Your Highness is the Best

I expressionlessly finished the orange juice and sat in my seat, looking at the administrative affairs processed by Lola.

It was impeccable.

Every single matter was handled perfectly, and most importantly, the current affairs of the various fiefs did not require my direct intervention.

The vast Kingdom of the Moon was generally divided into thirteen regions, each managed by a noble family.

The four most prosperous families occupied eight of the ten major cities, while the only one I could perfectly control was Brilliant City.

Therefore, although these were called administrative affairs, I was essentially just issuing orders, while the executors were the local lords, those nobles.

If I were to forcibly issue certain orders now, they could completely ignore them, using various excuses to delay, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Between Kevin and me, the total army we possessed consisted of about a hundred and fifty thousand regular troops and over fifty thousand knights.

Among them, the capital, Brilliant City, maintained about ten thousand knights and twenty thousand regular soldiers.

The remaining forty thousand knights and over a hundred and thirty thousand regular soldiers were mainly concentrated on the northeastern border to prevent demon invasions.

The rest of the scattered knights and regular soldiers were distributed among the major cities, while almost no knights could be seen in some villages and towns.

In some small cities, the number of knights maintaining order daily was no more than a dozen, and only cities like the ten major cities had hundreds of knights.

If I wanted to mobilize troops now, I would either have to pull them from the border or gather the scattered knights from various cities.

Withdrawing border troops was absolutely out of the question.

No matter how strong internal conflicts became, they wouldn't be life-threatening; at least, before a total falling out, these nobles wouldn't dare lay a hand on a Saintess.

"Hilda."

"Yes."

"I had some doubts before. According to the records, the initial strength after demonization should be no less than a Fidelity Knight. Why were those demonized orcs so weak? Even against a normal knight's charge, they had overwhelming numbers yet were crushed."

"Highness, this is actually related to certain special circumstances of demonization. Generally, when knights or ordinary people like us undergo demonization, we seem to receive a kind of blessing, and our strength experiences explosive growth. However, the descendants produced by demonized humans often have very low intelligence, and only a few elites can truly grow strong."

"Intelligence... I see."

Combining this with the impulses I felt in my own demonized state, it was perfectly clear why the descendants of those demons found it hard to become successful.

The impulses of slaughter and desire would be impossible for an ignorant newborn to control effectively.

Even with education, a mind filled with slaughter and desire could not accept new things.

Only the few demons who could control these two desires had the possibility of learning and increasing their strength.

But even so, it was evident that the demon race was much stronger than the human race.

Even if these demons hadn't undergone systematic training and learning, their strength was generally around level ten.

Humans were different; without enough time to learn, the level of an ordinary person was usually level one.

An adult demon required no exercise or study; as long as they could understand simple words, they could be dragged to the battlefield as cannon fodder.

An adult human, even after being cultivated and trained, needed a certain amount of time to demonstrate strength on the battlefield.

From the very foundation, the demon race crushed the human race, and likely crushed other races as well.

This also made me curious about what happened nine hundred years ago. What kind of power drove the demons off this continent, leaving them to live in a remote corner, recovering and biding their time for the future?

From this perspective, the strength of the demon race was beyond doubt.

"Hilda, if the demons continue to invade, how much military force do you think the border needs to hold them back?"

She was a Guardian Knight, trained in the knowledge of leading armies in battle, so her understanding of this was certainly much deeper than mine.

While I could offer suggestions on strategy, in actual combat, I could only serve as a super healer.

"If it is only a sneak attack like this time, we only need ten thousand knights and fifty thousand regular soldiers. But if the demons give it their all..."

Hilda's expression turned heavy, and she did not continue, but her implication was clear enough.

With the current military strength of the Kingdom of the Moon... we couldn't hold.

"Alright, don't think about it anymore."

What I needed to do now was gather military power to ensure I had enough troops to maneuver while simultaneously dealing with the nobles.

If possible, it would be best to strip the military power from the nobles' hands entirely.

My strength in the demonized state was very high now, and some privileges allowed me to fight those at a higher level than me for a while.

However, the difference was still too great.

