Seaview City in Danger

"Your Highness..."

"Don't say a word!"

I didn't want to hear from anyone right now!

I wasn't listening!

It was all just white noise to me!

Feeling that... thick, extra layer of material, even an idiot would understand what it was. It was likely something designed specifically for the Saintess.

An isekai sanitary pad?

"Your Highness, though I know you don't want to hear it, you must be careful. For the next few days, you cannot eat anything too cold. You must avoid cold water and drink only warm water. As for beverages..."

My lip twitched as I looked at the rambling Nara. A sense of utter despair washed over me.

I just wanted to crawl into a hole and die...

"Also, while the magic-infused pads can actively absorb liquid, they have a limited capacity. This is your first Saintess's Day, so you must be cautious. Do not let it happen again..."

Nara wanted to say more, but seeing the 'If you say another word, I'm going to end it all!' expression on her Lady's face, she swallowed her words.

She figured that since she was always by her Lady's side, she could simply remind her if she noticed anything.

She decided to let her Lady have some... peace and quiet.

"As for those knights today..."

"Please rest assured, Your Highness. Those knights will absolutely... never utter a single word that could harm your reputation."

Hilda's voice came from outside the door. She didn't enter, simply to save her Lady from further embarrassment.

As an adult woman, she understood her Lady's situation perfectly.

"Mmh... Hilda, if any of them dare speak of this, then... castrate them!"

I gritted my teeth and issued the order with fierce determination.

Castration didn't officially exist as a punishment in the Kingdom of the Moon.

At least, not publicly.

However, the nobles still practiced it privately. After all, no man would feel comfortable with other men wandering around his dozens of wives.

"As you command!"

Hilda accepted the order without hesitation. In her heart, her Lady was the most important person in the world. Anyone who tarnished her Lady's reputation deserved death.

Castration was actually a mercy for them.

But since her Lady had decided, she wouldn't say more.

Silence lingered in the room for a long time.

Luo Li took a deep breath, forcing her fluctuating emotions to settle.

"Lola, summon the other three knights immediately. Also, call for Camilla, Ligeia, Weber, Rodney, and Sake."

The situation had clearly reached a critical point. She couldn't afford to waste any more mental energy on such trivial matters.

She had too few people at her disposal—so few that she felt her hands were tied.

Wait... manpower?

"And Sir Audis. Bring him as well."

Though the man was old, his mind was still sharp, and he acted with speed and decisiveness. She didn't know if she could fully trust him yet, but she had no other choice.

She had to play every card in her hand!

"Understood, Your Highness," Lola replied with a slight nod, pushing up her gold-rimmed glasses.

She turned toward the door and issued orders to Hilda.

"Hilda, seal all information immediately. Issue a strict order to all knights: any leak will result in the immediate stripping of their knightly titles."

"By your command!" Hilda placed a hand over her chest and responded with a grim expression.

Lola then turned to Nara.

"Nara, you are in charge of the Temple's interior. Not a single person is allowed to speak a word of this. Do you understand?"

"Yes!"

"Go now. There is no time to lose."

...

Dark, heavy clouds rolled in from the southeast, and a hint of moisture hung in the air.

The scent of damp earth wafted through Brilliant City.

Six-winged red-spotted butterflies flapped their wings, snatching up any small insects brave enough to fly low.

Many people noticed that the atmosphere in Brilliant City had suddenly become tense.

Soldiers stood on high alert, and the knights wore solemn expressions.

A gloomy mood gradually spread.

On the distant horizon, a bolt of lightning shattered the silence!

Inside the Temple, beneath the massive statue on the divine platform, the solemn Saintess gazed down at the people gathered by her command.

At this moment, everyone she could trust was in this hall.

"I have called you all here because something has happened at the border."

After a long silence, she took the lead to break the tension, speaking with the authority of a ruler.

No one spoke; they all listened intently.

"Everyone here is a confidant of mine, but I will be blunt: nothing heard within these walls today is to be shared with anyone else. No exceptions!"

She scanned the room.

Normally, no one but the Saintess was allowed to sit in the Temple, but she had granted them seats.

This... was a sign of her trust.

