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Chapter 4: Farewell

“Sorry about that, Vilyric. I wasn’t strict enough, and now you’re witnessing this absurdity. You don’t need to take to heart what she said earlier; just go ahead and set up the portal. I’ll make sure it’s heavily protected around the clock.”

“Haha, you don’t have to go that far…”

The 【Invisible Space Portal】 is an advanced version of the regular portal magic. When inactive, it cannot be seen or touched at all; unless the magic-engraved stone tablet is destroyed, it can exist indefinitely in the cracks of space.

“Well…

After thinking for a moment, Vilyric decided to speak up.

“Liliya, that last move was really cool! Maybe in the future, I’ll have to call you Your Majesty~”

“???”

Seeing the black-haired girl with a smirk on her face, the Queen blushed immediately, her gaze wandering as if she wished to find a crack in the ground to disappear into, entirely forgetful of the earlier authoritative demeanor she had shown when she got mad at Philena.

“What nonsense are you talking about… It’s just Philena being careless with her words. I’m worried that Vilyric might decide not to build the portal because of that…”

“Oh~ said what?”

“You… how infuriating! I’m ignoring you!!!”

In any case, after a round of bumps and playful quarrels, the Priestess successfully established the invisible portal in the fitting room next to the Queen, managing to hide and protect the stone tablet with a small barrier.

There was absolutely no way for ordinary means to destroy it.

Vilyric tried it out briefly and confirmed that it was indeed functioning as expected.

Thus, all preparations were complete.

…

The next day.

In the palace square, hundreds of envoy members and the fully equipped military guard were ready to set off.

The army of the City of Courage, especially the city guards, had suffered significant blows during the troubles a month ago; the three legions that were incited to revolt by Ban were practically non-existent, scattered to the winds, and other legions also suffered varying degrees of casualties.

Therefore, after ascending to the throne, Liliya aimed to resolve this issue and completely eliminate the lingering effects of party strife within the army; she simply disbanded the original ten legions, reorganized everything, and mixed them with newly recruited soldiers.

After expansion, four group armies were formed, each with thirty thousand troops, perfectly matching the fifteen thousand who guard the central royal palace, with Liliya personally appointing trusted generals to rotate leadership.

Since this part of the army was still in a phase of integration, it wasn’t suitable to send them out just yet; hence, the three-thousand-strong guard for the envoy was drawn from another army.

The Western Town Army.

That’s right, it’s the elite force led by General Layton, who has long been clashing with the Beast Kingdom, boasting rich combat experience and excellent equipment, renowned as one of the kingdom’s finest divisions.

Originally, the three legions sent by Layton to escort Liliya back to the capital consisted of thirty thousand men with above-average combat power, all top-notch fighters, completely obedient to Liliya’s command.

Upon reaching the City of Courage, Princess Liliya didn’t let them return right away; instead, she created a false impression that they had been sent back but secretly instructed them to lie in ambush outside the capital, waiting for the right moment.

This was Liliya’s backup plan and surprise weapon.

On the night the upheaval occurred, this military force promptly received orders to encircle the royal capital from outside and dispatched a large number of scouts to patrol the vicinity, even annihilating what seemed to be a thousand-man private army originally assigned by Ban for his escape.

Even if Rebecca hadn’t betrayed them at that moment, Ban would have found it no easy feat escaping the encirclement.

After a performative mobilization ceremony, the Queen, now dressed in less eye-catching long robes, quietly approached a certain Priestess who was about to set off.

In a relatively secluded corner, she engaged in leisurely conversation with a blonde girl named Xiao Guang and two adorable white-haired sisters whom she had picked up from who knows where, as a beautifully crafted, comfortable carriage awaited nearby, pulled by a bored-scaled beast yawning away.

And there was one more person.

She, too, had golden hair, but of a lighter shade, resembling a sun-kissed pale gold, bearing a holy sword at her side, a cross-shaped shield on her back, clad in white holy knight armor, adorned with holy symbols on her wrists and a six-winged emblem around her neck.

Indeed, it was Holy Knight Miss Edwina.

She wasn’t originally from the United Kingdom but happened to be traveling here when she accepted an invitation from a still-princess Liliya, which meant she could only strictly be considered a collaborator.

Now that the struggle for the throne had been settled, Edwina no longer saw a need to remain.

Coincidentally, she heard about the Queen sending an envoy to visit the Kingdom of Azure and, having learned through her own channels about the mysterious movements in the 【Abyss】 and the surge of monsters, she decided to join the trip to see for herself.

Rumor has it that the Holy Kingdom also dispatched envoys to investigate, possibly including some familiar faces for Edwina.

However, she only found out today that Vilyric had joined the envoy team as well, immediately rushing over, and was now sitting in the carriage, making nice with the scaled beast.

“Hi, Vilyric.”

The Princess greeted with a beaming smile.

“Liliya’s here! I said you would definitely come to say your goodbyes during this time! Xiao Guang, you lost~”

“Hmph…”

The little dragon girl standing behind the black-haired girl made a vague sound, glaring at the Queen before turning her head away and falling silent.

The graceful and kind-hearted girl quickly picked up on the little dragon’s feelings, choosing not to point it out but instead smiling as she approached Vilyric, opening her arms for a hug with the Priestess, who was wearing the white lavish dress Liliya had provided.

They gently parted.

“Don’t miss me too much, okay, Vilyric?”

“Haha, that should be the line for you to say.”

The Queen chuckled helplessly but didn’t argue.

“Alright, I won’t say anything long-winded at such a time. Just be careful on the road; although you’re strong, the world still holds many mysteries, so don’t underestimate anything.”

“Got it, got it, you sound just like a mom…”

Though she seemed to grumble, Vilyric obediently nodded.

“By the way, here, take this.”

Liliya pulled out a finely crafted female statue, exquisitely detailed and almost lifelike, about ten centimeters tall, seemingly carved from a certain stone, with a pair of wings on its back.

“What is this?”

Glancing around to ensure there were no outsiders, Liliya slipped the stone statue into Vilyric’s hands and leaned in to whisper.

“This is an idol of the God of Sky and Freedom, Minerva, worshipped by the Winged People. It’s not just any ordinary sculpture; it was excavated about a century ago by our country’s adventurers from ruins near the Abyss.”

“This thing has an exceptionally hard texture, impervious to ordinary weapons, and seems to contain some kind of unidentified special power that no one has been able to comprehend for a long time. It was put into our royal treasury decades ago, and I just dug it out last night.”

“Since you’re going to the Kingdom of Azure, this might be of some use. It’s the only thing I can do for you.”

An idol of the God of Sky…

Glancing at the slight dark circles under the blue-haired girl’s makeup, it seemed Liliya had spent the entire night searching for something helpful in the treasury without sleep.

Feeling a bit touched, Vilyric refrained from showing it too openly.

She did perceive a certain resonance similar to Soul Power emanating from the small stone statue.

I’ll take it for now, and maybe research it further whenever I have a chance.

“Alright then, thank you, Liliya.”

“There’s no need for that between us.”

The Queen smiled, embraced the Priestess once more, then reluctantly parted.

“Well… see you?”

“Mhm, see you, have fun, Vilyric.”