Without a second thought, Amber and Hestia teleported to Luna's office, where Luna was glancing between some papers and the war table that contained even more details. Luna smiled with glee when she saw them.

"Sisters! What's brought you here?"

"Luna! The dungeons in the south and west!" Amber yelled at Luna who just tilted her head and looked at them, dumbfounded.

"What's about them?" Luna looked curiously at Amber.

"They accumulated minions for the annual dungeons wars, but where are they? They are still in the dungeons!" Hestia yelled, almost in a panic.

Luna's eyes widened when she heard that. She ran towards the war table and sent the orders for the Eagles to scout the area immediately. All three of them were looking at the Kobold Nest Dungeon, which was closest to Avalon in the west. However, the Dungeon looked dormant, with evidence of a recent fight. Another Eagle was already surveilling another dungeon; the Necropolis Dungeon. It had changed drastically from the previous intel they gathered. It was an open-plan dungeon without any visible barrier, now, it was surrounded by a thick wall about five meters tall. The dungeon forces consisted of various undead who were standing guard on the walls, as if they were preparing for a siege. Luna nervously took a breath when the next dungeon, the Wild Beasts Forest, was scouted. Its monsters were heading towards the town of Pine Hills.

"Oh no..." Luna whispered and sent mental orders to Legio Ferrata to return to the town immediately.

"We must tell Theon..." Amber looked at Luna, who nodded.

"Tell me what?"

•••

I looked at my wives with a soft smile and, seeing their sour faces, I almost laughed. "What's wrong?"

"Theon, this is not a funny situation! I screwed up!" Luna hissed angrily, as her ears twitched nervously. "Pine Hills is in danger because I ignored the dungeons! I was so focused on reaching borders that I made a horrible mistake!"

"Calm down, Luna." I smiled. "I know. Don't panic, mistakes happen. I have made a lot of them so far. What you are planning to do now?"

"I ordered Ferrata to aid Pine Hills, but no matter how I look at this, it's impossible for the entire legion to reach them in time." Luna was close to tears. "Why haven't you told me I made such mistakes earlier?"

"There are mistakes you have to make on your own to learn properly. Ban did not realise that yet, and Galahad has made the same mistake as you." I smiled and patted her head.

"How you can be this relaxed? The people are going to die," she whispered.

Amber and Hestia were looking at us in silence, but I knew they were trying to come up with an idea to save a day.

"Galahad subdued the Dungeon of Snares just because he wanted to be flashy in front of the local population. If not for that, he would have ignored that dungeon as well. Ban was so occupied with garrisoning towns and cities that he completely ignored the bigger picture." I skirted her previous remark and zoomed in on the legion that had turned around and was returning as quickly as possible towards the endangered city. "You are right. The ENTIRE Legion won't make it in time. So how you are going to save the Pine Hills?"

Luna took a deep breath and looked once again at the zoomed legion formation. At the same moment as Hestia, Luna pointed at the Hussars. "Cavalry!"

I just smiled at Hestia and nodded approvingly. Luna sent a mental order and the Winged Hussars rushed in, far faster than any infantry ever could hope to dream of. The Ferrata's Heavy Cavalry sprung to action, leaving the rest of the Legion quickly behind. The speed they achieved on the flat meadows seemed to surprise Luna, who looked at me in awe.

"You knew..." She pouted.

"I knew." I nodded in agreement. "You are still learning, Luna. You have a knack for this, but you must learn more. It’s quite unfortunate that you are at such a point where you must learn from your own mistakes."

"Thank you, Theon." She smiled, confident that the Hussars would buy enough time for the rest of the legion to return and save the small city.

"What for? To tell you to calm down? Even without me, I am sure you three would find the right answer." I grinned.

"Why was only this one dungeon attacking us?" Amber pointed to the remaining two.

"Well... They tried. The Kobold Nest was pacified by Blair's forces on his way to Westwood. The battle was far harder than the two of us anticipated. The Necropolis, on the other hand, fortified itself because Thor, Arani and the detachment of their finest subordinates were stalking the fringes of its domain," I admitted with a grain of hesitance.

"Thank you, Theon." Luna kissed my cheek. "So you allowed me to make mistakes, but not too big?"

"Sorry... I know it's unfair that I looked at your hands all this time..."

"Oh, don't be sorry!" She firmly interjected and grabbed my hand. "I know you trust me and believe in me, but I feel better knowing you are watching over me."

The relief was noticeable. Then Hestia told me everything she previously discussed with Amber...

•••

The Guardsmen protecting the Pine Hills town barely managed to unpack their bags and begin training the local militia when the alarms started blaring. According to the messages they received, a large horde of monsters was heading their way. No less than five thousand beast-type monsters were barely twelve hours away from the town.

