Luo Li gently toyed with her slender fingers.
If she spoke directly with Camilla, it should be fine.
The Alchemists' Association, the Adventurers' Association, and the Mage Association.
These were the three major unofficial organizations within the human kingdoms.
Even the average noble wouldn't dare provoke such entities.
Camilla was the head of the Alchemists' Association branch in Brilliant City.
With her own abilities and influence, those nobles would be tripping over themselves to curry favor with her.
However, these three associations tended to avoid politics.
In most cases, they remained detached, watching from the sidelines while others fought.
Under these circumstances, contacting her was the safest bet.
Furthermore, Camilla had pledged her loyalty to her, which served as a binding oath.
Luo Li looked out the window and sighed, her mood dipping slightly.
When she had returned, she hadn't headed straight for Brilliant City because she felt a lingering sense of trepidation.
What was she afraid of?
It was simple; she was wary of people questioning how she had managed to return.
Going straight back to Brilliant City was possible, but the problem was how to explain it once she was there.
The nobles had no right to interrogate her, but what about the Pope? The other Saintesses? The believers throughout the world?
A Saintess barely over level ten.
Drifting on the demon island for half a month without being captured by the demon army, and even managing to steal a griffin to fly back.
Who would believe that?
The Kingdom of the Moon was currently beset by internal strife and external threats.
Previously, the external threat was the demon army, but now that they had been dealt with for the time being.
That threat had shifted to the other seven nations of the Holy Church.
Aside from the Kingdom of the Moon, the other seven nations had not expanded their territories for nearly a thousand years.
In truth, every king desired to expand their lands.
It was a natural ambition that came with sitting on a throne.
And this was why Luo Li had to be extremely cautious.
Thus, she only had two choices.
The first was to return directly to Brilliant City and face the skepticism of the Pope, the other Saintesses, and the believers.
That would be a massive blow to her influence and reputation.
The second was to take a detour and find a suitable excuse that would force everyone to believe her.
And going to Moonrise City was for that very reason.
First, returning to Brilliant City from the east.
The geographical location of Brilliant City was south of the Holy Mountains.
This mountain range split in two at the Four-Ring Mountains; one part cut off the northeast from the beastmen territory.
The other part extended all the way to the coast of the Eastern Sea.
These two sections completely isolated the northeast region.
As a result, the area east of Brilliant City was a series of continuous mountain ranges.
This range stretched from the Four-Ring Mountains almost all the way to Moonrise City.
The mountains were filled with danger, the paths were long and steep, and where they met the ocean, they were mostly sheer cliffs.
If she appeared there, she couldn't reasonably explain how she had made it back.
Second, returning to Brilliant City from the northeast.
Unfortunately, this possibility was also nearly impossible.
The Demon Island Strait was a miraculous place where the tide receded only once every ten years.
The seabed leading to the demon island would be exposed for exactly one month.
Along the eastern coast of the continent, the ocean currents from the north and south both surged toward the strait.
After the underwater currents struck the seabed, they welled up to the surface and flowed back in the direction they came from.
This meant that during the time the strait was submerged, it was impossible for ships to sail normally near the coast.
When the north and south currents collided on the seabed and surged up toward the shallows, they met at the strait.
The intersection of these two massive currents erupted there.
The undercurrents could grind a ship dozens of meters long into powder in an instant.
Therefore, sailing in this region was practically impossible, which ruled out the idea of returning directly to the Great Wall from there.
Third, going to the Beastmen Empire.
It was too far.
And fourth, coming to Moonrise City.
To the south of Moonrise City was the small town of Luocheng, and on the outskirts of Luocheng lay the East Forest.
A vast forest without many rolling hills.
Furthermore, the coast of this forest featured the largest beach in the Kingdom of the Moon.
Using the excuse of being washed ashore and then getting lost in the forest.
That was the only logical explanation Luo Li could think of.
Her talk of an 'incognito visit' was a concept she had embraced out of hope.
However, the reality was that she had no choice but to land here.
Otherwise, she would have no way to explain how she had come ashore from the vast ocean.
Nor could she explain where she had been for the past dozen or so days.
Only by emerging from this forest.
Could she reasonably say, "I got lost in the forest."
Since many animals roamed the East Forest every day, any tracks she left would essentially be covered up.
