More Than Likely

The night sky had already begun to brighten.

Although the edge of the sun was not yet visible in the distance, the increasing brightness in the sky was unmistakable.

The black night had passed, and the blue light of early morning gradually painted half the sky.

The dawn air was refreshing enough to give one a mental boost.

However, Luo Li was both sleepy and exhausted.

She had been awake for a full day and night, and as someone who usually slept on a regular schedule, she was struggling with the equivalent of jet lag.

Furthermore, throughout the night's journey, she had to constantly infuse the nine little ones with holy energy to maintain the consumption of the Light Barrier.

Her mana was now at less than fifty.

It was absolutely impossible to face an enemy in such a state.

At the very least, she needed to rest first.

On her way here, Luo Li had considered many possibilities and had barely rested during the trip.

Now, facing the Harry family, her first thought was to try persuasion.

Courtesy before force was a universal rule of political communication in any era.

However, whether the other party would be willing to agree was another matter entirely.

If they used various excuses to refuse lending grain, then she would be forced to take truly ruthless measures.

She glanced back at the dragon, Shalin, behind her.

After a night of travel, the frost dragon showed no signs of fatigue; for a dragon, a night's journey was a routine operation that caused no exhaustion.

As for Momoka, her own strength was sufficient, and maintaining a barrier to block the wind in front of her was not difficult.

Moreover, a dragon like Shalin naturally possessed the instinct to resist strong winds.

Therefore, Momoka was not particularly tired either.

Luo Li shook her head, her long silver hair fluttering in the wind.

While it looked beautiful, only she knew the pain it caused.

Her scalp had been pulled numb by the fierce winds.

If she weren't still young and far from the age of hair loss, she feared she would have been plucked bald by now.

Fortunately, no accidents had occurred along the way.

According to the timeline, the five hundred members of the dragon cavalry regiment should arrive in a day.

As for the airships, they would take at least five days to reach this location.

Distant water could not put out a nearby fire, so for now, she could only squeeze resources from Twin-Wing City.

If they didn't dare to hand it over, they couldn't blame her for being cold-blooded.

She looked down at the distance, where a massive camp for tens of thousands of people sat on the ground, occupying over eight thousand square meters.

Including horses and other supplies, the entire formation stretched out for a kilometer.

Though it still looked like an insignificant speck from the sky, it was at least visible.

That should be General Yanagi Musashi's camp of thirty thousand knights.

With these thirty thousand knights, she had at least a guarantee for a siege.

This was Luo Li's final resort.

Unless it was absolutely necessary, she truly did not want to conduct a siege.

After all, it would be a devastating blow to both the city and the people.

"Astrid, go down. Land at the site of that large camp."

As a young dragon, it had never flown for such a long duration.

To Astrid, this wasn't exhausting; it was actually quite exhilarating.

In an era devoid of entertainment, physical activity was the best way to find joy.

Since its birth, this young dragon had been carefully protected and rarely had the chance to fly for so long.

Today, it had finally had its fill of excitement.

Its head dove downward, its body plummeting suddenly.

Luo Li, lacking sufficient strength, was nearly thrown off by this sudden change in direction!

She quickly crouched down and barely managed to maintain her balance.

Astrid seemed to sense something as well.

It immediately stopped its dive, smoothing out the angle of its descent.

It turned its head back, its eyes watery as it looked at Luo Li, appearing as though it were apologizing or a child who had made a mistake acting pitiful before an adult.

"Alright, alright, I am not blaming you. Just watch where you are going and do not crash into anything."

In this era, nature still bloomed with immense vitality.

A day's plan begins in the morning, and countless birds were flying in the sky, busy searching for the day's food.

If they collided with something in this situation, Astrid would be perfectly fine thanks to its powerful scales.

Luo Li, however, would not be so lucky; such a collision would carry the impact of a bullet.

Astrid's current flight speed was roughly three hundred kilometers per hour.

No matter what she hit, it would be more than she could handle.

Even with the Light Barrier maintained by the nine little ones in front of her, it would still cause her massive trouble.

Upon hearing this, Astrid quickly turned its head back.

This time, it did not dive recklessly again but began to spiral down smoothly.

Its speed gradually slowed from over three hundred kilometers per hour.

The situation on the ground grew increasingly clear.

