After the year turned to 998 and February began, everything started going smoothly for Landen. On February 10, the Hot Spring Mountain branch of Gallop Academy was fully completed. Blue Dragon School, Red Dragon Rock, Imperial Magic School, and the Tower of Purity had all sent large quantities of teaching equipment and assigned several High-Rank instructors to teach there.
In the north, the front between Breyak, the Merfolk, and the Sea Beastmen had not advanced any farther into the middle of the Fjord. After several scouting missions by Susie Lanyuan, a Flying Dragon Knight, even the large groups of Merfolk in the Ice Sea showed signs of retreating.
Apart from Breyak, there had been no more fighting in the waters off Moonfall Lake, around White Mountain Island, or in Turquoise Bay. The Sea Elves and the Blue Dragon Family, who had originally gone to support Breyak, had gradually withdrawn.
After the ban targeting the Southeast Kingdom was issued, the great southeastern coastal nobles, including the Fiat Family, could only send delegations of no more than twenty people to Dragon Tooth City, and they were forbidden to advance even one step farther west. The coastal noble caravans that had been in the Hindukush Basin were also all driven out.
However, business between Landen and Fiat continued. Starting in February, the Night-Kirin City factory delivered twenty Magic Pattern Cargo Containers a day to Fiat, all suitable for underwater use. In return, the Fiat Family delivered two basic-model riverboats to Landen each week—the unadorned versions with no Magic Patterns. The rest of the Magic Pattern Plates were also delivered on schedule and in full.
With heavy snow still falling across the Gallop Plains, all agricultural production had ground to a halt. After several months of operating at full capacity, industry had also entered