Chapter 44 part 2: Being A Ruler Is Tiring

Later that same day. Inside one of the castle's dressing rooms were two people.

Brynhildr Selia Bloodforth was standing in front of a mirror.

She was looking at herself wearing a pitch black dress with her white hair styled by the castle maids. It was a completely different look that she usually had.

"How is it, lady Selia?" The one who asked that was the head maid of the mansion. She was an old woman who wore glasses and had wrinkles on her face which told others of her long years of experience as a maid.

"It is…very different than the usual me." Selia twirled in the dress. Her red eyes had a sort of seductive gleam along with her modest chest which was even larger in this dress.

"Letting Your Majesty wear this much is necessary since you'll be entering the empire as an official guest from a foreign nation." The woman spoke as she checked to see if there were any abnormalities with the dress.

She politely told Selia to turn to see if it fit her right in all the angles.

"Was it necessary to spray perfume on me as well? I am an immortal undead lord thus I do not sweat or even excrete. Thus, I do not smell."

'Although my skin is a little flaky at times if I don't smear any ointment or lotion on it.'

"A beautiful young maiden must smell fresh at all times. Plus, do you not wish to attract someone of high status at the event?"

"Of course not. I do not need a man. I have more than enough things to worry about."

'Can I even have intercourse with someone? I haven't heard anyone confirm that or deny it…'

Although she was curious, that wasn't important at the moment.

"Is Vetis waiting downstairs?" Selia asked after coming out of the room and heading for the office. She was going there to get something.

"Yes. Lord Vetis told me that your majesty may take as long as you want since those humans' opinions are not important to us."

Selia smiled wryly.

Vetis' opinion of humans still hadn't changed. Well, he was a monster so his opinion of which race was inferior was obvious.

Compared to creations such as them, humans were weak in comparison. Although she was curious how strong the Theocracy's Testaments—who were considered this world's strongest humans—were, she couldn't risk it.

She was most likely the only player in this world. If she died then there was no guarantee that she would respawn. Treading carefully and showing compassion to those in need of help was what was most important.

 Selia opened the door of her office and entered. She told the woman to wait outside for further instructions.

"[Portal]." She activated one of the rings and then a teleportation gate appeared. She stepped through and then the scenery changed.

Before her were thousands upon thousands of weapons, items and jewelry.

This place was known as the System Treasury and was a domain that didn't exist inside the new world. The ring on her finger was the only thing that allowed her to travel to and from this place.

"Such nostalgia. How long has it been? A few years by now?" Selia walked down the hallway. On both sides of the hallway were items and weapons being displayed.

Those items belonged to her friends.

She avoided looking sideways at them so that she wouldn't be overcome with sadness and longing.

She had long since accepted that they were no longer in this world.

"Here you are." Selia stood before 24 pillars that were slightly shorter than her.

On the pillars were various boxes that floated in the air.

She activated another ring while stretching her hand out to one of the boxes.

The box turned into pixels and spat out a necklace of very high quality.

·        Protection Against Any and All[☆☆]

It was an item that gave the wearer invincibility for two seconds. If a weapon of equal rank were to attack the user then the effectiveness is reduced by 50%. Magical damage from a star ranked item didn't count since the necklace protects against physical weapons so the user must avoid direct confrontation with a mage at all costs, unless their magical defense are high enough.

Those two seconds under the right conditions were all it took for her to be able to escape in case of danger. Even if she was level 100, taking damage from a Star-Class item was a possibility.

That was unless she equipped her full gear and armor. However, that would be unnecessary unless her life was really in danger.

In any case this necklace which had several diamonds on it was a Star Class artifact that she obtained in the past.

"I can't risk it like last time. I didn't wear one when I visited the empire."

That was because she wasn't on high alert about any of this world's people. However, after being informed of a man who wielded two Star Class weapons without so much as any difficulty, her guard was raised to the maximum.

If that man decided to fight her then it was important for her to have the [Protection Against Any and All] on her.

After putting the necklace on, Selia left the dimension. 

She walked along the hallway of her castle. She could see Lilith standing at the bottom of the stairs looking up at her.

After going down the stairs, Lilith was the first to speak.

"I shall make sure Vetis does not cause any unnecessary strife with the other nations while your majesty is away."

Selia held back a sigh. "I know you don't trust him because he is not a creation like all of you but the man is still reliable."

"However—"

"Lilith, I do not want to hear you antagonize any of your colleagues in the future. I will take disciplinary actions if you force my hand. If not for his intellect and political skills then we wouldn't have everything we had today."

He played a large part in securing the city without a lot of blood shed. Well, the previous ruler was mercilessly killed by his own citizens. Him and his family were murdered and hanged up on poles.

The citizens were apparently dissatisfied with all of his strict laws and the amount of tax he charged each working person.

Lilith, being reminded of Vetis' value lowered her head.

"I apologize. It must be because we have not known each other long that I despise him so."

'Is that really the only reason?' Selia shrugged.

"Where are the others?" Selia couldn't spot any of her other executive subordinates besides Lilith and Vetis.

"Ah, I forgot to tell you after you came back, lady Selia. Renogar is currently training the human knights of this city. This is because we need them stronger to be worthy enough to protect our queen. Maywolf is protecting the tenth floor—the floor before the boss room of the dungeon stronghold in your place."

"Those two are busy even though I haven't ordered them to do anything yet?" Selia didn't understand those workaholics.

