When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 1177 War is Coming Again

"Sea monster attacks? Isn't that a common occurrence?"

The day after their wedding, at the Saint Sun residence, in the mountain villa of Saint Kitts.

Horn yawned repeatedly, rubbing his sleepy eyes, his face showing undeniable exhaustion.

He was wearing pajamas, his legs were trembling, and it took him a while to sit up properly in the chair.

Facing René's serious expression, Horn was still somewhat dazed, simply pouring himself coffee.

“That’s not the important thing.” René handed another report to Horn.

He picked up the report, glanced at it twice, and Horn's sleepy eyelids suddenly lifted.

"No way?!"

The sea monster attack did not cause as much damage to the dam city as expected.

Because the sea monster only wreaked havoc around the port and never actually came ashore.

Sea monster attacks are quite rare for the Empire, but not quite legendary.

Basically every hundred years, sea monsters attack the harbor, but they usually attack the islands after a storm or an undersea earthquake.

There are relatively few records of attacks on ports on the mainland.

As for the reason, most of them are washed ashore by the tide and then see too many humans and are stressed.

The destruction of the dam city's port had an impact on the Empire's maritime shipping, but not a huge one.

On the surface, it seems like nothing serious; it could only be considered a minor natural disaster.

However, if you combine it with another piece of news, the situation changes.

Dam City is the anchorage of the French Navy, with at least one-third of the French Navy stationed there!
Although the French side didn't say much, the Cheka and the Holy Fathers learned that this third of the navy could be considered to have been completely wiped out.

It was as if this sea monster was specifically targeting the French navy.

Could it be...

“Speaking of which, there’s a little interesting anecdote about this attack.” René turned to a page in Horn’s report.

"This sea monster left after attacking the port, but before it left, whether intentionally or unintentionally, someone witnessed it abducting a spice ship bound for North Norn..."

At this point, Horn had already realized: "This was Serfayer's doing?"

"That's our guess."

After putting down the report, Horn leaned back in his chair, crossing his hands under his chin.

In the past, Horn would have suspected it was a coincidence.

But ever since he learned of Serfaye's existence, he felt that this was definitely not a coincidence.

It is extremely rare for a royal court to control a sea monster, but if it is Serfaye, then she is very likely the woman who descended from the goddess Lilith.

What a hassle.

With the sea monster as a powerful weapon, sailing warships are likely to suffer a great loss in naval battles.

Following this logic, the Holy Alliance's own naval development also needs to be revised.

However, in this era, ironclad warships are still a bit too ambitious; we need to think of other solutions.

Or perhaps they should abandon the navy altogether, or lay minefields outside the naval port?
Go back and tell Shilov what good ideas or new inventions her engineers can offer.

"Your Majesty, what is your opinion?" Petit, who was in charge of recording, held up his hand for a long time, but Horn did not give any approval.

“You know what? I feel like this is just the beginning.” Horn sat up. “Give me a heads-up, we’re going to the Holy See Building for an emergency meeting.”

Just as Horn predicted, this incident was only the beginning.

Soon, news of the annihilation of a third of the French navy could no longer be concealed.

Things are different now compared to the days when warships could be launched like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

A single sailing warship requires at least several centuries-old giant trees, not to mention the time it takes to air-dry.

It will take at least ten years for the navy to recover.

Having suffered such a heavy blow, Charlie, given his character, was naturally unwilling to give up.

Without Horn providing any intelligence, he himself set his sights on the royal court; it was all too obvious.

Even outsiders like the Cheka can find out about these things.

As Charlie's wife, it's impossible that he couldn't have found out.

This time, he went all out and once again implemented a complete blockade policy against the mainland.

He had initially turned a blind eye to smuggling by the royal court and the empire. After all, he still needed the royal court's cheap grain and precious metals to suppress the traditional aristocratic groups within the country.

This time, for the sake of the one-third of his navy that had been wiped out, he was determined to teach the royal court a lesson.

They even offered huge discounts to Saint Union to replace imports.

