[Kingsfort]
[United Provinces Army's Barracks]
Silence enveloped the officer's mess temporarily serving as a conference room, the atmosphere suffocatingly heavy.
The breeze blowing in from the playground direction not only failed to alleviate the heat but also brought along the noise of unloading trucks.
Leaving behind most of the troops, the members of the Southern Army Command who arrived at Kingsfort with the Commander himself, sat on one side of the long table;
William Lodewijk, who arrived even earlier than the Southern Army Command, and his subordinates sat on the other side of the dining table.
Both parties silently looked towards the end of the long table, quietly waiting for the highest commander of the United Provinces Army in South Paratu to finish browsing the report in hand.
"Hmm," after what seemed like an eternity, Jansen Cornelius placed the report handed by Colonel Ludwick back on the table, removed his monocle, rubbed his weary eyes, and calmly concluded:
