Chapter 385 | Reborn as a Saint in a Rotten World, I Refuse to Submit

Can they really fight the dragon race?

That was just bragging.

Luo Li had witnessed the power of a dragon with her own eyes.

To put it bluntly, although a level fifty dragon might not be able to fully stand against a level sixty human, it could at least escape without issue.

Being able to preserve itself despite such a massive level difference was enough to prove the strength of a dragon.

Setting aside everything else, those so-called combat airships were still just clunky tools that hadn't moved beyond the basic concept of an airship.

If it were a fighter jet, Luo Li wouldn't be so sure.

After all, fighter jets could carry missiles.

But an airship, at most, could only carry some ranged weapons to strike ground or air units.

Wait, ranged weapons?

Luo Li's brow furrowed.

Currently, over eighty percent of the knights in the Kingdom of the Moon's army were children of the nobility.

Under these circumstances, her control over the knights was relatively weak.

Furthermore, one of the things Luo Li wanted to do was to change the status gap between people as much as possible.

Even if the gap in raw strength was irreconcilable, she could at least indirectly raise the status of commoners.

The core of all these problems was that, currently, ordinary people had almost no ability to resist the powerful.

Even in a military context, a thousand-man knight regiment could easily crush a regular infantry army of over ten thousand men.

The difference in combat power between the two sides was simply too great.

The only thing she could think of to raise the status of commoners was firearms.

The most direct and simplest solution was ranged weaponry.

Based on the current situation of this world, the Gnome Kingdom seemed to have a higher level of technology than humans.

It was said that the water train was also primarily manufactured by gnomes.

Dwarves leaned more toward manual crafting, while gnomes were more skilled in research and development.

"Lola, investigate this Egbert Bot for me. I want to know his background, his current life, and... I want to know why he gave me this information."

She recalled their previous two encounters.

Perhaps this gnome had recognized her as the Saintess from the very beginning.

After all, her silver hair was difficult to hide no matter where she went.

In fact, although she would wear a hood when going out, she didn't bother dyeing her hair.

It might be hard to see clearly from a distance, but at close range, her identity could be easily discerned from that silver hair.

Since transmigrating, she had only gone out on the streets a limited number of times, and she had encountered this gnome almost every time.

Was it fate? Or a coincidence?

Lola pushed up her glasses.

"Your Highness, you seem to encounter this gnome every time you go out. I suspect he is intentionally approaching you."

"However, having met you three times, if he truly harbored any malice, he would have had an opportunity each time."

At this point, Lola seemed somewhat puzzled.

"This makes it difficult for me to discern his purpose."

Luo Li lowered her head in thought for a moment.

"Investigate him, but do not offend him. If you confirm there is no problem, notify me immediately."

"Yes."

Lola nodded, her heart harborning a trace of curiosity toward the gnome.

"I took a look at him while you were speaking just now. Although I do not know what this gnome gentleman's purpose is, I can at least confirm that he harbors no hostile emotions toward you."

Momoka's eyes could, to a certain extent, perceive the emotions of others.

If she said so, then the concern was minimal.

Combined with the previous two encounters, it could be basically determined that the gnome meant Luo Li no ill will.

"I feel the same way."

Luo Li nodded and then added.

"Even so, no matter involving the nation is trivial. If he gave me this information for no apparent reason, he must have a purpose. It is better to be cautious."

Momoka nodded, fully agreeing with Luo Li's words.

Lina, who was beside them, was so bored she was nearly falling asleep.

After all this commotion, evening had arrived, and the sky outside was dark.

Seeing the slight exhaustion on her Highness's face, Lola felt a bit concerned.

"Your Highness, I will handle the remaining matters. So many things happened today; you should rest early."

Luo Li instinctively glanced at Lola. Indeed, she was quite tired.

Over the past two days, events had been happening one after another: the army issues, the earthquake, today's meeting, and the grain store incident.

Anyone would be exhausted after dealing with so many trivial matters at once.

"Mhm, I'll rest. By the way, Lola, don't forget to have Anton start researching the things I asked for as soon as possible."