"This is bad, sir..." Mattias looked at the captain, who was still reading the message brought by the Eagle.

"It will be fine. These monsters are around level fifty. so our company out-levels them. Ferrata's Hussars are on the way as well. What's more, they should intercept the monsters one hour before they reach the city limits. The plan is to trample as many monsters as they can and rush forward to bolster our numbers." Captain Flin shrugged. "After that, we just maintain the walls until Ferrata returns with the Heavy Infantry and crushes the monsters."

The soldiers and members of the militia, who heard the Captain, loudly exhaled in relief. The Captain looked angrily at them and started yelling. "Are you fucking dumb?! There is no time to relax! Militia! You are responsible for relocating the civilians to the city centre and calming them down! You are far too low-level to help us on the walls."

"Yes, Sir!" The militia commander saluted sharply, barking orders to his people.

"Soldiers! Your mission is to barricade the city centre and hold those barricades if the walls are breached." The former Cridian soldiers accepted the orders, but it was apparent they were scared.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

The three hundred soldiers who surrendered after the siege were given a chance to serve Avalon. A chance they had gladly accepted, but now they looked at Captain Flin with regret.

"The Guardsmen are going to man the walls. If everything goes smoothly, the Hussars will be inside the Pine Hills before the first wave, so we should keep the walls fairly easy. If they are late, we are fucked and most of us are probably going to die." Captain Flin spat on the cobblestones of the main market. "But we have an additional advantage. The letter says..." He waved the message he received earlier and swore after he lost the line. After a second, he smirked and read aloud. "The new city lord, holding the rank of Knight, Alan Parr, should be here in three hours. He is a former Adventurer and a powerful Wizzard at level 100. Yes, you heard that right. A level 100 Wizard is going to join us soon, and he is not a half-ass who is going to run at the first sign of trouble."

"Well... I am going to check the arrow supplies, Sir," Mattias snorted.

"With that much firepower, it would be a fucking shame if we got killed and this shiny new city was eaten, don't you think, boys and gals?!" Flin shouted and saw much more hope in the eyes of the surrounding people.

•••

Alan arrived in his new city angry, sweaty, and hungry. His future wife, he hoped, or at least girlfriend, was also on the way with him when he received a message that Pine Hills was about to be attacked. He tried to persuade El'rin to return to Avalon, but she just hit him with her staff and shouted at him that was not going to happen. Then she healed him. Well... It was all expected. After he decided to retire from adventuring, he was asked to take some tests. After that, he was informed he could obtain the lowest nobility rank and get appointed as the City Lord, to which he happily agreed. What he had not anticipated was a month-long exhausting course at the University where he met El'rin. She was stubborn and beautiful, and after he graduated, he immediately asked her out. They quickly found a common language, but his quickly approaching departure to his new city made him ask her to go with him.

And here they were... In the city that was going to be besieged in just a few hours... They were welcomed by the Guardsmen who quickly showed them a way to the City Hall where the Captain also welcomed them. He hastily explained the plan to the new City's Lord, who nodded briefly.

"Excellent plan. El'rin is going to be in charge of all medical staff. She is a level 85 Priestess of Eriar, so along with your company Healer, she is our best chance to survive that battle. According to your report, Captain Flin, we should have ten lower level Clerics as well, so it's better to create a field hospital here in the Town Hall, than to spread them throughout the company.” Alan took a deep breath. “However, we are so tired that we must catch a few hours of sleep after riding here non-stop for the last six hours. Captain Flin, wake us up in three hours or earlier, if the horde arrives faster than anyone could expect." The Captain nodded and waved towards the two kids.

"Ed, Rita! Show Sir Alan and Miss El'rin their room!"

The two kids quickly bowed to the new City Lord and presumably his Lady, before leading them upstairs where a large suite, inherited from the old city lord, had been cleaned and prepared for the new occupants. Alan looked at the kids, who were wearing clean and decent clothes. They were smiling brightly at him. "Thank you."

"At your service, my Lord!" they exclaimed and bowed politely. "We will be outside in case you need us!"

Before Alan could say anything, they ran away, leaving them behind. He looked around with a dose of disgust at the decadent pieces of art and lavish decorations. "If we survive this, I am renovating all of this shit," he sighed loudly.

"Haha. But we are keeping the bed," El'rin laughed at him from the bedroom, making his heart race. "The bed is big enough for four or five people, so we can take a nap before the showdown..."

"I'm glad you like me enough to plan renovations after all of this... But I smell like a horse." Alan realized that there would be no showers and, what was worse, the water would be too cold for a quick wash.

