As the epidemic across the entire Kingdom of Mason entered its wrap-up phase.
This originally lifeless Royal City erupted with a thrilling vitality in the morning light.
Before the thin morning mist had dissipated, the synchronized sounds of breathing exercises could already be heard from the Drill Ground.
Sophia was wearing that set of now perfectly tailored dark gray sportswear. Her silver hair was neatly tied into a high ponytail. Due to consecutive days of exercise, her originally cold and slender figure surprisingly revealed a sense of supple vigor.
Beside her, Daphne was carrying out a so-called morning magic power synchronization with a solemn face.
This Lord Saint was nominally monitoring everyone's heart rates, but in reality, those small hands were justifiably roaming across Sophia's back. Under the guise of massaging her meridians, she was greedily absorbing the freshest charging station energy of the morning.
Vasha, who had just returned to the team, had also changed into the same tactical uniform.
That kind of aura Vasha possessed was simply a perfect match for this outfit.
She was silently following Delilah's movements to perform weighted squats, every rise and fall as precise as a ruler.
However, her stamina couldn't keep up either; in less than a moment, she was somewhat panting alongside Sophia and the others.
Irene, meanwhile, was holding a specially made charcoal pencil to the side, recording data.
"Your Majesty, due to the intervention of the Holy Light energy replenishment, the improvement speed of your cardiopulmonary function has already surpassed biological logic!" Irene said.
"Lord Vasha's explosive power is returning, and Willow's stamina is also astonishing... This is simply the prototype of a perfect superhuman female soldier regiment!"
Meanwhile, at the other end of the Drill Ground, the atmosphere was completely different.
Chancellor Valery was currently standing on the commanding platform.
That cane of his, which symbolized power, had been casually tossed at his feet. His entire person was like an unsheathed sharp blade; where was there even a hint of old age in his eyes?
"Watch closely! This is your future life-saving talisman!" Valery let out an explosive shout full of vigor, shaking the accumulated snow off the treetops.
In front of him, hundreds of carefully selected soldiers were undergoing high-intensity rapid fire of black muskets and transitioning to close-quarters combat under Delilah's personal supervision.
Delilah wielded a teaching whip, her fiery red long hair rustling loudly in the wind.
"Your movements are too slow!" she yelled. "Chancellor Valery is already at such an advanced age, yet the speed at which he snatched the wooden swords from your hands just now was faster than you could blink! If you cannot even defend against him, how can you speak of protecting Mason?!"
The soldiers were mentally breaking down inside.
"This is godly... Was Chancellor Valery really pretending to be lame before?"
"Just what kind of Potion did Your Majesty give him to actually make an old man in his twilight years instantly revert back to the God of War from thirty years ago?"
"Or is it that Your Majesty's rule itself is a kind of miracle, such that even the God of Death has to detour around Valery's knees?"
While things were in full swing inside the Palace, an announcement sealed with Black Rose wax was solemnly posted at the main gates of the Palace.
The subjects who were originally claiming supplies and chatting at the gates instantly gathered around.
The handwriting on the announcement was not ornate, even somewhat unpolished, and the content revealed a hint of eccentricity:
"The Black Rose seeks blacksmiths of the north. The severe winter has arrived, and the furnace fire needs to be kindled. All those who wield iron, enter the Palace to receive orders."
Within the crowd, the pupils of a few white-haired old craftsmen and retired veterans who had previously served suddenly shrank the moment they clearly read the content, the water bowls in their hands nearly falling to the ground.
"This is..."
"This is the secret code from when the Old King conscripted soldiers!"
Murmurs of discussion spread through the crowd like a plague.
An old carpenter's voice trembled as he spoke.
"What do you know! This is not just a conscription! Seeking blacksmiths of the north, who is in the north? That is Orr! Your Majesty is publicly recruiting those warriors who have blood debts against Orr, to thoroughly forge that decaying City wall into Mason's shield!"