"Lola, brief everyone on the current situation."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Lola stood up, adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses, and glanced at the group.

"The latest battle report from the front lines arrived in Brilliant City at noon today. There were some... minor incidents along the way, but we shall move past that."

"Last night around nine o'clock, the demon army launched a massive assault. They used a diversionary tactic to split our defending knights."

As she spoke, Nara pushed forward a vertical sandbox.

This sandbox had been created by Ligeia. Although it only depicted the Kingdom of the Moon, it was incredibly useful.

"The demon army split into four routes, attacking the first, second, third, and fourth outposts at the foot of the Mountain of Victory simultaneously. Their total numbers exceed three hundred thousand."

"Sir Kariel went to provide support, while Sir Robert headed for the second, third, and fourth outposts."

"Meanwhile, a demonized One-horned Great Bull appeared at the first outpost. To protect the city gates, Sir Tristan led two hundred and twenty knights down from the wall. However, they were intercepted by the Demon Commander, Demon Blade Schiram."

"To cover the retreat..."

Lola analyzed the battle report line by line for everyone, using small markers on the sand table to illustrate her points.

When she finished, the room fell silent.

Suddenly, an aged voice spoke up.

"Why did the demon army retreat instead of continuing their assault, especially when they held such an absolute advantage in numbers?"

An army of three hundred thousand attacking at once should have been unstoppable, even with the natural defense of the Great Wall.

If the demons hadn't retreated last night, the news reaching them now should have been about a fallback to the second Great Wall, not about Tristan being poisoned and unconscious.

"According to Sir Tristan's words before he lost consciousness, the purpose of this feint was to lure out the Guardian Knights and eliminate powerful individuals."

Audis Von's brow furrowed. He didn't speak, instead falling into a silent contemplation as he stroked his beard.

Seeing this, Nar, who was sitting nearby, suddenly stood up.

"Your Highness, the situation at the front is urgent! We must send reinforcements immediately! I volunteer to go!"

"Sir Nar, do not be so hasty,"

Audis Von advised from the side.

I looked at Nar and sighed inwardly.

Though the young man was powerful, his thinking was far too straightforward.

Lola glanced at the group, then back at me.

"Her Highness has already shared part of her analysis with us, and I shall relay it now."

"Her Highness's point is simple: given the sheer scale of the demon army, there is no need for them to engage in such time-consuming and fruitless maneuvers."

"They heavily wounded a Guardian Knight and possessed overwhelming military strength. Instead of pressing the attack and breaking through the first line of the Great Wall, they retreated to the sea. There must be some deception at play."

Lola looked at me and nodded.

"Your Highness, I have finished."

"Good. You may sit."

I turned my gaze toward the others.

"That is the gist of it. My analysis aligns with Lola's. I have summoned you all to discuss this matter. If anyone has any thoughts, please speak freely."

Ligeia smiled but remained silent.

Audis Von continued to stroke his beard in thought.

Hilda and Yuna's brows were tightly knit.

Cain's expression remained calm.

Nar looked bewildered.

Weber and Rodney were fully focused. Although they were both newcomers, they were seizing every opportunity to learn. For now, they clearly didn't have the standing to speak.

But the fact that the Saintess had invited them proved how much Luo Li valued them.

"Your Highness, I am not one to boast, but as a historian, I am quite familiar with historical events."

In the midst of the collective silence, one voice drew everyone's attention.

Camilla sat with her legs crossed, her long skirt draped over them, revealing a glimpse of her dazzling legs.

She sat with her arms crossed under her chest, making her assets, which already far exceeded those of a typical elf, look even more impressive.

Seeing everyone look her way, Camilla didn't falter in the slightest.

Every person in the room was a top-tier individual in their own right.

She was long accustomed to being the center of attention.

After a moment, Camilla spoke.

"In history, the demons have never engaged in such complex and seemingly useless maneuvers. From a thousand years ago until today, demon attacks have almost always been straightforward charges. They have never utilized large-scale strategies."

"It is precisely because of this that despite their overwhelming numbers, the demon army has always been defeated."

Finally, she summarized her point.

"Therefore, I believe this demon army is fundamentally different from those of the past. It seems... they have a new strategist!"

