When I sent Idna and the rest of her overworked staff to their homes, I received a notification from Sebastian that Prince Islur wished to see me. I sighed as I looked at the clock on Idna's office wall. I vaguely accepted that, as the absolute ruler of Arcadia, I couldn't exactly say that my office hours are from eight to four. Irregular work hours were one of the massive cons of being the Emperor or, in fact, any leader worth anything. I teleported to my office in Triskelion and as I sat on my office chair, I took a deep breath. Some people were already joking that the throne of Arcadia has wheels. I, lately, spent more time in my office than in any other place where more official thrones were set. As far as I was concerned, the throne of Arcadia could be a bean bag chair according to my mood sometimes.

"Prince Islur Tawal Ebrus," Sebastian announced as a slightly nervous Bearkin entered my office behind him.

"Good evening, Prince Islur. Honestly, I wasn't expecting you today." I smiled slightly.

"I really hope that evening stays good after you listen to what I have to say, Emperor. I must apologise for the behaviour of one of my people." He said with a serious expression.

I looked at him with an empty, flat stare for a very long and uncomfortable moment. He waited patiently, which, admittedly, surprised me.

"What the hell happened?" I finally forgo any attempts at diplomacy and decided to resolve this quickly and efficiently.

"One of the nobles who is among the youth of Ebrus that you generously allowed to enroll into the Royal University, challenged one of your Guardsmen to a duel." The Bearkin swiftly explained which, at least, calmed me down a little bit. "Captain Xavier and I allowed for their duel in the embassy's training hall."

Each of these first statements calmed me down almost completely. I had almost expected the new Ebrusians to do that instead of saying good morning. So, challenging a Guardsman and keeping the duel in the underground facility I prepared, for more or less similar reasons in mind, was truly remarkable on his part.

"Unfortunately... The son of the Marquess, Kyaln Balear, used a dirty cheat during the fight and summoned a high-level Ifrit." Islur looked as if he had bitten something sour.

"Anyone hurt?" I asked, just in case, but if Xavier was there everything should have been fine... Fuck. If Xavier was there, that means Hope was there as well.

"No! No one was harmed... Well, except for Kyaln and he should have seen that coming. However, his wounds aren't threatening and he will be fine by the end of the week. Private Wendel swiftly killed the summon. I just wanted to apologise that an Ifrit was summoned in the first place."

I let out a deep breath which made Islur fidget nervously under my gaze.

"I'm not thrilled to hear it but, on the other hand, I had bet that you would last exactly three days without doing stupid shit. I guess I will get some coins from the betting pool..." I sighed and noticed his sour expression going further bitter.

"Well... Captain Xavier mentioned also winning a bet..." He said with a wooden voice and a facial expression that suggested that he was painfully self-aware of the situation.

"Oh yes... Actually, only five people predicted that you would last three days. Most everyone bet you would either break immediately or manage to be clear for a whole week." I pointed toward an empty chair. "I won't pretend that nothing happened but, judging by your expression, you pretty much expect me to do something..."

"Well..." He hesitated and shrugged with an uncertain facial expression. "That would be only natural."

"Surprisingly enough, out of all possibilities, somehow, this was the best outcome... Well, as long as you learned something..." I gave him a quizzical look.

"While I can't really promise that no one will challenge anyone in a duel, I learnt to confiscate their summoning crystals and double-check their scrolls to ensure they don't have anything hazardous..." Prince Islur answered honestly, with shame painted on his face. His voice was muffled but he was ready to face any consequences. He smiled sadly and his voice was similarly depressed. "I also learnt how predictable Ebrusians are when the allied nation makes bets..."

Honestly, I was surprised by his rapid growth and how he adapted to the new situation. I snickered and opened my hands in a powerless gesture. "It's pointless to attempt to stop soldiers from gambling. Anyway, I'm not particularly angry... Since there was no damage done and no one was hurt and, while you seem to understand how stupid it was, I could let it slide if not for the fact that Miss Hope was involved in that debacle... Depending on her testimony, I might have to issue some form of punishment."

"I see..." Islur grimaced.

