An elven waitress kept herself silent as she walked toward a fancy hotel room carrying two plates in her hands. She passed through another group of waitresses, all of them carrying the usual neutral smiles as they got out.

  Immediately, a fake smile was plastered on her face as she served four men at a long table. They seemed to be in deep discussions with each other, while they indulged in the most luxurious food this private hotel provided.

  One of them was a fat, old man, slicing his steak as he laughed, before eating it, its red sauce dripping down his lips.

  Another one was a decrepit, thin old man, his body more like a disgusting husk than human, yet he still had a goblet with red wine as he laughed along.

  The third man was a bit younger, middle-aged, but the moment the elven woman got close to him to diligently place a table with dessert in front of him, she felt his hand behind her. Thankfully, it didn’t touch anything inappropriate, but it still gave her chills. She just smiled at him, as the man gave him instructions on what to bring next.

  Briefly, she glanced at the last man, who had so far remained silent as he refused to eat, merely drinking a standard cup of tea. He looked like a respectable nobleman, well-built and somewhere in his mid-fifties, he was someone who sported the aura of a proper elder statesman.

  But the way he looked at the direction of the elven waitress and the man next to her was piercing.

  He didn’t approve of whatever they were doing. But he remained silent.

  I just want to get out of this room…please…please…

  She stood, still smiling, backing off once she served the last plate, taking care to carefully pick up the empty plates on the table.

  These men were the four members of the Regency Council, a council made up of noblemen who ‘graciously volunteered’ to rule the Empire after the old Emperor died, and his only heir, the Crown Princess Alexa Theresa von Wolgast, was too young to be crowned.

  This hotel itself was owned by one of the allies of these men, so the waitress knew she should keep her head low and try to ignore whatever they spoke about. She was just here to do her job and get paid, nothing more.

  But her ears did pick up some of their discussions.

  “That damned brat,” the old, fat man suddenly groaned. “Calling us out for our absence in the crisis. Who does she think she is?”

  “The next Empress? Isn’t that quite obvious?” the thin old man croaked with a chuckle, before the fat man laughed, joined by the middle-aged man.

  “I hear she’s going on an adventure now to pacify the dungeons in the Imperial Core,” the middle-aged man laughed. “Let the child be a child, will you?”

  “That girl is not even fit to rule us,” the fat man said. “Why does she keep refusing our instructions like a good doll? We’ve been doing good work ruling this place for years now. Right, Lord Kassel?”

  The fourth man, who remained silent, stared blankly at his peers, and the atmosphere seemed to turn cold…at least for a little bit.

  “I have nothing to say,” the fourth regent said. “We should pack this up. I have more business to attend to.”

  “Oh, come on, still so neutral?” the middle-aged regent groaned as he took another slice from the cake in the middle of the table. “You’re one of us, aren’t you? At least tell us where you stand.”

  “I stand with the regency council.”

  “That’s what we all like to hear! Unity above all!”

  And then, the three noblemen laughed with each other again. The elven waitress finally managed to get out of the room as fast as she could, while those powerful men continued their discussions about the people of the Empire.

  They’re treating us all like we’re just a piece of pie to carve for themselves…

  Her grave dislike of these disgusting elites grew until she went face-to-face with one of the senior waiters. The hard look on the man’s face made her lower head, and just instantly, all of her thoughts vanished.

  Nothing happened in that room. All she heard was normal private clients having fun. Nothing more, nothing less.

  +++

  “We urge you, for the health of the Empire, to prioritize your safety—”

  “Tsk, those peasants. Who are they to think so highly of themselves? They’re just lowly bureaucrats!” Alexa closed the letter angrily and hid it back in her purse. It was a letter from the regency council, urging her to ‘avoid traveling to the Schengen Region’. It was ridiculous, and the fact that they’d been sending her letters repeatedly while refusing to appear before her made her blood boil.

  After all, who were they to lecture her? Those decrepit men abandoned their people so badly that they moved the current government to the far-eastern city of Ostend. It was known as the second capital of the Empire, as unlike Perlenstadt, the political center, Ostend was the mercantile center.

  Still, it was clear that the reason they went there was to get as far away from the potential demon threat in the west. Those fools—they were cowards who abandoned Alexa’s peasants!

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  She was getting angrier and angrier until something interrupted her.

  “Lady Alexa…I love…that parfait…” Phoebe cutely mumbled while lying down on Alexa’s lap, dead asleep. Not even the rough road that their carriage drove through disturbed the saintly girl’s slumber.

  That immediately drained lifted most of the evil thoughts on Alexa’s mind, ideas that involved as far as incinerating her regents. She placed her hand on Phoebe’s silver hair and gave it light taps.

