Although the knights moved at great speed, the territory of the Elasia Empire was quite vast after all, so Elashia's group would need to spend at least two days in the carriage before returning to the Imperial Capital.
Listening to the symphony of horse hooves, Elashia leaned back comfortably in the smoothly running carriage.
Having lived in Yage City for a week, Elashia now truly missed life in the Imperial Capital.
She couldn't help but sigh—it was still better to have days where she could wake up hungry in the morning to Candice's breakfast, read light novels from "Pineapple Bookstore" when bored, and slack off most of the time...
She really hoped such days could continue just like this...
Unfortunately, not long after returning, she would have to prepare to face the [Goblin Emperor].
When Elashia thought of this, her mood immediately became much heavier.
The name [Goblin Emperor] might even sound somewhat ridiculous, and most people would probably laugh upon hearing it—"Could goblins, such lowly creatures, even have such a concept?"
But it was exactly this kind of thinking that had harmed this country.
In the past, whenever goblin disasters appeared in various regions, lords mostly ignored them.
Never mind lords—even some higher-level adventurers wouldn't accept goblin extermination commissions at the guild.
In their eyes, going to subjugate such lowly creatures was simply an insult to them.
So goblins had always been in a state of wild growth in Elasia.
Those with the ability to manage wouldn't bother, and those disaster-stricken villages could only spend money to hire some adventurers to resist goblin attacks in order to eliminate the goblin threat.
And while goblins were stupid creatures, they weren't foolish.
They knew what they could fight and what they couldn't.
They knew they had to do proper reconnaissance work when attacking human villages.
When villages had adventurer guards, they would never attack.
But when villages had no adventurer guards, they would massacre entire villages like a storm.
Villages conquered by goblins generally had only one outcome.
Livestock and men were all killed and made into food.
Because goblins couldn't manage or produce anything, they could only obtain survival resources by robbing humans.
And women would be captured and turned into machines for breeding their offspring.
Aelia's sister had been taken this way.
That's why she eventually changed from an innocent little girl into a machine for slaughtering goblins.
Through their development over these years, goblins had multiplied to a quite terrifying number.
Most frightening was—a [Goblin Emperor] capable of leading all goblins had evolved among them.
The [Goblin Emperor] commanded and led goblins across the entire nation.
Under its command, goblins everywhere did their utmost to develop silently.
Goblins, already misunderstood as having no real threat, seemed to appear even weaker in recent years.
But Elashia knew very well that this [Goblin Emperor] possessed quite terrifying ambitions.
It wanted to turn the entire empire into a hunting ground for goblins.
To this end, it had made plans many years in advance...
Thinking of this, Elashia's brow furrowed even more.
In most routes of the original plot, if "Elashia" didn't deal with the goblin problem, she would definitely die in a goblin ambush during the subsequent [Beast Tide] event.
But handling it improperly could very likely result in death during the goblins' siege warfare even before the [Beast Tide] event.
Moreover, in many routes, even when "Elashia" successfully resolved the goblin problem, she would pay quite a heavy price.
She still didn't have a definite plan for how to defend against the goblin army.
After all, she didn't understand military affairs either.
She could only place her hopes on professionals like Cecilia and Aelia.
In the original game plot, Aelia was merely a tool character used to highlight the Goblin Emperor's strength.
But now that she had invited her to the Imperial Capital, her abilities could finally be fully utilized...
However, Elashia didn't know exactly how much effect Aelia could have.
After all, this wasn't a development from the original game plot at all.
Whenever she considered the upcoming goblin problem—unfathomably deep like a black hole yet full of danger—Elashia's mood became heavy.
Seeing Elashia's furrowed brow, Cecilia immediately reacted.
Was Her Majesty thinking about Elasia's future again?
To divert Elashia's attention, Cecilia quickly found a topic.
"By the way, Your Majesty, we've already assembled all the equipment and personnel for the goblin countermeasure force you mentioned. According to Aelia's suggestion, they just need two weeks of training before they can carry out missions."
"Ah... good."
Elashia was somewhat startled by Cecilia's sudden statement.
But it was just as well—Elashia didn't want to think about those things anymore either.
Anyway, she had done everything she could; thinking about these things was meaningless.
Elashia thought for a moment and asked:
"How is it? Are you getting along well with Aelia?"
Cecilia smiled.
"Your Majesty, don't let her usual quietness fool you—she's actually very kind, and her temperament isn't strange at all."
Elashia nodded.
"Are you adapting well to working together?"
Elashia hadn't expected this question to make Cecilia's eyes light up.
"Of course! I've always looked forward to having such a partner!"
"Oh?"
Cecilia's reaction somewhat surprised Elashia.
"Do you get along with her well?"
Cecilia shook her head.
"It's not because of that. She hardly talks to me about personal matters. As you probably know, she has nothing in her eyes except goblins."
Elashia asked somewhat curiously:
"Then why do you say that?"
Cecilia answered with a smile:
"She's clearly just an ordinary person, yet she became a high-level adventurer at the adventurer's guild. Don't you think there's a reason for that?"
Cecilia's words piqued Elashia's interest.
"How so?"
Cecilia smiled and answered:
"Her calm thinking and frequently scheming mind are her most powerful weapons. Although this weapon can't show much effect when she's alone, when her wisdom can serve an entire army, this weapon can unleash unimaginable power!"
Cecilia's words made Elashia realize something.
In the game, as a completely ordinary person without [Breath] or magical assistance, how exactly had Aelia managed to survive over a thousand goblin subjugations?
She didn't know in the past, but now after Cecilia's description, she finally understood.
"So you're saying we could have her serve as a staff officer in the army, responsible for advising you?"
Cecilia answered with a smile:
"That would be a huge help—I'm really not good at these things."
Elashia also smiled.
"That would be wonderful."
Just as the two were discussing, Chris, who had been pillowed on Elashia's legs and sleeping for a full day, finally showed signs of stirring awake.