After being forced to step down, the once-annoying nun eloped with me.

Even without leaving his room, Yang Hao could sense an unusual change in the air around Isgard. But to better understand the current situation in Isgard, he still asked Miss Elena, who continued to linger in his room, about the latest news in the area.

Miss Elena's work in Isgard, besides protecting Yang Hao's personal safety and providing them with excellent domestic and international communications, was more importantly about establishing an Edenian spy network in Isgard.

It can't really be called a "spy network." Given the friendly relations between the two countries, it's more like a "helpful surveillance network" between allies, right?

In short, Irina has successfully installed cameras with optical camouflage and a lifespan of up to twenty years in various corners of the capital city of Isgard to collect information. Except for some sensitive areas such as the presidential palace, these cameras have moved to the most suitable locations on their own and settled down.

Now was the time to put them to use—with that thought in mind, Elena quickly sifted through the information from tens of thousands of cameras, took out the most important ones, and laid them flat on the blanket in front of Finn, who was lying on the bed.

“…”

Looking at Fen, who was still fast asleep due to the intense exercise last night, Yang Hao touched his nose, thinking that she probably wouldn't wake up so early, while he read the contents of the document.

It would have been better if I hadn't looked; once I did, it was truly astonishing.

In the early hours of this morning, ten important new bureaucrats were appointed in Issugard.

Among them were the Minister of the Interior, representatives of important parties in the Issugard Democratic Council, and even the Minister of the Prosecutor's Office, who was specifically tasked with screening qualified bureaucrats...

In some departments, the top management was completely replaced.

How could this not shock the people of Isgard? You see, those who have reached that position have worked hard for over a decade, hoping to hold it until now... and then the president suddenly replaced them. How could this not cause concern within Margarita's government?

For a time, the bureaucrats of Isgard were filled with anxiety. They feared they too would be replaced, and among the intelligence gathered by Elena, the information about the ten dismissed officials was even more compelling.

They are probably dead.

At least Elena didn't believe that the person who was finely chopped into minced meat and flushed down the drain was still alive.

Moreover, although these deceased officials may seem to have no commonalities, a deeper investigation actually reveals quite a few similarities...

The most direct commonality is that...

They were all people who controlled a portion of the upward mobility channels.

"...I think Miss Margarita probably already knows what she needs to do...but she needs a plan for replacing people after the problem is solved, and this plan must provide a continuous supply of talent for Ysgard..."

"The confusion is: does it mean having political skill but lacking a detailed plan?"

"I'd rather be described as a chef with superb culinary skills who's preparing to go on stage but doesn't have a pot to cook with—and obviously, I am that pot."

"...angry."

"There's nothing to be angry about. Rather, I was the one who was like the pot in the pot before... Okay, okay. Have some candy and put your things away, or Fen will beat me up again later."

"...Ugh."

The tiny synthetic doll puffed out its cheeks and gathered up the intelligence reports spread out on Fen's blanket. Then, it obediently tidied them up and placed them in the safest spot.

Yang Hao, meanwhile, went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face, while pondering Margarita's actions.

Without a doubt, Margarita resembles her older brother.

In a sense, they are all people with strong political skills, but they can't prepare a cake out of thin air. They can divide the cake and use intimidation or even direct killing to convince those around them, but the only thing they can't do is make the cake bigger and bigger through their own efforts.

Margarita might be better than her older brother in this regard... Benjamin truly doesn't know how to develop a nation, but Miss Margarita, at least, has brought the people of Isgard to their current relatively prosperous stage... through her own efforts.

...That's really amazing.

Yang Hao highly praised Margarita's actions.

Inside the presidential palace, Nia was very surprised by Margarita's actions:

"Margarita... are you serious?"

"Ah."

"No matter what, those ten people are all officials who have been loyal to you. The oldest one has even followed you since the founding of the country. Is it really necessary to flush them down the drain?"

"I gave them a chance."

"...But this doesn't seem like something you would do. As far as I know, you wouldn't touch these awkward hands without a backup plan."

"So, here we are?"

Margarita lay down on the sofa, gestured towards the table with her lips, and sighed, saying, "It's not here yet, but it will be soon."

Nia walked up to the table with suspicion and found that it contained a recent investigation report about Yang Hao.

Through the Trinity's investigation, Margarita realized, in a sense, that Yang Hao and she weren't just kindred spirits in a foreign land, but rather kindred spirits: they were thinking about the same thing. Margarita believed she could solve all political problems, but she was inept at the practicalities. And coincidentally, Yang Hao could completely compensate for her shortcomings, while also needing her political protection.

Thinking about this, Margarita's resentment towards Gaia intensified: What kind of nonsense is this world's god thinking? Why send someone to another continent in the first place? Wouldn't it have been better to just send him to Ysgard from the start? Why insist on sending him out there for the sake of so-called "balancing the situation"?

But then she thought about it again. Gaia not only had to pay attention to the development of the continent of Orros, but also to the development of other continents in order to fight against the impending demons... Margarita's anger subsided a lot, and all that remained was her expectation for Yang Hao and her attention to the upcoming test.

Nia, who had just returned from the mine, scratched her head in bewilderment after reading the report in her hand and said:

“This… ah? Margarita.”

I remember you were the most opposed to me sleeping with him and bringing him home, weren't you?

"...How did you, with your black dragon brain, come up with that kind of thing?"