  “So cute…”

  “I wish to have some of that too,” Adele suddenly complained from the side, her fist curled.

  “Shut it. Work harder if you want some. This is a rightful reward only for good peasants who purified eight dungeons.”

  “B-but…”

  Alexa smiled, as Adele pouted and puffed her cheeks. Her friend then looked away, deciding that indulging in the donuts they bought from one of the struggling stores in the last city they passed through was a better replacement for Alexa’s headpats.

  On the other hand, Alexa looked back at the last few days. Work had been quite heavy for their entire team. While Wilhelm’s men and Alfred’s men were quite capable, they still had their limits.

  Especially considering each dungeon was something that would normally be cleared by hundreds of adventurers during monster spawn spikes, the strength of Alexa’s personnel wasn’t going to cut it for so long.

  Even Phoebe, the ever-venerable saintess, was struggling. Each time she purified a dungeon of its miasma, naturally, she would drain so much of her mana that she became increasingly fatigued by it.

  Adele too, while she seemed a bit more energetic right now, earlier, she fell asleep like a log after killing twenty monsters using her magic, so they had to stay in the last city they were in for a few extra hours.

  Still, Alexa didn’t mind all these struggles. Each time they stabilized a dungeon, the town or city above would be so overjoyed by the news, that many would stop packing their bags and instead stay.

  Best of all, they always saw Alexa around, working personally to save them from increasing monster attacks. Dungeons after all had so many entrances, some of them not in the cities built on top of them, that they could attack people in the surrounding countryside.

  Such a fearsome problem was being fixed with great attention by their very princess not only comforted them, but Alexa knew that she was greatly improving her image.

  Anything to avoid Mr. Guillotine!

  Alexa rechecked her notifications.

  Wow…I didn’t know…

  Well, even Alexa knew that she herself was placing quite the effort. Every time they went deep into the dungeons, she’d take any opportunity she could to fight behind the safety of her allies.

  She’d take potshots, get chased by skeletons or golems, and everything in between. As a result, she was not only forced to practice and constantly use her magic, but she was also constantly moving around.

  It seemed that casting fireballs rapidly also helped in her dexterity stat especially.

  On the other hand, she also had to draw a few glyph papers in between their downtimes. It was necessary because she couldn’t use fire to cast a shield spell on herself, and she sometimes used paper glyphs on her allies whenever they found themselves in trouble.

  A giddy smile grew on Alexa’s face, as she looked at her updated stat screen.

  Hehehehe…I’m getting so strong, that I have already maxed out my first magic circle’s mastery.

  Indeed, Alexa felt it each time she cast more and more of her fire spells. She was getting better and better at it, and noticeably, her attacks became stronger and stronger. Back then, it’d take her at least four fireballs to kill a basic skeleton.

  But now, it was more like two. She was also casting more spells in general, as her control over her first magic circle meant less of its mana reserves were wasted. Her efficiency at utilizing mana was improving.

  “But, this also means my growth is capped now,” Alexa whined audibly, and Adele perked up.

  “Hmm…did you finish mastering your first magic circle?” Adele curiously asked.

  “Yeah…but, well, I presume now my magic won’t get any better,” Alexa pouted. “I wish Mr. Scary Face had some plan of sorts.”

  “He did say we’re still searching for a proper mana condenser, no?”

  “Yes, but what’s more pressing is the herbs situation. I need to finish all of these issues around us first.”

  “And why’s that? I’ve heard the Defense Forces possess the necessary ingredients for your elixir. Then just seize it with force!”

  “Adele, subtlety when taking what you need is the way of refined nobles,” Alexa haughtily said. “I would not stoop so low like that.”

  Besides, I already planned this with Wilhelm. I don’t want to antagonize them, at all…their opinion of me is already rock bottom after all…

  Adele turned to look at the glass window of their carriage on her side. She then pointed at a distant, walled city.

  “Lady Alexa, look!” Adele called out. “We’re close to Arlen City.”

  “Arlen, huh…” Alexa mumbled, looking at it. It was a major city, boasting at least two hundred thousand inhabitants before the Battle of Perlenstadt.

  Wilhelm said earlier that the Arlen City dungeon was one of the highest-ranked out there. If the Great Dungeon beneath Perlenstadt was a SSS+ Rank Dungeon, Arlen City was S+ Rank. That meant, there were monsters in its deepest caverns that could be an S+ threat.

  That was roughly comparable to a lesser demon’s threat level. That meant, just as it was quite dangerous like the Great Dungeon…

  It might also have the finest abandoned facilities underneath.