Inside the throne room of Stormveil Castle
"So you want me to send troops to assist your lord in this eradication against the orcs?" Marika asked the man in front of her.
Two days after Marika completed her research on gunpowders, a knight from the Kingdom of Inrud, Einar Yulas, came to see Malika. But the strange thing is that when he appeared in front of the city gate, he didn't have any bodyguards, only himself. Marika used the Erdtree's mind-reading ability to confirm that he had no hidden tricks up his sleeves before letting him into the city. After coming to the throne room, apart from the flattery that envoys often used when meeting kings at the beginning, Einar explained that his purpose here was to represent the great lord of the Southern province, Stank Barry, to request the Golden Dynasty to send troops to fight against the excessive overflow of orc bandits in his territory. Einar's reaction to seeing Marika was also a little abnormal. When most men saw her, they would be fascinated by her beauty for a few seconds before recovering. But Einar went straight to the point, with a clear purpose in his eyes.
Marika knew that there were many intelligent races common in fantasy fiction that exist in this world. Elves, dwarves, demons, and all kinds of magical races exist in this world. So Marika was not surprised by the request to culling against the orcs. What made her really suspicious was the requester, the great Southern lord of the Kingdom of Inrud, Stank Barry.
Marika had no impression of this lord beforehand except that she heard of his name once in Siduri's report on the surrounding forces of Stormveil City. What's more, the Golden Dynasty and the Kingdom of Inrud are now completely regarded as enemies after the Battle of Uro City. So Malika didn't believe a word of the request of the noble lord from the enemy country.
"Sir Einar, are you trying to make a fool out of me?"
Marika said in a stern voice and her eyes were cold. She wanted to put pressure on the knight in front of her, to see if he would not be able to bear the pressure and spill the truth. Marika's officials didn't give him any welcoming looks either. She would never agree to this obviously fraudulent request. As for this Einar, although for some reason the Erdtree didn't notice his malice, Marika didn't let her guard down.
Marika observed Einar's facial expression, and also took the opportunity to scrutinize his appearance. Einar's age does not seem to be very old, in his early twenties at most. He has short brown hair that is somewhat messy and has a noticeable stubble on his chin. It is obvious that he was in a hurry and couldn't take care of himself. But his most striking feature is his piercing blue eyes. There was a sense of hope burning in it.
At this time, Einar also seemed to feel the pressure exerted by Marika and her officials, and his body couldn't help shaking. However, he clenched his hands as if he had made up his mind, and continued to answer in a cautious but confident tone:
"Of course not, I would dare not fool Her Majesty the Queen. But I believe Her Majesty can also see the hidden trap in this request, right?"
Marika frowned slightly, it seemed that Einar was not on the same front as his lord.
"Continue." Marika said, the coldness in her eyes lessened slightly.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Aina bowed slightly to salute, and continued:
"Actually, there is no orc crisis in the Southern Province. All of this is a conspiracy ordered by the king's court and executed by Lord Stank. The king's court has recently heard about the good deeds of Her Majesty's new religion, so they intend to use Her Majesty's benevolence for the people to deceive Her Majesty into sending all your available troops to rescue the people supposedly being 'plundered by orcs'. Then take advantage of Your Majesty's troops' absence and launch a sneak attack on this city. But I suppose Your Majesty must have already seen through such an obvious strategy, right?"
After Einar finished speaking, he lowered his head nervously and waited for Marika's response.
Marika had no doubts about what Einar said. She scanned through Einar's words with the Erdtree, and every sentence was true.
Marika couldn't help but let out an irritable sigh. 'These people are obviously underestimating me. Why do they think that I will be stupid enough to send all my troops? Do they take me as a three-year-old or some silly Mary Sue? Or do they think I'm a fool because the teachings of my Golden Order are so forgiving? If that's the case, what kind of evil deity are they worshiping? Isn't helping the common people the baseline for any self-respecting religion?' Marika roasted the kingdom for their borderline childlike plot inside her thoughts. Even if Einar didn't tell her, Marika herself could probably figure out the kingdom's conspiracy all on her own.
