REBUILDING

With Athena all over Rukito, Kuragari had had enough. As tired as she was from fighting, she found the energy to go over there to confront her . She pulled Athena back and said , "Hey, hussy, get your claws away from him! You heard him and betrayed him; now you're all over him? For what reason did you even bring her back? You have me, Tama, as well as Elia, so why her?" Rukito thought hard but couldn't give a proper answer and said , "I wanted to try my undead spell, I guess. Also, Athena is still useful; in fact, she's more useful now." 

        "Don't act like I don't exist! Talking about me right in front of me-also, darling, you never said you had three more girls in the picture, so explain."

"Well, Athena, get used to it. They came first, so there's no need to act like the top one. I love all my women equally, as long as you guys can get along and be friends. If you don't love me, feel free to leave."

  "Damn, Rukito, what's gotten into you? You never said that to Elia that time when she was jealous of me and Tama."

       "Fine, but tell her to apologize for calling me a hussy."

Is this a kindergarten? Why are they acting like children? With Elia, Athena, and Kuragari having confessed their feelings, that only leaves Tama. She has a good personality and can cook. I wonder if she has feelings for me as well. Other than this, I still need to take care of the formalities of this country and put it under my rule as well. I won the war with... wait, where's Lloyd?

"If you want, you can come to my room tonight, but I have things to do, so see you later."

Rukito rushed off, searching the area for traces of Lloyd's presence . After following a trail of his energy signature, he sees Elia tied up and teleports there. Lloyd quickly holds a knife to her neck as he says, "Now, now, not so fast. I'll spare her if you tie yourself up."

"Really? You think I'd be dumb enough to do that? Why would I risk my life for someone else?"

           "Don't act like you don't care for her. You came here so fast when you saw her and appeared before the others sitting here. Plus, she did mention you."

"Just having her as a hostage does you no good. I can kill you ten times over before you can lay a finger on her."

    "Why say it if you could have done it?"

Rukito wasn't panicking for two reasons. He could easily get Elia away safely, but it's who was behind that had him take it easy. Just as Lloyd attempted to take action, his chest was pierced, and he dropped the knife. Silvaren then said , "How dare you lay your hands on my daughter." In an instant, Rukito untied all the hostages. They thanked him before leaving, with only Elia and her father remaining there.  

" Where were you all this time?"

    "Well, I was caught up with some personal matters, and ... oh yeah, what happened to you?" 

Old man, you may look young but act your age. Now that you are no longer king doesn't mean fooling around with the wife is what keeps you from important stuff. He may not say it, but with how bright this motherfucker's face is , only a fool can tell. Plus, he smells like flowers ; only Elias's mom smells like that. I can't blame him. At least he saved Elia in time, even though I could have done it.

"I see you changing the subject so casually."

With Elia also wandering and asking, Rukito has no choice but to tell them.

"I encountered a spirit sword." As soon as I made contact, instead of gaining memories of sword ,I was transported—or more accurately, my soul was transported—to a realm beyond time. I practiced until I was exhausted to the core. It was torture. Someone was present to train me, but one could argue that I needed to adjust and progress to survive.
 If losing my head or what could have been lethal counts as death, then you could claim I've died over a hundred times. I trained for countless years until I exceeded my master’s expectations. By deceiving me into sealing my memories with the claim that I’m too powerful and might ruin the world if I can’t manage my abilities, I consented, and thus the seal was established to be lifted only after six years.
Today, he revealed to me the real motive behind locking away the experiences and the hours I dedicated to training. I had nothing to lose, and he worried that due to the trauma he caused me, I might explode at anyone and unleash my full strength, annihilating this world and everything in it. Having found a purpose and people I cherish, he said I'm prepared.
 "It's been five years, but since half of my body was destroyed, the seal's fail-safe engaged, making it malfunction prematurely."    

      "So, if the seal broke, you would have been dead?"

"No, as long as my soul was fine, the World Tree would have healed me. Did Silvaren not tell you how powerful the World Tree is to have?"

      "From what you told me, that wasn't a spirit sword. A spirit sword carries a sword spirit, be it a sword master turned into a sword spirit or a natural one. Was the person who trained you a demon, by chance?"

"Hmm, now that you mention it, he did look like a demon and taught some demonic spells , so probably, yeah."

   "What you have is even rarer than a spirit sword : a demon spirit sword. Rumor has it that only the demon king had one, which is why he was so strong. It is said that the demon spirits in demon spirit swords are from a much higher dimension, as the demons there are much stronger, with their power being completely different. They don't need Mana or Aether to use magic."

After chatting with them, Rukito sends out orders to the army. He tells them to scout the area for the enemy soldiers to capture the ones that remain alive. Once they finish, they are to move in to prepare for an annexation. Rukito plans on taking all this land for himself and establishing a new order. Once that's done, he can go on and rebuild.

I must approach this correctly to avoid triggering a future conflict or civil war. Those who fled when I announced war ought to be living. However, many idiots remained, so they perished. The conflict was the simple aspect, yet strength won't aid in gaining the people's support. In the past, the elven king Silvaren could offer me guidance here since I’m inexperienced in politics; such topics aren’t covered in school.