Lina! I'm Going to Kill You!

After handling the trivial matters, Luo Li prepared to leave.

Walking beside the young girl was the Saintess of War, Lina, who had been guarding Brilliant City on her behalf lately.

Although this girl could be a bit stubborn, it had to be said that she was a good child.

At such a critical moment, she hadn't abandoned the Kingdom of the Moon, but had instead insisted on staying here to help Lola stabilize the situation.

From that point alone, she was quite impressive.

"How does it feel to be home?"

Recalling the decisive attitude from just now, Lina couldn't help but admire her from the bottom of her heart.

At only sixteen or seventeen years old, she could make decisions on major matters almost without hesitation.

Setting aside whether those decisions were good or bad, that level of decisiveness was something ordinary people could hardly reach.

Furthermore... at least for now, her decisions hadn't caused any problems.

"It's alright..."

Luo Li's mood was somewhat complicated as she glanced at the smear of scarlet left on her wrist.

Her mouth twitched involuntarily.

That smear of scarlet was a mandatory step she had to undergo after returning as a Saintess without any assistance.

In other words, the verification of identity.

She had expected that she would have to go through this step once she returned.

However, she never imagined that the material used for the verification would be that specific thing.

Seeming to notice the girl's unease, Lina spoke up to comfort her.

"It's something that came from your own body, so don't be so bothered by it. Isn't it already over?"

Luo Li looked back at Lina and pursed her lips.

Yes... it was indeed something from her own body.

It was that thing that made her exceptionally irritable, the thing she wished she could just hold back by standing on her head... her period!

Yes, that was exactly what it was!

And it was a refined version at that.

After removing the impurities, the pure, sacred energy left behind was perfect for verifying one's identity.

Of course, that was for other people. For Luo Li, it was something she really couldn't get used to.

"Never mind, let's not talk about that."

At the thought of that substance coming from her own body, Luo Li shook her head vigorously, her silver hair flying as she tossed those messy thoughts aside.

She turned her gaze to the girl clad in efficient armor and expressed her sincere thanks.

"Lina, thank you for your hard work these past few days."

"There's no need for thanks, but... Luo Li, are you sure we should just ignore the Kingdom of Flame for now?"

During the meeting just now, all other issues had been addressed.

Only the matter regarding the Kingdom of Flame had been left untouched.

Currently, the Kingdom of Flame's army was pressing against their borders.

The distance between the Kingdom of the Moon and the Kingdom of Flame wasn't far, separated only by a winding, hundred-kilometer stretch of the Kingdom of the Sun's inland territory.

In the past, the Kingdom of Flame would never have dared to do this, as the Kingdom of the Sun's combat power was considered relatively strong among the other nations.

As the Eight Nations of the Holy Church were now divided, the strongest military powers were the Snow Country, which directly faced the Beastmen Empire, and the Kingdom of the Highlands, which faced the dwarves.

This wasn't just because the two nations were in a constant state of war, but also because they were connected to nations of other races.

Through mutual exchange, not only did their commerce flourish, but their military strength increased accordingly.

The Kingdom of the Moon wasn't so lucky.

The demon army would launch exploratory attacks every ten years.

And every hundred years or so, they would conduct a full-scale invasion.

In terms of the intensity of war, the Kingdom of the Moon was essentially at the front lines among the Eight Nations of the Holy Church.

Yet, contrary to the development of the Snow Country and the Kingdom of the Highlands, commerce here couldn't flourish due to the lack of subsequent exchange.

Furthermore, the three nations surrounding them to the top, bottom, and left were not commercial nations.

This meant their innate conditions were significantly worse.

Additionally, the Kingdom of the Moon had the most complex terrain among the Eight Nations of the Holy Church.

Its natural governance was weaker than that of other nations.

With hills in the west, mountains in the east, plains in the center, mountains in the north, the unique environment of the northeast, and the vast forests of the south, it was a difficult place to manage.

To put it in one sentence: great potential for development, but high difficulty in achieving it.

"I have returned. As long as that Dominic from the Kingdom of Flame has any sense, he won't dare to move his troops lightly. Otherwise, he will face the condemnation of all Eight Nations of the Holy Church," Luo Li said seriously.

"His plan was likely to take advantage of the internal chaos in the Kingdom of the Moon before my return, seizing land under the guise of sending troops to help."

"But since I am back, he has no excuse to deploy his army."

