William spent his days resting. It was somewhat peaceful. If there was anything else he could do besides reading a book, he would happily do that too. Right now, Baldur was trying to advance to the bronze level. William was aware that the mental intensity in his room was too little for him to study. So even if he meditated at night, it was only about an hour or two.

He spent the rest of the night sleeping.

Meanwhile, in their barony, a meeting was taking place, which William did not know about.

In the study, the four men looked respectfully at Theo behind the desk.

If William had seen the people inside, he would have known them all. Hurim and Humir were just sitting opposite each other in front of the table. Their aged bodies looked particularly vigorous today. He was sitting straight like a spear in his double seat. Humir wore a perfectly fitting armor set. He did not have just head armor. Next to them were Pierce and George, whom he met at the volcano. They were both clad in armor that emitted a silver glow. With their head armors on their legs, they waited patiently.

Although George still looked rude, there was excitement in his eyes. This included others. It was as if everyone in the room had been waiting for this day since the day they were born.

After a while, the door to the study room opened.

The old baron Thedo entered the room with a large scroll in his hand. Everyone, including Theo, stood up and greeted him. Theo handed over his seat to his father.

After Thedo took his seat, he opened the large scroll and spread it on the table. Then he turned to Humir and began to speak.

“Any news of the elves?”

Humir immediately stood up and began to speak respectfully. “Sir, they are extremely pleased with our last assistance. The new king told us they would fulfill his promise. In a week, they will attack the Elm Kingdom. With the strength of the elves, I'm sure they'll be able to get it quickly." Said.

Thedo nodded. "Beautiful. Then it's time for us to act." He turned his head to Hurim on his left.

“What about the two dukes? What was their response?"

Hurim also stood up respectfully and, bowing, began to speak.

“Sir, they both agree. We can understand that they were happy with what they wrote in their letters. They will definitely support us.” Said.

Thedo rolled his eyes and muttered. “ Peh! If they don't, they'll know. At the end of the day, we wouldn't hesitate to kill a few more people."

Then he turned to Theo. “How are things on the academy side?”

Theo stood up, smiling, “As usual. They guaranteed their full support.”

“Good, good, good.” Thedo said 'fine' three times. This was indeed a good sign.

Then he looked at Pierce and George. “How are things with you?” he asked.

The two immediately stood up. George spoke first. “The Volcano Battalion is ready for orders!” Pierce completed it. “Metal Battalion is ready for orders!”

"Beautiful. I want you to bring me all the information you have recorded, including the histories of all soldiers, by tomorrow. Save the specials in a different way and bring them to me. I will form a new team out of them.”

"Yes, sir!" They both shouted and bowed.

It seemed that they respected this man more than Theo.

Then he turned back to Theo. “And mages? What about them?"

“Don't worry, everything is ready. We were able to recruit twenty healing advanced apprentices, fifty attack advanced apprentices, and three dark-skilled advanced apprentices to the mage guild. One of them is the Dark Elf.” Said.

After what Theo said, everyone in the room felt more confident.

“Good, let's get started then.” He stood up and took a box from the drawer. There were gold coins with various symbols inside.

He took a few gold coins and started placing them on the map. As he did so, the others approached the edge of the table.

Except for their own territory, all remaining territories were painted red. Their territories were drawn with a blue pen. He began to speak as he placed the coins.

“Our place is good, there is no need to worry about defense. We're going to take down those three baronies first. We already have an advantage in terms of location. Then we'll take Count Seymour's ghost town, make it our base. I hope Count Seymour will surrender when he sees us, or I wouldn't want to kill an old friend." Said.

Theo wanted to ease his worries. “Don't worry Dad, I'm sure he'll be supportive when he sees us. After all, who wants to serve a corrupt king?”

Thedo replied with a sigh. "I hope so."

After a while, he finished placing the coins on the map.

Turning to George, he said, “These three barons will be your first test. After ten days, you will split into three troops and attack from here.” He said and pointed it on the map.

“I want to see the three baronies painted green in three full days.”

George immediately bent down and shouted. "Yes, sir!"

"Beautiful." He turned to Pierce. “We will take four troops and enter Seymour's city together, myself included. We will establish a line of defense there.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Theo and Humir, you will take the remaining troops and clear them from the east. There should be no counter-support from the academy.”

"Yes, sir!" said Humir. Theo smiled thoughtfully.

“Why are you so happy?” ' asked Thedo.

“I always wanted to kill a few princes. I guess I'll soon find out what that feels like."

“ Heh, don't worry. The king has many children, that's enough to scratch your hands. Moreover, you can have no doubt that we will take our revenge.” They looked like real bad guys, but the truth was different. After all, a rebellion was not something that could be decided in a day. There was effort, hatred, and grudge on it for many years. They were happy to finally be able to unleash this accumulated hatred. Time will tell if these thoughts will make them bad guys.

Thedo continued to speak, raising an eyebrow.

“And William? Did you inform him?"

“No, but I will send a letter with Sora today.”

“Do you think he would do anything against our thinking?”

“No, but, or whatever, I don't know. William is very mature for his peers. I'm sure it wouldn't be difficult if he were in my place right now. But I don't know what he will do. I will give the task, if he succeeds, it means one of us. It doesn't matter though. We'll think about it then." Said. He had a worried expression on his face. He hoped that William would complete his task.

"Let's hope he's an Aureus," said Thedo. Then he went back to explaining his strategies on the table.

…

Thousands of kilometers to the west of the Jade Wind Kingdom, thousands of meters deep in the hot sand of the desert, there was a huge palace.

Inside the palace, dozens of dark elves were sitting around a long rectangular table, arguing loudly.

The two sides seemed to be clashing. The left and right sides of the table were made up of old men and women spitting at each other and shouting.

