Momoka Saint Raphael.
A girl standing at one hundred and sixty-two centimeters with a B-cup, long black hair, and eyes that were always closed.
It was undeniable that in games from that island nation, shrine maidens who didn't quite fit the historical setting would often appear for no apparent reason.
Luo Li had played such games herself, so she had accepted it quite naturally back then.
However, in this current situation, within this grand hall filled with Western-style elegance and luxury, the appearance of a girl dressed in a red-and-white shrine maiden outfit felt somewhat out of place.
Furthermore, most people from the Kingdom of the Sun had black hair and black eyes.
Luo Li didn't dwell on these details for long.
"Lady Momoka, what do you think?"
Though they had just agreed to use each other's names, the situation was different now.
The positions they occupied were no longer just representative of themselves, but of their respective nations.
Monarch to monarch.
In such a setting, one had to cast aside all personal thoughts and view themselves as the embodiment of a country.
Perhaps sensing the aura Luo Li projected, Momoka furrowed her brow, her expression gradually turning solemn.
"Is my responsibility to coordinate the migration of the Kingdom of the Sun's people?"
Momoka lowered her head in thought.
She was well aware of how vast the Kingdom of the Moon was; its total area was roughly the same as the four main islands of the Kingdom of the Sun.
Final City in the northeast and Seaview City in the southeast, along with their surrounding regions, were considered two of the most prosperous major cities in the Kingdom of the Moon.
However, accommodating seventy million people was, as Lady Luo Li had said, impossible.
The entire Kingdom of the Moon only had a population of over three hundred million, dispersed across ten major cities and three provinces without major cities.
Looking at it this way, the maximum number of people a single province could accommodate was tens of millions.
Even if the northeast region had been swept clean by the demon army and Seaview City was similarly underpopulated, it still wasn't enough to absorb such a massive population.
To be honest, Momoka herself wasn't very willing to accept this position.
Accepting it would mean she would have to manage the entire Kingdom of the Moon region.
After all, the refugees couldn't stay in just one city.
Once this network expanded, her reach would likely extend across the entire Kingdom of the Moon.
Though she kept her eyes closed year-round, her senses were sharp, and she vaguely felt that there was something more to this.
Yet, she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
But she couldn't abandon her people. Even if Lady Luo Li hadn't suggested it, she would have applied for the position herself.
They were the subjects of her Kingdom of the Sun, and she would not forsake them. Naturally, she had no choice but to accept.
"Since Lady Luo Li says so, I shall certainly step forward. However... Lady Luo Li, once the refugees of the Kingdom of the Sun disperse, the scope of their presence will inevitably cover the entire Kingdom of the Moon."
"The people of our two nations differ greatly in both their living environments and habits. I fear conflicts may arise."
She agreed?
If she agreed, then things would be easy.
A faint smile played on Luo Li’s lips, but it quickly vanished.
She pondered for a moment.
"It seems Lady Momoka truly cares for her people. In that case, I will offer a compromise."
"How about this? The Kingdom of the Moon is currently very short on manpower, and Lady Momoka surely has experience in governance. Why not establish a court?"
"A court? What is that?"
There was no need to explain what a court was, but it was true that among the Eight Nations of the Holy Church, such a place did not exist.
In most cases, a single official was responsible for everything in a village, a county, or a city.
It was similar to the local magistrates of ancient times, where one person presided over all disputes, large or small.
This was the perfect opportunity. Luo Li had been wondering how to pave this path, and now Momoka had delivered herself right to her door.
The separation of powers between the administration and the judiciary was something she had envisioned long ago.
Now was the ideal time.
Under the guise of overseeing conflicts between the Kingdom of the Sun refugees and the local population, she would establish a court.
She would completely tear the law away from the administration.
"It is a place specifically designed to manage conflicts among the people. It's a bit difficult to explain right now, but Lady Momoka will understand once she tries it."
Momoka’s brow furrowed slightly. She hesitated for a moment but ultimately nodded.
"In that case, I shall take charge of this 'court'."
Though she knew the silver-haired girl's intentions were far from simple, she no longer had any room to retreat.
She truly couldn't trust anyone else with this matter.
Since there was no way back, she could only move forward.
"Good. Then it is settled. Bishop Lola will contact you later to discuss the details. We'll take it step by step, starting in the four major cities of Final City, Brilliant City, Moonrise City, and Seaview City, before radiating out to other cities."
