Chapter 394 | Reborn as a Saint in a Rotten World, I Refuse to Submit

Nara walked out of Lola's room, her expression filled with worry.

If Her Highness found out about this, she would surely exhaust herself with more work.

The mere thought of it made Nara's mood darken.

Lost in her anxiety, Nara unconsciously wandered into the main hall of the Temple.

Though the main hall was not brightly lit at night, lanterns still flickered on both sides of the Great Statue.

She looked up at the massive statue, lost in thought.

"O God, if you can truly hear the voices of your believers, I beg of you... protect the Kingdom of the Moon, and protect Her Highness."

Lately, the Kingdom of the Moon had been plagued by one disaster after another.

Things had finally begun to stabilize, only for a dragon calamity to loom on the horizon.

Furthermore, the Holy See was watching them like a hawk.

If this continued, would the Kingdom of the Moon even have a future?

Nara knew her own limitations and understood all too well that she couldn't see even a glimmer of light ahead.

Yet she saw that young girl, still working herself to the bone for the sake of the nation despite her exhaustion.

Her Highness saw it too.

"O God, did you choose Her Highness because she can see the future?"

After hearing what Lola had to say, a sliver of despair had taken root in Nara's heart.

But the moment she thought of Her Highness, a small spark of light returned to her soul.

Perhaps the Saintess was the only one who could pull this off.

The girl closed her eyes and offered a silent prayer for that person, praying for everything to be alright.

Once she finished her prayer, Nara stood up and returned to her room.

That night, she didn't sleep a wink.

As the bright moon set in the west and the morning sun rose in the east, the first light of dawn spilled across the land.

Brilliant City began a new day.

In the largest bar in Brilliant City, a group of people were chatting, their conversation eventually turning to the events of the past few days.

"Have you heard? A village at the foot of the Eastern Mountains was attacked by magic beasts again yesterday."

"I heard about it. I also heard that a village near the Holy Mountains was attacked, and people actually died."

"I heard from the elders that this is a sign of an impending dragon calamity!"

One of them shook his head and let out a long sigh.

"Sigh, it's just one thing after another. We just finished the expedition to the demon island, and now a dragon calamity is coming!"

Another man quickly agreed, and the others chimed in as well.

"Exactly. The state of the Kingdom of the Moon right now... it's hard to put into words."

"If it weren't for the Saintess turning the tide, we probably would have been eaten by the demon army by now."

"True. I wonder if Her Highness can handle this dragon calamity too."

Whenever the Saintess was mentioned, everyone present seemed to feel a surge of genuine pride.

And for good reason.

In a thousand years, no one had ever successfully conquered the demon island.

Forget conquering it; in the past, even resisting their attacks was a struggle.

This first successful counterattack had sparked a flame of hope in many hearts.

That girl was gradually earning the recognition of her people.

Otherwise, such a conversation wouldn't even be happening.

"Alright, there's no point in us worrying about those things. I heard something else—it seems the factories all over the place are hiring. What do you say we give it a shot?"

"Forget it. Do you even know how to work iron? Since when did you learn that trade?"

"No, no, no. Word is they don't need any special skills this time. You just need to be strong."

"Just strength? Is it really that easy?"

"Yeah, that's why a lot of people went to apply early this morning. I heard the pay is great too—thirty silver coins a month!"

"What? Thirty? Damn it, why didn't you say so sooner! Let's go!"

Thirty silver coins.

In this era, for those without specific skills or positions, that was indeed a significant sum of money.

That morning, countless young men in Brilliant City were on the move.

The atmosphere was completely different from the usual leisurely pace of the city.

For a moment, all of Brilliant City seemed to pulse with new life.

Many people flocked toward the newly established factories.

Before they even reached the buildings, they could hear a rhythmic, thundering roar.

A mechanical hum echoed with a powerful cadence.

There would be a brief pause, followed by a sudden, massive 'Clang!', and then the humming would resume.

The sight caused many to stop and stare in wonder.

At that moment, inside the temporary factory, Luo Li—who had managed to wake up early for once—stood before a massive machine.

"Is this... the solution you came up with?"

