It was early in the morning, but I was already in my study. While the kids were still sleeping, including our guests, I had already had breakfast with Luna and Mikan, then headed off to review the latest requests coming from the members of the Union. Since the Summit has ended, they have been sending their messengers almost every day, asking for permission for every little thing... What am I? Their boss? Did I become the CEO of this part of the continent? Haah...

But before I could start sifting through letters, Merlin came in without knocking. That alone told me everything I needed to know. Something happened, and judging by his expression, that something was bad. No reason to delay it; ripping off a band-aid is always better than trying to peel it off.

"Monsters or humans?" I asked as I looked at him from behind my desk, my eyes narrowing slightly.

"Humans." He shrugged, and because he let himself smile a little, barely noticeably, I was more relaxed. So it wasn't anything too serious.

"I'm all ears."

"It's coming from Arthur," Merlin wasted no time in explaining it as he placed a sealed and stamped folio onto the desk, all of it bundled up neatly with every detail lined out in order. "It's from the Punisher, to be precise, and it details Arthur's operation in the Grand Duchy of Belse, which has... concluded its first and second phase."

"So quickly?" I hummed as I set the cup of coffee in my hand aside. "Go on."

Merlin opened the folio and began spreading out the papers, details, and tables he had probably compiled for me.

"Upon arrival at the capital of Belse, Arthur and Queen Shi were informed of a bandit raid on a recently sold and already operational Avalonian train. The attackers ambushed the train during a scheduled mock maintenance halt to educate the future Belse conductors and mechanics in the wild to give them ample experience out in the field. It appears Johan and Arik from Avalon were the train conductor and engineer, respectively. I searched the records, and they volunteered to instruct local mechanics on emergency procedures. It was then that the bandits struck."

"I remember them," I exhaled softly, quickly recalling their faces and past. I recognized that they were from the Westlands and were Otto's conscripts before becoming Avalonians. I also remember they were once in the papers as an inspirational story, telling how, after serving their penance, they became model citizens. I didn't know Johan and Arik personally, but I did meet them once when they were given their citizenship.

"The rest of the instructional team was massacred," Merlin continued with a solemn voice, "Johan and Arik were then taken hostage."

"I see..." I muttered, leaning back and tapping a finger against the armrest of my chair. "That's not good, no matter how I look at it..."

"No, it isn't." Merlin agreed. "Queen Shi was reportedly horrified when she learned the news, and she took full responsibility for the security failure within her territory. According to Arthur's personal account," he tapped at one of the papers. "She turned pale when the news reached them. Plus, he felt no lies in her; she wasn't trying to cover up for anything shady."

"If he says so, then it is true," I gave a slow nod, throwing out the idea that those three small countries would try to play me. A failure to protect Avalonians, especially in these times, when we prepare for war against the beasts and also help their countries to be uplifted, was not a trivial matter. "What was Arthur's response?" I asked, scanning the papers, and it was better to hear from Merlin. Reading it through can be done after I am alone.

"He immediately ordered the Punisher to mobilize. They easily tracked the bandits to a heavily fortified castle embedded within the cliffs of Belse's border region. According to Queen Shi, it had long been a thorn in the Duchy's side; its natural defenses made conventional assaults unviable. They may have used us to deal with the issue, but they didn't expect it to be... this problematic."

"No," I raised a brow with a smile, "I don't think so either."

"Well, turns out it wasn't that much of an issue," Merlin's lips curved faintly, too. "Not for us." With a final chuckle, he continued, "Of course, we suffered no damages and no losses, as expected. With the data from the brief fight, I concluded that local, conventional armies can not stand up to us anymore. Only those empires that have access to properly trained mages, with high-level spells at hand and CC reserves, could square up to us. Even then..."

"I am not going to conquer the world, Merlin!" I looked at him, shaking my head.

"I didn't say you should..." He pouted, pursing his lips, "It's just... You could."

"Heh," I grunted, reaching for my cup, "What were Arthur's follow-up orders?"

"They disarmed them completely," Merlin mumbled, shrugging, "Literally."

Hearing it, my hand stopped just as I was about to take a sip. Huh... Arthur, where did that come from? You are not even Yuri's son.

"Fifty veterans against nearly three hundred bandits," Merlin went on, flipping through some relevant data. "It was a slaughter, really. The individual captains' reports say the enemy broke almost instantly, and it wasn't even a challenge. The good news is that Johan and Arik recovered quickly. Both were severely wounded but alive thanks to Arthur's personal intervention."

"He went down?" I perked up, not that I was angry. He was already an adult, and if I was doing stupid and dangerous things at his age, I expected him to be the same. A bit of experience never hurts, anyway.

"Towards the end, so he wasn't in any actual danger." Merlin added quickly, but the reports describe him as, and I quote: 'He walked on air, descending down on the ruins like a prophet.' Pretty dramatic."

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"He is a showoff, isn't he?" I laughed, shaking my head.

"He used some basic healing spells to treat the more injured Johan before the ship's surgeon could deal with both of their injuries. By now, they have stabilized and will soon be ready to return to Avalon. As for the final report," Merlin spoke with hesitation, "It is the one that you may question..."

"Oh?" I glanced at him. "What did he do?"

"Mhm..." Merlin looked down again and started to read after smacking his lips, "The Punisher was outfitted with rigging hooks upon which the dismembered bandits were hung, suspended around the hull as living banners. Their screams and blood, flying through the air, were a powerful message, something that turned out to be sufficient for subduing the rest."

"What the fuck?" I exclaimed in honest surprise, "Geez! Where did that come from?!"

"My professional bet," he looked at me, and his eyes were serious. "He may have perceived the feelings of the bandits... And he is young. It was an impulse decision, driven by anger and by the fact that it was his first time coming face-to-face with such raw emotions and hate."

