Ch.137136. Alicia’s Victory Ceremony

It could be seen as a lavish welcome ceremony.

The giant insect that had threatened England was exterminated by the Queen’s hand, and afterward, she continued touring provincial cities suffering from monsters, eliminating the creatures appearing on the British Isle.

Even monsters that local regions couldn’t possibly handle were unable to withstand the march of the royal guard led by the Queen. As her extermination operations succeeded, the Queen’s reputation and prestige grew increasingly higher.

Indeed, this victory ceremony might be deserved considering the achievements the Queen had accumulated through this extermination campaign.

“Long live Her Majesty the Queen!”

“The Queen is truly amazing!”

The reason the Queen’s exploits became known so quickly in London was simple.

The appearance of monsters had physically severed connections between cities and provinces, and the Queen and her royal guard had reconnected those broken roads. Because of this, news spread rapidly among civilians—people from the provinces came up to London to share the news, or Londoners traveled to provincial cities to search for their parents or relatives.

Above all, England’s capital remained intact, so the information society characteristic of the modern era was still maintained, making it possible to deliver accurate news to citizens through various social media and internet outlets.

“Did… Mary do this?”

“Yes. Through connections remaining in political circles. She widely publicized it to the people.”

Moreover, despite appearances, Alicia was the queen of this country, and Mary was her close aide.

They still had internal connections within the London cabinet and political circles, and it was all too easy for them to use these remaining connections to spread this news widely. Above all, the recapture of cities meant increased support for the British cabinet and royal family, so the London cabinet had no choice but to widely publicize the Queen’s achievements, especially to reduce the Lord Protector’s influence.

“By the way, Your Majesty. How about saying a few words to the citizens? Everyone is waiting to see you.”

“Do I… have to say something?”

“That’s how we’ll get the effect we want.”

Thus, due to various political circumstances, a splendid victory ceremony was arranged, and the Queen proudly marched in with her royal guard amid the cheers of citizens.

It could be seen as an event bringing vitality to a country whose future had been gloomy due to the apocalypse and whose atmosphere had been poor recently due to the coup attempt.

At such an event, if the protagonist Queen didn’t step forward, who would?

Since they had announced that the Queen had been the most active in this expedition, it was effective to firmly imprint the Queen’s image on the people.

“Citizens, I will be the protector of this country! I hope this first step serves as proof that I have demonstrated my power to you!”

“God save the Queen!”

And the Queen swore to protect this country, successfully eliciting a response from the people.

Alicia said just that one line, then hid herself in the car, slumping down with a sigh.

“Did… I do well?”

“Yes. That was sufficient.”

Alicia’s hands trembled as if she found the expectant gazes of the citizens somewhat frightening, and the maid simply gave a small smile as if proud of the Queen’s appearance.

As the Queen gradually built trust with the citizens, there were also forces that were perplexed by the Queen’s unexpected efforts.

“To think she would actually exterminate them.”

“I thought she would flee disgracefully.”

First, the Conservative and Liberal parties, which could be considered London’s main political factions, couldn’t help but be greatly interested in the Queen’s current victory procession.

Until now, the Queen had been a puppet who could do nothing and only gathered public opinion, but now she had thrown down a challenge to London’s political circles as a proper player in her own right.

Moreover, the Queen had accumulated achievements that no one could deny, grasping a massive weight class that even the Conservative and Liberal parties couldn’t handle.

Seeing this spectacle, what they thought was:

“We thought she couldn’t directly involve herself in current politics.”

“She was too young. She hadn’t even learned the art of kingship to utilize the position of queen.”

The correct answer was that they hadn’t expected this at all.

To be frank, Alicia, who had been somewhat distant from the line of succession, was a case of someone who ascended to the throne without proper education as a royal.

Naturally, the two political factions found it difficult to trust a queen who hadn’t received proper education, and the fact that she was an ordinary person who hadn’t even Awakened meant they had only intended to use her as a tool for gathering public opinion.

