A month later...
Since Marika conquered the Southern Territory, the system has delivered mission rewards on time as usual. The rewards from the gachas are
Multiverse Rewards: Wooden Guitar (F), Barbatos' Hammer Spear (C), Tanjiro's Nichrin Katana (D)
Old Head Ring Rewards: Godslayer's Greatsword (A), Erdtree's Favor Talisman (B), Spear Talisman (C)
These prizes are mostly dispensable upgrades for Marika, except for the Godslayer's greatsword. Although not as powerful as Destined Death, the Godslaying Greatsword is still a powerful weapon that touches the root law of death. If she encounters any relatively weak gods and ghosts in the future, this weapon can be used as the trump card weapon to defeat them, at least until Marika draws Destined Death.
And now in Marika's office in Stormveil castle, Marika is receiving a very special Tarnished.
"Just to be clear on the terms of our deal, my lord, I can get a high salary as long as I continue to report intelligence to you on time?"
A weasley, bald man said respectfully while rubbing his hands like an eager fly.
"That's basically it, Mr. Patches. I hope we can maintain long-term cooperation in the future."
Marika nodded in response, while secretly observing the bald man's micro-expression from the corner of her eye.
That's right, this man is the legendary Patch. A character that appears in every Miyazaki's Soulsborne games, a swindler who is famous for troubling countless Souls players with a series of pranks. Marika both loves and hates Patches just like countless other Soulsborne players. When she was just an Elden Ring player, she was tricked countless times by Patches' pranks. But Patches, like every Souls game in the past, can always provide players with some unexpected benefits, including rare items, intelligence and so on.
A cunning mind and a talent for intel collection, Marika sees that Patches is excellent in all aspects to be an intelligence officer. But his only shortcoming is that he is not very loyal to the Erd Tree and cannot be completely trusted. In the unlikely chance that the Erd tree is in danger, Patch is likely to turn his back on it. When Marika played the game against General Radahan's boss battle, the scene of Patches running away was still vivid in her mind.
But Marika still would like to hire Patches, yes, hire. Instead of making Patches her retainer and giving him an official salary, it is better to let Patches let him travel around freely and instead report to Marika regularly, like a business deal in information. Of course, Patch is not allowed to know state secrets. But as a reward, Patch will have a regular handsome salary to temporarily ensure that he will not run away because he has no profit to gain.
"Then, Your Majesty, I shall take my leave."
After Patch left politely, he exited the office swiftly. Walking outside the office, Patch took a deep breath, then suddenly jumped up happily, dancing and cheering like a monkey:
"I'm rich! Hahahahaha! Imagine that I would be hired by Her Majesty the Queen, hehehe, I'm going to be filthy rich now!"
But what Patch didn't know was that the ruckus he just made was completely heard by Marika and Bedivere, whose hearing was far beyond ordinary people.
"He's quite the money hungry fellow."
Marika sighed with a chuckle.
"Can a person like that be worthy of your use, Master?"
Bedivere said a little worriedly.
"Don't worry, it is exactly his love for cash that would be useful to me. And he has also been given Grace. If he has any rebellious intent, the Erd Tree will let me know immediately."
"Let's hope so."
Bedivere sighed worriedly and said.
Marika also sighed at this time, lying on the back of the chair, looking at the ceiling and thinking about the various decisions she had made in the month after the war.
First of all, the first thing she did was to summon soldiers with the Runes obtained during the war. Each barracks received a lot of reinforcements. With a total of twenty million troops, the number of troops in the Golden dynasty was so large that it could wrestle with other countries without any scruples.
Among them, the newly recruited Kaidan mercenaries were valued by Marika for their riding skills, which led her to making them the light cavalry units in the army. To integrate them into the Golden kingdom's armed forces, their training is to imitate the high-speed riding and shooting tactics of the Mongols, which Marika thought would be greatly useful for her forces. To teach the sellswords archery, elven adventurers who are good at using short bows were hired to be their instructors. In this way, Marika's army can have more diverse units to use. After these soldiers of the Landsbetween underwent simple retraining, Marika sent ⅔ of the army to guard important positions in various parts of her territory.
