Lina might have been as flat as a board, but she certainly had a broad heart—or at least, she was broad-minded enough to speak up now despite being the furthest away from the Kingdom of the Moon.
To me, that was enough.
I glanced at her chest. Although it was hidden by her outer armor, it was clear there was virtually no curvature. She could probably fit into a male suit of armor without any adjustments.
I subconsciously cast a look of pity toward the Saintess of War, but her emotional intelligence didn't seem particularly high.
"The Saintess of the Moon need not be so moved. As a Saintess of the Holy Church, it is our inescapable duty to drive out the demon race."
Moved?
I just feel sorry for you...
"Lina, don't get too excited. After all, our Kingdom of the Highlands is the furthest from the Kingdom of the Moon. No matter how anxious you are to lead an army, we must at least have a protocol. The distance is not short; how will the mid-journey supplies be handled?"
The one speaking was the sovereign of the Kingdom of the Highlands, Scott Polite.
The old man's voice was weathered, and he looked kind and gentle. Although he had a faint smile on his face, his aura as a ruler gave off the illusion of being crushed by a mountain.
This was an aura that could only be cultivated by holding a high position for a long time. Every detail of his movements proved this.
Clearly, this sovereign of the Highlands did not want to send troops. Despite his kindly appearance, this old man was incredibly crafty.
Drafting a protocol, discussing supplies, calculating expenses along the way—he was using these excuses to refuse deployment.
I suspected that even if I personally covered all the costs, this old man would still not allow the soldiers of the Highlands to come to the Kingdom of the Moon's aid.
As expected, has the long period of peace made them forget how terrifying the demon race truly is?
"Grandpa Scott, how can you think about so much at a time like this? When facing the demon race, how can we haggle over gains and losses?"
Lina turned back to look at the old man beside her. There was a sense of helplessness and a hint of a spoiled granddaughter's tone in her voice.
It seemed this old man's control over the Saintess was absolute. This man's mastery of imperial court intrigue was likely very high.
He would be difficult to deal with.
From a macro perspective, Lina's choice was undoubtedly correct. If the Kingdom of the Moon fell and the demon race invaded the heart of the Eight Nations of the Holy Church, the resulting impact would be cataclysmic.
However, not everyone is a saint, and not everyone is willing to sacrifice themselves for others.
"Sovereign of the Highlands, I feel... that what the Saintess of War says is exactly right. At this moment, we cannot haggle over the gains and losses of individual nations. We must go all out against the demon race. Otherwise, if a mistake occurs, our Eight Nations of the Holy Church will be in grave danger!"
The one who interrupted the sovereign of the Highlands was the Emperor of the Kingdom of the Sun, Ryuichi Yamazaki. At least in terms of the big picture, this emperor had some vision.
"Emperor Yamazaki, even if my country sends troops to help, it would take at least half a year to arrive. Even if we only send elites via magic airships, they might not form an effective combat force against the demon army. On the other hand... your country is the closest to the Kingdom of the Moon, and you share a border. Shouldn't you be the one sending aid right now?"
Scott, the old man, hit the nail on the head with a single sentence.
Even if elites were sent, the strength of the Highlands alone could not resist them.
It seemed he realized that sending reinforcements was unavoidable this time, so he wanted to drag everyone else down with him.
"The sovereign of the Highlands need not worry. I have already ordered the dispatch of two hundred apocalypse warships and thirty world-sweeping warships, carrying one hundred thousand naval troops along the coastline toward the Kingdom of the Moon. One hundred thousand infantry and thirty thousand knights are currently heading toward the border of the Kingdom of the Moon."
Saying this, Ryuichi Yamazaki turned his gaze toward me.
"Saintess of the Moon, please forgive us for deploying troops so hastily without prior notification."
"Thank you for your full support. With such military strength, the demon race will not be able to break through the borders of the Kingdom of the Moon for the time being."
"Since even Yamazaki has sent troops, I naturally cannot fall behind. Saintess of the Moon, I have already ordered thirty thousand knights and fifty thousand infantry to rush to the Kingdom of the Moon alongside your Heavenly Punishment Knight, Kevin Cromwell. I expect they will arrive in a month at the earliest, or two months at the latest."
"Since the Kingdom of the Sun and Snow Country have both sent troops, I will also dispatch ten thousand knights to the Kingdom of the Moon via magic airship." The ruler of the Kingdom of the Sea, Anastasia Toland—the only queen among the Eight Nations of the Holy Church—spoke up as well.