Putting aside the issue of attributes, just looking at skills... even if I stripped half of the opponent's attributes, I couldn't strip their skills, and those skills would certainly far exceed level thirty in power.

This made my demonized state somewhat awkward at this stage.

If I encountered someone of the same level, I could completely crush them, and if I met someone ten levels higher, I could hold my own.

But if they exceeded ten levels, then even if I used every means at my disposal, I would still be crushed.

Especially once they surpassed level sixty.

From the information I had gathered, I had reached a conclusion.

Once someone crossed the level sixty chasm, they could crush anyone below level sixty with one hand.

This was no longer a simple difference in level, but a difference in realm-level.

Once past level sixty, the difference in strength for every single level gained was immense.

This data wasn't something I heard from others, but something I saw in historical biographies.

Why did the Demon Marshal Zuka, who was around level sixty, immediately realize he had lost and didn't even bother to struggle when he saw me use Hero Creation?

Because he knew clearly that the gap between him and Julius was far too massive.

That wasn't something simple levels or attributes could compensate for.

Julius was one of the few top-tier Sacred Knights who could reach the max level of seventy-five.

Even if he only possessed seventy to eighty percent of his strength due to Hero Creation, his skills and combat experience would absolutely crush a level sixty Zuka.

According to the heroic biographies.

In the past nine hundred years, there had only been two knights who reached Julius's level.

Unfortunately, perhaps that is simply the fate of heroes.

Neither of them met a peaceful end.

Both died in battle, and both died during wars against the demons.

I tapped my finger lightly on the table.

I was calculating my next moves.

"Lola, are there any regulations regarding the private soldiers recruited by those nobles?"

"To answer Your Highness, there are none, but there are also no restrictions on their recruitment of private soldiers."

She truly was a genius, to a degree that was almost frightening.

She answered me directly without even flipping through that thick legal code.

"Hilda, what is the total number of scattered soldiers across the country?"

"This... Highness, I don't know the exact number. However, there should be at least ten thousand knights and forty thousand regular soldiers."

Hilda looked a bit lost and gave me an estimate after a rough calculation.

However, Lola suddenly spoke up from the side.

"The total number of knights in the ten major cities and various smaller cities is thirteen thousand four hundred and twenty-two, with a total of forty-three thousand regular soldiers."

The total military force I could command was only around fifty thousand knights!

Just those cities took away one-fifth of my strength?

In that case, rather than letting those nobles raise soldiers in secret while wasting my military power on the surface.

"Lola, most of the administrative affairs in various regions are controlled by local nobles, right?"

"Yes. Although Brilliant City nominally controls military power, in reality, the scattered knights and regular soldiers cannot maintain local order, so these forces have nothing to do in their locales."

Since administrative affairs had been handed over, why not hand over military power as well?

Instead of letting them raise private soldiers in the shadows, it would be better to legalize these private soldiers and bring them to the surface.

That way, these soldiers would nominally be the soldiers of the Kingdom of the Moon, and since I was the Saintess and Queen of the Kingdom of the Moon, these soldiers would change from being private soldiers in name to government soldiers.

This would also lay the foundation for me to take over these soldiers later.

But how to make this legal required extreme caution.

I couldn't be the one to initiate it; I had to make them initiate it.

"Hilda, do you remember which region Yuna's family is located in?"

"Highness, it is in the southeastern region."

It seemed there was a chance. I just didn't know if the Von family was willing to do this. Of course, this could also be considered a test for the Von family.

If they passed, I could fully accept the Von family's allegiance. If not... then I'm sorry, even if you want to cling to me as a follower, I won't accept it.

"Mm. Lola, call Yuna here. Mm... tell the outside world we are discussing future troop deployments."

"Yes, Highness."

Although Lola didn't know what I was planning, she quickly took the order and went to prepare.

No one living in an era can transcend the era they are in.

I didn't need to change according to the transitions of history.

Because I had an incredibly advanced perspective.

With this alone, I could far surpass those people.

Perhaps in terms of raw intelligence, I might not match them, but with the knowledge in my head, it was enough to change this country.

This was no longer a simple crush of intelligence, but one era... crushing another era.

