The year 3800 of the continent calendar, the first year of a new century, was clearly not a peaceful one.
Or, more precisely, the second half of that year was far from peaceful.
As July began and the summer heat was about to unleash its irresistible power, unrest first broke out in the continent's southeastern corner.
The Nozdormu Commercial United Kingdom, which had remained quiet for several years since its last invasion of its northern neighbors, suddenly launched another war against them.
This time, the excuse the Nozdormu Commercial United Kingdom offered was an utterly insignificant clash on the Northern Border.
Yet once the war began, the forces the Nozdormu Commercial United Kingdom deployed made it clear that it intended not merely to settle a minor clash, but to wage an all-out war.
Thanks to the large quantities of military magic machinery acquired through years of close cooperation with the Xinfei Merchant Guild, the Nozdormu Commercial United Kingdom's army possessed combat strength far beyond that of the surrounding countries.
Combined with its extraordinary financial resources, this allowed the Nozdormu Commercial United Kingdom to completely occupy two small duchies to the north in just one month and ten days, while seizing most of another kingdom whose territory it had already swallowed up nearly half of in the previous war.
The two small duchies ceased to exist, while the kingdom that had lost most of its territory to the Nozdormu Commercial United Kingdom was likewise left crippled and unable to recover.
Meanwhile, the Wales Duchy, less than a thousand kilometers west of the Nozdormu Commercial United Kingdom, was also stirring up trouble.
In mid-July, the Wales Duchy suddenly invaded its eastern neighbor, the Tomor Duchy, without declaring war.
Half a month later, the Tomor Duchy ceased to exist and was fully incorporated