The First Step of the Expedition

After the public appointment ceremony ended, Shien skipped the congratulations and formalities. The attendees took the hint and filed out.

Bang. The doors closed, sealing the main hall of the Sacred War Reconstruction Institute from the outside world. With most of the hall empty, only the charcoal in the braziers occasionally crackled.

Several hundred core civil officials remained in the center of the hall, including recorders, cartographers, archivists, and verification officers.

Shien stood before the long table, his left hand resting on his sword hilt, his back straight.

Arms production and military defenses would come in later stages.

In its first stage, the Reconstruction Institute had to establish exactly what personnel and supplies the Twelve Defense Zones possessed, identify the shortages, and investigate decades of records.

They had to work through the surviving archives item by item to find which accounts had been altered, which losses lacked supporting evidence, and who had repeatedly submitted false information to the Governor's Mansion.

Shien sat in the high-backed chair at the head of the table. The files still lay where they had been placed.

His gaze passed over the heads of the Reconstruction Institute staff remaining in the hall. Most had blue or purple Grace Values.

Some were old subordinates who had followed him all the way from Blackpine Fief. Others were young clerks he had promoted while auditing the accounts.

There were also clerks with green or gray-white Grace Values. Most were clearly spies and infiltrators planted by the major factions.

These hundreds of civil officials, together with their respective administrative duties, would form the foundation of the Reconstruction Institute's work in the Twelve Defense Zones.

"Hang up the map," Shien said.

Two Blackpine recorders immediately stepped forward and pinned a blank hide map to the stone wall at the front of