A young farmer spoke with a fanatical look in his eyes.
"I knew it! Your Majesty sending us medicine, sending masks, and even bringing out the Palace's grain to distribute earlier, that was nurturing an army! What she wants is not a group of deeply grateful commoners; what she wants is a group of physically strong lions capable of trampling the continent flat for her!"
"Look at that secret code, 'the furnace fire needs to be kindled'."
"...Your Majesty is trying to light a fire across the entire continent! That old geezer, the King of Orr, actually dared to send people to intercept and kill our merchant caravan; Your Majesty is going to directly tear down his throne!"
At this time, Sophia had just finished her combat training. She took the warm black tea handed over by Willow, helplessly enduring Daphne nuzzling the side of her neck under the excuse of helping her relax.
Victor stumbled over at this moment, his face flushed red with excitement.
"Your Majesty! A Divine Miracle! It is simply a Divine Miracle!" Victor exclaimed. "Less than an hour after that secret code announcement was posted, the young and strong men signing up have already lined up outside the city gates! They say that even without military pay, as long as they can add a piece of firewood to your furnace fire to destroy Orr, they will die without regrets! Furthermore, there are even many young women who want to join the army! We cannot even stop them!"
Sophia took a sip of tea. She also hadn't expected such a situation.
War.
These two words were terrifying to the subjects.
All ordinary people would avoid it at all costs, so Sophia had already prepared herself to be unable to conscript many soldiers, in which case she would have activated forced conscription mode.
There was no other way. Relying solely on these three hundred soldiers, even with the assistance of black muskets, they might still not necessarily be able to contend with Orr.
Not to mention that out of the three hundred soldiers, some were guarding the borders, and some were responsible for security work within the city.
Tallying everything up, there weren't many left at all.
"Since there are so many people."
Sophia set down her teacup, her eyes recovering their coldness once again.
"Delilah, Valery, I leave the people to you," she instructed. "This Queen does not look at seniority; I only want those who can fight the best, regardless of whether they are men or women. Mason does not need cannon fodder; what This Queen wants is a true Mason black musket regiment."
"Accepting the decree!"
----------
The warm winter sun spilled onto the bluestone-paved grand avenue of the Royal City. The streets, which originally appeared wide and empty due to the epidemic, were actually blocked tight at this moment by a dense sea of humanity.
At the Palace gates, the long line for conscription meandered all the way to the opposite side of the moat.
It was not just the residents of the Royal City; even the hunters far away on Eagle's Nest Mountain, the farmers of Kree Village, and even the subjects from the most remote Withered Willow Town had carried simple luggage and rushed here, treading over the unmelted residual snow.
The momentum was far grander than Sophia had imagined.
"Name?"
"Buck, from Kree Village, twenty-two years old this year."
A burly young man scratched his head naively, yet his eyes were exceptionally fanatical.
"The medicine Your Majesty gave saved my entire family. My body is so strong right now I could punch a cow to death," Buck said. "Hearing that Your Majesty wants to kindle a fire, a rough fellow like me is willing to be the first piece of firewood!"
A young girl of about fourteen or fifteen years old beside him also desperately squeezed forward. Her face still bore the faint red marks of recovering from her illness as she cried out crisply.
"Can girls join too? Please take me! Lord Irene can create those black tubes, and General Delilah can lead troops to kill enemies; I can also help Your Majesty!"
"Me too, please take me! I do heavy labor year-round, and my strength is very great; even if I have to use stones to smash them, I can smash a few bad guys to death!"
"I am a former refugee from outside the city. It was Your Majesty who let me into the city and gave me a bite to eat so I wouldn't starve to death. I want to repay Your Majesty!"
"And me! I have no parents, no wife, and no children! I am the most suitable!"
Within the crowd, this kind of sincerity tinged with a bit of madness almost materialized into substance.
In the eyes of these subjects whose lives had just been snatched back from the God of Death's scythe, Sophia was long since no longer that Girl Tyrant issuing commands from the throne, but the Goddess of Redemption walking upon the lands of Mason.
