Following Kuli’s instructions, Sofia stopped by Drakron before returning to her ‘city’. She briefly met with Karlson and his wife Karin, to congratulate them on the birth of their son, before leaving by herself to meet ‘someone else’ at a rather decrepit-looking pub in a back alley.

She waited in a corner by herself, drinking strangely fine-tasting alcohol in an old wooden cup.

A man entered the rundown bar, wearing in a gray cape, hiding his face under a thick hood. He nodded to the barkeep who took left a pitcher and a cup on the counter, and left without a word. The hooded man grabbed the things and walked toward the only customer of the bar.

“Why this place?” Sofia asked.

The man smiled under is hood, he sat in front of Sofia on the other side of the wobbly table, pouring himself a cup. “Need a refill?”

“Sure.”

He served Sofia and started sipping on the drink, finally answering her previous question, “It’s been in my family for generations.”

“And you let it be in such a sorry state?”

“Some things lose their essence if you insist on keeping them alive. But are we here to discuss about my past?”

“It was just a curious place to meet an Emperor, is all.”

Xeros snorted lightly, a smirk on his face, taking another sip of his drink. “What value does the title have if I am meeting with you? The decorum is to keep the lower nobles on their toes and the citizens proud of their nation,” he rambled, glancing at the rapier at his own waist.

“Itching to return to the adventurous life?” Sofia asked. Xeros was, after all, the one who had discovered the dungeon in the spirit forest where Zerei was imprisoned. He was a man of the sword before being the red winds emperor.

“Hard not to after witnessing the tournament. You probably have inspired more than one retired man like me to get back into action. I am tied down, however.”

“Is Opal getting better?”

“Much better. Thank you for asking,” Xeros answered, swirling the drink in his cup, “She can make some sounds now. The two want to take on the tower later this year. Her charisma should be high enough to correct the issue with her nerves after that,” he explained.

“I’m glad. Are you not worried about sending them to the tower, though?”

“How could I not? But I trust them. Not to mention, they have had many exceptional teachers.”

“Ahah. I wish my genitor had been even half as caring a father as you are. By chance, do you know if they received news of my other students?”

“Aside from the one in Vasperia?” Xeros asked, “Not recently. You should ask them yourself.”

“Are you sure that’s fine? Part of why we’re here is because I am unsafe, is it not?”

“Ahahah… I cannot stop them from visiting a city in their own Empire, can I?”

Sofia raised an eyebrow, “Kuli was right, then? You’re not changing your mind?”

“What’s done is done. The entire world expects you to be here, now. Whether you are or not, our little Empire will be in the spotlight. That only means I have to get stronger to protect it.”

“I am sorry.”

“Do not be. A friend of Kuli is a friend of mine. It was high time I stopped slacking, anyway, now that my twins are old enough to take care of themselves.”

“Who will take the reins in you absence?”

“Well. We need someone at least in the same filter… Someone with knowledge and authority…”

Sofia was silent for a second. “Does she know?”

“She will understand,” Xeros said, “I will not be going right away, so I can take my time to break the news.”

“Want me to tell her for you?”

“Thank you for the offer but there is no need. We are old friends, after all. You should worry about your own place, now. Here,” Xeros said, taking an old book out of his cape and placing it on the table.

Sofia reached out to grab the title-less book and read through the first few pages, “These are…”

“Just the old notes of a fool trying to play Emperor. I would lend you Karin but she has enough on her plate as it is. Hopefully this will be of some help to build up your city without hurdles.”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“That will be a great help, thank you.”

“It’s not much. I should go now,” Xeros said, giving Sofia a nod as he stood up after finishing his drink.

“Ah, wait! What about the… The underground.”

“The Petulant One? He should not be an issue. The swamps are technically a part of the red winds, are per the deal he signed, so he will protect your city, too. So long as you respect our side of the contract. Do you need the details?”

Sofia shook her head, “I already know.”

“Perfect then, I wish you good luck.”

“Stay safe,” Sofia answered as Xeros left, “Topaz and Opal truly cherish you.”

“I know. I’m a lucky man.”

Sofia flew as high as her wings could take her before heading towards the Sivius swamp where she had already laid the foundations for her city.

