Chapter 36: Every Request Comes at a Price

Simon’s words made Alexia’s face instantly turn gloomy.

The thing she feared most had finally happened.

Belinda had actually been targeted by others.

For Alexia, this was even harder to accept than someone attempting to assassinate her.

She had the power to resist—even when facing an Apocalypse Witch, she still had a chance to survive.

However, Belinda’s chances of surviving against an Apocalypse Witch were nearly zero.

Belinda possessed neither Simon’s strength nor Alexia’s magical skill; she was almost completely defenseless.

Powerful magic tools often required a certain level of physical strength; otherwise, the user’s body could be torn apart.

From any angle, Belinda was as fragile as paper—she desperately needed protection.

But now, there was no one who could protect her at all times.

“This is impossible. How did they discover Belinda?”

Alexia frowned tightly, completely unable to understand.

Just as Simon had emphasized before, Belinda was supposed to be someone known to no one, impossible to attract outside attention.

The Empire’s understanding of Belinda was limited to the fact that Pandas had a beloved daughter.

Even Pandas rarely took Belinda outside; people knew little of her appearance, and she never attended court banquets.

One could say Pandas had protected Belinda very well.

This was also why Alexia felt at ease about Belinda.

Before Belinda truly entered the public eye, she should have been just a quiet, unnoticed figure.

“Simon, what do you think?”

Alexia had always stayed within the imperial city, spending most of her time handling political affairs, so her understanding of matters outside the city was limited.

Simon couldn’t possibly report every little detail to her—that would consume too much time and energy.

Therefore, anything outside the imperial city was left for Simon to handle as he saw fit.

But in Belinda’s case, she would never let go.

She had to handle this herself.

“Alexia, I don’t think we can manage this.”

Simon expressed his view to Alexia frankly.

“At present, the best way to counter them is with magic, but within the entire imperial capital, apart from the magic arrays, only the Blood Knights can meet this requirement.”

This meant that only the Blood Knights could effectively harm the enemy.

Though they numbered thirty thousand, if scattered throughout the capital, it was far from enough.

What’s more, the imperial city was Alexia’s domain and required heavy protection—normal forces alone needed twenty thousand men.

Those who could be deployed outside the imperial city numbered fewer than ten thousand.

Moreover, the Blood Knights couldn’t afford casualties.

Leaving aside their elite training, each was equipped with expensive magic tools—if those were seized, the consequences would be more severe than losing armor and weapons.

“Magic attacks…”

Alexia sighed helplessly, holding her forehead.

“It seems we truly have no solution.”

This almost ruled out most forms of attack.

In this world, mages were extremely valuable; they weren’t soldiers you could just hand a spear and send onto the battlefield.

And this was precisely what the Empire lacked now.

There were thousands of soldiers, but not many mages.

“If you don’t mind, Alexia, we could also request the Church of Light to enchant the soldiers’ weapons. They have a complete enchantment process and can temporarily enable ordinary weapons to attack ghosts.”

Simon offered a suggestion to Alexia.

“I’ll consider the possibility, but only as a last resort.”

Alexia was reluctant to seek help from the Church of Light.

“The Church of Light has already helped us resolve many issues. We can’t rely on them for everything.

This is clearly our Empire’s own disaster, yet it always ends up involving them. Don’t you find that absurd?”

Alexia’s gaze grew more serious and solemn.

“If the Empire truly faces such a predicament in the future, I will handle it personally. The citizens of the Empire should be protected by me, not by the Church of Light.”

“They’re just an added embellishment.”

If the Empire’s circumstances didn’t force her to seek outside help, she truly didn’t want to.

This wasn’t about showing off strength, but about maintaining the Empire’s independence.

Even if the Church of Light insisted on third-party non-interference, repeatedly seeking their aid would eventually lead to losing something without realizing it.

Such signs were already beginning to show.

To protect the people of the imperial capital, Alexia had already granted special armed privileges to the Paladins of the Cathedral.

But after that, would the Cathedral truly be willing to surrender those rights?

Or, after this matter was resolved, how many among the people of the capital would believe in the Church of Light, and how many would choose the Empire?

All requests came at a price, even if the other party said nothing.

“I definitely overlooked this.”

Simon admitted he hadn’t considered what might happen later.

“I always think about solving problems in the simplest way, but ignore what comes after.”

And this was the biggest difference between him and Alexia.

He could resolve problems quickly in the moment, but when it came to thinking through every consequence, Alexia was unmatched.

At the very least, she considered all causes and effects.

“At least it’s a viable suggestion. It just doesn’t suit my taste.”

Alexia walked to the fireplace and added some more firewood.

“But back to the point, Simon, your suggestion is workable.

We really don’t have the energy to deal with those enemies lurking in the shadows.

Even if they’re plotting something more evil, I must resolve the matter with Pandas first.”

Pandas had consumed too much of her energy.

Because of his existence, her authority was constantly challenged and unrecognized.

If Alexia wanted to act without restraint, she needed to seize all the power in the capital.

Otherwise, she would always be a queen in name only.

In fact, she had long wanted to establish a Magic Academy to make up for the Empire’s lack of mages.

Unfortunately, the Empire was in chaos after she succeeded the throne, and she never had the chance.

Even now, Alexia had only ensured that there were no openly disobedient forces on the surface of the capital—but the underlying relationships remained complex, just like the tangled situation before her.

Pandas, the Witch Council, and unknown forces all sought to overthrow her.

If not for Simon and his Blood Knights possessing combat power far beyond the norm, they might have openly challenged her long ago.

Alexia stared at the blazing flames in the fireplace.

“For now, let’s let this fire in the capital burn a little brighter.As long as it doesn’t go out, there’s still hope for the Empire.”

After the birthday banquet, she had to deal with Pandas once and for all.