Chapter 269 – Chapter 27

Sarak-

Wearing a dress woven from the finest silk that only royalty could wear, Lillian moved meaninglessly.

It was because her life, always wearing only rough clothes and armor, looked so awkward.

“Lillian. Everyone is gathered.”
“Okay. I’ll go now.”

After a while, Priscilla came in dressed as a royal knight.

As they started walking down the aisle together, they looked at each other and burst into laughter.

“Lillian, what should I do? It’s so awkward.”
“Me too. Since I don’t have any armor or weapons, I’m anxious and keep groping for weapons.”
“You’ve been to the Harlot Royal Festival before, haven’t you?”
“It was awkward then too. But I don’t feel relieved to think that I have to keep wearing this outfit.”

For the two people, who still have a sense of rough living as mercenaries, the clothes made of good materials made them feel awkward.

“But you’ve come this far.”
“Yes. We have arrived at the end point we set. But it is also a new beginning. It will probably be more difficult and painful than before.”

Lillian foresaw the hardships they would face in the future.

If it becomes known that he keeps the vampires alive and hires heterogeneous people as his vassals, he will become a public enemy of the western continent.

But aside from that, she couldn’t think of a way to revive this country.

“By the way, remodeling the castle must be a big deal.”
“Because the two surnames have joined.”

Priscilla sighed at the spiky decorations and bricks all over her hallway.

As the castles with different atmospheres are combined, the interior has an extremely complicated atmosphere.

The colors of the walls are also different, so some walls are clean, but some are dark colors that suit the taste of vampires.

At least, the inside of the castle was tolerable as long as Vannes was willing to endure a little inconvenience, but the outside of the castle was in a strange shape that could not be touched.

As we headed to the end of the hallway, the door was opened by vampires who served as servants of the castle under Barnes.

When he went out the door, he arrived at the back of the throne where his father was sitting.

After the incident, the throne where Barnes sat was again greeted with a legitimate heir.

“Has everyone gathered?”

Sitting on the throne, Lillian opened her mouth to the vampires who were waiting for her.

Hundreds of vampires were gathered in the king’s reception room because all the low-level vampires, such as servants and bodyguards, had been summoned.

However, since they were not breathing vampires, they didn’t feel a creepy presence.

“A few villages complained of damage from monsters, and all gathered except for those who were dispatched to help them.”

Upon arriving at the palace, Vannes, who had completely recovered by absorbing his blood, stood up as the representative and lowered his head.

It was to show the vampires that he had become a servant of Lillian.

“I see. Thanks for helping the people, Vannes.”
“It was something I had to do, of course.”

Congratulating Vannes for his exploits as queen, she opened her mouth to the vampires.

“For me, this is a place I will never forget. About 10 years ago, I last saw my father, who was prepared to die as king.”

When the sensitive story came out to everyone, some of the vampires flinched and overreacted.

“No matter how accidental it is, the fact that I lost my parents and lived as a savage from a princess doesn’t change.”

As they continued to bring up grudges from the past, the vampires began to show anxiety little by little as they alternated between Barnes and Lillian.

“No matter how strong you are, you can’t hold on to the past that has already passed. However, it is human beings to stretch out their hands and yearn for them, knowing that they cannot hold on to the ship that has already flowed into the past.”

She closed her eyes and let her heart rise and fall several times as she briefly recalled her past.

“Occasionally, I may reach out for a ship that has drifted into the past. However, as the queen who has taken charge of this country, I will look ahead and move forward. From today on, I will not be obsessed with the favors of the past, and I will accept you, including Vanes, as my subjects. If you can’t serve me as a human, you can leave now. I’ve talked to Barnes, so I won’t stop them from leaving.”

The vampires, unable to sense any lies or hidden anger in her voice to forget Eun-won, knelt down on the spot.

They recognized her as their queen.

Finally, Vannes got down on one knee in front of her Lillian and spoke on behalf of everyone.

“Our blood relatives will give their allegiance to Queen Lillian.”
“Loyalty to Queen Lillian.”

Accepting her quiet but weighty declaration, Lillian orders her to continue doing what she has been doing until special orders are given.

As the vampires returned to their positions, Lillian let out a sigh of relief.