Roughly two thousand knights had begun to gather, the crowd growing larger as they converged on the open ground in front of the main camp.

The man at the head of the group was not wearing standard silver armor but a set of samurai plate armor from the Kingdom of the Sun.

It was a very strange sight.

The art style was completely different.

But Luo Li had already grown accustomed to it.

Since there were shrine maidens here, samurai armor was hardly surprising.

When they were about fifty meters from the ground, Luo Li could already clearly see Yanagi Musashi.

Although the two had met via video signal before, this was their first time meeting in person.

Before Luo Li could get a good look at Yanagi Musashi's appearance, she saw him drop to one knee on the ground.

"Your servant, Yanagi Musashi, greets Your Highness and the Saintess of the Moon."

The first greeting was for Momoka, and the second was for Luo Li.

As a foreign official and Momoka's direct subordinate, this protocol was appropriate.

Luo Li looked back at Momoka.

Compared to Astrid, who was unfamiliar with long flights and needed to spiral down, Shalin's descent was much simpler.

She practically came straight down from the sky.

The massive icy blue dragon landed on the ground and extended a claw, allowing Momoka, who was standing on it, to appear.

"Musashi, it has been a long time. Rise first."

As she spoke, Momoka leaped down from the dragon's claw, reflexively smoothing her skirt.

Wait!

Her skirt?

Luo Li froze for a moment and instinctively looked down at her own skirt.

'Emmm... I probably should press it down too, or I will be exposed.'

She reached out to press it down.

Though her outfit was already quite revealing, it wouldn't hurt to be careful.

However, being seen through like that would always feel a bit strange.

'What is this? Have I been completely feminized?'

Thinking of this, Luo Li suddenly felt like she didn't want to press down the front of her skirt anymore.

But after a moment of thought, she still didn't let go.

How conflicting!

As Astrid spiraled down and landed, Luo Li leaped from the dragon's back.

She had been standing all night, and even her legs felt a bit numb.

Combined with the high-speed flight, she felt a slight sense of oxygen deprivation.

Along with her exhaustion, a dizzy, top-heavy feeling swirled in her mind.

But that was no longer important.

"Guardian Knight Yanagi Musashi."

"Your servant is here."

"Where are the knights from the camp?"

"In response to Lady Luo Li, I have sent them out to search for food. The migration convoy has run out of grain, and many elderly people have not eaten for two days."

The girl nodded; the situation was exactly as she had envisioned.

"Notify everyone to return to camp immediately. I want to see everyone in place within two hours."

"Lady Luo Li, what is the meaning of this?"

Yanagi Musashi asked instinctively, but Luo Li didn't even offer an explanation as she stepped directly into the central command tent.

His gaze carried a hint of inquiry as he turned to look at his own princess.

Momoka had her eyes closed, yet she still perceived Musashi's movements.

She nodded in affirmation.

Yanagi Musashi understood instantly.

It seemed the relationship between his princess and this Lady Luo Li had become exceptionally close.

That nod meant that the command of the army had been completely handed over to Lady Luo Li.

One had to realize that these thirty thousand knights and fifty thousand infantry were the last remaining forces of the Kingdom of the Sun.

Beyond this, there were the twenty thousand knights remaining in the subsequent refugee camps, but those were the remnants of the forces that had guarded the last pure land alongside Lady Momoka.

At least half of them had likely lost the qualification to continue as knights.

One cannot continue to serve as a knight with missing limbs.

With his princess's signal, Yanagi Musashi immediately stood up.

"Someone, notify all knights to return to camp immediately! I want to see everyone report in within one hour!"

"Yes, sir!"

The messenger nearby immediately went to deliver the order.

Soon, over a hundred knights galloped out of the camp with the command.

After completing this, Yanagi Musashi hurried back into the tent.

As soon as he entered, he saw Lady Luo Li sitting in the primary seat, and upon turning his head, he saw his own princess sitting in the secondary position beside her.

Yanagi Musashi nodded inwardly.

It appeared that this Lady Luo Li held the deep trust of his princess.

Otherwise, she would not have surrendered the leadership of her own army.

After entering, Yanagi Musashi knelt on one knee and awaited orders.

"Rise first."