"Don't worry, it will most probably be something symbolic like a fine or something..." I shrugged and, with a smile, I noticed his relief. Leaning forward, I snapped with my fingers and gave him a wide smile. "You should remind your people that playing the I'm a noble card won't work in Arcadia. Please, tell me, how many nobles do you have in Ebrus?"

Islur blinked a few times, visibly surprised by my question but focused quickly. "I think that there are about ten thousand nobles of various ranks in the Kingdom including knights. Without them, it would be about two thousand noble families."

"In the entirety of Arcadia, there are maybe one hundred nobles. There is a larger possibility of finding a gold vein outside Avalon than accidentally stumbling upon an Arcadian noble, Prince Islur." I chuckled on seeing his disbelief. "The concept of nobility is, obviously, known to my people but they would only respect Arcadian nobles. What's more, Arcadian nobles are not the kind of nobles you are accustomed to. They are my trusted people. You could only think of them as officials but that's very dangerous and shortsighted thinking. Their autonomy is much greater than that of your nobles and they are authorised to command the Arcadian armies. Because of their significant individual power and earned merits, Guad Metaka and Theresa Iceleon simply call them Heroes. I highly advise you to be much more careful because my nobles are as powerful as the Heroes from your legends or powerful enough to not make any easy comparisons."

The Prince worked his jaw but, despite the shock painted on his face, he was quiet. I was very positively surprised in how he had matured from the last time we spoke.

"By the way, before our meeting, I spoke with the Guild Master of the Adventurers Guild and asked her to allow your people to enlist as official adventurers. Don't get your hopes up quickly, however. You will only be allowed to enter selected parts of the Dungeon, you will have to follow all regulations, and you won't have access to the Guild's help to its full extent. Nonetheless, I believe that you might gain, not only, precious experience but also allow your people to... Let's call it, exercise a bit."

His face brightened instantly. "It's a very generous offer, Emperor Theon. Thank you very much!"

"No problem." I smiled and nodded as I stood up. "I won't keep you any longer if that's everything you desired to talk about."

"I... No, that was it." He quickly stood up as well and shook my extended hand.

"In that case, I want to inform you that my evening remained good." I smiled, and he replied with a bow and a slightly artificial smile, which I somehow understood. "I will inform you if there are any additional, official, I guess, punishments, or we might keep it a low profile."

"Thank you once again for your time and understanding, Emperor Theon." Islur bowed politely and left my office.

I sat on my chair again in silence with a soft but mocking smile on my lips. While I appreciated the Prince's growth, for him, it came with the unexpected realisation that, sometimes, arrogance and hubris are the deadliest enemies.

"Sebastian?" I asked the air, knowing that it somehow hid my scion.

"Yes, my Lord?" He asked diligently from my side with his hand on his chest.

"How did Miss Hope react to the duel? Was she scared or in any real danger?"

"She was, at first, disgusted and more than displeased by the situation however, she grew more intrigued by the time it ended. I don't believe she had time to be scared. Everything happened so swiftly that there was no real danger to her person." Sebastian reported, still slightly bowed.

"Hmm..."

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"However..." Sebastian hesitated. "I believe that this situation has, unexpectedly, pushed Captain Xavier to break from his gloom. If I read the situation correctly, I'm sure that Miss Hope won't allow him to stay as melancholy as he was before."

"Oh? That's good, actually." I brightened. "I will have to ask Irene about it once she speaks with Hope."

•••

"So she is fine?" I asked to wrap up our discussion the next day.

"Well, in fact, they both are better than before." Irene smiled. "At first, Hope was scared but mostly because of her memories from her slavery over anything else. But ultimately, she accepted and even appreciated the duel. She said it was educational. It also prompted Xavier to talk with her so, I could even say, we should thank that young hot-blooded noble."

We laughed. "In that case, I don't regret allowing them to delve into the Dungeon part of Avalon."

"Huh?" She stopped laughing and gave me a quizzical look. "Won't it be problematic if they reach the mining nodes?"

