The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

"Ughhhhh... Booooring..." Jester moaned as he watched the Patriarch's demise. He crossed his arms behind his neck and looked at Twirll. "Are you sure the King allowed him to take the easy way out?"

"Yes." The bird shrugged.

"Meh..." Jester sighed and once again assumed his human form. "Oh... Pyonta? You should stay with the Princess. She will need your help in rebuilding this province."

Jester started theatrically patting his pockets, after which he took off his hat and pulled out a scroll from it. He gently tapped the Rabbitkin between the ears with it and cleared his throat. Pyonta couldn't help but giggle at his exaggerated facial expression.

"In the name of our Master, the undying Lord Theon Avalon, I hereby sentence you to the cruel fate of being a noble. From now on, your life will be full of misery, never-ending work, and inconveniences like owning a mansion. Sorry. Can't do anything about it. You must endure."

"I'll manage, somehow, Jester..." She took the decorated scroll and smiled warmly. "These few weeks I spent with you were like years but passed in a flash. Promise to visit me sometimes. It will be boring without your mischievous shenanigans."

"I'll try to find a moment in my tense schedule..." He ruffled her hair with a grin. "You will probably be called to Avalon for the official ceremony, but the King wanted you to help Lady Elisabeth as quickly as possible. I'll say it again: she will need your help to secure this province."

"Province?" Jia asked meekly, and everyone looked at her. Before she regretted ever saying a word, Elisabeth smiled warmly at her.

"Of course, sister. As of today, these lands are part of the Kingdom of Arcadia. But don't get this wrong. We are still in the middle of the war. Only when the last pocket of resistance is destroyed, and only when the last noble who supported the Patriarch is hung, will the war end." Elisabeth nodded and pointed down the balcony where the Death Heralds Legion cohorts were waiting in eerie silence. The vast, crimson banner depicting the Grim Reaper and a massive, vibrant gold V was the only source of the faint sound as it waved in the wind. Jia and Cassandra looked terrified at their youngest sister, but Elisabeth smiled at them before they could say anything. "I will need your help, sisters. There is much we have to do and so little time."

"How could we help you? We are just..." Cassandra lowered her head sadly and left her last sentence unfinished.

"You are just what? A woman?" Elisabeth sighed and moved towards her sister. "Don't be ridiculous. Cassandra, you are better at planning than most of those useless pricks that man kept as his advisors." She pointed at the dead Patriarch. "Jia, you are a better diplomat than those whom the Patriarch sent with me and Jukk'nala to Arcadia."

"Thank you..." Cassandra smiled and slowly stood up. Raphael offered her his hand without a word but with a friendly smile. "Thank you, Sir."

Cassandra blushed and stood awkwardly, unable to decide what to do. She was as lost as Elisabeth was during her first few days in Avalon. However, Jia looked at the Arcadian Major with barely masked awe and looked back and forth between him and her younger sister.

"Liss... Are you both... Really?" The second princess of Berna asked her sister, finally resting her gaze on the smirking Wolfkin.

"Yes! He asked me yesterday," Elisabeth admitted with a blush. "Life in Arcadia is much better... You will see! I promise you!"

"But weren't you betrothed to King Theon? I... I mean, we were told that he lent you the soldiers because you were his fiancée..." Cassandra looked at her youngest sister in shock.

"No. That was just a convenient excuse." Elisabeth chuckled and pointed at Dolren's body, which the Slime Butlers had stored in a black sack.

The sight gave the two women a pause. While they never respected him, they had learnt to fear him. To think that he was dead and that he couldn't hurt them anymore still was so odd that they had trouble accepting it. The two princesses, who never once were treated as the princesses should, stood aside. They held each other’s hand as if to reassure the other they were safe as they watched the Butlers who swiftly cleaned the site.

"Praetorians, keep watch over his body. We don't need any further complications," Raphael ordered, and the four black-clad knights simply nodded.

"What now? What you will do with... Father?" Cassandra asked uncertainly.

"His last declaration about his reincarnation sounded like a threat." They all looked at Pyonta, who looked at the Patriarch's body with slight concern, still holding the large scroll in her hands.

All of the women looked in unison at Raphael, who simply shrugged. "He is already dead. There is a very small probability that he can fulfil his threats..." Seeing the expecting gazes of Elisabeth and Pyonta, he threw his hands above his head and dropped them powerlessly. "*sigh* Fine... Lord Twirll?"

"Hmmm?" The golden bird raised his head. He and Jester had been discussing something on the side. "Oh, yeah... Sure. We can seal him near Jukk'nala if you want to. No big deal."

"What?" Jia looked questioningly at Elisabeth, who smiled viciously.

"Oh, you see... You need to learn one or two little things about our new King..."

•••

I was looking at the strategic map of Arcadia, grumbling to myself. The white spots on that map, which could only be described as ‘here be dragons,’ were not just technically dotting my kingdom; they covered the majority of the land. Thanks to my Eagles and Wolves, the unexplored area shrunk day by day; however, until the last unknown spot on the map disappears, I honestly can't say that I have conquered this land. What was even more perplexing was that there still were wild dungeons out there. The Mountain Dungeon was the biggest problem. I had no idea why it kept attacking me so many times, and the more I thought about it, the less sense it made. Every single time that Dungeon attacked, the forces it sent were obviously weak. The attacks didn’t scale up to match my power but remained the same: low level. Maybe I had it wrong? Maybe the Mountain Dungeon wanted to help me all this time? The mana I received from defeating their denizens was significant, and that may have been the main reason I survived my early months in Nilmerthis.