Charlie's injection of energy revived the agriculture in Caxia County, which was on the verge of collapse.

Horn had originally planned to take this opportunity to eliminate the old guard forces in Kasha County, but now he'll have to wait until later.

But this stance did not make the royal court back down. They continued their advance in North Norn, forcing many great lords to become vassals.

On the sea, they repeatedly made noise.

In March 1458, the sea monster, which had been dormant for two months, attacked the port of Fran again, destroying two docked warships.

In April, a sea monster attacked the French royal family's treasure ship in the near sea, causing thousands of pounds of treasure to fall into the sea.

That same month, the sea monster attacked the Fran naval port in the pioneering area again, but this time it failed and was instead wounded by a clockwork cannon.

July was the month with the most frequent sea monster attacks, which struck four different ports and caused Frankish losses of nearly 7 gold pounds.

In August, Wang Ting completely stopped acting and began setting up tax checkpoints in the Zealand Islands to collect taxes.

Having reached his limit of tolerance, Charles recalled the fleet from the pioneering lands, assembling most of his navy.

They also joined forces with Leia's navy, hired a large number of merchant ships, and formed the Imperial Navy, which marched majestically toward the Zealand Islands.

However, the Royal Navy was weak, with only the sea monster as its advantage, and it had been struggling against the Imperial Fleet.

From September to December, the Wangting Navy was captured several times, suffering heavy losses, but neither side gained the upper hand.

Charlie, on the other hand, was burning through cash to keep the navy going.

With the year-end approaching, both sides have taken a break, and there's not much news.

As for the Holy Regiment, besides closely monitoring the situation, they provided all possible support, including assistance.

The Holy Alliance Navy is practically non-existent; how can they offer assistance?

These changes, however, brought Horn a lot of extra work, and the days of slacking off like before were gone forever.

Various preferential policies for France or other random matters came flying in like scraps of paper, piling up on His Holiness the Pope's desk.

After a tiring morning, Horn stretched and stood up, then went to the cabinet next to the door.

Instead of calling for the Privy Councilor, he poured himself a cappuccino.

Before Horn could even take a sip of the white porcelain coffee cup, he heard hurried footsteps.

Along with the sound of footsteps came apologies from outside the door: "Excuse me" and "Make way."

Before the voice could burst in, Horn opened the office door: "Any new information?"

Petit, who was about to knock on the door, withdrew his hand and looked at Horn with a solemn expression: "Your Majesty, we have received news that the main fleet of the French Navy fought a major battle with the Royal Court fleet in the open sea."

"how?"

"After three days of fierce fighting, the French killed a narwhal sea monster and a sea serpent sea monster." Petit swallowed hard. "The French called it a great victory, but the fleet withdrew from the Zealand Islands back to their homeland."

According to news from the Zealand Islands, the Royal Navy has already stationed itself there and issued a public notice.

The entire office fell silent for a moment, and even the rustling of pens and paper stopped.

In the tense atmosphere, Horn remained calm and composed. He picked up his coffee, took a sip, and asked, "What do you think this means?"

“The Zealand Islands are the borders of the Empire as defined by the Hundred Years' Armistice, unlike the ambiguous areas such as North Norn…” Petit licked his lips. “If the Zealand Islands are controlled or occupied in any way, it will be considered that the Royal Court has declared war on the Empire.”

Horn nodded and turned to walk into his office.

He went to the window and looked at his reflection in the glass.

Compared to before his marriage, he had more stubble, looked much more weathered, not to mention the dark circles under his eyes.

Compared to his past appearance as a young man, although his face hasn't changed much, his temperament is completely different.

Just like the Holy Alliance, it looks no different from the past, but its essence has been completely different.

This war was within Horn's expectations, but he didn't expect it to come so quickly.

Think back to the last war the Holy Alliance fought, which was back in 1449.

It is now early January of 1459.

Ten years have passed. Fate has granted the Holy Alliance ten years of peace. It's time to see the results of these ten years.

"War is coming again."

(End of this chapter)