"Well, they won't..." I shrugged. "The mining nodes are underground and they won't have a permit to enter the caves in the first place. I already told them there will be some restrictions."

"Oh... It's fine I guess." She nodded.

"Theon? Oh, Irene! I didn't know you were here." Luna appeared in front of us and smiled at the High Elf. "I had a favour to ask you, so it's a blessing I found you both."

"Hi, Luna." Irene grinned at the Kitsune. "What do you need?"

"I would like you to bless some crossbow bolts and I want you to make a few of those engraved with the Holy Runes. You know, like those you gifted Ian some time ago."

"Ugh... Like those used by Ian to kill that Lich or were later used by our party in the Void Temple when they freed Verka?"

"Exactly!"

"What do you need them for, exactly?" Irene asked with a facial expression suggesting that she tried to find an excuse not to do it.

"For starters, they are the ultimate weapon against dark magic and powerful undead." Luna grinned, undeterred by Irene's dismissive expression. "I reviewed our battle records and came to the conclusion that we will need plenty of them. In the case of a major attack from the Ruinous Powers, they're going to be a surprise for them."

My High-Elf beauty let out a defeated sigh and leaned back on her chair.

"I really wish I had a good counterargument to that but you might be right. But, it's so much work..." Irene groaned and pinched her nose bridge. "Since Eriar is the Guardian of Nilmerthis, it's reasonable to think that my powers will be effective against those who want to destroy our world. I can bless as many bolts as you want, Luna."

"That's great!" The Kitsune clapped her hands and sat near me. "What about the engraved ones?"

"Hmm... It will take a lot of time and a considerable amount of mana to craft even a single one, so I doubt we can mass-produce them." Irene hummed and crossed her legs. "I could craft one, maybe two, per week. But that's it. I won't continuously do it for God knows how long."

"We can't help you, can we?" Luna's smile faded slightly.

"Hmmm..." Irene hesitated and slightly tilted her head. "There may be a way to speed up the process, even if only by a little bit... I think."

"Oh?" Luna tilted her head. "I'm all ears."

"I have two ideas actually. But before that..." Irene took a long sip of her juice and smiled. "The main problem with the bolts I made for Ian was the fact that they lost their potency over time. That reminds me to ask him if he still has any of them left because they might be no better than simple blessed bolts by now."

"You never told me about that!" Luna was honestly surprised. She looked at me with shock. "You knew they faded?"

"Nope..." I chuckled and she giggled. "It's news to me, as well, but I wasn't thinking about preparations to fight those Enemies, yet... I should have, I admit, but I've allowed myself to focus on other things too much."

"That's why you have us." Luna smiled and Irene nodded with a cheerful sparkle in her eyes. However, her joy vanished, replaced with disappointment. "So it's pointless to prepare Holy bolts..."

"I didn't say that." Irene raised her finger and wagged it. "I said that the last arrows and bolts I made weren't good enough to hold the power I stored in them for long. But now, we have more and a lot better materials so I'm confident we could create artifact-class items, capable of storing their power indefinitely."

I nodded slowly. In hindsight, it was obvious that most of the things that we had now were a few magnitudes better than what we had earlier.

"That's true..." Luna nodded thoughtfully and put her fingers over her lips. "I need to revisit the countermeasures we set up and check if they can be reinforced or even replaced with the new metals we have."

"Anyway." Irene nodded in agreement and leaned over the table where she summoned a few samples of metals and alloys. "I wasn't exactly thinking about crafting the new bolts, but I created a special division within my ministry tasked with researching the best materials for storing the Holy Runes and enchantments."

"I thought that silver and gold were fairly good for that..." I furrowed my brows in slight confusion.

"They are good enough but not the best." Irene shrugged with a sigh. "The problem with gold is it's a prime target for theft. While theft can be prevented, gold is also very heavy, which is a problem for most of our intended applications. Imagine wearing a robe inlaid with solid gold runes that would weigh nearly one hundred kilograms. That won't do... Silver is a bit better for that but just on paper. So I needed to find better solutions."

"You find anything promising?" Luna tilted her head curiously.

