After being reborn in this world, Eloline decided to be an egoist. Apart from her friends, she was not kind enough to feel pity for strangers.
Therefore, no matter how many casualties the war brought, Eloline felt nothing inside. Perhaps seeing it with her own eyes might make her empathize, but now, just listening to Vitien's description, Eloline felt nothing.
"Anyway, that's all the information we have now. Do you have any questions?"
"Um, could you please deliver a letter for me?"
Although Eloline cannot return to Edfallon, through observations over the past few days, she has discovered that the bird-shaped monster called the Messenger should be able to pass through the border blockade. In this case, Eloline can ask Vitien to write a letter to Licaro.
"That's fine, but the point is, do you know where your human friend is?"
"This……"
Eloline was stunned. Although she had been with Licaro for two months, she really didn't know Licaro's exact address.
Seeing the somewhat embarrassed Eloline, Vitian finally mentioned the matter of the photo crystal: "The photo crystal on your dragon horn should contain the appearance of that little girl, right?"
"Well?"
"If we know what she looks like, maybe we can find where she lives."
"Eh? Can you really find it?"
"You also said that your friend might be a noble, right? If she is really a noble of the empire, maybe I will know her."
Eloline fell into deep thought. Should she share the contents of the photo crystal with Vitien?
PS: Thank you for your votes, I am very touched! Let me answer the question about the two protagonists' temporary separation. Have you ever heard of the saying "a short separation makes a new marriage better"? (fog)
Chapter 1 - Childhood Friend 008 Body Shape Troubles
After spending these days together, Eloline felt that Vitien was not a bad person, but the problem was that she could not see through this woman.
"Still hesitating? Am I that scary?" Vitien found it a little funny.
"No, I'm just a little worried..."
"It seems that you value your friend's privacy very much. Don't worry, I'm not the kind of person you think."
"Well, that's fine."
After considering it, Eloline decided to trust Vitien. She had a good impression of Vitien and believed that she would not do anything bad.
So Eloline asked Vitien to take down the photo crystal tied to her dragon horn.
After taking down the crystal, Vitian projected it directly onto the slate used for teaching. Seeing this, Eloline was very surprised. Didn't they say that the crystal was projected with water? This slate was too versatile.
The photo of Licaro and Eloline was displayed on the slate, and it looked to be of high resolution, at least 4k.
The projected Likalo was wearing a birthday party dress with a smile on her face. Snowflakes were falling all around her, some of which were sprinkled on her body. She looked shiny under the magic crystal lamp next to her.
And Eloline was very ordinary, she seemed to be just a background for Likalo.
"Oh, it's a photo of the two of you."
Vitian was lost in thought for a moment as she watched the human Licaro and the black dragon Eloline taking photos together so harmoniously.
"How is it, do you know her?"
Vitian came back to her senses, looked at Likalo carefully, and finally said, "I'm sorry, I don't know her."
This little human girl was too young. Although Vitien had seen some children of imperial nobles, she had never seen one like Licaro.
However, the little noble girl of Ed Fallon...could she be the daughter of Duke Wilfin?
It can be concluded from Licaro's dress that anyone who can afford to wear such a dress must be a noble, so Vitian thought of Duke Wilfin.
I seemed to have heard before that Wilfen had a daughter, but he never let his daughter appear in public. Vitien hadn't seen Wilfen for many years, so she wouldn't recognize her even if she was really his daughter.
"How about I send the image of the little girl in a letter to my friend, and she should be able to find where the little girl lives."
"This... let's just forget about it for now."
Eloline didn't want Licaro's image to be spread around, so she decided not to send the letter at all, and to wait until the blockade of the southern wilderness was lifted before returning to Ed Fallon in person.
"That's fine then. However, that little girl is very cute. Please tell me about her when you have time."
Vitian was somewhat curious about Eloline's experience in the forest.
"Well... let's talk about it later when we have time."
That memory was a beautiful one for Eloline, and she didn't mind sharing it with Vitien. Of course, there were still some things she wouldn't tell, and she would only share some interesting little things.
Vitian tied the crystal back to Eloline's dragon horn, then knocked on the stone slab, which showed a long passage in Elvish: "Let's continue the class. I think your pronunciation is already very accurate, but you still need to practice more."
"Ah."
Eloline attended every class very seriously. It was a rare opportunity for her to meet someone who could teach her various languages and useful knowledge, so she naturally would not miss such a good learning opportunity.
Vitien's classes had always been held at her doorstep, teaching Eloline via a convenient slate.
