Ch.129129. Alicia (3)

# Hope in Her Words

How much hope those words brought.

Alicia raised her head, which had been bowed in despair, and looked at Yu-na.

“Really?”

“Yes. Really. I was just a fragile healer once. Yet look at me now—a proper cult leader, aren’t I?”

When Yu-na thought about it, when she first awakened as an Awakened, she was merely an ordinary one with only talent.

Yet she had been able to change her fate as a weak girl by contracting with Bahamut, and now she stood here as the leader of the Balhut Cult.

That’s why she told Alicia it was too early to despair over something so trivial.

‘She’s not wrong. Though it’s different from what I intended, Yu-na has certainly risen to prominence.’

Bahamut also knew Yu-na’s claim wasn’t wrong, so he quietly nodded in agreement with her opinion.

“Then? Can I win? Against that monster?”

“Yes. Of course you can win. First, we need to think of ways to defeat the Lord Protector. Training your abilities comes first, of course. Even though you’ve gained the power of the Dragon Priestess, an Awakened who has reached level 20 possesses strength worthy of being called superhuman.”

She could definitely win.

From the moment Alicia obtained the Dragon Priestess class, she had already reached a level incomparable to ordinary Awakened.

Though she was only level 1 now, levels could be gained by hunting monsters, and as her level rose, the means to win would gradually increase.

Of course, Yu-na warned that the Lord Protector, who had reached level 20, possessed strength befitting his reputation as a superhuman, so they couldn’t let their guard down.

“How strong is he?”

“Even if 100 Awakened who haven’t reached level 20 came together, they couldn’t defeat a single superhuman. That’s assuming they fight with equal equipment. If those 100 people planned carefully to target the superhuman, they might have a chance. But usually, even with good strategy, the superhuman wins.”

Yu-na explained that if they used the same equipment as a baseline, 100 Awakened who hadn’t reached level 20 couldn’t defeat a single superhuman who had reached level 20.

In reality, Jin A-yeon’s prowess on the Ulsan front far transcended ordinary Awakened, and she was evaluated as single-handedly dominating the battlefield.

If the Lord Protector was also a powerful Awakened who had reached level 20, then he was on the same level as Jin A-yeon, and naturally, they needed countermeasures against him.

“But we’ve already obtained the class advancement that many Awakened aim to get at level 20. How great an advantage that is, and how tremendous the potential of this class… it’s hard even for me, a Dragon Priestess, to imagine.”

However, Alicia had started with a class at level 1 that others could only obtain at level 20.

Yu-na said this advantage was so great that even she, as a Dragon Priestess, couldn’t imagine how powerful it was.

“So if I train well, I can gain the power to defeat the Lord Protector by myself?”

“Yes. You’ll need talent for fighting, but… hehe. Since the Dragon God ultimately agreed to the contract, Alicia must certainly have talent.”

As Yu-na began to comfort Alicia,

“By the way. You’re not stopping this contract. At first, I thought you were someone monitoring the queen. It seems you’re not from the Lord Protector’s side.”

Bahamut, who had been watching silently, turned his head and spoke to the maid who had been quietly serving her until now.

The maid had been assisting Alicia from the moment they arrived until now, and had been acquiescing to her choices without any resistance.

At first, after hearing about Alicia’s identity, Bahamut thought she might be a monitor sent by the Lord Protector, but in that case, she would have prevented the contract with Dragon God Bahamut, which would be disadvantageous to the Lord Protector. Therefore, Bahamut didn’t consider the maid before him to be from the Lord Protector’s side.

“I serve only the royal family. Unfortunately, the Lord Protector is not my master.”

She was a royalist.

More precisely, as someone serving the British royal family, she drew a line by stating that the Lord Protector was not her master.

There was a high possibility this was a lie, but as mentioned earlier, if it were, she would have interfered with Alicia’s actions before the contract. So it seemed she truly was a royalist as she claimed.

“I see. So your queen contracted with me. But isn’t the state religion of this country the Church of England? Externally, I’m a god of a different religion.”

“I actually thought this contract could be the way to save the royal family.”

“Then are you one of the main instigators of this contract?”

In response to that, Bahamut questioned whether she wasn’t concerned about him being a god of a different religion from the country’s state religion, and the maid replied that she thought this contract could be the way to save the royal family.

In other words, it could be judged that this maid was also one of the main instigators of this contract.

Well…

‘It’s clear that young Alicia wouldn’t have contracted with me on her own. Someone must have advised her.’

