Alliance

After some walking, Kies found the hut and went inside to take a rest. He wasn't tired physically, but he was very tired mentally. After all, he did spend the entire night training and the morning fighting.

Kies sat down on his bed and started to gather some magic in one of his hands. He played around with the wind a little and thought to himself, 'I don't feel any stronger.' Kies felt that his magic hasn't improved that much at all since the lifting of his seal the other day. He did however notice that his control over the wind has gotten much better but he didn't know how useful that would really be. Maybe it would be better if he just let his winds run wild rather than restricting it.

After a few minutes of blowing around the dry leaves in his room and making them float, Kies got bored and laid down. 'Why am I here?' Kies didn't know the answer to the question, and neither did he know why he was even trying to get stronger. What was he fighting for? It felt so strange to barely feel anything at all.

***

"Siegfried, do you believe that this was the right decision?" Lentis sat in a small empty room that used to be his father's. The revolt had been a success and he had taken the throne along with the authority to control the entire kingdom. The corrupted nobles were all sentenced to death alongside his father and the execution would take place in a few days.

During the same day, they would also announce the end of the war and the start of a new one that was against the demons. But he couldn't get the thought out of his mind that maybe they could have done this a different way, Although he didn't like the nobles and talked very little to his father, he felt that they shouldn't have to die.

"You're seriously asking me? I have no experience in these kinds of things at all," Siegfried grumbled. He was helping with reading through the endless piles of complaints from the general population after the takeover. "The people won't rest unless they see blood. The nobles had been oppressing them for years."

Lentis shifted through the piles of papers. He blankly skimmed through each one. He was unsure if he made the right decision or not. He was still a little doubtful and felt regret in his decision.

Siegfried noticed Lentis's expression and told him, "What's done is done. I'd say to focus on the future."

Lentis thought about Siegfried's words and agreed, "You're right. But I have no talent other than for battle, I don't feel that I have the ability to lead our people."

"Well, you're the king now. You have to regardless of experience."

"I know."

For the next hour, the two sat quietly in the room, trying to get through all the papers. At some point, Siegfried just threw all the papers into the air and yelled, "Ugh, I can't take it anymore!"

Lentis stopped going through his piles of papers and looked at Siegfried. "What are you doing?"

"Why did you ask me instead of Rui? She's much better at this than me. Or even better yet, hire some people to do this so that we don't have to do it."

Lentis sighed. "We have no one. Most of the nobles are gone, remember?" The commoners didn't have the ability to read or write since they were never taught so, and the few good nobles that remained were staying low for the time being until things calmed down. "And Rui is sorting things out with the Otanians," Lentis reminded Siegfried. He didn't want to be doing this either but there was no one else who was suited for the task.

Siegfried leaned his back against his chair. It creaked from his weight and it bent so much that it looked like it was about to break.

*Knock knock knock*

Lentis stopped for a moment to look at the door, then went back to flipping through papers as he saw that Siegfried was going to answer it. Siegfried got up and opened the door. It was Rui. "Perfect timing Rui, help us do-"

"It's commander," Rui interrupted Siegfried.

"Huh?"

"Commander Rui."

"We're both commanders, is there really a need-"

"Only the king can call me Rui."

"Okay whatever, commander Rui, help us with this." Siegfried pointed at the tall stacks of paper on the desk.

"I would, but I have something important to tell his highness first."

"What is it?" asked Lentis. "Did something come up with the Otanians?"

"No, it's not that, we have reached an agreement, and negotiations are done, but..." Rui hesitated. The kingdom right now was a mess. She wasn't sure if they would be able to handle it.

"But what?"

"The Otanian army just left Silverfield."

"Did something happen?" asked Lentis. He made an agreement with Jenabas to lend him her army for a bit while things were still stabilizing in Silverfield. Why would she be leaving with her army?

"They received a message that their kingdom is under attack by the demons."

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