The old man dabbed at his sweaty forehead. He was a Duke. Powerful in many ways. Not in terms of levels or combat skill but as a politician and strategist he was decent.

It meant that he understood the dire situation that they were in.

"Is this truly necessary?" he asked, challenging her anyway.

"Lord Cromwell," she drawled, "If the Shield Hero leaves the country, war becomes inevitable. As long as he lived under our dominion we had little to worry about. Siltvelt and Shieldfreeden were unlikely to attack, but with him out of our hands, we need to prepare. The hunt for the Shield Hero is a last-ditch effort, but it is one we must undertake...and should he be lost to us then war must be prepared for."

The old nobleman who had acted as the second in command of Aultcray's faction in court nodded slowly. He gave in with a sigh after nearly a minute of thinking.

"Very well," he said, "but the Queen…"

"My mother isn't here," said Jessica firmly, "I have no doubt that she will be informed swiftly, but until the moment that she deigns to contact us we must prepare. Wasting time is not an option."

Cromwell looked at her with some shock. It was well hidden behind years of courtly experience, but obvious to her with her stats and perception boosting skills. The poor man had no idea that she could enhance her processing speed to the point that he looked to be moving in slow motion.

"I shall send the word out to our fellows," he said, hesitated for a moment then burst, "but many will refuse to move without your mother's word."

"Understandable," she said, studying the status screen that informed her that teleportation was thirty levels away, "I shall deal with them myself. Give me a list of those who are likely to obey and those who will defy the call to arms by tomorrow."

The experienced politician, one who had seen war by her father's side, flinched at her tone. It was a surprise, but perhaps she should have expected it. Being Royalty mattered to these people. Even if it struck Jessica as being unbearably foolish to give someone power based on being born to the right people.

A minute or two of confirmation of details later, the man stood up, bowed and left her office. Malty pulled up the clock form on her Cane and waited until the door was shut fully to head to the vaults in the office.

The office had belonged to her father. Malty had been tempted to take the Queen's office, but Jessica knew better than to add more points to those who were tempted to disobey her. Mirellia had crushed any potential support Malty could gain after declaring Melty as her heir. Now, with Aultcray dead and Mirellia away Jessica had a shot at building up her power base but if she made it appear that this was a coup d'état then Mirellia's supporters would lynch her.

Plus, Aultcray's office had a wonderful vault, and the soldiers had been commanded to place a variety of materials there. Everything from ores, to monster corpses, were scattered about. Jessica absorbed them all. Each object gave her a negligible boost to stats. Some forms were locked due to her low level, but this effortless activity permitted her to boost her stats. Already, all of her stats had quadrupled.

Royal privileges made gaining power so very simple. The only problem was that making time for levelling was quite difficult. Between organizing Aultcray's funeral, the hunt for Naofumi and the preparation for the inevitable wars to come, there was so little time.

It was half an hour, a decent amount of skills and stats gained and her mood restored by the quick gains later, that Pope Balmus appeared.

The man walked in with well-concealed irritation.

He was not used to being summoned. Even Aultcray went to him for the most part. Only Mirellia dared to summon him.

"Princess Malty," he said, deliberately making his tone condescending even if his words were correct.

Jessica smiled, while already seated, not standing up to greet him, "Pope Balmus," she said, tone distant, almost apathetic, not something Malty ever used, "Please take a seat. We have much to discuss."

He obeyed, but her newly enhanced senses let her see the minute shifts in expression. The momentary disgust was expected. This man who viewed Malty as little more than a spoiled brat would naturally hate to even consider looking like he was obeying her.

That she had given her knights strict orders not to let his followers in with him likely antagonized him, anyway.

But this was needed. She wanted his help for now, but she couldn't let him take control of the country. Jessica had seen how ridiculous he was once he had the power. She needed his forces for now and had to kill him before he fully charged up the False Legendary Weapon. Truthfully, the Cane Hero didn't need much time. With five power-up methods, her strength would exceed almost everyone's within a couple of weeks. What she needed to do was ensure that the country didn't explode during that period.

This old man would be critical to ensuring that.

"My condolences for the loss of your father," he said, arms moving thrice to form the symbols of Sword, Bow and Spear, "May the One True God show mercy to his immortal soul."

Jessica thought of Medea and barely contained her sneer.

"Your kindness is appreciated," said Malty, tone dry, "I'm sure my father would want us to secure the country he loved. Your aid in doing so is appreciated."

Balmus smiled and nodded, "Of course," he said, "As one who speaks for God there is no other path I can take. The Shield Devil and his slaves must be bought to justice."

"Excellent," she said, twirling the Cane in its best to attack from, "However, the Shield Devil must be kept alive. He must be captured."

Balmus' eyes followed the Cane for an instant. The Draconic motifs looked terrifying. The massive gemstone that the Cane had was in a Dragon's mouth. It looked ready to breathe fire.

The Pope rightfully took it as a threat.

"I'm surprised," he said. Once he tore his attention from the twirling Cane, "I would have expected a more...decisive response after what he did to you."

"I'm a Princess of Melromarc," she said, her words as false as his, "I must do what is best for my country and my people. If he is captured, we have leverage over Siltvelt and his other supporters. If he's dead, they lose all sense of restraint. War becomes inevitable and the Waves will have an opening to devastate us further."

