I still had a contract with Marlowe. Finding him was as easy as following an arrow pointing at somewhere south of Fulgen. The people we left behind in these lands suffered. Without their lords and bandits, they were free to pursue doom in their own fashion. Many with delusions of grandeur tried to rise and fill the vacuum only to be dragged down and tossed into the mud by their local competitors. The shrewd ones pinned the blame on their neighbors invoking some old grievances, regardless of whether they were perceived or real.

A historian would look back at this and say it was the folly of small-minded men. They would point at the behavior of those finally free to do their own bidding and sum the consequence as a lack of comprehension of civics and culture. A utilitarian would pin the blame on those that removed the rulers without installing another government. They would point at the outcome of the minor power struggles and sum the consequences as a lack of law enforcement. A barbarian called it a half-baked job. They would point out the unpillaged villages and sum the consequences as too much wealth left in the hands of the unworthy peasantry.

None of them were entirely right or absolutely wrong.

It is no wonder then that the group I sent back moved forward so slowly. With two barbaric centaurs [Chieftains] and one cantankerous human [Archmage] (even though they inhabited cloth golems) and a band of centaurs that spent the last nine years under a tight human yoke bordering on slavery, they decided to fix what was wrong. Belonging to the third group among the point-of-views above, they moved from city to city, village to village, helping the people calm down by directing their focus away from power struggles and their riches to a more basic need.

Survival.

Talysius and Stephano were in the late second and third tier. Marlowe in the early fourth. Along with their living silk enchanted golem bodies, they were like gods among the unranked masses. At least they weren't conducting wanton slaughter. They went from settlement to settlement, beating some sense in the heads of whoever was inebriated with executive power at the time, claimed their valuables, requisitioned supplies, and moved onto the next place. A few deaths were inevitable but they accepted the surrender.

One could expect the defeated to rally and give chase or resist as a unified front but they were fractured and dragged themselves down as the local power struggles resumed once the raiders were gone. If the world they knew was a pigsty, someone might as well become top swine and rule over the mud.

Without Pekothas as a figure wielding centralized power, these communities would eventually be conquered by someone and transformed into small kingdoms. It could be an Adventurer, a Bandit King, a merchant, or some survivor from the destroyed kingdom. Some elves in Fulgen devoted themselves to chronicling their human neighbor's history and according to them, this cycle has repeated itself dozens of times.

When Enantinos' new kingdom gained enough political clout, he would drag these micro-kingdoms into his orbit, transforming them into vassal fiefs. With the long routes the merchant caravans that would surely travel through those lands had to travel, these tiny kingdoms wouldn't remain for too. The caravan guards were geared to deal with the barbarian bands of the plains. Some petty local lords were no challenge to them. They would be raided or forced to trade at a disadvantage. The end result was the same. Wealth would leave them one way or another. Better to band up and get protection from a central strong government.

Where was I? Right, reconnecting with Marlowe and the merry band of six-limbed barbaric pillagers. I found them camped near the site of another battle. By the looks of it, some militia that fancied themselves, bandits. Or bandits that fancied themselves a militia. Hard to tell the difference with all the mangled bodies strewn around the sparsely wooded area.

I snuck past Marlowe's wards and reached the center of their camp. It had a campfire and a large pot for soup just like the ones our herd used while hoofing around the plains. No tents or bedrolls as these centaurs were used to bivouacking in the wilderness. My wings and horn were hidden. I don't think they've seen it yet.

I took a gong from my item box (I had no idea where it came from) and stomped the brass with my hoof. Seconds later, I had half a dozen weapons and one Lightning bolt coming my way. I let them hit me. None drew blood.

"Excellent! I wondered if a few months bullying weak humans had dulled your edges!" I boasted.

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"It's Snowdrop! Lower your weapons!" Stephano called.

"Hey, guys! How's it going? I see you had your share of excitement, right?"

"By the Gods, girl," Marlowe rose from his bedroll. Why a golem was lying down was anyone's guess. "Where have you been?"

"Busy!" I grinned. Then I explained to them what happened in Pekothas.

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"... and then I defeated this Kel'Caldor guy in the crypts under the city I'm building and gained my wings," I finished my tale. While the centaurs, especially the two chieftains cheered at my extra body appendages, Marlowe was livid. I asked him, "What's wrong?"