Sophia, accompanied by Willow, walked up to the pavilion on the City wall to look down.
Looking at the dense crowd below, she instinctively gathered her black fox fur tighter, her internal complaints almost unable to stop.
These people's statements made it seem as if every single one of them was about to sacrifice themselves.
Forget about the ten-year-old kid; wait until you grow for another two years.
And those old grandpas in their sixties, are you sure those old bones can withstand the recoil of the black muskets?
Just what kind of brainwashing package did that old geezer Valery add to the announcement? How are there so many people?
"Your Majesty, look," Willow said.
She extended a slender finger, pointing down at a few people who were cheerfully undergoing inspection, her tone gentle.
"Those few were among the most severely ill batch in the quarantine zone previously. If it were not for Miss Daphne's miraculous Potions, they would probably already be dry bones on the northern hillside by now. Not only are they alive and kicking now, but their strength is even much greater than before."
Sophia looked over and indeed saw several familiar faces.
Those were the subjects she had personally seen lying on straw mats waiting for death. At this moment, their faces were glowing with health as they surrounded Valery and Delilah, as if looking at the executors of a Divine Miracle.
In front of the Royal City gates, Delilah wore that light armor, her fiery red long hair like leaping flames in the cold wind.
Holding a black-lacquered long staff in her hand, she scanned every passing recruit with a chilling gaze.
Two rows of soldiers stood guard to the side to prevent anyone from taking the opportunity to cause trouble.
"Those with an unstable center of gravity, you trip while walking on your own, and you still want to fight? Eliminate!" she commanded. "You can't even pick up a chair and you still want to hold a gun? Roll back and farm! What is a ten-year-old child doing joining the fun? Come back in two years!"
Delilah's voice was sonorous and powerful. Her heroic and intimidating face caused many recruits to not even dare to raise their heads to look at her directly.
Meanwhile, Valery beside her acted like a true old fox.
He still hadn't picked up that cane, instead standing with his hands behind his back. Those murky yet viciously sharp eyes of his could always pick out the most resilient seeds from the crowd at a single glance.
With Your Majesty's current state, she would sooner or later be targeted by other wild wolves.
That meant that wars would very likely happen more than just this once. Therefore, Valery did not care whether these people could currently lift a chair.
Even for someone with very little strength, as long as they had patience and resilience, they would eventually be trained well.
If they couldn't be used now, could they still not be used in the future?
Therefore, even for those who currently couldn't participate, Valery would smilingly offer a few words of encouragement.
Even if he didn't do so, those people would still volunteer.
"Keep that hunter; his eyes have the scent of the hunt," Valery murmured. "We want that veteran too; he knows how to survive in the trenches. And that little girl; although she is thin, her strength is great, and she will also have more of a speed advantage in a war."
Valery turned his head to look at Delilah and chuckled.
"General Delilah, the foundation of our black musket regiment has now become quite thick."
"Thank you for your hard work as well, Chancellor Valery," Delilah replied.
Delilah nodded. Although she didn't understand Valery's conscription standards, she respected them.
Since Your Majesty had sent this old man here, that meant Your Majesty had her reasons.
Just as things were bustling at the Palace gates, the West Tower had fallen into a bizarre silence.
Irene had not appeared in the dining hall for three whole days.
When Sophia passed by the lower level of the West Tower, she could only hear bursts of clanging metal collisions coming from inside, along with the eccentric whistling sounds produced by some kind of boiling liquid.
"Irene, what are you doing? Do not blow up This Queen's tower." Sophia called out through the door.
With no one bothering her these past two days, she actually felt a bit unaccustomed to it.
"Don't come in, Your Majesty! This is a surprise of civilization!" Irene shouted. "Without my permission, whoever looks, I will bite them!"
Irene's slightly crazed laughter spilled out from the crack in the door.
