The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

Of the one hundred eighty-seven villagers saved from the doomed settlements, only Jensen was despicable and stupid enough to warrant himself a death sentence. Out of curiosity, I questioned him further, and it turned out I did the right thing. He was not Jensen Kilp at all; he killed the real Jensen years ago and took his place, manipulating and brainwashing everyone. Knowing his real name would not change much and he was unwilling to give it. Torturing him just to learn his name was counterproductive; he was going to die, anyway. To some degree, most of the villagers were guilty as well, but at the same time, they were also victims. How am I to judge them fairly? The former mayor was fully brainwashed and his aggressive behaviour forced me to imprison him for the time being. Hopefully, when the witch doctor dies, the damage he did will wither with time. But it's up to me now. I am the king; the people of Avalon expected me to be a fair and wise ruler, so I had to think of some legal code. When Dahlia returned with her group a few hours after that..failure of a trial, I tasked her with interrogating others. With Stella and Thor, Dahlia surveyed everyone and, apart from a few petty crimes and a few marital infidelities, they found nothing serious.

Of course, even these petty crimes required some form of punishment. The marital infidelities were not exactly crimes, but I decided to make every guilty person confess to their spouses in private, and in one case it ended up in divorce. The most common crime was, however, the theft of food. How should I punish people who were stealing food from their neighbours so their children could survive? I made them all admit their crimes publicly and ask for forgiveness. I was surprised that most people were fine learning why their food was stolen. They probably would have shared their food willingly with the ones in need, but the deed was done, and the punishment must be imposed. I sentenced them to a few weeks of forced labour on Ian's farm- they would be helping during the incoming second harvest.

Everyone except for one young thief.

He was an eighteen-year-old Forest Elf named Tulir. What was particularly interesting about him was the fact he could be called the Robin Hood of this world. He had been robbing the Cridian Nobles' warehouses of food and was bringing it to his village. I interrogated him personally, and with Luna's help, I decided he might be useful, especially when we learnt he never was proud of what he had done. He swore his fealty to me, his new King and to Avalon, his new home. He would train with Sebastian to become my new spy. My slimes are good, but they can't rival the intuition of the people of the world.

•••

What is to rule? To govern? To lead? To be a king? The foundation of my power was not the same as the foundation of other monarchs. The most important difference between them and myself is the fact I can conquer and hold territories using only my resources. People under my rule lose nothing they hold dear: I do not need their children or relatives to join my armies, I do not need a tribute of their gold, and I do not need to seize food or items, in their eyes I am the king who ultimately does not need them. But this is false. I need their mana, and they are more than happy and willing to provide it. I gave them the safety of Avalon, I gave them more food than they can eat, and I gave them dignity. In their eyes, I was the most compassionate ruler.

But most of the good and compassionate leaders often found their demise at the hands of those who have sworn their loyalty to them. I can be generous to my people because, ultimately, it costs me nothing. However, the people that follow me must know that there are crimes punishable by death.

"What are you thinking about?" Luna's soft voice broke the silence. She was helping me with work and her presence was very appreciated; my cute Vixen was in charge of my office, and she quickly dealt with the chaos I created. My thoughts were still wandering freely when I looked into her eyes.

"The wise man once said: the people decide for themselves whether to love a ruler or not, while it's the ruler who decides whether they're going to fear him. People are less worried about letting down someone who makes himself loved than someone who makes himself feared. Love binds when someone recognizes they should be grateful to you, but, since people are a sad lot, gratitude is forgotten the moment it's inconvenient. Fear means fear of punishment, and that's something people never forget." I recited the words from my memory. "What do you think about it?"

Luna looked at me with surprise and hesitated for a long moment. She considered the words I quoted for a moment and she finally slowly nodded with a sad face.

"I must agree with that wise man." She sighed with a sour face and added with a sad voice. "I might not like it, but they were right. The accounts of heroes from the Holy Grove, I recall, are full of stories confirming what you have just said. Those who forget their gratitude are often in the majority to those few outstanding and noble enough to hold their promises."

"I don't plan to be overly cruel and hated because of it, Luna, but I must be feared. People must know where they stand. The fear of punishment must be bigger than any possible gains from crime." I looked once again at the pages of one of the most secret and dangerous books I had in my possession.

"Are you referring to Jensen?" She asked with a hint of wrath in her eyes. That bastard tried to mind control her during his trial.

"Partially yes... Jensen will be useful to me." I nodded and looked out of the window. Today was grey and probably the true day will not come. The days of darkness, or most probably the magically induced polar night, would last for up to one week.

"Really? How so?" She asked with scepticism. "That man is disgusting and dangerous!"

"Indeed. I could have been compassionate and sentenced him to a long imprisonment. But this kind of mercy tends to water down the justice system and lead to public disorder. His crimes were not only despicable, but he himself was, and as long as he lives, is also dangerous. If someone like him would get away with a decade or two in the prison mines, another criminal would have their sentences similarly adjusted." I sighed and shook my head in resignation. "But that might lead to the troubles that tend to harm everyone, while the death sentence I hand out will affect only those involved. He would never have a chance to harm or hurt anyone else, while his victims will have the justice they crave for."

Luna was looking at me in silence, but I saw her ears twitching. She felt uncomfortable and I couldn’t blame her; Machiavelli was not an author for those who are of faint heart. She tilted her head, pondering on the thought, but said nothing to argue and she waited to hear me out.

"Simply put, his death will be an example. In the short run, it will calm the unrest and anxiety of the people of Avalon. But in the future, it will be remembered and recalled as a possible punishment for treason." I stood up and walked towards the office window.