“How could a 10-year-old step to the forefront?”

“Aside from her royal status, she’s about the same age as my daughter. That’s too much to ask, even for a queen.”

“Honestly, I sympathized with her for ascending to the throne at such a young age.”

Frankly, they had thought the Queen would have no presence until she grew into an adult, but who would have expected her to deliver such an excellent surprise?

While they felt proud of the young Queen’s growth…

“There were many who sympathized with the young Queen from the beginning. But no one expected the Queen to take the initiative and establish such achievements.”

“And she commands a sacred dragon, they say. That itself might be common propaganda, but her weight class has become too high.”

At the same time, there was a sense of bewilderment that her weight class had become too high.

If the Queen could properly fulfill her role, she could become a means to check the Lord Protector.

What the cabinet wanted was for the Queen to directly check the Lord Protector, and with the current Queen, she had the power to check the Lord Protector’s tyranny.

“Can we handle this?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps real power might shift from Parliament to the Queen.”

However, it was also true that the cabinet didn’t want a political weight class beyond what they could handle.

This was because they knew that if this happened, the real substantial power would flow not to the cabinet but to the Queen.

“That famous Bahamut?”

“Bahamut. The giant dragon said to have appeared in the Far East. An existence whose reality I greatly doubted. So it was real.”

The London political circles were already somewhat aware of Bahamut’s reputation.

Especially since they were focusing on connections with the United States, they were quickly collecting news and public opinion from America, and had some understanding of Asian affairs coming through the US.

Therefore, while they knew of Bahamut’s existence, they never dreamed the dragon would contract with the Queen, and they couldn’t hide their bewilderment at why the dragon had contracted with a Queen who could offer nothing at that time.

“This will bring the royalist faction back to London politics.”

“The royalist faction is from a bygone era. But if she has contracted with a dragon as the Queen declared, we can at least trust her competence.”

However, there were clearly those who benefited from this in London politics.

The royalist faction, which inevitably exists where there is a royal family, made significant advances due to the Queen’s achievements this time.

After all, in the apocalypse, the most noticeable thing was military power, and the Queen had proven that power.

“For a while, the Queen’s name will continue to rise in British politics.”

“Time to recalculate?”

“Yes. The era of the Queen has returned once more.”

The Queen’s gain from this expedition was imprinting her name—Alicia—in London politics, giving her a strong presence that no one could dismiss as a puppet.

And by repaying the sympathy that had existed from the beginning and transforming it into trust, the Queen had gained much from this expedition.

“God Save the Queen… I didn’t think I’d utter that phrase for a while.”

No longer a powerless queen.

She is clearly a queen with power.

‘This feels good! After receiving suspicious glances all this time, I’ve finally proven myself to them!’

Of course, the current Queen had little understanding of the political assets she had gained from this expedition.

She was simply purely happy about being recognized by people, secretly enjoying the victory ceremony inside the car.

And just as there were those who gained from this expedition, there were clearly those who lost greatly.

“…To think she would succeed.”

Watching the Queen’s victory ceremony quietly, the Lord Protector muttered in a voice full of anger.

With a face like he had eaten something foul, the Lord Protector could sense that the gaze people directed at the Queen had changed as he assessed the movements in London politics.

If the Queen established achievements that earned the trust of London’s political circles once or twice more, they would gather under the Queen’s banner without hesitation, calling themselves royalists.

“This is completely different from the plan.”

The Lord Protector, who had been forced to make many political concessions due to the failure of the coup, had prepared numerous schemes for the throne.

Effectively sabotaging the international organization reconstruction conference and colluding with the Saint of Orleans could all be seen as actions that put England in crisis for the sake of the throne.

For him, who wanted to demonstrate the Lord Protector’s strength to English citizens while proving the cabinet’s incompetence… the rise of the Queen and the royalist faction irritated him.

“Damn it! To think there are still those loyal to that puppet queen!”

