Autumn was almost over, and winter was on the verge of descending on Tavitsky.
Tavitsky was relatively peaceful now... well, perhaps not all that peaceful. No large-scale battles had broken out, but Raitelian scouts drifting in from elsewhere and refugees who had turned to banditry rather than leave their homes kept the smoke of conflict rising over the plain.
Working on the principle that "if the enemy can go there, so can we," Chris also sent restless players out in small groups toward territory occupied by the Raitelians.
Of course, Chris had not forgotten the land's original owners. Besides Intelligence Bureau agents, he occasionally sent infiltration teams made up of players into Minisia, leaving them free to act as they pleased.
He had always been somewhat conflicted, but now he had come around. There was no need to restrain the players' destructive power. He should turn them loose to wreak havoc on outsiders, rather than use rules to keep them close and let them wreak havoc on him.
There was really no need for that kind of self-sacrifice.
Thanks to Chris's decision, Anvil Fortress finally enjoyed a peace it had not known in some time.
Amid that peace, Chris began guiding the farmers in the Refugee Camp out of the trenches to reclaim land near Anvil Fortress.
The soil was good.
The region around Anvil Fortress had vast stretches of fertile country and deep black soil. It should have been a granary that nourished all living things.
Yet it had lain silent for too long.
The reason, naturally, was the Bagnians' old habit of descending from the mountains to raid for supplies. This buffer zone between the two nations had suffered terribly, and even after both sides made peace, the Minisians still dared not farm near Anvil Fortress.
Now that