Finally ending her conversation with Erin, the sky had already begun to darken.
Elashia returned to the imperial palace.
Candice had finished her day's official duties and was waiting for her arrival in the palace.
Walking along the path, Elashia pondered what she should do next.
Now the Elasia Empire's operations had gotten on track, the army had been properly trained under Cecilia's instruction, the administrative efficiency of the Elasia Empire had greatly improved under her [Mind Control] and Candice's governance, and the magic academy had begun to operate.
Preparations had also been made for the widespread drought coming next year, and with complete tax exemption, this year's harvest in Elasia would certainly not be poor.
The central grain reserves were also completely sufficient.
Elashia had already done everything that needed to be done.
Now, Elashia felt it was time to contact other human countries.
The three human nations were all located in the northern part of the Abyss Marsh continent, from west to east respectively—the dominant Iron Empire, the mountainous Elasia, and the easternmost Holy Kingdom.
The Holy Kingdom was the human country closest to the north, so it was most affected by the Undead Calamity.
The Holy Kingdom was now sinking into a terrible civil war—the Holy Kingdom's Empress had been influenced by the resurrection ripples of the Undead King, becoming a [Death Follower].
This was a state where, although still rational, all actions in the subconscious were aimed at welcoming the arrival of the Undead King.
Simply put, it meant becoming an enemy of humanity.
Before the arrival of domain-level undead, the Holy Empress was humanity's greatest enemy.
And the Holy Kingdom was the base for vampires and undead.
The Holy Empress, who had become a Death Follower, used various means to transform the original Holy Kingdom into a death country where undead and vampires ran rampant. The human resistance in the Holy Kingdom was easily crushed under the undead's military might and the Holy Empress's strategies.
Now there was only one human resistance organization called [Northern Fire] barely holding on under the leadership of Elashia's former best friend—the Holy Princess Ileina.
Thinking of this, Elashia recalled the storyline from the game that distressed her the most.
The Holy Princess Ileina had been a hostage in Elasia during her childhood. At that time, she was only ten years old, and "Elashia" was nine.
The two lonely girls hit it off immediately in Radiant Emperor City and quickly became intimate friends who shared everything.
Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long. Two years later, the Holy Kingdom became a land of death where undead ran rampant, and the Holy Kingdom became known as the land of the undead in people's minds.
The young Holy Princess consequently suffered all kinds of rejection and bullying in Radiant Emperor City.
And the precocious "Elashia" always protected her from people's harm in various ways.
Even if it meant bearing those harms herself.
Ah, how kind and strong "Elashia" was back then.
Elashia couldn't help but sigh.
The weight of this sentiment in the Holy Princess's heart was self-evident.
So in the storyline, "Elashia" always liked to take advantage of this bond to exploit the poor Holy Princess.
Even when the Holy Princess died because of "Elashia's" conspiracy, she was still wearing the white scarf that Elashia had given her in childhood.
Nothing could be more painful than seeing a childhood best friend turn into a scoundrel.
Elashia, when playing the game, truly felt extremely sorry for the Holy Princess.
But now, with Elasia needing reconstruction in all areas, Elashia really had no energy to spare to help the Holy Kingdom. Moreover, there was a huge mountain range between Elasia and the Holy Kingdom, and Elashia had no way to help the Holy Princess now.
But it wasn't a major problem; according to the storyline, the Holy Princess wouldn't be in any danger during these two years.
Unfortunately, the Holy Kingdom was now firmly controlled by the undead, so trying to establish contact with the Holy Princess would be nothing short of a fantasy.
She had to give up for now.
Gathering her thoughts, Elashia decided to contact her adopted mother—the Iron Empress.
There were indeed many areas where the Iron Empire and Elasia could cooperate, whether in military or education; there was enormous space for collaboration between the two countries.
Knocking on Candice's door, Elashia got straight to the point: "Candice, do you have any means for me to contact the Iron Empress?"