Coming outside, they quickly saw Filo looking for them everywhere. It turned out that Takeru and the others had been gone for nearly five hours.
Filo, having finished her meditation, had wanted to rest with Takeru. But she found Takeru and the others missing, so she had been searching for over two hours.
"Master, that's too mean! You were gone for so long. Filo thought you didn't want me anymore!" Seeing Takeru, Filo threw herself at him, looking at him with tearful eyes.
"Silly girl, how could I not want you?" Hearing her words, Takeru said helplessly, wiping away the tears at the corner of her eyes.
After that small episode, everyone busy from the day quickly washed up and then rested.
...
Time flies. Seven days had passed since the wave receded.
During these days, Takeru daily patrolled his kingdom while using Transformation Technique, to see if there were any flaws in his reforms.
After some patrolling, he found that most changes were positive, but there were still quite a few problems, like some thugs and bullies, and bullying outside the royal capital.
Many people knew that the royal capital had strict discipline and tight security, so they turned their attention to outside the royal capital, targeting outsiders.
Considering this, Takeru thought of countermeasures. One was to have some knights occasionally patrol outside the royal capital.
Another was to establish a reporting center, showing absolutely no tolerance for wrongdoers.
Either these people, after committing a crime, would have to stay far away from the Dawn Empire, or they would never commit evil acts within the Dawn Empire.
With the existence of slave crests, many cases were very simple to handle. Takeru had also modified the slave crest, developing a formation called the Lie Detection Crest.
The Lie Detection Crest didn't cause sharp pain when applied, only when the person lied.
So, after a simple assessment, the special forces would act, quickly apprehending the criminals.
As policies became more refined, the Dawn Empire's development got better and better, even attracting a large number of immigrants from other countries.
Immigrants, after testing, would be allowed to stay and become official citizens if they passed. Those who failed were expelled. Spies and the like were captured.
Besides the empire's development, Takeru's own strength increase and the portable space's development were also very smooth.
There was also a large amount of supplies. If the item bar couldn't theoretically hold an infinite amount of items, Takeru would probably have been unable to store all these rare supplies.
Today, a major event occurred in the royal capital. The former queen, Mirellia, had returned with over a thousand knights.
The citizens gathered around, watching the development. The citizens held no resentment towards the former queen. Compared to Aultcray, Mirellia had truly worked for the people.
But compared to Takeru, there was no doubt they were on Takeru's side. After all, the improvement in their living standards, and being able to enjoy entertainment besides tedious work each day, fully satisfying their spiritual needs, these were things Mirellia couldn't achieve during her reign.
However, many citizens had family members who had become knights and accompanied the queen on her diplomatic trips. Now that they were returning, they didn't want their families to fight with the current empire's knights.
Seeing Mirellia with her vast entourage outside the city walls, the knights within the royal capital looked indifferently at the former queen. The person they served was Takeru, so they wouldn't bow and scrape to Mirellia.
Seeing the royal capital's knights actually show vigilance towards them, a knight felt extremely angry.
He didn't know the kingdom had changed hands, so he found the unfamiliar knights' behavior rude.
"Are you new knights? This is the Queen of Melromarc! Why aren't you kneeling to welcome her!" Thinking this, the queen's knight shouted loudly.
"I'm sorry. The only king we serve is the Sword Hero, Nara Takeru-sama. The only ones who can command us are our emperor and our commanding generals, General Esdeath and General Diablo." Hearing his words, the lead knight captain spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly.
"You bastard!" Hearing the knight captain say this, the queen's knight raised his weapon. The atmosphere became tense.
"Stop!" At this moment, the queen shouted loudly.
Hearing this, the knights behind the queen paused and put away their weapons.
"I'm very sorry. My subordinates were quite rude. Please announce me. The former queen of Melromarc wishes to pay a visit to your emperor." Seeing the situation clearly, the queen directly and politely spoke to the lead knight captain.
Only the knights behind Mirellia looked at their respected queen with confusion, wondering why she was being so submissive. Thinking this, they felt angry.
The knight captain, hearing Mirellia's words, was about to respond when he noticed a special fluctuation in the space above. Then, Takeru appeared in the air with Emilia, Diablo, and the others, looking down at Mirellia and the others.
"Welcome, Your Majesty!" With Takeru's arrival, all the knights knelt on one knee and spoke to Takeru.
"Rise." Looking at their perfectly uniform actions, Takeru spoke calmly.
"Yes!" Hearing this, all the knights quickly stood at attention. Their movements were still perfectly uniform, their voices also perfectly uniform. Even just watching gave a feeling of special beauty.
Seeing this, Mirellia opposite showed a surprised expression. After all, her own troops couldn't achieve such coordination.
"Alright, former queen. What business do you have with the Dawn Empire?" Looking at Mirellia, Takeru spoke as if he were the host.
"Three matters. One, my daughter Melty should still be a guest in the empire, correct? Another is that I wish to visit His Majesty Takeru, to ask about some things. As for the last, this is the home of many of my knights. Returning home, I hope His Majesty Takeru won't forbid it."
Hearing Takeru's words, Mirellia got straight to the point.
"Haha, interesting. As my citizens, I naturally won't prevent them from returning home. But for now, they need to disarm all weapons before entering the city. As for your visit, go to the palace yourself. I'll allow you to bring three subordinates." Hearing her words, Takeru said calmly.
"A mere usurper, daring to speak to the Queen like this!" Hearing Takeru's words, before Mirellia could say anything, a knight behind her shouted angrily.
As his words fell, a terrifying flame ignited on his body. Amidst his wails, he was reduced to ashes. Watching his tragic scene, the surrounding knights quickly backed away, fearing they might also suffer such a horrific attack.
"Stop! I accept your request. Please don't harm the innocent." Seeing this, Mirellia quickly spoke.
"To be rude to His Majesty Takeru, this death was already merciful. In the past, he wouldn't have been spared from the empire's ten great tortures, and his soul would have suffered endless torment." Hearing Mirellia's words, Diablo said calmly.
Hearing Diablo's words, fear rose in everyone's hearts. Although they didn't know what the ten great tortures were, the idea of not even having peace after death was terrifying.
"Alright, since you accept, I'll await you at the palace." Then, Takeru said no more. Leaving these words, he disappeared again with Diablo and the others.
"Your Majesty, we..." At this moment, the vice-captain stepped forward to ask Mirellia.
"Do as he says. You all disarm and enter. Once inside, you can go home to your families. You three, accompany me to the palace." Looking at the vice-captain, Mirellia sighed and spoke directly.
"This..." Hearing Mirellia actually obediently comply with Takeru's words, everyone was stunned.
"Your Majesty, let me accompany you. If anything happens, I will also protect Your Majesty's safety." At this moment, the knight captain spoke seriously to Mirellia. The three people Mirellia had pointed to were her attendants, who cared for her daily needs, and the last was a shadow guard from the intelligence department.
"No need. We're not going to fight. And if a fight truly breaks out, even all of us together wouldn't be a match for them." Hearing the knight captain's words, Mirellia knew the situation very well and spoke directly.
"Well... I understand. Please be careful, Your Majesty." Hearing Mirellia's words, the knight captain sighed lightly and spoke seriously.