"So do I." She shrugged and giggled. "Last time offer. Are you coming over to me so I could at least give a hug to man I love before the big battle, or do you really want to sleep on the couch?"

After such an obvious revelation, Alan just took off his cape and armour, dropping to the bed where El'rin kissed his cheek. They fell asleep a few moments later in a warm embrace free of fear.

•••

They were woken up exactly three hours later by the same boy and girl who showed them the room. Alan was still sore after six hours on his warhorse, and El'rin looked even worse than before the nap. She mumbled something under her breath and, from her ring of holding, she took out a metal can.

"Is that an energy drink?!" Alan asked in shock, regretting wholeheartedly not buying his own supplies.

Before El'rin replied, she downed half of the large can and gave him the rest. "Yes, Sir." She grinned and started slowly regaining her usual vitality. He drank the rest and smiled after she cast additional buffs on him.

"Sir and... Lady?" The girl wasn't sure and looked intently at the Elf girl, who laughed.

"Just Miss El'rin, until... Well..." She wanted to be smug, but the words somehow didn't want to come out and she blushed.

"Are monsters close by?" Alan asked as he smiled, quickly looking at the girl. "And what are your names?"

"I am Rita and this is my brother Ed, Sir! No, Captain Flin ordered me to tell you that contingency plan six was executed, and he is heading towards the main gate," Rita relayed the message, visibly proud she used some secret words and Alan nodded.

"Stay with El'rin and help her as much as you can." Alan put on his armour parts and armoured robe. He looked at El'rin, who was doing the same, and warmly smiled. "I wanted to say something, but true to the first lesson on the University, no red flag promises. Take care El'rin. I am going to the Captain to slay some monsters."

"Take care as well, Alan. Remember, we have plenty of work in the city after that."

•••

"Perfect timing, Sir!" Flin saluted him and pointed at the horizon. "It looks like the Cavalry arrived as planned. They are currently cutting their way towards us, but hell! They are here."

"Shame we are so far away... I should have brought a pair of binoculars from Avalon. They must look fabulous at the moment," Alan sighed, saluting back.

"Should we open the main gate?" one of the Guardsmen asked.

"Not yet." Alan shook his head in denial. "It's still not clear if they got through or they got stuck in the horde. But be ready to do it right after the order, be it from me or the Captain!" Alan focused on the monsters in front.

They looked intently at the horizon where the Hussars clashed with the monsters. The flashes of skills and magic shields were a clear indicator that a fierce battle ensued. Alan tried to remain calm, wondering if he was going to give the right orders at the right time. For two years, he was a party leader, so he was quite confident in his leadership skills, but this was something totally different. He looked at the Captain, an average-height man with respectable musculature and an almost rectangular face.

"I'm counting on you, Captain Flin." Alan lowered his voice.

"Naturally, sir. It's exactly why I am here," the Captain responded with a grin. "Do you have any flashy skills that can raise morale and accidentally devastate numerous monsters, sir?"

"A few..." Alan nodded and prepared himself.

The Hussar's charge was already audible. The whistle of wind in their wings and the loud staccato of the horses’ gallops soon transformed into roaring thunder when they passed by.

"Open the gates!" Flin shouted, but Alan grabbed his shoulder.

"There are monsters mixed with the cavalry! Be ready for a fight in the city!" Alan saw the Guardsmen ready their bows.

About one hundred Hussars slowed down, creating the rear guard. The monsters that closely followed the group had to slow down as well, allowing the main force to enter the city successfully. The few monsters that were mixed with the main force were mercilessly routed in the next instant. The city gates started closing, leaving the rear guard to their own devices. Half of the rear guard disengaged and split once again, creating two equally large groups. After gaining speed and flanking manoeuvres, they hit the monsters fighting with the rest of their comrades. After most of the monsters were killed, the entire formation regrouped, and gaining speed once more, disappeared in the near forest.

"Fuck... They are insane..." Flin's excited voice was in stark contrast to what he said.

"Seven hundred twenty-four Hussars, plus another ninety that are recovering now in the forest..." Alan nodded, ignoring Flin, as he was focused on the approaching monsters.

He raised his staff and pointed it towards the monster horde, forming a large, red magic circle above them. The soldiers and Guardsmen watched in awe as a fifty-meter circle of runes and magic symbols slowly circled in the air.

"Fire rain!" A massive storm ensued, sending hundreds of fire projectiles towards the various monsters, setting them ablaze. The charge of monsters was broken, with many of them desperately rolling on the ground to put out the flames. Almost a hundred weaker monsters were killed outright, and Alan smiled when his subclass levelled up.

"I'll be damned, Sir!" Flin whistled, very impressed. "That one was as flashy as hell!"