The girls went back up to the surface world after taking a final look around Heltania Undercity. When they got back to the surface, the group dispersed, leaving Maria behind on her own with only Cali and Lilah by her side.
Her 3 friends headed back to the city to round up all of their guild members and give them all general directions about what they should be doing now that they’ve arrived in the city. Amanda, Emily, and Lizzy actually just wanted to hurry up with things and go back to Maria so that they could start exploring the Underworld.
Maria had given Amanda all of the information she had obtained and compiled about her nation’s continent, Dreyra, so her friend should be able to draft a general plan in a few hours for the guild. Amanda and the other 2 needed to make sure that the plan was solid though, because like Maria said, they didn’t know the exact length of time they’d be exploring the Underworld.
It was a place that even Maria hadn’t explored yet, so there wasn’t much information about it. All she knew was that the monsters were incredibly powerful, much more so than any of the monsters on the surface that even Maria struggled with them, so they needed to approach the exploration with caution.
“Alright, I’ll probably see them tomorrow, so let’s head back to Transylvania. I need to give Ash and the others some instructions before we leave,” Maria said to Cali and Lilah.
“Okay, Mama.”
While Cali nodded and began hugging her mom, Lilah spoke up and suggested, “Master, shouldn’t we bring Ash along?”
“Hm?”
“I think it would be safer if we brought him along.”
“Yeah, I think so too, but he has other duties to attend to, no?” Maria replied.
“That’s true…but he’ll be pretty sad to know that we’re going on an expedition without him.”
Maria did feel a little sorry for Ash but, unfortunately, he had other duties to attend to at the moment, so pulling him away from his post to go help her with the Underworld expedition could impact her plans as well as her nation's chain of command. Ash was always her substitute whenever she was off doing other things since he was her most loyal subordinate.
Even though she had a lot of reliable subordinates now other than Ash, she still wasn't comfortable leaving them in charge of the nation. The trust she had developed with Ash was something that allowed her to be at ease whenever she asked–or forced–him to do anything for her because she knew he would complete it flawlessly, regardless of how absurd the thing she may have wanted him to do.
She was currently in a dilemma because of the conflicting feeling of wanting to leave behind Ash to take care of the Dire because he was the most trustworthy and capable subordinate she had and her feeling bad for him because she would always leave him behind while she was off adventuring on her own.
“I do feel sorry for him, but he’s now one of our country’s top executives. He’s my proxy whenever I’m not around, so he holds an extremely important position on top of all the responsibilities he already has. If I pull him away, it could affect our nation's chain of command.”
“That's true…but–”
“Let’s also not forget that we’re currently in a sensitive period, Lilah. The players have just arrived and we need to keep a hawk’s eye on them. You never know when they might try to do something and incite conflict in our territory. With me gone, only Ash can make the proper decisions on the spot since he knows extremely well how I operate.”
Lilah nodded at Maria’s reasoning and said, “Yes, Master. I understand. It's just...I feel sorry for him. It used to just be us 3, remember?”
“Times have changed, Lilah…I wish we could go back to the time when Ash wasn’t so busy and he could come with us on our adventures, but sadly we can’t.”
“Mhm, but at least I'm still here with you, Master!”
"Yup! Also, we still have 3 people with us! Cali's here now!"
"That's right!"
"Yay, Mama~"
Maria smiled and hugged her daughter before telling Lilah to sit on her shoulder or somewhere, so that she can teleport back to Transylvania. Once she was back in her palace, Maria immediately had her nation’s council convene so that she could start handing them out instructions. Her exploration into the Underworld was already planned, so no one was surprised.
However, she still needed to talk with everyone about the countermeasures that needs to be put into place in case the players did something completely outside of their predictions. She had some things in mind already, so there wasn’t much need to brainstorm any ideas, but her subordinates did give some good suggestions about possible issues that she had overlooked.
Once the plans were settled and everyone was given a directive, Maria dismissed the council members and had Ash and Elizabeth remain behind.
“Ash, I’m sorry that I’ll be leaving you behind again, but I can no longer postpone the exploration and, since my friends offered to help, I can’t miss this opportunity,” Maria said.
Ash nodded in understanding and replied, “I understand, Your Majesty. Will Her Highness and Lady Lilah also be going?”
“Yes.”
“Alright, then I wish you all good luck, Your Majesty.”
“Thank you.”
Ash then turned towards Lilah and said, "Lady Lilah, I leave our Empress in your capable hands."
"Don't worry. With me here, you won't have to worry about her getting lost, Ash!"
"Yes, I will leave it to you then!"
"Un!"
"Uhh, guys...I'm right here, y'know?"
Ash and Lilah directly ignored Maria and just continued nodding at each other. Maria frowned because she honestly didn't know what to say. Even though she had learned the [Cartography] skill due to pure happenstance, she unfortunately couldn't say with complete confidence that she was now able to tell reliably read directions.
Maria began pouting and complaining to Cali about those two, but her baby had fallen asleep at some point during the meeting, so she was just talking and complaining to herself. After she was finished, she looked up and suddenly dropped a bomb, “By the way, my two elder brothers will be coming to the country from the Vanargand Continent. Please keep a lookout for them.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Your Majesty’s brothers?! When will they be arriving?!”