At the far end of the table sat a healthy young man in golden robes, his pitch-black hair combed back, and a clean, angular face. You could discern his position by the golden crown on his head. The five sharp ends of the crown pointed to the sky. In the middle of each point, a precious stone was engraved.

The position of the crown was slightly crooked. The king rested one hand on his chin. He listened wearily to the elders arguing before him.

After a while, the controversy escalated until it reached him.

"Sorry! We can't put honey on the bread of the surface! Please, it's not our business!”

The man who spoke was sitting on the right, who looked like he was in his fifties, even with his ears starting to soften. He was dressed in loose robes like a monk.

A stern, younger-looking figure sitting across from him stood up in response and began to speak, pointing a finger at his face.

“What do you know about the world! Isn't it enough that we live underground? We are longing for the hot sun! People on earth enjoy comfort and abundance. Day after day they forget their true purpose. Do you want to live a happy life in such a shallow corner forever!?” Then he turned to the King.

“My King, this is a great opportunity for us! Baron Theo will raise the flag of rebellion. He is waiting for a move from us.” Then he respectfully added. “My King, please remember! Baron Theo is our benefactor! We must repay our debt to him! Two birds with one stone!” said.

The king was staring blankly into his eyes. When he didn't get an answer, he sat back down and continued the discussion.

After a while, so much chatter must have bothered the King that he said, "Enough." With the excitement of the discussion, no one heard him. The enraged king raised his fist and slammed the table with all his might.

"I SAID ENOUGH!" The corner of the wooden table that his fist touched was decorated with a hole the same size as his fist.

The entire hall fell silent in an instant. Everyone looked expectantly at the king, who had remained silent since the beginning of the discussion.

He stood up and folded his hands behind his back. He started to speak slowly.

"What I'm going to say next is not just to one side, but to all of you." Said. His eyes scanned everyone at the table.

“What did Baron Theo help us with? Moss, you speak." Said.

Moss was the guy who just brought up the debt issue. He stood up with his solid body and began to speak after bowing over. “Sir, earth resources, people's culture, techniques we don't know, tools for mages. He even contributed to your Ascension.” said.

“Okay, you can sit down.” The king nodded in satisfaction.

“I made a promise to Theo. Or rather, in exchange for helping me, he offered two options. One is a promise of support when he taking the Jade Wind Kingdom, the other is to take over the already weakened Elm Kingdom.”

Then he placed both hands on the table. He looked at the crowd that sat and listened intently. “Now, which one do you think makes more sense?”

A few people wanted to start talking right away, but the King gestured them with his hand to stop.

“Speak one by one. Miles, talk." Said.

The man he called Miles was the monk-looking man from before.

He stood up respectfully and began to speak after bowing. “Sir, of course, the first option. By sending just a few hundred soldiers, we can make it easy for him to take the Jade Wind Kingdom. I am sure he will help us and even improve our relations after receiving it.” Said.

“Okay, now you talk, Moss.” Said.

Moss stood up again and began to speak. “Sir, I think it's the second option. Our people deserve to live on earth. I know that the kingdom of Elm is mostly desert, but there are beautiful places too. Moreover, we can also benefit from the earthly beauties of the Black Forest. Moreover, I believe that we can easily conquer the Elm Kingdom. They are weak, they only know how to have fun in oases with music and women. I can even say that they forgot to fight.” Then he averted his eyes from the king and looked at everyone at the table one by one.

“Finally, we can unite with Theo and take the High Mountain Kingdom between us. We share in common between the two of us. In this way, as the two mighty kingdoms, we provide the greatest preparation for our true purpose!” said. He said his last words, raising his voice and looking at the people around him.

The king nodded in satisfaction.

“Good well said. Now…” He looked at everyone.

“…I put the first option to the vote. Those who accept, raise your hands.” Said.

Already, the king had chosen the side he supported with his sentences. Ten of the forty men before him raised their hands. Miles yelled, looking at those who sat on his side and didn't raise their hands. “What do you think you are doing? Do you want war?"

One of those close to the king immediately replied. “We need to send soldiers both ways. At least that way we have a place on earth!” said.

Miles fell silent, not knowing what to say. He didn't speak anymore. He went into deep thought.

The king spoke again. “Those who accept the second option, raise your hand.”

“Oddly enough, more than thirty hands were raised this time. That included Miles.”

The king immediately asked in surprise.

“What happened Miles? Did you change your mind?"

Miles didn't get up this time. He calmly replied with a blackened face.

“If everybody chose to fight, then everybody agrees. I don't want any separation."

“ Hahahaha! Beautiful. What you did was brave, Miles. Then as commander-in-chief of the earth campaign, Moss, I assign you. Your assistant will be Miles! Miles, I know you two may disagree on some points, but you two make a whole. take care of each other! In a week you will carry out the first attack. Come to me tomorrow with a strategy.” He said and left laughing.

Miles' face darkened a little from helping Moss, but inside he was happy.

'I'll watch your every move, monkey man. What did Theo offer you to become his dog?' he thought to himself.

Dark elves were very conservative and territorial, like magical creatures. They were happy with their current state. There was no need for them to attack the earth because an area as large as the underground was only at their disposal!

He knew, too, that most dark elves longed for the sun, even though they loved the dark. Their appearance had evolved this way because they lived underground. The records of dark elves were older than humans. So they knew how they got here and why they lived underground.

Moss woke him from his thoughts. After the king left, he stood up first and held out his hand. “Come, Miles. Let's go and get ourselves a place on earth!” said.

Miles stood up and shook his hand with an eager look. “Then, let the dark days end!” said.

With this slogan of his, forty people at the table raised their glasses and shouted.

“LET THE DARK DAYS END!”

The surface adventure of the elves began with this handshake.

…