Positive little sun, magical girl, I am awesome

The royal capital, Highgarden.

Finance Minister Fitch braved the biting cold wind and rushed to the palace gate with his neck shrunk. He breathed a sigh of relief after the guards opened the door for him and he entered the warm room. The magic patterns in the palace had already lit up, and a large number of magic stones were piled in boxes in the corner, ready to be replenished immediately after the current ones were used up.

This palace, built during the reign of Queen Zora, is grand and majestic, with a floor height of nearly 8 meters. I heard that it was the work of dwarves. I really don’t know how those dwarves did it, the Minister of Finance muttered to himself.

Because the floors were too high, keeping warm in winter had always been a difficult and expensive task. The magic stones used up every year were like water, and even he, the finance minister, was shocked when he saw the bills.

He pushed open the door of the conference hall and took only one step. He was keenly aware of the almost frozen air. It seemed that the atmosphere was not very good... The shrewd old man subconsciously took a step back...

"Mr. Fitch, you've come just in time." Two teams from different camps sat on both sides of the long table and faced each other. Duke William Bishop was on the left side of the long table. With just one look, Fitch was pinned to the spot, not daring to retreat. The air was filled with suffocating pressure, and no one dared to speak easily, for fear of bringing the storm upon themselves.

Across the long table, Bishop Quincy, who came to the meeting on behalf of the Church of Light, was present. Perhaps because there were many Knights of Light standing behind him, he was not afraid of the Duke's gaze at all and had an unfathomable smile on his face.

The Minister of Finance swallowed his saliva, walked in and greeted, "Good day, Your Excellency the Duke..."

Then he turned to the white cardinal and said, "Good day, Bishop, may the light be with you."

Bishop Quincy turned to Fitch and smiled, "Light is everywhere. Please sit down, Lord Fitch. Our Lord Duke is looking for you."

Old man Fitch felt the air was even more difficult to breathe. After hesitating for a long time, he finally avoided the Duke's sight and sat down below the cardinal in white.

"I came to you today to discuss the old issues we had before." William Bishop no longer wasted time on small talk and went straight to the point.

"The weather is really cold. The situation on the east coast is very bad. We need soldiers, winter clothes, and food. I have been urging you since early autumn. Now even Highgarden is snowing. Is it so difficult to prepare the supplies I want, everyone?"

A minister wiped the non-existent sweat off his face and stammered, "It's not that we don't cooperate, Your Excellency the Duke. Although this year has had plenty of rain and is a good year for a bumper harvest, there have also been many thunderstorms, which have caused fires across the country. This will also affect the harvest of grain and cotton. This year's inventory is really not abundant..."

"Can a few wildfires destroy the food supply of an empire? If it happens a few more times, won't everyone just lie in bed and wait to die?" William clenched his fists, and words of dissatisfaction came out from between his teeth.

"Why are you angry with the grain officer, Your Excellency the Duke?" The military minister on the other side said with a big smile while wiping his sword. "Your fiefdom, Ozler, has the most fertile land in the Gaia Empire. It is the first place in Gaia to greet the sun. You can't even guarantee the output of your own fiefdom, so why don't you understand the difficulties of the grain officer?"

"A large area of Ozler's land has been polluted, and we have no way to balance defense and production. We don't have enough manpower..." A clerk under Duke William spoke angrily.

"Didn't we provide you with manpower support?" The Military Minister seemed to have finally found the opportunity to vent his emotions.

"Five thousand people! Is five thousand people a small number?!" The Military Minister put down his sword heavily, and his voice echoed in the huge conference room.

"They disappeared without a trace within a month of entering Ozler. You tell me they are all dead? But you can't even find a complete body?"

"I have repeatedly emphasized this when I asked for help..." William spoke slowly, "Those things cannot be killed by ordinary swords. Only magic can completely eliminate them. So when you send troops, please team up with the devils... the gods' favored ones. It seems that you and the church did not take my words seriously. As for their remains..."

"It's all burned, believe it or not."

"You!" The Military Minister stood up in anger when he remembered that his son, who had been sent to the army to gain experience, had disappeared inexplicably.

"I don't have the troops to support the east. After all, only you and your wife know the situation over there. We have only listened to your one-sided statement, Your Excellency the Duke. Over the years, you have consumed a lot of supplies with this excuse." The minister who holds the military power was sarcastic to the Duke of the empire.

"Hanukkah is coming soon, and Highgarden will soon welcome pilgrims from all over the country. I believe my first priority is to protect the safety of the King." He saluted to the always empty seat at the front of the long table.

Knight Russell, who was standing next to the empty chair holding the crown of Bishop VII and representing him in the meeting, looked up, said nothing, and continued to be an invisible man.

"What about the South Territory? Does the South Territory need so many troops stationed there?" Another person on William's side spoke up. "Protecting the King's safety is important, but why did they send so many Knights of Light to the South Territory without supporting us?!"

"Appropriate deterrence is a means of maintaining peace on the border..."

"Mulet is just a small country. You scared its king so much that he sent his two sons to study and live in Gaia. Isn't that enough to intimidate us?" William's secretary retorted angrily.

"Are you sympathizing with the pagans, Mr. Clerk?" Bishop Quincy began slowly.

The clerk opened his mouth, but then closed it at the signal of others. They couldn't be accused of this now, as it would only make things more difficult for the Duke.

"The Knights of Light are the sword held by the king and the church. Every time we send troops, we must be cautious." Bishop Quincy looked at Duke William with a smile.

"I think you are a little too cautious about those little creatures on the East Coast, Your Excellency the Duke. They are just some crazy mutant mermaids. Are they worth making everyone so unhappy again and again? With your ability, you will definitely be able to handle the little disturbances in your own fiefdom by yourself."

"...Mermaid?" William sneered, "You and the Church of Light still firmly believe that it was just a contaminated mermaid?" If you think it is unimportant, why did the church withdraw from Ozler?

"Human body, fish tail, isn't this the characteristic of a mermaid?" Quincy said slowly, "It's not like our Church of Light hasn't sent people to Ozler to investigate. This is completely different from what you said. You're too nervous, Your Excellency the Duke."

"They have evolved," William said firmly.

"It's the Void Beast. Our enemy from thousands of years ago has made a comeback."