Rancour emerged from the rubble of the crumbling hill, as Takahiro returned to Momo and Hjalmarr.

“You know where I have hidden her.” Takahiro stated.

Momo nodded his thanks; they would return to the rebellious town of Poclinton once more.

“I am shocked to see you have survived Hjalmarr, I assumed a spear through the heart would have put the might Thunder-Guard down for good.” Rancour conveyed.

“You were wrong to assume so.” Hjalmarr replied calmly.

Rancour sighed deeply.

“Listen, I don’t have time for games, my empire will begin today, and I know none of you want to fight if you don’t need to, so I’ll let you scurry off to Poclinton unscathed.” Rancour proposed.

He’s good, he knew exactly what our plan was before it began Momo thought to himself as he considered the offer.

“I accept.” Momo announced briskly.

“Excellent. Now run along.” Rancour asseverated, watching as the three retreated to Poclinton.

“Why did we run, we could have had him, we could’ve ended the impending war before it began!” Hjalmarr yelled, pushing Momo.

“If we lost, he would’ve taken England, and expanded from there. This way we shall play Rancour and Raúl off of one another. In the end, we’ll have the final say, and we can restore this nation to the ownership of normal humans, instead of tyrannical sorcerers.” Momo explained, as the three walked to the gates of Poclinton, recently expanded by a large degree, to house a large population of refugees from the lords that Raúl had let loose upon the people of England.

“You have returned, good.” Edward Stigandr called to the trio below.

The gates opened, allowing the three to walk inside, Amirah trailing behind Momo.

“I am glad to see you alive Momo. I assume something has happened to drive you back here. Our hands are full training recruits to resist Raúl’s armies but do tell me what has happened.” Edward conveyed.

“An old wraith has been resurrected, your old liege Ellanher is his puppet, his son has defected to us, but that’s all the good news I have. The armies of Rancour shall be upon us soon.” Momo replied.

“I know nothing of a Rancour, but there is a new claimant to Lordship in the far North, he names himself Alard. He has been in his seat of power for several days; however, he has never appeared before his people due to the decimation of York.” Edward imparted.

“I suppose Ellanher likely announced Rancour to be the new ruler after York fell, I see why he drew out the battles we fought in, it was to give him time to consolidate once we were disposed of, he likely will sweep across Northumbria and Scotland and use their wealth to establish order for a conquest into Raúl’s England.” Momo deduced, as the four warriors walked through the town.

“What can be done?” Edward asked.

“We raid his armies, take small bands of soldiers to thin out their ranks and wear down Alard’s support before nobles’ defect to him and we are encircled.” Momo suggested.

“It’s not possible.” Edward commented, stopping and facing Momo. “We don’t have the manpower for this, I’ve barely been able to raise two thousand men to fight, Alard could raise tens of thousands with his riches far faster than we can do so, this is why we cannot declare war upon Raúl, he holds far more influence than us. Poclinton is expanding to be one of the largest cities in England, but we don’t have the forces to expand our corps any further, paying our army is already taking a quarter of the budget from our taxes.”

“Then we raid use the wealth of my father.” Momo proposed.

“The riches from your father would be temporary, the army will have to downscale after we run out of its spoils.” Edward countered.

“We shouldn’t use the riches for an army, we should use it to form farms, build infrastructure and stimulate business, by doing this we can ensure larger tax margins and fund, fuel and last a prolonged war.” Momo retaliated.

Edward silently considered Momo’s proposal, looking around at the large city he now governed.

“I’m no statesman Momo, funding the bureaucracy of this city alone has been nightmarish. Would you consider becoming the ruler? You seem competent enough to lead and pick suitable public officials, as for me it has not been effective, I am a soldier after all.” Edward stated.

“For an entry of such a kind, I will need to be able to support my public opinion, the treasury of my father is one of the old Anglo-Saxons, I know where his coffers lie upon the old farm. It contains a great portion of the former Anglo-Saxon wealth, around a ton of gold among vast quantities of other currencies and materials.” Momo imparted.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“He must be a descendent of the last Anglo-Saxon kings if he had a ton of gold just lying around.” Edward commented.

“He likely was, all I know of us is that we were former royals, and when they were ousted, the farm became the housing place for a great portion of the Anglo-Saxon wealth, however my father gave up the ambitions to retake England after his father died.” Momo replied.

“Well, let’s get started, how shall we extract the gold from you father’s hiding place?” Edward asked.

“I’ll get it myself, whilst Hjalmarr and Takahiro help your soldiers train new recruits.” Momo responded.

“Alone? It’s impossible to get a ton of anything anywhere unnoticed, especially gold!” Edward imparted.

“For a man, yes, but I am no man. Not anymore.” Momo replied.

Shocked, Edward nodded in silence as Momo sped off to his old home with Amirah.

Momo opened the burial site he made for his parents, walking down the steps, past their buried bodies and into a chamber, blocked by a massive, near impenetrable door. Momo pushed the key into the small lock, pushing the door open with ease as he entered the small storage room.

Amirah’s eyes widened at the sheer amount of gold laying before them.

“Shiny!” Amirah squeaked in joy.

Momo let out a small laugh, agreeing with her sentiments. He picked up the entire tons’ worth of gold, feeling another few tons’ worth of other materials, balancing it with a shielding technique as he sped off to the town, placing the large gold bars, coins and other materials in the Poclinton treasury.

Momo returned to Edward and the others, inviting them back to the freshly replenished coffers.

“This is far more than I expected. The silver, bronze and copper here is easily worth another ton of gold.” Edward remarked in amazement.

“It will do a lot of use for us; we shall need to begin cutting parts of these materials into coins and other currencies to pay off the labour force we’ll need.” Momo surmised.

“We have a small mill for that, we can build more as time goes on and as you are coronated.” Edward suggested.

“That is a good idea. When should I begin coronation?” Momo asked.

“We should announce you today, with your exodus of wealth no one will oppose you, especially since the army supports you.” Edward suggested.

Momo agreed, watching as Momo went to the administrative hall to announce the new monarch, with thousands gathering in the streets over the coming hour to listen to the address he was to give.

“People of Poclinton, as you all know, I am the commander in chief of the town, however, as you all may know, our coffers have nearly run dry, which is why, a wealthy lord has agreed to rule Poclinton in exchange for replenishment of our city’s wealth, and investment into farms, businesses and new infrastructure!” Edward called out to the people, who cheered, rejoicing in their livelihoods being restored.

Momo sped to Edward, avoiding the crowd and appearing before his new subjects at the peak of the stairs.

“I am proud to present Lord Elric as your new ruler.” Edward continued as the people cheered for their new lord.

“Now you should give a speech to them.” Edward whispered.

“My people! I am Lord Elric. I have heard your cries of distress; I know you refuse Raúl’s tyranny, and I am here to free you from him. From today, I assure you that we shall never see Raúl or his puppets upon these gates, I assure you prosperity and wealth, and I assure every one of you the security of my armies!” Momo yelled to the vibrant crowd, who cheered in response.

“How’d I do?” Momo whispered to Edward.

“Not bad, they like you.” Edward whispered back.

As the night fell, the people rejoiced throughout the city, as they toasted to tomorrow.