Episode(69) Troublesome demon worshippers
SOVEREIGN OF DEATH~(69)
[I know]
Her beautiful jewel like eyes surveyed the room and landed on the nobles one by one.
[We cannot disregard the hard work and sacrifices of those involved, so of course Count Gizmodo, Knight Captain Mavis and the Sage will be rewarded for their efforts]
Hearing these words caused a wide smile to form on Gizmodo's face.
[No need to concern me your highness, I was hardly of any help]
Just the thought of being rewarded was enough to satisfy his heart.
It showed that the princess was thoughtful of her subjects and wasn't just a calculative ruler who would skimp on rewards just to fatten her own pockets.
Most officials were afraid of a competent ruler.
For himself?
He welcomed it with open arms.
In fact, he really did nothing at all. Aside from being beaten one-sidedly, the only help he amounted to was providing a distraction.
He would feel rather embarrassed to receive a reward so he genuinely didn't need any at all.
But Maria shook her head.
If she didn't give proper rewards, the noble faction might use this as a chance to incite other nobles.
Maybe something along the lines of being too greedy to relinquish proper rewards when good work is done.
'We can't have noble's switching factions now-'
A coupe may even occur and it was her head that was on the line if that occurred.
[No No-]
So what if you didn't want a reward?
Didn't matter!
She would shove it down his throat until he had no choice but to be grateful.
Maria smiled elegantly.
[Your help, no matter how small kept many of us alive in that battle. Without even one person that was present I am sure that night would have been a lot more disastrous]
Her eyes sharpened and the air around her seem to become heavy.
Looking at the current princess, Gizmodo couldn't help but gulp and take a sharp breath.
It wasn't a question of whether he wanted it at all.
It was a demand, no, a threat!
You have to take the reward or else!
Those smiling yet fierce looking eyes said it clearly!
To avoid all future discord that may lead to her not taking the throne as the official empress, she needed to reward everyone involved in last night's battle and remove any factor that may lead to conflict.
Gizmodo also seemed to realize this and gave in.
[Well, I gratefully accept your grace princess]
Finally!
Maria heaved a sigh of relief.
She worried whether she'd need to threaten this guy with extinction of his entire family before he took the gift.
Seriously, other nobles couldn't wait to receive a gift from the royal family and yet this guy was acting as if it was a hot potato.
[Good]
She smiled, genuinely happy now that she no longer had to worry about stupid nobles.
Seriously, couldn't they all just go die?
But that was troublesome as well.
If they all died the empire would suffer a loss since each noble house was involved in various industries.
'If only they would just shut up and be obedient!'
But since she couldn't hope for them to be obedient then she needed to constantly look over her shoulder and come up with pointless strategies.
'So tiring'
Even so, now that she was free of such worries she smiled and decided to end the topic.
[Now the, let's move unto other matters]
Looking to her right, she asked the nobleman seated two seats away from her.
[Minister of Barrier defenses, Gilliard. How are efforts to repair the barrier coming along]
The man, white hair and a monocle over his right eye stood up slowly.
Holding a report in his hands, he bowed once in respect to the princess before relaying the report.
[Then allow me your highness-]
Fixing his monocle with a finger, he once again focused his gaze on the papers.
[Due to the high ranking demons that appear at intervals to spread miasma, over the years several key nodes and areas of the barrier had deteriorated, though with their strength it was judged to not have been an issue]
Well, that was until Sullivan showed up.
No one expected such a strong demon to enter the fray.
And even if they did, it was usually once the war had developed to the point where it was an all-out battle against demons and humans.
[It was my oversight. We the department of defense are willing to accept whatever punishment]
Maria just waved her hands.
To be honest, even if the barrier were repaired and improved it still wouldn't be able to keep a monster like Sullivan from breaking in to the capital.
It might have been more difficult and they would have definitely been alerted, however-
'What would that change?'
It might have even irritated the demon more causing even more of a bloodshed not limited to the ballroom but to the common folk in the capital as well.
[Your punishment will be decided at a later date, get back to current affairs]
Gilliard bowed, gratitude evident on his face.