“I’m not exactly sure, but here are their portraits. If you find them, please invite them to Transylvania. My second brother probably won’t be of much help, but my eldest brother can probably do some work for the nation. He’s good with paperwork and all.”
Hearing her say that, Elizabeth suddenly asked a rather dangerous question, “I see…will they be aiming for your position, Your Majesty?”
Maria quickly replied with a shake of her head and said, “No, they won’t. They have other ambitions.”
“Understood. I will employ their help once they arrive. However, about Your Majesty's–”
“Just tell them that I’m out adventuring with my friends in a place that can’t receive any communications. They’ll understand.”
“Yes.”
Maria then turned towards Ash and said, “At your own discretion, Ash, you can start screening and recruiting any guilds or player organizations to our sides. Once I return, I’ll give them a proper place in our Empire.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Elizabeth, I hope you’ll support your husband throughout all this?”
Elizabeth humbly bowed at Maria’s words and replied, “You can count on me, Your Majesty. Please be at ease in regards to the nation’s affairs and go on your expedition with a peace of mind.”
“That’s exactly what I wanted to hear,” Maria said with a smile. “Anyway, I’ll be returning to Heltania now. See you guys when I get back.”
“Have a safe trip, Your Majesty, Her Highness Cali, and Lady Lilah!” The two vampire dukes replied in unison.
Maria, Cali and Lilah quickly teleported back to Heltania City and left the entirety of the nation in Ash’s capable hands. He hadn’t failed her once before, so she felt at ease leaving it all to him. Her unconditional trust in him is what drove Ash to perform all his duties to the best of his abilities and because of that, he was extremely feared in the palace as the leader who wanted nothing but perfection from everyone under him.
Ash was very demanding of his subordinates, but it wasn't like the people under him couldn't understand his feelings and where he was coming from and why he demanded so much from everyone, including himself. If they were given Maria's unconditional trust, they'd also try to work their hardest to meet her expectations and failing was not an option.
Having Maria's trust was a privilege. A privilege that only a select few in the Dire could say they have. However, unconditional trust was a luxury that only Ash had, so for him to fail and not meet his Empress's expectations was something that was simply not in his dictionary.
Once the 3 teleported away, Ash turned towards his wife and solemnly said, "Wife, please do something for me..."
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The next day soon arrived and despite it being so early in the morning, the city was already bustling with activity thanks to the arrival of the players. Maria had just woken up in her castle, but she could already feel the bustling atmosphere in the city. Players were really trying to do everything they could in the city and to some extent, Maria found it a little annoying because the system notifications were constantly ringing in her ears, indicating that some changes were happening in her [Faction] window.
Maria quickly muted the notifications and went to the bathroom. Once she finished bathing herself and Cali, checked her inventory, and made sure all of her preparations were completed, she left her chambers and found her friends waiting for her in the castle’s lobby.
“Mary, good morning,” Lizzy said right after she saw her friend. She then turned to Cali, who was in Maria’s arms, and Lilah, who was levitating next to the baby and greeted, “Good morning to you as well, Cali, Lilah.”
Maria smiled and returned the greeting, “Good morning, Liz.”
Lilah did the same while Maria urged Cali to do it as well. Cali was still half asleep, so her greeting was very cute and it caused Lizzy to want to pinch her cheeks, but she refrained since she didn’t want to disturb Cali who was still resting in her mother’s arms. Maria’s other friends greeted them the same way and, naturally, they already had something to eat in the real world. After all, they took a long enough recess for a single in-game day to have passed, but they still went to get breakfast in the castle before leaving for the Undercity.
A few moments later, the group arrived at the underground city's gates that led to the vast, dark world of danger and mystery. They met up with the other members of Maria’s expedition team who were already waiting there for them. Maria ordered the gatekeeper to open it and the city gates slowly swung open as a cold updraft blew past everyone’s bodies, sending shivers down their spines.
Amanda, Emily, and Lizzy all stared into the deep dark abyss ahead of them as excited expressions were plastered on their faces. Maria looked at them and smiled before saying, “I hope you guys are ready. This is going to be a long expedition.”
“Don’t worry about us. We’re definitely prepared.”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go?”
“Follow me and stay close.”
Maria walked ahead and led her friends as well as the expedition team towards the darkness. Not long afterwards, the gates behind them shut with a bang and, without the illumination of the city lights, they were now in complete darkness. Lizzy and the others stuck close to Maria but they wondered why she and none of the people in the expedition team had pulled out a light source yet.
“Mary, did you not bring a light source or anything?”
“Ah, we can’t turn on any lights while we’re down here. We’ll just be advertising our location and giving ourselves a target on our backs,” Maria explained.
“I see…well, it doesn’t matter to me since I have [Night Vision],” Lizzy said before turning to her two friends and continuing, “I don’t think Ama and Em have it though…”
“I've prepared for that as well. Lilah, please buff them.”
“Yes, Master.”
Lilah quickly used one of her spells which granted Amanda and Emily [Night Vision]. Maria’s expedition team members didn’t need it since they all inherently had [Night Vision]. Once her two friends could see in the dark, Maria began their expedition in full force as she rushed ahead into the darkness with everyone in tow.