The cloth [Archmage] took his time winding up the courage to speak. "Kel'Caldor, you said?"

Oh, boy. Did he know the lich guy? Were they contemporaries? "Yes. That's what a soul-bound item of his called him. He was very skilled at spellcraft," I praised the lich. "Did you know him?"

"Only by reputation," the [Wizard] said with reverence. "He was considered a legend back when I was an apprentice. I don't think anyone I knew when I was alive has met him. And you defeated him?"

I set my title to [God-Slayer]. "I didn't kill him. His soul ran away after I crushed his undead skull with my spear. But I don't think a rematch will favor him. From what I know, he'll come back."

"He's from the Scorched Continent. The chronicle of him I read said that he was forced to move in the aftermath of the First Hero's folly."

I grumbled. "Hey, I was barely able to kill the Second Demon Lord. Then the guy's corpse decided to blow up on its own even after I removed his core. It would devour the whole continent if I let him have his way. Totally not my fault. Go read Hazel's books, the stories there are truthful. She was my niece."

"I know. It took me a while to understand what you can do," said Marlowe. "I just told you how historians preserved history."

"At least Ackerton is working on fixing it," I vented. "Speaking of fixing history's misconceptions, did you heard about Galbarar's appearance?"

"A lot," Talysius replied. "We found recently carved statues of a kneeling woman with her hands up. People put their babies on the statue's hands to get blessings from Galbarar's saintess."

"The priests are also preaching about how your mother wasn't a witch," Marlowe added. "It will take a generation but I believe the tale of a commoner turned saintess slandered by a petty and dead kingdom will endure. It resonates with the common man."

"Good," I whispered to myself. I might need to create an organization dedicated to spreading the "right" propaganda across the world. A meeting of the minds, a gathering of scholars. I put that on my to-do list. But now I had a Kingdom to create, a quest to complete. And a vengeful lich's retribution to defend against.

A fairy ring two meters across is a threat to nobody. It's too small to spawn fairies and too weak to compromise anything. It is a bother to keep the gate open until everyone crosses but we were right next to Fulgen. One of our agreements was to let my people pass through if all they did was to exit a gate and enter another. The centaurs were warier of the elves than the other way around.

On my way to get them, I placed several small fairy rings in the plains to cut the trip. Since the cost increase at the square distance, cutting one long trip in two segments halved the Energy cost. Splitting it into four or more lowered it from "I can't do it" through "I'll need to rest for a day after this" to finally "It's bothersome to make that many gates but that's life to you."

I left the centaurs and archmage there to get used to the layout of the still uninhabited city and went to get the elves. This time I blew it all on a trans-continental gate because I'd waste more time moving the hundreds of elves Winter and Autumn were bringing with them with the gate-hopping than resting for a full day to get my Energy back.

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After everyone was settled and rested, I took them on a tour of what I've already built while the sun was out.

"You have quite the mismatched architectural trends here, dear grandmother," Autumn commented in a haughty tone, oozing sarcasm at the end.

I beamed back at her. "I'm so glad you noticed it, granddaughter! Because these buildings are just placeholders from my collection. Little tidbits of trash I picked up during my travels. Besides, they are sized for humans, most of them. We are building a centaur kingdom."

She didn't expect this reaction from me. I continued. "I'm so relieved to have you here," I held her hand, then pulled her around with me as I pointed at the mansions and castles on the hill. "Because I finally have an expert in architecture to help me make a city for centaurs that will stand to the test of time."

My eyes were shining into hers. Actually, it was my horn. She stammered, "I-I'll try my best."

"Of course you will. And Winter can help with the landscape! I am sure there are dozens of plants on this side of the plains the elves haven't yet discovered. Stephano, you take Queen Winter and some druids along with you, show them some good spots to get samples for us!"

The silk chieftain saluted sharply, "As you wish, Your Grace!"

"Then it is decided. Autumn, you'll stay here with the tree-shapers and Marlowe and help with the buildings. Winter will go with the druids and Stephano to gather plant samples and prepare the soil for planting. Talysius will take the rangers and centaurs on a patrol to survey the terrain and search for threats. "And I will go convince the centaur herds to join us. We got our work cut out for us. Go, go, go!"

> Leadership proficiency has increased by 1.