"The Kingdom of Flame will certainly not be left behind. I have already asked my uncles to gather ten thousand knights to prepare for transport to the Kingdom of the Moon by magic airship."
Dominic, the Emperor of the Kingdom of Flame with his high-pitched, childish voice, might have looked incredibly young, but his way of speaking was quite pretentious and carried a trace of a conqueror's aura.
"In that case, my country shall also dispatch ten thousand knights."
The sovereign of the Highlands, that crafty old man, saw that everyone else was sending troops and realized he could not stay out of it.
"My Kingdom of Sand can provide magic airships and an air force. I will have ten thousand Wyvern Knights rush to the Kingdom of the Moon overnight. They should arrive within two days at the fastest."
Just after everyone had finished speaking, the sovereign of the Kingdom of Sand, Hugh Golgustin, actually dropped a bombshell!
For a moment, everyone's eyes couldn't help but turn toward this seemingly unremarkable monarch.
The environment of the Kingdom of Sand was harsh, and such an environment was prone to harboring monsters.
Wyverns were one such type of magical beast that possessed dragon bloodlines!
And this... was a military branch that the other seven nations of the Holy Church envied immensely.
It was also the only air force the Eight Nations of the Holy Church had to date!
Besides wyverns, there were many other magical beasts that could fly, but they were very difficult to tame. Even if these beasts were defeated, their high intelligence gave them a great deal of pride.
Most magical beasts would refuse to be ridden once they reached adulthood.
But these wyverns were magical beasts whose lineage had been preserved since the founding of the Eight Nations of the Holy Church.
The Kingdom of Sand had bred these beasts for generations, investing massive amounts of manpower and resources to finally form such a formidable combat force.
The mobility of ten thousand flying knights was incomparable to horses on the ground!
In a battle between the same rank, one was in the sky while the other was on the ground; the impact of their strikes was completely different.
The simplest example was that dropping a random stone from the sky could carry the power of a sniper rifle.
Wyvern Knights were undoubtedly the Kingdom of Sand's ultimate trump card!
I found it hard to believe that the Kingdom of Sand was willing to deploy their secret weapon.
"Since every nation has already sent troops, then... I shall provide some resources?"
Seeing that the scene was about to fall silent, Pope Diocletian smiled and waved his hand.
"All consumption, supplies, and rewards for the armies of the Eight Nations of the Holy Church this time will be borne by the Holy See. Lady Luo Li..."
His gaze swept over the crowd and finally settled on me.
"Given that Lady Luo Li was the one to turn the tide during this demon invasion, it is clear her strategic brilliance is extraordinary and sufficient to handle heavy responsibilities. These armies will be temporarily placed under your command... do you think this arrangement is acceptable?"
"Thank you, Your Holiness."
The Pope had spoken, so naturally, no one dared to refuse, even though the sovereigns of the other six nations might have been a bit reluctant.
However... no one dared to argue with the Pope on such matters.
Everything went so smoothly that I was overjoyed.
But on the other hand, I also knew that if I didn't pay a sufficient price, the other six nations might not say anything on the surface, but they would certainly harbor resentment in their hearts.
That would be a bad thing for me and for the Kingdom of the Moon.
Therefore, I definitely needed to reveal the items I had later.
"Thus, this Eight-Nation Meeting is concluded. Lady Luo Li, I wonder if you have an answer to the matter I asked you last time?"
"...Your Holiness, I still have matters to attend to and won't take up any more of your time."
This guy was still pestering me about that?
He must be sick in the head.
I disconnected the communication but did not leave the communication room. Instead, I used my private name to connect with the Saintesses of the other six nations.
When the six Saintesses reconnected, their faces were filled with confusion.
They clearly didn't know why a Saintess meeting was being held right after the Eight-Nation Meeting had ended.
"I wonder if Lady Luo Li still has some urgent matter that wasn't mentioned?"
Lina, the Saintess of War, had a very blunt personality. She didn't beat around the bush and asked me directly.
I smiled.
"Lady Lina, please do not be in such a hurry. I ask all of you Saintesses to call back your respective sovereigns. I have a major matter I wish to discuss with everyone."
"What major matter? Why didn't you say it just now?"
Lina looked at me blankly, her eyes full of confusion.
This naive Saintess of War really didn't hold back when she spoke.
"Whatever this major matter is, I'm sure Lady Luo Li will tell us once the sovereigns and Saintesses of our six nations are gathered, right?"