"No, I just thought it would be more efficient this way... Anyway, Mr. Yang Hao is indeed doing something similar to what you are doing, but you killed people, while he is proposing a plan—in a sense, you two are quite compatible."

It's not exactly a perfect match, but it's at least the kind of dish you'd make with toon sprouts and eggs... Well, I'll try to help. There's something about the mine that requires your decision.

"The mine? What happened?"

"The demonic mother nest below seems to be making a move."

Upon hearing the words "Demon's Nest," Margarita instantly became extremely serious.

She snapped her fingers, causing the curtains in the room's window to fall silently without any wind. Then she pressed a button on the square table, causing a hidden compartment to slowly open.

Rising from the hidden compartment was a map of the continent of Orros—a map created using the [World Crystal] given to it by Gaia, capable of changing in real time. While exposing all life forms on the map, it also allowed Margarita to clearly understand the general changes in the distance.

She looked at the map, and finally gently placed her hand on the location of the mine. With the appearance of ripples on the map, the two of them could clearly see the general outline of the mine.

Steam trains were continuously transporting ore dug from the bottom of the mine, while goblin ore excavators were constantly expanding the entire mine downwards.

In the center of the mine, there is an area that has been cordoned off.

A scalding hot fountain was spewing out from there every now and then, the intervals between the jets mirroring the rhythm of a heartbeat.

"Although I tried to keep the news from the surrounding workers... in the end, something this big can't be kept quiet for more than a few days—the source of the mine fountain is the demonic mother nest that's about to awaken underground."

Nia stated her conclusion directly, and the main reason for her judgment was that she had collected specimens resembling "demon flesh" from the objects sprayed from the fountain at the scene.

These aren't fossils burned to charcoal in Ysgard. The demon flesh is very fresh, just like what you'd see on the continent of Elusia—but the problem is, where are there any active demons in Ysgard?

Considering what Margarita had said, Nia naturally had no choice but to pin the suspect on the demon deep underground. This was hardly good news.

Nia looked at her best friend with worry, while Margarita silently stared at the map on the table.

A long time passed.

“How much longer do you think we can keep this a secret?” Margarita asked. “I don’t think our people can respond as calmly as the people of the United Nations when faced with sudden danger… Once news spreads that the Demon Mother has awakened and a tremendous threat is about to rise from the ground, chaos will be inevitable, and it may even be more severe than the actual destruction caused by the awakening of the Mother.”

"So you plan to keep this a secret for as long as possible? And while you're at it, make preparations? Hmm... if there's no movement from the Demon Mother Nest, it'll probably be a year and a half at most."

"...That's enough."

A year and a half at most... Margarita felt that was enough.

She could spend a year and a half trying to politically prepare the people of Issugard—at least to prevent them from descending into chaos the moment disaster struck.

Especially regarding the bourgeoisie, she is prepared to keep them on the continent of Orros and force them to provide support.

But can they really keep it up for a year and a half?

Margarita sighed, closed the map, and said she had to go see His Majesty Yang Hao.

"Oh, then go ahead—I still need to go see Kino later... By the way, do you know anything about Kino?"

“I understand. The fallen Siren royal family is meaningless now that the continent of Allandis has sunk—we don’t have the capability to investigate thousands of meters below the seabed.”

"Alright then, go ahead. I also need to have a chat with Mr. Yang Hao tonight."

They left the presidential office together and split into two groups in the corridor, each heading toward their respective goals.

And that was after the president left.

A world goddess named Gaia appeared in the president's office.

She sat in the president's seat, stretching and yawning, while complaining about Margarita's earlier idea:

"I was thinking that with you on this continent, even without [assistance], we can still progress better. That's why I considered placing the people who were originally supposed to come to this world with you on another continent, to see if we could simultaneously develop two well-developed [bases] to fight against the overwhelming demons..."

...Although the process has become somewhat bizarre, the result is at least similar. Sigh. Really, was it necessary to hold a grudge like that? The old you were much cuter...

Gaia recalled the days when she made the deal with Margarita.

Although Margarita may have forgotten, to Gaia at that time, Margarita, as an abandoned child, was indeed frail and adorable.

Now that the child has grown up and changed, he's started to hold a grudge against her—Gaia didn't know how to put it.

But never mind.

Let's focus on continuing the fight against the demons.

It's not just a threat on land.

There are also threats from the seabed.

The world god left the small room.

Before leaving, she didn't forget to leave Margarita a birthday gift.

Hopefully, this magical ring will cheer Margarita up a little.

The deity sighed and disappeared.

On her way to the conference room, Margarita suddenly felt a chill run through her body, as if she were being watched by some terrible person.

...... ......

At 11:10 AM on December 7th.

It was called a meeting, but it was really just a chat over a meal. It seems that there's a tradition in Isgard of discussing business over meals, which Yang Hao found very appealing.

"After all, our country was in a very chaotic period at the beginning of its founding, and there were things to deal with almost all the time—naturally, we simply used our mealtimes to handle work. After all, a mealtime of one hour is enough time to do a lot of things."

"I understand. So, because times have changed, this has directly transformed from an emergency measure into a tradition?"

"Correct."

The two chatted casually while eating. However, Margarita was enjoying chilled blood, the bright red of which, like wine, elicited a strange expression from the elf: after all, the elf could tell that the taste of the blood somehow seemed somewhat similar to that of her husband...