Even if Elisabeth would swiftly end the war in Berna, I wouldn't gain much. Realistically speaking, I could expect to free one legion and most of the Royal Navy assets so they could be used elsewhere. The other two Legions had to stay north and protect the wide, mostly open borders, deprived of natural obstacles. The west border was once again concerning. The threat posed by the monsters emerging from the ancient forest was significant, and overlooking that problem might have dire consequences. The eastern border was far less concerning since a small country called Iceleon was located between the lands of former Berna and the Empire of Metaka. However, another patch of no man's land was further north, almost double the size of Iceleon, occupied by another ancient forest. However, it was far, far smaller than the forest in the west. Yet the facts were simple. I had to expand the army and raise more Legions.

Fortunately, my mana income was more than enough to support the growth of Arcadia. The Dungeons who decided to serve me were relatively fast learners, and most importantly, they contributed far more mana than they took. It was apparent to me that they were working very hard to protect the people of the world, which made me happy. It seemed that, finally, life was regaining its balance. Yes, some people died while delving deep inside the Dungeons, but that was a well-known, and what's more, accepted risk among the Adventurers, especially now that the Dungeons were fair and they held back most of the time so as not to hurt the people. But accidents happen all the time, and some of such accidents end in death. Still, the Kingdom of Arcadia flourished with the Mortals and Dungeons working together.

After checking the balance, I smiled. "Soon enough, I will have enough mana to raise another Legion."

"Isn't it getting continuously harder to maintain them?" Luna moved her ears with concern.

"I wouldn't say exactly that... Upkeep is not that bad. However, you are partly right. Each new Legion costs significantly more than the previous one." I let out a sigh. "Which is understandable but also annoying."

"You don't have any skills to mitigate that?"

"I must look manually for anything that could work, honestly... But I have already obtained everything that was more or less obviously related and have those skills mostly maxed already."

"You seemed stressed... Are you worried about an expected Devilkin assault?" Luna put away her work and stretched out, taking a deep breath.

"Partly," I admitted, admiring her beauty. "There is far more than one reason to be worried. Our borders are not safe. To be honest, not even one border is safe. Even the border with the Empire is dangerous, albeit for less concerning reasons."

"I see... That's why you started expanding the Dungeon cities and fortifying the bigger towns and cities?"

"Yes. I can't fit everyone into the Dungeon Cities, but I can create an entire chain of cities and towns with a real chance of surviving and growing. The latest attack by the Bernans only reinforced that sentiment. They simply teleported, so the small satellite dwellings around Avalon had no chance. I admit that the enemy's goal was Avalon, but that does not change the fact that plenty of people died simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. So, for the safety of the people, I want Amber to advise them all to move to the cities with defensive walls."

"Well, some might see that as too much..." she said hesitantly.

"Agreed. But many would welcome that suggestion and leave the remote settlements at a moment's notice. The rest will simply have to follow since no one is self-sufficient enough to live in the wilderness permanently. Of course, there will be people too stubborn to move, but we can't save those who don't want our help." I leaned back in my chair.

"That's true." Luna agreed and pierced me with the inquisitive gaze of her incredible, golden-blue eyes. "But there is something more to this, isn't it?"

"Indeed, my little Vixien." I nodded. "I know that may be a little bit ambitious, but I plan to get rid of the winter monsters permanently. To do it effectively, we simply have to hide the people..."

"Hmmm... Make sense." Luna admitted and heavily exhaled. "Let's hope it will be enough..."

"With the help of the Navy, it will." I sighed and looked toward the north. "Anyway, I heard that Ragnar and Ian are ready to build the first train line around the City..."

•••

"A-choo!" Janet sneezed.

"Bless you, Ma'am." The helmsman grinned.

"Thank you, Hopkins." The Elf blew her nose in the most distinguished way the young man had ever seen.

"You're welcome, Ma'am," he replied automatically, turning the steering wheel to cause HMS Victory to change its course gently. "We are close to our destination."

"Strange..." The admiral put her left arm behind her back and rested her right on the railing. "All hands on deck!"

"Aye, aye! ALL HANDS ON DECK!" The first officer yelled, repeating the order and blowing her whistle.

The bosun's whistles sounded around the deck, and the soldiers and the sailors took their positions. The sharp snaps of opened gun ports and the soft hum of a raised shield muffled all other noises on the ship of the line for a moment. The four brigs that followed the flagship raised their shields as well in preparation for the battle despite the lack of an enemy. However, not a single soul on the entire ship doubted her decision. The ship floated in absolute silence, passing the lone birds which gazed upon it curiously.

"Contact! First o'clock, ground level!"

"There you are..." Janet smiled.

"Multiple contacts..." Another spotter yelled, but he chuckled at his words. "All enemy ships are unable to fight!"

"What?!" The Elf rushed towards the starboard and looked down. She took out her binoculars and whistled. "By the heavens!"

"What happened here?" The first mate joined the admiral.

"A civil war, or infighting..." Janet judged without putting down the binoculars. "Send HMS Fairy to investigate. All other ships, including Victory, will provide screening."

"Aye, aye!" The first mate saluted, and she ran towards the aft of the flagship.

The seven brigs below leaned on their sides like toys haphazardly discarded by a child. Some of them had huge holes in the hulls, while others seemed to be intact. However, each one of the ships was covered with bodies, painted red with the blood of the people who once served on them. Janet, who was unsure what had transpired here, let out a quiet sigh and whispered to herself. "What the hell is going on?"