Aisha, the Saintess of Sand—one of the people I had initially labeled as 'difficult to deal with'—didn't know what I was going to say, but she understood that I wouldn't say it yet.
The other Saintesses looked at each other and, without any hesitation, immediately sent people to stop the sovereigns who had just left.
Within a few minutes, the sovereigns of the six nations hurried back.
Among the six sovereigns, the most impatient was the little child, Dominic.
As soon as he opened his mouth, he said, "Saintess of the Moon, is there anything else you haven't said? My friends are still waiting for me!"
A smile appeared on my lips as I looked at Dominic, the Emperor of the Kingdom of Flame.
"Your Majesty Dominic, please watch patiently. The next scene might just make your jaw drop."
I made a gesture, signaling Lola behind me to pull back the white cloth covering the items.
With a rustle, the white cloth was torn away.
Sixty-three document tablets were laid out neatly on the table. They were as clear and transparent as white jade, radiating a sacred divine power. These were the original document tablets that could only be seen in legends, now revealed before everyone's eyes.
The entire hall instantly became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop!
The six Saintesses all wore expressions of absolute shock.
Among the six sovereigns, there might have been some who didn't recognize the goods, but these six Saintesses knew very well what these sixty-three document tablets represented.
"Lady Saintesses, Your Majesties, the other day... I had the honor of hearing the voice of God. Fortunately, I received God's favor and contracted sixty-three original document tablets across three professions and twenty-one ranks."
At this point, I looked at everyone with a confident, radiant smile.
"I wonder if you all are interested in engraved replicas?"
"This... this, are these really... original document tablets?"
Momoka, the Saintess of the Sun, covered her mouth with both hands. Her almond-shaped eyes were wide, filled with nothing but utter disbelief.
Anna, the Saintess of Flame, stood frozen in place, seemingly unable to react due to the sudden mental shock.
Ophelia, the Saintess of Water... was almost pressed against the screen, her face full of complex emotions—envy, jealousy, and an endless desire for possession.
Elizabeth, the Saintess of Ice, looked at the document tablets. Unlike the others who were dazed by the tablets, she suddenly looked up at me with a shocked expression.
Lina stared blankly at the sixty-three document tablets emitting a soft glow.
"Grandpa Scott... pinch me and see if I'm dreaming?"
"Pinch each other, pinch each other..."
Scott, the old man, was also full of excitement. There was even a hint of moisture in his aged eyes.
The grandfather and granddaughter pinched each other.
"I'm really not dreaming!"
The moment Lina said those words, Aisha, the Saintess of Sand, suddenly snapped back to reality. She painfully tore her gaze away from the document tablets and looked at me.
In that moment, the fire of jealousy in her eyes was almost enough to burn me through the screen!
"To think... to think it would actually be you?"
I smiled and ignored the Saintess of Sand, turning instead to look at the dazed Dominic.
"Well, Your Majesty Dominic? I wonder if this news is enough to shock you?"
Dominic nodded mechanically.
"Yeah... my friends and I are all shocked!"
"Everyone... these are original document tablets, so it is naturally impossible to part with them. However... I have quite a few of these engraved replicas. I wonder if Your Majesties and Lady Saintesses are interested?"
The moment those words left my mouth, I felt as if the gazes of these twelve people were about to dry me out!
The blazing fire in their eyes was enough to make one shudder.
Next, naturally, came a round of bargaining. Of course, it was nominally under the excuse of "we are all one family; what one person has, the whole family has."
But in reality, everyone present knew that I was selling these document tablets.
And... I was selling them behind the Pope's back.
They raised no objections.
Because they knew very well that if the Pope found out about these document tablets, things would get troublesome.
As the saying goes, rarity makes a thing valuable—especially when it comes to document tablets, which were things one could only hope for but never seek out.
The value of a perfect, complete system of document tablets was something I truly learned during this nation-to-nation transaction.
When the twelve 3D images finally faded... my head was still buzzing.
I never imagined... that these document tablets could sell for such an astronomical price!
"Lola... we've hit the jackpot."
I turned my head stiffly to look at Lola.
In gold coins alone, we settled on two hundred million!
And that was just the change compared to all the other resources!
What did two hundred million gold coins mean?
One gold coin was equivalent to ten thousand dollars. Two hundred million... was a full two trillion dollars!
I'm rich! ✪ω✪
Rate on N.U.