"Orr's City wall? Hmph hmph hmph, hahahahahaha!"
A burst of bizarre laughter made Sophia subconsciously take half a step back.
"Miss Irene is truly terrifying while doing scientific research," Willow said with a smile.
But what made Sophia feel even stranger was Daphne.
This Lord Saint, who usually loved to stick by her side to recharge the most, had actually also become elusive recently.
Other than punctually producing the regular Potions to be sold to Leighton and Qubi every day, she locked herself on the top floor of the tower for the rest of her time, even having Willow leave her dinner at the door.
Furthermore, sometimes she didn't even bother finding an excuse anymore. She would suddenly rush over, say "Please forgive me, Your Majesty!", touch her hands a couple of times, and swiftly run away again.
"Daphne, what are you messing around with again?" Sophia asked from the staircase landing.
"Be good, Your Majesty... Just wait two more days." Daphne's soft and squishy voice revealed an unprecedented fanaticism and excitement.
"This minister is preparing a super good gift for you. Once this is finished, even if those shadow assassins shoot a poisoned arrow into Your Majesty's heart, this minister will be able to press your soul right back in!"
Sophia's eyelids twitched, and she silently retreated back to the long corridor.
"Willow."
"Present!"
"Everyone is working too hard; they need to be rewarded," Sophia instructed. "I saw earlier that the sheep in the sheepfold have all grown up, and they've even birthed new lambs. Tonight, pick out a well-proportioned one and make a whole roasted sheep, and then use the scraped sheep bones to stew some mutton soup to nourish these few people."
"Yes!" Willow assented very crisply, subsequently asking with a smile, "But the lords are not coming out to eat, so we will definitely have to portion it out and deliver it to everyone later. Should we save more leg meat and rib meat for Your Majesty?"
Sophia immediately gave Willow a 'this child is teachable' expression.
Night fell.
The icy cold wind howled across the wide streets of the Royal City, yet it could not disperse that tide of humanity at the Palace gates, which was as scorching hot as magma.
The red light of the torches illuminated faces filled with hope and determination, as the conscription line continued to meander like a long dragon.
Delilah and Valery sat side-by-side behind a temporarily constructed wooden table. The rosters on the table had already piled into a thick layer. The two important ministers of Mason bore solemn expressions; even if they appeared slightly fatigued under the flickering firelight, they still scrutinized every registered subject with extreme earnestness.
It was exhausting, but looking at these faces, each wanting to help share Your Majesty's burdens, Delilah could not help but be serious.
Just then, an extremely tantalizing scent of roasted meat, accompanied by the rich, mellow aroma of bone soup, pierced through the chilly air without warning.
"Everyone has worked hard."
Willow, leading several attendants carrying enormous food boxes, stepped out of the Palace gates with a steady pace.
As she uncovered the lids of the redwood food boxes, a series of distinct gulping sounds echoed across the originally quiet square.
Inside was neatly sliced roasted mutton, charred on the outside and tender on the inside, the golden grease sizzling slightly under the residual heat of the charcoal. Beside it was stacked a pile of crispy, delicious potato cakes, and furthermore, there were two large bowls of mutton bone soup, its broth as rich as milk, floating with emerald chopped leaves and steaming with scalding white vapor.
Delilah's hand, originally pressing on her long staff, loosened slightly. This instinct to intensely crave high-calorie food after high-intensity work caused her usually cold eyes to instantly light up.
Valery, meanwhile, imperceptibly straightened his spine. Sniffing that delicious aroma belonging to a top-tier reward, the corners of his mouth curled into an elegant arc.
Willow solemnly placed the first food box in front of Delilah and Valery. She then turned around to face the soldiers standing guard in the cold wind, who had even been frozen until their hands and feet went numb, her voice clear and gentle.
"Your Majesty appreciates everyone's hard work in expanding Mason's territories and protecting its peace, and has specially ordered this servant to deliver supplies," she announced. "These two portions of roasted mutton were personally instructed by Your Majesty to be rewarded to the Chancellor and the General, to comfort the two of you for your efforts in presiding over the situation."