"Even if this strategist's intelligence is somewhat questionable, this entity must have their own plans, which is why the demon army is acting in such a bizarre manner."

Questionable intelligence? What did that mean?

I looked at Camilla with confusion.

"Camilla, what makes you think the demons' strategist has questionable intelligence?"

Camilla gave a faint smile.

"Your Highness, if this strategist wanted to do something in the shadows, the best method wouldn't be this redundant feint. It would be a mindless frontal assault as usual, while simultaneously making small moves in secret—like a flanking maneuver, or... wait!"

Suddenly, Camilla froze. It was as if a realization had struck her, and she snapped her head up to look at me.

"Your Highness, it's very likely that Butcher Zuka was sent by this strategist!"

The northeastern part of the Kingdom of the Moon had a very peculiar shape. It was blocked by the Holy Mountain of Brilliance to the north, and separated by a great river and another coastal mountain range to the south.

The entire region was shaped like a cone, with the Four-Ring Mountains at the tip, expanding as it moved northeast.

Only the Four-Ring Mountains provided a link between the northeast region and the central lands.

All other directions were effectively sealed off.

It was almost the perfect natural fortress!

And this fortress essentially cut off the entire coastline from the northeast to the eastern region.

It forced the demons into a direct frontal assault.

Camilla stood up and walked to the sandbox, studying it intently for a moment.

"The sudden appearance of the Demon Marshal, Butcher Zuka, is clearly suspicious. It is no simple task for a demon army to bypass the Great Wall silently."

I looked at the sandbox. Indeed, it wasn't easy. Since the northeast and eastern regions were sandwiched between two mountain ranges, any breakthrough of the Great Wall would have to come from another entrance.

Yet, to this day, no other entrance had been discovered.

Even with spies on the inside, it would be incredibly difficult for hundreds of thousands of demons to break through.

This brought up a question that had been puzzling me.

How did Butcher Zuka lead nearly two hundred thousand demon troops across the Great Wall and into the northeast region without anyone noticing?

The demon army hadn't launched a major offensive in over two hundred years. While small groups of demons occasionally appeared at the border, they were insignificant forces.

Though a few demons occasionally slipped into the interior, they were nothing compared to an army of two hundred thousand.

"We will discuss that matter later. The problem now is that three hundred thousand demon troops are at our gates, Sir Klo is urgently requesting reinforcements, and you all know the situation here in Brilliant City."

After the counterattack against the demons and the subsequent rebellion, Brilliant City, which once had five thousand knights, now had fewer than three thousand.

As for the infantry, many had participated in the rebellion. Between those and the ones lost in battle, there were fewer than fifteen thousand remaining.

No matter how you looked at it, these numbers were stretched thin.

The only troops available for deployment seemed to be the thirty thousand knights and one hundred thousand infantry from the Kingdom of the Sun.

Wait.

The Garnet family appeared to have some connection to the demons.

And right now... I was preparing to wipe out the Garnet family.

That was why I was sending the thirty thousand knights and one hundred thousand infantry from the Kingdom of the Sun to suppress them.

And as luck would have it, the demon army chose this exact moment to attack!

A thought flashed through my mind like a bolt of lightning!

"Lola!"

"Your Highness."

"In Sir Klo's report, besides Demon Blade Schiram, were there any other Demon Commanders or Demon Marshals?"

"No. Sir Klo's report detailed the specifics of the defensive battle, but there was no mention of any other Demon Commanders or Marshals."

A feint!

The demons were using a diversionary tactic—besieging Wei to rescue Zhao!

They wanted me to send the Kingdom of the Sun's army to the front lines to save the Garnet family!

But was a mere Garnet family worth it?

No, there had to be another reason.

Then where were the other demon generals?

Of the Twelve Demon Generals, only Butcher Zuka had shown his face so far.

Where were the other eleven?

Where had they gone?

With three hundred thousand demon troops at the border, how could there not be a single Demon Marshal overseeing the operation?

"That's not right!!"

A terrifying thought suddenly flashed through my mind.

At that same moment... Audis Von's eyes widened, and he suddenly stood up, staring at me.

"Your Highness... Seaview City is doomed!!"