Good grief, how happy... or how miserable must that female dragon be?
It was a good thing I didn't agree to Ligeia's suggestion of trading myself for a true dragon species, otherwise... a five-meter-long skysoar dragon has one that is half a meter long.
Then a five-hundred-meter true dragon...
Forget it, I shouldn't even think about it.
I turned my head to look at Ligeia.
"We should probably come back tomorrow. It feels wrong to disturb them now."
Ligeia didn't seem to care at all and simply waved her hand dismissively.
"There is no need for that, Your Highness. This is just how the dragon race is. They do nothing but eat and breed. They have probably been at it for over two hours already. By my estimate, they should be finishing up soon."
Good grief, two hours!
Just as we were speaking, the tent flap suddenly lifted, and a dragon's face peeked out. Its massive head emerged, and its eyes immediately locked onto me.
"Awooo~"
Ligeia, being quite sharp, quickly provided a translation.
"Your Highness, Mr. Momo is welcoming your arrival."
"I see. Please convey my greetings and ask Mr. Momo if he has time now. I have something I would like to discuss with him."
Ligeia immediately turned around and let out a series of sounds that seemed like dog barks, wolf howls, and other strange pronunciations.
In short, I couldn't understand a single word of it.
Momo's large head nodded repeatedly, and then he replied with another, "Awooo!"
He then retracted his head back into the tent.
"What did Mr. Momo say?"
I quickly turned to Ligeia, who smiled.
"Mr. Momo asked you to wait a moment. He will be out shortly."
As she spoke, the sound of splashing water could be heard from inside the tent, a loud, rhythmic sloshing. Shortly after, the silver-scaled skysoar dragon walked out.
His body was covered in water.
"Awooo~"
Momo seemed to say something to Ligeia, and she nodded in response.
"Mr. Momo says he is ready. He asks what Your Highness requires."
"Good. Then I will trouble you to translate for me from here on."
"No problem."
Ligeia agreed readily, and I didn't waste any time. Once I explained my intentions, Momo didn't hesitate in the slightest.
He nodded his massive head.
Since the conversation could only happen through Ligeia, the process of customization became somewhat tedious.
The final result of our discussion basically determined the appearance of the dragon armor.
Because they needed to carry weight, the armor itself couldn't be too thick or heavy, but it had to possess a certain level of magic resistance.
A saddle-like structure could be placed on the back for the knights to ride.
Leather straps would be used to hang items that could be thrown from the unoccupied parts of the dragon's body. Additionally, because the belly was too vulnerable, it required partial armor for protection.
The dragon's legs would carry supplies, while projectiles would be hung from the belly, doubling as extra protection.
Overall, the discussion went quite smoothly.
After finalizing the appearance and function, I asked a few pointless questions about how Momo and his tribe were resting here and whether they liked the place.
Then, the conversation ended.
In summary, this basically allowed me to define the different military branches.
Because of the dragon race's immense combat power and the division of labor between different roles, I planned to divide these two thousand dragons into four units.
The first unit would be the Dragon Knight Corps.
They would use seven-meter-long lances and carry javelins, making both long-range strikes and diving charges possible. They would have powerful melee capabilities while also possessing ranged attacks.
This unit would be the one to decide the flow of the battlefield.
The second unit would be the Dragon Mage Corps.
Consisting primarily of mages, this would be a mage legion capable of ultra-long-range attacks and high mobility, possessing the striking power of aerial superiority.
The strength of this unit lay in its precision strikes against targets, functioning similarly to air-to-air fighter jets.
The third unit would be the Dragon Archer Corps.
Consisting of archers and special forces, this unit would be used for long-range ambushes and close combat, primarily executing secret missions and reconnaissance.
The fourth unit would be the Praetorian Guard.
Led by me, this would be a hybrid unit consisting of members from the Dragon Knight Corps, Dragon Mage Corps, and Dragon Archer Corps.
All four units would be under my direct command, and no one else would be allowed to touch the authority within them.
Each unit would be assigned five hundred dragons, making exactly two thousand in total.
The allocation and equipment levels for each of the four units would be different, and the next step would naturally be to select the strongest individuals to join.
"Your Highness, if we look at it this way, forming this army will likely require us to recall the knights from the border as well."
A seven-meter-long lance weighed at least a ton. Only a Fidelity Knight or higher could even carry one.