She paused, raising her hand to signal the attendants behind her to bring out two massive, tightly sealed soup barrels.
"And for all the busy soldiers present today, as well as the black guards members maintaining Order, everyone may receive a bowl of warm mutton bone soup! Your Majesty has said that Mason's warriors should not serve her with empty stomachs in the cold wind. This warming hot soup is Your Majesty's most heartfelt commendation to you all!"
As her words fell, the entire square fell into momentary silence. Immediately after, that group of soldiers, who had been like sculptures in the harsh winter, erupted into an earth-shattering wave of cheers!
"Long live Your Majesty! Mason Immortal!"
"Thank you for Your Majesty's divine grace!"
"Mutton soup! I've lived for twenty years and haven't drunk it before!"
In the Mason of the past, let alone mutton soup, they couldn't even drink enough bean soup to be full.
Many soldiers held the wooden bowls distributed to them, feeling the scalding temperature transmitting through their palms. Looking at the minced mutton bone fragments rolling in the soup bowls, their eyes actually reddened slightly.
On this medieval continent, meat was a privilege of the nobles, and this kind of rich soup brewed from high-quality sheep bones was something ordinary soldiers rarely saw in several years.
Now, that young girl sitting on the throne had surprisingly bestowed upon them a warmth like family during their most exhausted moment.
On the other side of the square, the lining-up subjects and the spectating crowds were thoroughly shocked.
They stared blankly at the soldiers' blissful expressions as they drank the hot soup. That reverence for Royal Authority instantly transformed into a near-fanatical yearning.
"Son! Did you see that? That is mutton soup! Even the ordinary guards can get a bowl!" an old man said. "When we served at the border in the past, we couldn't even eat enough moldy Black Bread. Your Majesty, Your Majesty truly treats us as human beings, and treats the soldiers as her own hands and feet!"
"If my daughter can be selected into the black musket regiment, not only can she repay the debt of gratitude for the disease disaster back then, but won't she also be able to live like a decent person under this sacred royal flag from now on?" another person chimed in. "What Your Majesty rewarded is not soup; that is our whole family's hope!"
"I knew the furnace fire in the secret code was real! Your Majesty is using her warmth to kindle our Mason. Following such a King, even if we really die in battle under Orr's City wall, that sip of soup we drink right before dying would probably be sweet..."
"Who on earth said our Your Majesty is a Girl Tyrant? Our Your Majesty is clearly a Girl Sage King!"
"They probably just wanted to express our Your Majesty's majesty."
In the shadows on the City wall, Sophia was quietly watching this scene below.
She watched as Willow elegantly directed the distribution of the soup and water, as Delilah grabbed a piece of mutton rib without any General's airs to feast heartily, and as Valery enjoyed the subjects' reverent gazes like an old fox.
The corners of Sophia's mouth rose slightly unconsciously.
She no longer agonized over those complex modern logics, nor did she think about ignoring anything anymore.
Looking at these people working hard to protect her Order, a strange sense of satisfaction actually surged from the depths of her heart.
"You indeed did a good job," she murmured softly in her heart.
Since you are working so hard, the surprises prepared by Irene and Daphne presumably will not disappoint you either.
No matter how chaotic this continent gets, as long as the furnace fire is still burning, This Queen guarantees that you will have meat to eat and soup to drink for the rest of your lives.
She turned around, her black fox fur tracing a gorgeous arc under the moonlight.
Willow hadn't returned yet, but presumably, the roasted mutton had already been delivered to her room.
Moreover, Willow would definitely leave her the most delicious parts; she would go taste it as well.
A few days later.
The Kingdom of Mason's military expansion plan had finally drawn to a close.
That soldier troop, which originally had only three hundred people, had rapidly swelled to the scale of a thousand people under the near-crazed response of the subjects.