Jessica didn't even dare to mention or think about how much that would favour Medea. The Goddess would love to have one of the Legendary Heroes dead. With the other three being incompetent, her victory would be inevitable.

"God is with us," said Balmus, the enchanted crystals hanging from his robes jingled gently, "The Three Heroes stand with us. Our cause cannot be stopped by the Devil!"

Jessica couldn't tell if this fool truly believed that or not. The novels had not given her much information, but Malty had the data even if the psychotic brat had never put it together.

Faubrey stood above every other nation and had plenty of reason to support anyone who opposed Melromarc after the Four Heroes whom they worshipped were summoned here. Siltvelt wanted their God back. Shieldfreeden didn't want anyone else to have access to the Shield Hero or any other Hero for that matter andall the aforementioned nations could match or exceed Melromarc in war.

Faubrey, in particular, had Takt and his level limit breaking harem. It made no sense to believe that all these opposing factions could be dealt with. Even if it was very unlikely for them to ally with each other and they all attacked without working together. Melromarc would still fall.

Millions would die, and the country would cease to exist. Balmus and Aultcray had started the countdown to Melromarc's annihilation when they summoned all four Heroes. Malty had then accelerated the timetable by framing Naofumi. Aultcray's death and Naofumi's disappearance made it even worse.

This old fool was overconfident. Faith or sheer stupidity she didn't know. It meant the same thing. The church had to be crushed and their power usurped.

But not now.

Not when she needed a preliminary force to hunt down the Shield Hero and stop any invasion force. In time, she could afford to raise her army. Raise her power and gain proper control over the other three Heroes and any other Vassal Heroes. Perhaps even boost this place technologically and bureaucratically.

"I agree," she said, "but all the blessings that we have been granted will mean nothing if we don't use them wisely. The three heroes are potentially powerful, but it is known that it takes time for them to fully manifest their power. Risking them unduly could be catastrophic with the Devil as their enemy. We need to contain the Devil and crush his followers lest we risk everything."

Balmus blinked, surprised. He regained his composure swiftly, "Hunt the Shield Devil down, capture him and kill his slaves without the aid of the Heroes?"

"Precisely," she said, "The Shield Devil, once captured, will be the ultimate tool to wield against Siltvelt. I'm sure you can see why he would be useful."

"Death might be unavoidable," he noted.

"If he does die, then War is inevitable," she said harshly, "He must still be in our country. If we fail to retrieve him, then thousands of faithful will die. We cannot allow him to go free, nor can we kill him."

Balmus looked taken aback. Jessica winced internally. She'd let her emotions get the better of her. This man's stupid desire to kill Naofumi grated on her senses. Jessica hated Malty's memories at this moment. The Guilt she was feeling at even considering imprisoning Naofumi for no crime of his own or worse, killing him was almost unbearable.

She had not accused him of rape. That had been Malty...but there were times when she felt like she was Malty. The glee she had felt when the horrified Shield Hero had realized that she had betrayed him still stunned Jessica at times.

"Wise," said the white-haired man, "to wield the Devil to protect the Faithful. It is fitting to use him as a Shield. Force his followers to condemn him in order to strike at my people but doing so will be difficult. I'm afraid that such a thing will only be possible with the aid of the crown."

Jessica almost smirked. She wasn't used to magic, heroes, Gods or magical superweapons, but her entire adult life had been driven by negotiations.

"House Melromarc is devoted to serving our country," she said, "We will do everything for the sake of its prosperity."

Balmus nodded but read between the lines. She could see his guard rise. Jessica's experiences and the Cane derived stats allowed her to see him reassess her again. The dimensionally displaced soul was a bit worried about the massive personality differences she was showing, but pretending to be Malty was impractical.

"Something that every one of your people are grateful for," he said politely, "but to truly ensure that capture of the Devil some allowances have to be made."

Jessica nodded and deliberately let the silence hang. Balmus smiled at her and said nothing for nearly a minute before breaking the silence.

"Lord Rabier and many other faithful vassals of his have requested some extensions of their borders. If permitted, they would be able to hunt down and apprehend the Devil swiftly-"

Malty was tempted to burn him to ash. The arrogant fool was far too used to her father's rapid agreement to his demands if he dared bring such an absurd request up so easily. The Pope was expecting her to cave in and give him what he wanted.

The Seaetto Region and neighbouring demi-human territories.

Jessica realized that she had no choice but to act very, very soon. Balmus and his pawns had to die.

"I'll be glad to do so," she said, cutting him off, "any who serve the country well certainly deserve to be rewarded, but if they fail…"

Balmus nodded gracefully, not bringing up the fact that her mother was the only one who could assign land or alter boundaries. Nor the fact that the moment she agreed to his demands the Demi-human genocide would proceed.

"They will not," he promised, "the Shield Devil shall be bought to meet his fate here soon."

Jessica smiled, decided to speed up her plans, and saw him out.

She needed these people for now, but the Pope himself would give her a list of his followers whom he wanted to be rewarded.

They would be destroyed. Just as the Pope would but the War, the Waves and capturing Naofumi mattered more.