She stared at the machine, which looked like an oversized version of a guillotine.

In the center of the machine was a conveyor belt, driven by a series of gears and belts.

At the start of the machine stood a massive boiler, from which glowing red molten steel flowed onto the conveyor belt.

Then, a heavy iron weight, shaped like a guillotine blade, slammed down from above.

'Thump!'

A loud crash echoed through the room.

Amidst a shower of sparks, the flowing molten steel was struck with immense force.

One after another, more iron weights slammed down.

A series of 'thump, thump, thump' sounds followed as the weights repeatedly hammered the iron bar.

As the iron bar, as thick as a man's thigh, was moved forward, the weights fell in sequence, gradually shaping the irregular lump into a long, straight beam.

Finally, the iron passed through two rotating rollers for compression and emerged from the far end.

It was a single ten-meter-long section of railway track.

Wasn't this essentially a basic machine tool?

And it didn't stop there; Anton had integrated several machine tools together to create a functional assembly line!

Outside, the steam engine continued its rhythmic thundering.

Since this era had no concept of noise pollution, the massive roar of the steam engine was left completely unsuppressed, and the exhaust was vented directly through pipes into the air.

There were no silencers or mufflers of any kind.

The noise inside the factory was almost deafening. Luo Li had to shout at the top of her lungs just to be heard.

Anton puffed out his chest, his face beaming with pride.

"Your Highness, this set of equipment can produce about five kilometers of single track per day. If we can build ten sets, that's fifty kilometers a day. With just twenty sets, we'll have more than enough to support the project."

This single machine alone occupied at least a hundred square meters.

And with this level of noise, if it were used inside the city, no one would be able to live nearby in the future.

Forget ten sets; Luo Li felt like she was going deaf with just this one.

Luo Li nodded.

Despite its flaws, the productivity was undeniably high.

However, something like this wasn't the kind of thing someone just came up with on a whim.

Thinking of this, Luo Li turned to leave the workshop, gesturing for Anton to follow.

Once they stepped outside and the workshop doors closed, the deafening noise finally subsided.

At least now they could hear each other without screaming.

"Anton, you didn't come up with this yourself, did you?"

Luo Li looked back at the factory doors.

There was no way Anton could have designed a machine tool like that in such a short amount of time.

Someone else must have been involved.

Anton didn't seem to have any intention of denying it and nodded quite frankly.

"I couldn't have come up with this on my own. After that meeting the other day, a gnome came by and sold me the idea for two thousand gold coins."

"A gnome? Was it Egbert?"

Lola gave a slight nod, saying nothing more.

But that small gesture was enough.

Clearly, the person who had sold the design for two thousand gold coins was indeed Egbert Bot.

From their first meeting, that gnome had seemed like an ordinary merchant.

But now it appeared he was selling more than just ordinary raisins.

He seemed to possess goods that were far beyond the reach of average people.

Not to mention, the information he had sent previously already hinted at this.

He was definitely not just some traveling merchant selling raisins.

"Lola, about Egbert..."

Lola simply shook her head.

"Your Highness, my people can't find any details on his background. However, it is certain that he visits the Mage Association once a month to use their communication room."

"I see... Bring him to see me at noon."

Since the gnome had passed up multiple opportunities to assassinate her, it meant he had no interest in her life.

And now, having provided both information and a solution, he clearly had a specific goal in mind.

Given the nature of gnomes, it was highly likely... he was here to do business.

And the kind of business that usually stayed in the shadows.

Arms dealing.

When she thought about it that way, things became quite interesting.

An arms dealer could never function without an extensive information network.

Yet this Egbert Bot lived his daily life as if he were nothing more than a raisin salesman.

While it seemed harmless on the surface, if he had another identity, then he was someone worth contacting.

He had reached out to her twice now, clearly intending to make a connection. In that case... she would meet him.

"Mr. Anton."

"I am here, Your Highness."

"Consult with Lola later. Find a plot of land either in the West Gate or South Gate area and set up a temporary factory to manufacture all the equipment needed for the railway."

"I shall obey your Saint's Decree, Your Highness."

Over the past few days, Anton had picked up some of the official human etiquette.

