As for the Finance Minister, he defected even earlier. On the day he attended the mobilization assembly held by the foolish king, this pallum, skilled at assessing the situation, immediately realized something was wrong.
That night, he hurried back home and knelt before his elven foster mother, surrendering without the slightest hesitation.
This foster mother of his was originally an elven woman bought back to the household by his grandfather as a slave. However, by virtue of possessing the most outstanding intelligence in the entire family, the elven woman eventually took control over the grandfather and father of the Finance Minister, turning into the actual ruler of the household.
Now, with both the grandfather and parents of the Finance Minister having passed away, this youthful-looking elven woman had transformed into the honored Dowager Empress of the family.
"Dear Mother, please save your son…", The Finance Minister hugged his foster mother's smooth little leg, bawling with snot and tears under her look of disdain.
He didn't conceal his fear in the slightest, directly revealing the king's plans and secrets in full, completely selling out the king.
Thus, the plans and intelligence of the Kingdom of Rakia were handed over to Elven Princess Riveria without reservation.
With such detailed intelligence, the adventurers easily took control of the royal palace and the armory, quickly subduing the guards originally stationed there.
Later, precisely because of the cooperation of these two individuals, the cities across the Kingdom of Rakia bowed their heads one by one without putting up any resistance.
Riveria and her companions' goal was not to attack or occupy these cities, but to ensure their party could proceed smoothly. What they needed was nothing more than basic supplies and places to rest.
Therefore, whenever they arrived at a city, they only asked for necessary food and clean water to ensure that the slaves following behind them could rest briefly, regain their strength, and then continue on.
During these short stops, Riveria and her companions would also conveniently rescue any slaves in the city who were willing to follow them.
However, outside the royal capital, the number of slaves was relatively small, especially among the elves, it was extremely scarce.
The slave system in the cities was not as rampant as in the capital. Most of the slaves were humans from various regions who had perhaps become slaves due to war or other reasons in the past, but their numbers weren't large enough to form a scale.
Riveria and her group did not force anyone to join them, instead giving them a choice. For those who chose to stay, they respected their wishes and did not interfere.
At this point, they had finally stepped out of the borders of the Kingdom of Rakia and returned to Orario.
The Finance Minister in the group let out a long sigh upon seeing the outline of Orario. His feelings along the journey were extremely complicated.
He knew clearly that he had betrayed the Kingdom of Rakia, betrayed the country that once gave him a place to stand.
Perhaps, he could never return to Rakia again, but at least, he was still alive.
However, just as he lowered his head and sighed, the Chancellor beside him stepped forward and lightly patted his shoulder. This mature and steady man showed no trace of blame in his eyes, instead revealing a look of comfort and encouragement.
Chancellor: "Well done. You saved the kingdom."
The Finance Minister froze, looking confused: "Huh?"
"Your decision was correct and very decisive. Stop following that foolish king. His Highness Marius knows your ability and your awakening, he will put you in important positions," The Chancellor spoke, a trace of lingering fear surfacing in his heart.
The king's original plan was to gather the elven slaves in the capital and use them to threaten Riveria into submission. Otherwise, he would kill all the elves.
If something like that had really happened, everything would've gone completely out of control, and the kingdom would've been pushed into the abyss of destruction.
Finance Minister: "…I was clearly just afraid of death, how did that turn into getting reused by His Highness Marius."
Emiya and his party hadn't had an easy time either. To be honest, the hardships they faced were a hundred times more difficult than the battles in the capital. That was: how to deal with the rescued slaves, especially the elves among them.
These elves were full of gratitude, but their gratitude was simply too enthusiastic.
The elves even suggested that Lady Riveria should no longer walk on her own, but be carried on a palanquin lifted by strong beastmen, as if she were a goddess worshipped by ancient nobles.
This special treatment was not just prepared for Lady Riveria. Emiya and others were also required to accept the same kind of hospitality.
Seated on sturdy palanquins lifted by strong demi-humans, surrounded by six beautiful elf women serving them: two fanning, one feeding grapes, one pouring wine, and two massaging legs—it looked exactly like some foolish king indulging in extreme luxury.
At first, Emiya was forcibly placed on the palanquin by the elves and stared blankly at the scene around him, feeling like he was about to be spiritually corrupted by the strange atmosphere.
Riveria smiled bitterly as she refused their eager requests multiple times. Hedin and the others even more so politely declined, but facing these compatriots who had endured immense suffering, they couldn't bear to speak harshly.
There were nearly 800 rescued slaves, most of them humans, followed by beastmen, Amazons, and Pallums, and the least in number were the elves.
However, because of Riveria, these elves instead became the core of the group.
And under Hedin's arrangement, Emiya, who directly rescued these elven slaves, naturally won their favor, trust, and even worship.
