Chapter 118: She’s a Genius

Chapter 118 -45: She’s a Genius

Furthermore, besides Viscount Belmont and the other nobles who clung desperately to life, Victor also did not travel with Lilia.

He remained as before. Unless Lilia actively sought him out, he would never appear before her.

Jennifer found this perfectly normal.

High-level Mages all had their own eccentricities. Once they reached that realm, unless they were court magicians working closely with the Royal Family, they generally wouldn’t prioritize the safety of common people over their own research.

Victor had come to Navia for his research.

He certainly wasn’t going to leave just because a neighboring town was about to be attacked.

Lilia knew that wasn’t the real reason. ‘Victor’s continued refusal to see me must mean he’s hiding a secret.’

But he wasn’t her most pressing concern.

「Siterind County.」

After hearing the report from Eli, Lord Frost nearly fainted on the spot.

Unlike Viscount Belmont and the others.

His entire fortune was tied to Sitrind’s rich mineral resources. When Navia was attacked, Viscount Belmont and the others could just write it off as a lost cause and walk away without a second thought, but he couldn’t do the same.

Leaving Sitrind was even more unthinkable to him than severing his own limbs!

But… but…

They were Demons!

The legendary harbingers of destruction and disaster!

Sitrind was wealthier than Navia, but at the end of the day, it was still just a small town in a remote region. The strength of its Mages and Knights was just as limited.

What’s more, no one had seen what a Demon looked like in centuries!

‘Under these circumstances… if the Demons really invade, how could we possibly hold them off?’

Just as he was pacing frantically, unable to come up with a solution, Lilia volunteered to help.

When Lord Frost first heard the news, his initial reaction was, naturally, to find it absurd.

How could he entrust the safety of his entire county to some girl he’d never even heard of—though he later learned from his men that she was the eighth princess of the Royal Family?

But if not her… at this critical juncture, with their very survival at stake, who else could he entrust with such a monumental task?

After several long hours of debate and internal conflict, Eli finally convinced him with a single sentence.

“Back in Navia, Viscount Belmont seemed to follow her every command.”

Lord Frost knew a thing or two about Belmont. The man was a coward, but his ambition was boundless.

He would never bow and scrape before a little girl who was still wet behind the ears just because she was a princess.

‘Since he’s willing to listen to her, it must mean she has some special tricks up her sleeve…’

‘At this point, I don’t have time to overthink it.’

‘It’s a desperate measure, but it’s all I have!’

In his desperation, Lord Frost agreed to every single one of Lilia’s demands, signing a number of one-sided agreements.

His reasoning was simple.

If Lilia succeeded and saved Sitrind, then these demands were a mere pittance. It might sting a little, but he could earn it all back in no time.

If Lilia failed… given the Demons’ savagery, they would both likely end up dead.

And then none of this would matter anyway.

Ever since Damian and his men had discovered the Demons’ trail, Lilia had them monitor their movements constantly. After two days, they had managed to calculate their approximate route and marching speed.

Lilia rallied her forces and set out from the city of Sitrind.

If all went according to plan, her forces and the Demon host would meet in about half a day near a desolate mountain.

It was the battleground Lilia had specifically chosen.

…

“Princess Lilia.”

Jennifer followed Lilia on horseback.

Her expression was clouded with obvious worry.

Ever since Veronica had sent her to Lilia’s side with instructions to help and guide her to the best of her ability, Jennifer had been prepared to one day sacrifice herself for Lilia.

In her eyes, regardless of whether Lilia could achieve anything in Navia, by choosing this path, she was destined to one day face off against Princess Veronica.

And the outcome of that battle… was painfully obvious.

But being prepared for the worst was one thing; it didn’t mean she was willing to follow Lilia to a senseless death.

“I’m sure you wouldn’t have agreed to help Viscount Frost fight the Demons unless you were confident.”

Jennifer said tactfully, “But, in my opinion, since Sitrind is the Demons’ primary target, we should be observing from a distance. We should wait until we’ve confirmed their attack patterns and weaknesses, and then use that intelligence to create a targeted battle plan. We shouldn’t be…”

…making ourselves the primary target like this.

Jennifer understood Lilia’s reasoning.

If she succeeded this time, she would not only build her reputation, but the resources she’d demanded from Lord Frost would also allow Navia to develop at an incredible speed.

But that was all contingent on “success.”

It wasn’t that Jennifer doubted Lilia’s abilities… well, alright, she did have some doubts.

“How do you plan to deal with them?”

Jennifer didn’t say it out loud, but Lilia knew what she was worried about.

“Don’t worry.”

The girl turned her head, a relaxed smile playing on her lips. “Of course I wouldn’t have taken on this task if I wasn’t reasonably certain I could pull it off.”

“…Reasonably certain?”

Jennifer asked, confused. “Could you elaborate?”

Their entire fighting force, the combined strength of Navia and Sitrind, was arrayed behind them: fewer than twenty Mages and just over a hundred Knights. And that included people like Nokes, a Mage who was better at farming than fighting, just there to pad the numbers. Jennifer had no idea what percentage of them could actually hold their own against Demons on a battlefield.

Jennifer had been a top student at the Royal Capital Magic Academy, but even she knew very little about Demons.

There was no helping it; those foul creatures had been gone from the world for so many years that she’d never imagined she would one day have to face them herself.

But Lilia…

‘This Little Princess, who has never even attended the Magic Academy, seems genuinely as confident as she claims to be?’

Lilia had no intention of hiding anything. “I know exactly what you’re thinking. Of that whole rabble behind us, who knows how many can actually fight.”

“You can tell just by looking at their faces.”

Jennifer frowned. “Then…”

“That’s why I never intended for them to face the Demons directly,” Lilia said. “Or rather, I never intended for them to face Demons at their full strength.”

She glanced back, nodding her chin toward the carriage behind them. “Didn’t I ask Viscount Frost for a large number of Demon Crystals before we set out?”

“Yes,” Jennifer nodded, though she didn’t understand this point either. “Those Demon Crystals are for…?”

“I inspected them back in Sitrind. Those Demon Crystals have a great deal of energy stored inside them,”

Lilia said. “And as every student at the Magic Academy knows, if you keep feeding energy into a Demon Crystal that’s already full, it will explode.”

Jennifer blinked.

She felt an idea flicker at the edge of her mind, but she couldn’t quite grasp it. She could only ask, “…And then?”

“When Demons gather, they constantly emanate Demonic Qi, don’t they?” Lilia smiled. “That’s a form of energy too.”

“If we bury the Demon Crystals along their path, the Demonic Qi will be passively absorbed as they pass over them.”

“Then, once they reach a critical point, they’ll go… BOOM…”

“Explode!” Jennifer understood.

She understood completely!

The force of so many Demon Crystals exploding would be as powerful as a high-level spell! This way, they could inflict massive damage on the Demons without losing a single soldier!

This… this method was so wonderfully clever, yet so practical and effective! It was just like her “selective breeding” idea from before!

‘This young Lord…’

‘She’s a genius!’