"Hmm? Main God witness! You're saying... the Coastal Alliance's system—the legion commanders, Chief Priests, and Chiefs of Civil Administration checking one another—wasn't set up to restrict me?... These three powers, split apart and not subordinate to one another—military authority, religious authority, and civil authority—were meant for the future balance of power in the Coastal Lands after Prince Xolotl and I leave the Totonac coast?..."
In the deep, heavy hall, Black Wolf Toltec stroked the cold Copper Axe and sat back down on his stone seat. At Tikalo's scattered words, he furrowed his brow and sank into a long silence of thought. Only after quite a while did he glare at Tikalo and ask coldly.
"Hmm? Tikalo, what do you think?!"
"Uh! My view... well... is exactly the same as yours!..."
Maya merchant Tikalo scratched his head, his thoughts spinning swiftly as he considered the art of conversation. He had only just returned, and his understanding of this Coastal Alliance was limited to a few brief questions he had asked on the journey back... In other words, he had no idea at all what the prince's arrangements and deeper intentions were!
And the reason he had picked out this topic and offered such an ambiguous suggestion was simple: the situation in the Coastal Lands was extremely complicated, and the distance was far too great. To rule this place stably, and even go a step further by expanding toward the eastern lands, Prince Xolotl's arrangements would necessarily have been weighed with great care and hidden meaning! And from another perspective, Black Wolf Toltec's battle merits had indeed piled up far too high!...
"Cough! Honored Black Wolf Commander, you are the great general whom the prince has cultivated all the way and trusts the most! Your legion is also the one best at