Miel shook the hand of the lower noble with a smile, trying not to shake too hard the sack of gold coins that was hanging from his hands. "I hope you have good memories of me when the heralds come asking." He chuckled slightly, receiving a conceited grin from the other party as a response.

As the hall finally emptied and the gratitude gifts had been all given, the doors finally closed behind the last guest. Miel's face turned from an upbeat host to a serious, tired visage. He sighed as he turned towards Loposia, the strategist who looked equally as tired. The bald man shook his head and sat down on a wooden chair, tapping the armrest with his finger.

The golden-haired general couldn't help but do the same. He had exhausted his energy on acting for so many hours, and his cheeks were sore from the hundreds of fake smiles. The party had started late, but he did not expect it to last until dawn. Greed would not wait, and he knew that well. Nobles expecting their rewards would stay however long it took them to talk him up and get some rewards.

"Well then... I need to sober up. I'll go take a walk."

"Careful with the monsters." Loposia jokingly said, as if taunting fate.

"You never get tired of old jokes." Miel let go of a subtle and small yawn as he covered his mouth, and walked through the backdoor of the hall. Outside, a rather unpleasant scene was painted by the garden surrounding the ballroom, dried by the unexpected cold that assaulted the region for the first time in decades. Although still green thanks to the care of the gardeners, the bushes decorated Miel in a withering image as he trailed off towards the towers of the citadel. Salutes came from the guards on watch as he reached the top, and began to walk his way along the great inner wall that protected the castle.

The entirety of Pontya could be observed from so high up. Its streets and houses, built along on the cobblestone roads, made the eyes confuse themselves in grey and red tones. The trail he followed deviated each time more from the scenery of the city and it's walls, and was soon set on the farms that stretched for hundreds of meters behind the citadel's hill. It was strange to see the colors of dawn blending with the grey, empty fields that could not brim with life in such a cold season. The silos and barns were closed, stacked to their fullest. Guards and archers stood at every intersection, placed there by Miel himself. It was only natural to guard your crops during the winter— or so everyone thought.

In reality he was concerned that Thom Arburson had decided to drive his army into the city. Militarily, he was more than confident. However, he knew that he could not trust his numbers if the enemy was a monster that could fly and attack at the same time. If there was at least another one of such monsters, then the threat was severe. Their walls wouldn't fall, but their silos could burn. He had decided to arm the farmland with as many guards as he could afford to relocate, archers mainly. It was going to be a harsh winter. Miel could not allow for any mistakes.

"My general..." A man called him by his side. He eyed him without interest, his eyelids about to close. "Is there anything in your mind?"

"..." Miel narrowed his eyes slightly. "Are you my counselor? Eyes on the horizon."

"Y-Yes... Sir."

Miel detached himself from the edge of the wall to walk away, his right hand rubbing against his neck. His steps kept guiding him around the citadel's walls until he finally rounded it after several minutes of walking. What had been the point of it? Maybe he was actually worried about what could happen.

"The king is late in his response..." He muttered under his foggy breath. "That fucking meeting should have been declared long ago. Is that bastard really playing with me?"

He leaned his body on the ledge of the wall, and rested his hands on the border. Thoughts tried to make their way inside the man's head, but as time passed, it became difficult to think. His head laid against the cold, chipped stone, and suddenly, he fell asleep.

The king... Why am I waiting for him...? Isn't this enough...?

An image flashed on his mind. A proud king surrounded by noblemen and royalty. Drinking fine wine on a golden calix, enjoying the lifestyle of a supreme leader, basking in the lavish style of a ruler. Then, he could only picture that crumbling image. The king tumbling to his feet, the castle breaking down. Every human living on their own, breaking the rules and using their power without restriction. A world where law was enforced only by moral principle and the reality of everyone's mind became true— that was the only desirable outcome for him.

A smile appeared on the man's face, but not for long. He was awoken from his stupor by a sudden uproar, dozens of voices calling out for something. Having raised his head, he looked over to the origin of that noise to find it was coming from the east side of the farmland.

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His marksmen shot up arrows to the sky as the soldiers evacuated farmers towards the riverbed. The target in the sky could not be seen, only a radiant flash of light gave a hint of the intruder's position, and it blinded the marksmen as they looked up to shoot. Miel frowned and began to walk quickly alongside the edge of the wall.

"General! Take refuge in the castle!"

"My ass."