She paused and then continued.

"Besides, the Kingdom of the Moon now has two Saintesses present. Setting aside a backline specialist like me, he would have to think twice just because of you alone."

The Black Armored Knights were currently the elite of the elite among the Eight Nations of the Holy Church.

It was no exaggeration to call them a trump card army.

And Lina was one of the few Saintesses who excelled at leading charges on the battlefield.

These two points alone were enough to suppress the ambitions of the Kingdom of Flame.

Speaking of which, Luo Li suddenly thought of something else and asked.

"Were the losses of the Black Armored Knights heavy this time?"

Lina's brow furrowed slightly.

"They were indeed significant. We lost about three thousand men."

"Three thousand? Wait, I remember the Black Armored Knights rarely had direct contact with the demon army. Before I fell into the sea, there weren't nearly that many casualties."

These were the elite of the elite. Three thousand... hiss, that was painful!

Even if they weren't her own men, she still felt the sting of the loss.

Lina suddenly became fidgety and then slapped her forehead.

"Oh! Forget about me for now, you should go see Astrid!"

"?? What happened to her?"

Several question marks instantly popped up in Luo Li's mind.

Thinking of that particular individual, she no longer had the heart to grieve over the three thousand Black Armored Knights.

She hurried toward the back.

Astrid was a true pearl.

A purebred holy white dragon.

Even the Dragon King held her in high regard. If anything happened to her, it would be a true disaster.

"What exactly is wrong?"

Lina explained.

"She hasn't been eating much lately, and her sleeping hours have become irregular. Moreover..."

Huh? An endocrine disorder? Do dragons even get those?

Thinking this, Luo Li quickly reached the bedroom door and pushed it open.

It was a complete mess.

Huh??

Luo Li took a step back and checked the sign above the door.

It was indeed her room.

The torn window screens had been turned into strips wrapped around the white dragon.

The bed was lopsided; upon closer inspection, a piece of the right bedpost was missing, and a semi-circular chunk had been bitten out of the edge.

The white paint in the corner of the wall had peeled off, revealing the thick rock blocks underneath.

The crystal chandelier on the ceiling was scattered across the floor, and the little white dragon was playing with a few of the small crystals in its claws.

The chair was missing a leg, the table was missing a side, the bedsheets were torn into strips, and the floorboards were pried open.

Luo Li stood at the door, dazed for a long time, before suddenly turning back to ask.

"Has the compensation for our house's demolition been negotiated yet?"

???

Three question marks popped into Lina's head as she looked at Luo Li with utter confusion.

Ignoring the bewildered Lina, Luo Li turned back and pressed her hand to her forehead.

Currently, the little white dragon had a beef marrow bone—a femur—in its mouth.

For its massive maw, that femur was roughly equivalent to a human eating a chicken drumstick bone.

It was gnawing on it with such gusto that the entire room smelled like stewed meat.

Some bone fragments remained on the thick carpet.

Initially, the creature had been playing happily, but as soon as the door opened, it turned to glance over.

Then it turned back to continue playing with the crystals in its claws.

However, it seemed to realize something and quickly looked back again.

When it saw Luo Li, Astrid instantly let out a 'Ya~' sound, rolled over, scrambled up, and charged toward her.

Seeing the two horns on the little white dragon's head beginning to sprout, Luo Li knew that while a headbutt wouldn't disembowel her, it would certainly hurt for a while.

She quickly raised her hands to brace herself.

Fortunately, Luo Li was now level sixteen. Regardless of anything else, she at least had some stats.

While her strength wasn't three times that of a normal person, lifting two or three hundred pounds wasn't particularly difficult.

With a 'thud,' Luo Li took a step back to absorb the impact.

She looked down at the 'little guy' in her arms, who was wagging its large tail and knocking the surrounding objects into further disarray.

How was this a holy white dragon?

Wasn't this a damn husky reincarnation?

Looking at Astrid's appearance in her arms, it didn't seem like an endocrine disorder at all.

Luo Li turned a suspicious glance toward Lina.

She saw Lina scratching her head sheepishly.

"Hehe, she's been gnawing on bones and tearing things up lately, so she really has been getting a lot less sleep. With more snacks, she naturally eats less of her regular meals~"

Was this girl trying to hide something?

Luo Li thought of this immediately. As for what she was trying to hide, Luo Li could make a rough guess after some careful deduction.

