Rosetta's question was direct, and Gawain was not at all surprised by it—everyone sitting in this room knew perfectly well that this was what they had come here to discuss today.
The "war" between Typhon and Cecil had ended, and the armistice signed on the Winterwolf Fortress battlefield had been in effect for some time. But for the soldiers of both nations, the matter was not truly over. Even now, reconstruction of the Winterwolf Fortress defensive line continued, while Winterwolf Fortress itself remained under the control of the Cecil Legion. Though, in the spirit of sincerely honoring the armistice, Gawain had already ordered half the troops in the Winterwolf Fortress region withdrawn, everyone knew that the blue-and-gold Sword and Plow banners still flew above that Typhon fortress—and the massive Iron Throne Armored Train still stood along the border between the two nations.
This was something that would have to be resolved head-on sooner or later.
Gawain listened to Rosetta without changing expression. He knew very well that, under the current circumstances, the Cecil Army stationed at Winterwolf Fortress no longer had any reason to continue occupying that fortress. Unless he intended to escalate this concluded "war" back into a war of invasion, the Winterwolf Fortress line had never been his true concern—but before his real objective was achieved, the troops at Winterwolf Fortress were still a useful card to hold.
"I understand your concerns—however, you can rest assured that Cecil has never intended to occupy a neighboring country's land," Gawain said slowly. "Our occupation of Winterwolf Fortress was originally forced by circumstances. You know that at the time, the Typhon forces had fallen into disorder, your command system was in chaos, and we had to prevent the flames of war from spreading onto our own land. That was why we