—[Salem Ophecialis’ Diary] King Seong 2nd year (385) May 17th

The king opened an inquiry. “It has been 400 years since our first king founded Salem. Not a decade or a century, but 400 years. But if we compare that period to now, not much has changed. We still only watch our opponents’ every move warily while sitting between our giant neighboring nations,” The king grieved. “Does our diplomacy laws state that we must only bend before our neighbors? How long are we going to be satisfied with faring well only for our size and relying on a hero every time a crisis arises?”

Hearing this, General Duke Nacaste Arrogil answered, “Although we are placing Salem’s defense as our top priority, there exists a clear difference in strengths between our nation and other ones. Even if we pour our entire year’s worth of taxes into our military, it would fall short of even half the amount our neighboring country can invest.”

The king responded, “You are not wrong, general. But shouldn’t we then find a new method to approach the situation rather than conducting business as usual? It’s not too late even right now. Instead of meaninglessly expanding our military forces that...