Even if someone wanted to investigate later, it would be extremely difficult, and even if they were suspicious, they would have no evidence.
As for whether this excuse could be used for the mountains east of Brilliant City?
Of course it could.
The prerequisite was explaining how she had crossed a massive mountain range to return to Brilliant City in just fifteen days.
There was simply no way to explain it.
The above was the real reason why she had specifically taken this long way around.
After thinking so much, the final conclusion remained the same.
She had to take this detour before heading back.
She had previously thought about making contact with the local Stuart family first.
But now, it seemed something had happened.
The Borgia family targeting her couldn't just be the act of a single family.
They didn't have the courage.
To face a tiger, one needed at least a pack of wolves.
How could a lone wolf dare to fight a tiger?
So, her goal had changed.
She needed to contact Brilliant City first and then have them send troops to protect her.
As long as she was safe, the Kingdom of the Moon would face no danger.
And the most critical part of that was how to get in touch with Brilliant City.
Lola wouldn't work, Augus wouldn't work, and Audis wouldn't work.
She had no way to contact Ligeia.
No way to contact the Dragon King.
No way to contact the Pope.
And certainly no way to contact the Beast Sovereign.
The only one she could reach now was the Alchemists' Association, which could connect to everyone.
What she had to do now was get in touch with Camilla and have her immediately notify Ligeia.
She would have the dragon cavalry regiment, which could ignore the terrain, come and pick her up.
From the current situation, it was clear that the typhoon had caused problems with the roads.
If it were a modern railway, it could just be repaired.
But now, there wasn't even a hint of a railway; the roads leading to the major cities were still all dirt roads.
Under the devastation of the typhoon, it was almost impossible for an army to move on these dirt roads.
Especially a formal army like the knights; a single horse plus the knight and armor weighed over a ton.
Every step they took would sink into the mud.
They couldn't march.
This made Luo Li determined to build railways as soon as she got back.
This was a project that would benefit generations to come, though the starting conditions were very demanding.
It seemed she would have to sell a few more document tablets.
These things were normally priceless and rare, something to be sold only when the price was right.
And because of that, they couldn't be sold on a large scale.
In the end, the original document tablets could only be sold as emergency items for special circumstances.
If the quantity became too high, it might end up affecting her as well.
Is it evening yet?
She pulled out her pocket watch to check the time.
It was only a little after eight in the morning; she had to wait until five or six in the evening, at least ten hours away.
Sigh, this is so boring.
She lay on the bed, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling.
Her thoughts, however, couldn't help but drift away, back to Brilliant City.
She wondered how things were going there.
It had been over half a month since she went missing.
And the total time for this military expedition had exceeded a month.
Today was September 25th.
The first day she had arrived in this world was June 15th.
By a full count, she had been in this world for over three months.
To be precise, three months and ten days.
No one would have guessed that her life in these short three months and ten days would be so colorful, right?
And she herself had hardly had a single day of peace.
Given the current state of the Kingdom of the Moon, at least she hadn't wasted those three months and ten days of running around.
The external threat of the demon army wouldn't attack again for a short time, at least not for ten years.
With the strait blockaded and their fleet crushed, given the current strength of the demon army, they wouldn't be able to amass a large number of ships again so soon.
Just for this point alone, these three months of hard work hadn't been in vain.
However, the next time the demon army attacked, it would inevitably be powerful.
The Kingdom of the Sun had a population of nearly two hundred million, and over a hundred million were wiped out in just a few days.
A small portion of them had likely been transported back to the demon island to serve as breeding beds.
And most of the rest had probably become food, ending up in the stomachs of those demons.
Even if only one million women of childbearing age were transported to the demon island.
The number of demons produced from that base would be terrifying.
Ten years, one million women of childbearing age, plus those hundreds of thousands of demons.
The next time they attacked, the enemy's numbers would likely be in the millions at the very least.
And that was a conservative estimate.
There was no longer any chance to check exactly how many women had been sent back to the demon island.
Now, it could only be left to fate. If the number of demons in the next attack truly reached several millions.
With the current national strength of the Kingdom of the Moon, they could only wait for death.
Within the human race were the Eight Nations of the Holy Church, and within the continent were several other races.
Even the demon army outside the continent was a constant threat to national security.