Luo Li rubbed her forehead to soothe the dizzy sensation in her head and glanced down at Yanagi Musashi.

This man, who had been 'made clever' by others, might not have the sharpest wit, but he certainly possessed strength.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to suppress over thirty thousand knights.

Other nations did not face constant disasters like the Kingdom of the Moon, so their knight reserves were much higher.

And because of the larger base of knights, there were more powerful experts among them.

"You have worked hard these past few days, General Musashi."

"Your servant does not dare to claim hardship. Everything is for the sake of the two Highnesses."

Yanagi Musashi might not be smart in other areas, but he had some talent when it came to executing orders and flattery.

"Enough, I do not want to hear these compliments. Send someone to Twin-Wing City immediately with a message. Tell the city lord and the heads of the noble branch families to meet me at the camp outside the city. Anyone who fails to come will be treated as a rebel."

"Your servant obeys!"

Having said that, Yanagi Musashi didn't move an inch, instead standing there blankly.

Luo Li rubbed her forehead and, hearing no sound for a long time, instinctively looked up.

"Why have you not left yet?"

Yanagi Musashi wore an embarrassed expression and turned to look at his princess.

Seeing this, Momoka gave a light cough.

"Cough... Luo Li, you forgot to give him the decree."

"Oh... right. Where are the paper and pen?"

"Right here."

Yanagi Musashi quickly produced paper and a pen and handed them over.

Luo Li looked at it; it was actually an ink brush... Damn it!

Although she had practiced calligraphy with a brush before, it didn't look particularly good.

Besides, the script of this world didn't look great when written with a brush either.

Forget it, she couldn't worry about such things now.

She picked up the brush and quickly wrote out the decree, not caring about how it looked.

She pulled her seal from her sleeve.

The seal was only about the size of her palm and roughly a finger long. It looked exquisite and small, crafted from a special ore that could conduct holy energy.

It was expensive to produce, and very few people could use it.

After all, holy energy belonged exclusively to those with an ecclesiastical title.

Aside from the Holy Church, it was almost impossible for anyone else to use holy energy.

The knights could only add holy energy to certain skills because of their titles.

But they could not use this seal.

After all, the holy energy in their bodies was not as concentrated as a Saintess's, which was strong enough to leak out from every movement.

With a thud, the seal was pressed onto the paper.

"Take this. Make sure everyone is gathered within the hour."

"I obey."

Without another word, Yanagi Musashi took the decree, turned, and left.

Beside her, Momoka watched Luo Li constantly rubbing her temples and stepped forward.

She moved Luo Li's hand aside and gently began to massage her temples for her.

"Luo Li, you have worked hard because of my family's affairs."

Luo Li let out a long sigh.

"Sigh, we are all one family now. Do not speak of hardship. Doing things for these subjects is not a hardship at all. It is these nobles who truly give me a headache."

Without refusing Momoka's kindness, Luo Li relaxed her mind and tilted her head back slightly.

Momoka kept her eyes closed, the strength of her hands being neither too firm nor too light.

As she massaged, she asked, "Speaking of which, the Kingdom of the Moon is truly difficult to maintain right now. What do you plan to do next? If the nobles of Twin-Wing City refuse to leave the city, I fear there will be no easy way to handle it."

Feeling the comfort provided by the cool fingers on her forehead, Luo Li took a deep, satisfied breath.

"Mmm... I have already thought about it. If they truly defy my decree, I will directly declare Twin-Wing City in rebellion. I no longer have time to continue this tug-of-war with them."

"Rebellion? Luo Li, is that not a bit too severe?"

Momoka did not know about Luo Li's communication with Augus in Stargaze City, so she naturally didn't know the details.

It should be said that throughout the entire process, Momoka only knew that the nobles of Twin-Wing City were making things difficult for her to trouble Luo Li, but she had no idea the nobles were already rebelling.

But Luo Li knew very well that this time, she had been lured away from the mountain—drawn out of Brilliant City.

This was the nobles' plan.

"I was delayed for half an hour in Stargaze City because I contacted Augus. He told me a few things, so this time, I do not need to show any mercy."

At these words, Momoka's hands paused for a moment, and a look of surprise involuntarily appeared on her face.

"Luo Li, do you mean to say those nobles truly intend to rebel?"

"It is more than likely."