“Whoa. I was very nervous.”
“Kick-kick. Then did you think you would rebel?”
“Honestly, about half.”
“Most of the blood relatives remaining in this castle are moderate or neutral. Some of the hardliners have left, but they are not very powerful, so I’ll notice if they do something.”
“I thought of both when the war was won and when it was lost.”
“There is that, but the moderates and neutrals were very passive in combat.”

Thanks to Barnes, moderate and neutral vampires remained, and the hardships of rebuilding the kingdom from the ground up were avoided.

“First of all, tell me about the policy you’ve been working on. Renting a skeleton to the village looks a bit like it, but it seems practical.”
“Fortunately you know what to do as a king.”

Barnes insisted that the most important thing in ruling the people was quick information.

If it takes days or even weeks to notify you of a problem, it can be over before you ask for it.

In fact, there are many cases in which some villages in the Western Continent are annihilated without even being notified of raids by bandits or monsters.

Cities have communication spheres, so it is possible to deliver quickly, but it costs a lot of money to deploy communication spheres to small villages, and even if they are deployed, it is meaningless because there are no magical users required to use them.

The Cameld Kingdom sent familiars such as small bats or animals to each village to live, and to send signals when there was a problem.

“It’s not bad, but it’s impossible now.”
“Because the number has been reduced by the war. If you leave that task to those who remain here, they will try to assassinate you and me at the same time.”
“I’ll have to postpone that part to a later date. I’ll be busy just finding out about the kingdom.”

Starting from checking the kingdom’s financial situation and population, reforming currency and securing taxes, there was a lot of work to do in the future.

“Lily…Kuhmm. Queen. There is a plan to reduce the Queen’s work.”

Priscilla changed her tone because she now had to respect her as her queen.

“Call me when we’re alone.”
“Still…”
“It’s because I’m uncomfortable.”
“Okay.”
“So, what’s the plan?”
“Why don’t you ask Artemis for help? Countess Akina also liked it because she said it became very comfortable.”
“Artemis?”

Barnes tilted his head when he came across a name that was not in the information he had gathered.

“It is an artificial intelligence sent by Kaicent’s parents. It is a being with the ability to manage the entire world alone.”
“I don’t understand it well, but it would be fine if Count Akina praised it for being comfortable.”

The two suggested that Kaicent, who was recovering, be entrusted to Artemis.

But Lillian thought for a moment, and then she shook her head.

“No. This is my job.”
“Isn’t it much easier and faster to entrust it to Artemis?”
“I’m sure. But as soon as I became the owner of this kingdom, I couldn’t entrust such an important task to someone else. If I had planned to become a king who knew nothing about my own kingdom, I wouldn’t have come this far in the first place.”
“Whoops. That’s a good attitude. In the future, I’ll share my work with that artificial intelligence? But if I don’t make an effort to learn the kingdom, it means I don’t have the mindset of a king.”

If you entrust it to Artemis, it will be easy and quick to check, but Lillian’s efforts to learn her kingdom through her own efforts will make her feel a sense of duty as her king.

In addition, she insisted that since it was her first time working with a vampire, she had to do it herself.

“Priscilla organizes a security force with her men.”
“There are only 20 people in all?”
“I’ll have to increase the scale later, but right now I need a little bit of strength to minimize confusion. And I tell the other species that it’s okay to call talented people.”
“Okay.”

Priscilla tried to get out of her reception room to organize a security guard to minimize chaos in the capital.

“First, let the human subordinates gain experience in the security forces. After that, I’ll lend you a skeleton. If they act as chiefs, we’ll be able to put out a big fire right away.”
“Thank you. Then I’ll leave the work behind.”

Vampires could not go out of the sun, but undead soldiers could move under the sun.

Priscilla, who was able to breathe thanks to Barnes’ promise of support, began to move busily to tell the other species a message.

“You and the others help me to collect kingdom statistics and bring them back.”
“Okay. Lord Sirin will be restored soon, so I’ll let you escort him.”
“Thank you, Vannes. Now, for protecting the kingdom, for leaving moderate and neutral vampires behind.”
“You’re friends.”

After expressing Lillian’s gratitude with the word friend, Vannes walked out of the reception room with a plain smile.