On that Drill Ground covered by snow, which had now been trampled solid, these thousand soldiers formed a square formation. The most eye-catching was none other than the black musket female soldier regiment consisting of three hundred women on the left side of the formation.
Wearing the improved tactical uniforms designed by Irene, their eyes no longer held even a hint of post-disaster panic; there was only the fortitude resulting from being baptized by the Potion.
As for those subjects who failed to be selected due to physical constitution or age reasons, Sophia did not let them disperse just like that.
Under her instruction, the Royal City launched a massive "general logistics mobilization."
Any subject willing to work for the Kingdom, whether it was sewing thickened marching masks, sun-drying dried fruits and meat jerky used for making energy bars, or repairing flatbed carts for transporting wood, could receive two pieces of Black Bread, a bowl of rich soup, and three brand-new copper coins.
The subjects were extremely grateful for this.
In their eyes, it was an excellent thing that people like them, whose physical constitutions were not good enough, could both do something to contribute to the country and earn food and copper coins.
Your Majesty was not just conscripting soldiers; she was reviving the entire Mason!
Although these jobs were tiring, the wages given were much more generous than those of past lords.
How was Your Majesty making war preparations? She was teaching us how to straighten our backs and live on!
Following the Black Rose, we will never have to worry about going hungry again for the rest of our lives!
This afternoon, Sophia was sitting in the Council Hall, browsing through the recruit training manual submitted by Valery.
"Your Majesty, there are a few guys... acting a bit stealthily. They claim to be hunters from Eagle's Nest Mountain and smuggling peddlers who used to run trade in Orr," Delilah said as she walked into the inner hall with her hand on her sword hilt, her brows furrowed slightly. "They insist on seeing you, saying they have an extremely important 'tactical plan' to present."
Sophia set down the manual and raised an eyebrow with interest.
"Granted. Bring them in."
Soon, three people who looked ordinary and even somewhat cowering were brought into the hall.
The leader, nicknamed "Mouse," knelt on the ground the moment he entered. His eyes darted around occasionally, and he kept his voice extremely low.
"Your Majesty, this lowly one is a rough person; I cannot lift those heavy black muskets, nor do I dare to charge into enemy lines," Mouse said. "But this lowly one worked in Orr for two years. I know their grain transport routes, and I also know when those arrogant stewards love to slack off the most."
He pulled out a medicine packet wrapped in oil paper from his chest and chuckled, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.
"We lowly ones pooled some money out of our own pockets and got some good stuff from a medicine merchant in the western part of the city. As long as Your Majesty permits, we lowly ones can bring this medicine and add some seasoning to the grain and forage of those scumbags. I guarantee that once they drink the soup and eat the cakes, they won't even be able to pull their horses, let alone lift a blade to kill people."
The Council Hall instantly fell into a dead silence.
Delilah's expression became somewhat strange. In the eyes of an orthodox General like her who advocated for "frontal assaults," this act of poisoning was simply...
However, Sophia couldn't help but laugh out loud.
I haven't even started doing 'special operations' and 'biological warfare', yet my subjects have actually voluntarily fast-forwarded to 'behind-enemy-lines armed task forces'?
This kind of 'Your Majesty, you are responsible for being elegant, we are responsible for being despicable' awareness truly hit Sophia's sweet spot.
This group of subjects was truly reliable.
Looking at these three men with resolute yet slightly naive expressions, Sophia's fingertips, which had been lightly tapping the tabletop, stopped.
She leaned back slightly against her chair. Her pale golden pupils reflected the flickering firelight of the Council Hall, and her tone remained cold, yet carried a hint of probing.
"This is work that could lose you your heads. Even if it succeeds, the history books might not necessarily record your names," Sophia said. "This Queen is actually curious; since when did the hunters of Eagle's Nest Mountain become so patriotic?"
Hearing this, the leading "Mouse" trembled. He subsequently kowtowed heavily, his voice extremely hoarse.