As these elves gained complete freedom, their admiration for Emiya grew by the day. This emotion would eventually transform into great prestige for Emiya among the elven race.
Seeing all this, Riveria couldn't help but be 'afraid.' She knew well that elves were a very independent and prideful race. It was extremely difficult for outsiders to gain their respect and trust.
Yet Emiya easily achieved that, and his influence was still expanding.
She subconsciously thought a bit more, 'This child… gaining such huge prestige among the elves, what does he intend to do?'
'Could it be, he wants to marry the princess of the elven race…'
———
"So the Rakia Kingdom's invasion ended this quickly, huh," On the hillside of the plains east of Orario, a tall Amazonian female warrior looked into the distance at the remaining forces of the kingdom.
"Even if the kingdom didn't go all out and only dispatched one legion, they still lost way too quickly," Vice-captain of the Ganesha Familia, Level 5 adventurer, [Red Battle Leopard] Ilta Farna, she served as the main commander for Orario's allied familias in this war against Rakia.
Because the scale of the kingdom's invasion this time was not large, the Loki Familia and Freya Familia had no interest in joining. Thus, the Ganesha Familia became the main force on Orario's side.
The Familia of the God of Elephants dispatched five first-class adventurers. Adding the Level 2 battle prostitutes from the Ishtar Familia who came for the strong soldiers of the kingdom army (most of the Level 3 Amazons were on dungeon expeditions), along with many mid-tier familias who volunteered to fight, it was more than enough to deal with one legion of the kingdom's army.
And even with only limited forces deployed, these adventurers still held back in battle because they wanted the war with the Kingdom of Rakia to last a few more days to enjoy this rare opportunity to rest.
That's right—rest. Except for the commander Shakti, who had to work hard, for the other adventurers participating in this war, it was practically a 'paid vacation'.
Because the kingdom's army was just too weak. Although nearly all of them had received blessings from the gods, the vast majority of soldiers were just Level 1, with only a few officers being Level 2. Higher up, Level 3 generals were only a handful.
Moreover, these Level 2 and Level 3 individuals who rose through decades of drills and matches in the kingdom's military camps were nowhere near the strength of adventurers who had fought against monsters in the dungeon.
The adventurers fought the kingdom soldiers every day, effortlessly scattering them. They could even avoid killing and just capture them to later exchange for ransom after the war.
Even more speechless, during the gaps between daily battles, non-combatant citizens of Orario directly went to the enemy camp to do business with them.
These merchants sold healing potions to the soldiers bruised by adventurers, or sold average-quality weapons and equipment made in Orario to the kingdom army.
For Orario, the war with the Kingdom of Rakia was like a carnival. The so-called battles were more like a large performance for the leisure of the city's citizens.
The gods of various familias had long expected this. They didn't want their children to stain their hands in a battle of this level. So before the war began, the gods had a tacit understanding not to encourage killing in combat.
In the end, only a single-digit number of soldiers from Rakia's invading forces died.
And most of them were trampled to death by their own side in the chaos of the battlefield.
[Red Battle Leopard] Ilta Farna chuckled, withdrew her gaze from the fleeing remains of the kingdom's army, and jokingly said to Shakti beside her, "This war ended way earlier than expected. Looks like your command ability is even better than the [Braver] Finn, big sister."
Shakti shook her head, "It had nothing to do with my command. The kingdom army obviously suffered internal strife. Or rather, the Kingdom of Rakia itself has a problem."
Ilta Farna raised her brows upon hearing that, a hint of curiosity appearing, "Internal strife? So we were just here to clean up the mess?"
"Maybe," Shakti nodded, gazing into the distance.
It's worth mentioning, Emiya and the others who operated inside the Kingdom of Rakia didn't stain their hands with blood either. With their exceptional strength, they easily subdued all the soldiers and took control of the palace.
Even Hedin, who had already prepared for the worst, ended up not having to kill many people.
However, the fury of the slaves they released was a different matter entirely.
To those people, taking revenge on the kingdom's army was their natural right. Something no one could question.
And what Riveria and the others could do, at best, was try to restrain the slaves as much as possible, guiding their anger toward the army, not the civilians of the capital.
Before invading the capital, Riveria and the others didn't even know that the Kingdom of Rakia had dared to imprison so many elven slaves in the capital, sixty in total.
That number may not seem large, but considering the base population and personality of the elven race, it was already an absolute scandal.
Shakti quietly waited in the camp of Orario's allied forces. Not long after, a messenger rushed over and delivered a letter from the Kingdom of Rakia.
To be precise, it was a letter of surrender bearing the crest of the god Ares and the signature of Crown Prince Marius.
Additionally, during the pursuit of the kingdom army, adventurers from Orario had captured some high-ranking officers and extracted even more intel on the internal chaos of the kingdom.