"Well... Not for mundane applications. However, we found a very good alloy that, theoretically, should keep the enchantments, runes, and all power stored in it indefinitely. The catch is, it's extremely expensive." Irene sighed and picked a beautiful piece of metal from the table and gave it to me. "We haven't named it yet, at least not officially, but I know it's going to be one of the most important alloys for enchanting and runesmithing."

I looked at the mesmerising damascus-like crystalisations of what I was sure wasn't steel. The beautiful waves of gold and blue-silver metals created a unique and gorgeous structure of this alloy.

"We call it, for now, pseudo mithril," Irene smirked upon seeing my expression. "Its properties are similar to how magically potent pure mithril is. It's much more durable but, once it's formed, it can't be reshaped. You can only smelt it and forge or recast it anew. For some applications, such properties are perfect, for others, not so much... Still, it's perfect for various weapons like staves or... Bolts and arrows." The Saintess sighed heavily. "The main problem with it is: it's expensive. As you have noticed, one of its components is gold. Others are adamantium and titanium. The availability of the latter is scarcer than even mithril so we are trying to replace it with other metals."

"There is a titanium mining node in the caves..." I looked at her in surprise.

"There is, but the volume of metal we get from it is symbolic. It is what... Fifty kilograms weekly?"

I closed my eyes and grimaced as I checked the node. "About that much... Since this is one of the original nodes I created using the titanium from Earth. I could improve the nodule however, I can upgrade it to only one hundred kilograms weekly..."

"That would help but, as always, we need so much of it in a short time..." Irene smiled.

"All right! Done." I smiled.

"So while we can produce more pseudo mithril, we will also test if other powerful members of the clergy can produce bolts that will be powerful enough." Irene smiled at Luna. "And that was, basically, one of my ideas. The second one is ordering our Crafters to produce them while I would only be powering it. In a few days, I will have some results."

Luna stood up and smiled. "I'm looking forward to seeing the results. Thank you, Irene! I should be going now..."

"Ummm... I was under the impression that you came to ask me about something in the first place..." I rubbed the back of my neck with an uncertain expression.

Luna squinted her eyes and took a deep breath. "Oh, by Eriar, yes! I would have forgotten! Why have you changed your orders considering capturing Vespids? It's a bit of a logistical nightmare to contain them without killing them."

"Ahhh..." I nodded and I smiled in what I was aware was a very ominous way. "I want to build a Vespid spawner."

"You want to build WHAT?!" Luna stammered in shock as both of them looked at me with dread.

"Oh, don't worry..." I waved my hand dismissively. "They are going to serve us well. But I can't and won't use them for diversion." I took a deep breath as they exchanged confused gazes. "There is a major difference in the biology and psychology of Vespids that sets them apart from humanoids. Because of that difference, I can't use my ultimate interrogation tool."

"The ultimate interrogation tool?" Irene swallowed uncomfortably.

"Sentinel." I smiled coldly and they looked at me without understanding. "The Living Armours can devour their hosts and absorb all their knowledge. We learnt how effective it was when I executed Vanush. The problem with Vespids is that my Living Armours don't fit them and, because of that, the absorption process won't be as effective."

"How do you know that?" Luna asked with a sick voice.

"Oh, we tested it already." I smiled grimly. "I ordered Sentinel to consume a few hundred living Vespids but we are more than sure he only obtains a very small portion of their knowledge. We pieced together some low-quality intel based on their memories but it's nothing particularly interesting to act upon."

"So you want to build a Vespid spawner to test... What?" Irene asked. She was pale but her voice was calm and steady.

"Not to test... Well, not exactly. I want Sentinel to build a special armour just for Vespids. One that will ensure perfect absorption of the target memories." I smiled smugly and looked towards the ancient forest.

"Why?" Luna blinked in confusion.

"Once it's done, I am going to put Hunter inside it," I answered with a cold voice. "And then, once the most powerful scion of Vestargo is digested..."

I smiled as I cast one more vengeful gaze towards the general direction of the Ancient Forest. They followed my gaze and quickly looked at me in anticipation.

"Vestargo will die..."

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