On the afternoon of the 13th, at the northernmost camp of the territory named North 8 Castle on the southern shore of Moonfall Lake in Gallop Plains—the castle watchtower Landen had built for the Sea Beastmen of Moonfall Lake—Landen and the female Knight Dandelion gazed out at the battle raging in the lake to the north.
Compared with the war in the fjord north of Breyak, the fighting at Moonfall Lake was somewhat smaller in scale. Beyond a fjord to the north, the lake was completely sealed beneath ice. This sole outlet to the sea would not thaw until after April, so the Sea Beastmen in the lake currently faced only a portion of the Merfolk.
Even so, the courtyard of North 8 Castle was still packed with cargo containers bearing Life Magic Patterns. Imola the Minotaur and several Rabbit Clan Life Priests hurried back and forth, examining the wounded.
"The fighting in the water seems to last longer than the fighting on land—and it's even crueler," Dandelion suddenly said.
"Wars on land are terribly bloody, but precisely because they're bloody, they can end in a short time, which actually means fewer losses for both sides," Landen concluded. "War at sea is exactly the opposite. A single battle may not be so bloody, but both sides must keep throwing more and more weight onto the scales until one side runs dry."
"Neither sounds very good." The female Knight frowned. She had not expected Landen to be so pessimistic about the Sea Beastmen's situation, so she asked, "But with the Magic Pattern Cargo Containers and those weapons, shouldn't the Sea Beastmen hold the advantage? Isn't that enough to win quickly?"
"Against the Sea Monsters and Merfolk, the Sea Beastmen are a classic small nation with a sparse population. The weapons have