Chapter 266: Trust, but Test.
"REPORT!" A blue Bunny-kin came running in and yelled in my office, clearly out of breath. "I have a message from the front!" The bunny-kin shouted, and I was on my feet. Behind me, Queen Mira was covered in sperm and naked, but when you turned to look at her, she was in a dress, and not a trace of semen was left over. Unlike just a moment before, she looked perfect, and I looked at the bunny-kin holding out an envelope.
I quickly walked forward and looked at the mana seal on it, noticing that the seal's rank was one of the highest. "Mira, I need space," I said quickly.
"Understood," she replied, and a moment later, she was out of the room. The messenger stepped out of the room, and I cracked the seal and read its contents.
"Supreme Commander Sister, Chelsea,
We have to report from inside the Empire that we have learned that the Empire has consolidated more forces. They are working quickly under the direction of General Ivy Vine. The force is estimated to be a hundred thousand. General Ivy controls a group of Veterans from the last Kingdom and Empire war and with the Grand Prairies. She was also instrumental in the collapse of a secret Rebellion force a couple of decades ago.
General Ivy is a Veteran, a ranked Wizard with a massive force, and an expert in various types of warfare, including information warfare. I am still investigating more details about her career, but I have already lost three people trying to get more information.
As for the economic information, here is a list of the recent price changes. I don't know what you can do with this information, but here it is. I will send another message when I can."
The message showed the changes in the prices of basic necessities and various things that I asked my sister to look into. I was surprised at the speed of the changes in the Empire. The information that they were changing gears from treating us with contempt to respect and bringing out an experienced general was a change I had not expected, and I grimaced.
This was something I was hoping would take them longer to realize what a threat we were.
Another issue was the estimated time of arrival, which I appreciated because no information was better than bad information on this front. My frown deepened because there was no message or mention of battle slaves who assisted us in our last battle. That meant that either they were not bringing them, or she was unsure if they were. But after the number of deaths in their last regimen of Battle slaves, there was probably not much left. They treated them as cannon fodder.
A bad feeling with this information started to tingle down my spine. I was not happy about this, and I hated the reaction speed. It was never better to go against competent enemies than incompetent ones. I moved to the bed. I sat on the bed, looked over the economic changes, and had to think and plan.
Did this change my underlying strategy at this moment?
No.
No, this changed a little on our side. We still needed to dig in. We needed to entrench and build up our logistic capability. But we needed more A rankers. Something in my skin told me this. If the Empire was now taking us more seriously, that meant that they were going to bring the numbers from the back and leave a smaller group of 'elders' home to watch the cities.
I grabbed a shirt and loin cloth and quickly walked out of the room toward my office. I snapped my fingers at the messenger, and they followed me up. "Who gave you this message?" I asked the blue bunny-kin.
"A human who looked dirty but presented a spy coin proving their identity." The Bunny-kin replied, and I frowned.
The seal was right, so I would rely on this information and ask for additional support from the rear of at least two more A-rankers. It would also help with the growth of the border's length. We could use the numbers.
I stormed into my office and noticed my mother on the corner, and Queen Mira walked in a moment later as I walked in. I smiled wryly and chuckled, "Mother, My sister has decided to give us some new information." I said, and I tossed the letter to her. She picked it up and read the brief message.
"Shit. General Ivy?" My mother sighed, "She is a powerful plant Wizard. Looks like they are taking us seriously."
"Am I allowed to be here?" Queen Mira asked.
"You can stay," I replied. I sat down in my seat, pulled out a paper, and started to write a letter. "That messenger is still here?" I asked quickly as I wrote.
"Yes, they are still here." Queen Mira said.
"Hmmm, Get a messenger that Florine recommends, and they will be taking this message back," I said bluntly, the blue bunny-kin saluted and headed out, and I turned to my mother. "You get one too. I want to check something just in case, and this message is important enough to do so." I quickly wrote up my letters, and not long later, as Queen Mira watched, I finished up the letters, and I put my high-level seal on both, and both had an extra to let me know the distance from where they broke the seal. "Okay, this letter goes to you," I said to the Bunny-kin that walked up with Green fur in the elite army uniform. "And this to you," I said to the yellow one; both had the Elite army uniform with the messenger seal on them, and I instructed them on who to go to. The Green went to the Dragonic Elders, the Yellow went to the Bunny-kin elders, and they set off.
When the Messengers left, I leaned back, sighed, and pinched the bridge of my nose. "What was that?" my mother asked.
"Hmm?"
"What was that?" My mother said, pointing at the door.
"I'm testing to see if the information we got is good with that," I said bluntly. "I asked you to get a messenger, which I trust," I said, pointing to my mother. "And I got a random in uniform Elite Army soldier. My organization is already too large for me to get to know everyone. So, I am checking to see if the information that was sent to me was good. If It is, they will both make it to their destination without being opened so they can learn what I am messaging the homeland. If they do," I grinned. "Then that message was fake and was used to make us pull more people from the Nation so they can attack our homes while we are at the front."
My mother's eyes widened, and Queen Mira looked at me, startled, and I leaned back and sighed. "The organization you met is something you can only trust as much as you test it." I told them both, "I wonder if they will pass the test or not. And you never know; a message with a proper seal can just be the enemy's spies at work with more knowledge than we wish to believe they have. They have spies of their own, just as we do."
The twin looks I got from the two A rankers turned from surprise to contemplative, and both got up and left the room. "What?" I asked as they both walked out.
"I need to do something," They both said in unison, and both their sexy asses left me alone, and I looked around and paled.
A mountain of reports and various other things I had put to the side, and I sighed. "Fuck, I guess I will just do my damn job then." I cursed and started to speed-read, looking through reports to ensure I missed nothing.
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