The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

The situation in Tulva was still tense when Princess Elisabeth began her return. The Death Heralds followed her while Victrix remained in Tulva alongside Pyonta. The Rabbitkin woman received only vague orders and was temporarily left in charge of the region. For the time being, she decided to wait in Tuvarin and gather intel. Delegating that task to the net of Arcadian spies, she planned to rest for two or three days. The last two months were the craziest period of her life, and she was, at first, too scared and then too busy to fully grasp what exactly had happened. She was sitting on the spacious balcony of Hagon's residence and breathed a bit cleaner air thanks to the southern wind that had been blowing for the last few days. She sighed tiredly and closed her eyes just for a moment...

"Lady Pyonta?" She heard a firm voice that called her from afar. "My Lady?"

When Pyonta opened her eyes, the Legate was carrying her in his arms. Since she spent a fair share of time with Jester, situations like this had stopped having any impression on her. A very handsome Vampire Lord smiled brightly, watching her wake up. He stopped and waited for her to return to her senses before setting her down.

"You fell asleep, Lady Pyonta, and after consultation with the Legion medic staff's chief, he advised letting you rest," he explained with a professional expression painted on his face. "However, since we couldn't wake you up, and the night has already fallen, I decided to carry you to your chambers for a night's rest."

"Thank you, Legate, " she smiled. "How the investigation is going on?"

"It looks like Princess Elisabeth was correct. The remaining nobles fled Tuvarin and gathered under the banner of Vicecount Jehaness Terion. However, while they fortified his castle, it looks like they wanted to negotiate."

"Negotiate?" Despite sleeping the last few hours, she still felt like she wanted a nap. This was probably because she had been placed on a soft and relatively large chair.

"Indeed! The scout teams are observing their forces, and the Slimes Spies have already infiltrated the castle itself, so I expect the first reports in the next day or two." He followed her once she started walking.

"I don't understand something, Legate..." Pyonta hesitated, and her ears folded forward in confusion. "Are their forces significant enough for them to think we would choose to negotiate instead of attacking them? Sorry, I have no formal education and only a brief experience I gained while I aided the Princess. I don't know why Princess Elisabeth chose me to finish securing Tulva..."

"Don't worry, Lady Pyonta. Major Nix left me instructions regarding this situation. Officially, you are in charge of the Legion, but effectively, your role is more akin to a civilian official." The Legate smiled sourly, but she looked at him curiously.

"What does it mean?"

"To be blunt, you are the person who is telling us where to go, who to kill, and eventually when to stop if you want the prisoners. I will take care of the insignificant things like planning marching columns, preparing and maintaining logistics, and commanding during the battle… You know, things like that." He grinned at her, and after seeing his commendable attempt to cheer her up, she let out peals of genuine laughter.

"Hahaha, I see! So I point in the enemy's general direction and just watch the show." She chuckled once more, and the tips of her ears twitched in amusement.

"Well, that's a very apt comparison..." He grinned as well and raised his hands in an amused shrug. "We, the Immortal Legions, lack the intuition of the Mortals. That is why the King devised a plan to attach an observer to the army each time we fought near civilians. The only exceptions are some scions who already understand the nuances of people's psychology."

"Okay..."

"Anyway, to answer your second question." The Legate got a bit more serious. "If we consider the usual force distribution during wars of Mortals, they have significant forces. Normally, when attacking any fortress manned by an army of that size, the attacking side would suffer serious losses. In some cases, there is even a probability that the defenders will win."

"From your dismissive and slightly amused tone, I assume this isn't a problem for you?"

"Indeed." He agreed shortly with a sigh. "The loss of our forces is just a minor inconvenience, and even the death of the entire Legion would only temporarily stop us. By all Mortals’ standards, fighting the Immortal Legions of Avalon is nothing short of terrifying, even more so once they realise who we really are."

"I can very remotely agree that the concept of fighting sentient and sapient denizens of a Dungeon is scary." At the last moment, she hid her yawn behind her hand and gave the Legate an apologetic look. "Sorry... I'm still tired."

"You should rest as much as you can, Lady Pyonta. The King makes sure that all Legionnaires learn that lesson as soon as possible— to rest whenever the occasion presents itself because you never know when the next one will occur."

She nodded slightly and almost stumbled into the closed doors to her temporary room. The Legate opened and closed the doors for her, and she was left alone in the grand bedroom previously belonging to Hagon Je'wrha. The Slime Maid prepared the bed for her, and the Bunny woman cared very little about anything else than the comfortably looking bedding. She took off her clothes with a practiced grace and threw herself into the fresh and nicely smelling pillows. Pyonta fell asleep so quickly that she didn’t even notice.

•••

"I know you were ordered to keep her safe, Legate, but you should trust me. She is simply tired," the wide-shouldered and deceivingly muscular Lamia assured him for the fourth time today. "Besides... Who is the head medician of Legio Victrix? You or me?"

"Well, you." The Legate sighed heavily.

"So stop worrying!" the Lamia said, raising his mug filled with a questionable-smelling drink.

"Mortals are so fragile..." the Vampire Lord complained. "I know that our forces might run out of stamina or show their fatigue, but usually, a night-long rest fixes them. But she is still sleepy after three days."