"When you send the affirmation message back, tell him that we will have to have a talk!" I moaned, pinching the ridge of my nose.

"I will," he nodded, returning to the report, "Well... Within the next twenty-four hours, every other known bandit group across Belse had come forward and surrendered. Then, after forty-eight hours, having the Punisher travel around the three countries, the ones in Sprinland and Irgath surrendered without a single sword being drawn."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that," Merlin whispered as he lowered the final paper. "There's more detail here to be read, but that's the overall summary. By now, Arthur has begun processing the captured groups with assistance from the local forces. No further resistance is expected, but if there is, he announced that every one of those groups will end up on the hooks."

"We'll see..." I murmured as I crossed my arms. "What do the others think?"

"The Union leaders have not yet been fully briefed," he answered, "Queen Shi is drafting her official statement now, thanking Avalon for the swift response and offering reparations, along with the other two countries. Arthur's opinion is that neither of them are angry though; quite the contrary, they welcome our swift actions and our help."

"I bet you a fistful of CC," I smiled, emptying my cup, "that they are more than happy! Arthur's display of power most likely scared those dissident voices that they had to contend with. For the foreseeable future, their immediate internal problems had been solved."

"I did not think about that..." Merlin stepped back, scratching his chin. "What are your orders, if any?"

"Nothing much," I said as I stood up, "Bring Johan and Arik home. We need to inform the families of those who died and make sure they are taken care of. Bring down the news in the paper of the tragedy and make sure it does not generate anger towards Belse. I need the Union to be united! As for the two, after they heal, assign them light duty and ensure they receive full care, not just physically. Make sure they are monitored before letting them go back to do proper work... I can't risk one of our conductors having a panic attack and crashing a train just to kill hundreds of innocents in the process."

"Yes." Merlin nodded somberly, taking my order to heart.

"As for the bandits… let Arthur manage their collection and transport. They will be sent to keep working on building the railways towards Markoth and then further beyond... We will need proper supply lines if we are to clean up this mess..."

... .... ......

In the end, summer had passed quickly, and it did so much faster than I expected, to be honest. One moment, I was watching the girls from Khulman, the wide-eyed newcomers, thrust into a very much alien city... Then, just after I blinked my eyes, they had become part of my Avalon.

Meyli's magic lessons with Morgan had grown into something deeper, according to Yuri's observation. If I could believe her instincts, the little girl would have been getting infatuated with my daughter... huh. I did not expect that.

On the other hand, I did expect that Jila would keep pushing Lancelot, and she was getting what she wanted. Everyone noticed it except my son, who began mentioning her without me asking about the girl. Hehehe... Boy, you are falling in love, ahaha~! Well, I won't interfere... if it happens, it happens. I just... I don't want to be called a grandpa so soon.

As for Tarsine, she successfully launched her first line of Avalonian-Khulmani fashion with Dorian's guidance. Well, the actual launch date was still a month or so away, but it was already shown and introduced to the public, and even my wives wanted to get a pair, liking her design. That's good... I think. I am not a fashion expert when it comes to women's clothing, but they did look good in the dresses they tried on.

The other interesting sister was Seltana, who now managed two shifts at a popular café near the main tram line, becoming a manager. I heard she also proposed to the owner a plan to expand her franchise. Just so she could bring in more revenue and, by that, earn more and afford more of Krel's miniature war models, of course... The interesting part is that Oleg is keeping a constant eye on her, and if my own eyes don't deceive me... There may be a spark between them. Huh. Who would have thought?

Lastly... Rashira, well, she, surprisingly, came to me with a request. One that I had on my desk for a few days now, not knowing how to answer her... because she asked me to let her learn how to fly. I knew what she meant, but it was such a request, out of the blue, that I couldn't give her an answer straight away. Asking Mikan, she told me that Rashira was probably looking for her own freedom, as she hadn't found her way yet, unlike her sisters. She became... unsure of herself as what they experienced was not anything like she had prepared herself for. She was... lost. But, when she saw my airplanes, she felt something... Maybe she wants to fly away, I don't really know, but... Haaah... I should let her, I think.

Maybe she will be the one introducing commercial airliners? Well, who knows? Not yet, though, but it was funny to think about the future like that. Right now, before giving her an answer and deciding what to do with her request, I have to finalize a deal with her father.

Rhanak Tula-Kahn and I have exchanged letters regularly over the past few months. They were formal at first, then gradually became much more... closer. We mostly discussed our intentions for the spring offense and our eastward campaign, as well as the mutual need to secure the conquered landscape and take it back from the beasts. He agreed to most of my propositions, but to finalize it, he called upon me to meet face-to-face before winter could set in. This meant that right just now, when Sasha finally returned, I was about to leave.

She came back two days ago as the fortress in the Markothian Pass was finally completed. She didn't say much, of course; she just walked into the palace and threw her arms around me, and we, and the others, of course, disappeared for a full day. I was still groaning sometimes, feeling my back hurting as it wasn't easy to keep my hips moving for so long and so intensely...

Anyway! The second Pass is sealed for now, and I have put Lucca in charge of it. He is a master of defense, and until Markoth grows up to the task, he will be my voice as I gave him complete freedom to command our troops stationed there, including the four Knights, the same ones who first made contact with Markoth.

With everything slotting into place, I found myself alone in my study again. Winter was nearing us, still probably a month away. But the days when clouds began utterly covering the skies were increasing, which made me feel off. The windows of my study were open and leaning out; I had to realize that the night had grown cold. It was way too cold. So much so that...

"Snow..." I muttered, watching the tiny speck floating before my eyes, landing on the windowsill.

It melted immediately, but... It was falling. Thin, white flakes drifted down from the clouds, and I knew... My trip to Khulman was officially postponed.

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