To use it as naturally as an extension of one's arm, one would need to be at least at the Brave Knight rank.
In other words, I now needed at least seven hundred Brave Knights.
And the mages were an even bigger problem. At this stage, the Mage Association within Brilliant City was practically in ruins.
Victor, the head of the association, had participated in the rebellion and was killed on the spot by the Saintess.
Mohad, the vice president of the association, had threatened and defied the Saintess in the Temple and was subsequently exiled.
The entire Mage Association of Brilliant City had completely lost its high-level leadership.
Then there were the archers, which was a more severe issue. The Kingdom of the Moon rarely had units like archers, but after seeing the powerful archer from the Garnet family, I suddenly realized that master archers actually held a massive advantage.
First, their attack range exceeded that of mages, and they could hit targets with precision from extreme distances.
If mages were like planes carrying bombs, then archers were like planes equipped with sniper cannons.
This provided a unique advantage in shifting the tide of war!
With precision strikes alone, they could accurately target officer-level individuals within the enemy ranks. In the chaos of a battlefield, once the generals were lost, the situation would inevitably turn into a one-sided slaughter.
Furthermore, archers had a powerful infiltration ability that neither mages nor warriors possessed.
To me, they were an indispensable existence.
But the problem now was that I couldn't find suitable candidates at all!
There was no such thing as an Archer Association either.
I had extended an olive branch, but the issue was that no one was actually signing up.
It was a headache.
But no matter what, since I had decided on the structure of the army, there was no turning back.
By the time I finished discussing these matters and returned to the Temple, the moon was already high in the sky; it was the middle of the night.
My mind was free of distractions, focused entirely on how to develop the Kingdom of the Moon.
Sitting on the divine platform and kneeling at the desk, my pen rose and fell continuously.
From time to time, I wrote down details about the future in my notebook.
A map lay beside me, traced with red lines that represented the future railway routes to be opened across the territory of the Kingdom of the Moon.
Every single line had been decided after continuous discussions between me, Lola, Anton, Hilda, Cain, and Nar.
Although it might not be possible to build them perfectly according to the plan, the general layout would remain unchanged.
The first priority was to connect the ten most prosperous cities within the Kingdom of the Moon.
This would greatly enhance transportation capabilities.
The second priority was to strengthen the transport routes within and around Brilliant City. For this, we would use the special slime adhesive provided by Camilla.
We had already agreed on the cost; Camilla was giving it to me at cost price.
However, the overall total was still a significant amount of money.
Since I didn't yet have the capacity to fully expand the highways, I had to rely on the railway first to improve the nation's overall strength.
Later, I would slowly expand the highways to completely open up the roads between cities and rural areas.
For now, what could be done was to use Brilliant City as the center and spread the railway outward.
Then, using the ten major cities as hubs, we would expand the highways.
Executing this perfectly would be no small task.
I rubbed my aching forehead. Thinking too much had left my mind in a cluttered mess.
Building the army, building the city defenses, building the infrastructure—everything required my personal oversight.
"Your Highness, it is late. You should rest."
Without me noticing, the lights within Brilliant City had become sparse and scattered.
Only a few places still had magic lights glowing.
I looked up out the window to see a sky full of stars and a bright crescent moon hanging high above.
"What time is it?"
"Your Highness, it is already half-past two in the morning. You should rest."
Nara was beside me, her voice soft, quite different from her usual boisterous self.
I subconsciously looked up and saw that her eyes were filled with nothing but concern.
"Your Highness, you are overworking yourself. You haven't had a proper rest in days. If this continues, your body won't be able to take it."
I looked at the desk in front of me, covered in various plans for the future, every page a manuscript written by my own hand.
All of these were national policies.
"Your Highness, even if you won't do it for yourself, you must think of the Kingdom of the Moon. If the Saintess falls ill, the people will surely panic."
I raised an eyebrow slightly. Nara was right. As the Saintess, I was not only the spiritual pillar of the Kingdom of the Moon but also its material pillar.
If I collapsed, I could only imagine how much chaos would erupt in the Kingdom of the Moon.
"Mm... Alright. Let's call it a day."
I put down my pen and rubbed my aching wrists, only then realizing that my fingers had turned pale from gripping the pen for so long.
"Your Highness, this is chicken soup. It contains many nourishing ingredients."
"Where... did this come from?"