Above all, it was a miscalculation that there were still royal guards loyal to the Queen.

He had thought no one would be loyal to a queen who had nothing, but there were as many as three regiments of royal guards still loyal to the Queen who had yet to prove herself, and they all followed the Queen’s expedition without hesitation, causing other royal guards to waver inwardly.

The Lord Protector tried to reassure the royal guards following him that the Queen would fail, hoping to somehow stop that wavering, but what was this?

The Queen had proudly succeeded in the difficult expedition, and now shamelessly turned the London streets into her victory ceremony.

“If only I had more time, I could have persuaded the rest of the royal guard!”

The timing was not right.

If the Queen’s expedition had been delayed even slightly, the Lord Protector could have used the charisma gained from the international organization to persuade the royal guards following the Queen, given enough time.

Of all times, the Queen seized the opportunity while he was dealing with the political aftermath of what he had done after the international organization concluded.

It was truly infuriating.

“Too early. Too fast. The path to the throne was right before my eyes.”

To be honest, rather than saying he had been careless, much of it was the Lord Protector’s own doing.

Frankly, he should have known from before coveting the throne that interference from the establishment would target him the moment someone who hadn’t properly secured his position revealed his dark ambition for the throne.

However, the Lord Protector, who had little connection to politics before the apocalypse, was blinded by the throne before his eyes, committed a coup, and tarnished his glorious reputation as a hero with his own hands.

Above all, the Lord Protector’s weakness was:

“What happened to the one monitoring the Queen?”

“He’s been detained.”

“Dispose of him.”

His ego was far too strong.

As if only his thoughts mattered, he immediately ordered the disposal of even a subordinate who had worked for him until now, just because of one failure.

Of course, since that failure could be fatal to the Lord Protector, punishment was natural.

That’s why the subordinate immediately detained the monitor at the Lord Protector’s word, expecting there would be punishment for this.

“Pardon?”

“Yes. A useless man who reported nothing while the Queen was pulling this stunt doesn’t deserve a place in the cabinet I will form in the future.”

He never dreamed he would be immediately disposed of.

The Lord Protector’s aide asked again as if he didn’t understand the disposal order, and the Lord Protector called him useless, saying there was no place for him in the cabinet he envisioned.

It was essentially using someone thoroughly and then discarding them, but…

“…Understood.”

Unfortunately, the aide couldn’t refuse the Lord Protector’s words and simply followed his will after a moment of silence.

It was truly a harsh punishment, but considering the damage the Lord Protector had suffered this time, there was some understanding for this severe punishment.

The Lord Protector, seemingly satisfied with that attitude, asked about the next matter.

“So, is there any new information?”

“The Queen has contracted with Bahamut of the Balhut Cult.”

“Bahamut. Ha. To think they would dare do such a thing in my country. Damn it. Damn it all.”

It seems those following the Lord Protector weren’t incompetent, as they had collected information about the Queen’s contract partner and identified it as Bahamut of the Balhut Cult.

The Lord Protector was furious that a force he hadn’t even paid attention to had played him, but he had no means of retaliation.

Just as the Lord Protector had essentially excluded Asia due to distance issues, making it impossible for Asia to retaliate against him, the Balhut Cult could also avoid the Lord Protector’s retaliation due to distance.

Typically, England could retaliate through economic sanctions or diplomatic deals through connections, but such things were impossible in the current era, and the Lord Protector had already turned many countries against him.

In other words, the Lord Protector could do nothing against the Balhut Cult.

‘If it were Europe, I could entrust it to that cunning woman. But of all places, the Far East. Damn it. It’s completely opposite to my sphere of influence.’

However, since the other party had thrown down the gauntlet, he couldn’t be unprepared.

“Tell the Saint of Orleans. In completing the European Union… a rather troublesome enemy has appeared.”

Still, he had to use what he could.

The Lord Protector began a meaningful conversation about future matters, sending a message to the Saint of Orleans, who had now become a comrade walking the same path.