With every step I took, I could see an infinitely distant future, because in Huaxia, all possible outcomes had a trail to follow.

What I was doing now was turning private soldiers into government soldiers. This way, they would change from their original roles as governors to a true enfeoffment system.

And only then would a great weapon of mine truly reveal its infinite power!

The Decree of Distribution of Grace!

This was a trump card sufficient to instantly tear away the masks of all the nobles.

But it absolutely couldn't be used now. The Kingdom of the Moon was currently in a state of semi-enfeoffment, and the effect of the Decree of Distribution of Grace wouldn't reach its peak.

After all, private soldiers were just private soldiers.

But if these private soldiers became government soldiers, and the military power was fragmented through the Decree of Distribution of Grace, everything would fall into place naturally without me having to do anything.

About fifteen minutes later, Yuna walked in from outside, looking travel-worn.

Outside the Temple, she washed her face with Holy Water.

There was no choice; to avoid any more demon incidents recently, this procedure had been added, which also conveniently allowed these people to clean their faces.

According to the information I had, there was no shortage of fiends among the demons who could transform into the appearance of others.

These beings often found it very easy to infiltrate the interior of other races.

Yuna strode in, her armor looking brand new, clearly having been meticulously polished, with the surface of the plates emitting a silvery glow.

"Yuna pays her respects to the Saintess Highness." Yuna knelt on one knee, performing a formal salute.

"Rise, Yuna. I told you before, we are friends. In the future, you can skip these formalities."

"Highness can be my friend, but Highness is always Highness. Some etiquette still cannot be skipped~"

Yuna stood up and explained to me with a relaxed smile on her face.

"Alright, since you insist, I won't force you."

"Mm!"

Yuna glanced around, and seeing only Lola, Hilda, and me in the hall, she couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Highness, why did you call for me? I was just about to get off duty. You're not going to make me work overtime, are you? I'm supposed to go shopping with my cousin tonight~"

Looking at the sky outside, it was indeed already afternoon. Guardian Knights usually worked during the day, while those on night duty were Brave Knights.

Precisely because they were powerful, they had many privileges, so it was no problem even if they didn't work during the day.

As long as they were there at critical moments.

But... she really is a woman after all.

Even as a Guardian Knight, Yuna wanted to go shopping after work.

Truly, women the world over are the same.

"Yuna, Highness must have called you for something important. Put those matters aside for now."

Hilda advised from the side, only for Yuna to suddenly curl her lip.

"I'm not talking to you! You haven't accompanied me to the bar for drinks in days! Blehh~"

"Yuna!! How, how can you say that in front of the Saintess Highness!"

Hilda, whose love for drinking was suddenly exposed by Yuna, immediately flushed red with shame and anger, glancing back at Luo Li.

"Why can't I say it? It's not a secret, everyone knows~"

Everyone?

So I'm the only one who didn't know?

But... Hilda actually likes to frequent bars?

That really is a surprise.

I turned a suspicious and uncertain gaze toward Hilda. Hilda met my eyes for a moment before hurriedly looking away.

She explained in a panic.

"Highness, it... it's not what you think. I just, I just... like to drink a little bit~"

Hilda pinched her fingers together, leaving only a tiny gap the size of a needle point, as if emphasizing that she didn't like drinking that much.

"It's fine, Hilda. Everyone needs to have their own interests. I won't stop you from that, and you don't need to hide it."

If a person truly had no interests at all, that would be truly terrifying.

On the contrary, having one's own interests made one feel like a living, breathing person, even if that interest was drinking.

"However, Hilda, drink in moderation~"

I said with a smile. Hilda's face instantly turned a deep shade of crimson as she looked down at her toes.

"I... I am very disciplined. I won't drink too much."

"That's good."

Putting this little topic aside, I glanced at Yuna, whose pout was so long it could have held a soy sauce bottle.

"Alright, Yuna, don't be angry with Hilda anymore. Ultimately, it's my fault for taking up your time. Tonight, I'll give Hilda the night off, and you two can go and drink to your heart's content."

"Really?"

Speaking of which... is there a mechanism in Yuna's head?

How did she manage to make her little braids wag back and forth like a puppy's tail?

"Of course it's true."