Ch.128128. Alicia (2)

From Bahamut’s perspective, this was an opportunity to gain a new contractor operating overseas, and above all…

‘A queen of a country!? Who could resist this? Let’s get this contract!’

The moment he realized his potential contractor was the queen of a nation, his heart was already filled with selfish ambition.

Indeed, even as a puppet ruler, she was the queen of an entire country—and being the Queen of England was no small matter before the apocalypse. There were still countries in the Commonwealth that officially recognized the queen as their monarch, and even in the current apocalyptic world, those connections remained unbroken.

A girl with such a position came seeking a contract with him?

‘How could I resist? No, I can’t! I must make this contract happen!’

What dragon in this world could possibly resist such an opportunity?

Bahamut thought it would be impossible to resist.

His eyes were already spinning with excitement as he resolved to make this contract succeed no matter what.

‘This will raise my reputation too.’

From Bahamut’s perspective, contracting with a queen would clearly bring personal benefits by elevating his own status.

Moreover, considering that before contracting with Yu-na, he had desperately refused passing hikers because he didn’t want to contract with ordinary mountain climbers, this was just his true nature showing.

However, from the Balhut Cult’s perspective, this contract wasn’t a bad thing as it would allow them to establish a close connection with England and potentially exert influence there.

The only real problem was the contractor’s questionable mindset.

‘Junior! Junior! Junior! Finally, Seol-hwa has a new junior!’

Besides, there was no one who would oppose this contract.

Yu-na’s mind was filled only with thoughts of welcoming a new junior anytime, and upon hearing that this contract would be successful, she was simply excited about the birth of a new junior.

‘If domestic expansion is difficult, we have no choice but to spread our influence overseas!’

A person’s dreams… never end!

If the Balhut Cult was already struggling to thrive domestically as a religious organization, wasn’t targeting overseas expansion the right answer?

Yu-na had been secretly aiming for the Balhut Cult’s international expansion since domestic missionary work had become difficult, and conveniently, a queen of a country was volunteering to become a contractor.

In other words, if things went well, this was a golden opportunity for the Balhut Cult to become the state religion with the queen at its center.

‘The Balhut Cult as England’s state religion? Can I resist this? No! I cannot!’

Would Yu-na stop this? Of course not!

Instead, she was enthusiastically preparing to welcome the new junior with selfish thoughts.

The dragon and the priestess were truly alike in their ridiculous thinking.

“I do not abandon those who earnestly seek me out. For the grand aspiration in your heart. If you have reached this place. I too must respond with sincerity.”

And so, through the collaboration of a foolish dragon and a foolish priestess, a new contractor was about to be born here in London.

“Alicia. What do you seek from me?”

“…I need the power to defeat the Lord Protector.”

However, there was a proper order to making contracts.

No matter how excited Bahamut was about contracting with a queen, he never forgot the contract process he had always followed.

With the most solemn expression, he asked Alicia what she wanted from him, and she answered that she wanted to defeat the Lord Protector.

“Is that for yourself?”

“For myself…?”

Is defeating the Lord Protector the path for Alicia herself?

Her answer to that was…

“I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t understand anything anymore!”

She didn’t know.

She didn’t properly understand why she had to fight the Lord Protector.

“Being crowned queen as the only remaining royal! Having to act as a perfect and dignified queen for the people! Being responsible for this country… None of this was what I wanted…”

Honestly, she had been thrust onto the throne so suddenly that she didn’t know how to act.

She was never meant to ascend to the throne—her grandfather was supposed to take the place of the deceased queen.

Her misfortune was that she happened to have the highest succession rights among the remaining royals, and she was legitimately the daughter of the crown prince.

“Why did I have to become queen? Why did my grandfather and father die when they did nothing wrong…? I wasn’t prepared for any of this…”

The existence of the British monarch was necessary to prevent the collapse of both Britain and the Commonwealth, and she ended up in a position she never expected.

Without any preparation or mindset to become a ruler, she ascended to the throne of queen simply because Parliament demanded she take responsibility for the country, and she couldn’t resist.

Alicia’s will wasn’t important in this matter; it was simply the duty of the royal family in this country.

“But I want to survive in this apocalypse that took away all my family! I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die…!”

Above all, she didn’t want to die.

It was an era where even the most protected royals were dying, and having witnessed her father lose his life to the apocalypse, the child’s survival instinct was even stronger.

She believed that as the queen of this country, despite the many duties imposed on her, survival itself would at least be possible.

“But the Lord Protector is after the throne. To the Lord Protector, I’m just a puppet warming the throne! I can’t stop or prevent the Lord Protector! Even if I wanted to bow my head right now and beg for my life, he would never allow it! Because as long as I, the last queen, am alive, I’m only an obstacle to the Lord Protector!”

But even that belief was futile given that the Lord Protector was aiming to usurp the throne.

She came here because she didn’t want to be killed by the Lord Protector.

The Lord Protector, who had staged a palace coup, could no longer stop—either the queen would die or the Lord Protector would die; only one could remain.

No matter how much the queen might bow her head first, the Lord Protector would never accept it.

Rather, she expressed her fear that he would ensure a miserable, garbage-like death for the current royal family so that no one could sympathize with them.

“I… I…!”

“I have clearly heard your resolve.”

After Alicia desperately poured out her innermost thoughts to Bahamut, he told her that was sufficient.

“This is not the shrine where I decide on contracts, and this contract is developing in a completely different way than I expected. But that doesn’t matter. Your arrival here must also be fate. You must be someone with the potential to grow into a being that will someday have a powerful influence on the entire world.”