Though his movements looked a bit comical, he was at least no longer being disrespectful.

Luo Li turned and headed toward the back entrance.

There were too many people applying for jobs at the front entrance; if she ran into them, she wouldn't be able to leave anytime soon.

Fortunately, the issue of manufacturing the tracks had been successfully resolved.

Next, they would need to select the land, plan the route, and begin building the railway.

The first line would radiate outward from Brilliant City.

"Congratulations, Your Highness. You've finally solved the problem of the tracks."

Nara followed closely by Luo Li's side. It was obvious she hadn't slept well the night before.

There were prominent dark circles under her eyes.

"Yes, it is indeed good news. At least for now, it's the best news I've received lately."

Luo Li opened her eyes and nodded before looking at Nara.

"Nara, your eyes are so dark. Did you not sleep well last night?"

Nara instinctively covered her eyes.

"Is... is it that obvious?"

Seeing her like this, Luo Li smiled and lightly touched Nara's forehead.

"Healing."

As a surge of holy radiance flowed through her, the fatigue in Nara's mind vanished almost instantly.

That heavy, lightheaded feeling was gone in a flash.

In its place was a sense of being fully energized, and even the strain in her eyes had disappeared.

Nara looked at the girl in pleasant surprise.

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Luo Li shook her head.

"You're like this because you were looking after me. Do you feel better?"

"Yes."

"That's good."

The Saint's Carriage continued forward, but at that moment, a faint rumbling sound came from outside.

Immediately after, the Saint's Carriage beneath them swayed slightly.

Luo Li's brow furrowed.

The Saint's Carriage was equipped with magic arrays for shock absorption. For the carriage itself to shake, it was definitely no minor matter!!

"Another earthquake!?"

She stood up abruptly and opened the carriage door to look outside.

Many people were standing in place with looks of bewilderment, and some had even fallen to the ground.

Luo Li was instantly on high alert, but just as she was about to cast a spell, Dominica, who was driving the carriage, spoke up.

"Your Highness, it seems there was just an earthquake. It wasn't serious, just a slight tremor."

Just a tremor?

Luo Li looked around in surprise. Many people had already stood up and were going back to whatever they were doing.

It seemed the tremor really hadn't been that severe.

Seeing that the surrounding buildings and people appeared unharmed, she let out a sigh of relief.

She immediately ordered someone to investigate.

The results of the investigation came back quickly.

This earthquake was merely a slight tremor of the ground. It lasted for a very short time and there was almost no major shaking.

As a result, there were no deaths or collapsed houses, only a few unlucky individuals who had tripped and sprained their ankles.

However, by the time they returned to the Temple, Luo Li's brow was still tightly knit.

"Lola, has Brilliant City always had such frequent earthquakes during the winter in previous years?"

"No, Your Highness."

Lola's voice was remarkably flat.

This was far from normal.

"Lola, your reaction... is a bit too calm."

From atop her sacred bed, Luo Li stared intently at Lola standing below.

An earthquake was no small matter. If even something like this was being hidden from her, had she been giving Lola too much leeway lately?

Was she trusting her too much?

"Your Highness, this is a normal phenomenon."

Lola's expression remained composed.

"Earthquakes are normal? Lola, you can't be serious."

The girl was full of disbelief.

"Your Highness, I am not joking. Before every dragon calamity arrives, various earthquakes of different sizes occur. Such tremors are normal and will stop once the dragon calamity passes."

Dragon calamity again?

Those two words, 'dragon calamity,' had been appearing before her constantly lately.

"Bring me all the records concerning the dragon calamity."

"Your Highness, there is no need for you to look."

Lola knew she couldn't hide it anymore.

It was better to confess now than to wait for Her Highness to find out for herself.

"What?"

Luo Li was taken aback, looking down at Lola.

She saw Lola reach into her briefcase and pull out a stack of documents.

"Your Highness, these are all the details I've gathered recently regarding the dragon calamity. And this time, the dragon calamity is not normal."

As she looked at Lola's face, Luo Li's gaze turned slightly cold.

To think such a major matter had been hidden from her; it seemed Lola had grown a bit too confident lately.