Moreover, in the game, this attack by the demon army had swept through half of the human kingdoms in just six months.
More than half of the human nations had fallen under the control of the demon army.
That was what she had seen in posts people made before.
She had actually managed to turn the tide of this world-ending disaster.
It was her!
She was the one who saved the living beings of this continent!
It didn't matter if no one knew or if someone did.
She was the one who had done it!
Countless people were saved because of it, and countless people were spared from disaster.
Her deeds might not be passed down through the ages, but in her heart, she knew she had done it!
That was enough.
The boredom she felt earlier vanished in an instant.
Call it narcissism or call it greatness!
She had done it!
She had not only saved her own life but had saved hundreds of millions of lives!
The battle of Brilliant City, the battle of the Four-Ring Mountains, the coup in Brilliant City, the battle in the Kingdom of the Sun, and the battle on the demon island.
Looking at the results, she had won them all!
That leader said it best.
Fighting with people is an endless joy.
Fighting with the land is an endless joy.
Fighting with the heavens is an endless joy as well!
Haha! Old Man Heaven, you didn't expect that, did you!
A complete reversal in a desperate situation; this young lady has played the part of a peerless hero!
Hehehe!
Well!
While pride is a good thing, it shouldn't be excessive, or it turns into arrogance.
She spent the morning feeling happy, had lunch at noon, and soon it was afternoon.
She took a nap, and after waking up and waiting for a while.
Izzy finally arrived, albeit late.
Looking at Izzy as he hurried in from outside, drenched in sweat.
The girl's brow furrowed slightly.
"What happened to you? You're covered in sweat. Did something go wrong?"
"It's fine. I just wanted to make sure we could use the communication room during that time, so I had to find a few more helpers. I was in a bit of a rush."
So that was it?
It seemed this Izzy was quite diligent in his work.
Yes, though he was a bit of a goof, he was a trustworthy person.
After all, your position determines your perspective.
If it were before, she would have at most thought the Izzy before her was someone who could get things done, someone passable for use.
But now, what she was considering was whether or not to recruit this person.
Right now, in her hands.
She had Lola for internal affairs and Augus for external conflicts.
She had Audis for the nobility.
Ligeia for agriculture.
And Anton for industry.
To summarize, it seemed she was still missing someone who could have direct contact with the lower classes, someone who could navigate between the upper and lower strata.
The person before her was a perfect fit.
He was cheerful and talkative.
Tasks like pacifying the commoners would surely be handled better by him than anyone else.
It wasn't that Lola, Augus, or the others couldn't do it.
It was just that they couldn't do it as perfectly as he could.
As a leader, she didn't need to know how to do everything, but she needed to understand everything.
And the most critical point of being a monarch was knowing how to use people, having people to use, and using the right people.
The Izzy before her was very suitable for this position.
Whether he had the ability to temporarily govern a city was still unknown.
But at the very least, when facing the common people, this person's charisma was definitely much better than anyone else's.
He had a natural charisma that was born into him.
At the very least, people wouldn't find him annoying.
"Izzy, with your abilities, haven't any of those nobles tried to recruit you?"
"Recruit me? Heh, when would those noble lords ever notice a small fry like me?"
Izzy smiled, a look of disdain appearing in his eyes.
"I see. Then, what do you think of the country as it is now?"
Izzy looked at the girl in surprise and curled his lip.
"Garbage."
?
'You're saying this right in front of the Saintess; do you want me to chop you, you think?'
"Why do you think that?"
Luo Li looked up at Izzy.
A look of disgust was plain on his face.
"Why? Do you even need to ask?"
Well, it seemed there was no need to ask.
Although she didn't know why, Izzy, as a fallen noble, held a very strong hatred for the nobility.
This aligned perfectly with her upcoming governing strategy.
Yes, she was growing more and more fond of this fellow.
She had to get her hands on him; letting such talent drift among the commoners was a failure on the part of the Saintess.
However, she should pay some price to make him willingly kneel before her.
After all, forced fruit isn't sweet.
But it seemed an arrangement for that was already in place.
His sister, April, was still partially paralyzed.
This kind of injury couldn't be healed by an ordinary priest, but she could do it.
Before the girl could speak, Izzy beat her to the question.
"Why are you asking all this? Who exactly are you?"
Rate on N.U.