During this time, most of the remaining nobles in the southern territories surrendered to the Golden Dynasty. They were all afraid of Marika's invincible army. But the truth is what they are more afraid of is Marika herself. The story of Marika defeating Osiris' army with a single blow has been widely spread, alongside her feat of transformation into a dragon in the battle of Uro City. Marika is the one who can single handedly break an army.
Under Marika's unintentional actions, she has completely changed this world's impression of a ruler. In the past, no matter how powerful the kings and emperors were, they were human beings in the end. The enemies can kill them with an ordinary dagger that was accurately stabbed at the vital point, or wait until the moment when they fell ill, old and died. But Marika was different, a sharpened steel spear does nothing to her body, and high-level magics are useless to her as well. The army under her is so loyal to her because of their beliefs, that it is impossible to bribe them.
But the most frightening thing is that as an empyrean, her life has no end, meaning she can simply wait-out most of her opponents if need be. An absolute being who can rival an army by herself, an absolute being with thousands of troops, and an absolute being with an infinite lifespan. After learning of Marika's power of immortality from bards and communicating with the retainers of the Erd Tree, how could the nobles not fall into fear? In their view, Marika is a well and true god. For such a terrifying existence, these small nobles with little power have only the option of submitting or dying.
Of course, there will always be a few idiots among the nobles. Whether it's for their petty gain or their ridiculous dignity. A few stubborn resisters fought back in the name of loyal ministers to the Inrud kingdom. But it didn't take long for these idiots to raise their troops, before they were dealt with internally and externally by the Erd Tree army and the elven adventurers in the Southern Territory. Although it made Marika feel uncomfortable, in order to make an example, these nobles and their conspirators who raised their troops to resist were all slaughtered.
For the nobles who came to seek refuge with Marika, they also had to go through strict checks by her and the ministers. Accepting Grace is relatively simple, after all, no one would refuse the chance to prolong their life, but what is more difficult is another condition. Once the nobles who took refuge were found to be involved in the slave trade, they have the options between being executed or freeing their slaves. Freed slaves could choose to become freemen or waged servants. With the help of Siduri, Marika set up the most basic labor laws to ensure the safety of the servants and a minimum wage standard. And any nobles who secretly harbor objections will be immediately discovered by the Grace points scattered around the Erd tree and the branches grown by the Erd tree itself.
Of course, Einar, as the earliest Inrudian retainer who joined Marika and who had made the most contributions, is the most rewarded of all the nobles of the former kingdom. A large piece of land that originally belonged to the previous city lords of Riley City and Tuckett City was awarded to Einar. Einar's mother was overjoyed when she received the imperial decree, but unfortunately Einar, who was still reeling from the ordeal with Lydia, couldn't be happy at all. It's true that he got more power and fame, but he failed to protect his beloved wife. Marika couldn't do anything about it either.
In addition, the original Tuckett City has also been transformed into Castle Morne under the power of the system. Fort Haight is placed along the river at an important strategic junction between the Eastern Territory and the Southern Territory. The city of Bali was renamed Constantinople by Malika, as a little inside joke only understood by anyone who is isekaied. Of course, she didn't forget to rebuild and strengthen the defense of the riverside. If someone masters their shipbuilding technology and comes for them, it will certainly be troublesome.
Then there are the soldiers who work hard on the battlefield. Jin Sakai, Ladybug, and Achilles, who have taken the lead in battle, were also rewarded with fiefdoms. The soldiers who participated in the Southern Territory campaign, regardless of their origin, were allotted the property of the conquered and killed city lord. Also, the exiled army, which was the main force, was rewarded with a name change. The names of the exiled army and the homeless knight, which were not very nice and connoted with sinners, were changed to their original name, the storm legions and the storm knight.