And once again, he used that same line he had scammed Yu-na and Seol-hwa with, claiming she too would become someone who would have a powerful influence on the entire world…

‘Wait, she’s already the queen of a country. Is this actually possible from the start?’

…or perhaps not quite the same.

Thinking about it rationally, unlike Yu-na and Seol-hwa who had no power base or strength at that time, she was already legitimately the queen of a country.

She was already in a position where her mere existence could exert enormous influence worldwide.

So…

“Right and wrong are ultimately conceptual. Therefore, if you prove your own justice and beliefs, I promise, on my name, to lend you my power.”

“Justice and beliefs?”

Bahamut declared that if the queen proved her justice and beliefs, he would lend her his power.

The young queen might not understand what that meant, but she recognized that the dragon god was offering to lend her power.

“You may not know anything about the justice or beliefs you hold right now. Because you are young. But ignoring your infinite potential would be too unfortunate.”

Seeing this, Bahamut said it was too early for her to realize, and that he couldn’t ignore her potential.

“Then I declare the contract complete here and now.”

With that, the contract was completed.

And Bahamut gave Alicia a token of their contract.

【 You have Awakened. 】

At that moment, Alicia became an Awakened.

Ignoring the usual conditions for becoming an Awakened, she had earned the qualification simply by successfully contracting with Bahamut.

Simultaneously…

【You have changed class.】

【Occupation: Dragon’s Priestess has been unlocked.】

“This is… Awakening? I’ve… become an Awakened! I’ve gained the power to defeat the Lord Protector! Power is overflowing within me!”

At the same time, the queen received the power of the Dragon’s Priestess, which could be seen as evidence of her contract with Bahamut.

As tremendous magical power surged through her, the queen, who had so desperately wanted to become an Awakened, shouted with pure joy at the massive wave of power she felt within herself.

Yes, with this power, she could defeat the Lord Protector!

It felt like her self-esteem, which had sunk to the Earth’s inner core, was now soaring to the edge of the universe.

“Yes. From now on, you are the Dragon’s Priest—”

“I’m going to defeat the Lord Protector right now! Wait for me, lolicon Lord Protector! I’ll pay back all this humiliation and oppression with double interest!”

So she wanted to use this power right away to challenge the Lord Protector.

Bahamut seemed to be saying something, but the queen’s mind was filled only with thoughts like “The Lord Protector is a bad person! Therefore, I must destroy him!”

As the queen tried to rush out beyond the barrier Bahamut had created, heading for the door…

“Wait a moment.”

Bahamut caught the queen who was trying to rush outside and sighed.

Just as he was about to explain something, she couldn’t even wait that long and tried to rush out—she was just like any other immature young girl.

‘They say when someone first Awakens, an overwhelming sense of omnipotence surges through their body…’

Of course, he understood her feelings.

The difference between an Awakened and a non-Awakened is enormous, and if someone has been discriminated against because of that difference, it’s human nature to want to vent that frustration immediately.

“Even though you’ve gained an occupation and much power through our contract, your level is still 1, isn’t it? I’ve heard the Lord Protector is a superhuman who has surpassed level 20. If you go now, you will certainly be defeated by the Lord Protector.”

The problem was that Alicia’s level at this point was only 1.

Could a novice level 1 Awakened defeat a superhuman who had reached level 20 and changed class?

How could that be possible?

Considering the level difference, plus the additional stats and skills acquired through class advancement, if she challenged him right now, Alicia would be defeated by the Lord Protector and meet what’s commonly called a “loser’s ending.”

“Eh, really? I went through all the trouble to contract with a dragon god, but I’ll still lose?”

Of course, Alicia seemed to think that if the dragon god Bahamut stepped in, there was no way she could lose, so she hadn’t considered the possibility of defeat at all.

After all, considering the majesty of the dragon god she had seen in the video, someone like the Lord Protector could be easily crushed underfoot!

So why was he saying she would lose?

“Unless I enter a state of deviation, I do not interfere in human conflicts. You must fight the Lord Protector with your own strength.”

Bahamut simply refused to fight the Lord Protector himself.

This meant Alicia would have to face the Lord Protector alone, but as just mentioned, there was no way the newly Awakened Alicia could defeat the Lord Protector.

‘I might be able to argue that the contract is the queen’s personal business, but me directly fighting the Lord Protector? That’s interfering in internal affairs and throwing down the gauntlet to the British Cabinet. That’s too much.’

Moreover, even if he wanted to help, Bahamut knew that directly fighting the Lord Protector would constitute interference in internal affairs or an act of hostility against the current British Cabinet.

Even for someone like Bahamut, disregarding a nation’s cabinet required considerable resolve and would risk lowering his accumulated reputation.

If handled poorly, it could escalate into a conflict between the Balhut Cult and England, which is why he had to adhere to the rule of not interfering in human conflicts.

Of course, if the Lord Protector had entered a state of deviation, he could participate depending on the justification, but…

‘It’s impossible right now.’

So for now, Alicia had to overcome this crisis with the power she gained from the contract.

“What’s that… I thought everything would be resolved once the contract was made… We’re back to square one. With just me being Awakened, there’s no way I can defeat the Lord Protector and his followers…”

But upon hearing this, Alicia, who had thought she could escape the Lord Protector’s grasp, despaired.

In the end, without Bahamut’s help, she would have to fight alone, but the Lord Protector already had many people on his side.

In Alicia’s mind, she had no chance of winning without Bahamut’s help.

“No, you’ve just gained the power to stand against the Lord Protector. Unlike before when you were powerless, Alicia now has the strength to protect herself. You just don’t realize how big that difference is.”

However, Yu-na told the despairing Alicia that she now had the power to protect herself, and that it was too early for Alicia to despair.