The reason Grannia left was that I ordered him to investigate the loss of contact in the south.
He had traveled to many places, so I had asked him about it out of curiosity.
The result was better than expected.
Grannia possessed a rare attribute outside of the usual earth, wind, water, fire, light, and dark; he was a Lightning Mage.
His greatest strength was his speed.
While his exact combat strength remained to be tested, he admitted that his speed was quite formidable.
Thus, I sent him to investigate the matter swiftly.
As for how he would conduct the investigation, that was his business.
As a ruler, one does not need to manage every minute detail. Entrusting matters to those best suited to handle them is what a monarch should do.
Should I supervise him?
There was no need.
I had chosen someone specifically to handle the supervision in my stead: Lola.
I would focus on the broad strategic decisions.
Beyond that, every extra word or interference on my part would only serve to stifle their growth.
As long as they did not come to me for help, I would not meddle.
I would let them exercise their own initiative. Only then could I see who was truly useful and who was not.
Those with talent would eventually climb their way to me and kneel at my feet.
Such were the benefits of my status!
Though... it was a bit of a shame I was no longer a man; I could not lie drunk in a beauty's lap.
But waking to grasp the power of the world—that was something I might still achieve.
I suddenly froze before the map, raising a hand to my forehead.
"What was I... just thinking?"
This whispered self-question left Nara looking quite confused, unsure whether she should respond.
I ignored her hesitation, my mind still stuck on the words that had just crossed my thoughts.
Waking to grasp the power of the world?
Was that truly something I would think of?
I looked up at the map of the eight nations. The Eight Nations of the Holy Church and the Southern Kingdoms were all laid out upon it.
Because of the inherent barriers between races, it was difficult to map the territories of other species accurately; they were mostly general outlines.
The detailed portions were the eight nations and the Southern Kingdoms.
Standing before this map, I had actually thought of the phrase 'waking to grasp the power of the world.'
One had to remember that the Kingdom of the Moon was not even out of danger yet; it could become food for the demons at any moment.
Yet, I was already thinking of world dominion.
This world did not belong to the Kingdom of the Moon alone.
Truly, where one sits determines how one thinks.
Does being in this position force one to think in such a way?
If I were still just an ordinary citizen, I would never have dreamed of world dominion. At most, I would have thought of marrying a beautiful wife and raising a couple of cute, chubby kids.
A wife, children, and a warm bed.
The dream of an ordinary person.
But now that I had become the Saintess, on one hand, I thought of self-preservation, while on the other, I had begun to crave even more.
"Nara..."
"Your Highness?"
"Do you think... human desires can ever truly be satisfied?"
Without turning around, I stared quietly at the map, waiting for a response from behind me.
Nara did not seem to have much personal experience with such matters. She lowered her head in deep thought for a long time before finally answering.
"I think... perhaps not?"
"Why do you think so?"
I looked at Nara curiously. A trace of hesitation flickered across her face, but she answered me directly.
"Since Your Highness wishes to know, I will speak plainly. I hope Your Highness will not take offense."
"I will not blame you. Speak."
Nara nodded, a hint of reminiscence appearing in her eyes as she began.
"Actually, I only realized this recently..."
"Oh? And what did you realize?"
I watched her with genuine interest, wondering what she would say.
Nara did not disappoint.
"In the past, I was just a minor nun. I did not have many thoughts in my head beyond doing my lessons well and living a stable life. I thought that when I reached the right age, I would find a knight—or even someone who was not a knight—and after marrying, I would focus on managing the household and raising children."
"Mhm, and then?"
"And then... one day I suddenly found myself becoming the personal nun of the Saintess."
A trace of bewilderment appeared in Nara's eyes.
"Then I suddenly realized that I... I had started to forget my old way of thinking."
She looked up at me.
"Your Highness, do you think... everyone changes?"
It seemed my words had stirred up her own inner conflicts.
"You mean..."
"Before, I only wanted to be a tiny nun and live out a common life. But now, I think about helping Your Highness stabilize the Kingdom of the Moon so that Your Highness no longer has to worry about the internal affairs of the palace. I even..."
"Even what?"
"I even ordered someone to be beaten."
Surprise flashed in Nara's eyes; she clearly hadn't expected herself to be capable of such a thing.
