The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

After spending the next five hours constantly blinking and restoring my mana with the use of lesser mana potions, I was very close to giving up. But before I could say anything, Stella facepalmed and threw the first couple of pages of her notebook into the fireplace, where they were quickly consumed by flames.

"I think I have a breakthrough, my King!" she announced happily. "It was so obvious!"

Oh really? Crossed my mind, but I made sure I blocked my thoughts. My scions could read my surface thoughts as well as I could theirs.

"So, do you know how it works?" I asked instead.

"Not exactly, but I think I have figured out enough to test some new ideas. Thank you, my King!"

•••

I was taking a stroll on the defensive walls of the Middle Castle and I began to examine the safety gap between the wall and whatever else was in the combat zone of the Lower Castle. In most cases, there was no issue, but I had my doubts in Section Three and Section Ten. The deep forest and mountains were a bit too close, so I just gently pushed them back a few meters away from the wall. In the case of the mountains, I made them shorter, descending into a less friendly environment where attackers would face plenty of natural obstacles. Before any attackers would reach the walls, my archers would have plenty of time to shoot them down mercilessly. In the case of the dense forest, I just made it less dense near the walls. The single trees that were scattered around the perimeter could provide some cover for approaching enemies, but at the same time, the trees would prevent the enemy army from forming effective formations.

I nodded with satisfaction and contentment, seeing familiar faces near the ramparts. They were practising archery, shooting down my denizens in the lower castle that were making themselves very challenging targets. The former Cridian soldiers were halfway to becoming full-fledged guardsmen, and this archery practice was nothing else than a part of their new class quest. I'm not gonna lie, but providing two thousand soldiers with a new class quest was extremely draining on my mana. Everyone spent every waking hour trying to finish it as fast as feasibly possible. The Guardsman class was far superior to the basic Warrior, which comprised 85% of former Cridian soldiers. They could use not only swords and shields as Warriors could, but they possessed the skills for halberds and bows as well. While their bow skills were the most basic ones, they nonetheless had them, which could come handy if Avalon was to be besieged. With halberds as their main weapons and shield and sword as their secondary, the Guardsmen are going to be the perfect garrison forces for my cities.

"My King! Soldiers… Atteeeeention!" In a disturbingly disciplined manner, all the soldiers turned around to face me, already saluting. They stood at attention, smiling at me.

"At ease!" I smiled and replied with a salute. "Captain Thiule, nice to see you again. Continue, soldiers!"

"Yes, sir!" The soldiers returned to their bow-hunting missions, but Captain Thiule was still waiting.

"Captain, if I may ask you a question..." I asked, scratching my neck.

"Anything, my King!" He smiled widely and his long elven ears moved in a funny way I had come to recognize.

"Is this level of discipline and training normal among the Cridian army?" This was something that bothered me for a very long time. Ban and Drake insisted that Crissna garrison soldiers were among the most elite units of the Cridian army.

"Oh, no, my King. Colo... I mean, Major General Ban was very strict with training and discipline. I believe the legions would wipe us back then if not for this." The Elf smiled faintly.

"I'm still very conflicted because of what has happened..." I sighed.

"Sir?" Thiule looked at me, concerned.

"I will be blunt, Captain. My army has ambushed you, killed thousands of your friends and taken all survivors as prisoners. After all of that, I basically gave you a choice- swear fealty to me or likely spend the rest of your days in prison." This situation was so disturbing I returned to it every time I talked with Ban, Drake or any other people who formerly lived in Grision or Crissna.

"As we told you before, my King, we do not harbour any grudges. It's... Well, If I may?" He nervously fixed his tabard.

"Of course. Be blunt with it, Captain."

"Yes, sir." He smiled faintly and shrugged. "It's just the way it is. We are soldiers, and we always know the risks. Under normal circumstances, we would end up as slaves; most of us would be miners or would be made to retrieve resources from bloodthirsty dungeons until we all die out. That's how the rulers of this world wage their wars, my King."

"It's messed up." I sighed grimly as we approached the ramparts where I leaned upon the wall and observed the effects of my future Guardsmen shooting.

"We never questioned that, my King. For us, it was like the most basic world laws. However, this rule prevented major conflicts from breaking out. In the last century, there were maybe three battles in all. The biggest of these battles had fewer soldiers combined on both sides than what made up your single legion in the battle in which you captured us, my King." He smiled grimly.

"Hmmm... If this rule stopped the rulers from attacking each other–" Thiule's laughter interrupted me.

"Hahaha! I'm so sorry, my King! The assumption you made should be correct. However, the rulers of this continent invented new ways of harassing their neighbours. It's a vicious world." He bowed to me in apology. "I'm deeply sorry for interrupting you, my King."

"Apology accepted." I looked at the captain. "So you would just accept slavery?"

"Of course not! We would try to run away or gain freedom by other means. But the general rules made us surrender to your forces back then." Captain Thiule smiled brightly. "But it was the best thing that could happen to us, my King!"

"All things considered, I think I understand you all a little better. I'm assuming that large armies are needed for the subjugation of various dungeons, then?"

"That's correct, my Lord. The rulers are more focused on the subjugation of domestic dungeons than expanding their borders. I would even say these three battles I mentioned before were provoked by the young dungeon spawning on the borders between the kingdoms."

"I see..." I nodded and sighed. "What about loyalty?" It was the last thing that troubled me.

Captain Thiule gritted his teeth and looked down for a while. I sensed his anger and frustration, but I thought I understood the reason. I made them betray their country, so they could have some animosity towards me after all. After a few minutes of silence, the Captain replied, but he was much angrier than I anticipated.

