### Chapter 317: The Ones with the Authority
Actually, Malen had a feeling that something was off with these adventurers not long after the meeting began.
Their attitudes were all over the place—too casual, not serious enough, and it seemed like they were approaching this major battle like it was a game, showing a distinct lack of respect for His Highness.
He really couldn’t wrap his head around it.
But hey, they were brought in by the Little Princess, so out of respect for her, he decided to hold back for now.
As for the arrangements made by Her Highness, he had no objections. He thought it best for him and his crew to wrap up the task without relying on the adventurers.
However, when those adventurers dared to disrespect Her Highness, he had to bite his tongue. After all, he had been in a similar situation and didn’t want Her Highness to have to come down herself, so he let it slide.
But in the end, what did they just say?!
“Little Princess”? You think you can just shout that out? And questioning Her Highness’s identity? That’s downright sacrilegious!
You know what? I couldn’t hold back any longer—neither could my ghost colleague over there!
This kind of thing could be a minor issue or a major one—if it escalated, it could even lead to the d*ath penalty!
“Your Highness, I request that we exclude the adventurers from the plan. They are not suitable.”
Yuliya looked at Malen’s serious expression with a heavy sigh, then turned to the Players.
The ones who realized they had misspoken quickly covered their mouths, while the others glared at him.
Their chat boxes went off like fireworks, communicating at lightning speed.
First order of business: Apologize! And make it extremely sincere!
Not just the one who made the mistake—everyone else had to follow suit.
Then, someone had to speak for Her Highness; she was the one making decisions, and it wasn’t wise for the rest to defy her.
Finally, Fiery Conflict Across the Sky added one last note.
“I’ll remind you that in this game, it’s important to stay aware of our roles and the game’s background. Don’t let some individuals’ foolishness affect the interests of us all. Just because the Princess is friendly with us doesn’t mean you can be reckless. Always remember, she is the Princess!”
Soon enough, the Players all knelt on cue, begging for forgiveness and vowing not to mess up again.
Yuliya seized the opportunity.
She had fully caught wind of their chat.
Malen might have been frustrated, but he didn’t want to add fuel to the fire.
After giving it some thought, Yuliya decided to add a little something to explain the situation to the Players.
“I am a Princess after all, and I need to help out my older brothers and sisters while learning some things. It’s only natural for you to be surprised by me—General Malen was surprised too, right?”
“Hah! I’m nothing like these naive adventurers,” Malen took the chance to insult them again, “Our Jade Emperor Kingdom has such a rich heritage, what can’t Her Highness learn? I am simply amazed by your talent, Your Highness.”
The Players couldn’t really care less.
If they were looked down upon, so be it; they were used to being disrespected by NPCs by now and had grown accustomed to it. The only one treating them kindly was Her Highness.
Meanwhile, Yuliya and those from the Golden City just exchanged smiles and said nothing.
The talents of Her Highness and the Jade Emperor Kingdom were loosely connected, yet they weren’t entirely unrelated either since they were family.
And so, the plan was finalized and everyone was ready to put it into action the next day.
Not long after the meeting ended, details about this session were posted all over the forums, making sure everyone understood the battle plan for tomorrow.
Yuliya’s little episode got its own thread.
First, there was some praise for how amazing Her Highness is, followed by reminders for other Players to watch their step next time.
The comment section went wild.
Seeing this, Yuliya quietly hit the like button.
She had been pondering how to establish her authority among the Players.
Her previous impression had been too soft, making the Players think she was just a pretty face.
If she didn’t have the acknowledged title of Princess, it wouldn’t matter. Being soft is whatever.
But now that she was recognized as the First Princess of the Jade Emperor Kingdom, it was time to assert dominion and not let her sister’s reputation down!
Plus, with a solid image, those creeps who fawned over little girls would at least think twice before acting crazy in front of her—their freakiness could remain behind the scenes.
This was a perfect opportunity to turn the tide.
She even had a solid reason for the change in image.
From now on, standing before you wouldn’t be the soft and helpless Little Princess, but a grand and dignified Big Princess!
One day later, the battle preparations began.
Andrew had gone out of his way to set up a gigantic ritual array, blessing all the generals and soldiers with armor-piercing enchantments.
Under Yuliya’s suggestion, he added some extra defensive blessings too.
While casualties couldn’t realistically be reduced to zero, it was crucial to minimize them as much as possible.
Even if many soldiers thought dying on the battlefield wrapped in their horse hides was an honor, Yuliya still hoped they’d live to see another day.
The army arrived at the ruins, and the adventurers followed close behind.
In the next moment, according to the plan, multiple members from both the adventurers and soldiers stepped forward, coming together to unleash a gigantic spell.
Large Earth Magic—Earth Shatter.
Or as they liked to call it—”Lifting the Roof.”
With that, they blew the roof off the ruins, creating an ample entrance.
Once the entrance was made, they couldn’t avoid alerting the nearby monsters.
Soldiers stormed into the ruins, killing creatures as they went, while adventurers handled the ones on the outside.
Thus began the grand battle.
Yuliya, as the Supreme Commander, was primarily responsible for making and overseeing the strategic direction.
The actual execution of the plan rested on the shoulders of the various generals and team leaders, who achieved different objectives to signal progress on the plan.
If they encountered any troubles along the way, that was where the command would come in to coordinate and adjust strategies.
In this plan, the Players essentially played the role of loot pickers.
As the frontline troops handled annihilation and cleanup, the Players followed behind to gather spoils or mop up any stragglers.
With such a laid-back and safe job, everyone rushed to get in on it.
However, Yuliya wouldn’t let them fish in these tranquil waters without a care.
During the battle, the points earned from collecting Blue Crystals were only equivalent to 3% of the value of the other two types of crystals.
So, collecting 33 units of Blue Crystals equated to just 1 unit of the red or yellow crystals.
After all, they were just picking things up, right?
As for those who earned those through their own efforts, well, that was a different story.
It was a special time, and all deciding power belonged to the Golden City Branch of the Adventurers’ Guild.
Players who didn’t want to get involved or who couldn’t jump into the operation shouldn’t bother looking for Blue Crystals to farm.
Some might ask, “What if I collect the crystals and hold onto them until the exchange rate goes back to normal?”
Sorry, that won’t work either! Once you step into the Golden City territory, all crystals in your bag will be automatically evaluated.
It’s only natural that my energy crystals in Golden City get auto-absorbed when you walk in, right?
So far, it has only ever been Yuliya taking advantage of others—no one has ever managed to fleece her!
And if someone stayed out, refusing to return to Golden City during the entire battle, waiting for the rates to normalize before heading back to swap?
Well… we’ll just consider you a badass.
I’d rather skip armor-piercing blessings and leave my equipment in tatters just to pull this off. Yuliya respects that kind of audacity.
But just don’t flaunt it in a post! If you do, and I happen to see it…
Heh…