"Who did you have beaten?"
"A nun. Despite not being married, she snuck out for a private tryst. She was caught red-handed. I stripped her of her status as a nun, had her beaten, and threw her out."
I nodded.
This era was relatively open for women; they could walk the streets freely.
However, the problem was that nuns were different from ordinary girls.
Nuns received high pay and excellent treatment. While romantic affairs were not strictly forbidden, there were certain requirements.
One of those requirements was that they were not permitted to lose their virginity before marriage.
It seemed the nun who was caught had done exactly that. That was likely why she was beaten and expelled from the Temple.
It was hard to imagine that only a month ago, the Nara before me was just one of those minor nuns.
Now, she had developed a touch of ruthlessness. At the very least, she could manage people now.
"You did nothing wrong."
I patted her shoulder. A common girl like her would inevitably feel lost after encountering such a situation.
But capable people are not born; they are forged by necessity.
Only by pushing someone into a position can you see if they are truly fit for it.
Fact proved that she was not wrong. If she had not discovered and corrected the behavior in time, the rules of the Temple would have been silently eroded, and the Temple's authority would have plummeted in an instant.
When no one follows the rules of the Temple anymore, the order of the Temple is completely broken.
Therefore... I was not wrong either.
As the Saintess, governing my subjects was my duty. As the Queen, waking to grasp the power of the world was my necessity!
However, those were matters for the future.
For now, I still had to solve the immediate problems.
The key was how to break the current stalemate.
Once the demons possessed the ability for long-distance seafaring, they would no longer need to bash their heads against the hard nut that was the Great Wall.
They could simply follow the coastline and attack wherever the defenses were weak.
Conversely, such a long coastline was impossible to defend perfectly; there would inevitably be oversights.
Blindly defending would only lead to more disastrous consequences.
So... what should I do now?
A smile slowly curved upon my lips.
Now, I only needed to wait for one piece of news.
Once it was confirmed that the main force of the demons had truly gone to attack the Kingdom of the Sun, I could make my move.
Sending reinforcements now was impractical; on one hand, the distance was too great, and on the other, a hurried march would only decrease the army's combat effectiveness.
Was there not a saying?
The best defense is a good offense.
Besieging Wei to rescue Zhao—perhaps that was the best solution to the current problem!
"Nara, tell Lola to find any trace of the demons immediately, no matter what. I want to know the current state of the Kingdom of the Sun. Give me news within three days!"
"Has Your Highness found a solution to the problem?"
"Heh~ I wouldn't call it a complete solution, but at the very least, I can turn the tide."
Allowing the demons to remain hidden like this was a major problem. I had to pin them down in one location.
Since the demons could move their main force down to Seaview City or even the Kingdom of the Sun...
Then why... couldn't I take the dragon legion and cause some chaos in the demon territory?
However, I would need some help for that.
"Nara, let's go. To the communication room."
"Eh? Your Highness, why go to the communication room at this hour?"
Nara, who was busy instructing a minor nun to deliver the message, was stunned for a moment before hurrying to follow.
"To discuss things with the Emperor of the Beastmen Empire, and the Dragon King..."
I gave a brief explanation as we made our way to the communication room.
Upon arrival, I immediately initiated a call with the Beastmen Empire.
The other party did not refuse. When the signal connected, a 3D image appeared before me—a creature with the head of a fox but a body structure similar to a human's.
"Are you the envoy from the Kingdom of the Moon?"
The person spoke fluent Common, clearly having much experience in communicating with humans.
The fox-kin did not recognize me, which was normal; not everyone had seen the Saintess.
"I am the Saintess of the Moon, Luo Li Saint Sariel. I wish to meet with His Majesty the Emperor of the Beastmen Empire."
"The Saintess of the Moon!?"
The fox-kin was startled, his fox-like eyes widening as he sized me up.
"Forgive my rudeness. Please wait a moment, I shall inform His Majesty immediately."
I nodded and said nothing. Looking at the lighting on his end, it seemed to be daytime.
As expected, the continent of this world was far too massive; there was a significant time difference between our locations.
The sky was already growing dark on my side.
But over there, it was still dusk.
Soon, the faint sound of clashing armor echoed from the communication room.
Then, the camera flashed.
