Chapter 31: The Dilemma

Chapter 31: The Dilemma

“Though that’s what I say, Airael felt it was unfair to compare herself to those truly youthful children.”

“Setting gender aside, beneath her youthful appearance lay a mature soul.”

So Airael pressed on, “Linis, I am Your Majesty, aren’t I? As a queen, I should do something for this country and our race; being underage is no excuse.”

“And even if I’m underage, I can still do something now.”

Airael certainly had no intention of revealing her past life.

Thus, she could only emphasize her present identity as queen.

Fortunately, it was a sufficiently special identity.

Watching Airael insist, Linis sighed a little helplessly, “Your Majesty, you’ve already done great things for the Elven Race.”

Airael immediately responded, “I believe I can do more!”

As she spoke, she tightly gripped the Staff of Eternity she had been leaning on.

All of her confidence at that moment stemmed from this staff.

Linis keenly noticed this subtle movement from Airael.

She glanced at the Staff of Eternity before continuing to observe the determined expression on Airael’s small face.

After a long pause, she sighed, “Your Majesty, please give me some time to think this over.”

Seeing she had already moved Linis, Airael stopped pressuring her and flashed a happy smile, “Yes! Linis, I look forward to your response.”

After finishing her business, Airael didn’t linger at the Life Temple to trouble Linis further and promptly set off for Avalon Royal Palace.

However, after sending Airael off, Linis returned to her office without any desire to work.

Her mind was filled with Airael’s earlier request to join the war.

This matter had its pros and cons.

The advantages were obvious.

The queen’s involvement could greatly boost the morale of the troops while also honing Airael’s skills as queen.

But the disadvantages were equally glaring.

War was dangerous; if anything happened to the queen, even though Airael hadn’t yet ascended to power, it would still be a significant loss for the Elven Race.

If it weren’t for Airael’s strong insistence, Linis would never allow her to join this war.

Airael was still in her developmental stage, so there was no need for her to take such great risks until she matured.

Moreover, even without the queen inspiring the troops, the Elven Race already had a decent chance of victory.

Yet, Airael’s genuine concern for her people made it hard for Linis to refuse her, fearing to hurt her feelings.

Thinking of the determination in Airael’s eyes and her subsequent joyful face, Linis sighed again.

She shook her head, a bitter smile appearing on her face, “Your Majesty really knows how to pose a challenge!”

As Linis grappled with her dilemma, Krul was facing a challenge of his own.

He hadn’t fully integrated the forces from various regions when news arrived that the Human Race had already mobilized.

Time was pressing for him.

Moreover, the current transition from spring to summer brought favorable eastern winds, allowing the human army to sail smoothly westward.

Inside the central camp, Krul’s gaze was locked on the map laid out on the table, his brow furrowed.

There were two maps on the table: one showing the known oceans and lands of the Elven Race, essentially a world map, and the other an area map detailing the territory of Avalon and the western part of the continent.

This area map also depicted various shipping routes.

Krul’s focus was now on the southern shipping route on the area map.

If the Humans took this route, they not only benefited from the wind but also the current.

As a result, their speed would skyrocket, potentially cutting a day off their travel time.

Although no specific intel had arrived, Krul estimated that the Humans would undoubtedly choose this route.

A hundred thousand troops might seem negligible to the numerically superior Humans, but that was still a considerable force of a hundred thousand.

The logistical pressure would certainly be significant.

Being able to shorten their travel time by a day would certainly discourage the Humans from slowing down.

Furthermore, a favorable wind and current would have a positive impact on battles at sea.

With these thoughts in mind, Krul picked up a feather quill and drew an arc line close to Avalon on the southern shipping route.

His gaze then narrowed in on that arc line.

The next step was determining where to set up a defensive line to wait for the Human forces to arrive.

However, establishing a defensive line was the easy part; the hard part was ensuring its smooth operation.

As previously mentioned, he had yet to fully integrate his troops.

Of the forces under his command, he could effectively manage his own navy of ten thousand, but the other units were far from cohesive.

It wasn’t that the Elves were disobeying his commands; rather, the command systems varied among the independent Elven Lords.

Now that they had suddenly combined, there was potential for misunderstandings with his orders among the troops.

If such a misunderstanding occurred during battle, a fight that could’ve been won might be lost.

Thinking of this issue again, Krul furrowed his brow tighter than before.

This was truly troubling!

If only the Human army delayed their expedition for a few days, just two or three days would suffice; he was confident he could fully integrate his forces.

Unfortunately, the Humans’ objective was to catch the Elves off guard, so the sooner they deployed, the better.

Krul set down the quill and slumped back into his chair, closing his eyes in thought.

If possible, he didn’t want to lead such a fragmented army into battle.

But he knew he couldn’t avoid it.

Relying solely on his own ten thousand troops, it would be difficult to stand against the Humans’ hundred thousand.

So next, he had to swiftly bring his various troops together, ensuring that his commands could be clearly conveyed during wartime.

While both Linis and Krul faced dilemmas, Krul seemed to have the tougher challenge.

His predicament wasn’t multiple choice; it required him to think deeply to find a solution—one that absolutely had to succeed.

Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable.

After a long while, Krul opened his eyes and stood up from his chair.

No longer was his gaze lost.

Though he hadn’t devised a good plan, he understood that action was better than remaining idle.

Perhaps the speed of integrating the troops ahead would surpass his expectations.