Before she fell into the sea, the casualties of the Black Armored Knights were just over two thousand.

It hadn't reached the level of three thousand.

But now she said three thousand, which meant there must have been more fighting afterward.

Moreover, it probably wasn't a simple two thousand plus one thousand, but two thousand plus three thousand.

The losses of the Black Armored Knights had likely reached five thousand men!

Lightly patting the large dragon head in her arms, Luo Li took a deep breath.

"Lina, you didn't launch another attack on the demon army after I fell into the sea, did you?"

Lina was stunned for a moment.

"How did you know!? Whoops!"

She let out a startled cry and immediately covered her mouth.

But seeing the look in Luo Li's eyes, she helplessly let go.

"Actually... it was nothing much. The Black Armored Knights just charged a few more times to buy some time."

"The time you bought was for salvaging and searching for me, wasn't it?"

Thinking about it made it clear.

Before she fell into the sea, the evacuation route, method, and process had all been properly arranged.

If they hadn't stayed behind, they wouldn't have needed to clash with the demon army again and could have just retreated directly.

Most likely, Lina, the Beast Sovereign, and the Dragon King had all decided to stay and search for Luo Li.

And that required going to war with the demon army again.

Moreover, it was under extremely unfavorable circumstances.

Ordinary legions simply couldn't handle such an urgent mission.

Only the elite of the elite could do it.

In other words, in that situation, the ground forces probably only deployed the beastmen's Lion-Tiger tribe and the human Black Armored Knights.

The dragon race likely participated in full.

There was no choice; to stall for time, maintaining air superiority was of the utmost importance.

At the same time, they had to dispatch a portion of the dragons and skysoar dragons to search the sea surface.

This caused the pressure on the army and air force to skyrocket.

It was only natural that the casualties would increase.

Luo Li felt like losing her temper. So many Black Armored Knights... those were the elites of the human race, the pillars of the nation.

Losing them like that was infuriating.

But then she looked at Lina, who had her head lowered, and remembered that she had fought so hard for her sake.

The words of blame simply wouldn't come out.

After a long while, Luo Li's anger dissipated, and she let out a long sigh.

"Next time... consider the bigger picture more."

Lina was stunned and looked up at Luo Li, a hint of surprise on her face.

"Alright, don't look at me like that. You did it to save me, so I have no reason to blame you, do I? We'll set the matters of the demon island aside for now."

Luo Li turned back to survey the room.

"What we need to think about now is how to solve the immediate problem. Where am I supposed to sleep tonight?"

Lina glanced at the wrecked room, a relaxed smile returning to her lips.

"That's easy! Someone, bring in the course!"

Bring in the course?

What course? A cabbage course?

Two Saintesses lying on cabbages to sleep at night?

Did she really think she was Luo Li the Cabbage-ov?

Before Luo Li could ask, a line of nuns walked in.

What they carried in their hands made Luo Li's jaw drop.

They first carried away the bed that had been half-dismantled.

Then, they rolled up the carpet, cleaned the corners of the room.

They laid down a new carpet, hung a new chandelier, and placed a brand new bed in the original position.

In just a short moment, the entire room was completely refreshed.

Even the damaged parts of the walls had been patched up with white plaster.

If it weren't for the slight dampness that made the patches stand out from the surrounding walls.

Luo Li would have thought she was hallucinating.

"Ta-da~ Now you have a place to sleep tonight!"

Lina raised both hands with a proud look.

Luo Li slowly pressed her hand to her forehead.

"Lina, let me ask you something."

"Please do!"

Suppressing her trembling heart and her shaking hands, she forced down the quiver in her voice.

"How long has this furniture swapping been going on?"

"Hmm~ Not that long. It probably started from the day I came back. After all, no one was sleeping in this room before then. It's been about half a month, right?"

Half a month?

Luo Li's legs went weak, and she nearly collapsed to the floor, her eyes wide as she stared at Lina.

"Where... where did the money for all this furniture come from?"

"Luo Li, what's wrong? We bought them with money, of course!"

Lina looked like she was stating the obvious.

"Where did the money come from?"

Lina puffed out her chest and put her hands on her hips.

"Didn't you have a thousand gold coins in your inner room? Don't worry, there are still over fifty gold coins left!"

Lina! I'm going to kill you!!

That was the retirement fund I worked so hard to save!!!