A few minutes after Joshua left my home/office, I started calculating how many soldiers I could send with him, and Jonathanne.

And I could afford to send 16 soldiers to accompany him, and Jonathanne. Not counting Jonathanne’s squire, and Jay’s squire who was resting with her soldiers this week, but I’d still be conscripting her, and had already counted her soldiers in the total count.

So, counting the knights and the squires I could afford to send, we had 20 soldiers ready to go, which was half the number of soldiers my entire empire had.

The only reason I was sending this many to begin was because I wanted to get a clear picture of this new species we had learned about, and if they should be... well, exterminated at sight.

I, currently, favoured in letting them be, as coming from Earth, I had a general idea of how bad of an idea exterminating a native species was.

And seeing as this was a fantasy world with magic and all, the consequences of eradicating or displacing them would be that much worse.

Then, calling the guard stationed in front of my home, I asked him to call Jonathanne, and after she arrived, I briefed her on what was going on and answered a few questions and declared her as the head of the little operation we were going to do.

Both because she was the knight in charge of the majority of the soldiers we were sending, and I was trying to groom her into becoming an important figure in the military. Why? Nepotism.

I am not even going to try and make my self seem in the right, its simply nepotism. If Jonathan was here instead of her, I’d try to groom him into becoming an important figure just because of sentimentality.

If she ever proved to be a bad general, I’d of course demote her. And, even if she wasn’t a bad general but there was someone better than her present, I’d promote them instead of her.

But as of right now, there were not a lot of capable hands in the military which was barely a year old at this point.

In the future I’d have many generals and capable officers, and then I’d rely on them, but for now I’d be relying on Jonathanne, and any other knights I put in high places.

And the missions that I wanted them to do wasn’t that dangerous anyways. Their main objective was threat assessment, and their secondary objective was search and rescue/retrieval of bodies for burial.

So, even if Jonathanne proved incompetent, there shouldn’t be any loses. Well, maybe some equipment may be lost, but no manpower should be.

“So, we only need to search the northern part of the forest? For how long this operation will last?” Jonathanne asked and... that was a good point. What if they didn’t find a nest of those black creatures, that we didn’t have a name for yet, in a couple of hours? What then?

“Hmm... 3 days seems like an acceptable amount of time. The operation will continue for the rest of this day, and night, so make sure to cycle manpower so the soldiers don’t get too tired, and can’t continue their duties.

“Then, the next morning everyone will rest, and then we will only work when its day out for 2 more days.

“If we cannot locate the whereabouts of Joel, or the monster nest in those 3 days, the mission will be a failure and we will need to simply keep an eye out for anything that’s going on in the forest near the village, and possibly have a permanent force stationed there instead of only leaving the defence of the village to the militia.” I responded after a few moments of thinking.

“Understood your majesty. When should we—” Jonathanne started responding to me, but muffled voices from outside made their way in, and cut her off.

“I said you can’t enter!”

“And I said I need to! Just—get out of my way already!”

“...What the hell is going on out there?” I muttered as I focused on the closed door.

Then Jonathanne, who was also looking at the door, turned towards me, and asked for permission to open the door, which I granted with a nod.

Then she quickly moved across my living room, and yes there were chairs around for people to sit that no one used for some reason, and opened the front door, which showed us the image of my homes guard trying to block a very familiar person.

“Damian!” Jonathan said as he saw my face, and a smile grew on his face as he pushed the guard aside and entered my home—just to be blocked by Jonathanne.

“Jonathan, you know you can’t be here without permission.”

“What? He is my friend, is he not? We spend a few days together in the world, all alone! Our bond strengthened by the beast we faced together!

“Hell, I even helped in collecting the branches that went into making you! So, maybe show me some respect for basically being your father, and get out of my way?”

“...What the hell are you talking about? And how does that make you my father? And why should I let you pass anyways?”

“I helped create you, didn’t I?”

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

“I... do not believe that’s how that process works. And wouldn’t that mean I’d have 2 fathers? Isn’t that a bit... weir—”

*Ahem!*

I cleared my throat to get their attention, and to stop Jonathanne from saying something that couldn’t be reversed.

I’d have to teach her that homosexuality, and LGBTQ+ people existed in general... though I don’t think there are any gays around in my empire yet.

I mean... they’d appear in time, as homosexuality was natural in my old world, even though people didn’t want it to be, so, it would appear eventually in this world too.

Though... that only meant that I had the opportunity to postpone giving her sex-ed, which I was more than happy to take.

“I am happy to see you, Jonathan. Though... I would’ve been happier if you had waited for a few moments more. As you can probably tell, I am a bit busy right now.”

“Well, that’s the reason I am here anyways! So, don’t be worried!” He said, and tried to go around Jonathanne and reach me, but she was able to block him quite easily.

“And why are you here if you know what’s going on?” I asked, ignoring the charade that was going in front of me.

“Well, because I want in!”

“...What?”

“I want to join in the monster hunt! You surely can’t expect me to let you and Jonathanne do all the fun once again, do you?

“Just tell me when we are going, and I’ll be ready by then!” He said excitedly, and I could basically see through his daydreams, and into the world he had created in his mind.