“Haaa~ I miss Kaicent.”

The weight of the crown is already pressing down on the whole body.

If Kaicent were by his side, he would have hugged him tightly and rubbed against his soft, soft, boy-like face.

But I couldn’t depend on him forever.

‘If it wasn’t for Kai Sent this time, he would have been defeated.’

Recalling the image of the boy who saved her own life several times in her life, she felt infinite gratitude for her sacrifice for her own sake.

What should I do to repay the child?

‘Oh my god. I already want to see it, so I think I’ll have withdrawal symptoms.’

When I think of Kaicent, I want to tell him to come to his side, whether it’s recuperation or something.

However, her withdrawal symptoms were forced to overcome as she was buried in a pile of paperwork that would come after a while.

*                           *

It was the neighboring countries that noticed that the Cameld Kingdom was changing to the Luciarkenel Kingdom.

The dark clouds, which were always thick, disappeared and the sun appeared. If you don’t notice it, you are incompetent beyond incompetence.

In particular, Harlot Kingdom, which was greedy for black soil, was most active in identifying the situation by sending scouts.

In the process, he learned three shocking facts, and the Harlot royal family fell into confusion.

The first is the fact that the leader of Wolf’s mercenary corps was the last and legitimate successor to the Lucy Arkenel royal family.

The second is that Lillian made a contract with the sacred tree from the founding legend to win the Cameld Kingdom and obtain its surrender.

The third and last one is that Count Akina Karaiden is missing.

The Kingdom of Harlot, who fell into a sudden wave of information, started discussing how to treat the kingdom of Lucy Arkenel while focusing on interpreting the information, starting with the legend of the divine tree.

If they hadn’t started a war towards the Cameld Kingdom, they might have waged a surprise war or plunder to take possession of the black soil, targeting the chaotic situation.

However, the present Harlot Kingdom, which had been counterattacked by the Cameld Kingdom and suffered considerable damage, sent a spy to obtain as much information as possible while looking at the situation.

When this news starts to spread in the western continent and many countries are confused about how to view the kingdom of Luciarkenel,

“In the end, Lillian won.”
“It is a great danger that she has created her kingdom by accepting a dangerous alien species like Kai Sent as her subordinate.”

The Guardian Corps of the Western Continent was very aware of Lillian’s actions, using Kaicent, a special A-class dangerous alien, as a subordinate.

For those who want to annihilate her alien species, Lillian using her alien power is tantamount to betraying the world.

As evidence of that, all executives were urgently summoned to rebuild the kingdom of Lucy Arkenel.

“Send an assassination team.”
“Would that be okay? Jin Soo-ah would be expecting an assassination attempt from this side as she joined the other side?”
“Damn it! That’s why I shouldn’t have accepted it into the Guardian Corps! The East Continent guys don’t even know this simple fact!”

Lillian’s impression of using alien powers against them was that of a fallen man who fell for the devil’s temptation to destroy the world.

“Once you have used a different species, you will not hesitate to use the power of a different species in the future. You must assassinate.”
“I have a good idea.”

When someone tried to make an opinion here, everyone’s eyes gathered.

“You?”
“You, followers of Nozgna?”

Since he was a follower of Nozgna, the evil god responsible for chaos, calamity, and destruction, everyone didn’t expect much.

In the first place, all those who worship evil gods like Nozgna had a personality breakdown, and that man was the least rational among them, but he had a psychotic tendency to enjoy the fear and pain of others.

“Listen to my thoughts first. Rebuttals will follow.”

He preached the answer he thought to everyone.

He didn’t pay attention at first, but after hearing the explanation, it was quite plausible.

“How about it. If you have a better idea than this, I’ll accept it.”
“…Not bad.”
“The preparation period is a little long, but I can definitely kill it.”
“But if I carry out this plan, will you die?”
“If I can kill a special A-class alien, I will sacrifice my life.”

It was a plan that even most executives nodded their heads at, so everyone began to materialize the plan in detail as a basic basis.

‘It was successful, Mr. Nozgna.’

Jincheon, the transcendant of the other world, dared to make a newcomer feel the fear of death even as a human subject.

Nozgna’s reach for his son was once more.