The King of Karnak sat tall and proud at the table. His legend was forged in war, and his presence was that of a true hero king.

The Hero King. The Master of the Western Lands. He who slew the Demonic Dragon. The Hero of hills and rivers. The Dragonhorn.

His gaze was stern but often softened as he made eye contact with his most trusted. Which was almost everyone else at the meeting table.

Everyone but me that was.

Food and drinks were sparse, only a few plates of fruit and water for the assembled men and women. Each noble here today represented their territory that made up the sum of Karnak.

The exceptions were me, the royal prince, and the advisers of the king. The handpicked men and women had shown great insight into the workings of the kingdom.

Out of nearly two dozen nobles, sat the handful of representatives of our allied forces. This was the power of the new world we had built.

Forged from the old war that gave King Wellhorn his nickname. A household name that has persevered as he forged a new kingdom. A name that paved way for peace and prosperity. Dragonhorn.

The hero turned king, that slew the demonic dragon that terrorized the entirety of the Western Lands. With a good chunk of the north, south, and central parts of the Continent.

Then there was me.

I sighed as I leaned back onto my seat as Ellowin said her piece about the current state of the forest of spirits. The dryad and her ancient treant bonds.

From her seat, a dim light shone from her speaking crystal. The magic would mute others, but amplify the speaker so that all could hear.

“The treants will not move unless moved,” she spoke softly. Yet her near whispers were enough for all to hear. The magics of the council table was neat like that.

“The Dwarves however will!” a short man snarled into his crystal, touching it as soon as the dryad had let go. “The Orcs of the Western Wilds will not wait for US!”

“I agree with Herman!” a man yelled as he slammed his fist onto the magic table. The mystic design was good enough to actually lower the volume of the yell.

This table was easily my greatest commission for the king.

Even if the idiot didn’t like me, as I cared, he at least loved the table. Having a dozen people scream into your ears was never fun.

“I believe that the Orcs are a diversion. You all know that the southern titans have been stirring!” another noble interjected as the table opened up.

I pulled out my notebook. The pen I had crafted worked well today as I jotted down what the various nobles blabbered about.

I rarely spoke as I found that the art of listening far more powerful. People would sometimes say the strangest things. Things that perked my ears.

This world was a one-way trip, but what a trip!

A lifetime of watching anime, reading light novels, and fantasy series has given me superhuman abilities in this world.

Which was a little lackluster as the average person here seemed barely educated. They were more versed in family history than anything else.

Astur stood up. His kingly presence was enough to quell the others, opening up the table to him. He touched the table, and his voice was calm.

“The issues are pronounced and…”

The royal doors slammed open.

The crown Prince Carlin strode in. His fully armored figure was impressive as the pristine whites and gold gave him a heroic aura.

It was doubly impressive considering the dents, tears, and missing pieces that showcased his recent adventures to the northern Steppes of the Crown.

King Astur glared at me. He knew that this was somehow my doing as his most favored child had suddenly gone on a patrol to the far north.

To the graveyard of where the Demonic Dragon Baruda had been slain.

I stared back with a raised eyebrow.

Seriously, monster issues, ancient revivals. It was obvious that something was happening and there was a good chance that it was related to an old enemy.

Especially if that enemy was called the ‘Demonic Dragon’ who was worshiped as a god.

The prince stopped by a separate talking crystal. Installed for the various pages that could interrupt without screaming at the top of their poor lungs.

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“Hail King Wellhorn! Greetings to the Three Fold Alliance!” prince Carlin exclaimed as he stood to attention and rapped his fist to chest three times.

“I beg your forgiveness, but I have an urgent matter to bring to your attention!” the prince continued as he clapped twice and two of the five stars of the new generation hauled in a plank of wood.

It was placed on the table, where the assembled nobles stared on in rapt attention.

Sit in any meeting for four hours and any distraction became welcome.

The two stars were followed up in the last three. They hauled in a bag and plunked it onto the board with a hefty thunk.

The string was undone and I rolled my eyes. What the hell was this cliche!?

“I bet you a coin that its a head of some servant of the dragon you killed,” I whispered as I leaned into the king’s side.

The head was of a half-formed beast. Parts of it were once human, but the horns and scales were less natural.

The brand of the fanged claw, a circle with a slash through it was unmistakable. Demonic Dragon Baruda’s sigil.

The stars began to stack up the dozen or so skulls of people in various states of decay.

I had no magical powers, but even I could feel the dark taint of black magic from my seat.

“We could only observe from a distance, but the bones of Baruda have been unearthed, cleaned, and were pulsating with magic,” prince Carlin said through grit teeth. His body shook with what he saw that day.

“We were beset by the undead within hours and we fought our way through. It is with good fortune that we were able to escape,” one of the heroes exclaimed as they touched they also touched the crystal.