"Your Majesty, we lowly ones don't understand history books, much less the big picture," Mouse said. He raised his head, his eyes slightly red. "We lowly ones only remember that massive blizzard this year that almost reached over our knees. At that time, we lowly ones were chasing a deer deep within Eagle's Nest Mountain, but unexpectedly encountered a whiteout and were trapped alive in that cave for three days and three nights."
A companion beside him also couldn't help but speak up.
"That's right, the dry rations we brought with us were long gone by then, and our legs were frozen numb. This lowly one thought at the time that my life was over right there. The most pity was the underage kids at home; I feared they would starve to death before the snow even stopped."
Mouse wiped his face and continued.
"But who would have thought, just as we lowly ones were about to close our eyes, my wife actually led the men from the village, carrying bread and hot soup, and forced their way through the snowy paths to find us up the mountain! This lowly one even scolded her for being crazy at the time, but she cried and told me that it was Your Majesty's carriage that had entered the mountains and distributed life-saving grain to every household. It was only because she and my old mother had eaten their fill and had the strength to live on that they dared to carry cakes and brave the wind and snow up the mountain to search for us. If it weren't for that sack of grain from you, how would my wife have the strength to climb the mountain? Our dozen or so brothers would probably have long become frozen ghosts on Eagle's Nest Mountain by now."
The last man smiled naively, yet his eyes were incomparably resolute.
"Your Majesty, we mountain folks have cheap lives, but our hearts aren't blind," he said. "The King of Orr treats us like weeds, but you treat us as living, breathing people. Our lives were picked back up by you. Now that you want this Black Rose flag to be planted in Orr, we lowly ones don't have the skills to pull a gun and fight in a war, but we are the most adept and most willing to do this kind of dirty work that comes from the bottom of our hearts!"
For a time, the Council Hall was so quiet that only the crackling of burning wood in the fireplace could be heard.
Victor raised a hand to wipe the tears from the corner of his eyes. This was the karma planted by Your Majesty!
A Divine Miracle... yet another Divine Miracle!
Your Majesty's seemingly ordinary disaster relief actions had surprisingly transformed into the sharpest hidden arrow piercing enemy lines at this moment!
She not only saved their lives, but also planted the seed of 'protection' in their hearts.
This kind of loyalty that transcends material rewards, rooted in bloodlines and family, is the truly indestructible weapon of the ruling class!
How was Your Majesty delivering grain? That was sowing loyalty, harvesting these fearless hearts capable of overthrowing a kingdom!
Sophia looked at the three weather-beaten faces in front of her. That trace of helplessness in her heart was gradually replaced by an indescribable softness.
So it turned out that the supplies she had casually distributed had surprisingly returned in this manner at this time.
She stood up, her silver hair swaying gently with the movement.
She didn't make any sensational promises, merely turning her head to look at Willow, her calm tone revealing an unquestionable majesty.
"Granted."
"Complying with the decree! Thank you for Your Majesty's grace!"
The three men shouted in unison, the fanaticism in their voices nearly blowing the roof off the Council Hall.
Although this kind of plan didn't sound very holy, Sophia liked the effect very much.
Sophia leaned her body forward slightly, a rare softness in her gaze.
"Willow, issue them two sets of camouflage outfits and ample travel funds each," Sophia ordered. "If this matter succeeds, This Queen will record you for the first merit."
Seeing Your Majesty rarely this happy, Delilah did not dissuade her.
This was merely a temporary expedient; other kings would only do dirtier things.
Their Your Majesty was merely accepting the opinions of her subordinates; Your Majesty was still the best.
Just as the three subjects, including Mouse, had accepted the travel funds with effusive gratitude and were bowing to back out of the Council Hall, a burst of hurried and brisk footsteps suddenly came from outside the main doors.
"Wait! Don't leave yet!"
A white blur, accompanied by a certain holy and sweet aura, swept into the hall like a small whirlwind.