Both were level 100 and shouldn't have that much to do but they were doing duties that only lower level subordinates must do.

"It is obviously because of their loyalty towards you. Must I recall them?"

"No. Let them carry out their duties. I'm assuming they are the ones with the hardest tasks?" Lilith nodded to Selia's question. "Protecting a dungeon and raising weaklings definitely is difficult. Then what are the other three doing?"

"Lupus is on a business trip with a merchant client that she managed to make a deal with. If the business trip goes well then we may have ourselves a new trading system for the future. Rannir is visiting the Forest of Tiliu. Berdark is gathering more monsters in the Mountains of Wails."

The Mountains of Wails referred to the restricted mountain range that lay southwest of the destroyed kingdom of Luthial. It was a breeding ground for many kinds of monsters. The forests were filled with many high levelled monsters that not even S rank adventurers could handle.

Berdark was a demihuman werewolf who excelled in leading armies of monsters. This was exactly why they could rely on him to strengthen their military might. He was also the second in command of the nation's armies after Lilith.

"The others sure are busy. I will have to reward them for their loyalty."

"They would definitely appreciate that, lady Selia." Lilith walked with Selia towards the front door of the castle.

Before opening the door, Selia looked at Lilith seriously.

"I will leave you in charge of the [Command Interface] as a moderator."

"I-Is that really alright? Being a moderator of a guild has a large responsibility to carry and only a trusted—"

Selia put her hand on Lilith's shoulder and smiled.

"I trust that you will know what to do if anything happens. Thus, I leave you in command, First General."

Lilith gulped and her voice was trembling.

"I-I-I will not let y-you down, lady S-Selia…" She bowed gratefully.

'Sheesh. Is everything I do that shocking to you all?'

Whenever Selia praised them or gave them a hard task to do for her, they would respond with admiration and fear in their eyes as if Brynhildr Selia Bloodforth was a god or something.

Said person didn't have a god complex and wasn't an attention-seeker so her subordinates' behaviors are troubling sometimes.

After passing on her authority to Lilith using the system's interface, Selia got ready to leave the castle. 

"Well, then. I'm off."

"Please be safe on your journey." Lilith saw Selia off with a bow at the front door.

◇

"My, my. You look truly wonderful, Your Majesty." Vetis exclaimed in delight when he saw Selia come down the stairs of the castle.

"Thank you. Are these the escorts you created after borrowing my [Racial Creation] magic item?" Selia looked at the multiple red armored knights around the carriage that she would use to go to the empire.

"Indeed. These are [Lunar Eclipse Knights]. They are the guards I prepared for you in case you visit other nations," Vetis happily explained, "I am relieved that I managed to finish their preparations in time. Though they aren't at the level cap, their levels combined is enough for any enemy. Even a player."

Selia activated an ability to see the status of the knight with the biggest frame.

·        Knight—Commander rank<Level 90

'So he must be the strongest out of the four of them.'

"The strongest is Level 90 while the others are higher than level 70. These are quite the knights you prepared for me. They could stop entire armies of monsters singlehandedly."

'You went a little overboard, don't you think? How long did it even take to raise this knight to level 90?'

"I created only the best knights for Your Majesty. They will act as your meatshields if you want to escape from an enemy attack. And if the enemies managed to get a hold of my children then I could destroy them anytime."

As Vetis looked at them, the knights straightened their postures. 

'I wonder what he used to create these knights? Surely they aren't humans?'

To be able to create something using the Racial Creation item, one must have a catalyst. Selia used various high grade materials to create her subordinates. That included her SP as well.

Selia could tell from their frames and movements that they were human-like but definitely not human. They were most likely homunculi.

"You even thought this far ahead," Selia nodded in satisfaction, "I am truly grateful."

"It is my pleasure to serve thee!"

'There's no need to be that excited about me praising you, is there?'

Selia shrugged and headed towards the carriage. One of the red knights stepped forward and held out his hand to escort Selia.

"Before I leave, I want to know how the plans are coming along to influence the empire's nobles and make them join this nation?" After stepping inside the carriage and sitting down, Selia asked before closing the door.

"Have you not read the report I submitted? It was clearly stated inside of the report what I have accomplished ever since our peace treaty was signed."

'Shit. Was it inside that bundle of letters I skimmed over last night?'

Selia never really read the reports of her subordinates. She only stamped her name on each report without even reading it. It was a habit of hers ever since high school when she would finish her tests without checking if her answers were correct.

Vetis' eyes narrowed.

Selia panicked and cleared her throat.

"I…I am currently busy with my own project so I don't have time to check your reports."

"Oh? I see! No wonder you haven't made contact with us up until yesterday."

'I'm sorry for lying to you…'

The day after coming back to the city, Selia had decided to teleport to a remote location where none of her subordinates could find her. It was because she was mentally exhausted from everything that happened. 

Despite the cold lie she just spouted, Selia nodded at Vetis' words.

"Mhm! That is precisely so!"

'Shit. I actually don't have anything on at the moment. I guess it'll be fine as long as he doesn't find out.'

"I wish you a blessed journey. Please tell me if any of these knights do not perform their duty. I will personally handle their punishments."

"G-Got it." 

After Vetis stepped back, Selia closed the door and sat back in the chair with a deep sigh.

"Being the ruler of a nation is really tiring…."

Thus, the carriage proceeded to head to the Empire of Eulia to hold the official conference and banquet.