By the Lords…

She looked down at what used to be a swamp. She had cleared and reclaimed a good chunk of it herself, for sure, but the place was completely changed.

There were no signs of a swamp anywhere anymore, and even the bone foundations of her city were covered. Tents, people, open air markets, carts. A camp of at least five thousand people had formed before the city even had its first house.

Just looking at it made Sofia uneasy. Many people in the crowd were stronger than her, she could see their aura reaching far and wide, even into the sky. Had she not been flying so far up, she would have been spotted already.

Ah, nevermind. I am already… That must be Zoth. No wonder there are so few people around this side. She’s not the only one who noticed me either.

This one is human, right? At least two dragons… And a group of three fairies near the border of the forest…

And this one… Sofia’s eyes met those of a tall Vampire with a scary smile that made her shiver. The Vampire then looked somewhere else, pretending this had never happened. So this is the Queen. Astelia is here too.

Is Saria… Oh. She’s with Grandma. I didn’t even notice her at first. Is she pretending not to see me? I’m a bit surprised Alith and Iwa aren’t here… I suppose they will come later.

How do we do this?

Pareth.

Pareth appeared next to Sofia.

I’ll hold you up with my aura, let’s go.

Both covered in bone armor aside from the helmets, Sofia and Pareth slowly walked down from the sky, each wearing their respective crown. Stepping on thin air, they crossed hundreds of meters with every step, and were soon noticed by everyone, as they walked down toward the center of their future city.

A sudden pain assaulted Sofia’s head.

[You have been affected by : Hypnosis. But your skills negated the status]

She did her best to act like she felt nothing.

I see.

It was easy to find the culprit, the shortest of the three fairies. Their expression of disbelief had betrayed them.

I have no choice but to let it slide, do I…

Giving the fairies a deadpan glance, Sofia kept walking down. A small token appeared in her hand, she quickly filled it with mana. Let’s see if this voice amplification token artifact was worth the tournament points.

Stoping about fifty meters above ground, Sofia looked around.

All eyes on us…

Activating the sixth melody of spring and letting the soft music spread, Sofia addressed the masses.

Greetings! To everyone here, thank you for your presence on this day. I am Sofia Vakariazrehafin Aphenoreth, and this is Pareth. Together, we will rule over this land, soon to be known as Ser’Extra, the city of bones! To those wishing to settle down here with us, welcome to your new home. And to those here who only wish to meet us, no matter the reason, we will be hearing everyone over the next few days, thank you for your patience.

There was a light applause and few cheers, and a thousand piercing gazes. Sofia did her best to ignore it all and flew down toward Saria and Erredis, who was in her more dragon-like human form.

This is not going to be easy…

Saria was still applauding when Sofia landed.

“I’m back. Happy to see my family still in great health.”

“We’ve been watching you, so it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long,” Saria answered with a smile, “you beat me again.”

“No easy task,” Sofia answered giving her sister a hug, “So, what’s your relationship with the Brant guys, huh?” she whispered in Saria’s ear.

“Who knows,” Saria teased, “I hear a certain God’s been sighted around here a few times.”

“Tssk.” Letting go of the hug, Sofia hugged Erredis next. Both not saying a word.

Erredis pulled away first. “I have a lot to tell you… But first, congratulations, you did me proud out there. We will celebrate!” she exclaimed, her pointy teeth showing, “but I need to teach someone a lesson first. This old lady will be right back.”

Saria looked at Sofia with eyes full of incomprehension as Erredis seemed to just disappear from where she had been standing.

“A fairy hit me with an hypnosis spell on the way down,” Sofia explained.

“Oh, that must be it. That group's been causing a lot of troubles around the camp these last three days,” Saria explained.

“They have?”

“Well, that’s what Erredis seems to think. Weird ‘inexplicable’ things have been happening, like people’s food disappearing from their hands, socks turning to wood in their shoes, people waking up in the wrong tent…”

“At least it’s nothing too harmful…”

“Yeah, there hasn’t been anything like that. A few people did try to cause real trouble in the beginning. But not ever since… ‘LoooOove’ has shown up.”

Sofia couldn’t contain a giggle. “Guess I’ll really have to build Love a temple, and fast.”