He didn’t think Alicia had reached this point all by herself.

As seen now, Alicia was very young, and while she had enough will to undertake something independently, she lacked the knowledge.

In such a situation, the people she could rely on were those she trusted around her, and among them, the maid before him was the most suitable.

“Yes. Through my relationship with Anna, I learned about Lord Bahamut, and I arranged for Lady Alicia to contact Lord Bahamut.”

The maid confirmed this was true, saying she had obtained information about Bahamut through Steven’s assistant Anna, and based on that, she had instigated this contract event.

“If not now, Lady Alicia would never have had the opportunity to gain the power to protect herself.”

Naturally, the queen gaining the power to protect herself was something the Lord Protector’s cabinet would dislike.

From the perspective of the Lord Protector, who had failed in his attempt to claim the throne, to aim for the throne again, he would need to remove the queen sitting on it. Considering he had failed even when she had no power, it wasn’t hard to predict what a significant obstacle she would become now that she had power.

That’s why the Lord Protector’s side had blocked all means for the queen to awaken as an Awakened, and despite being the head of state, she had remained an ordinary person without awakening until now.

From the maid’s perspective, for the queen to survive the threat of the Lord Protector, she needed to awaken as an Awakened, and after searching for ways by any means necessary…

“We were truly fortunate. The Lord Protector rashly insisted on the International Organization Reconstruction Conference to rebuild his fallen prestige. Thanks to that, a gap appeared.”

She had reached the conclusion of contracting with Bahamut to become a Dragon Priestess.

Coincidentally, there was news that Dragon God Bahamut would come directly to England, and amidst the preparations for the International Organization Reconstruction Conference and the visits of numerous heads of state, the Lord Protector’s cabinet was distracted, allowing them to act quickly.

Normally, even for the queen’s minor movements, many of the Lord Protector’s personnel would vigilantly demand to accompany her, but today, all those personnel were deployed for the International Organization Reconstruction Conference preparations, resulting in a shortage of manpower.

‘Coincidentally, I was able to connect with America, which had a conflict with the Lord Protector’s cabinet and wanted to give them a hard time.’

Moreover, with America’s help, it was entirely possible to arrange for the queen to contact Bahamut.

And America responded appropriately to that request, making the maid’s plan successful.

“This is as far as my plan goes. If Lord Bahamut hadn’t accepted the contract with the queen, I was even considering capturing a monster from the outskirts during the reconstruction conference and having the queen hunt it.”

“That would have been a plan with a high probability of being discovered.”

Therefore, this was the perfect chance for the queen to gain the power to protect herself.

It had actually succeeded, and the queen had contracted with the Dragon God to become an Awakened, but in reality, it was an operation with a very high probability of failure.

“Yes. But if not now, when could we do it? If my life is the price to protect the queen, it’s a sufficient cost.”

‘This, this is the appearance of someone who has staked their life. What incredible determination. How terrifying.’

Bahamut thought the maid was also prepared to risk her life when she said that if Bahamut hadn’t accepted, she would have captured a monster from the outskirts to offer to the queen.

“Is Alicia worth such loyalty?”

“I have watched and served the queen since she was a child until now. If affection doesn’t develop during that time, wouldn’t that indicate a problem as a human being?”

But at the same time, he didn’t think Alicia was someone who deserved such loyalty.

When Bahamut asked why she was loyal to the queen, the maid simply answered that she had served her since childhood.

Yes, an emotion stronger than wealth and honor, and perhaps the most noble emotion…

“Affection. I understand completely.”

It was love.

She was a loyal servant who sincerely followed the princess she had served since childhood and acted for her sake.

With just that one word, the Dragon God seemed to understand completely, turning his head to gaze at Alicia.

She seemed to have calmed down from Yu-na’s comfort and returned to her usual expression from her gloomy one.

Of course, her eyes were still red and swollen, but that couldn’t be helped.

“Regardless, the contract has been completed here. Alicia, you have now gained the miracle of summoning magic, which allows you to borrow my power in proportion to the magical energy you’ve offered me. That alone should be sufficient means to overcome your difficulties.”

“I can overcome difficulties?!”

And to such an Alicia, Bahamut proudly declared that there was a way to overcome her difficulties.

“Yes. In this apocalypse, what makes the strongest impression on people is power. I heard you have royal guards who follow you?”

Of course, it was natural that with power comes followers.

