After the negotiations, the envoy of Birak Kingdom left the capital city, heading back towards the core of the kingdom. The others walked towards the Duke, their expression telling him that they had questions.
"Let's just say, we do not have to worry about resources or money to rebuild the Duchy," the Duke said before walking away, the others following him.
-x-
Three days later, the first wave of Kilrun's population returned, all of them having a look of relief on their face. Because the Duke had ordered the destruction of anything unhelpful for the war cause, they should be homeless.
Thankfully, the Duke was far-sighted and ordered the first wave of people to be construction experts and builders. They began to rebuild the city from scratch, with the help of the soldiers.
Soon, buildings began to sprout in the capital city, signifying its slow return to a city after being converted into a fortress. During that time, the envoy had also returned, to give the resources that were promised along with leading an entire army of Birak Kingdom's soldiers with him.
The soldiers and builders all looked in awe as the formation of the Birak Kingdom's army was simply greater than their army, with the majority of the soldiers of the Birak Kingdom being Genesis Condensing experts.
The army merely stopped for the night before heading towards the capital of the Mizalas Duchy, to settle there and prevent the Malrun Kingdom from trying to take back the territory.
Of course, it was the most interesting to happen in the week, with the next most interesting thing being watching the builders building a building, so, the coming Army garnered a lot of attention from the current inhabitants of the capital city.
-x-
"Aargh!"
"Run away- "
"Please, sto-"
The Duke floated in the air, looking expressionless at the large gathering of bandits in front of him. After getting the resources provided by the envoy, he gave them to the Grand Advisor so he could distribute them to where they needed the most.
The resources were enough for the rebuilding process and it was still merely one-quarter of what was promised. He is looking forward to receiving all of the resources agreed upon.
Like how he is also looking forward to destroying the bandit's hideout in front of him. As he thought of what happened, several figures walked out of the hideout, glaring yet shaking in their boots at the sight of him.
The Duke smiled, the restriction on this place was not strong enough to suppress a Noble expert, allowing him to fly towards the hideout without being forced to land.
With the last of the bandit's hideout, a major one at least, he hopes to destroy them to ensure they will no longer cause any trouble.
."... and we will pledge ourselves to you," oh, it seemed during the time he was thinking of something, they had gone on a long rant, one he did not pay any attention to as he was not planning to spare any of them.
With no other words, he summoned his Noble Tower before throwing it into the hideout, the power of the Tower destroying anything in the vicinities. In just under a minute, the last of the bandits were destroyed.
However, to ensure they would no longer use this place as a hideout once again, he put a replica of his Noble Tower at the plate before going to the center of the suppression, wondering what was the cause of it.
-x-
A week after the envoy had led the army, the second wave of people also arrived, being filled with mortals and cultivators with varying degrees of occupations. Thankfully, the Duke and the Grand Advisor were Genesis Sea experts before the siege ended and so were able to memorize most of the layout of the city.
They also possessed schematics for the city plan and followed it religiously to recreate the city. So, when the people arrived, they quickly felt like their home had remained the same despite the massive renovations.
Of course, the interior remained the same for every building, those were for the inhabitants and owners of each building to work out so it was no longer part of the Duchy's problem.
-x-
Ryker remained transfixed in one spot. He had received a message that his family had followed the second wave, the first wave was builders and construction workers only, and so he was waiting for them.
He looked around, not spotting them near the gate. He had used his Soul Sense but the massive number of people did not allow him to pinpoint a single person or a small group.
Yet, he continued to do so. Soon, he found the one he was looking for. He waited for them to get closer before he moved towards them.
When he was close enough, he grabbed the smallest of the bunch, who merely squirmed when she was lifted into the air.
"Hehehe, big brother!" the little one squealed in delight, Ryker pulling the smallest one towards him and giving her a hug, one she returned though her small arms could not fully grasp his physique.
The others looked at him with a smile, having seen him make a move but did not do anything as they had guessed, correctly, he wanted to play with the youngest.
As Ryker carried Ariana, he looked at the other before asking, "How are you?"
-x-
They all went to the Duke's Mansion first, where the guards allowed them to all come in, recognising him and some of the people though they did glance a bit longer at the young ones.
After making themselves comfortable in the medium-sized room inside the mansion, Ryker looked at them expectantly.
Knowing what he wanted to know, Ina opened her mouth first on the account of being his first lover, "Our lives there are going great if you do not account you are not there, Ryker," she pouted at him after saying that.
"We did not have any trouble there. Any person that dared to lay a hand on us where beaten to a pulp by either one of us or Hylla. If that person is too strong, then the head of the Kilrun Adventure Guild will beat them up for us," Era continued where Ina left off.
"So, did the pest make any moves on you?" the pest being the name given to the young master of the Mortola Family.
"He tried to but got beaten up in the process. The Mortola Family was later kicked out of the city by the city lord on the account of causing some trouble," Mashia answered his question, smiling as she remembered the fate of the family.
"But let's forget about us and go about you, Ryker. What did you do during the war?"