She had hurried over the moment she heard the news; thankfully, she made it in time.
Daphne's brilliant blonde hair was slightly messy from running. She pressed against the main doors while panting, those sapphire-like clear eyes staring fixedly at the paper packets in the hands of the three hunters.
Looking at Daphne's flushed cheeks from the exercise, and recalling her usual holy appearance of not hesitating to overdraw her magic power to treat the subjects, Sophia's heart skipped a beat, and she even set down her black tea cup more gently.
Seeing Daphne's expression, Sophia suddenly remembered something.
Oh no, I forgot about this.
Daphne was a genuine Magical Girl after all; the education she received was probably all that 'save the world, love and peace' stuff.
Seeing this despicable act of poisoning the grain and forage, this girl's fragile Magical Girl values would probably shatter across the floor.
Sigh, I'll still have to figure out how to make up some nonsense like 'for the greater justice' to coax her...
Sophia sighed imperceptibly and lamented in a low voice to Delilah and Willow beside her.
"She is a child possessing the Holy Light after all; her heart is as pure as a blank sheet of paper. For this kind of dark scheming, she is probably unable to accept it."
Willow also nodded in deep agreement. "Lord Saint is indeed too kind. This kind of thing might be a bit too cruel for her."
However, before Sophia could figure out how to begin soothing this 'pure young girl,' Daphne had already taken large strides to stand in front of Mouse.
"That kind of medicine you guys just took... I've heard about it," Daphne said.
Daphne stared at those paper packets, her brows furrowed tightly.
"The efficacy of this kind of street good is too slow, and it can easily be tasted by their experienced veterans. The people of Orr may be feudal, but their tongues are not clumsy."
Just when everyone thought she was going to admonish everyone to 'lay down their butcher's knives,' Daphne expertly reached into the pocket at her waist and actually pulled out several vials of glowing, sparkling transparent Potions, excitedly stuffing them into Mouse's arms.
"Use this!" Daphne said, her speech extremely fast, a certain light flashing in her eyes. "This is a failed product from my recent Potion research. Although it can't cure diseases, it can cause people to experience strong hallucinations of 'the earth dancing and cattle and sheep speaking' within three minutes of drinking it! The key point is, it's colorless and odorless, and it will even increase the umami of the soup. Once you mix these in, the enemy won't just have diarrhea until they can't stand up, but they'll also think they've turned into happy mushrooms! This kind of dual physical and mental strike is what you call professional!"
Mouse's trio held those few vials of crystal-clear "poison" that looked terribly high-grade, completely petrified.
Delilah's hand resting on her sword hilt trembled slightly. That final struggle of "this does not conform to the spirit of martial arts" in her heart vanished completely into thin air in the face of the Potion's "turning into mushrooms" effect.
After finishing her instructions on the precautions, Daphne finally acted as if she suddenly remembered something. She turned her head and looked at Sophia with an innocent and romantic expression, even tilting her head in an extremely innocent manner.
"Oh right, Your Majesty, this minister was far away just now and didn't hear clearly... Were you trying to say something to this minister just now?"
Sophia's hand holding the teacup froze in mid-air for a full five seconds. Looking at Daphne's crystal-clear eyes that looked as if she were really just helping a neighbor deliver some seasoning, she silently swallowed back the soothing words that had already reached her lips, and squeezed out a single word with a twitching mouth.
"...No."
Sophia set down the cup, her eyes revealing a profound sense of 'my own child has grown crooked'.
So it turned out Daphne had been researching how to drug people these past two days.
"This Queen just wanted to praise you; this tactical plan is very creative."
Daphne happily narrowed her eyes, her blonde hair trembling excitedly behind her.
"Being able to help Your Majesty is this minister's honor!"
Watching Daphne run out like a whirlwind once again, Sophia leaned back against her chair speechlessly.
She had originally thought she was leading a group of holy saints, but it turned out that one by one... they were actually all ruthless characters wanting to send the enemy army to their graves.
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