Chapter Thirteen: The Letter

Esdeath's position as a general was one she had carved out for herself, step by bloody step.

Such immense power naturally drew the attention of many.

Before, her position was too low; she simply couldn't enter the sights of certain people.

But as Esdeath's rank grew higher and higher, she naturally became known to the Empire's higher echelons.

And when Minister Honest learned of Esdeath's overwhelming strength, yet that she wasn't an Imperial Arms user, he was ecstatic.

He immediately found a way to contact Esdeath, intending to win her over.

Without knowing Esdeath's preferences, Minister Honest could only resort to using Imperial Arms to try and recruit her.

During her years of service, Esdeath had naturally heard of Imperial Arms.

However, she hadn't encountered a single Imperial Arms user on the frontier, so she wasn't clear on their strength.

In her eyes, those people had exaggerated the power of Imperial Arms too much.

They were just powerful weapons, after all...

Still, she did need a weapon that could match her own might.

The rapier she currently used, though crafted by a master blacksmith and an excellent weapon at that, was merely an ordinary weapon, lacking any special power.

"What do you think?"

Esdeath handed Minister Honest's letter to Lilith.

Lilith took the letter. It was much as she had suspected: an attempt to recruit Esdeath. What surprised her, however, was that the letter also mentioned her.

But that was only natural. While the common folk throughout the Empire had known for years that a powerful general on the frontier had repelled the Foreigners' invasions more than once, very little was known about Lilith.

Yet, this didn't hinder Lilith's prestige within the army. While not on par with Esdeath, she was second only to her, and most soldiers feared Lilith even more than Esdeath.

Although Esdeath was incredibly cruel to her enemies, she was quite lenient with her own people.

The reason for this disparity was entirely due to Lilith's dissatisfaction with the army's discipline.

She had long been unhappy with the troops' lack of order, so after achieving a sufficiently high rank, she began training the army in the direction she desired.

She didn't expect much, but at the very least, they had to obey military discipline, right?

By now, the soldiers under Lilith were well-disciplined and exemplary.

Whenever Esdeath led her soldiers to clear out nearby Foreigners, Lilith would watch the soldiers she brought back with a sense of satisfaction.

Of course, while Lilith was training the soldiers, there were those who complained to Esdeath, saying Lilith's demands were too excessive and impossible to meet.

But it was useless. Esdeath wasn't foolish; she knew that Lilith's actions were entirely beneficial to the army's overall strength.

With Esdeath's support, those complaining soldiers became even more resentful but dared not speak out.

Then, during a battle, a unit led by Lilith was ambushed by the Foreigners. When everyone thought they were finished, doomed, Lilith, by herself, managed to slaughter her way through the ambushing Foreigners and lead them out of the trap.

It was only then that they realized Lilith's strength might not be inferior to Esdeath's.

After that, no one dared to voice any more objections to Lilith's training.

As a side note, after that ambush, Lilith once again led her troops to destroy a Foreigner encampment.

Minister Honest naturally wouldn't overlook such a powerful individual as Lilith.

Moreover, Lilith had a very good relationship with Esdeath, and he had every intention of trying to win both of them over.

Then, he would have two powerful Imperial Arms users!

Lilith: "We can meet."

After reading the letter, Lilith understood that it was after this that Esdeath reached an agreement with Minister Honest, obtained her own Imperial Arms, and leaped to become the pinnacle of power in this world.

"Imperial Arms? I've heard of them for a long time, but what they truly are remains unreliable legend. This is a good opportunity."

Esdeath decided to seize this chance to meet with Minister Honest.

As for the rumors surrounding Minister Honest, Esdeath paid them no mind.

Even if those rumors were true, so what?

She had a feeling that this trip to the Imperial Capital to meet Minister Honest would go very well.

"Compared to Minister Honest, those people are too stingy."

What Esdeath was referring to were the so-called "conscientious" factions.

Naturally, they wanted to recruit Esdeath, a powerful general commanding hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

However, their letters were filled with talk of "righteousness" and "loyalty to the Empire."

It was a pity that Esdeath was completely uninterested in these things and found those people particularly annoying.

Esdeath had, without exception, thrown all those letters into the fireplace to burn.

"The Imperial Capital? I do wonder what it's like there?"

Esdeath had always lived in the tribe, and in recent years she had been staying on the border. As for the Imperial Capital, the most prosperous city in the Empire, it was impossible not to be curious about it.

In contrast to Esdeath's curiosity, Lilith appeared very indifferent.

To be honest, she couldn't appreciate the architectural style of this other world, which was similar to medieval Europe.

Esdeath walked to the window, opened it, and the bone-chilling cold wind from the Icefield blew into the room.

Neither Esdeath nor Lilith paid any mind to the cold wind.

Several years had passed, and Esdeath had fully matured, becoming even more captivating.

She wore a white military uniform, her ample chest creating a deep cleavage. Long white boots reached up her thighs, leaving an "absolute territory" exposed between her skirt and the boots.

It had to be said that the soldiers around Esdeath were under a lot of pressure. Esdeath was indeed a beauty, and her attire was very alluring, easily making those hot-blooded young men lose their composure.

As for Lilith, she had... not changed at all in these past few years!

She was exactly the same as she was years ago.

At this moment, Lilith, like Esdeath, was wearing a military uniform.

However, her uniform was black and red, and she wore a cape over her shoulders. The cape was black on the outside and a vibrant red on the inside. Lilith also wore long boots on her legs, but hers were red. Unlike Esdeath's leather boots, Lilith's boots looked as if they were made of metal, like combat boots, reaching up to Lilith's thighs and leaving an absolute territory between them and her skirt.

Don't worry, she was wearing safety shorts under her skirt.