"I understand. Your Highness should go to rest now."

The girl nodded.

"Oh, and about the railway, have him gather the manpower quickly."

"Your Highness..."

Lola let out a helpless, long sigh.

But Luo Li didn't seem to care and continued.

"Strengthen the monitoring of the knights lately. Tell Grannia to hurry up; I'm worried about the northeast border. Find those underground tunnels and seal them off as soon as possible. Also, with so much snow, we can't have people freezing to death in the New City. Have Augus and the others pay attention, and also..."

"Your Highness, if you continue like this, I will have to dock your allowance."

"!!!"

The girl's voice came to an abrupt halt as she looked at Lola in surprise.

"Lola, I'm clearly doing official business! Why would you dock my allowance?"

"Your Highness, you must balance work and rest. Otherwise, if you ruin your health from exhaustion, what use will your allowance be?"

That seemed to make sense.

Huh?

Wait, something felt wrong.

This wasn't right, was it?

She was working hard, so why was her allowance being docked?

"Lola, I was only..."

"Two gold coins will be deducted from this month's allowance."

"Lola! I was clearly doing official business!"

"Another two gold coins."

Luo Li was dumbfounded, unable to find her voice for a long time.

Seeing Lola's serious expression, she gritted her teeth and said,

"You're ruthless! Momoka, Lina, let's go! Time for bed!"

Oh my god. Losing forty thousand coins just like that.

Her monthly allowance was only twenty gold coins, and her secret stash had already been drained by Lina until her pockets were cleaner than her face.

Now she was literally living off this allowance.

She returned to the rear hall in a huff. They wouldn't be sharing a single large bed tonight, as they each needed their own private space.

Furthermore, individual rooms had already been prepared for Momoka and Lina upon their arrival.

They were right next to Luo Li's bedroom.

Arriving at the door, Luo Li offered a polite greeting.

"Lina, Momoka, goodnight."

"Goodnight, Luo Li."

Momoka was as earnest as ever, responding to Luo Li's greeting with great solemnity.

Lina, however, was full of lethargy and stretched lazily before opening her door and heading inside.

"Yeah, yeah... night!"

Watching the two of them return to their rooms, Luo Li finally pushed open her own door.

Nara followed closely behind. Her duty was to care for the Saintess until she retired for the night.

Not only did she have to sleep later than Luo Li, but she also had to wake up earlier.

"Nara, you should sleep early tonight too. Let the young nuns handle these small chores."

To enter Luo Li's room, one had to first pass through the display room.

Everything displayed here was a treasure that represented the Kingdom of the Moon.

Of course, without the Saintess of the Moon's handprint, these treasures were sealed under glass domes.

If anyone tried to force open a dome, an alarm would immediately sound, and the magic array in the room would activate to attack the intruder.

"Your Highness, you were far too tired today. Let me give you a massage."

Nara looked at her Highness with concern. She had thought that after a month of recovery, things wouldn't suddenly become so busy, but who could have expected today to be so hectic.

Seeing the slight fatigue on her Highness's face and the furrow in her brow caused by state affairs, a thought would occasionally sprout from the bottom of Nara's heart.

'I really want to smooth out the wrinkles between Her Highness's brows.'

"Hmm? When did you learn how to give massages?"

Luo Li looked at Nara with surprise, seeing the eager expression on her face.

After thinking it over, she saw no reason to refuse and agreed.

"Alright then."

Nara brought over a chair.

"Please sit, Your Highness."

"Mhm."

The girl sat down, and Nara immediately placed her hands on Luo Li's neck.

She found the right spot and pressed down precisely.

"Mmm! Ah..."

A strange sensation of relief extended from the back of her neck all the way down her spine.

In that instant, her entire body seemed to suddenly relax from its tense state.

The feeling was so comfortable that she couldn't help but let out a soft moan.

"How is it, Your Highness?"

"Mmm, that's good... a little lower, yes, right there... mmm... ah! Yes!"