"Then Sir Einar, I presume you told me the secret of the kingdom because you wanted to surrender to me?"
Marika propped her cheek with her right hand, looked at Einar with interest and asked. Hearing her answer, Einar showed a joyful expression of success:
"Yes, Your Majesty! Indeed I am here to surrender to Her Majesty!"
"Oh? Can you tell me why?"
A trace of sadness flashed in Einar's eyes, and then he slowly retells his story.
"The thing is this, Your Majesty. My family has been one of the three retainers of the Barry family for generations. Each of the three retainers each have their own cities and territories, with the House of Barry being the earliest of the four houses to establish themselves. House Barry, as the family with the largest territory naturally became the chief lord of the southern provinces of the kingdom. Although my family, House Yulas, is the smallest among the three retainers, the previous Patriarchs of the Barry family have always treated us well, until Stank succeeded to the position of patriarch. Stank was greedy and lustful, and quickly ruined the reputation of his ancestors. The other two patriarchs were also inherited by members of the two houses who supported him. But compared with Stank, they were no match in his depravity. And he also..."
A pained expression began to appear on Einar's face, it seemed that the following memories were very painful for him.
"Sir Einar, if your next words make you feel uncomfortable, I will not force you to continue." Marika expressed her understanding to him.
"No, Your Majesty. Please don't pay attention to me. I must tell you about this evil deed. Only by speaking out can it represent my determination to join Your Majesty's command."
Einar's face turned from pain to firmness, resisting the discomfort of those memories and continuing to tell his story:
"I just got married last year. My wife Lydia... She is kind and beautiful, often helping the orphans in our territory. She is the most important person in my life, but... Lydia's beauty caught Stank's attention, So he ignored the law of the land and sent one of his men to kidnap her during her trip to the orphanages, taking her as his own. When I found out that Lydia had been kidnapped, I tried to save her through legal means and sued Stank to the court."
Speaking of this, Einar's expression also became gritted.
"But the kingdom's law deeply disappointed me. The court told me that I don't have the authority to sue him, and asked me to shut up and endure all this! This was outrageous! I feel deep resentment and disappointment at this betrayal, but with my power alone, it is impossible to avenge Stank, and because of this legal case, Stank will have his eyes set on me. That is when I thought of you, Your Majesty. I heard that Her Majesty acted impartially and benefited the people. Even more you overthrew the vicious Bass. So as soon as I returned to my city, I rushed to Stormveil to meet Your Majesty, and I hope you will uphold justice for me!"
After hearing Einar's story, everyone in the throne room looked at Aina with sympathy. It takes a lot of courage to speak out about being cuckolded, which is one of the most embarrassing scandals for nobles. Therefore it is enough to prove his sincerity.
Marika looked at Einar's sincere eyes, carefully weighing what he just said in her mind.
"Sir Einar, where did you get the news that the kingdom is going to plot against me?"
"At the most recent meeting of the Houses, when the lords gathered to discuss who to send to bring the false news to Your Majesty, they chose me."
Aina answered truthfully. The Erdtree didn't detect that he was lying either.
"So that's how it is." Marika thought deeply, thinking about how to deal with the scheme of the Inrud Kingdom.
Seeing that Marika didn't speak, Einar mistakenly thought that Marika didn't want to accept him, and said anxiously with a flustered face:
"Your Majesty! I beg you! Please do justice for me! Lydia is the star of my life, and I must save her no matter what! Your Majesty! I will give you whatever you want! Ah! Your Majesty wants the southern provinces, right? As long as Your Majesty agrees to rescue Lydia, I will gladly hand over the entire southern territory to you. I beg you!"
Einar's face was twisted in pain after speaking, and he gave Malika a heavy kowtow, blood flowed from his forehead after the impact. All the ministers were surprised by his modesty, not caring about his own face, but out of respect for Marika, they didn't speak out.