In addition to the increase in the army, the Church of the Golden Order also increased in large numbers. When the new clergy were trained, they were sent across the lands of the Golden Dynasty to teach incantation magic and preach the teachings of the Golden Order. And it's not the Golden Order of the past. The originally bigoted and inflexible teachings have been changed to teachings compiled by Marika herself. The content inside is basically Marika's integration of all the virtues in the world that can be imagined. The love and tolerance of Christianity and the relaxed and optimistic outlook on life of Buddhism, the new Golden Order's teachings are filled with Marika's expectations for the future of mankind. Although in this war-torn world, it may take decades, or even hundreds of years, to realize the peace Marika dreamed of. But Marika can afford to wait.
As for infrastructure, Marika ordered people to build roads. Although Grace can provide convenient instant transportation, when transporting goods, the traditional road is more suitable. In terms of resources, Stank left a very rich legacy, and Marika did not hesitate to use it to supplement the treasury and the people.
At the same time, Malika is also thinking about how to hold the imperial examination system to recruit new officials. Although the nobles who surrendered and the courtiers in the border area are all available talents, Marika thinks that it is a good choice to give capable commoners the opportunity to join the court and dedicate their talents.
In the end, Nephali Loux, Roger, and D, who had little screen time, were sent out to collect intelligence as adventurers in the Falkheri empire that had temporarily ceased war with the Golden Dynasty.
On the other hand, on the side of the Kingdom of Inrud, Nicholas IV was furious after two consecutive defeats and the killing of a great lord. The angry king openly insulted Marika for being just a mere wench at the court meeting, stunned that she defeated him twice in a row. The southern territory lost this time is an important food production and commercial area of the Kingdom of Inrud. The loss of that territory dealt a major economic blow to the kingdom, starving their already modest treasury.
However, the aristocratic ministers in the court have polarized attitudes towards the growing power of the Golden Dynasty. The moderate nobles want to make peace with the Golden Dynasty, end this seemingly unwinnable war, and keep their land. The nobles of the radical faction naturally want to continue fighting. The world has never lacked arrogant fools. The arrogant radicals believe that with their richer and ancient national power, they will definitely be able to defeat the Golden Dynasty in the long run. But stupidly they still don't realize that the army of the Golden Dynasty is stronger than them, more united and more disciplined than them.
But no matter what their opinions were, the nobles of the kingdom still maintained their greedy and corrupt ways, and did not reflect on how their actions would push the Kingdom of Inrud into the abyss step by step. In their eyes, there is nothing more important than their own family honor and glory and wealth. And when necessary, they can even replace the king above them.
The Pope of the church of Angels was also furious at the rapid rise of the Golden Dynasty. For the Pope, this is no longer a conflict between nations, but a major crisis that threatens the Church of Angels. The Pope was already very displeased with the Falkeri Empire for allowing other religions in its territory, but the Golden Dynasty established a separate state religion, which was the greatest provocation to him.
A pope who can raise a bloodthirsty lunatic like Osiris is destined to be a bad guy. The Pope is insidiously trying to discredit Marika with rumors. The content is generally the same old stalk, what Malika is a lewd witch, the Golden order are worshippers of the devil, and any slander he could think of.
Although such low-level rumors are inherently self-defeating, it is annoying to hear too much. So Marika at least had to investigate.
Back in the office...
At this time, there was a knock on the door and the voice of a Lyndel Knight who was guarding the door came in:
"Your Majesty, Lord Sakai and Ladybug have come here according to your order."
"Let them in."
Bedivere responded instead of Marika, and Marika also took the opportunity to sit upright to welcome her courtiers.
"My lord, I have come as you asked."
Jin bowed politely as soon as he came in, and Ladybug followed suit.
"Welcome."
Malika responded simply, but when she looked carefully, she suddenly found that Ladybug was wearing the same style of kimono as Jin, he even wore a Wakizashi. The only difference was the color and pattern of their clothes. Jin is wearing a black kimono, while Ladybug is wearing a dark green one.
"Ladybug, are you wearing...?"
Marika asked curiously. It's not a formal occasion, why is Ladybug wearing a kimono instead of his favorite modern attire?
"Oh! This one! I've actually got hooked on wearing kimonos since the last party at Einar's house. So I asked Bok to make me some."
Ladybug said happily, and made a little spin to show off his new clothes.
