Volume 8, Chapter 75 – Mundane Matters

The long summer had finally passed. The chill of deep autumn draped Blossom in a sparse layer of golden hues. Most plants stood bare. The withered yellow earth, accompanied by an autumn wind carrying traces of chill, had caused pedestrians on the streets to wrap themselves in extra layers. Some cold-sensitive races, like the Fire Cat tribe of beastmen, were already wearing soft caps and white cloaks resembling capes, even keeping their hands tucked in their pockets for warmth as they walked.

Yet in Blossom, a place where chill seeped through everything, one location was exceptionally lively.

The royal city, Noble Council Hall.

The Elf King naturally sat at the head of the conference table. Below him, on the left and right sides respectively, sat the Thirteen Attendants led by Lucitine, and the Silvar nobles and ministers led by Fia.

By conventional logic, Lucitine, as the Queen of Death, surpassed the Elf King in both national power and personal strength. The Elf King should not have taken the head seat. Doing so would normally have provoked discontent from the Thirteen Attendants on the other side—they despised the living, how could they allow their queen to sit below another king? But now, not only did Lucitine have no objections, the Thirteen Attendants also dared not speak loudly at all.

In fact, the pace of the meeting largely followed the proposals put forward by the elf side. All Thirteen Attendants sat upright with expressionless faces. Throughout the entire process, only Lucitine occasionally nodded in thought. Even when raising objections, she questioned potential flaws in the overall plan, never voicing opposition like “Why should we undead contribute more?”

This bizarre scene perplexed even the elf nobles including Yelido. This was the first formal meeting between the two sides. Logically, the undead should have stated their demands. For this reason, their side had prepared many negotiation strategies. How could it be that no matter what they said, the other side simply nodded in agreement? One must understand, the Thirteen Attendants of the undead merely sat there, yet the elves in the conference hall shivered from the cold. The death energy radiating from them was dense enough to chill one to the bone. With such formidable strength, they should have been difficult to deal with.

Even more astonishing was that when the noble chairing the meeting posed questions to the undead, such as whether they could provide fifty thousand skeletons to assist in constructing the wind towers leading underground, these nobles clearly saw the Thirteen Attendants’ gazes first fall upon Lucitine at the head, then stealthily shift to Fia across the table. That inquiring and reverent look, as if asking “Is it really okay to send only this many people?” led the elves to speculate whether their princess had personally beaten each of these individuals, inspiring awe in their hearts.

What they didn’t know was that had they witnessed the scene in the kingdom of the dead, they would have reacted even more poorly than the Thirteen Attendants—it would be no exaggeration to say they’d have wet themselves.

Fia’s strike had not only pierced through the Elf God but had also dented the entire kingdom of the dead. The impact crater from the moon key spanned over a hundred kilometers, and the blast center had penetrated deep underground. Had the kingdom of the dead not been at the edge of the World Tree continent, Fia’s blow would have been enough to connect the World Tree continent with the Primordial Continent, literally punching through the World Tree continent. Even now, the blast center spewed molten material from deep underground like a fountain, bringing light and scorching heat to the frozen kingdom of the dead.

Such terrifying power far exceeded the scope of Ninth-Rank magic. In the hearts of the Thirteen Attendants, Fia was already equivalent to a deity. Not to mention that this deity had now thoroughly stolen the hearts of their queens (and two queens at that). Even with ten thousand percent of their courage, they wouldn’t dare utter a word of dissent to Fia. Just recalling Fia’s world-destroying magic made their legs tremble uncontrollably. In comparison, [Great Void] seemed like a child’s toy.

Furthermore, because Ruth hadn’t anticipated that massive sphere was the Elf God, she hadn’t evacuated the undead beyond a hundred kilometers during evacuation. As a result, Fia’s strike directly eliminated over seventy percent of the undead in the kingdom. Had Fia not foreseen that the magic would likely affect the undead and refrained from infusing holy power into her attack, those undead would have been instantly vaporized—this portion of undead was now revived, nourished by the dense death energy of the kingdom.

Worth mentioning was that although the moon key had been shot into the earth’s core, Fia retrieved it relying on her formidable physical capabilities. Possessing [Fire Immunity], swimming in magma felt no different from soaking in a bath for Fia. As for the immense pressure at the earth’s core, [Aegis of the Firmament] handled it without issue. What truly troubled Fia was where the molten lava had carried the moon key. Fortunately, the key shone like the sun in [Wind of Exploration]; otherwise, Fia could have swum in magma for eight or ten years without finding it.