Then I thought for a few moments if I should include him because more manpower would be good in this situation. But did I really want to risk a civilian’s life in a military operation that could be carried out by the guard without worry?

“...No.” I said simply, after a few moments of wait, and watched as his dreams shattered, and his smile faded away.

“W-what?! Why?! You know how good I am with both the spear and a bow, so I can defend myself. I have a good sense of direction and awareness, so neither will I get lost, or accidentally hurt people. And I am just... the best hunter around!

“Have you seen how many twin tail wolves I killed last week? I am fit for the job!”

...So, you were the fucker who has been decimating the local wolf population?

...Eh, I’ll punish you later. Afterall, their hides have been quite useful so far... but anyways, I need to take a decisive stand here.

“Jonathan, I know you are more than a capable hunter—”

“Then why reject me?!”

“Because you are not a member of the guardsmen, Jonathan.”

“...What?! Just because of that you will not allow me to help rescue poor...” He was saying, but couldn’t say the name of the person that was missing.

“Joel?” Jonathanne said, still blocking him from reaching me.

“Yes! You need more hands to find and rescue poor Joel, right? What if he dies before your soldiers can reach him? You need a swift hunter to help you track, and find his where abouts!”

“...Jonathan, please. We both know you only want to fight against the new monsters we found. Don’t try to appeal to my emotions, and make it seem like you actually care about Joel.” I said, looking at him judgingly.

“Fine! I want to fight the new monster you found; you caught me! So, just let me go along!”

“No means no, Jonathan. It’s too dangerous for a civilian to go there, even if you are being escorted by armed men.

“I don’t want your name being alone on a casualty list.”

“...A what list?”

“A casualty list. Which is a list which includes the people who died in a conflict—or were injured in some way or the other.

“Right now, I expect us to maybe have 1 or 2 minor injuries at most, but with you, we will definitely have a major injury, or perhaps even a death.

“I cannot, and will not, send a civilian to a dangerous place even if they ask for it.”

“But I go to the forest to hunt animals every day!”

“It’s different. You have traps set up in the forest, and know the layout, and the animals in it. But you have no idea of what we are fighting with—and neither do we.”

“Then, what’s the difference in sending me and a normal soldier? Aren’t you risking their lives?”

“Yes, I am. But they are prepared for it. You, are not.”

“But—”

“That’s enough!” I said, and got off of my chair, and looked Jonathan straight in the eyes.

“You are not joining the soldiers in monster hunting. That’s the end of discussion. Now, will you leave?”

“What?! No, I won’t leave until you allow me to accompany them! I am not letting Jonathanne have all the fun again!” Jonathan said, and it seemed like none of my words had gotten through to him.

Then, I simply sat down, and looked towards Jonathanne.

“...Jonathanne, will you throw him out for me, please?”

“Of course, your majesty.” She then answered, grabbed him, and started dragging him out.

He, of course, resisted. To no avail as the guard outside soon joined Jonathanne, and helped her throw him out.

“This is not the last you’ll hear from me! I’ll kill those monsters even if you don’t want me to!” Jonathan then screamed as he was being dragged out, and continued screaming even after he was thrown out.

“...When will we start the operation your majesty?” Jonathanne repeated the question she had asked me before Jonathan had interrupted us.

“As soon as the soldiers are done gathering, and you bring enough supplies to last through the night into the village.

“Though I am not sure if the soldiers should make their way back to the capital, or make a tent camp near the village. Afterall, the distance between the capital and the village is only around half an hour, so it can be walked in a short amount of time.

“But it may just be better to make a tent camp... and it would also give you some experience on how to construct them for later missions too!”

“Then, should we bring the needed tools for the camps with us too?”

“...Yeah, why not.” I said, and our conversation stalled there, but I could feel that Jonathanne had something she wanted to ask.

“...Do you want to add something more, Jonathanne?”

“No, your majesty.”

“...Jonathanne, I am not dumb. I can tell something’s on your mind. So, either get out with it, or get outta here.” I said, not wanting to really pressure her too much to say what she had on her mind, but also wanting her to go away if it was not a pressing issue, as I needed to focus back on my job of ruling the country.

“...Well, I am just... not sure if it’s a good idea to let Jonathan go out like that.

“What if he goes into the northern forest by himself, or follows us into it?”

“Hmm... that’s a viable concern, yes. But what can we do about it?”

“Well... didn’t your majesty say that emperors and kings are supposed to have absolute power?”

“Yes, I did?”

“So... can’t you order us to lock him away for the night, so we are sure he is safe?”

“...I remember also saying that I wasn’t planning on abusing my absolute power, Jonathanne, and this sure does sound like an abuse of power to me.”

“But wouldn’t it be for good?”

“Nope. We’d either need to lock him up for weeks, or months, otherwise he could just go into the forest in the morning, when there are no soldiers there.

“If he ever goes into the forest, its best that he does so today, as we will have a chance to save him if he does.

“And we don’t have any reason to lock him up anyways. And, no, being dumb is not a solid ground to be locked up for.”

“Maybe it should be?”

“Oh, I wish. But the rule of law must persist... even though we literally don’t have any laws written down, and no one charged with seeing that the laws are equally upheld everywhere... I should probably start writing a book of laws, shouldn’t I?”