Due to her size, Eloline cannot go into the house, so she can only find an open space to sleep. When it is windy or rainy, she will fly to a distant place and find a cave.
When will I be able to transform into a human form? The body shape issue really gave Eloline a headache.
She couldn't help but ask the question.
"Ah, it may take some time to transform into a human form."
"How long is some time?"
"It depends on how fast you grow. If you grow fast, it will take a few years. If you grow slowly, it will take more than ten years."
"..."
After hearing that it would take at least several years, Eloline's heart sank.
It has only been a few months since she was born, and she will have to wait many more years.
"Oh, and also, the art of shapeshifting needs to be learned, and it depends on your talent. If you don't have a good talent, it may take you a long time to learn it." Vitien mercilessly gave Eloline a helping of iced cola in the snow.
"This... Never mind. I don't want to think about this now."
Eloline realized that transformation was a long way off for her now, so it would be better for her to improve her knowledge and strength first.
"It's great that you can figure it out, but don't worry, unless you are the kind of dragon fool that only appears once in a million years, you will learn to transform sooner or later."
"Ah."
It's always good to have hope in your heart.
After the first two months of her life, Eloline's body growth rate became very slow. Although she was still growing, it was definitely not as fast as when she was just born.
This period of time actually allowed Eloline to become more familiar with her body. In the southern wilderness, she fought different monsters every day, constantly accumulating valuable combat experience, and even learned dragon breath in a previous critical moment.
What Elorin learned was the Fire Dragon Breath. The flame she spewed out was very different from ordinary flames. Not only was it difficult to extinguish once it burned, but more importantly, the breath was explosive and impactful.
Think of it as a bomb that causes a violent burning effect.
Therefore, unless it was in an open area without much grass and trees, Eloline would never use dragon's breath casually. Last time, she almost burned the forest. Fortunately, it rained suddenly and avoided a disaster.
There are many kinds of magical beasts in the southern wilderness, some flying in the sky, some running on the ground, and some swimming in the water. Therefore, the sky is definitely not Elolin's home ground, at least not yet.
There are still some flying monsters that can easily defeat Eloline, but Eloline has not encountered them so far. Vitian said that they all live in the deepest part of the southern wilderness.
And now Eloline's location is still relatively close to the periphery, but there are no other humans there.
Sometimes Eloline wondered what race Vidyan was and why she knew so much about dragons.
Eloline had learned about the races in this world from Vitian.
There are many races in this world, and there are many that look the same as humans and are immortal.
For example, vampires, undead, werewolves, etc. are either dead or were races similar to humans before they transformed.
Eloline asked Vitien directly, but Vitien just gave her a mysterious smile.
The same thing happened to Xia before. When asked what her relationship with Licaro was, she refused to answer.
Eloline hates these mysterious guys the most.
PS: Do you think it's slow to start? I think it's just because the plot progresses slowly in the first few chapters, but the plot will not be so sparse and ordinary soon, so don't worry. (I'm definitely not deliberately increasing the word count!)
Chapter 1 - Childhood Friend 009 A War Without Suspense
It is winter now, and the northern border of the Silver Eagle Empire has long been covered with ice and snow, but what is different from previous years is that the white snow is stained with the smell of blood.
War situation——
Defense: Silver Eagle Empire.
Attack: Klima Empire, Pivente Empire, Kingdom of Mantua, Kingdom of Patison, Principality of Brunz.
The Silver Eagle Empire is indeed the most powerful human nation. Even in the face of an attack from the Five-Nation Alliance, it is able to hold its ground.
So far, no Silver Eagle Empire fortress has been breached, which makes the imperial generals in charge of defending the border very confused. Do these weak countries think that they can defeat the powerful empire by uniting?
This war was started inexplicably. Although there was a border conflict at the beginning, border conflicts occur almost every year, and the two sides are able to resolve the problem every time after peaceful negotiations.
This time, the Five-Nation Alliance did not even send diplomats and directly launched the attack.
At present, the imperial army has received orders to defend the fortress and not to take the initiative to attack. The generals on the front line have faithfully carried out the orders and will not leave the fortress no matter how the enemy provokes them.
The Empire's Northern Legion has a total of 15 people, distributed in 6 fortresses. If these fortresses are not taken down, the Five-Nation Allied Forces will not be able to penetrate deep into the Empire.
However, the combined strength of the coalition forces was just equal to that of the Northern Army. With equal numbers, how could they possibly win the siege? Moreover, the quality of the Imperial Army was much higher than theirs.
Even if all the troops are concentrated to besiege one imperial fortress, the defenders of other imperial fortresses will quickly send reinforcements, attacking the coalition forces besieging the fortress from both inside and outside.
