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

Not long ago, Nia suddenly asked her for a favor. Considering that there was still a long time before the official meeting, and that Nia might be able to provide some help with her plans, Elena generously accepted Nia's request and planned to see what the black dragon of Ysgard wanted to present.

"Statement: I'm in. Inquiry: Nia, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Ah, you've finally arrived—of course I have something to say. I just wanted to ask Elena, if I help you build a good relationship with Mr. Yang Hao, would you also be willing to help me build a good relationship with Mr. Yang Hao?"

I didn't expect to be greeted with this kind of question as soon as I entered the meeting room.

Elena blinked, then gently sat down on the sofa opposite Nia. She first considered the possibility of her own "solo victory".

The sad realization is that if he can't find allies... just considering that King Finn's attitude of saying "give me some meat" but actually wishing he would hoard all his rations, he probably won't find a chance to advance further than Yang Hao for one or two hundred years.

That's not impossible. After all, elves are just that stubborn—so in a sense, I really do need to find allies.

Lady Lalumia is an ally. Naruja is also an ally. And Natalia goes without saying—taking care of little Anna has, in a sense, secured her a guaranteed spot in university. If one can cultivate a good relationship with Natalia, and subsequently with little Anna, ultimately influencing Yang Hao's feelings for them... that would be ideal.

How long will this take? A year? Two years? Three years?

Five years? Ten years? Fifteen years?

Although the Edenites had achieved near-perfect mechanical immortality.

But Elena couldn't guarantee that after a long period of harmonious coexistence, Yang Hao wouldn't truly define her as a friend forever—unless she could prove herself during the demonic calamity, or even now...

...

Although Elena was full of confidence in Yang Hao's ability to deal with the demonic disaster.

But she would never joke about something so important. Even if it concerned her own feelings.

So, after much deliberation, the synthetic doll could only nod with difficulty: Indeed, Lady Nia's assistance was necessary...

After all, Lord Lalumia enjoys watching the fun and rarely gets involved.

Miss Naruja is a pet, and seems to enjoy staying in that role forever.

Miss Natalia was admitted without taking the entrance exam.

The only one who feels awkward is myself, isn't he?

"Waaah..."

The small synthetic doll sighed heavily. Nia looked at her blankly, and after a short wait, handed her a contract.

The contract was simple: Nia and Margarita would help Elena improve her relationship with Yang Hao, but in return, Elena would have to help them improve their relationship with Yang Hao after the deal was done.

Why add another Margarita?

Elena looked at Nia with confusion, while Nia just chuckled and said, "Just to be on the safe side."

Just to be on the safe side.

After confirming that everything was in order, Elena signed her name, and the contract was now in effect. They could then discuss other matters.

"Question: How are preparations in Ysgard progressing?"

"Regarding Allandis? Hmm... the communication with the Sirens went smoothly, and Kino did pass the test... but she's exhausted and won't be able to move around for a while."

"Understood. Question: What about the situation within Isugárd?"

"So-so—that's what I was originally planning to say in the meeting later," Nia sighed. "But overall, everyone has gradually broken free from the influence of the rift in the sky. So what if the end of the world is coming? We still have to live our lives... so chaos will naturally return to order."

"Helpless: But order is only temporary. If people don't prepare themselves mentally before the demonic calamity arrives, they will most likely break down when faced with the demons."

“I know. But apart from a very few people, we’ve never seen a demon here... Even if you want to prepare our people, managing tens of millions of people isn’t that easy.”

Issugard is not a united nation after all.

Managing a large country with tens or hundreds of millions of people is no easy task—especially when the country is, in a sense, unstable.

After all, no matter what, Margarita couldn't simply rely on her personal charm to make people believe in the existence of demons.

There are plenty of ruthless people on Earth who won't shed a tear until they see the coffin, let alone in this relatively underdeveloped world.

Therefore, Margarita needs time to prepare. But exactly how much time is unknown...

"So after thinking it over, the key point is still with you guys."

Confusion: Us?

“That’s right. Right now, the United Nations is the big brother in the fight against the demons, we Isgard are second, and let’s just pretend the Hutto Khanate and the like don’t exist—in this situation, who else can we rely on if not you?”

"Helpless: I understand. But aren't our two countries going to merge later?"

“Margarita hasn’t relinquished sovereignty over Issugard. Yang Hao has agreed as well. And considering the civil society issues in Issugard… let’s manage ourselves for now. For the time being, we can still be considered an independent country.”

Their conversation temporarily ended. Elena was pondering whether Nia's words were true, while Nia was also considering whether her statement would satisfy Elena.

However, they soon realized that their discussion wouldn't affect the upcoming match. They sighed in unison, saying they could only wait and see what Yang Hao and the others thought.

After saying that, Elena left first.

And it was only after Elena left that Nia slumped onto the sofa and muttered:

"That should solve the problem..."

... .....

In the afternoon, Yang Hao and others attended a meeting chaired by Miss Margarita.

Compared to before, Margarita seemed to have lost a lot of weight. Yang Hao expressed concern, but his fellow vampire simply waved his hand and said that some annoying insects had been keeping her from eating lately. That was all.

"Well then, let's get straight to the point... Yang Hao, we expect to depart for Allandis's location in two days. Is it alright if we use our ships for transportation?"

"No problem. After all, our airships need a lot of magic to fly far... It's no exaggeration to say that we can't guarantee that all places on the sea have more abundant magic than Ysgard."

