Leonarr says "Good. My Lord, any new orders?"

"By the end of the night, tonight, this war should be over. Then we just need to put the empire in their place. After that it will finally be time to take all of you home."

Leyla says "Lord Ash, some of the beastmen don't have a home to go back to. A lot of them are worried about what is going to happen to them."

"They don't need to worry. They will have the option of making a new home or continuing to serve me. They will have a lot of options, they may not realize just how much they are being paid for this war."

Leonarr says "Beastmen don't use currency so most of us don't understand it."

"Don't worry Pol and his people are experts at currency now. Everyone will be educated so they don't go wasting money or getting cheated by merchants."

Leonarr says "That will be a relief to the men."

"That isn't all, I am going to be building a city for the outcasts. Also I will be keeping a standing army. All our people are going to have choices, especially once I become the beast king."

Leyla says "You have decided to become the king?"

"Yes, the badger clan has already sworn to me. Also most of the outcast villages are already on my side."

Leonarr says "Your Majesty!"

All the beastmen are now kneeling and cheering along with Leonarr. It is embarrassing but I can't really blame them for being happy, so I just bear with it. Once the cheering dies down I motion everyone to rise and tell them to get some food.

"Leonarr, do you plan to stay with my army or will you be looking for a quiet life?"

Leonarr says "I will continue to serve you as long as I live."

"Then I have a task for you. Learn everything you can. Especially from Alexa. I am going to need a general."

Leonarr says "Yes, My King!!"

Leonarr happily rushes off to go find Alexa, just in time for me to reach the front of the line. When the cooks see me they bow and I give them my breakfast order before returning to my tent. Leyla follows me and she goes nuts as soon as she sees the baby drake, who is now awake.

Once I introduce them the baby happily plays with Leyla until our breakfast arrives. The baby is quickly distracted by the food but Leyla simply takes his portion of the food and starts feeding him. This allows Lizzy and I to eat our breakfast in peace and it gives me an idea.

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"Leyla, I need to fly around and deal with some nobles. Would you mind helping Lizzy take care of the baby while I am gone?"

Leyla says "Of course! I'd be happy to!"

Baby says "Mama?"

"Don't worry, I won't be gone long. Lizzy and Leyla are going to keep you company until I get back."

Baby says "No!"

"You want to go with me huh?"

Baby says "Yes!"

"Alright, sorry Leyla."

Leyla says "It's okay. Can I come play with him when you get back?"

"Sure!"

So once we are done eating Leyla leaves and then I lift the baby to my shoulder before leaving. As I fly away from the camp I pull out the map and head in the direction of the next noble on the list. When I arrive and the noble's guards attack me I make sure to protect the drake.

Other than keeping the baby safe I ignore the guards and go looking for the noble. I find him sitting in his office looking terrified, but his aura is only gray which I am not expecting. Taking a closer look at the noble I notice he is fairly young, between that and the aura I think I have the wrong place.

Then I hear a noise and open the closet to find an older noble hiding inside. When I see that his aura is black I realize he tried to use his son as a decoy. I happily use Dark Mark on him and as he is screaming himself to death I tell his son not to grow up like him or I will come back.

From the look of absolute terror on his face I am fairly sure he will remember my words. No matter what he does, it isn't my problem, I am just fulfilling a promise. I quickly leave the noble's estate and take flight towards the next one.

As I arrive at the next noble's estate I see a carriage racing away from the house. Even without looking inside I can see the black aura, so I quickly fly after the carriage. Not wanting to hurt the horses I draw Blitz and slash just behind them.

With everything connecting them to the carriage cut, the horses run off instantly. As I sheath Blitz I land in the road right in front of the carriage and let it hit me. The only action I take is to cover the baby with one of my wings to make sure he doesn't get hurt.

The carriage shatters into splinters when it hits me and the driver goes flying. Luckily, for him, he lands in the grass and isn't too badly hurt, but the noble isn't so lucky. The noble ends up lying a few feet away from me with several broken bones.

As the noble rolls around on the ground screaming I check to make sure there weren't any other passengers. Then I walk over and heal the driver before turning back to the noble. Even then I wait a few minutes before casting Dark Mark, just to let him suffer a bit extra.

Once the mark takes hold I leave him to his fate and fly towards the next estate. The next noble is actually outside beating his servants when I spot him. This makes it even easier since all I have to do is swoop down and use Dark Mark on him.

His guards don't even get a chance to attack me and I can hear the noble's screams as I fly away. With that there are only four more names on the list and since it isn't even noon yet I should have enough time. I am surprised that the baby is just calmly riding on my shoulder and hasn't done or said anything.

When I spot a nice location I land, it is about lunch time so I figure the baby and I can take a break. As I start pulling food out of my pouch the baby jumps down and starts hopping around. Seeing his excitement makes me chuckle and I give him his lunch before he starts to complain.

As soon as the baby is done eating he falls asleep, so I put him in the shadow pocket and then fly towards the next noble. The baby wakes up after the next noble and takes his place on my shoulder again. At this rate I should be able to deal with the remaining three nobles and get back in time for dinner.

Then after dinner I will go and finally deal with the king and whatever shadow demons are left. The question is, do I want to kill the king myself or use Dark Mark so he suffers more. In the end I decide to use Dark Mark, mainly because I don't want to torture someone myself.