A week passed by quickly. By the time I returned from the church, Salicia had already sent Garnet away. I was surprised to see that she remained, but it was fine. I knew she was the spy, so I wasn’t going to reveal anything to her. Instead, I kept myself busy by getting the army together.
I had spoken with Mary, the Tibults, and numerous lords and ladies who had previously fled the west. Although I could look down at them and call them cowards for fleeing the west, I could say the same thing about anyone who refused to enter a dungeon, which were many people. Calypso had been on a rampage conquering the south to wage a war against Aberis. It was just a shame she had her eyes in the wrong direction.
Anyone she captured could have been dragged into a dungeon and fed to it, so in the end, it was probably right that these nobles fled. The nobles that hadn’t fled from the west were now all dead. However, she was gone now. It was as good a time as any for them to reclaim their lost territory. The trick behind that had been for them to sign an allegiance to me.
I thought this would be difficult, but I was already at the rank of count, and most of them were viscounts, barons, and knights. Adding to that the power of the Tibult household, the father being a Duke and the children already reaching the level of counts and countesses, and the support of the church, and they quickly all fell in line.
“Lord Deekson!” A man lowered his head. “It’s an honor to serve.”
“I sent my daughter to warm your bed, but she said she was rejected.”
“You’re the hero who tamed the wilderness, right?”
“I see it’s true you’re surrounded by great beauties.”
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“I heard you’ve defeated dozens of dungeons. Err… I don’t see the blessings. Perhaps it is an exaggeration?”
These kinds of comments filled the last few days, and in many ways, they were more exhausting than battling dungeons. However, at long last, all of that elbow grease had finally led to this army. If compared to the Chalm militia that I started, it was far grander. These were nobles, heroes, paladins, priests, and knights all dressed in their finest armor and given their best weapons. They had the experience that the volunteer army couldn’t possibly have after only a month or two of preparation.
“Are we ready?” I asked my hands behind me.
“I wish I could send more.” Prince Aberis sighed. “The Demon Lord Aberis is a true threat. I’m glad to see you’ve been able to raise such an army. It’s almost as large as the army on the southern border. I’m a bit jealous.”
“First things first, we’ll be conquering this so-called Deeksville. I’ll be launching our attack on Chalm from there.”
“Ah… right… you’re attacking her… the other Deek.” Aberis’s expression grew awkward.
“There is only one Deek.” I sighed. “You’re just going to have to trust me, okay?”
“I will.” He nodded.
“Please… be careful.” Eliana appeared next to Edward, her eyes wet with worry.
I grabbed her and gently kissed her. “I will be back.”
“That reminds me… after defeating the demon lord, I will put in to have you promoted again. No one will be able to deny that after.” Edward added while scratching his cheek.
“Marquis… you said after he was a Maquis we could get married!” Eliana cried out.
“Hah… well, you will be the ruler of the west. You should honestly be a Duke at that point, but your promotions are occurring a bit too rapidly, I fear. Also, you still need to officially reach rank S as an adventurer.”
“That will come.” I nodded, and after saying my goodbye I turned to the waiting army. “Let’s move out!”
Everyone stared in surprise as I naturally commanded the army. I had absorbed the karma of numerous leaders and even taken on running some armies in the Twilight Dungeon. At this point, this was somewhat natural to me. That was another reason I felt like I could take on Deedee. She had no experience in command.
Under my direction, the army started to walk through the portals we created. It was time to end start the invasion of Chalm!