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

The vampire president sighed helplessly. And it was at this moment that she was rescued not by the black dragon Nia, but by someone from Yang Hao's side who hadn't said much...

"Helplessly: Right now, the most crucial thing is still the demonic calamity..."

Miss Elena muttered to herself, glancing back at Yang Hao while subtly glancing at Miss Nia, who seemed to have relaxed for some reason.

"Explanation: In the face of evil, I believe we should all be tolerant of each other... Explanation: Just like the current mutually beneficial and tolerant structure of the United Nations, we don't need to be so harsh on matters of rumor."

"But Elena—"

"Affirmative: I agree with Finn's idea, but I'm confused about its practical implementation. Reason: We can't silence every citizen of Isgard. Even in the theoretically possible land of Eden with complete freedom of speech, I can't possibly monitor the thoughts of every single one of my subjects..."

Elena's explanation, based on practical considerations, left Finn completely silent.

After all, as a country that can truly and thoroughly restrict speech, Eden, even if it has that idea, will not actually impose too many restrictions.

One reason is that it's unnecessary, and another important reason is that the administrative costs are too high.

After all, even Elena, who was born from the magic network, couldn't control the words spoken by every single person with such efficiency... For ordinary human or elven nations, this problem is even more serious.

After all, it is common knowledge that administrative costs are related to whether a country's development is normal.

With surplus administrative costs, the available manpower can naturally be redirected elsewhere—for example, to oversee infrastructure projects that would otherwise be impossible, to more efficiently educate the public, and so on...

In conclusion, it's good to have a surplus in administrative costs, but it's also normal to have just enough or a small loss.

The real concern is that if administrative costs are insufficient, and one person has to do the work of two... then the problem could become very serious.

The best-case scenario is for the country to descend into chaos and internal strife. In the worst-case scenario, the country's development could even regress—and nothing is more likely to deplete administrative resources than controlling everyone's speech in this era.

This world is not Earth. Even if Earth has various convenient self-media brainwashing methods and can use the internet, which covers most areas, for monitoring, it is impossible to achieve a complete censorship of speech.

Not to mention that godforsaken place, Ysgard.

Even just managing the mouths of the major cities would be enough to exhaust all of Isgard's administrative power...

Under these circumstances, no matter how much Finn pressured him, he knew that the conditions he was proposing were impossible to fulfill.

Naturally, since Elena decided to use this practical excuse to give the two of them a way out, Finn didn't mind making concessions along the way.

But the final decision rests with Yang Hao.

Everyone looked at Yang Hao, who nodded thoughtfully afterward.

"Let's leave it at that. We can't help from the sea anyway, so let's wait until the reconnaissance team successfully raises the continent again before using teleportation magic to get there... Besides, in the face of demons, the infighting between our nations is really not that important."

"Sigh... Fine. I'll do whatever you say."

The elf had no choice but to concede, and seeing this, Margarita's anxious heart finally settled down.

As for the favor Elena did for them...

She will pay it back.

.......

The next period will be filled with busy arrangements.

The United Nations modified the ironclad warship by placing the artificial magic reactor directly on it, and Kino, having passed the [entry test], was finally able to return to Wiss City with peace of mind.

"I finally understand what this damn thing called 'life' really is..." Kino slumped onto the table after returning to Nia's side, the ends of his blue hair inexplicably tinged with gold. "So, the ancient Sirens' 'spiritual flesh magic' was, strictly speaking, asexual reproduction... That's fucking unbelievable. Who the hell would have thought of that?"

"...So Kino, what exactly are you talking about?"

"Literally, 'spiritual flesh magic' is asexual reproduction, while the common flesh magic we use now is long fingernails."

"...Can't understand."

“I don’t expect you to understand—but to put it bluntly, I’ll be happy to help with the work ahead. However, Grandmother has one condition: after Allandis rises, I have to help her find something.”

"what?"

“Something that concerns the future of the Sirens—a scepter.”

All Sirens possess royal blood; the only difference is who has more and who has less.

However, there is still a figure among the Sirens called the "Emperor," and the most essential proof of the "Emperor's" majesty is naturally the scepter belonging to the Sirens.

Grandmother said that the scepter could easily increase the power of flesh magic; it was not only a symbol of authority but also an indestructible weapon.

To prevent this Siren national treasure from being completely lost, Kino's task is to wait for Arlandis to rise, then travel to the ruins of the royal city and bring it back from the secret chamber.

Considering that such a large continent must have some use, Kino optimistically believed he should have the time to act secretly. However, Nia's gaze towards Kino became strange upon hearing this:

Do you know what this means?

"I don't know, I only know it's a job, and I want to be a hero!"

"Even if doing this would cause the Sirens of Isgard to break away from the country, and then make you, a young girl who dreams of popping meat cigars all day long, the emperor?"

"What?"

Kino was bewildered.

Nia let out a heavy sigh.

Doesn't she know what that Siren grandmother is thinking?

If that scepter truly was something only the Sirens' king could possess.

If the Sirens truly all possess royal blood, it's just a matter of degree.

If that scepter truly bore the ceremonial burden of witnessing the birth of a king.

So let's start from when Kino gets the scepter and brings it back to Ysgard with his own hands.