"The king attacked Riveria and the others, the capital was taken by adventurers, slaves rioted…", Reading the reports, Shakti was speechless. All her thoughts boiled down to a long sigh, "His Highness Marius is truly pitiful."
"I thought Asfi and I had it rough enough due to our main gods' whims… I didn't expect there'd be someone even more tragic than us."
Shakti's tone was subtle, clearly resigned to the troublesome matters ahead, "Still have to send word to Freya, Loki, and Hephaestus, inviting them to join the negotiations with the Kingdom of Rakia, even though none of their familias participated this time…"
But who would've thought, the adventurers from these three familias returning from outside could stir up such a huge event?
"So, does this mean that we the Ganesha Familia fought so hard, only to hand over the fruits of victory to those three familias?", Ilta was also extremely speechless, full of gloom inside.
The king of Rakia, the prime minister, and many high-ranking officials had all fallen into their hands. As for the war reparations from the kingdom, Freya, Loki, and Hephaestus's familias would undoubtedly gain the biggest benefits.
Shakti: "Don't say it anymore, my heart already hurts. That 'Foolish King'. Why didn't he think of capturing me at the time? I'm at least the commander of the allied familia forces, right? Wasn't I worth capturing?"
At this moment, how she wished she hadn't stayed in the Orario allied forces' camp, but instead had followed Riveria and the others to escort that "Foolish King."
The Ganesha Familia had participated so actively in the war with the kingdom this time, originally intending to make a big profit and use it to pay off the massive debt their main god Ganesha had incurred for constructing a spectacle-building.
But now, look what happened. Their efforts could at best earn them scraps left behind by the Freya, Loki, and Hephaestus familias.
Because of Rakia Kingdom's actions, Ganesha Familia lost miserably. Who could they even complain to?
———
The battle with the Rakia Kingdom ended far too quickly. So quick that even the residents of the dungeon city felt a bit unsatisfied.
Especially those familias dealing in medicine and weaponry; they had been hoping the war would last longer so they could make a huge profit off injured soldiers and adventurers needing supplies.
The days of easy profit ended just like that, leaving them quite disappointed.
However, very soon, news of the victorious return of the adventurers led by Riveria sparked a second wave of celebration in Orario. The streets were packed with residents who came to welcome them, cheers echoed endlessly, and the entire city seemed to boil over.
While everyone discussed the bravery of the adventurers, one of their true accomplishments, the subjugation of the ancient monster Antares, was strictly classified by the Guild.
Especially the fact that Antares had devoured the goddess Artemis. This was considered top secret and known only to a very limited few.
In the eyes of Orario's citizens, the adventurers had gone to subdue a powerful monster threatening the lands beyond the city, and returned victorious.
To these people, this was another classic adventurer tale: heroes setting out, defeating a powerful foe, and protecting the peace of the city.
People celebrated the return of the heroes, rejoicing in Orario's strength being shown once again.
Many long-time residents of the city couldn't help but think of the days of Zeus's and Hera's familias, especially their great achievements in defeating Behemoth and Leviathan.
That was a time full of heroes and legends, and now, it seemed like a shadow of that era had returned.
Aside from that, Riveria's identity was also a major reason for Orario residents' strong reactions.
As the princess of the elves, Riveria held a noble status among the elven race. Every one of her actions attracted the attention of countless elves.
This victory made all the elves in Orario feel proud. Her Highness the Princess's accomplishments once again proved the elves' powerful strength and noble character.
What made the elves even more excited was another extraordinary achievement by the adventurers: Riveria not only successfully thwarted the Rakia Familia's plot, enemy of the elves, but even captured a group of high-ranking officials from the kingdom, including the king himself.
More importantly, she liberated the elven comrades secretly imprisoned by the Rakia Kingdom.
Hedin, Hogni, and Ryuu also shared in this glory. As for Emiya Shirou, due to the legend of the [Elf Slayer], his reputation among the elves had always been strong, and many elf women feared him.
Now though, they regarded Emiya with both reverence and fear. Afraid, yet also curious.
And for the various familias in Orario, the hundreds of liberated slaves brought back by Emiya's group sparked another wave of madness.
Among these 800 people, about 600 were ordinary humans and pallums, along with weaker beastkin such as rabbit people, cat people, and dog people. Let's set those aside for now.
The remaining 200 included strong dwarves and Amazons, as well as elite beastkin like ox-people, tiger-people, and lion-people.
Most eye-catching of all, there were actually sixty elves among this group.
Even if only half of them were willing to become adventurers, that would still mean thirty elves.
When the main gods of each familia heard this news, their eyes seemed to gleam green with greed.
Though the Adventurers' Guild heavily promoted "racial equality" in the city, the innate talent gap between races was obvious.
Strength, magic, agility… These innate traits gave each race a different starting point on the path of adventurers.
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