Minx Steamvalve was exhausted as he left the Steam Lord's residence.
His exhaustion came from the pressure of holding meetings and making decisions with leaders from all sides over the past few days. For the reinforcements in Chardo Port, their mission to help defend the city was over. Apart from the Transians, who were still eager for battle and frequently launching sorties around the city, the reinforcements from the other factions were preparing to leave.
That had been the focus of the Steam Lords' efforts over the past few days. They hoped to offer more pay to hire more reinforcements to fight for them, until the entire peninsula had been liberated.
Minx had nothing to say about it.
As it turned out, cowardice really was ingrained in halflings' bones. Without foreigners leading them, the halflings had precious little confidence in their ability to reclaim their lost territory.
Still, as one of the Steam Lords, Minx didn't look down on this sort of timidity. Now that he was in charge of upgrading their military equipment, he knew full well that the halfling defense force was pitifully weak, both in combat ability and fighting spirit. If the other lords insisted on relying on Chardo Port's warriors to liberate the peninsula, he would truly have cause to worry.
However, this contentious decision had made Minx realize there was a greater danger.
From now on, the halflings had to abandon their former isolationism and conservatism for good, and take a more active role in the affairs of the continent. Most importantly, they needed their own armed forces.
They could be small in scale and numbers, but their fighting spirit and resolve had to be cultivated. Otherwise, every time trouble struck, they would have to rely on foreigners to rescue them. Never mind how much