"Loyalty? We were given away as sacrifices; the kingdom graciously gave us rusted swords and tattered rags as armours. The scarce or even spoiled food rations always arrived from the capital with an insane amount of orders. Those among us who still thought that Fort Crissna was a prestigious assignment were ridiculed behind their backs. The people of Cridia saw us on par with bandits and murderers, despising our existence." He sighed heavily and continued. "I was betrayed by my own family and they sent me to the army hoping that I would die somewhere. I was stripped of my title and my birthright by a stepmother and her rotten son. I appealed to the Queen, but she laughed at me, telling me that Cridia does not need losers who can't secure their own interest as nobles."

I looked at the young Elf with a new interest, or should I say, a new degree of identifying skill. He had very similar skills to Irene and Sigismund, who were proper nobles as well. I said nothing, still watching him closely as Thiule continued his speech, probably feeling obliged to do so.

"The Colonel, now Major General Ban, gathered us and cared for us. There was a time when only his authority kept us together and prevented desertions. I have no idea how he managed to get us decent and usable equipment. But it was his drills and never-ending training that made us elites." He looked right into my eyes and held his defiant gaze for a moment. "My King, our loyalty lay with the Major General. But now, after we have pledged our loyalty to you, after we have seen Avalon, and after you told us about your mission? My King! The gods are with you. But even without them, we would follow you! You are the chosen champion, a Hero! But even then... You defeated us in combat but instead of everything else you could have done, you have chosen to trust us and made us your Guardsmen. You equipped us with weapons and armours we thought were possible only in children's stories. But what is much more important for us is that the people of Avalon see us as their defenders. You gave us, my King, the dignity of warriors that we so desperately craved, and for that, we will serve you till death. We are no longer Cridian soldiers, but I wonder if we ever were. But without any doubt, we are the Guardsmen of Avalon."

"Thank you, Captain Thiule. I accept and acknowledge your reasons." I felt a little better, but I knew much more time had to pass until I would stop feeling strange about it. It's not that I couldn't trust them, because I could; their vows and geass literally prevent them from betrayal.

I nodded and turned around just in time to see Irene teleporting in front of me. Behind her were standing Lanka, Idna, Fania, Eri, and Glenn. While Lanka and Idna were looking visibly happy and Irene was smirking, the rest of them were troubled. I heard the Captain take a deep breath and when I looked at him, I saw him staring at Lanka with a dropped jaw. Well, well...

"Theon! We have to talk!" Irene approached me and smiled at the young Elf. "I'll take the King for a moment."

"Of course, my Queen!" He bowed towards Irene.

•••

I was sitting in Irene's office in the Palace. Fania and Eri nervously looked at their own feet, but Glenn had begging eyes.

"I need you, Theon, to give these two new class quests. Preferably something to help Idna deal with the mess created by Knys." Irene leaned comfortably in her chair, smiling sweetly at me.

"Okay..." Just don't ask Theon. It's not worth any questions.

I looked at the girls and used Talent Gauge. "Huh... Interesting!"

"What?" Irene raised her brow, seeing my facial expression.

"Fania is a perfect candidate to test for a class I created, but frankly, it's hard to find a fitting candidate willing to risk taking it as their main. Damn it... I would have to override your Tank main class..." I sighed in resignation.

"What class is it, my King?" Fania looked at me with curiosity. "And what do you mean by saying you would have to override my Tank class?"

"The new class I created and thought it would be helpful is called the Nurse. The Nurse is a support class, a healer buffer who specializes in buffing Healers, providing healing multiplier buffs, and increasing the success rates for complicated spells like Heal Bones. The Nurse can also fix negative statuses like poison, burn, freeze, paralyze and have access to heal over time skills." I explained and saw the delight on the faces of Lanka and Irene, but Idna didn't look very pleased at all. "Override means I will have to erase your Tank class so you could take the Nurse as your main class. Would you like to try it?"

"Yes, my King. I would love to! However, I can't. I promised Miss Idna to help her in the Guild and..."

"Theon! Assign someone to help Idna instead of Fania. I wish to see this nurse class myself!" Irene interrupted Fania.

"Sure. Idna how many people do you want? Ten? Twenty?" I looked at the Nekomi girl, who smiled widely now.

"If it wouldn't be a huge problem, your Highness, twenty people would help me tremendously."

"Consider it done! Fania, do you agree to accept this class-changing quest?" I quickly took out a sheet of paper and looked at the Half-Dwarf.

"Yes, my King!" she replied, and I quickly created the quest for her.

Fortunately, no one protested, and I looked forward to seeing how this new class would work in the field. I then looked at Eri, who smiled faintly, and I used my Talent Gauge once more.

"Eri, I can override your class as well, giving you a Quartermaster or Accountant class."

Her eyes shined with delight upon hearing this, but instead of replying, she looked at Idna.

"Miss Idna, what will be more useful?" She asked with a happier smile, as if some large weight dropped from her shoulders.

"I think a Quartermaster would be a bit more helpful..." Idna replied, already preparing a list.

"Then if I may ask you, your Highness, can you grant me a Quartermaster class?" she asked timidly.

"Here you go. Good luck to you both!" I smiled, but then I became serious, seeing tears on their faces. After I was left with Irene, I heard them crying. I looked at my wife and tilted my head towards the doors with the obvious question painted on my face.

"They can't fight anymore, Theon. You saved their lives again."