Without hesitating any further, Miel leaped above the walls of the citadel. He grabbed himself onto the sill of a window down below, then jumped again towards the borders of the towers. He smacked his hands on the side of the wall as he slid his feet across the stone, descending several meters down before hanging onto something else once more. A second jump from the tower took him to the lower gardens outside of the citadel, closer to the plaza. The general broke into a sprint through the garden and down into the city, looking back at the walls he had just descended.

"I'm starting to believe we have to reinforce this wall." He sighed, thinking about Valta's exit.

It took him no more than four minutes to arrive at the western gates, but it was important time he had used up. The sounds of fighting became noisier as he got closer to the exit, and by the time he had crossed the bridge and gotten to the other side, a loud explosion covered the sky in light for a split second.

A tower of flames exploded from one of the farms, engulfing the silo in nothing but mere seconds. The figure flew away towards the next storage, to which Miel clicked his tongue in annoyance. Could he get there in time?

There was a total of 32 silos outside of Pontya, storing a good portion of the food they had for winter. If he didn't manage to get there in time, they'd be in trouble for the season. He ran through the field chasing the light, followed by a barrage of arrows that still pointed at the enemy. He brandished the titite sword and unleashed his aura, then prepared to unleash a fierce attack at the target.

"Cease your arrows!" He yelled, coagulating the aura of his body around his feet before kicking down on the earth to blast himself upwards. "Ha!"

He aimed at the blinding body of light in front of him, creating a traveling slash that cut through the air like a blade. It hit its mark true, blocking out the light and taking it out of the air. It crashed against the ground, arousing a cloud of dust. Miel touched soil and walked towards the enemy, feeling a single strange presence between the dust.

"It's... Different from before?" He frowned.

A sudden gust of wind appeared between the debri, clearing it out as it dispersed in the air. Another presence appeared as the wind settled, making the general open his eyes wide in surprise.

"Hey." The other man said with a smirk. "That was fun."

Thom Arburson stood amidst the small crater that had just been created, holding a golden hobgoblin close to him. The monster's hand was engulfed in dim flames, and Thom's feet were covered in a light trace of aura. Had they been two people from the start?

"You hid your presence... From me?" Miel's veins popped up on his forehead as his blood began to boil.

"Well..." Thom looked at a far corner of his eyes. "It's a skill I hadn't had the chance to use much. I think it's cool. Makes me feel sneaky, you get me?"

"I... Don't like the games you're playing, Thom Arburson. This time you have done it for real. You went and messed with my city, so I will not—!"

"Okay, bye!"

Bang!

A red streak of light marked the exit of that man, who broke the earth as he took flight with the monster on his arm. Miel looked at the sky in a daze, both amazed and terrified by the heaven-defying speed at which Thom had taken off.

"Did he... Give up that easily?" He narrowed his eyes.

"It's burning!" Someone suddenly yelled, looking over at the city. Miel shifted in place and looked at the columns of smoke that rose from the city.

"Son of a bitch!" The general yelled from the very bottom of his gut. "That's the fucking army supplies!"

"What do we do?!"

"Don't move! If they come back, keep them at bay!"

"Yes!"

As Miel was crossing the bridge towards the city once more, he saw a yellow strick of light fly above his head at a terrifying speed. It was clear that the attack on the farms had been nothing but a distraction. He hurried towards the headquarters, where the provisions were. The entire storage building was burning, a gaping hole blown at the top of the structure.

"Damnit..." He bit on his lip. "How could I be so careless...? Could it be because I didn't sleep...?"

Miel covered his face and was about to panic, when a chubby hand grabbed his shoulder, accompanied by condescending laughter.

"Loposia..."

"Do not worry. I ordered the soldiers to get our supplies out of there as soon as I saw the ruckus outside. We took out as much as we could before the monster showed up... Only about 1/7 of our provisions burned."

"How did you...?" Miel's surprise was greater than his worry.

"Basic strategy. Anyone else would have done this if they had the capacity, but you see, not everyone has a grand mage capable of flying and shooting third-tier spells... Thankfully. If it wasn't because of Petyo's report on the storage of those monsters being guarded by a dozen orcs and a dozen mages, we would have done the same."

"Right..."

Miel composed himself and breathed in deeply. Things had gone extremely well considering his stupid decisions, so there was nothing he could complain about. His inability to command and react in such a situation had only further confirmed his belief that important decisions like such should not be left in the hands of a single individual.

"This is a response." Loposia raised his eyebrows. "A clear one, at that. They're ready for war... And they've got a brain on their side."

"Do you think Valta...?" Miel whispered closely.

"Hmph. Whoever it is, we should probably prepare for the group of monsters in our front door on the next few days." Loposia turned around and left without saying much more.

"...Right." Miel sighed.