Luo Li mentally reviewed the people she could use. Aside from Lola, it seemed only Rodney was familiar with the law.
"Rodney will serve as your deputy."
"This Rodney you speak of?" Momoka asked.
"He is a current official in the legal department and will be your direct subordinate from now on."
Momoka nodded, seemingly understanding.
The matter was temporarily settled.
However, while Momoka had her duties arranged, Lina, who had been listening on the side, was becoming dissatisfied.
"Hey, hey, hey! What are you two discussing without me? Luo Li, you're being a bit unfair! You gave Momoka a job as soon as she arrived, but what about me? I don't have a job yet!"
Luo Li blinked and turned to look at the Saintess of War, who appeared heroic and decisive in action but was a bit of a chatterbox.
"Lina, aren't you going home?"
"Home?"
Lina was stunned for a moment. A hint of longing appeared in her eyes, but it vanished instantly, replaced by a look of disdain.
"Tch! Grandpa Scott probably doesn't need me anymore. He hasn't looked for me once! I'm not going back."
Having said that, Lina turned back to Luo Li.
"Besides, the dragon calamity is likely approaching. If I leave now, what will you two do?"
Dragon calamity?
Luo Li blinked, her expression blank.
"Some of the reinforcements sent by the other nations were meant to help you against the demon army, but another part was sent to deal with the dragon calamity."
"But now, those armies have suffered significant casualties and have all returned to their own countries to recover. If the dragon calamity breaks out now, wouldn't it be a disaster?"
Luo Li had heard of the dragon calamity before.
She had searched through many records, but all she knew so far was that it was a special phenomenon that only began occurring after the appearance of the demon race a thousand years ago.
It seemed to happen every one to two hundred years.
When it occurred, almost all creatures of low intelligence that possessed dragon-kin attributes would fall into a state of frenzy.
To date, the dragon calamity had occurred seven times.
Each time, it brought immense devastation to the continent.
Dragon-kin creatures possessed powerful bloodlines by nature. Even if those bloodlines were diluted to a certain degree, the species itself still held great destructive power.
Looking at the strength distribution of the various races across the continent, those who could exceed level ten were one in ten thousand.
The entire Kingdom of the Moon only had fifty thousand knights.
Because the Kingdom of the Sun had not seen war for a long time, they still had one hundred thousand knights.
With a population base that easily reached into the hundreds of millions, there were only this many strong individuals.
Even including the experts among the common folk, the total number of people in a country who could break past the level ten limit would not exceed two hundred thousand.
Those who could reach level forty were as rare as phoenix feathers.
As for breaking through the level fifty or even sixty barriers, the probability was roughly one in a hundred million.
Currently, under Luo Li’s command, aside from the two Saintesses, only Kevin and Lancelot had broken past level sixty.
As for Camilla and Ligeia, though they still had long lifespans ahead of them, reaching level sixty was no easy task.
At this stage, there were only two others in the Kingdom of the Moon who had the potential to break the level sixty barrier.
One was Grannia, the mage who had been living among the commoners.
The other was Nar Alvin.
The genius knight who was only fifteen years old yet had already reached level fifty-seven.
Setting aside how difficult it was to break through in strength, the small number of experts compared to the total population was staggering.
What this reflected was the inherent weakness of individual strength among the intelligent races, particularly humans.
This also made human nations the race that suffered the most casualties when facing a dragon calamity.
Thinking of this, Luo Li suddenly lost her appetite. She set down her knife and fork, glancing at the sashimi in front of Momoka.
She wanted to eat it too!
But she couldn't.
Sashimi would only worsen her period cramps!
Damn it, why is being a woman so hard?
"Lina mentioned the dragon calamity, and I've always had a question about it. Lina, you might not be very clear on the details, but Momoka, you should know something. This dragon calamity... what exactly is it?"
Historically, the Kingdom of the Moon was usually the first to encounter the dragon calamity.
The Kingdom of the Sun and the Holy See followed immediately after.
After all, only these two nations shared a border with the Kingdom of the Moon.
As for the Snow Country, not many dragon-kin could fly over the Frozen Mountains in the middle, so the impact there was minimal.
Momoka pondered for a moment before shaking her head.
"Unfortunately, I don't know much about the dragon calamity either. I've read many books on the subject, but... it's clear that many parts have been edited. Much of the information doesn't connect."
"Such a thing actually happened?"
