Ash reported to her all of the developments that have been happening while she was away and Maria was rather impressed. He did report to her about the recent spy problem and how there may still be people posing as her citizens inside of their territory so Maria ordered that security around the borders be tightened and a thorough inspection be done for every citizen in her territory and those that were coming and going from her lands.
Maria took a little bit of her real-life knowledge and tried to implement it in the game. She ordered Ash and her other subjects to create checkpoints on every path leading into her lands and in all of the cities, towns, and villages. The overseers of every settlement also needed to make a detailed consensus document for their city, town, or village’s citizens so it would be easier to inspect every one. If someone was found to be suspicious or in league with any of her enemies, Maria authorized the use of lethal force to apprehend or kill the perpetrator.
When she heard from Ash how a portion of her territory had been taken away by her enemies due to inside help, she wasn’t going to tolerate such a blunder from happening again. Thankfully, Ash had re-secured the lands, or else she would have angrily punished everyone in the room for their mistake.
Ash was already planning on doing something like this but to execute such an extreme plan required Maria’s personal approval or else it would never pass in their court. With a detailed plan already laid out, Ash only needed to execute it and Maria was pleased with his foresight. He had been attending to Maria for quite a long time now so he understood just how her mind operated while her other subordinates didn’t.
The plan was immediately put into motion once Maria gave the approval and the agents Ash had long since placed across the Dire’s lands started moving. A lot of bloodsheds was going to happen within this period of time but Maria wasn’t going to care about it.
As long as her faction was secure and no security issues rose up again, then everything was fine, even if the measures they had taken were too extreme. They had already experienced a loss before so Maria didn’t want something like that to happen again, especially in these crucial times when they were preparing to wage war against the Blood Faction. Everyone thought that since Maria was back, the war was soon to begin but she didn’t announce it because she had returned only temporarily. Her business on Gaia still wasn’t finished so she needed to return soon.
Maria only came back this time to check up on things so they couldn’t just begin the war yet but all of the preparations for it were ready. All Maria had to do was give the word and every soldier and able-bodied man and woman in the Dire that wanted to fight would mobilize immediately. This was the beauty of having citizens that could fight because they could be used to bolster her army at any time. If it was any other ruler, they’d probably have trouble conscripting their citizens but Maria had no problem at all. Her subjects practically worshipped her like a goddess so if she asked them for anything, they’d likely jump to help her right away.
She toured around her territory and showed her face to her citizens but in the meantime, many things were happening around her territory as Ash’s agents were ‘cleaning’ up the rats in her faction. This took a couple of days to complete since some of the rats were quite well hidden. Maria knew about the upheaval happening in her territory but she didn’t spare a glance at those rats who tried appearing before her and beg for mercy as she toured her lands with only Ash and Lilah.
This party of three brought quite a bit of fond memories to Maria since it’s been a while that they had gone on an adventure together. It used to only be her, Lilah, and Ash back on Eur and for a while, it was also only them 3 when they had first started out on Vanhal.
“Hmm, isn’t this pleasant, Ash, Lilah? It’s us 3 again just like the good old days~” Maria said with a smile on her face.
“Yes, my Queen.”
“Master, it used to only be us two until this bloodsucker crashed our party!” Lilah quipped.
“Haha, that’s true~”
When Maria had hit level 100, Lilah had undergone her second evolution and she was now a High-ranked Fallen Fairy and her physique had experienced quite a lot of changes. She was now the size of Maria’s arm and could no longer sit on her shoulder like she used to because she was heavier. Of course, her weight didn’t actually matter but she had to keep her dignity as a High-ranked Fallen Fairy.
Her abilities had also grown to become more battle-orientated so she was now able to actively participate in battle and deal damage rather than just be Maria’s supporter. As for Ash, his abilities had definitely grown to greater heights since once Maria’s level hit 100, the final seal on Ash’s body was broken as his contractor’s strength overwhelmed the seal’s power.
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Maria inspected these two’s status screens with great interest because she noticed that, unlike her other subordinates, they had unlimited potentials. Alexa and Red would grow to become really powerful, but there were limits to some of their stats while Carmilla had already reached her maximum potential.
There was no room left for her to grow unless she learned a few new skills and abilities or entered into a contract with her but the vampiress had her own pride to keep and Maria understood where she was coming from so she didn’t press her to do anything. However, Maria believed that if she were to class advance using the Path of the Divine, all of her subjects would be able to receive a blessing from her which could possibly expand their potentials.
She had noticed the trend where the people that served her would grow stronger if she grew stronger so Maria set her sights on attaining even greater strength so that her subordinates could become even stronger than they already were. If other players or people could catch a glimpse of how Maria played the game, they’d think that she was playing a different game than them.