"It's still within the norm." The head medic shrugged and took a hearty sip. "Look... She was rather weak when Jester found her, and while I'm sure he took care of her, I really doubt he knew what he was doing. Then, she joined Princess Elisabeth's subjugation forces, where she excelled as her secretary."

"I don't see any connection..."

"That's why I am the head medic, not you," the Lamia laughed. "She will be better tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Then... Well, depending on how she rejects reality, it might be funny."

The Legate sighed and leaned back in his chair. There was so much to learn... Fortunately, things were far simpler during a battle.

•••

Elisabeth was half asleep when the marching column of Death Heralds reached the unassuming hills just outside Tulva. The trenches and mounds, the reminder of the last presence of the Legions in the area, were still showing lines of a marching camp palisade. The palisade was already back in its place in the further part of the camp that had recently been rebuilt. The last two days were full of chaos. She never imagined the amount of work needed to run a country. She looked flatly at her dim reflection in the carriage's window and noticed all the terrifying details. The dark bags under her eyes and unhealthy spots on her skin were a very clear indication of how tired she was.

"We don't have to rush back to Xariinta. The rebuilding process is going to take much longer than initially anticipated." Raphael yawned with a cheerful smile.

"Is that so?" She yawned as well. "When I was younger, I was told the stories about the victories of the Patriarch. In those stories, he entertained the newly conquered city, led the parades, and addressed the people's concerns. Right now, I know with unshaken certainty that all those stories were either bullshit or my father did not contribute to those victories in the slightest."

"What?" The Wolfkin blinked a few times, desperately trying to comprehend his fiancée's way of thinking, but he failed miserably.

"Raph... Just look at me..." She waved her hands frantically, but her face showed only borderline exhaustion. "I feel as if I am an overcooked noodle..."

"Liss..." He slowly lifted her with a sigh. "What are you talking ab–?!"

She kissed him, interrupting his obvious question. Raphael opened the carriage's doors with his elbow and slowly walked towards their tent. The woman in his arms slowly went limp despite her desperate attempts to stay awake. Before he even reached their field accommodation, Elisabeth was already breathing steadily.

"Inform the Legate that he will be in charge for the foreseeable future. The Princess needs to rest, and I have to issue orders to the Guardsmen Corp." Raphael nodded toward one of the Praetorians.

"As you wish, Sir." The black-and-gold-clad warrior nodded.

After the Wolfkin entered the tent and lay Elisabeth on her bed, he fixed an unruly strand of her long, blonde hair. She moaned through her sleep and turned to the other side. Raphael mulled over the things she had said before and finally smiled with understanding.

"You are right, Liss. All legendary heroes in the stories entered the cities, leading parades as if that were nothing. They made the wars look easy."

He went outside her room and stood for a moment, wondering if he could simply go to sleep or if he should prepare some orders. He was tired but not nearly as much as Elisabeth was. In the end, it was true there was a staggering amount of work waiting for them, and Raphael saw no point in delaying it. As he sat in front of the desk, he felt his mind going blank. He stared mindlessly at an empty sheet of paper for ten minutes before he started penning down the first orders. The Dungeon City of Xariinta was designed to be the new capital of the Northern province. However, Xariinta wasn't a name they wanted to be affiliated with. In the past, it was a nightmarish place where countless people met their end. Elisabeth wanted to give her new capital a new name and a fresh start. During her stay in Avalon, she learned about a brief time when a small town was used as a temporary home for everyone who chose to serve King Theon. The blessed town in the shade of Avalon. Everlight. Elisabeth decided that if she ever had a chance to name any town, she would name it Everlight and live her life there. That was why Xariinta was going to be renamed to Everlight.

The name of Berna, the Holy Kingdom, and everything it stood for would be quietly struck down from the official nomenclature. With time, it would be remembered only on the pages of history books as one of many evil kingdoms destroyed by King Theon and the mighty armies of Arcadia. These vast lands were now formally under his and Elisabeth's protection. As far as his orders went, he had to raise almost fifteen thousand Guardsmen to protect these lands. Thankfully, his task wasn't going to be that hard; the faithful servants of Goddess Akh'ila joined the Guardsmen Corp after their Goddess pledged her loyalty to Goddess Verka. Over eight thousand very promising and surprisingly innocent enough Humans were drilled by the instructors in the Royal Military Academy of Avalon. While their studies were far from over, the same could have been said about Raphael and his battalion. They all still have much to learn... Raphael shrugged. Given the fact that the Guardsmen's education period was estimated to last at least five years, the short period spent in school could have only counted as basic training.

Raphael almost snorted, hearing Elisabeth's laugh through her sleep. He took one more glance at the battalion disband order and series of orders creating five companies and the new Guardsmen Corp Academy in Everlight. The remaining soldiers from his battalion would be stationed in the region's Capital, forming its first defences and the core of the new Academy’s teachers. He looked at the updated map of their new province and decided to send three of five companies toward the cities on the western border. One of the companies would take a long route and, after assessing the situation in the nearby city of Gulkomir, would most likely return to Tuvarin. He nodded contently and decided that was enough for today.