Thanks to this, reconstruction of the kingdom of the dead absolutely required Fia’s assistance. Otherwise, the undead would either have to live in a basin or choose to relocate. Fia worked tirelessly in the kingdom for an entire week, finally using [Blessing of the Mother Goddess] to fill the crater, leaving only the deep hole at the center spewing magma—this was kept at the strong request of the undead, a memorial witnessing the deity’s downfall.

The meeting continued. Lucitine frowned.

“I have an objection. The threat of Chaos cannot be underestimated. Even Fia has to act cautiously. I believe we must commit all our resources from the start. Sending only two hundred thousand undead is too few. Once the wind towers leading to the Abyss are built, we should mobilize at least a million.”

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“Uh, a million…”

Completely caught off guard that the Queen of Death would voluntarily increase troops, the elderly noble chairing the meeting froze. Thinking he’d misheard, he adjusted his monocle, which was about to fall off, and hesitated as he looked toward Yelido on the throne.

Yelido also wore a bewildered expression, as if he’d misheard. He raised an eyebrow slightly and suggested tactfully.

“Your Majesty the Queen, is that appropriate? Although undead are beings without fatigue or pain, committing too many at once—what if massive losses occur—”

“No matter. There are as many undead slumbering in the Netherworld as one could want. Accumulated over ten thousand years, there must be tens of billions. A million is but a trifle. What does Fia think?”

By the end, Lucitine looked cautiously toward Fia.

Expressionless, Fia nodded lightly.

“I think it’s fine.”

“Then it’s decided. Once Fia builds the wind towers with earth magic, I’ll immediately send personnel to assist you in perfecting the defensive facilities. Those low-tier undead, though incapable of complex work, are experts at long-distance transport of stone and large equipment. Your Majesty the Elf King should notify elves along the route beforehand, telling them not to attack the undead. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee that undead outside my line of sight won’t retaliate.”

“Hmm…”

Yelido, with his square jaw and commanding presence, nodded slightly. Today’s meeting had been suddenly announced by Fia a few days ago, so he too felt uncomfortable at how quickly negotiations were progressing. He could only adhere to the principle of listening to the most knowledgeable and not interfering as an outsider, deciding to follow Fia’s advice.

“Gwyn, handle this matter.”

“Yes.”

The noble named Gwyn immediately began recording in his notebook.

Yelido waved dismissively at the elderly noble chairing the meeting.

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“Next item.”

“There… there are no more, Your Majesty.”

“No more?” Yelido looked up at the clock hanging in the hall. Only an hour had passed since the meeting started. His just-relaxed brow furrowed again. “Only an hour has passed, how can there be no more?”

“Indeed, no more, Your Majesty.”

The elderly noble bowed respectfully. The truth was, because Lucitine agreed to proposals so quickly, agenda items that should have taken two or three days to finalize were settled in an hour. Approving topics was as simple as reciting a menu.

Yelido couldn’t help but feel slightly embarrassed. He stroked his clean-shaven chin, hesitantly and imperceptibly shifting his gaze to Fia.

Naturally, Fia could guess what her father was thinking. Smiling, she took over the conversation.

“Then let’s end here for today. Lucitine can stay at Twilight Palace for now. Since Ruth is still adapting to her new body, there are also matters to attend to later.”

“Alright.”

“Wait, Her Highness the First Princess, this old one has a question.”

Just as a relaxed atmosphere began to flow through the meeting hall, an elderly man who had been quietly sitting on Fia’s side stood up. Though his beard was white, the old man was not stooped, fitting the image of male elves who were always tall and well-built.

Fia knew this elder’s name. He was one of the administrators of the three main Elf Towers and had also been the First Princess’s magic tutor, Master Mohr. However, ever since Master Mohr learned of Fia’s unimaginable magical power in the Milcandis Holy Kingdom, his behavior had become strange. According to intelligence Fia received from Erin Slate, Master Mohr had been searching for clues about the Unsinkable Moon, even secretly dispatching people to track its whereabouts, though his purpose was unknown.

Also interested in the Unsinkable Moon, Fia had not agreed with Erin’s suggestion to stop Master Mohr, merely instructing Erin to closely monitor his movements.

Back when Claire’s strike shattered the Unsinkable Moon, it fragmented and scattered. At the time, Fia hadn’t considered why the First Princess had to resort to such a foolish method as walking into a trap to commit suicide. Now, with sufficient clues, she thought it likely the First Princess knew she had to die by the Unsinkable Moon to awaken her soul. Thus, what exactly the Unsinkable Moon was became worth investigating. If Master Mohr could find the reason, Fia would even have to thank him for his research results.