Everyone else was so focused on leveling up, getting new skills, completing their class advancements and quests while Maria was trying to become something more than just a ‘player’. She wanted to be a figure in the game that could influence not only the players but also the NPCs, like those great kings from Planet Eur or the Astrals and Gods from Planet Gaia’s Celestial Order and Pantheon.
Maria had already figured out that her planet was actually the next Planet the players would go to once they completed the Main Story Questline on Gaia because everything about her planet fitted the setting for it to be the next main planet.
Of course, she wasn’t entirely certain that Vanhal was the next planet but it was definitely one of the main planets. It’d be quite hilarious if, in the future, the players would have to answer to her and rely on her for the Main Story Quests since she was soon going to be one of the rulers of the planet. Once her business on Gaia was over, she had to quickly return and complete Ash’s quest. After that, she could finally start her class advancement quest without any worries.
*****
A few in-game days had passed and Maria’s small party was still going around inspecting her Dire’s territory. The ‘inner circle’ of her lands had been inspected already and a few suspicious individuals had been expunged from existence but right now, Maria was at the outer rims of her lands and standing in the middle of a burning village.
Ash walked over to her after cutting down a vampire that was trying to attack him and asked, “My Queen, where would you like to go after this?”
Maria had just finished inspecting an outlier village in her territory and exterminated it after finding out that the entire village was in collusion with one of her enemies. She never expected that in her time coming back to Vanhal that she’d have to bloody her hands this much because of a few idiots that didn’t know their place thinking that they were safe after betraying her. They thought that she was a lenient and naive ruler who only wanted to see her people flourish and didn’t want to harm anyone but they were completely wrong because, at times, Maria can be as ruthless and bloodthirsty as she wanted.
In her territory which was unlike any other, there was no slavery or overly priced items and odd taxes that people needed to pay. Everyone lived very prosperous and convenient lives as they had work and a way to make a living. Maria made good use of her real-world knowledge and opened up many work avenues and projects for her subjects to do so that they could earn money for themselves and their families if they had any.
Money constantly flowed in and out of her people’s pockets which boosted her Dire’s economy. Thanks to her officials working diligently and without corruption, the citizens’ welfare was guaranteed and no one lived in the streets or had a hard time trying to find food or money in her lands. Thanks to this, many rumors about her ‘paradise’ were spread and many people began moving to her lands to get a fresh start but there were always problems that would crop up.
The good she showed was being taken for granted by her people and her enemies saw this as an opportunity for exploitation. Naturally, only a very small number of her subjects would fall to the temptation set by her enemies but finding out that she was betrayed greatly upset her. Maria needed to show those fools and other would-be idiots what would happen if they crossed her. She took the extreme path and razed an entire village just to show how angry she was but this wasn’t the first village she had razed to the ground.
During the past few days, while she was inspecting the outer lands, Maria had destroyed a few towns and villages already because she found out that these people weren’t faithful to her and were in league with her enemies. This was only a game but the act that Maria had done for the past few days left a very bitter taste in her mouth.
Hearing Ash’s question, Maria didn’t answer him but asked a question in return, “...Ash, why do these people betray me? Aren’t I a pretty good ruler? I give them food, shelter, and many different ways to earn money so that they can live prosperously...but they turn their backs on my trust and scheme against me instead…”
Ash stared at his Queen with a sad expression on his face before answering, “This is bound to happen, my Queen.”
“...”
“No matter how much of a good and powerful ruler you are...there are always those that will betray you…” Ash turned to the burnt corpses on the ground and those that were still screaming for help and mercy in the village but he had an apathetic look on his face.
“You’ve already tasted this before but it really does feel bitter…I’m sure you had it worse since it was your best friend who betrayed you…” Maria said, feeling slightly regretful that she had brought this topic up.
“...All the more reason why we need to sometimes rule with an iron fist, my Queen. You shouldn’t allow people to take advantage of your kindness and end up like me...broken and abandoned…”
Maria walked over to Ash and placed a hand on his cheek and said, “You’re not broken and you’re no longer abandoned. You’ve got me, Carmilla, and everyone else loyal in the Dire standing with you. We rely on you and need your help...especially me since you’re my right-hand man, hehe~”
“Thank you for your kind words, my Queen,” Ash respectfully bowed his head with a hand on his chest.
“Let’s go. I want to see if there are any more settlements like these in my territory,” Maria spread her wings and took to the air with Lilah following after her. Ash followed after her and said, “You don’t need to do this personally, my Queen.”
Maria shook her head and replied, “I don’t want anyone else to do it… I’ll be the one to burn all the traitors and mete out their punishment with hellfire!”