In the lord's chambers in Iowa, the conversation between Landen and the girls had quietly shifted topics. When Redbird heard Landen talk about going to the Imperial Capital to build a Magic Workshop and becoming a National Pillar afterward, she asked in confusion, "Really? Would that end the war?"
Landen shook his head. "Impossible. They don't want a final outcome. They want rivers of blood."
"Who?"
"Every side..."
Landen knew that, after three hundred years of development, the Human Race and the Beastmen had once again entered an era of internal resource shortages, when they sought to ease tensions through external expansion. It was time to choose one of the three paths.
Given the current size of Night-Kirin City and the Gallop Plains, unless Landen built more Magic Furnaces, they could at best ease the tensions on one side a little. They couldn't solve the underlying problem—just as Landen could recruit eight hundred students in the Imperial Capital, but couldn't solve the problem of four thousand students graduating every year for ten years straight.
In this situation, Landen could only do his best to keep the battlefield outside his territory and inflict as many casualties on his opponents as possible, so as to deter other reckless forces.
He had gradually become aware of this conflict after Night-Kirin City opened. Even Ben Kaul and Saranir had brought it up with him in passing. But what had truly made him understand was the discussion at the last few confidential business meetings.
"The war is adding precious lubricant to the Empire's enormous machine. They need an enemy to serve as a distant target for the Empire, a piece of land to serve as a battlefield where war resources and surplus manpower can be spent, and some poor soul to shoulder all the costs."