I paused, frozen. There had been many decisions and questions that had been raised by Maria's return, but I didn't expect the issue of management of the town to be one of them. I genuinely expected her to simply nod in agreement. After all, the entire reason I'd been ruling at all was her lengthy yet temporary absence.

Now that she'd returned after her ascension, it made perfect sense that she would reclaim her authority as the rightful ruler. But instead, I saw her and Eleanor exchanged loaded glances.

Her awkward rejection surprised me.

I simply stared, stunned into momentary silence. "You won't?" I asked a moment later.

Maria folded her arms across her chest, her expression firm but not unkind. She shook her head. "We don't think it's appropriate for me to rule this anymore. After everything, I can't just walk here and reclaim the title. The guards that were supposed to be loyal to me are long gone, and I'm no one but a distant figure to those farmers. You were the one that fought for them."

I swallowed, a knot forming in my throat. I didn't want to be dealing with the weight of management any more than necessary. I glanced from Maria to Eleanor, hoping that she would talk Maria out of her decision.

Eleanor simply offered a small, encouraging nod to Maria, tempting her to continue.

Maria exhaled slowly. "When I left, the situation was supposed to be simple and controllable. Yet, you fought against the heretics, dealt with Thomas, stood against Drakka and allied with Asterion. More importantly, you fought at the front lines, repelling every threat, not only defending the town, but forging it into something more."

"But…" I said, then paused. I hated to admit it, but she made sense. "Still, as a Blacksmith, I don't think —"

Eleanor snorted, cutting me off. "Yeah, that ship sailed when you have decided to forge thousands of farmers into an army that could actually threaten the forces of the city. You succeeded."

"You know I don't want to rule, right. I have my experiments —"

"Tough luck," Eleanor replied. "You should have thought that before taking down ascended warriors and breaking monster waves in the full view of the town. People look to you now, not Maria or me. At this point, we're nothing more than outsiders."

I opened my mouth to protest. "But, I don't want to take over —"

Maria raised her hand gently, cutting me off. "Honestly, your guilt is pointless. It's not like this was something I built. It was supposed to be just a temporary settlement, something I could use to earn some money. You're the one that turned into something more. If I tried to seize control, they would simply rebel, and I won't blame them."

"Don't worry, we already talked about it even before seeing how much you have done," Eleanor completed. "Though, that time, we had been thinking more like council, but that was before we have seen what you have done."

A sigh escaped my mouth, realizing what had happened. This was precisely what I didn't want. I wanted to relinquish the weight of rulership, to focus on forging, experimenting, and otherwise exploring the secrets of the System. Yet here they were, ruining it. Worse, they made perfect sense. "That's… not what I expected," I managed, my voice subdued. "I never wanted to be a ruler. I only acted because the situation forced my hand."

Eleanor chuckled, amused by the situation. "Then, you shouldn't have done such a good job."

"Eleanor," Maria said sharply, warning her. "But she has a point. You have done too good of a job too be removed."

I ran a hand over my face, trying to gather my thoughts, wondering whether I should press, hoping to leverage their ascended status, hoping for a change. But, unfortunately, I could see that they were determined, so I decided to shift gears. "Fine, but I need your help. The security of the town is in tatters, particularly magical ones, and I need someone to train our elites."

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That earned a chuckle from both of them. They stood up together, then curtsied at the same time. "As you wish, your Majesty," they said, their tone matching. It was an exaggerated motion, perfectly timed.

"Did you practice it?" I said, sighing in defeat. I received two wide smiles in return. "You win," I admitted. "Then, let's talk with Harold. I'm sure he's already stressing while waiting for me to answer," I said. I opened the door.

Harold was at the other side, a tense expression on his face. Though, from the shift of expression on his face when he looked at Maria, I had a suspicion about exactly what he was thinking. His next words didn't surprise me. "Sir, may I talk with you in private for a minute?" he asked.

"Is this about whether Maria should take over or I should continue ruling the town?" I asked. Harold tensed, clearly thinking it to be a sensitive situation.

"You're too late, old man," Eleanor said. "We already talked with him. Your precious lord will maintain his rule. There won't be a coup."

"Ah," Harold said, looking at me. "That's surprising."

"Not really, they forced me," I replied, gesturing to Maria in protest.

That made Harold smile. "Then it makes sense," he said, his amusement annoying me. He turned to Maria. "I don't want to insult you, Lady Maria, but…" he said, letting his words fade pointedly.

"Don't worry about it, Harold. We're in perfect agreement. Devon is the best man to rule this town."

Harold nodded. "Then, I should leave, my lord," he said, his tone far too serious than usual, clearly making a point. "I should have a talk with several people, informing them about the situation."

"Yes," Maria said with a chuckle, radiating good humor. "Go tell them big bad witch is not going to take over the town."

Harold looked sheepish at Maria's pointed teasing, but he didn't apologize. Instead, he just nodded before leaving, leaving us alone once more.

"It's going to make things difficult with Asterion," I said. "The only way I was able to stave off their annexation was by using you."

Maria inclined her head sympathetically. "I get it. We're not leaving you alone in this. You can still claim that I'm your liege lord, claim that I want to build a city or something, but claim that it's a secret project. It should get you some time. And, I'm sure your genius could handle the rest."

I waved her teasing away. "Do you want to rule over a city?" I asked. "Because, if you want —"

"Absolutely not," Maria replied. "The settlement was enough to show me that I'm not cut for ruling. Without you, things would have shattered completely. I'm more than happy to assist you."

"It's a done deal already, right?" I asked.

"Oh, certainly," Eleanor answered. "Face it, Devon. Your days as a professor are long gone. You shall be known as Lord Devon, the enemy of beasts and numbers."

"Be serious, Eleanor," Maria said, but that didn't stop her from chuckling. "Respect your Lord, or he'll punish you."

"Oh, will he?" Eleanor said, her smile widening, and I found myself blushing at her joke.

"Focus," Maria said. "We have too many things to focus on."

"True," I said, happy to avoid the implication completely. "We have to talk about the strategies. First, the magical defenses. Is it possible to establish a mana dome over the city?"

"Establishing it easy, though time-consuming," Maria admitted. 'The real challenge is maintaining it. Wards are intensive when it comes to consumption, and a mana dead location is not exactly the best location." Your support on M|V|L8EMPYR keeps this series going.

"Is it possible to put together the infrastructure in place without activating it?" I asked.

"Yes, but it'll be weaker. Once activated, it takes time for a dome to reach its full strength."

It was far from ideal. "It'll have to do," I said. "Meanwhile, I'll work on finding a solution about mana. I have some potential solutions, but I need to experiment to test their viability."

Solutions include but are not limited to using the fire dungeon to transfer mana from a richer location, potentially harvesting mana from the environment, or finding a way to supercharge the dungeon production.

"A good plan," Maria said. "And, Eleanor could go back to swinging her chunk of metal."

"Hey," Eleanor responded, poking Maria in the side.

As much as I enjoyed their antics, we lacked the time to waste. "Actually, it'll be better if you can focus on a strong first-response unit, both commanding and training them on how to operate without the constant artillery support."

"Really?" Eleanor asked. "You want them to fight without cannons. Because they had been incredibly helpful against the beast wave. I'm a fan."

"Unfortunately, yes," I admitted. "I have a feeling we will soon need a team that could operate without the assistance. I rather be prepared for it."

"Fine, but with one condition," she answered.

"What's that?"

"I want a new sword," she said with a pout, pointing at the one that was hanging on my side.

"Deal," I responded.