LOYALTY

I first needed to gather what was left of the nobility to see who could stay and who needed to be dealt with. After a war, one can do a few things as the victor. They can wipe the land clean of these people, install a puppet government, have a peace treaty, or annex the land and make it part of the country. Depending on how things are handled, you may have an easy time ruling, but make the wrong move now, and sooner or later the country will want your head. I want this to be part of my land , to have it be one with us. For that, humans need to coexist with elves.

Rukito teleports back to the mansion he calls home. He goes to the kitchen to see Tama. He sees her washing some dishes and calls out to her, "Tama, I'm back." She quickly turns, filled with joy to see Rukito. She then straightens up before bowing and says, "Welcome home, Master."

"Huh, master?! Where did that come from? Just be normal; no need for bowing and calling me master if you don't want to. We've gone through so much with you teaching me cooking a few years ago and our little date we had."

          "Da, da --- date! Oh, yeah ... that was fun. But you are now the king, so I have to show respect." ( her chicks turned red as Rukito confirmed they day out was a date )

" Anyway , I need you to cook a lot of food. Get as many people as you can and prepare something easy and tasty. You can cook outside as there are a lot of mouths to feed ."

First impressions are key. If we show them what good we can do in the situation, the people will start to see we are not so bad after all. A king is just a title without his people. Everyone likes a good king. By helping them, they will slowly forgive what we have done. Tama is the best cook here, and with her cooking, they will forget about the people they lost.

" Here's a letter of authority from me. The servants will listen to you, so gather them and start. When you are done with the first batch, call me. I will come deliver them personally."

    "Will do . I should be done with the first batch in 30 minutes, so come by in an hour's time as I'll gather them."

For the next part, Athena will be needed. I wonder where she is. I never told her where exactly to go, so I wonder if she can find her way here. Getting a few elves would also help.

It's getting late. Fine, leave that; I'll do it myself. I never noticed before, but I caused a lot of destruction. Merging realms was no small thing, but having them take all the cons was brutal. But as I am now, I don't feel sorry for them. It's not that I don't care; it's just empty. Back when I was walking around the barracks of the oppressed elves, I did feel sorry for them. But for some reason, I feel nothing.

Rukito walks through a destroyed town. He sees a woman with a broken leg sheltering her child. He approaches as her eyes look at him. Not knowing if he's a friend or foe, she instinctively wraps her arm around to try and hide her baby. Rukito slowly approaches and heals her leg as well as her other injuries. She stands up and thanks Rukito for his kindness. Rukito responds, "Walk that way towards the border; in that direction, they will be giving food soon." After pointing her in the right direction, he continues onward .    

As he walks, he comes across a cave made by the buildings that fell, with a couple of injured people there. Some have dislocations, while others are without limbs. Rukito, in a matter of minutes, heals all of them and even grows their limbs back. Not knowing who he was, one of them asked. He responded that he was only passing by and wanted to help the people. They thanked him before he left, sending them in the same direction.

Out of everyone, only 10 people survived in the small town. After Rukito healed them, he then went over to the next town. This time , the people were more grouped up, having an easier time finding and healing them. There were a few buried under rubble, which he managed to save.

When I asked Silvaren how I can rule over this land without its citizens hating me , he told me that the people are loyal to a righteous ruler. If they see me as kind , if I am a savior, then only will the public eye see me as someone worthy of serving. That's when it hit me. If I heal the people without revealing who I am , most will recognize my face as someone kind-hearted, a saint , a savior brought by God .

 It's been a few hours now, so Tama should have sent the first batch of food. They will tell the people that the king instructed them to send aid , but I will be in their hearts. When I go up and declare myself the new ruler and merge the countries, they will see the good that I did rather than the destruction. The elves see me as a liberator, and the humans will see me as a kind-hearted, trustworthy ruler.  

With this, it's easier for humans to believe how despicable their king was, as well as see me as a hero. I never spend hours healing so many people for nothing. It's to build trust. One is loyal to a king they trust. Silvaren was the king who ruled the longest for a reason : to open my eyes to something simple, yet hard for me to see. In the end , I am still inexperienced.

Tama and a group of others are cooking food near the borders while she sends the soldiers to help and direct the people to come eat. By the soldiers' surprise, they see that people are already coming this way. In fact, they all seem healthy. The people were alarmed seeing the soldiers, but they reassured them they were just here to tell them about the food and to come and eat.