"Then our ironclad warships... Oh, and the equipment for detecting underwater continents..."

"Here we are..."

Chirp, chirp, chirp.

The discussion between the two sides quickly reached a conclusion.

On their way to explore the waters where Arlandis is located, they must once again advance on the ironclad ships of Ysugard.

If possible, you could try installing the artificial magic reactor directly on the ironclad ship—but considering that the number of ironclad ships that Ysgard can currently sail is limited, Margarita suggests that, apart from the necessary command personnel, it would be better for other non-essential personnel to stay in Wes City.

"After all, sailing on the vast ocean, we can't be sure if it's safe... Moreover, apart from specific personnel and Kino, the others are hardly of any help in this reconnaissance operation—instead of wasting transport capacity, we might as well handle things in Wies City."

Yang Hao thought about Margarita's proposal for a long time before nodding in agreement.

After all, if the reconnaissance team successfully locates Allandis and Miss Kino manages to raise the continent as promised, our side can open a portal to go there at any time...

So, it seems like there's no problem with us staying in West City?

Yang Hao and Fen exchanged a glance and ultimately decided to approve the proposal. Naturally, the next issue that came up was another important matter.

As planned, Ysgard will announce its joining the United Nations on February 5th, confirming that the two sides have become an inseparable whole, and at the same time, reaffirming its determination to fight against the Scourge.

Margarita hoped that Yang Hao could attend with her, because it would be too inappropriate for Margarita to make a unilateral announcement if the leader of another country was not present.

Yang Hao agreed. But just then, Fen suddenly asked a question with suspicion:

"Where do you intend for me and Theresa's husband to stand?"

She emphasized the word "husband".

And then the elf asked him a question.

Margarita's lips twitched, and she didn't know how to answer for a moment.

Chapter Seven: [Journey to Arlandis] Part Two

"Where do you intend for me and Theresa's husband to stand?"

To be honest, when faced with such a sharp question from the elf, Miss Margarita, who had initially thought she had it all figured out, almost lost her composure.

After all, it would be a lie to say she had no ulterior motives—she hoped to use this opportunity to convey the message that the two would cooperate more closely. If possible, it would be even better to make the news headlines a reality and make Isgard and the United Nations a completely inseparable entity.

Even if that's not possible, gaining the people of Isgard's approval of Yang Hao's achievements and, consequently, their acceptance of the merger of the two nations, would greatly alleviate Margarita's burden...

However, there is a premise to this.

That means Yang Hao must stay in Isgard—and not only that, his female companions absolutely cannot object.

It's not just because it's the foundation for peaceful coexistence between two great powers. More importantly, even Margarita couldn't handle an emergency situation where Finland might suddenly do something bad during a public speech.

What she meant was that if others might make concessions for the sake of the matter at hand, then the elves would never—especially after carefully studying what had happened to the elves of the United Kingdom, Margarita was even more convinced of this.

That's why... Margarita didn't want the elves to offer their opinions at this critical juncture.

As it turned out, the elf didn't offer any suggestions, but instead asked about the very thing she had been trying so hard to hide...

“Stand by my side—after all, if they stand behind me, it would mean that their ruler is being looked down upon, both for the United Nations and for Isgard. So standing by my side is the best option.”

Margarita appeared calm and composed on the surface.

My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of my throat.

"Is that so? If that's all there is to it, I have no objection... But Miss Margarita, please tell me the truth—how do you plan to resolve the misunderstandings among the people? After all, Yang Hao is a married man. At this critical juncture, not to mention the merger of the two countries, the fact that the two leaders jointly announced it is itself a matter that raises many questions... If the people of Isugard misunderstand, it could have a devastating impact on your political career."

Finn's expressionless remark silenced Margarita.

Although the elf spoke of her "political career," she was actually referring to the matter of Yang Hao—and her guess was correct. I do intend to "manipulate" this matter slightly, and the place where I'll do so is precisely regarding the rumors circulating among the public...

Margarita originally thought that the United Nations had reached a consensus that "rumors from the public should not be taken too seriously."

However, Miss Margarita, who was not a citizen of the United Nations, was unaware that long before the decisive battle with the God of Light, the United Nations had already understood the importance of rumors and public opinion... They were well aware of the impact that allowing rumors to spread rashly would have on the entire country. Naturally, the elves also put this into practice, believing that the people of Isgard were probably planning to do something bad through rumors.

Although even if Ysgard exploded after surviving the demonic calamity, it shouldn't have too much impact on the United Nations, ultimately, Finn absolutely didn't want to see the people of Ysgard using unsubstantiated and chaotic information to boss Yang Hao around and make things difficult for him...

She has to keep a firm grip on the most crucial part of this meeting.

And so, the two fell silent for a moment. Their mere eye contact was electrifying; Finn was pressuring them, while Margarita was racking her brains in thought.

After a while.

“Your Majesty, as you know… in a country with a large population, rumors and public opinion are not easy to control.” Margarita avoided revealing her true thoughts, instead steer the conversation towards how difficult it is to control such rumors. “If our country only had a few million people, it would be fine, but our country has a large population, is widely distributed, and is a democratic country that does not restrict freedom of speech… Under these circumstances, rumors are bound to occur.”

"To be honest, not long after His Majesty Yang Hao decided to come, rumors had already begun to circulate while we were preparing to welcome him... This is quite common in our country. Please understand."

“I know. But understanding doesn’t mean you can’t do nothing.”

"...That's how it is."

How far is this elf going to push us?