'Damn! It really sucks for him that he is getting cuckolded. I have to help him! Plus, I can't my people can't flourish if we are all clumped up in this one city. But what's the matter with the nobles in this country anyway, is there not a single noble that is not a piece of shit? '
Marika condemned the corruption of the kingdom in her mind, while she stood up from her throne and walked in front of Einar.
"Sir Einar, please raise your head."
Marika said softly, and gently helped Einar up who was groveling on the ground, and casually threw a healing incantation to heal his injured forehead, with a gentle smile on her face.
"I understand your intentions, I was just thinking about the countermeasures against the kingdom's trap just now. Please don't worry, I am willing to accept your refuge."
"So Your Majesty is willing to help me save Lydia?!"
Einar asked in surprise, with hope shining in his eyes.
"That's right, as fellow women, I will naturally help her with such an unacceptable crime."
Hearing Marika's affirmative answer, Einar showed a wry smile and was deeply moved. In his eyes, Malika in front of him seemed to exude motherly and divine radiance.
"Thank you, Your Majesty! Oh thank you, Your Majesty! I swear on my honor as the Patriarch of the House of Yulas, that I, Aina Yulas, will pledge my undying allegiance to you for the remainder of my life!"
Einar thanked her ecstatically, and was about to kowtow again, but Marika stopped him, otherwise he would hurt his forehead again.
"Then it's settled. Do you all have any objections?" Marika said, looking back at her subordinates.
"We have no objection!"
Everyone answered in unison. Naturally, they would not tolerate Stank's evil deeds.
Achilles came out from the crowd at this time, with a smile on his face, patting Einar shoulder and said confidently:
"Sir Einar, don't you worry! I, as Achilles, son of the great hero Peleus, will definitely give that bastard Stank a piece of my spear!"
"You must be Sir Achilles! I've heard much of your great feats! Thank you for your willingness to support me!"
Finding that the green-haired general in front of him is the recently famous Achilles, Einar also happily thanked him.
Seeing her subordinates' welcoming Einar as their own, Marika smiled in satisfaction, then walked back to her throne and sat down.
"Since the decision to rescue Sir Einar's wife and capture the southern territory have been set, I will announce our general battle plan! I think that since the kingdom believes that we will send troops, then we might as well follow the plan."
"What is Your Majesty's plan?"
Artorius asked.
"The kingdom doesn't know that our soldiers are not only excellent in combat effectiveness, but also in physical endurance. Stank's territory is about two weeks' walking distance from us, but based on the physical endurance of our soldiers, the time to reach there can be shortened to three days. Verily, it will only take five days for us to reach the southern territory if we include preparation time. In addition, they don't know about Sir Einar's surrender, so we only need to send out half of the current troops to surprise them."
After Marika finished laying out her plan, everyone nodded in agreement.
The system also releases tasks timely:
"Long-term mission triggered: Capture the Southern province of Lord Stank of the Kingdom of Inrud, progress 1/4. Mission difficulty: Difficult. Reward: Elden ring gacha pull x1, unlock Godrick the Grafted, Castle Morne building complex, Fort Haight building complex. Special rewards: Every time a city is conquered, a multiverse gacha pull will be rewarded"
"Eh? Godrick? This guy? Seriously?"
Marika said to the system in her mind with disgust. Godrick is one of the most reviled bosses in the game. He is weak and cowardly, not to mention his thinned blood as the third generation of demigods, Coupled with his perverted act of grafting limbs, he is officially recognized as the most embarrassing among the demigods. When Marika played Elden Ring back in her old world, she was often disgusted by his spider-like hands. She didn't want this embarrassment even though it comes at a free price.
"Sure thing, I kinda expected you to say that. So here is the alternative: once the host completes the task, I will help you directly exchange him for his big rune!"
"Yeah, let's do that! Ugh~ It gives me shivers just thinking of that disgusting guy!"