Overlord (LN) - Volume 9 - Chapter Int

Intermission 

In a small but luxurious room, a young girl sat on a throne. She spoke in a voice that was very innocent and cute, and which was quite fitting for her age.  

“Okie, I’m counting on you then!”  

“Yes, your Majesty! I won’t fail you!”  

The man who looked like a knight rose from where he was kneeling and elegantly left the room. 

After the door had been closed for a while, the girl then asked the minister at her side. 

“Is it okay now?”  

“Yes, he was the last person, so it's fine.”  

After hearing the minister's cold words, the girl's innocent expression suddenly crumbled. 

Perhaps it was because of fatigue, but her eyes clouded over and narrowed, while her mouth formed a ^ shape and her shoulders drooped.  

“So tiring.” 

Her attitude and tone was that of a 40-year old woman, but her voice still sounded young and cute, which was at odds with her appearance. 

“You’ve worked hard.”  

“Yes, I have, so can I stop putting on this appearance now?” The girl pulled up her skirt while saying this. “I could do without this skirt that shows off the full length of my legs as well.” 

“I have told you many times before, but you can’t, your Majesty.”  

The girl was the queen of the Draconic Kingdom, “Black Scale Dragon Lord” Draudiron Oriucrus. 

Even though she was called a Dragon Lord, her fighting ability was no greater than that of a normal person. However the Slane Theocracy still considered her to be a Dragon Lord because of the unique ability she was born with, the extremely rare ability which was the difference between a true Dragon Lord and an impostor.  

She could use Wild Magic, the proof of power which distinguished a true Dragon Lord from a false one.  

“As long as your appearance can evoke the desire in others to protect you, they will work harder.” 

“Are all humans lolicons? I would feel more comfortable if certain parts of me were bigger.” 

Draudiron put both of her hands on her flat chest and squeezed.  

“Yes, if it was that form...”  

“?Don't speak of it like a form! That is my real appearance!”  

“I apologize for my disrespectful words, your Majesty.”  

“Oi, that hardly sounds like an apology.”  

“That is not so.”  

After staring at the minister's cold smile for a while, Draudiron realized that she would not be able to break down that expression of his, and she turned away in displeasure. 

“Back to the topic, that form may be popular with men, but not so much with women. Instead, your present form appeals to men and women of all ages. So if you want to change back to that form, you will have to wait until the country is stable again. Or do you have any other plans to propose?”  

“Don't speak of it as a form....”  

“However, if the situation continues like this, whatever form you take will not matter anymore.” 

A heavy silence fell for a while as they contemplated the current situation of the Draconic Kingdom. . 

“The beastman invasion this time seems totally different from how they’ve always been.”  

“Indeed. Their army's motive this time does not appear to be small scale skirmishes, but the complete destruction of this country, followed by turning it into a livestock ranch.” 

There was a beastman kingdom near the Draconic Kingdom.  

Said beastmen were demi-humans similar to various carnivorous animals such as tigers and lions, but bipedal. Just looking at their faces would tell you that they were carnivorous, and they preferred human meat.  

Man-eating races were quite common. Three out of the six biggest countries on the continent viewed humans as food. The Troll Kingdom near the center of the continent even considered 6-month old human fetuses to be an exquisite delicacy, which they served to their most honored guests.  

Therefore, the beastman treated the Draconic Kingdom as a food supply to be harvested. 

Until recently, the Draconic Kingdom had been regarded as a food source that would replenish itself even when left alone, so the beastmen had not launched a full-scale invasion of the Draconic Kingdom before. But for some unknown reason, such an invasion had occurred. So far, they had conquered three cities.  

In those conquered cities, there were horrible banquets that went on day and night, which made the Queen want to vomit when she heard about what was done there. 

Faced with this external enemy that could not be bargained with, the humans banded together to resist until the end. However, the difference in ability between the beastmen and humans was just too great to overcome.  

If both human and beastman were of the same species, then a beastman would have ten times the strength of a human.  

Using the adventurer's rating system, if a human was rated at 3, then a beastman would be rated at 30. The only saving grace for humanity was that exceptional beastmen were surprisingly rare, possibly because the beastmen themselves were already very powerful and generally balanced to begin with.  

“Even though we can stall the enemies with the adventurer groups lead by adamantite-ranked adventurers, the enemy are just too numerous. When several tribe-sized groups spread out to attack, we cannot stop them all at once. Therefore, in the end we have to gather all the citizens to the capital, and wait for the enemy to run out of food. However, it is much more likely that our food situation will deteriorate first.” 

“What a headache. The future is shrouded in darkness.”  

“I propose we take down the enemy general. How about we choose a few elite troops to attack them? Although it seems to be an unnecessary move that may only anger them, since the attacks will not stop anyway, it is still better than doing nothing.” 