Luo Li felt as though her body had suddenly become much lighter.

A young nun stepped forward and carefully removed the crown from Luo Li's head, placing it on the dressing table.

Another young nun stepped up, kneeling beside Luo Li to remove her silk stockings.

Feeling the slender yet strong fingers pressing into her back, Luo Li felt a sensation of limpness with every press.

She hadn't expected Nara to have learned such a great massage technique.

Watching the young nun at her feet remove her silk stockings, roll them up, and place them in a dedicated silver box to be sent for washing, Luo Li couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

I've truly become decadent.

Now, even taking off a pair of socks requires a beautiful young girl to kneel down and do it by hand.

This era really can make someone go soft.

This was only because she was the Saintess. If she had transmigrated as the Pope, she'd probably have a decadent lifestyle of wine and luxury by now, wouldn't she?

At that thought, she felt a surge of relief.

Fortunately, she hadn't become like that.

But... was that really something to be happy about?

Luo Li blinked, looking at the silver haired girl with a blushing face in the vanity mirror.

That was herself.

Becoming a Saintess, she didn't know whether to celebrate or feel disappointed.

The celebration was that since she wasn't a man, there were far fewer temptations. The disappointment was that since she wasn't a man, those temptations were gone.

At the very least, being alive was considered good luck.

"Nara, do you think... humans are never truly satisfied?"

When she first transmigrated, she only thought about how to survive and how not to become a breeding bed for the demon race.

How to avoid being treated 'this way or that way.'

But now that her life was safe, she was starting to feel dissatisfied with her female identity.

As expected, in different situations and at different times, the desires of the human heart were endless.

Nara's finger strength was sufficient. Although she hadn't reached level ten, she was likely around level six or seven.

She was much stronger than an average adult.

And her pressure points were extremely comfortable.

"Why would Your Highness suddenly ask that? Did something come to mind?"

"I thought of something..."

She couldn't exactly say she was thinking about pinning Nara to the bed.

The girl's face turned red.

"Then what is Your Highness dissatisfied with?"

"Everything..."

Luo Li closed her eyes, feeling the slender fingers gently stroking her forehead.

"I'm not satisfied with anything. I want the people to be prosperous, the nation to be powerful, the military to be invincible, and for talents to emerge in abundance."

"Your Highness is truly greedy. However, Your Highness, although I don't know much about state affairs, I know that these things cannot be achieved overnight."

"True, they cannot be achieved overnight."

As she spoke, Luo Li's voice grew softer. The continuous events of the past few days had exhausted her mentally, and Nara's massage had caused her to relax so much she could hardly stay awake.

"Speaking of which, Nara, you're an orphan too, aren't you? Do you remember where your home was?"

"I remember some of it. I remember my home was on the other side of the Moonlight River. In the winter, my father would take me to the river and cut a hole to fish, while my mother would prepare firewood at home."

"In the evening, the whole family would gather around the hearth, listening to the sound of the pot boiling and drinking delicious fish soup."

"However, I can't really remember their voices or faces anymore. All I can remember is my father's broad chest and the eternal, kind smile on my mother's face."

Hearing this, Luo Li forced her eyes open a crack.

She looked at Nara's calm face in the mirror.

"Then haven't you gone back to visit? With your current status, you should be able to improve your family's conditions."

"I've thought about it, but I have no home to return to. My father died years ago in the war between the Snow Country and the Beastmen Empire, and my mother fell ill and passed away a year after that."

"I'm sorry..."

It wasn't until this moment that she suddenly remembered she had read Nara's files.

Her parents were indeed gone, and she had been sent to the orphanage by her biological uncle.

If she went back now, even her family's house likely wouldn't belong to her anymore.

"It's alright, Your Highness."

Nara in the mirror showed a peaceful and warm smile.

"I have a new home now. This place is my home, and Your Highness... is my family."

Luo Li patted Nara's hand.

"Mhm, this is your home."

What followed was no different from any other day.

Changing clothes and bathing.

After Nara's massage, her body did feel much lighter.