Tap.. Tap.. Tap...
A large formation of the Crown Prince's Guard escorted the Crown Prince's carriage, proceeding slowly along Riverfront Avenue by the Taim River towards the Royal Palace.
Although the official succession ceremony was still a full month away, to ease the defense pressure, Liweina had to move to the Royal Palace to live with the Queen starting today.
In the carriage, which wasn't luxurious but was very tastefully decorated, only Liweina, dressed in a neat military uniform, and Aiven were sitting. Miss Linda, the Crown Prince's assistant, wore armor and accompanied them on horseback with a drawn sword.
"Kaka..."
Liweina kept picking up nuts from the small table, feeding Kaka, who had crawled out of her shadow and turned into a small lizard form. Her white palms were tickled by the Shadow Dragon's tongue, causing her to let out a silver bell-like laugh.
Kaka, who once helped Aiven escape death nurous tis, was the last line of defense he had prepared for Liweina. Whether it would prove useful or not, it was always better to be prepared.
What was a bit regrettable was that after Kaka's bloodline purification, its ntal growth also leaned towards that of a pure-blooded Giant Dragon. Although very smart, it still couldn't speak yet.
While feeding to build rapport, Liweina occasionally glanced at Aiven beside her.
Although their relationship was that of master and Guardian Knight, its aning had long since changed after the transformation in the other party's status.
A Great Lord, ruling over 470,000 square kiloters of land and nearly a million people, could temporarily set aside his territorial affairs and specifically cross the entire Black Sea to return ho and act as her guard.
By any strict knight's code, this was the epito of loyalty and camaraderie.
A Tier 3 High-Rank Wizard is much more prestigious than a Tier 4 Knight, and far more effective in defense.
Moreover, interacting with Aiven was very comfortable; he was mature in thought and had a broad vision. It didn't show at all that there was actually a thirteen-year age gap between them. Liweina even felt that the older of the two should be Aiven (which was indeed the truth).
Also, having watched his gradual growth firsthand, she didn't find this sowhat dazzlingly accomplished genius difficult to approach and felt free to ask him questions.
"Aiven, during the last tumult in Ilya, you ntioned that the people are the foundation of a nation, and all social reforms must unite the majority's power and allow them to benefit.
You also told that the state system established by capitalists can be contagious, that the 'wave of democratization' is like a beast once released, it can never be shut back.
Shouldn't we then also strive to improve the welfare of our citizens to counter those capitalist forms of state?"
Liweina montarily set aside the idea of asking Aiven for a discount on the "Iron-Ribbed Wooden Ship" and returned to the topic of "inco distribution and redistribution" in the top-level political and economic design closely related to the Kingdom's developnt, sothing she still didn't understand too well.
As long as it's not about money, Aiven was quite generous in other aspects.
"Wealth redistribution is necessary; the key to this issue is the scale.
Understand, when a person pursues life essentials, he is usually diligent and brave; when he pursues consur goods, he becos lazy and gentle; when he pursues luxury, he becos weak.
This applies to an individual, a family, an organization, an ethnic group, or a nation.
The further away from the "necessities" of life, the more they are willing to use surplus wealth, rather than at the cost of their own life, to defend their wealth, family, and nation.
So, what kind of people do you actually want?"
"This..."
Before the contemplative Liweina could speak, Aiven suddenly looked up and chuckled softly:
"Your Highness, sothing interesting is happening!"
With a wave of his hand, an image collected by the [Mind Network] was projected in front of the two of them.
A hundred ters ahead of the progressing team, in the river, beside the street trees, in the soil... in places indiscernible to ordinary people, there were six invisible figures ard with special enchanted crossbow arrows, powerful explosives, and poisonous substances, all in readiness.
They had evaded the Guard's sight but could not escape the all-encompassing detection of the [Mind Network].
Whoosh——
The Spiritual Wind suddenly arose.
The surging [Activated Spiritual Light] had already dominated everything within a kiloter radius.
"The earth, river, and sky are extensions of my body!"
The next mont.
Clang! Clang! Clang!...
The earth, water, and air instantly upheaved, reshaping into shackles harder than steel, binding the oblivious ambushers tightly and then suddenly tightening.
"Ah——!"
At this mont, all material existence around them was their enemy; even their breath couldn't be autonomously controlled. The enchanted crossbow arrows, explosives, and toxins in their hands, powerful enough to threaten a Tier 3 Transcendent, beca useless in an instant.
In the midst of conversation and laughter, they were easily dealt with by Aiven.
As a small squad of guards rushed out to capture that group of ambushers, Aiven had already retracted the projection and returned to his original nonchalant deanor.
"These are 'Ghost Lizard Shadow Thieves,' most adept at hiding their tracks. Are they from the assassin organization 'Vulture's Nest'? Deploying six rare class mbers at once, it's quite a significant move."
But the clues end here. These task executors have no idea who the task issuer is. Unless we destroy the headquarters of the "Vulture's Nest" directly, it's almost impossible to find out who is hiring the killers.
There are far too many people with motives to do this.