I looked curiously at the bowl she brought over. Although I ate in the evenings, it was usually just porridge or something similar.
I rarely drank soup.
"Knight Hilda sent it over during the day. It's made from demonized beasts and wild game she hunted outside. It is very nourishing."
"Hilda? I see. Put it down."
I nodded and stood up to stretch my stiff body. After a bit of movement, I drank the bowl of chicken soup.
The taste was actually quite good.
"Did Hilda come by today?"
"She did, but seeing that Your Highness was busy, she left these things and went back."
"I see... And the soldiers at the Cenotaph..."
"Your Highness need not worry. Knight Nar is overseeing that area. With Lord Nar's seriousness, there won't be any problems."
"Good."
I took a deep breath. Having too many things to worry about wasn't always a good thing.
After all, as a ruler... one must learn to delegate and trust.
As for Nara, having stayed by my side for so long, she had made significant progress.
At least when facing these matters, she had begun to handle them methodically.
"Your Highness, there is one more thing..."
"What is it?"
"You might not have noticed when you returned, but Lord Kevin's brother, the acting head of the Cromwell family, Elmer Cromwell, has been kneeling outside the Temple since before dark."
"And?"
He would suddenly come here to kneel?
Judging by his teeth-gritting expression that day, I knew he wouldn't do this of his own accord.
It was likely... Kevin's idea.
However, simply kneeling and begging for mercy could not make up for such a massive mistake.
"Also... some of the elders of the Cromwell family have been dismissed, and their family property has been seized and sent to the national treasury. It hasn't been touched yet."
"Who handled it?"
"Bishop Lola."
"I see. Regarding the Cromwell family's assets, take out the valuables and use them to compensate the citizens. We'll deal with the rest later."
"Then, what about Lord Elmer kneeling outside?"
"Ignore him. Just let him kneel."
I couldn't easily set this precedent, and I certainly couldn't be the one to speak for him.
Someone else had to plead on his behalf, but before that, he would have to kneel for a while longer.
I think Kevin understood that neither I nor he could step forward for this.
I also roughly understood his intent. He wanted to use this as a display of self-punishment to atone for their sins.
The most suitable person to plead for him now would be that old man, Audis.
However... I wasn't going to step in. I just didn't know if that old man Audis would understand.
Of course, there was one more condition.
"Keep an eye on him. Don't let him kneel to death. Give him some food and water when the time is right."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Nara nodded and said nothing more on the subject.
She held no actual power and had a very accurate sense of her own position as a personal maid.
Therefore, in matters like this, she could only report and execute, not make decisions.
I took a deep breath, feeling the chicken soup was mostly digested.
"Time to rest..."
"Yes."
...
Located on the northeast border of the Kingdom of the Moon.
At this moment, the four knights—Klo, Tristan, Robert, and Kariel—were gathered together. Despite it being late at night, they were still discussing their next course of action.
"Something happened in Brilliant City."
Klo sat in the seat of honor. Among the four, he was the strongest and naturally the one with the most say.
Tristan nodded.
"I don't know the specifics, but as far as I know, it was a coup led by the Garnet family."
Robert had a faint smile on his lips as he shrugged, speaking with total indifference.
"Heh~ I knew the Garnet family was up to no good, but I didn't think they'd actually dare to do something like this. I have to say, I'm impressed by that old man Barry."
Kariel's expression was grim as he glanced at the three of them.
"Enough. Let's not talk about the matters over there. The situation here is still very grave. Currently, the demon army is gathering outside the Great Wall, and reinforcements from the outside are still invading. We have no way to strike them at sea. If this continues, once the demon army accumulates enough strength, it will be very difficult to stop them."
Klo pondered for a moment.
"First, find a way to repair the magic towers and restore communication as quickly as possible. We need to inform Brilliant City of the situation here. I'm sure Her Highness will have a decision."
"Agreed."
"Seconded."
"I'm in."
The other three nodded in succession.
Kariel volunteered.
"In that case, I will lead the troops to repair the magic towers and restore communication as soon as possible."
Tristan looked at Kariel with some concern.
"Kariel, be careful. Some of the demons have already entered the territory through other channels. It's dangerous, and the magic defense of the border wall is limited."
"I understand."
Kariel nodded and turned to walk out of the hall.
But the moment he stepped out the door, a beam of light suddenly flared up in the distance.
"Not good! The demons have begun their attack!"
Rate on N.U.