Luo Li had to admit she was a little surprised.
She knew that because of the demon race a thousand years ago, the history of the entire continent had become fragmented.
This was especially severe for human nations, where over ninety percent of their culture had been lost.
Other races had suffered their own losses as well.
However, the records from after that time should have been fine.
After all, the demon race had been unable to make landfall for a thousand years.
The historical records started a thousand years ago should not have been tampered with, in theory.
But since Momoka said so, it was clearly true. She had no reason to lie about this.
That meant... the history concerning the dragon calamity had been intentionally erased by someone.
"Yes. All I know about the dragon calamity is that it occurs roughly every century, with the longest interval being one hundred and fifty-three years. Each time, many low-bloodline dragon-kin creatures suddenly become frenzied and begin attacking all non-dragon-kin life."
"It has been exactly one hundred years since the last outbreak. This is the shortest interval recorded, but it is also the most dangerous time."
At this point, Momoka’s expression turned solemn as she looked at Luo Li.
"The Holy See monitors and forecasts the dragon calamity. It's essentially confirmed that it will happen either this year or the next, so..."
"So that's why so many soldiers were sent to the Kingdom of the Moon this year?"
"I see."
However, the Holy See can monitor the dragon calamity?
A terrifying thought occurred to Luo Li.
Could it be that the dragon calamity is intentionally controlled by the Holy See?
"No, no. If the Holy See really had that kind of power, why wouldn't they just drive the dragon calamity to attack the Beastmen Empire instead of bullying their own people for so long?"
That wouldn't make any sense.
In other words, the Holy See had some way to predict the arrival of the dragon calamity.
"Then Momoka, do you know what method the Holy See uses to predict it?"
Momoka shook her head.
"The Holy See keeps their secrets very well. As far as I know, the dragon calamity is predicted by the Tower of Angels. It's a place that only a few people, besides the Pope, are allowed to enter."
"Those who go in basically never come out. Even the guards are chosen from among the penitents. Once selected, there is no turning back; they guard the Tower of Angels for the rest of their lives."
New information acquired!
The Tower of Angels!
Right, she had a slight memory of it.
She remembered that the Tower of Angels was a relatively important location in the plot.
It was just that... because she had only been focused on the action at the time, she hadn't looked at the detailed guides or anything like that.
This had caused Luo Li to subconsciously overlook the place.
But now that it had been mentioned, she would have to pay more attention to it in the future.
Seeing the two of them getting more and more involved in their conversation, Lina, feeling increasingly lonely, couldn't sit still.
"I say, can you two stop talking among yourselves? Include me!"
Luo Li was taken aback. She glanced at Lina and suddenly felt an urge to return to her palace and go to sleep.
Seeing this, Momoka couldn't help but chuckle.
"Lina is still the same as ever, so impatient."
Lina pouted unhappily.
"That's just how I am!"
She then turned to look at Luo Li.
"I'm telling you, if you want to know about the dragon calamity, go ask that mage of yours—the elven mage named Ligeia. Doesn't she specialize in researching dragons? She should know something."
"Ligeia?"
Right, she remembered that when she first met Ligeia, the dragon calamity had been mentioned. However, because she was busy with other things at the time, she hadn't looked into it further.
It just so happened she would be free tomorrow; she would go to Dragon City to take a look.
Ligeia's mage tower had already been moved inside Dragon City. Although winter had arrived, some of the defensive works in Dragon City had not stopped.
That place had almost become a massive fortress.
"Speaking of Ligeia, Luo Li, I am actually quite interested in the Dragon City in Brilliant City. I heard you made some kind of deal with the Dragon King to get two thousand skysoar dragons. I wonder if I might take a look?"
"Momoka is interested?"
Momoka nodded.
"The dragon race has always been mysterious. The races of the continent rarely have direct contact with them. Of course I am curious."
As soon as she said that, Lina suddenly jumped up and looked at Momoka with excitement.
"Momoka, your information is outdated! Why bother looking at skysoar dragons? If you're going to look, look at a purebred dragon!"
"A purebred dragon?"
Momoka was stunned. She suddenly whipped her head around to look at Luo Li.
Her face was filled with surprise and confusion.
This Lina... her mouth really was like a sieve.
"If Momoka is interested in a purebred dragon, why not come to my bedchamber after dinner? Although it's only a hatchling, it is a true purebred dragon—the holy white dragon named Astrid."
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