Even if Kino were just a five-year-old child, she would become the queen of the Sirens.

Even if she refused, her grandmother would agree on her behalf.

Nia has seen this kind of thing many times. But it's clear that Kino doesn't understand these political matters.

Ugh.

It can only be said that this is how naive children are when they are manipulated by their own grandmothers. Especially a naive child who has never been exposed to political intrigue.

Nia sighed again. Just then, Kino shook his head blankly and said, "Even if you're king, you're only king in name, aren't you?"

Just like when they make flesh and blood dolls, they often give the cups they make all sorts of fancy names, and then subtly reference certain beautiful female celebrities, but in reality, the internal mechanisms are basically all the same template...

In the end, Kino will simply become the name of the cup. If it's just a name, it shouldn't be a big deal, right?

To this, Nia replied: That depends on your grandmother.

If Kino's grandmother truly harbored the idea of ​​returning to her homeland to revitalize the Sirens, then Kino would likely gain legitimate power and obligations, which seem impossible for him to relinquish.

If Kino's grandmother really just wants to get the things back, then everyone's happy. Kino could even make a lot of money by developing a dedicated airplane brand called "O" using the name.

Everyone would definitely prefer the latter, because that way nothing terrible would happen, and naturally, it wouldn't cause a rift between Kino and Ysgard.

But the grandmother is more likely to think about the first thing...

Otherwise, she wouldn't have had any reason to specifically ask Kino to do it—she could have just come along and secretly brought it home herself. In a sense, even raising Allandis back to life was a test for Kino...

This is a test of her ability to become queen—although Nia feels that possessing the power to raise the continent doesn't necessarily equate to having the intelligence to govern a country. And if the Sirens really want to rebuild the kingdom, given that almost no one can reproduce asexually now, they'll definitely need to take some males away to ensure population growth, right?

If that were to happen, the conflict would be shattered. Margarita wouldn't allow the Sirens to break away from Ysgard while simultaneously "plundering" the populations of other races, but the Sirens' first priority in restoring their kingdom is population growth... and that's going to be troublesome.

While a political solution is not impossible, who can guarantee that both sides can sit down and talk calmly?

Not to mention demons...

...

Ugh!

"Then we'll just have to see how it goes..."

Hearing this, Kino seemed somewhat helpless. But what could he do now? The die was cast—the ship was about to set sail, and there was no going back.

Kino had no choice but to accept the test and faithfully hoped that his grandmother had no ulterior motives.

Chapter 8: [Perfectly Fit]

On February 2, under the watchful eyes of the people of Isugard and the representatives of the United Nations, the reconnaissance team that was going to Allandis to conduct reconnaissance and exploration left the city of Wes aboard five ironclad warships.

Each ironclad warship was packed with researchers and soldiers landing. On the largest and most central ironclad warship, an artificial magic reactor had been installed, and Naruja's temporarily modified stone golem was placed on the deck, ready to dive and ensure underwater reconnaissance for everyone.

"That means we'll have to wait until at least the end of the month to get any really useful news or progress."

As they watched the ships sail away from the harbor, Margarita looked curiously at the deer girl who was resting against Yang Hao's back before looking up to explain to him.

"I know. So let's do what we can to make this happen during this time."

Sea voyages take a lot of time; just confirming the boundaries of Arlandis and finding the best reconnaissance position without any landmarks could take up a month for the reconnaissance team.

So Yang Hao didn't expect them to bring good news in the next few days—but conversely, that didn't mean he could relax and rest during this time.

He also had to prepare for the eventual merger of the two countries.

February 5th was a sunny day.

On this day, Miss Margarita and Yang Hao jointly announced the momentous event of the merger of the two countries.

"Under the influence of the demonic calamity, in order to ensure the peace and security of this world, we, the people of Issugard, have no reason to stand idly by. Considering the relationship between the two countries, I will represent Issugard to ensure sovereignty and to join the alliance system of the United Nations in a fair and just manner, just like other countries."

On the high platform of West City Square, Margarita wasn't foolish enough to announce that Ysgard was joining a "nation"—she said, the United Nations was an alliance. If it were joining a powerful alliance composed of multiple nations, then the people's opinions wouldn't be too strong.

Moreover, this is acceptable to Finn, Elena, and the others. After all, the United Nations, although called a "nation," is essentially an alliance formed by multiple countries banding together for mutual support.

If you have to say whether this country has any citizens, then it certainly does—but Yang Hao is the only citizen.

Theresa and Lalumia, among others, belonged to Bayerzan.

Finn is from Gaparia.

Elena is from the land of Eden.

In this situation, Yang Hao is the only one who simultaneously possesses citizenship certificates from Bayern, Gaparia, and the United Nations... He is the only citizen of the United Nations.

Naturally, the United Nations can only be considered an "alliance" rather than a nation. Margarita would certainly face far less resistance in getting Ysgard to join an alliance than it would in getting it to join a nation.

However, the public's reaction... left Margarita somewhat dumbfounded.

"Oh, so that's what it was about... I thought it was something bad. This is actually a good thing..."

"My brother, who's a businessman, told me that if the United Nations could remove tariffs on Issugard, then we could live a better life..."