Chapter 143 - National Crisis

Steph's face became pale as she imagined what would happen next.

Instead of investigating the problem, Steph immediately rushed to Yale and tried to de-escalate the situation. "Prince Yale. I believe there is some kind of misunderstanding. Let me solve this problem for you."

"No need. Unlike the agreement between kingdoms, I should have known that kindness won't be paid by kindness. Hence, it's better to stick to the agreement with the kingdom instead. As for the Adventurer Guild… It's not like they're that useful either. We have other means to get money." Yale shrugged and continued, ignoring her.

Steph wanted to talk about it, but Yale shut her up with a single cold glance.

"…" Steph panicked for a moment and glared at the middle-aged man before storming inside the guild. Instead of bothering the middle-aged man, she pointed at one adventurer and asked. "What's going on here?"

"Me?" The adventurer was surprised, but since Steph was the manager of the brothel, it was similar to a city official because she was considered the guardian of this city. Hence, he shared all his knowledge about what transpired in this hall earlier.

When she listened to his words, she realized there was truly no other way to solve this problem. She had been told to make sure Albert and his group enjoy their stay and love this place, so Lilith could gradually rope them in, but this was the exact opposite of what was going on.

Without hesitation, she rushed toward the forest to gather the information from the staff there. She used her fastest speed so as to not waste too much time in the investigation.

The moment she learned the truth, she wanted to cry but had no tears.

She went straight to her house and activated the transmission mirror to talk with the queen.

As soon as she was connected to Lilith, who was handling the national problem with others, she started trembling.

"What is it? You should be the one in charge of Seika Town, right?" Lilith asked with a calm expression, unaware of what she was about to say.

"Y-yes." Steph suddenly changed her position from kneeling on one knee to kneeling with her head touching the floor. "I apologize, Your Majesty. Your subject has committed a big crime."

"Mhm?" Lilith tilted her head in confusion. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"I…" Steph hesitated for a moment and kept panting.

"Are you exhausted or something?" Lilith frowned, seeing Steph's condition. "Did you do something?"

Steph hesitated for a moment and said, "Sir Albert and his group had taken down around 60% of the tree spirits and rescued 70% of the people."

"Isn't that good? I know he can do it." Lilith nodded with a serious expression. "I already told you that if there's something big going on and it's related to Lust, it's fine to rely on him. He would do a fantastic job, and we would just pay him a bit more and consider it as a bonus."

"That…" Steph clenched her fists. Her body and clothes had been drenched in sweat this whole time, and when they finally entered the core of the problem, the cold sweat couldn't help but come out, covering her. "There is a problem."

"Hmm? Is he injured?" Lilith frowned. "I will call a good healer then… But if I'm not wrong, he's a healer too. In that case, his injury is a bit too big?"

"No." Steph shook her head and explained her investigation. It included the following details, from how Albert was selfless enough to help the others in the camp, let Irena go to take care of the rest, and to Yale's statement.

The moment she heard everything, her body immediately released pink-colored energy.

Although she couldn't feel the pressure coming from that energy, all the ministers who were with her panicked.

"Your Majesty. Please calm down."

"Your Majesty…"

They were trying to calm her down. Even though she was the queen instead of a marshall, her power was still the strongest. It was clear that her power made the people inside the hall dread.

"I believe I already told you to take care of him and make him love this kingdom…" Lilith rose from her throne, glaring at Steph.

"If you're that useless, why do you even have that position… I should have made Erica replace you…" Lilith glanced at one of the ministers whose race was the same as Steph, but unlike her, the minister had all nine tails. "She is from your tribe. What would you like me to do?"

The nine-tailed fox lowered her head in panic. "Please let me handle her, Your Majesty. I'll make sure something like this doesn't happen anymore."

"Fine. It's because you asked me. I'll be there in five hours." Lilith snorted and disappeared from the throne room as she immediately made her way to Albert.

Those who were left in the throne room had complex feelings.

"Does Her Majesty have feelings for this commoner?" One of them asked.

"Who knows. Because of her charm, she never really touches men as they're already frozen with just a single glance of her appearance. So, I know that she treats him special."

"From my perspective, I don't really care. Although he doesn't have status, his ability is far more important. If we give him enough time, he will shine brightly that no one cares about his status anymore."

"That's true. Since we're going against the Risourin Kingdom right now, if he helps on the battlefield and prevents anyone in the army from being seduced by the natural charm of the succubus, we can gain an overwhelming advantage in an instant. So, it's normal for Her Majesty to try to please him, not that I know if she's doing it for that though."

"We can eliminate him, but the benefits he'll bring in the future are far greater than the loss. So, I don't really mind having him with us. Also, it'll be a problem if he flees to the Holy Kingdom because of this… I'm afraid…"

They fell silent for a while and looked at each other.

"National crisis."