“Please speak, Master Mohr.”

“This old one wishes to ask: Is it truly after being injured by the Unsinkable Moon that you obtained your current power?”

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“Naturally. What does Master Mohr mean?”

Master Mohr didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he stared into Fia’s eyes with a gaze as sharp as a hawk’s, as if trying to extract something from the depths of her gaze. Unfortunately, Fia’s words held no trace of falsehood. After two seconds of silence, Master Mohr withdrew his gaze thoughtfully.

“Forgive this old one’s presumption. I am merely curious.”

“Very well, Mohr. Questions about magic can wait until later. Today, distinguished guests are visiting; we should offer polite hospitality.” Yelido stood and waved his sleeve. “Dofi, entertain the guests until the evening banquet begins.”

“Alright, Father.”

Subtly winking at Lucitine across the table, Fia watched as Yelido and the many nobles departed, leaving only her and the undead party in the hall. With taut nerves relaxed, Fia unabashedly raised her arms in a long stretch. Bathed in sunlight streaming through the window, her alluring snow-white collarbone captivated Lucitine for a moment.

“Ah~ah~ Exhausting. I’d rather have fought the Elf God.”

Fia continued loosening up, swinging her arms and rolling her neck until she noticed Lucitine staring. She stopped, blinking in puzzlement.

“What’s wrong?”

“Uh, n-nothing. I was just thinking, these people are as fragile as ants. Why does Fia seem so tired from dealing with them? Couldn’t one command solve everything?”

“The living have their troubles too, you know. Human relationships and social graces matter. Besides, most of the old folks here watched me grow up and supported me. I can’t just turn my back on them after gaining power. I have to give them due respect. Once Lucitine spends more time in the world of the living, you’ll understand.”

Continuing to work on her stiff joints, Fia couldn’t help but want to hurry back to Twilight Palace. Then she could ask Liti and Milu to massage her rigid shoulders. Though Anastasia’s technique was better, Liti and Milu’s hands were smaller than Anastasia’s, offering a different kind of comfort.

Lucitine raised an eyebrow curiously, pressing further.

“Human relationships? Is that how it works with those disobedient human empires too?”

“Them? No.” Fia denied without hesitation. “I’ll deal with them in a few days. With a great enemy looming, they still squabble over who can cooperate and who can’t. Those unwilling to cooperate can simply disappear.”

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The disobedient human empires Lucitine referred to were the countries on the Western Continent excluding the Milcandis Holy Kingdom, including the Moremonti Empire. They were unwilling not only to participate in the war against Chaos but also reluctant to even guarantee cessation of hostilities with neighboring countries. Even after seeing the recording crystal Fia provided documenting Chaos, they refused to change their stance. In their view, since Chaos couldn’t climb the World Tree continent anyway, there was no urgency.

Fia understood their thinking. In the past, Silvar’s nobles had been the same. Before doomsday truly arrived, no one believed in it. But now Fia didn’t have the time to gently convince every nation of the impending threat. She would have to use slightly more forceful methods, meeting with these envoys one last time before sending them back to their countries.

“Haah, not right now though. There are more important matters at hand.”

Waving her hand, Fia shifted her gaze to Lucitine and the Thirteen Attendants behind her, sighing lightly.

“Anyway, the most urgent problem is resolved. No need to rush against time for the next few days. It’s about time I release the one in the Immortal Sanctuary. Milan is also nearing resurrection. I need to ask him exactly what happened.”

“Alright.”

Receiving Lucitine’s nod, Fia smiled and tilted her head toward the Thirteen Attendants behind her.

“What about you all? Staying at Twilight Palace or returning to the kingdom of the dead? If you also want living bodies, I can find time to prepare one for each of you. Oh, Afla should stay. Ruth needs a personal attendant. I won’t part with my maids for her.”

“Y-yes…”

Finally escaping her ordeal, Afla suppressed her joy as much as possible, nodding repeatedly at a speed she thought wasn’t too fast. She never wanted to chew on those tough, moldy bones again.

As for the remaining twelve, they hastily shook their heads, explaining with appeasing smiles.

“W-we’re fine, thank you. Please, Lady Fia, return us and Her Majesty to the kingdom of the dead.”

“Alright.”

Smiling, Fia circled around to the opposite side of the table. She extended her soft palm toward Lucitine. Once their hands clasped tightly, she used [Entanglement] to grip the Thirteen Attendants excluding Afla, teleporting everyone away.