Loyalty

The reactions of the other southern nobles were much the same as Count Villar's.

Dissatisfied as they were, no one dared gamble their family fortunes and lives in the face of the demi-human threat.

Within ten days, armies from territories across the south began marching out one after another, gathering at the northern border via the land corridor.

Meanwhile, military preparations at the northern border were also proceeding at a feverish pace.

The ruins of the central fortress were being cleared away, and construction on new defensive fortifications had begun.

Higashino Makoto's feat of repelling an army of tens of thousands of demi-humans that day greatly boosted the morale of the northern soldiers and civilians.

The lines at recruitment stations stretched into the streets. Even some veterans over fifty had put their armor back on.

"I've never seen anything like this in my life."

Orlando Campano stood on the recruit training grounds, his beady eyes widened into perfect circles.

"Recruitment used to mean people running and hiding. Now they're fighting to sign up."

"Because this time is different."

Pabel Baraja stood beside him, his gaze fixed on the defensive works being built in the distance.

"Lord Higashino has come. Everyone thinks there's hope of settling the demi-human problem once and for all. This is something that could go down in history."

"Hope..."

Orlando repeated the word and nodded.

"It's a good thing."

In just over ten days, more than eight thousand troops had gathered along the Holy Kingdom's northern border, including nearly three thousand reinforcements sent from the south.

Although friction between the northern and southern armies broke out from time to time—

Northern soldiers mocked the southerners for being "soft and delicate," while southern soldiers sneered at the northerners for being "boorish and uncultured."

Before their common enemy, however, those conflicts were temporarily buried beneath the surface.

Calca personally made a trip to inspect the border.

Instead of wearing her signature white ceremonial dress, she had changed into simple riding attire, her long golden hair tied into a braid that fell behind her back.

She rode through every corner of the camp, speaking with the soldiers, inspecting food and supply reserves, and asking after the treatment of the wounded.

"Her Highness the Holy Queen came in person."

"I heard Her Highness can use fourth-tier magic. She's even more impressive than the priests in the temple order."

"Her Highness is even more beautiful than in her portraits..."

The soldiers whispered among themselves, the reverence and affection in their eyes utterly genuine.

Calca sensed it, along with something else.

Pressure.

These people had entrusted their lives to her.

These people had placed their hopes in her.

She could not let them down.

After the inspection, Calca summoned all senior officers to a meeting in the central fortress's temporary command room.

Remedios sat to her right, Kelart to her left, while commanders from the north and south sat on either side.

"The scale of the demi-human gathering has largely been determined."

The intelligence officer unfurled a map covered in densely packed red markers.

"In the eastern Abelion Hills, roughly thirty thousand demi-humans have finished gathering. They include at least ten large tribes. Their leader..."

He paused.

"...is an orc king known as the 'Beast Emperor.'"

"The Beast Emperor?"

Remedios frowned.

"Yes. It is said this orc king stands over three meters tall and possesses immense strength. It once single-handedly destroyed a centaur tribe. Its prestige among the demi-humans is extremely high. It was precisely at its call that the demi-human tribes, which had originally fought separately, united."

The meeting room fell silent for a moment.

Around thirty thousand demi-humans.

Last time, the Holy Kingdom had nearly collapsed before the demi-human army. Had Higashino Makoto not descended from the sky, the central fortress would have fallen long ago.

This time, the demi-humans were more numerous, and they also had this so-called Beast Emperor overseeing them.

But this time, they were prepared as well.

And they had that man.

"Where is Mr. Higashino?"

Calca suddenly asked.

The atmosphere in the meeting room shifted subtly.

"Lord Higashino..."

A northern commander spoke, his tone filled with obvious reverence.

"Lord Higashino said he would come."

The words "would come" eased everyone's expressions by several degrees.

A being capable of driving back tens of thousands of demihumans with a wave of his hand had said he would come.

That was enough.

After the meeting ended, Calca went alone to the fortress walls.

The sun was setting, staining the horizon gold and crimson. The distant Abelion Hills loomed faintly through the twilight, like a slumbering giant beast.

As she gazed in that direction, she suddenly heard soft footsteps behind her.

"Your Majesty."

Calca did not turn around.

"Kelart, do you think we can win?"

Kelart walked to her side and rested both hands on the stone battlements.

Her tea-brown hair fluttered gently in the evening breeze. The usual "heh heh heh" smile was absent from her delicate face, replaced by a rare seriousness.

"If Mr. Higashino takes action, then victory is certain."

Kelart said.

"But that isn't what Your Majesty is concerned about, is it?"

Calca fell silent for a moment.

"I've been thinking,"

she said slowly.

"If we need to rely on an 'outsider' to defend ourselves every time the demihumans invade, then what kind of country is the Holy Kingdom?"

Kelart glanced at her from the side.

"Your Majesty has changed a great deal."

"Have I?"

"Yes."

Kelart nodded.

"If it were the old Your Majesty, you would have said, 'Thank the heavens for granting us a savior like Mr. Higashino.' But now, Your Majesty says, 'Our own country cannot always rely on outsiders.'"

The corners of Calca's lips lifted slightly, but the smile did not reach her eyes.

"Anyone would change after being pointed at by someone they had known for less than a month and told, 'You are not a qualified king.'"

"Mr. Higashino said that?"

Kelart raised an eyebrow.

"He did."

"Heh heh heh..."

Kelart's laughter sounded somewhat complicated this time.

"That gentleman truly is blunt."

Calca did not respond.

She looked toward the distant hills and suddenly asked, "Kelart, do you think unifying the north and south is possible?"

Kelart remained silent for a long time.

"It is possible,"

she finally said.

"But it will require time, methods, and sacrifices."

"What sacrifices?"

"The sacrifices of those who are unwilling to unite."

Calca lightly tapped her fingers against the battlement.

"I understand."

She turned and headed toward the stairs leading down from the wall.

"Your Majesty."

Kelart called out to stop her from behind.

"Do you truly intend to do those dirty things? My sister and I could handle them instead."

Calca stopped walking but did not turn around.

"Kelart, how many years have you followed me?"

"Eleven years."

"For eleven years, you and Remedios have been the ones doing the dirty work for me."

Calca's voice was so calm that no emotion could be heard in it.

"I thought that as long as I didn't know about it, as long as I didn't do it myself, I was still clean. But Mr. Higashino said that wasn't cleanliness. It was weakness."

She turned around and looked at Kelart.

The lingering light of the setting sun fell across her face, dyeing her blue eyes an almost violet shade.

"From now on, I'll do the dirty work. You and Remedios only need to do one thing: stand by my side."

Kelart looked at Calca for a long time.

Then, slowly and solemnly, she dropped to one knee.

"By your command, Your Majesty the Holy Queen."

At that moment, there was no sinister "hehehe" laugh on Kelart Custodio's face, nor was there her professional smile.

There was only loyalty.

The purest loyalty a subject could hold for her sovereign.