"But daring to undertake the task of assassinating a Crown Prince, it seems the na of the Phaletis Kingdom still holds no deterrent power for so people!"
Although unscathed, the expression on Liweina's face remained unfavorable, and a hint of killing intent was revealed in her beautiful lake-green eyes. Regardless of who the instigator was, the fact that "Vulture's Nest" did not refuse this commission shows they did not consider the possible retaliation from Phaletis.
Of course.
Aiven and Liweina both understood that these guys were purely intended to cause trouble for Phaletis at this crucial mont.
This lineup might have succeeded in a surprise attack against a Tier 3 Great Knight, but under the protection of an Upper-Rank Wizard, it was nothing more than a joke.
Aiven did not comfort Liweina, as allowing this Crown Princess to know sha and then be courageous was not a bad thing:
"Your Highness, let's think about how to make ourselves stronger.
Returning to the previous issue, this apparently seems to be a problem of [royal autocracy] and [capital democracy] facing issues of inco distribution and redistribution, relating to social fairness and the welfare of the people, but it's not just a distribution problem.
Because redistribution can solve the issue of "fairness," but it cannot solve the problem of "prosperity."
What is the essence of poverty? It is the inefficiency of wealth creation!
From the perspective of us rulers, the focus of policy thinking should not be on trying to fairly distribute the existing social wealth, but on how to exceed the original total wealth..."
St. Jas's Palace.
In the study belonging to Her Majesty the Queen, even though she has reached the "retirent" age, Isabella, wearing the Platinum Crown, remains elegant, noble, and lovely. Although the team has not yet arrived, it is clear she has already received news of her daughter's attack.
"The royal capital hasn't been this lively for a long ti, all kinds of demons and ghosts have co out.".
The head of the Intelligence Departnt, Marquis Hansa, stood before the Queen's desk, bowing:
"Your Majesty, please rest assured that during this period I will personally oversee the city's monitoring. Marquis Galliot, the Guardian Knight of Her Highness, will take full responsibility for the Crown Prince's safety. Before the ceremony begins in a month, we will organize forces to conduct two to three large-scale rounds of checks on the city, ensuring they won't cause an uproar.
Her Highness Liweina will also successfully inherit the throne and beco an excellent queen like you!"
"Hehe, I believe she will."
The tone was filled with pride for her younger daughter, who can take on responsibility at this critical mont. As a mother, Isabella saw all of Liweina's efforts.
In order to beco an excellent queen, she has given so much, even more outstanding than ninety-nine percent of royal heirs on the continent. Even if her elder daughter Stephanie returned, Isabella would still choose her younger daughter as her heir without hesitation.
The only flaw, which brings so regret, is... Liweina does not have her own heir, nor even a love interest.
"Ah! It would be great if the two of them could balance each other out."
...
Today's easy annihilation of the "Vulture's Nest" clearly did not scare off others.
However, among those left, their goals differed.
So also wanted Crown Prince Liweina's life, so wanted to cause unrest in unspecified countries and human panic, so wanted large-scale death, and so...just wanted to fish in troubled waters.
Whatever the plans, all were being busily prepared.
Deep in the sewers, an environnt extrely unfriendly to humans but like a fish in water for so people.
Squeak squeak squeak...
Accompanied by sounds that might be rat calls or so special language, these humanoid large rats gathered excitedly, constantly pulling out human corpses that seed to have undergone embalming from their ashen pockets, appearing wax-like in appearance.
Corpses piled up one by one, edges fusing continuously, gradually forming a large corpse ball sealing off a large area, with sothing at the center, pulsing like a large animal's heart or egg.
An almost tangible aura of horror, desecration, grotesqueness, and filth kept pouring out...yet the humanoid large rats were oblivious.
From the twisted arm emblem uniformly worn by them, it could be seen that they were clergy of a cult. They worship the Evil God 'Funeral God,' 'Corpse Preserver' Sinotoglis, known as the "Rat People."
Due to the continent's increasing abnormal death rate, the "Funeral Church" has recently beco one of the most active Evil God Churches.
Just like the "Cobra Trap Theory," originally helping humans handle corpses properly, the "Funeral Church" has shifted focus to creating corpses to expand their business.
One of the most common thods used by Evil God cultists is blood sacrificial offerings, directly casting the projection of a demigod of an Evil God. Once the mythical form is activated, it becos a terrifying entity akin to a weapon of mass destruction.
Yet, in the Old Continent, illuminated by the light of the True God, even Evil Gods fear death. During the Dark Millennium Era, when the True Gods rarely manifested, they might make trouble, but in the last five hundred years, even Evil God activities are mostly covert, not daring to show themselves directly.
They mostly dare to stir up trouble in small cities with populations of a few thousand. The New Inn Port incident from years ago was because the Evil God's seal was there and unavoidable.
So this particular "egg" does not belong to the 'Funeral God.'
From its gradually manifesting image of three heads, human, bull, and ram, with fiery eyes and a serpent tail, one knows it belongs to one of the powerful Demon Gods of the Lower Realm, Bailangmu.
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