The King frowned at me, but I had already learned how to ignore it. I once feared his glares, but then I began to serve and quickly grew annoyed.

Sure he could kick my ass, but I knew more than him and I out king-ed him by my playthrough of harvest moon games alone.

I literally doubled harvest by a few suggestions on also planting support crops so that they would work in tandem. The various druids were more than happy to preserve the earth and increase the harvest. They had wonderful suggestions on what else we could plant.

I stared at the five stars. The new generation of heroes that would one day lead the kingdom. Each star came from a prominent noble house.

I would say that it was luck that they were all gifted in the arts of war, but then again… Wasn’t Fire Emblem full of these types of heroes?

I touched the king’s talking crystal. He had three. One for normal conversation. One to mute everyone. One to scream extra loud.

I touched on the extra loud one.

“Just to double-check, you are saying that we are facing the cult of Baruda. Who is also resurrecting the Demonic Dragon? As well a force of undead, and possessed people?” I asked them as I gestured towards the pile of heads.

“It is as you summarize, Lord Adviser,” prince Carlin said with a touch of reverence in his voice.

I nodded and stroked my chin.

I looked at Herman. The dwarf representative looked back at me with wide eyes.

Everyone had stared between us, curious at what fanciful nonsense I would spout next.

“Friend Herman, how was my order from last fall coming along?” I asked with a wide smile.

“Your… Your order for holy enchanted steel weapons is nearly finished. We are working on the final few batches…” Herman whispered back in awe.

I didn’t know why the old man was shocked half the time. I took educated guesses and made orders for various weapons from time to time.

This year’s danger was undead. Last year was an orc uprising. The year before was a sea monster invasion.

I stared as everyone stared at me.

I almost giggled at their faces.

Seriously. You just had to listen to the reports and you could almost guess at what was coming with three tries.

Massive issues from the wildlands? Orcs lived there? I would guess orc invasion. Yet I had ordered them to be spared as much as possible since there was a cause for this.

Turns out it was a drought, and we now had decent trade relations with those wild green skins. We provided the magics to bring in clean water and fertile soil. In return, we got exotic materials and some rather precious gems and ores.

Merfolk invading? We always had good relations, and I had guessed that there was something happening in the background.

Turns out there was a coup d'etat and we solved it by rescuing the true prince that was being held captive by a former viscount on the southern territories.

Today?

Monsters and beasts more active across the land?

Something was irritating them. Across a large body of land? It was something big.

Issues with the northern border as towns and villages were starting to disappear?

Whispers of a new religion?

My guess was evil god / Cthulu but the resurrected Demon Dragon was close enough.

“Oh Adviser ever so wise, please enlighten us on your thoughts,” Ellowin whispered as the various nobles became quiet.

“This is but my humble suggestion,” I cheerfully said as I laid a hand onto my heart. The eye-rolling of the king and the high nobles was enough to brighten my spirit and not drink tonight.

Which was totally as a lie as I was going to break open a small cask of the good stuff. Gods did I hate these meetings.

“We use the wonderfully enchanted steel, which is enough for a FULL regiment,” I emphasized the world in case some idiot would try to naysay me. I made sure to not look at the royal prince.

Those who were able to make eye contact with Herman got a full nod in return. I had actually commissioned a regiment and a tenth, but that didn't matter.

“This regiment will then march north and we will simply crush this new problem,” I said with a smile as I placed my hands on my hips and let out a winning smile.

“Then who would we select to go?” royal prince Vicks Wellhorn asked.

I finally stared at the man. There was respect between us. Respect with a healthy dose of hidden daggers and long cloaks.

I saw enough flags here to see evil uncle/brother coming a mile away.

He was smart enough to know that I knew that he knew that I knew.

I broke into laughter.

“My dear Prince! I am just an adviser. I know little in the ways of war. That is why we have professionals. Like the King and our trusted Master of the Armies!” I exclaimed as I pointed to the King and his most trusted general.

The two nodded, and everyone seemed to relax. They would do all that logistical stuff, and I would sit back in my patio and have some nice meals.

It was true. I didn’t know how to soldier.

But I would bet my small territories that I could give even these generals a healthy dose of shock should I ever fight them on equal footing.

I was great at strategy games and part of the reason I was such a good lord was that I understood what it took to do the basics of governing. Those in-depth strategy games were a blessing as I struggled to learn and play them.

My taxes were high, but serfs had a ridiculous standard of living. The good wine often had people begging me to send them more.

I sat back down and leaned back. I smiled to myself as I had already solved half of this problem.

I knew that new issues could still crop up, but I also knew that we would deal with it as it came.

My smile deepened but I hid behind a poker face as I caught another glare of the king. The man didn't like me most days, but he seemed to dislike me more when I was right.