14th of Spring 5860 Aroghlie, Zon'guldac

Tinatin Leafblower, Supreme Chieftain of All Elves in Gemeinplatz and Marchioness of Zon'guldac, Destroyer of the Dwarves, she who was sitting comfortably on a throne in Aroghlie, legs crossed and arms at rest, being fanned by several servants. She had seized the mansion of some human merchant, the grand dwarven homes down below were too musty and dark for her.

Life was great for Leafblower. The troublesome dwarves had elected to flee the city, and she had allowed them to do so by not guarding the exits to Aroghlie, and the ones left were the quiet types who didn't intend on causing trouble. She had heard the mayor next door have some troubles with the fugitives, but even if they weren't dealt with, she was sure that no bunch of fugitive slaves could scale the walls of Aroghlie as she did with Imperial help. The savages could stay in their own city for all she cared.

A polite knock on the door. Then a familiar sight entering in: a man from the protection squadron. His goosestep looked so silly that Leafblower had to keep herself from guffawing and blowing the mouthful of grapes she was chewing right into the man's face. Then he did that ridiculous straight-arm salute, added an "Hail the Emperor!", and clanged his boots together. Leafblower would have had the man summarily executed for mocking her if not for the fact that the Protection Squadron were under direct control of the emperor.

"Yeah, yeah, hail the emperor." Leafblower replied with a straight-arm salute of her own, though she was much less fervent than the lackey in front of her.

The soldier took out a printed piece of paper and began reading "Hail the Emperor. The Chancellor sends his best regards, and asks you to help the Mayor of Karabush in the fight against the fugitives if possible. We haven't received any news from Karabush in a while, so we assume that a battle has yet to occur. Make sure that the mayor deals with the fugitives with minimal casualties."

Leafblower chewed the last grape, lazily, leisurely, delaying her response as much as she could. She spat out the grape's seed inside a bowl held by a servant and replied "You're a bit too late. The mayor is dead, it's caused quite the fuss around these parts."

"What do you mean the mayor is dead? Did he contract a disease?" asked the soldier sheepishly.

"He was killed in battle with the fugitives. Karabush has fallen as well" replied Leafblower, still as uncaring in attitude.

"A-are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm not serious?"

The soldier pondered the question seriously for a brief second. Her legs were crossed, she was still snacking, and her head was resting on her hand as if she was about to fall asleep. The answer he had to give was obvious "Apologies, my lady."

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"The fugitives prove way more powerful than the mayor and his formidable army. While I am loyal to the chancellor and the emperor, I won't be going on a suicidal charge against the fugitives. I think Sir Spear would agree on that point also if he knew that the mayor had fallen. He needs to send Imperial troops here if he wants the problem to be fully gone." Leafblower shooed the soldier away with her hand.

"Go on, make haste."

14th of Spring 5860 Imperial Highway №04-765, Libertycave

There is no rest for the wicked, or for roadworkers. The latter were out in force today, with shovels, pickaxes, and a whole load of gravel.

Rabanowicz was on the side of the road, running to and fro, carrying a rope at one end while the other end was carried by Watanabe. This pair was always at the front, with Rabanowicz not able to rest until she had measured, remeasured, demeasured and remeasured again to make sure that the road was going straight. Watanabe was mostly along there for the ride as a professional rope-carrying lackey. All this running around had made him miss winter as he cleaned a bead of sweat travelling down his forehead.

"Watanabe, hold that rope straight! You can wipe your forehead all you want after you're done."

"Yes, ma'am."

"It's doctor!"

"Yes, doctor…"

Watanabe raised his head again, to see a surprising sight. The woods were over, so were the endless farms around them. There it was, close by enough to see with the naked eye: Azdavay. "It seems we'll be finishing this part of the highway today."

"A bit late, if not for the mayor's army" replied Rabanowicz, sounding like she was only annoyed at her schedule being shifted by a whole season rather than the whole "invading army" thing.

A small group of curious onlookers gathered around them as the road builders approached the town. Watanabe didn't really get why people found entertainment in watching them work – perhaps these people didn't have better entertainment options for that day. He couldn't deny that there was some level of entertainment in manual labor, certainly better than having sat in an office chair for several years even if his muscles ached and yearned for a seat at this moment.

As the sun began setting, setting the sky ablaze with red, the road finally reached the gate of the city. The workers were tired, but they found the strength to all let out a cheer as the final clump of gravel was shoveled on to the road. "All right, all drinks are on me tonight!" shouted one man, and an even bigger cheer erupted as the crowd of workers began flowing into the city.

Watanabe was awkwardly watching from the sidelines, as he had found himself a tree stump to finally rest on. He yawned, feeling sleepy while looking at the falling sun. He had a lot to complain about in that moment. About his aching back. His aching front. Okay, everything was aching now that he thought about it. Still, when he saw the locals of Azdavay crowd around the workers, giving them thanks, when he saw the road that he helped build… he couldn't help but raise a faint smile. In the office he had dealt with numbers much larger, matters seemingly much greater, but none of it had felt like it mattered as much as this one crappy road.

"Monsieur, aren't you going to go with them?" Watanabe jumped when Rabanowicz suddenly appeared behind him. "I heard you like a good party or two."

"I guess I should, to let out all this exhaustion." Watanabe groaned as he got up from the stump. "Won't you join?"

"No, those kinds of gatherings are not for an educated, godly woman like me." Rabanowicz gave a pat on the back "You men have fun; I'll go back to Libertycave."

"Aye aye, doctor." Watanabe stretched and began making his way into Azdavay for a fun night out.

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