“If so, the one leading this time will be him?” 

“Yes, it is him.”  

They were both referring to the same person, a man who was part of “Crystal Tear”, this Kingdom’s only adamantite-ranked adventurer team. His name was Cerabrate, with the title of “Fierce Flash”. He was a member of the “Holy Lord” class, and he was famous for using the Shining Sword technique.  

“That person is definitely a lolicon. When I was talking to him, he was staring at me with lecherous eyes. If looking at flat things fills him with so much joy, he should go stare at a wall.” 

“It is just a fetish... although he really is a lolicon.”  

Draudiron began to frown.  

“I wish you hadn't said that… If only our country had more normal adamantite-ranked adventurers.” 

“What do you mean? As long as you act like a cute and innocent girl, he would risk his life to fight for us. Wouldn't he be the most suitable situation for us right now?” 

“And when the time comes, I will have to satisfy his desires....Oi! Don't look at me like a roasted pig served up for tomorrow's feast!” 

“Haaaa…” 

Her veins popped out in anger as she sighed.  

“It is only this much, your Majesty. It is a lot better than the citizens who are literally being eaten, so please bear with it.” 

The queen could not refute him. 

“If I had more money, I would have hired the whole “Optics” group. Speaking of which, what is the Slane Theocracy doing?”  

“Well, I am not sure.” 

“Don’t we donate a huge sum of money to them every year? Normally, they would have rushed here already. Even if it is not the Black Scripture, why haven’t they sent the Sunlight Scripture here?” 

The fact that the Slane Theocracy was supporting the Draconic Kingdom was not publicised because she herself was the highest authority of this country.  

“Relying on other countries for protection caused this situation in the end. It is quite depressing.” 

“Do you think I want to rely on other countries? You should know that military spending was crippling our finances, and if we kept increasing it, our country would be bankrupt by now. Besides, it’s not like we can make an army appear out of nowhere just by spending more money!”     

The country had been spending a lot against the beastmen every year for a long time now, and yet the situation had still ended up like this. However, it could also be said that the amount spent was what had kept the situation under control.  

“If the Slane Theocracy has abandoned us, what about seeking help from the Empire? If our country is destroyed, wouldn't the Empire be next?”  

“There is still the Kattse Plains, so they won't reach the Empire immediately. If they follow a course around the lake, then the Slane Theocracy could be next.” 

“...Even the beastmen are not brave enough to rush into an undead spawning ground.”  

By the way, there were dragon-riding tribes in the route of their advance, but the queen and her minister did not consider the fact that they could be invaded.  

“It is not about bravery, but more because the undead are inedible to them. Besides, there is no benefit in ruling that place. Only another undead creature would be happy to take and hold that cursed land. And the Empire is also quite busy, aren’t they?  It’s about time for their annual war.”  

“It seems to have started quite late this year.”  

“Yeah, it seems to have been delayed by half a year, due to some magic caster's declaration. Do you wish me to investigate?”  

“Eh, who cares what happens in other countries! I’m more concerned about what to do to save our country!”  

“Well, your Majesty brought up the topic first.....how about using your Majesty’s magic?” 

The queen waved her finger to deflect the minister's suggestion. So this was all he knew about magic. Draudiron could only smile bitterly. 

“Wild Magic... in this case, it’s usable by a human being because 1/8th of the blood in me belongs to a dragon. In the worst case scenario, it will only delay the destruction of the country. So it will be our last resort.”  

“Last resort....I hope that day won't come. Then I will try to seek reinforcements again from the Slane Theocracy.”  

“Please do~”  

The minister glared coldly at Draudiron, as she replied in her adorable little girl’s voice.  

“Just so, Your Majesty. Incidentally, if you have the energy to spare, please write thirty letters of encouragement to the officers at the frontline. In children's handwriting, of course.”  

“Ueeeh~ Bring me alcohol! I can't write like that when I’m sober.”  

“Understood, you can drink and get drunk all you want. But, finish your work by today.”  

The minister bowed, and left the room. 

After looking in the direction that he went for a while, she looked back down to her own hands. 

“Wild Magic, huh...” 

Wild Magic was different from typical magic because it was powered by souls, rather than mana. Therefore, it required the sacrifice of a lot of people, and the released souls would allow the casting of a powerful spell. According to her grandfather, magic like this could create an explosion that could rival the Platinum Dragon Lord’s ultimate attack. 

However, for a person far weaker than a Dragon Lord like her, the sacrifice to initiate that sort of spell would be huge, estimated to be in the millions.  

Draudiron covered her face with her hands.  

She shuddered as she realized that no matter which path she chose, both would lead to hell?