"But you don't want to do it, right?" She asked silently.

"No, Luna, for someone like him, I can't find any compassion in my heart... It's something different to kill someone in the heat of battle, and even different yet to kill a captured criminal after emotions cool down, but not this time. While I'm more prone to forgiveness than cruelty, my Sweetheart, that self-serving forgiveness could also be my undoing. I am the sovereign of Avalon, and its people are counting on me." I rested the palm of my hand on the cold glass of the window. “This man is not worthy of the risk of possible evil he could wreak on the others."

The lights of Avalon were shimmering in the dulled light of day, and the people of Avalon were peacefully minding their business. The Jensen case was, of course, the major gossip among them, and people were discussing the sentence I had passed on to him in satisfaction. They had not celebrated it, but they felt that justice had been delivered.

In Everlight, a carefully selected group of sixty newcomers had been assembled and they were preparing to move to the town of Wolf Manor. I appointed Fuellar as the new mayor and he spent the last day with Sigismund, learning the basics. Sigismund promised to write to him on a regular basis to the huge relief of the slightly nervous Elf. Tassarion the Elven wizard, Tewrick the Halfling druid, Cyfax the Nekomi knight and Zirna the Wolfkin priestess of Eriar were going as well.

Zirna was a young and very ambitious priestess whose potential was wasted in Everlight. She couldn't match with Lanka but Irene was looking for ways to use Zirna's eagerness and talents, so once I told her about my idea of populating Wolf Manor, she enthusiastically sprung to action. Zirna was quickly elevated as the head of the Wolf Manor church branch and received instructions to follow. Tassarion was capable enough, so Knys appointed him as Guild Master of the adventurers guild branch in Wolf Manor...

"When exactly is Knys going to properly name his guild?!" I sighed with resignation.

"Don't ask me." Luna's crystal-clear laugh made me realize I'd said it out loud. "He told me once he is bad at naming, so the entire guild is trying to figure out something impressive."

"Is that so?" I looked at her in surprise.

"Hahaha! Yes! You should regret not seeing the look on his face when I asked him," she giggled.

A knocking sound made us both look at the doors to my office and soon after, Sebastian entered. "My King, everything is ready."

"Thank you, Sebastian." I sighed heavily. "I should be going now, Luna. Let's get this over with."

She nodded slowly and returned to the reports. In the meantime, Amber teleported in after the audience she held with some people of Everlight. But upon seeing Sebastian, she just waved to me, knowing full well what it meant, and sat down in front of Luna. Amber was in charge of all home affairs and people loved her, even more than me.

"I'll return very soon, my Darlings." I shook my head, and I tried to smile.

•••

Myrna was standing near a beautiful woman named Sally, feeling quite jealous. She felt ashamed that she was jealous, but she couldn't help it. It was apparent that Sally was in some kind of relationship with Ian, and judging by his smile, it was serious. She sighed. It was silly of her to think that Ian suddenly would abandon his current life just because he found her. Her life so far was miserable and always on the verge of a horrible death, but suddenly she was free. Ian told her she needs time to recover but she was now in the safest place on earth. She wanted to believe that ever so desperately.

Myrna was standing in the town square wearing warm clothes, waiting to witness the departure of Avalon soldiers to the Goblin Dungeon. Jensen was trembling in fear and cold, held by the two impressive soldiers called Praetorians. Myrna spat towards him with satisfaction as she watched his face twist in animalistic fear; he bore the dread of a man that knew he was going to die very soon. Queen Irene and Queen Luna cast a binding barrier on Jensen to prevent him from using his mind control spells, but everyone nearby was still anxious.

People from the village where she was a prisoner were looking at the man known as Jensen with fear and contempt. It was hard for Myrna to accept the fact they all were manipulated to help him with his heinous crimes, but she knew firsthand the terror of mind control, where your body acts against your will. It was like you were a prisoner and observer inside your own body. Fortunately, most of them would leave Avalon to settle down in the town of Wolf Manor. Funny... She could swear that Wolf Manor was a dungeon, not a town... But... They were now in the Righteous Dungeon as well, which couldn’t be true, because they were still alive. All dungeons are murderous.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the King of Avalon, who appeared suddenly in the middle of the Plaza. He was as impressive as she remembered him, maybe even more now as he stood next to Ian.

"People of Avalon." The king's voice sounded in the square so loud that most people were shocked into silence. "We will depart now to the Goblin Dungeon, where this criminal will face justice." He raised his hand and vanished with Ian, the guards, and the prisoner. Myrna would have liked to see the death of that trash, but she wouldn’t risk goblins.

•••

The king was standing near the well-lit core chamber main monument, talking with Bob. It was silly that the terribly cruel and dark Dungeon had such an unassuming name. Ian felt the hungry and vicious looks of gathered low-level goblins as Jensen screamed and begged for mercy. His face was covered in dust and grime from the Goblin Dungeon's muddy floor, but it was mixing with the tears and snot on his despicable face. King Theon waved his hand towards the guards after he finished explaining to Bob what he expected him to do, and the Praetorians pushed Jensen towards the centre of the room. He was quickly cornered by the smaller monsters, still screaming and begging for forgiveness as the first goblins started swarming towards him and biting him. He wriggled and flailed his hands, trying to push away the goblins, but to no avail. For each goblin tossed away, two more gnawed at his body before he tripped finally and disappeared under the green mass. His horrible screams of pain were mixed with the sound of breaking bones, but it was quickly muffled by the screams of feasting goblins.

His death was quick despite being painful.