After hearing this, Cecilia only felt cold sweat streaming down her back.
People often say—"When things are abnormal, there must be demons."
And now she finally understood how those bandits in the Imperial South Mountain Range had seemingly vanished into thin air these past few years.
They—had all been killed by goblins!
You must know, the previous Elasian Emperors had sent quite a few armies to eliminate these bandits in order to remove this hidden threat near themselves!
However, compared to bandits in other places, those active in the Imperial South Mountain Range were considerably stronger.
Those bandits were led by a group of defected knights—they were all intermediate knights capable of unleashing powerful battle techniques!
Moreover, their leader was a high-level knight captain, with both personal combat power and command coordination abilities that were top-tier!
So this group of bandits developed at an extremely alarming rate, later becoming a major force. When the Elasian Emperor at the time sent troops to suppress them, they returned in defeat.
Such a terrifyingly powerful group of fierce bandits had suddenly disappeared without a trace in recent years.
Combined with what Elashia had said.
There was only one conclusion.
Such a powerful, well-organized bandit group had actually been completely wiped out under the assault of mere goblins?
Just how strong were these goblins?
Aelia also had a sudden realization.
Even she hadn't thought of this aspect.
Elashia said very seriously:
"I must emphasize again the danger the goblin problem poses to us, so from now on, the Imperial Guard absolutely cannot go too far from the Imperial Capital to carry out missions."
Elashia's words made both Aelia and Cecilia look worried.
What could they do about this?
You must know, northern Elasia often faced magical beast invasions, and banditry was extremely serious.
To avoid being caught off guard during battles, Elasia had established the lord system in the north.
But southern Elasia had almost no military threats, and banditry wasn't serious either, so Elasia basically hadn't established any military forces there!
Although she knew Elashia couldn't possibly do this, Cecilia couldn't help but ask:
"Are we going to abandon the south..."
Once the Goblin Emperor chose to go to war, it would definitely order those goblins lurking in the southern mountains to strike everywhere!
At that time, southern Elasia would be in trouble!
Elashia smiled.
"Besides our army, you seem to have overlooked another powerful force."
"Don't forget, at this stage we're not supposed to fight the [Goblin Emperor]'s main force, but to weaken goblin regional power while forcing the Goblin Emperor into a decisive battle with us."
Elashia smiled at Aelia.
"There's a group of people who, after receiving training, might not do much worse than us, and you were once one of them. I think you know who those people are."
Aelia thought for a moment and asked:
"Your Majesty, are you saying... you want to utilize the power of adventurers?"
Elashia smiled and replied:
"Yes, my plan is roughly this—issue a command throughout the empire that in the southern provinces of the Elasia Empire, for every goblin killed, the state will pay two silver coins. What do you think of this plan?"
Aelia's eyes lit up.
"Two coins for each kill?"
As a former adventurer herself, she understood too well the value in this.
In the past, when she cleared out a cave of goblins, she could roughly get this much.
And now, just killing one goblin could earn this much money?
Aelia felt that if her former self had seen such a commission, she probably would have changed her usual image and jumped up happily even while wearing armor.
After hearing this, Cecilia also showed an excited expression.
Yes! Why couldn't they utilize the power of adventurers?
This kind of cave clearing mission that didn't require large-scale coordination was perfectly suited for adventurers!
As the ruler of the Elasia Empire, Elashia could mobilize an entire nation's armed forces!
And the army wasn't the country's only armed force!
In the Adventurers' Guild of the Elasia Empire, there were at least tens of thousands of adventurers!
According to guild regulations, these adventurers couldn't participate in wars, but this kind of commission against goblins was no problem.
Moreover, the money to hire these adventurers might indeed be quite a lot for individual adventurers, but for a country it was just a drop in the bucket!
This way, the national deployment would be fine!
She really hadn't expected Her Majesty to think of such a method!
Cecilia couldn't help but look again at the pink-haired girl beside her.
The current Elashia appeared to have eyes full of composure and confidence, giving people an extremely strong sense of security.
Usually this pink-haired girl always seemed somewhat lazy, almost never managing military and political affairs, throwing power onto them and never asking about it again, like a hands-off boss.
However, when the country and they truly faced difficult problems to solve, her help could often break through the predicament.
Cecilia couldn't help but think again of the mother she had dreamed of as a child.
As a mother, she should be a very gentle person who would never get angry unless necessary, and who could tolerate all her mistakes.
She hoped she could grow up to be successful, but wouldn't restrain her, letting her grow and advance in her own way.
But when she truly encountered danger, she would suddenly transform from that gentle mother who only looked at her kindly into an omnipotent war goddess, rescuing her from danger.
This was the kind of mother Cecilia had always longed to have as a child.
And it seemed... Elashia before her was just like this.
Normally she let her manage her army, entrusting all of Elasia's military power to her without reservation, never interfering with her management of the army.
Whenever she asked how she wanted to manage the army, Elashia would say she didn't understand and to just handle it as she saw fit.
But when problems appeared before her that she couldn't solve and that caused her pain, this pink-haired girl would suddenly appear and solve them in ways she couldn't anticipate.
Whether it was her sister's leg ailment that had troubled her almost her entire life, or her current distress when facing insufficient military strength, Elashia could almost easily resolve them.
Noticing that Cecilia's gaze toward her was burning in a way that seemed not quite right, Elashia's composed expression immediately couldn't be maintained.
"You... what are you staring at me for."
Cecilia's expression looking at her was obviously abnormal!
The emotion present in that expression definitely wasn't admiration!
Elashia couldn't decode what emotion was contained in Cecilia's expression.
But she knew Cecilia was acting strange!
Very strange!
Seeing that Elashia seemed to be scared by her, Cecilia quickly withdrew her burning gaze.
What had she been doing just now...
A trace of crimson also quietly crept up Cecilia's pretty face.
If Elashia knew what she was thinking, she'd probably lose her knight qualification on the spot!
Cecilia quickly tried her best to show a serious expression.
"It's nothing, I was just thinking about the plan you mentioned."
To make Elashia quickly shift her attention, Cecilia hurriedly said:
"Then let me first re-summarize our situation and military plan."