"Whew~ It's really nice and breezy!"
"Uh... Your Excellency Jin, thank you for your hard work."
Bedivere said to Jin with an apologetic face. Sometimes Ladybug's familiarity and informal character can make things awkward for a relatively serious person like Bedivere.
"It's all right, Lord Bedivere. It's always a joy to share things in my hometown with my friends."
Jin replied with a smile.
After some small talk, Marika learned that Ladybug is very interested in Japanese samurai culture recently, and he often sticks to Jin to learn the words and deeds of samurai. Ladybug even goes as far to style his manor in his fiefdom after a Japanese style house.
After everyone chatted, they got down to business.
Marika sent Jin and Ladybug to investigate the source of the Pope's rumors and control them to the extent that they did not get out of control. Naturally, Jin and Ladybug would not refuse. After discussing the detailed task requirements, the two left and wasted no time to carry out the task.
"Ugh~ I'm exhausted."
After seeing them off, Marika walked to the sofa in the office, and then slumped down on it.
"Master, please pay attention to your appearance."
"Sure thing."
Marika waved him off lazily.
Bedivere persuaded with an embarrassed look. Since Marika's heart to heart with Bedivere that night, Marika has let herself go more and more in front of Bedivere. Although this side of her is also very cute to Bedivere, but looking at the glimpse of her breasts exposed by her open neckline right, coupled with Marika's unconscious charm with her skill god of love, he felt that he was about to burst. So he quickly changed the subject and said:
"Ah! Master, if you feel tired, would you like me to make you a cup of tea to refresh yourself?"
"Huh? Sure."
Marika said without seeming to notice Bedivere's embarrassment.
"As you wish, Master"
Bedivere went to the cabinet where the tea was placed, but when he opened the tea leaf can in the cabinet, he found that the tea leaves had run out.
'Ugh! Why didn't I notice it earlier! '
Bedivere thought to his annoyance.
"Sorry Master, the tea has just run out. Please wait a little longer, I will let the maids go to the kitchen to get the tea."
"Um…it's alright?"
Marika responded a little confused.
'It's strange, Bedivere looks a little absent-minded today. '
"Maids!"
Hearing Bedivere's call, a maid quickly walked in respectfully, and after receiving the errand, she immediately went to the kitchen with professionalism.
Since Bedivere became the queen's butler, he has conducted strict training on the maids in charge of Marika's daily life, which has cultivated their efficient and dedicated attitude.
Along the way, the maid met a friend who was also working in the kitchen, and the two maids decided to walk together. Although Bedivere has enforced strict training, gossiping is still the servants' favorite thing, it is something that can't be rooted out. The two maids were quick to begin gossiping about the Queen and her knights.
"Kyaaah~ Sir Bedivere is still so handsome today! He is so handsome even when he is serious~"
The maid who was ordered to fetch tea blushed and said,
"That's right! If only one could be his wife, she would die happy."
Her friend agreed, but she suddenly sighed and continued in a pity tone:
"It's a pity that Sir Bedivere already belongs to Her Majesty, we don't have a chance."
"What?!"
"Don't you know? Recently, I saw Lord Bedivere and Her Majesty the Queen together all the time. They were so intimate. They are together from morning to night every day, even in Her Majesty's bedroom!"
"Really!?"
"Really, and I heard from May who worked at the laundry room that Her Majesty and Bedivere have been having an affair for a long time!"
"Queen and knight, this is a forbidden love!"
The maid covered her mouth and said incredulously.
Her friend said it with a very understanding face.
"You don't understand! It's because of the taboo that it's exciting! And I think they are perfect for each other!"
"It makes sense... Hey! Maybe they actually knew each other since they were young, but they couldn't get together because of their different statuses!"
"Wow! That is some spicy stuff! And then Sir Bedivere might say, 'I am satisfied to watch over from afar for the rest of my life', hehehehe~ so romantic!"
The two maids chatted more and more vigorously, and the love story they imagined could be written into a romance novel. So the rumors of the love affair between Marika and Bedivere slowly spread in the castle, and became the tacit secret gossip of the servants.