Vincent stays shocked for a few minutes, staring at him.

  I understand you, my love, I think to myself.

  Ronan is scary sometimes. And I know he means it. If he could, within his undead limits, he would raise them again afterward.

  After a few seconds, Vincent recovers, gently squeezes my hand, and says:

  “Do you want the orc to leave, Ronan to return the child to his mother, and me to cast a silence barrier so we can talk privately?”

  “Returning the child would be great, Ronan. But now both the totem and the iron fist are my subordinates. I don’t think it makes much sense to keep them away from this conversation. But fine, withdraw until we call you again,” I say, turning to them.

  Both obey, stand up, and move to another area of the cave.

  Ronan returns the baby, and Vincent casts his spell.

  “I really want to do this in the best way possible,” I assure him at that moment when the spell is already cast and Ronan is still chatting for a few moments with the goblin mother.

  “I know. But we have to be careful. We don’t know if the paths of previous demon kings were also paved with good intentions.”

  Hey, that’s similar to an Earth saying: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

  “You’re going to help me stay true to our values, right?”

  Because I know he and I have the same ones: living happily while helping our friends and those who depend on us, whether they’re citizens of Convergence or Alverdan. Vincent may not be the crown prince, but to him they’re still his people.

  “Of course. And we can have Mary help us. Her moral compass is impeccable.”

  “Well, if you’re saying that because of her high light affinity, it was actually the darkness guy who stopped us from massacring babies and children.”

  “Yes, but by choosing to make them your vassals, not by proposing some kind of truce or showing our military power and threatening extermination if they ever attacked humans again.”

  “Oh, you’re right.”

  Ronan is creating a great army, expanding Convergence. That will be good against the threat the seed of darkness warned me about, but... what if there were no such threat? What if it were a trick by the pup, a ruse by his dark god meant to trigger the next war between humans and a new demon king?

  The words of the divine beast of light’s envoy, translated by that human hunter, echo in my memory:

  “A new demon king is rising. He is still weak and easy to kill, but he is growing strong. He, or she, is the darkness.”

  According to his words, darkness is a threat, and I seem to be embracing it. I’ve even taken in cultists who made human sacrifices... Okay, they’re forbidden from doing so now, but they did it.

  Can people really change that much and become good?

  Ugh, what am I even doing?

  Now I’m the one squeezing Vincent’s fingers.

  “Yes, please, you and Mary, help me. I don’t want to become the next demon king. I don’t want to hurt people. I want this kingdom, where I and all my friends and family live, to prosper and know peace. And I also want Convergence to live in peace. Maybe it’s time to rely on that threat instead of conquering them…”

  “Threat, my lady?” Ronan asks, having just returned and stepped through the silence barrier Vincent cast.

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  “Ronan, if we keep expanding Convergence like this, we’ll eventually end up in conflict with Alverdan, and I don’t want that.”

  “But those orcs have been settled there for decades. I do not see the problem with them continuing to live there, but under your command.”

  “Maybe if they hadn’t attacked Clearhaven. Now the army has sent more soldiers, and they’re going to try to eliminate those who assaulted the village.”

  “I understand. So it is the human soldiers who must fight the orcs. But you also do not want them to massacre innocent children and babies. Something occurs to me.”

  “Tell me.”

  “What if I go alone to warn them? To tell them they are going to suffer a retaliatory attack, and that the non-combatants should evacuate. Let the warriors stay to defend their settlement or die trying.”

  “Sounds good. And those from Clearhaven who’ve suffered losses and want payback can go too. Vincent, how about we accompany them? I’d limit myself to using earth magic, of course. But you, along with Ronan, saved them. I think they’d like having you there. And they’d also like seeing Ronan.” I look back to the necromancer. “Though I don’t know if it’s a good idea, because you alone, Ronan, could wipe out the entire settlement. What if you go beforehand to give them the warning? When you return, Vincent can go to Clearhaven to say we’ve located their village. If they ask how, something as simple as Ronan raising one of the corpses left behind in the village… I asked them to save a couple for that, but now that I think about it… have you done it already?”

  “No, my lady. I assumed those orcs came from the mountain pass, since the only ones we had encountered before came from there. But do not worry: this is like one of my experiments. When there is an error, I gain new learning opportunities.”

  “Experiments?” Vincent asks.

  “Yes. He likes trying new things related to magic,” I answer.

  “Very few mages manage to develop new spells. Those who do are respected, and those spells are passed from parents to children, becoming part of a house’s noble legacy. It’s been decades since we’ve known of any scholar who’s achieved such a feat. With all your potential… yes, you could definitely accomplish it, Ronan.”

  “When I started with my experiments, I was young. I didn’t have the limiting knowledge that it was difficult. I simply needed magic to eat or survive.” He shrugs, dismissing it.

  He might be right. He’s had plenty of time, without distractions, to practice dark magic. Plus, no one ever explained to him that creating something new was reserved for great mages of antiquity, back when the wars against the demon king began and those with magical affinity excelled in battle and became nobles.

  Especially now, after so long without a great war, everything feels stagnant. Human kingdoms only change their borders through the games, and often those borders remain unchanged when there are no clear victories. And although there are regions where borders shift more easily, with farmland passing from one kingdom to another, this marquisate in particular usually stays the same, since the mountains—the so-called Jagged Peaks—are such a formidable natural dividing line that rulers prefer to adjust borders elsewhere.

  I nod to myself and speak again:

  “So, we’re getting off topic. Shall we do it this way?”

  “Alright. Sounds good.”

  “As you say, my lady. I do not mind not participating in that attack.”

  “Okay. But…” It suddenly occurs to me. “Where will the non-combatants who want to flee go? And what if they don’t want to?”

  Orcs are a proud race, aren’t they?

  “They will want to. I will go see them mounted on the former lord of this territory.”

  “The huge bear I saw in the dungeon?” Vincent asks.

  “That one was not the king. He is bigger,” Ronan answers.

  "I imagine seeing something like that would instill enough fear to force them to evacuate the children, along with a few non-combatant adults to care for them,” Vincent nods.

  “And where will they go? Not here,” I assure Ronan, because I think I can already see his intentions.

  “Let them find somewhere safe and stay hidden. If you want, through diplomacy you could trade with them or offer them resources they might need to survive. Let them be allies, but not vassals.”

  “Then they could betray me.”

  “I do not think they would dare.”

  Ronan remains expressionless, but Vincent doesn’t. He looks at me as if wondering what I really want.

  I sigh and relax a bit. They’re right. Those orc civilians would be refugees, trying to start over from scratch, without combatants until their children grow up. We have a considerable military force. They won’t be a threat.

  Yes. I like this solution.

  “True.”

  “One more thing, my lady: they are near the suspected territory of the alpha wolf. They might be allies and have domesticated wolves. I would also like to have some live alphas. I love zombies and bone ones, but they have one small problem: they cannot reproduce. I lend undead wolves and bears to the goblins as mounts. However, now we also have orcs, who have combat dogs but no wolves to ride. And I cannot have that many undead, not if I do not want to worry you again with those blue lines on my face.”

  Vincent nods as he listens. I already told him this when I was being completely honest. I know these are Ronan’s secrets—like being the dark god’s acolyte—but Vincent just looked at me when I told him. He said nothing. I don’t think it bothered him that I hadn’t asked his permission first, not even mentally.

  Besides, he was the one who wanted Vincent to know everything.

  And about the orcs having dogs, I’ve noticed they’re not listed among the creatures in my settlement. Do I still have to go so they can swear fealty to me too?