Zimmy says "Where have you been?"

"I was fighting the death knight that was controlling the ettins."

Raindrop says "A death knight?!"

Nived says "I knew I should have stayed with you!"

"Yes, a death knight. Nived, if you had come with me the town would have fallen."

Zimmy says "He's right. Without your trench we wouldn't have been able to stop them."

"Besides, you don't look all that much better than I do!"

Raindrop says "He's got you there!"

Zimmy says "You both should go rest! We can handle things here."

"Alright, but wake me if anything else shows up."

Zimmy says "Wait, you're not going to argue? You must be worse off than you look!"

Nived says "I still have some mana left, I will stay a little longer."

Since they have things under control I walk towards the town, as I approach the gates are opened for me. The people inside greet me like a hero, which feels pretty weird, but I am too tired to really care. I head straight back to my room in the castle and collapse on my bed.

When I wake up and look outside to check the time I realize I slept for about twelve hours. It is shortly after dawn and the town is already bustling with activity. Honestly, I am surprised I was able to sleep so long, I was expecting another attack as soon as the ettins failed.

It looks like whoever is in charge of the invasion was caught off guard and didn't have another plan ready to go. That is a good thing for our side, it means the enemy isn't properly prepared and underestimated us. Since another attack wasn't launched against the town it is likely that Roland will be targeted next.

Before going looking for Zimmy I head down to the main hall to get some food. As soon as I sit down I am brought a tray piled high with food and about five minutes later Zimmy, the warden, and Nived arrive. From the looks of them they also managed to get some rest, maybe not as much as I did.

Zimmy says "Well, you look a lot better!"

Nived says "Yeah, at least a few steps away from death!"

"Ha ha! So, what happened while I was out?"

Warden says "The ettins have all been destroyed and since then it has been quiet."

Zimmy says "We sent out scouts in all directions but have seen no signs of another attack."

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

"Any word from Roland?"

Zimmy says "He is slowly retreating towards town as planned. He has been fairly successful in bleeding the enemy."

"Well, if there is not another attack aimed at the town then he might be targeted instead."

Warden says "What do you mean?"

"Our enemy isn't just going to sit by and do nothing. If he doesn't have anything left to throw at the town he will strike at Roland instead."

Zimmy says "Is this a guess or do you have evidence?"

"Just a guess based on what has happened so far."

Zimmy says "Well, all your guesses so far have been spot on. So, what do you want us to do?"

"If I was the enemy I would move to stop Roland from returning to town."

Nived says "That makes sense, if Roland is cut off and can't get supplies he would have a hard time."

Zimmy says "So we need to have the scouts look for a force moving to cut Roland off? Then we can take steps to stop them."

Warden says "We should go a step further. Rather than just blocking them we should ambush them and wipe them out if possible."

"Also send word to Roland to speed up his retreat."

Zimmy says "Why?"

"So his troops can get back here and get some rest before whatever happens next."

Warden says "That is basically asking for the town to be put under siege!"

"Yes, but on our terms not theirs."

Zimmy says "Right, Roland was only ever supposed to slow down the enemy, not stop them."

"Exactly, he bought us plenty of time. We got lucky with the ettins, better for the army to be back here before another attack comes."

Warden says "Yeah, if the mercs hadn't returned the town would be gone for sure."

Zimmy says "Alright, I will send the message. What do you want me to do next?"

"Once Roland returns we should begin preparing for the final battle."

Nived says "You think it will be soon?"

"Yeah, once we are all gathered in town there is no reason for the enemy not to attack."

Warden says "Are we just going to wait for them to attack?"

"Of course not! Once the scouts find the enemy we will attack. We will bleed them as much as possible before they surround the town."

Zimmy says "Any other orders?"

"What? These aren't orders, just suggestions! I am not the leader!"

Nived says "Funny, they sounded like orders!"

Warden says "I agree, they sounded like the orders from a king!"

"Oh, I do have one other idea. Zimmy, can you ask Rockskull if he can make some siege weapons out of the ettin skeletons?"

Zimmy says "Sure, I can do that. Anything else?"

"Not that I can think of."

Hearing that all three bow to me as if I was the king before they leave. It is only as I realize that everyone in the dining hall saw that, that I start to worry. Rumors about the current leaders bowing to me are going to spread, but there is nothing I can do about it now.

If this wasn't a test I would be a lot more worried, but they can't really make me the king. For now I will just keep ignoring their hints, this will all be over soon enough. The only thing that really worries me is if the difficulty is going to go up since I beat the death knight.

Once I am done eating I head over to the blacksmith's guild to get my armor repaired. So far it hasn't done me much good, but I should at least look the part since everyone is looking at me like a hero. After my armor is repaired I try to pay for it but the blacksmith refuses to take my money.

While I may not be king, people are starting to treat me like I am, and it is only going to get worse. Especially after all those people watched me defeat the undead and save the town. I may not have been the one to stop the ettins but I'm sure the stories will say it was at my orders.