On November 1, as the chill of early winter descended over most of the Sains Continent, a piece of news spread across the entire continent.
After half a month of negotiations, the Candel Empire, the Xinfei Merchant Guild, and the Rulson Kingdom finally signed a ceasefire agreement.
The news did not surprise many people.
Ever since the combined forces of the Candel Empire and the Malo Empire had been defeated by the Rulson-Xinfei Allied Forces on the Sela Plain half a month earlier, this outcome had been inevitable.
Or rather, this was actually the best outcome the Candel Empire could have hoped for.
If the Xinfei Merchant Guild had refused a ceasefire and continued joining forces with the Rulson Kingdom to attack the Candel Empire, the empire would have had no way to stop them.
Had the Rulson Kingdom and the Xinfei Merchant Guild been a little more ruthless, they might even have torn the entire Candel Empire apart and destroyed it altogether.
No one believed the Rulson Kingdom and the Xinfei Merchant Guild could fully occupy the Candel Empire, but no one doubted their ability to destroy it.
Thus, when news broke that the two sides had signed a ceasefire agreement, most people's first reaction was relief.
From the conflict that had broken out early the previous year and escalated into war, to the ceasefire agreement signed near the end of this year, the war had lasted only around a year and a half. Yet it had affected countless countries and more than half the population of the Sains Continent.
The war had severely disrupted the lives of people in most countries on the Sains Continent.
The clearest example was the severe blow it had dealt to foreign trade in the countries allied with the Xinfei Merchant Guild in