The reception ceremony at the Royal Airport was very brief. Soon, everyone's attention shifted to the fleet's return. The Tonigellian fleet had been gone for more than two months since leaving Valhalla, and to Valhalla's new residents, they had only ever heard the fleet's name. Strictly speaking, this was the first time they had seen it with their own eyes.
Although the ships entering the port today did not represent the fleet in its entirety, the fleet had already been split into three groups by Her Highness the Princess's order when it passed through Xifah. One patrol fleet had continued onward to escort the Eluin delegation, while another subfleet, centered around three third-rate cruisers, had gone to the Labann Coast north of Karasu to blockade the mountain passage, preventing the undead from repeating their trick of attacking Lantorilan and Viero's rear areas by surprise as they had in the previous war.
In fact, what returned to Tonigell today amounted to less than half of this fleet, which could be considered a behemoth throughout Eluin and even southern Cruz.
Even so, that could not dampen the people's enthusiasm. The news spread quickly. When Valhalla's new residents came running out of their homes and saw clusters of glittering silver lights descending from the clouds—most of them small gunboats, with some transport ships mixed in—they still could not help letting out waves of whistles and cheers.
The citizens even took off their hats and flung them toward the fleet in the sky, as if that were the only way to express the excitement in their hearts.
After all, this was the Tonigellians' fleet. It was also the Fir Territory's fleet, the fleet of their lord. Of course, it was true that Brando had "bought" the ships from the Buga people.
But what did