The sparring session might have been lopsided, but they did learn a lot about the abilities of the shields that Dominic had made for them.

"Did you have a plan to make the rest of these? Or is it a project to let you hide in the forge for days at a time?" Alexis asked as she wiped sweat from her brow.

"A bit of both. But we asked some members of the Sect to do the time intensive work for us, and I’ll do the shields and final assembly. That way I can do a half dozen in a day, and get through them in a reasonable amount of time." Dominic explained, while the other Royals mentally calculated how much stronger a Royal Guard force could be with that sort of gear.

The real change wasn’t the level, most of the time, they didn’t need to use as much as they could.

The advantage was in the mana reduction, so that they could use the attack spells constantly.

If they could keep the flaming blade active for a whole fight, there was no reason that they couldn’t hack through an entire army of Gnolls with ease, the way that Dominic and Amie had.

They would have still needed to ambush them in a valley, and use cavalry to herd them to prevent being overrun. But with less mana usage, they could have pushed forward much earlier, and the battle would have seen far fewer injuries.

They were just about to head back inside when a runner from the army arrived.

"Your Highness. We have word from the northern armies. The depletion of the monster horde has lifted the siege on multiple cities around the western Dagos region, and the capital of Skiple.

The King has called upon his sons to return to Cygnia City with their forces." He announced.

"And the Envoys?" Princess Alexis asked.

"There was no word on the negotiations, Your Highness."

Alexis nodded. "Then we will continue to host the guests, while the Princes return to their duties. Inform the men to be ready to move when the Commanders give the order."

The soldier saluted and left, while Alexis turned to smile at her brothers.

"Well, it looks like you get to miss out on all the fun parts. You’ll be headed off to relieve forces at cities whose attackers we have already eliminated, while I get to stay here and kill monsters as they appear from the ritual area."

Prince Russel rolled his eyes, while Claudius patted her on the shoulder.

"Fear not, little sister. I will find a way to enjoy myself. Perhaps this time they won’t call off the battles halfway, and I will get to be the one who eliminates the Rebel Prince."

That would be a huge milestone for the Cygnia armies. Once Prince Kaizen was dead, the rebellion in Dagos would collapse, and they could start on the plans to actually rebuild what was destroyed.

But the chaos in the military camps didn’t extend to the population of Wistover.

They still had two armies camped outside of town, and a laundry list of projects that needed to be completed. A list that kept growing longer as more people arrived in the city.

Dominic and Alexis hadn’t had a chance to look at that part of the reports since the battle, but Julio had compiled them this morning. The number of new arrivals had spiked in the last two days, likely thanks to the monsters not being around to kill refugees anymore.

They had received six farm families, plus fifty more residents for the town just since the battle.

There was still plenty of land to go around, and some of the farmers had decided to stay on Baron Keith’s land, as it suited their intended crops and skills. But if they didn’t start getting landholders soon, they were going to end up with huge numbers of farmers under the direct jurisdiction of the Duchy.

That was good for his budget, but awkward for the Barons when they did eventually arrive.

If the Ducal estate was too large, they would end up many kilometres away, and much of the best land by the river would already be claimed. Getting in early was one of the best ways to get the good spots with reliable water for irrigation and good soil.

It would also determine much of their future wealth.

But with the war about to start back up, if Dominic and Alexis’ guesses were correct, they wouldn’t be seeing any new Barons for a few months at the least.

"You will have to send us our new shields later, Duke Dominic. We will unfortunately have to depart before your gift is ready." Claudius announced with a dramatic sigh.

"Of course. I will have it sent to you along with a military shipment in the near future.

We are going to be upgrading our airship docks as soon as there is space to work, and there is already a rather well developed cargo area in need of improvement. With that infrastructure in place, I am certain that we can get a single item to you."

Prince Fahad laughed at Dominic’s earnest tone. "And if he can’t then he can just send it with the Merchant’s Guild. They will find you just as fast as the army will. These days, Wistover is becoming increasingly popular as a transport hub, whether we are involved or not.

In fact, it almost feels like we didn’t need the Envoys here at all."

Claudius shook his head. "No, we need them here, or the Duke will start getting ideas about where the limits of legal freight forwarding are. I’ve seen the records in the Library, and it’s family tradition for him."

Then, the Royals split up to send out their daily messages, leaving Dominic with the Princess and the members of the Merchant’s Guild.

"Branch Leader Rill, if you would like to follow the staff, they will get your family settled into guest suites here in the Manor. The warehouse will still be there in the morning, and there are a few family compounds suitable for your status open within the town limits." Dominic suggested.

Rill smiled. "I won’t need anything so grand. My family is small, and will only shrink as my daughters marry off. A good home is all we need, close to the warehouse would be best.

Or, we could renovate a space in the Merchant Guild Warehouse. Many prefer to live within the confines of their Guild House for security and convenience.