After several failed exploratory sieges, the war came to a brief halt. The imperial army held its ground in the fortress and did not move out, and the coalition forces also did not attack the city.
At the same time, the Silver Eagle Empire sent diplomatic officials to various countries in the coalition, hoping to understand the cause of the war through diplomatic means.
Emperor Petr Silver Eagle sat on the throne. He convened a meeting of nobles in the palace. All the nobles above the rank of marquis in the entire empire and senior military generals who had no combat missions gathered here.
Pate glanced at the nobles and generals present. Most of them were about the same age as Pate, already white-haired old men, but at the same time they were also the people that Pate knew and trusted the most, because it was they who followed Pate to build the empire.
Duke is the highest rank of nobles in the empire. The youngest among them is 55-year-old Duke Wilfin of Edfallon, and the rest of the dukes are at least 60 years old.
Wilfin was one of the founding heroes of the empire. As a general, he made countless contributions in the early wars. After the war, Wilfin voluntarily applied to leave the army, so Pate granted him the wealthy province of Edfallon and made him the Duke of the Empire.
Today, both sons of this "young" duke serve as senior generals in the army, but they are respectively on the northern front and in the southern wilderness and cannot be spared, otherwise they would also be present at this noble meeting.
Now, Pete wanted to hear what the Duke thought.
"Your Majesty, I think the Imperial Army should not launch a counterattack until the Ambassador returns."
There are many mysteries in this war. Wilfin believes that they should contact the leaders of the Five-Nation Alliance before making a decision. If a large-scale war is launched rashly, the empire will suffer great losses.
Most of the nobles present agreed with Wilfin's opinion. On the one hand, it was because of Wilfin's personal prestige. On the other hand, the nobles present were all pillars of the empire during its founding period. Their strategic vision was tested and they would not easily do anything impulsive.
"Very good. Years of peaceful living have not made you any worse."
Emperor Pate was very satisfied with the nobles' response. The Empire's Northern Legion was fully capable of resisting the enemy's attack. Moreover, winter had already arrived, the Empire's army had sufficient supplies and was protected by city walls. The invading coalition forces could not take advantage of the weather and location, so there was naturally nothing to be feared.
Although the Silver Eagle Empire's policy toward its neighbors is to maintain strategic deterrence, as the emperor, Pate has personal relationships with the rulers of neighboring countries. He does not believe that these people can do such an impulsive thing. Even if they want to attack, they should choose a season when the climate is warming up, not when winter is approaching.
It is well known that the climate in the northern part of the empire is the coldest. Ice and snow storms often blow in winter. This is a snowy climate disaster similar to a sandstorm. Once you are caught in it, it is difficult to survive.
It is precisely because of this harsh cold climate that the Imperial Northern Legion has become an elite legion that is very good at fighting in the snow. It is known as one of the three elite legions of the Empire along with the southernmost Wilderness Legion and the Imperial Guard Legion that defends the Imperial City.
The empire had a developed economy and a large population, and was able to equip all soldiers in the army with armor and sophisticated weapons. Its logistical capabilities alone were unmatched by neighboring countries.
The Empire's Military Academy continuously supplies high-quality commanders to the army, making the Empire's legions more powerful.
In addition to the three elite legions, each province of the empire has a corresponding legion that can support the front line at any time.
Under such conditions, even if the five-nation coalition put all its assets into it, it would be wishful thinking to defeat the empire.
Emperor Pate raised his glass and said to the nobles present: "Ladies and gentlemen, loyal warriors will defend the glory of the empire. Let us wait patiently until the ambassador sends back the news."
The nobles also raised their glasses to toast the emperor. The atmosphere in the palace was very relaxed, and it seemed that this aristocratic meeting was about to turn into an aristocratic banquet.
Sitting in his seat, Wilfin felt a little worried, as his eldest son was at the northern frontier, and he hoped that nothing would happen.
In the past, Wilfin was not afraid of death on the battlefield and always led the charge. But after the peace of the empire, he has started a family and has a wife and children. He has changed a lot compared to before.
After too many peaceful days, Wilfin no longer wanted to return to the battlefield. Of course, if the empire recruited him again, he would still give up his dukedom without hesitation and return to the army.
His eldest son is currently on the front line. Although the elite imperial army is invincible, if something unexpected happens...
Wilfin drank the wine in his glass and let out a long sigh of relief.
It was his son who took the initiative to ask to join the army. Since he wanted to devote his youth to the army, Wilfin, as a father, naturally supported him.