A massive lion's head appeared. It was hard to imagine that this face possessed human-like features, yet it was covered in fur, and its thick mane almost completely obscured its chest.
It looked me up and down, its large eyes drawing close as it asked:
"You are the Saintess of the Moon? That human girl who repelled eighty thousand demon elites with less than five thousand knights?"
"May I ask who you are?"
"Oh~ I am the one you are looking for."
The voice of the giant lion in the transmission was slightly raspy and so deep that I wondered if it had a subwoofer installed in its throat.
"So it is His Majesty the Emperor of the Beastmen Empire. I am the Saintess of the Moon, Luo Li Saint Sariel. It is a pleasure to meet you."
"Heh~ keep those human formalities to yourself."
The massive lion waved a hand, looking me over.
"Hmm, I wouldn't have guessed it. A frail little human girl actually dares to step onto the battlefield herself. I admire that. Say what you have to say; I don't have much time."
This fellow was quite direct, wasn't he?
"Since Your Majesty the Emperor of the Beastmen Empire has said so, I shall not beat around the bush..."
"Wait!"
Before I could finish, he raised a hand covered in brown fur to stop me.
"What 'Your Majesty the Emperor of the Beastmen Empire'? Call me Emperor!"
"I am sorry, Your Majesty, but as the Saintess of the human race, I cannot use such a form of address in our conversation. I hope you will understand."
"Then there is nothing more to say!"
Clearly, my words had displeased him, but I could not back down on this step. If I did, my reputation as the Saintess would be ruined.
"It seems Your Majesty the Emperor of the Beastmen Empire intends to join forces with the demons?"
"Hmm!?"
The giant lion, who was about to turn and leave, suddenly paused. His voice carried a natural, imposing authority as he slowly turned his head back to look at me.
"Little girl, watch your tongue. Do not ruin yourself just for the sake of a moment's competitive pride!"
His gaze was full of threat, but I did not fear him in the slightest. After all, this concerned the demons.
"Your Majesty, if you do not intend to listen to these words, then I can only conclude that you do not intend to treat the demons as enemies."
"Impudent—ROAR!!!"
The massive lion's head suddenly let out an earth-shattering roar.
The camera shook. The deafening sound, even through the communication room on my end, perfectly showcased his thunderous voice.
I raised my hands to cover my ears, only lowering them after the roar, which lasted nearly a minute, finally ended.
"There is no need for such displays, Your Majesty. My meeting with you today is not for personal matters, but for the sake of the demons."
"...The demons? What about them? Have you humans finally failed to hold them back? Ha! If that is the case, speak up sooner. Do not wait until the demons have invaded the continent to start farting about it!"
"I regret to inform you that the demons have indeed found a way to bypass the Great Wall and attack the continent via the coastline. That is why I have sought you out—to stop the demon invasion."
"What! Bypassing the Great Wall? Are you certain?"
A look of shock appeared on the massive lion's face.
Clearly, this news surprised him greatly.
"Yes. The demons spent centuries infiltrating certain noble families. Using them, they gained control over ships capable of long-distance seafaring. Therefore, I suspect the demons now have the capability to cross the oceans."
"...Why was this not mentioned sooner!!"
The Emperor was exceptionally furious, his eyes filled with murderous intent. I had no doubt that if I were standing before him right now, he would tear me apart and swallow me whole in that bloody maw.
"I apologize. I only just learned of this myself, and... it is still just a suspicion. That is why I have come to you. To prevent the demons from growing too powerful too quickly, I need to borrow your strength."
The massive lion fell silent. He lowered his head in thought for a moment before suddenly looking at me.
"If you have a plan, speak it plainly."
Good. It seemed this Emperor was not someone impossible to communicate with.
"Oh, right! Stop calling me 'Your Majesty the Emperor of the Beastmen Empire' over and over. It is too troublesome. Just call me Ricardo."
Ricardo?
He isn't going to tell me his surname either?
Forget it, there was no use dwelling on that now.
"Very well, Your Majesty Ricardo. I now formally request that you prepare your troops for deployment immediately, because I intend to do something small but world-shaking."
As I spoke, I couldn't help but smile.
And the massive lion's head also revealed a smile.
"Heh! Excellent. I like your smile. Let's get married."
"...?"
Rate on N.U.
