"From the blood on your armor I am guessing you resisted."

Warden says "At first I didn't intend to, but my men had other ideas."

"And once they started the fight you couldn't just stand there."

Warden says "Correct."

"Considering what I saw of the royal guard I am guessing you didn't have too much trouble."

Warden says "Yeah. We always heard how superior the royal guard were, but they couldn't even match the skills of my people."

"So, what happened?"

Warden says "We defeated all of the royal guards that were present and withdrew while the king screamed like a madman."

"Did you get Drake?"

Warden says "Yes, we did. He is currently enjoying a cell in the basement."

"Good! One less factor to worry about."

Waden says "What do you think will happen next?"

"I think you should be ready for the king to strike directly at you. He won't let what he sees as an insult go. He will either send the royal guard to attack you or he will send Kriton to rally the captains to attack you."

Warden says "Alright, I will send word to Roland and prepare our defenses here. Anything else I should do?"

"Spread word of what happened. Make sure the people know the truth before they hear the king's lies."

Warden says "Okay! I better go get to work!"

"Alright, if possible keep me informed of what's happening outside."

Warden says "I will do what I can."

After he leaves I eat my now cold breakfast and then return to my meditation. Normally not knowing what is going on would drive me crazy but now not being involved directly is actually relaxing. This way I don't have to waste any of my energy and can just prepare to face the monsters.

A little while later a guard comes in and informs me that they just repelled an attack by the royal guard and soldiers of Drake's family. He also tells me that groups of people are gathering all over town and are being organized by the city guard and the adventurers. Things are progressing much faster than I thought they would, this could be over today.

It seems my original worry about the rebellion interfering with the war was totally incorrect. If the rebellion wins in just one day we will still have at least three days to organize before the invasion reaches the town. That is not accounting for Roland's tactics being able to slow down the enemy.

If I get out of here tomorrow I can head out and directly attack the enemy myself. I should be able to reduce their numbers significantly in the next couple of days. As I am planning what to do once I am freed a guard comes in with my lunch.

Guard says "The warden wanted me to tell you that Kriton showed up at his barracks and tried to lead his troop to attack us here."

"You said he tried to lead them?"

Guard says "Yes. Roland had already spoken with his troop, they captured Kriton and handed him over to us."

"Hahaha! I wish I could have seen his face!"

Guard says "Kriton is now in the cell next to Drake's. Roland has full control of the army, all the other captains are supporting him."

"Good! Thank you for the update!"

After the guard salutes and leaves I happily eat my lunch as I try to imagine Kriton's reaction when his troop turned against him. That idiot probably never even thought about the fact that his troop was all made up of commoners. Not to mention all their families are commoners, they are not going to ignore what is going on right now.

Knowing Roland, while he could end the rebellion in an hour, he will most likely march against the invasion. To his mind the people will deal with the king, the army's job is to slow the enemy advance. If he does well it could be as long as five days before the enemy reaches the town.

That is plenty of time for things to be cleared up after the rebellion, which was always my concern. The only reason I didn't plan on a rebellion from the beginning was because I didn't think it would be finished fast enough. It seems I seriously underestimated just how incompetent the king really is.

Deciding that the rebellion succeeding is pretty much a given, I go back to planning ways to deal with the invading army. In particular I want to try out my new AoE skill against them and hopefully level it up some. Come to think of it now that I have an AoE magic skill, attempting the next mage test might be possible.

Once the test is over I will definitely have to ask Yui what she knows about the commanders test as well as the other mage tests. While I don't want to spend too much time, the amount of strength I can gain in the tests is massive. Although, maybe I should talk to her about an easy way to come back instead.

That way I can go back to Illium and take care of some things before taking any more tests. Besides, if I can bring the girls here to take the tests then they can grow in strength as well. With my mind made up I put talking to Yui at the top of my mental to-do list.

Then I am distracted by the window opening again, especially when I see that it is Zimmy who has entered. At first I don't recognize her though, I have never seen her in armor before. By my best guess it has been a couple of hours since the guard came in and updated me, enough time for major events to happen.

"Hello, Zimmy! You look like you have been through a lot."

Zimmy says "It has been a busy day!"

"How are things going outside?"

Zimmy says "It just ended. The king is dead!"

"So soon? That was even faster than I expected!"

Zimmy says "Well, I offered a bonus to your mercenaries and they agreed to join in. With a thousand veterans on our side the king and his nobles didn't stand a chance!"

"So, what's happening now?"

Zimmy says "Well, right at this moment all the noble's estates are being looted and probably burned!"

"That isn't too surprising! What about the reorganization?"

Zimmy says "The guildmasters, including myself, are temporarily the rulers of the kingdom. We have already agreed that Roland has full control of the army. We also agreed that you are to be set free."

"Good, that means I can start killing monsters!"

Zimmy says "Well, wait just a few more minutes. The official orders are being delivered to the warden as we speak. We are doing our best to keep everything as legitimate as possible."

"Sure I can do that! So, what is Roland doing right now?"

Zimmy says "He took the nine troops and marched out a few hours ago."

"Nine troops?"

Zimmy says "Your troop is still here. They are the ones who broke the king's defenses. It only took five minutes! I had no idea you had trained them to be such monsters!"

"I thought you would have sent them with Roland."

Zimmy says "I thought about it, but I decided to keep them here so you could lead them when you are released."

Warden says "It's official. Ash, you are now a free man!"

"Good! Thank you! Now, it is time for war!"