Although he would still get punished, putting it off like this would definitely make it a lighter one as the days went by and other disgruntled nobles needed to focus on other things.
This way, even if he got a light punishment they would either be too busy to care or argue about it at all.
Princess Maria was doing him this favor and he was grateful.
Maria nodded, she only did this because she knew Gilliard wasn't a bad person.
Not to mention he wasn't a part of any faction but, he was also one of those that supported and pushed her to become the standing queen.
Not to mention that he was the most skilled when it came to barrier formation in this empire.
This wasn't someone she could afford to offend!
Gilliard nodded and continued his report while looking at the other nobles around the room.
[Thanks to lady Aoi and the church's efforts, the surrounded Miasma had been cleared and by the end of the week we will have integrated a new and improved barrier system strong enough to defend against even wyverns!]
[I see...]
Maria nodded.
Though a wyverns strength didn't even measure up to half of Sullivan's strength, she doubted the demon lord would continue to send such powerful demons to attack.
Even though Floren was an empire now containing heroes that could threaten the demon king, for the demons Floren wasn't the most dangerous.
Floren may contain the only summoned heroes, however there were also heroes of this world in other countries as well.
These fellows could cause quite a bit of damage so she was confident the demon king wouldn't only focus on her nation alone.
Surely they wouldn't focus their killing intent on Floren alone?
Surely not…
'Right?'
She could only hope that wasn't the case.
Seriously, ever since her father decided to seal summoning circles Floren had experienced nothing but disasters.
In any case, if it could defend against wyverns then holding back the heavenly generals for a few days seemed possible.
If it took them a while to break through, then even if they didn't want to lend a hand.
Since it involved the demon kings army, as long as they could stall for time other nations would have no choice but to intervene.
It was a rule stated by the goddess herself that regardless of conflict all humans should unite.
In any case, she could now take this worry off her chest for the moment.
Rather she worried about something else.
[What of the demon worshippers? Have they made any distinct movements yet?]
Yes, those bastards.
Human born but dared to worship devils!
They were like cockroaches.
Where ever a demon popped up they would cause a ruckus claiming it to be the advent of the demon god.
They were surely to make a move after this, and especially since it involved such a powerful demon they would definitely make a big move.
Gilliard shook his head.
[Not any that we are aware of...oh, but there is something strange]
He hesitated.
This cause Maria to furrow her brow. She opened her mouth and spoke in a commanding tone.
[Speak..]
Nodding, Gilliard's expression turned dark and his fingers pressed deep into the paper slightly crumpling it.
[Yes, according to the reports, there have been a huge number of missing livestock-]
[Livestock?]
Maria echoed the word in confusion.
No matter how much she thought she couldn't imagine what this meant?
Why livestock?
Unable to come up with an answer of her own, she decided to let Gilliard continue.
Upon seeing the princess's thoughtful expression vanish and her eyes focused on himself again, he continued.
[Yes, we have sent several lower ranking soldiers out to scout and report, however we never received contact afterwards]
Indeed, this was a concerning matter.
Soldiers disappearing was one thing, if a food shortage were to occur now it was then spell a serious disaster for Floren.
And if they were to employ the hunter's guild, it would cost funds.
Funds they didn't have because they paid reparations to other countries for the loss of their summoning circuits.
[Do you have any thoughts as to why such a problem is occurring?]
She turned to Gilliard.
[No, your majesty. Unfortunately to say but I've never seen this case before]
Unfortunately, Gilliard knew nothing.
For an old man you're quite useless.
Knowing nothing but Barrier studies was both a plus and a minus for this guy.
[Is that so...]
In the end she could only sigh.
She felt sorry for the soldiers that went missing in this unnatural case, but-
As she stated before, it'd be an even more serious issue if a food shortage happened now.
It didn't show because she had taken the throne from her father, but the common folk were undoubtedly unhappy with the royal family.
If she were to not only fail to fix the situation her father cause but even worsen it, she didn't even want to think about what they would do to her.
[For now let's put that on our list of priorities]
Seriously, the problems just continued to multiply.
[Next is something I think you are all worried about]