Man is this woman bloodthirsty! She is a lot more violent than I give her credit for! Doesn’t mean I’ll stop messing with her though. It’s just too much fun to stop! ~

  Still, if I hadn’t noticed her lifting her staff earlier, she may have left a scorched hole in my body! I’m glad that I managed to calm her down for now. Cause right now there’s an emergency situation I need to take care of quickly!

  I got a message from V earlier. {Mr. Vlad, we got a problem! Those gnolls you sent off turned out to be bad guys and are now trying to get in without permission! Mr. Damian and the others managed to get them to leave for now, but they swear to come back and wanted you here!}

  I figured that those gnolls might cause problems later, but this was a lot sooner than I had anticipated! Luckily the kingdom had already constructed defenses and should have repaired enough to keep them back for now!

  I’m not sure what their reason is for returning. Whether it’s to come serve me or to cause problems for me, either way I need to be there as soon as I can. With my wolves’ speed we should be able to make it before the next day but the faster we get there the better.

  We didn’t take a break, opting to go through the night to save some time. I was lucky that Katherine was willing to go along with it. I was half expecting her to throw another tantrum, but I suppose she is a priestess for a reason.

  We managed to make it by the time the morning light broke in. I was glad to see that the kingdom was relatively unharmed. The walls still stood proud and were even more reinforced. Seems they managed to repair them since I was last here.

  The soldiers standing guard at the entrance noticed as we came into view as they quickly opened the gates. My wolves jumped right in, and the guards quickly closed the gate. They must be on high alert because of the gnolls.

  “Lord Vladimir you’re here!” One of my soldiers said.

  I got off my wolf as I gave my orders. “Go get Damian and V, I want a status report as soon as possible.”

  The soldiers quickly stood at attention. “Yes Lord Vladimir!” Some of them ran off to inform my henchmen.

  “It really is true that you took over the Mivtic Kingdom. I couldn’t really believe it until I saw it before my eyes.” The priestess spoke as she got off on her own ride.

  I sent the wolves to the side so they could rest. They did put all their efforts through the night after all, they deserved it. I waved off the onlookers, curious as they are, they should still enjoy their daily lives. We’ll take care of the problem ourselves.

  It didn’t take long for Damian and V to come by and from what I could tell they were waiting anxiously for me. They quickly rushed over to me, and I could sense the usual life-threatening hug coming along. My body instinctively braced itself as it found itself squeezed like a stress toy!

  “Mr. Vlad! I’m so glad you came!” V cheered while on top of Damian’s shoulder who was hugging me like his life depended on it.

  I struggled to speak. “Y-yeah I’m here. S-so how’s the situation?!”

  To my surprise the black bear let me go, faster than he would normally do as he answered with his stoic expression. “…. There are no injuries, and we managed to drive them back for now.”

  “It looked like they only wanted to come inside but I could still sense they were bad guys.” V continued. Rubbing their head as if they were not sure of themself.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  It must have been because of V’s [Map] ability that tipped them off over their hostility. If it told them so, then it is safe to assume that they intend to cause problems for me soon.

  “Uhm… mind explaining what is happening?”

  We all turned towards Katherine. Crap, I forgot she was there for a second. She looked flabbergasted, probably from seeing Damian run up and hug me tight. He is a B ranked adventurer after all. He is sure to have some renown at least around these parts.

  It must seem a bit jarring for her to see the ‘Quiet Black Beast’ act so emotionally. Believe me, I’m still quiet not used to it. I took the time to explain Damian’s situation.

  “As you remember, I had taken command over the Greyston Town. Well, the way I did so was that I faced their strongest fighter, which was Damian here. I won and afterwards he pledged to serve as one of my henchmen.”

  “I-I see but then what was that whole thing he wa-” she tried to ask but I interrupted her.

  “Anyway, we have more pressing matters to worry about. The gnolls that I had freed before has returned and demand to be allowed inside the kingdom.”

  Upon hearing the word gnolls Katherine suddenly forgot about Damian’s ‘affectionate’ display and started to panic. “G-gnolls?! What do you mean when you say you freed them?! Why would anyone want to let loose such barbaric creatures!?”

  I didn’t have time for this. I decided to ignore her for the time being and focus on the current problem on hand. “Alright Damian, I need you to check on all the guards stationed for the walls. If you hear anything of interested let me know through here.” I pointed at my head.

  Damian nodded and left to follow through my instructions as for V... “V I need you to keep an eye through your [Map] for any bad guys alright?”

  “Ok Mr. Vlad! You can count on me!” V looked a bit beaming despite the situation, probably cause they always enjoyed being helpful to me.

  “Hey!”

  I sighed this woman can be a bit relentless. “Look, whatever you have to say about me can wait. Right now, I have to worry about my followers. If you care about the people, then either help us out or let me focus on handling this.”

  It looked like Katherine was about to say something but looked around. Even she could understand that what she has to say can wait. “…. fine the people’s safety matters more. I’ll make sure to ease any worries they may have. But I’m still keeping an eye for anything you are up to.”

  The priestess finally left but not before giving me that warning. With that out of the way I can figure out how to handle those gnolls. It made me wonder how the other fellow monsters I freed are doing. The golem should still be inactive back at the castle, I had little luck finding out how to wake it up. I currently have researchers who had once studied that damnable ritual focused more on practical stuff, one of which was on how to reawaken the golem.

  I’ll take the time to check up on the other freed monsters after the gnoll situation.

  It didn’t take long before I got word about their arrival. They came to the front gates and as soon as I heard the news I came by quickly. I was surprised to see that things have already begun getting heated. It seemed the group of gnolls were twice the size of the ones that I freed. It must have been the community that they came from. They were already arguing with the soldiers on guard duty who they themselves were nervous. Both of them seemed ready to get violent.

  “Where is leader?! We demand presence now!!” the leading gnoll complained while baring its claws, ready to have them dig in.

  “Lord Vladimir will come! Please be patient.” The guard tried to reassure them, not sure what to do.

  Before things could get any worse, I quickly stepped in. Jumping in front of the gate in full view of them. “Alright I’m here. Was there something that you need?”

  “You! Are you not going to help us?!” the leading gnoll complained. There was hunger in their eyes. “Our people are hungry, and the ones cursed still do not respond to us!”

  I needed to handle this carefully. Nothing is more dangerous than any creature starving. “Then why don’t we start off by feeding you first than we can conti-”

  “Yes! Yes! Eat! There is so many to eat inside! Let us in!”

  Ah I see, there was no way I could let them in right now. “Just give me a few minutes and I’ll get you food. Everyone inside here are my followers, they are not a meal.”

  “No! No! We must eat now!” They began to bare their claws, licking their tongues while drooling.

  Sensing the danger, I sprang into action. “Everyone, get inside now!” I ordered.

  All the soldiers understood immediately and got inside before the gnolls sprang into action. I prepared my falchion sword as the gnolls start to surround me.

  Seeing the situation the gnolls started to laugh before their leader spoke. “Hahaha Eat eat! We eat little kobold snack now!”

  …. oh, little eh? ~

  Without uttering a word, I lifted my free hand when the ground started to shake freaking out the gnolls. Walls of the ground began to form, surrounding us and cutting off any chance for any escape.

  “Well now… why don’t I show you what a ‘little kobold’ can do! ~”