"How can it-" Eldrian paused as his eyes widened. 'No idea how, but it must mean it influences their connection with the magic abyss. Which without, few would be able to still use magic.'

  "You're right, the first symptom is cutting off your connection to the magic abyss. Making it harder to cast-"

  "You're past that point!" A little girl rushed in, moving straight to Pealros. Her arrival shocked everyone in the room.

  "Akarui! I told you to wait-"

  "But…… If I wait, mister centaur will die!" Akarui shouted. "Mister centaur, why did you push yourself?"

  Pelaros lightly lifted Akarui's face and whipped the tears from her eyes. "I couldn't stand doing nothing."

  "But! Now……"

  "It's alright, I've been prepared for death for a long time now. I've lived a good life. So please, don't be sad."

  His words did not help, she cried. She cried because she feared she could not save him, that no one could. She cried because she could not help anyone earlier. She cried for the city and all the loss and suffering it had gone through. She cried for herself and her parents.

  "Akarui……" Erik hugged her from behind.

  She quickly turned around and clung to him.? "We need to help him!"

  "How?" Erik asked, willing to go to the ends of the planet to stop her tears.

  "I'm afraid it won't be easy." Said another surprise visitor. "I heard you weren't getting better, can I take a look?"

  "Go ahead Ceph."

  Nodding, the teen elf moved closer. Pelaros winched when Ceph placed his hand on his side.

  "She's right, continuing to fight after receiving this injury has caused it to spread deeply. It is starting to move towards your heart."

  Pelaros waited for Ceph to say what this meant.

  "It will soon start sapping your strength directly. In a week, you will be dead."

  Pelaros nodded, he had feared as much. Akarui instead cried out that they must save him. Eldrian simply gritted his teeth while a few tears made themselves known on Elizabeth's cheeks.

  "Is there anything-"

  "My parents should be able to help, however, they aren't currently available."

  "What do you mean?!" Erik cut in in anger, quickly apologizing for his outburst.

  "They've started trying to stall the invasion. They've been fighting against the strongest of the demons and devils, trying to weaken their advance."

  "Then……"

  "I might be able to help." By this point, everyone was wondering just what the mansion guards were doing, letting surprise visitor after surprise visitor enter the mansion.

  That question however was thrown out of the window when they saw who it was.

  "Itireae, can you heal the demon's curse?" Pelaros asked in disbelief, he knew clearly that it was one of the things the elves feared most when facing demons. It was a type of curse that could not be fought with magic alone.

  "Not alone, and not without the right materials. It is a curse and one of the worst there is. It needs to be countered by more than just magic."

  "I'll need a number of magical plants, but the most urgent would be getting our hands on a Trainta Roz to slow the corruption from spreading further."

  Akarui pulled at Erik's sleeve. Turning to her, his eyes flew wide as he recalled the strange flower she handed him long ago. When they were still stuck in Vruntis.

  "Elf lady!" Akarui shouted while Erik took out the flower, "This flower?"

  "Yes!" Itireae moved quickly, taking it from Erik she mumbled a few words as she placed it against Pelaros's side. A few magical bands appeared from the flower, covering the wound and fixing the flower in place.

  She then went on to fully examine Pelaros, which took nearly half an hour.

  "Here's the list of items I will require." She said, handing one to Elizabeth and another to the guard captain of the manor. "The sooner we can find them the better chance he will stand."

  Pelaros had drifted to sleep mid examination, the Trainta Roz fought the curse by steeling all the mana Pelaros's body naturally absorbed. Leaving it starved, but not all mana could be stolen before the curse could infect them.

  This struggle made Pelaros far more tired. Not only was his body lacking the mana it was used to, relied on. There was also a struggling going on with the little mana that made it into his body.

  "What about the city and command?" Eldrian asked once things settled down. Realizing now that they had no true commander, most in such a position had died.

  Turning around, the guard captain who was about to leave looked at Eldrian and said, "I believe it would be best if you stepped in…… At least until lord Pelaros or lady Evale has recovered."

  "Me?!"

  "Yes, lady Evale is also seriously injured and unable to lead. Outside of her, there are only the leaders of each craft left in the city. All others have- passed."

  The room settled into a somber mood. Victory had meant survival, but not for all.

  "But I know nothing of leading!" Eldrian countered, understanding why Pelaros had been so adamant in saying his piece before their interruptions.

  "Sir Eldrian, you say that yet your actions speak differently. Everyone knows of your feats and how you always are at the front of the battle."

  "That does not change a thing. I still know nothing of leading a city." Eldrian countered, this time being more precise with his wording.

  "You do not need to know anything. You will have plenty of capable people supporting you. People with the required knowledge."

  The argument continued for a while longer but in the end, Eldrian had to relent as it seemed impossible to explain that he wasn't right for the position.

  "What now……" He mumbled while rubbing his head.

  "I'm sure you will do a wonderful job," Elizabeth replied, everyone else had left to either help in the aftermath or search for the items needed to heal Pelaros. Elizabeth had sent Nikki on the job from her side, also posting the request on the forums.

  "You've always had this strange trust in me……" Eldrian mumbled.

  "And you've yet to prove that it wasn't worth placing my trust in you." Elizabeth replied quite candidly.

  "But this……"

  "I'm sure it will work out well. And I've had this idea which I didn't think-"

  Eldrian cut her short, "Just say what it is."

  "Why don't we create an incentive for players to come to the kingdom. A refund on teleportation and maybe some starter items?"

  Eldrian looked at her as if she was a mad genuis. Mad because the expense would be incredibly high, genius since more players would open many more doors.

  "I'll think about it, we first need to finish everything else."……

  Aspen turned out to be of massive help in everything. He quickly took charge of almost everything admin-related, only bringing things to Eldrian's attention when it was required.

  For the most part, Eldrian only needed to set apart one or two hours a day to go through all the reports and meetings.

  There were certainly many who were not happy with the decision to put him in charge, but they were silenced by the public acceptance. His management was after all more that of a disaster relief personal than the true mayor of the city.

  AN: A big thank you to everyone who continues to read and support the story on WN.