1. The Imperial army has invaded Burgundy and will [cdb]reach Garreg Mach within the month.
  2. With no way to stop their advance, we must ready [cdb]ourselves for a siege.
  3. We sent the bulk of the knights away last month [cdb]after the Western Church occupied one of our [cdb]sacred sites.
  4. The forces that remain are thin at best.
  5. How are we to hold the monastery with such [cdb]short-handed numbers?
  6. It is possible the Empire orchestrated that entire [cdb]incident to bleed off our strength.
  7. Look at how thoroughly information about it was [cdb]buried, and how quickly the Empire invaded after [cdb]declaring war.
  8. It all feels carefully calculated.
  9. I would not put it past them. If they bring war to our [cdb]doorstep, they will want us on the worst footing [cdb]possible.
  10. If the tides turn against us, we may have to abandon Garreg Mach.
  11. Never.
  12. Edelgard is already using the Southern Church to [cdb]erode our legitimacy, and now she has the gall to try [cdb]and remove us by force?
  13. There can be no mercy for tyrants.
  14. So help me, I would like to put her entire army to the [cdb]sword myself.
  15. Is it truly too late to prevent bloodshed, Lady Rhea?
  16. Edelgard must have her reasons for doing this.
  17. If so, they elude me—the woman seems to consider [cdb]our church's very existence an abomination.
  18. Yet she has gone to the trouble of reviving the Southern Church, which implies she does not [cdb]mean to destroy the faith outright.
  19. Perhaps Garreg Mach is the true prize she seeks.
  20. Or worse, this entire invasion could merely be a [cdb]precursor to conquering all of Fódlan.
  21. Hm.
  22. Her purpose matters not. Our charge is to defend the [cdb]monastery at all costs.
  23. I took an oath. I swore I would never again suffer the [cdb]boots of thieves to sully this land.
  24. Rhea...
  25. It is a low form of comedy we find ourselves engaged [cdb]in this day.
  26. To think the descendants of their empire will be the [cdb]first to invade Garreg Mach...
  27. All the more reason to prevent it.
  28. I care not if we shared blood countless generations [cdb]ago—I will not permit anyone to defile Mother's [cdb]resting place.