Just as the Balhut Cult began by demonstrating powerful strength and captivating many people, even now, when power dynamics were somewhat established, if one demonstrated strength, they would be respected and treated well.

And with that demonstrated power, it was entirely possible to expand one’s own forces.

“Umm… Mary, do I have many royal guards who follow me?”

“The Coldstream Guards and Welsh Guards have still sworn loyalty to Your Majesty even in this apocalypse. However, the Life Guards have sworn loyalty to the Labour Party, the Grenadier Guards to the Liberal Party, and the Blues and Royals, Scots Guards, and Irish Guards to the Lord Protector.”

And she had been the queen of this country from the beginning, and the legacy left by the previous queen was also hers.

She received loyalty from the elite royal guards who protected London, and even after the apocalypse, there were still units that remained loyal to the queen.

Of course, the loyalty of these guards had been scattered due to the apocalypse, and out of a total of seven guard regiments, only two remained loyal to her, while the rest pledged their loyalty to different factions.

The largest faction was indeed the Lord Protector, but conversely, this proved that even the Lord Protector hadn’t completely taken control of all the guards.

Moreover, the fact that two regiments were still loyal to the powerless queen indicated that Alicia’s situation was incomparably better than the early days of the Balhut Cult.

“You have more followers than I thought.”

“I, I had no idea!”

Bahamut thought this was more than adequate, and surprisingly, Alicia also showed a surprised expression to the maid, as if she hadn’t known she had royal guards following her.

“Since you’re still young and unable to handle royal duties, most are handled by the regent, the Lord Protector. The documents that reach Your Majesty are very limited.”

“So the actual military authority and real power are in the hands of the Lord Protector.”

“Yes.”

So the real power had already fallen into the hands of the Lord Protector, and the queen couldn’t command these royal guards as she wished.

She couldn’t issue mobilization orders for the guards, and it would be impossible to meet with the regimental commanders personally.

The Lord Protector wouldn’t allow it in the first place.

“Then, if survival is the goal, if the queen demonstrates her power and regains the loyalty of the scattered royal guards, it would be more than enough to survive.”

“Is, is that enough? But… the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party… they all… look at me with distrustful eyes.”

However, if even some of the existing royal guards were pledging loyalty, and if she could regain the loyalty of the scattered guards, it could become a means to pressure the Lord Protector.

Bahamut informed her of this fact, but Alicia replied that neither the Liberal Party nor the Conservative Party, who could be considered political opponents of the Lord Protector, trusted or believed in her.

In reality, from the perspective of London’s political circles, the situation wasn’t favorable for trusting or relying on a queen who had just turned 10, and instead, it was a situation where the queen had to rely on them.

Rather, they had to consider the possibility that she might fall for the Lord Protector’s sweet talk, so from their standpoint, they couldn’t greatly trust the queen.

“That’s just a matter of persuasion. Before the apocalypse, persuasion would have been a task, but haven’t you gained a means to achieve results?”

“Results? Ah…!”

“Yes, that’s when you borrow my power. The narrative of a queen who contracted with a Dragon God. That narrative alone can stir the hearts of many people.”

However, unlike the Lord Protector who had already attempted and failed to usurp the throne, the queen could persuade them based on her legitimacy as a direct descendant.

“Using the power from that contract to eliminate monsters, the enemies of humanity. Isn’t it just like a heroic tale from stories? By this country’s standards, I suppose the most famous would be the story of King Arthur pulling the sword from the stone. Like that story, the queen contracted with a Dragon God to protect the people of this country.”

The method of persuasion didn’t require eloquence or charming appeal at all.

All that was needed was a story that many people in this apocalypse could accept.

Alicia had already built such a narrative, and there was one miracle that could showcase this heroic tale to the world.

“The rest would be finding a way to spread this truth throughout England. Before it gets distorted by lies, the true story.”

“Yes. With extensive coverage and a national address combined, it would be sufficient to exert authority.”

And unlike the Balhut Cult, which received penalties for being inherently a pseudo-religious cult, she was the queen of this country.

If she, the highest leader of this country, declared that she had contracted with a Dragon God to protect people, there wouldn’t be many who would dislike it.

“Yes! I’ll do it! I’ll show them! Just you wait, you lolicon Lord Protector!”

Thus, future plans were decided, but…

‘Yes, that’s all well and good, but why do I have the feeling this will flourish more in another country?’

Bahamut could somehow sense an ominous feeling.