been fortunate enough to see the young Pope in person; his holy visage was deeply engraved in their hearts, and their devotion remained firm and unshakeable.
As for the troops transferred from other regions, having never seen the Pope once, their hearts couldn't help but waver.
If their campaign was truly righteous, then why wasn't even the Lord taking their side, instead bestowing a divine oracle upon the enemy general?
Even though the frontline commanders took a series of countermeasures, under the chain reaction of military defeats and fermenting public sentiment, small-scale mutinies broke out nonetheless.
Some high-ranking officers in the army even began to publicly question the righteousness and necessity of the war.
This matter could not be concealed for long and quickly reached Lu Li's ears.
Thus, he once again sought out Julia in person.
“I've heard about what happened at the front,” Lu Li said as he looked at the Cardinal, whose face was written with exhaustion.
Julia closed the military report, picked up the cold coffee on her desk, gulped down a large mouthful, and said, “Is Your Holiness here today to hold me accountable?”
Strictly speaking, this war hadn't been initiated by the Holy State, but rather engineered entirely by her. It wasn't surprising that the boy would come to question her.
Lu Li shook his head and placed the box of pastries he had brought in front of Julia. It was a late-night snack Alissa had prepared for him, which he hadn't had time to eat yet.
“Eat something first. I heard from the lady-in-waiting that you haven't eaten all day,” he said.
Looking at the delicate pastry box, Julia felt a gentle warmth fill her heart. She reached out and took a round, somewhat strange-looking pastry in her hand.
“This is...?”
“Oh, it's called a mooncake. People from the East like to eat these,” the boy said.
He had only mentioned it casually last time, but he hadn't expected Alissa to actually make it, and the taste was almost identical to his memory.
“The East?”
Julia thought of Havaron and of Lu Li's background, her expression darkening slightly.
Seeing her look, Lu Li knew she had misunderstood, so he added, “Farther east, across the sea.”
Ah, the Eastern Continent.
Julia nodded. Put that way, she seemed to recall rumors that the people over there liked eating round foods.
A few mooncakes quickly went down Julia's throat. To her, they weren't particularly delicious, nor were they very filling, but since the boy had brought them in person, they carried a special meaning regardless.
“Alright, Your Holiness must still have something to say to me, right?” Julia picked up her coffee and took another sip. These pastries were a bit dry for her taste.
Seeing this, Lu Li nodded slightly. He indeed had a few questions for Julia, and her answers would to some extent influence his decision.
“Is winning the war with Northland an absolute necessity?”
This was his first question.
Julia tapped her fingertips lightly against the desk, seemingly contemplating the true meaning behind the question. But after just a moment, she snapped back to her senses—what was there for her to overthink about His Holiness's thoughts?
So she spoke truthfully, “It must be won!”
And preferably, won brilliantly!
“Are you confident?” the boy asked again.
This was his second question.
Hearing this, Julia fell into silence. She had made thorough preparations long ago, but things hadn't gone as planned, and now they were trapped in an almost insurmountable deadlock.
“There will be a way.”
Her voice was slightly hoarse, yet no matter what, she could not bring herself to admit in front of the boy that she was out of options.
Lu Li nodded once more. He understood the general picture now, so his final question:
“Even if we utilize the newest steam engines and the red mercury bombs developed by the Foundry, will it still not work?”
“There's no time.”
Julia rubbed the space between her eyebrows. Whether it was the application of steam engines or the manufacture of red mercury bombs, both required time, and time was precisely what they lacked the most right now.
“I understand. In that case, let me handle it!”
The boy spoke again, his voice firm. “Let me dictate the course of this war!”
He had a way.
Coincidentally enough, he had been inspired by the Pope who had established the Order of Light.
If she could assemble an immortal legion, why couldn't he?
Of course, Lu Li didn't plan on using that crude method from over a thousand years ago.
Vampire knights were long outdated.
Rate on N.U.
