Bodies littered the streets. Blood stained the walls. Smoke and floating rubble choked the air. To the people of Corigrad, it might be a nightmare. And yet, he smiled.

  Maximilian Kable sat on the stairs to the palace, looking out over the piles of orcs he had slaughtered to save the city, and the guards and civilians starting the cleanup. One of his followers sat with him, her arms wrapped around his, leaning her head against his shoulder, smiling just as hard as he was. The Battle of Corigrad had been long, arduous, and rather boring, but Kable’s thorough, almost single handed slaughter of Valzekt’s forces had won the day. He’d won this reward.

  “That was so awesome.” The girl wrapped around his arm whispered, smiling. Her voice had a seductive air to it, and was always pleasant for Kable to listen to. “Watching you move. The way you sliced and burnt them. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful. I think I love you a little more now.”

  “I love you too…Silene,” he said. “I’ve always wondered what my purpose in life was. Turns out it was here all along. To fight, explore and enjoy this world. I’d like nothing more than to enjoy it with you.”

  “I’ll be by your side, every step of the way.”

  Looking out across the streets, he saw a lithe, athletic woman with short hair in tight fitting leather armour carrying a lance. She was barking orders at the other civilian workers while walking towards him. He was pretty sure she was one of his supporters, she’d helped him out once or twice, but couldn’t quite remember her name. She walked up to the two of them, looking at them with a mix of horror and confusion.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” She said. “The city is falling apart. We need to treat the wounded. You have access to Grand Magic, you must be able to heal some people.”

  Kable shrugged. “Clericcraft is unfortunately the school of magic I am by far the weakest in. No healing for me.”

  Healing was boring for Kable. He could leave that to his followers. It would be bad of him not to have some kind of weakness.

  The woman with the spear glared at him. “Even if you can’t be asked to help, at least show your damn face and give them some kind of hope. You're the Hero of Sable, at least do something to help us here!”

  “How hypocritical,” Kable replied. “I saved everyone here. I killed Valzekt’s forces. I destroyed the teleporters. And now you come here and say I did nothing? I really expected better of you…Minerva, was it?”

  Minerva’s grip tightened around her lance, which implied to Kable he got the right name. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

  Silene pulled herself closer to Kable. “Please, dear Minerva. At least treat this like the victory it is.”

  “A victory?” Minerva repeated. “The royal line of Corinth is dead. Government is collapsing. The city is in ashes. The people are in uproar. If this goes on we may face a full scale riot and political collapse. If this is victory, I do not wish to know defeat.”

  Minerva took a step closer to Kable, staring at a face that, despite all the destruction, she had never seen look genuinely scared or worried.

  “Delarius is dead,” she continued. “He sacrificed himself for you, Kable. He was applicable for the Holy Sword Excalibur, he could have been a hero on par with you, but now he’s gone. He gave his life for us, and I never even…”

  She looked away, a single tear falling from her eye. Kable stood up and wiped the tear away.

  “I know it’s hard losing him,” Kable said softly, “but we’re going to lose a lot of people along the way. All you have to remember is that he sacrificed himself to save you. He was a hero to the end, and because of that he’ll be a hero in death. I know he loved to talk, but he wouldn’t want us to be standing around bickering.” He smiled. “You wouldn’t want his sacrifice to be in vain, would you?”

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  She looked back at Kable and shook her head.

  “Thought so. Now go out there and help people. I’ll be right behind you.”

  Minerva nodded and walked away, still annoyed but not about to run a spear through his chest. Kable sighed and sat back down on the steps while Silene crawled over to him. He didn’t like women like that, and had no idea why he kept her around. It's not like he needed anyone to help him fight.

  “I’m shocked I remembered her name,” he said to himself, before looking at Silene. “Now then…I think we have more important business than arguing with boring old Minerva, don’t we?”

  “Mr. Kable?”

  Kable shook his head as he finally came back to reality. The memories of his time as a hero had been coming back to him a lot lately, and he didn’t know why. Maybe his life running the country from the shadows was getting draining, and he just longed for simpler times. Back then he had no shackles to hold him, unlimited power to use as he pleased, and followers who absolutely adored him and would obey him without a word. Now, he had to spend his life talking to people on TV, trying in vain to convince people to do the simplest things for him.

  He was in a dressing room, about to go on a talk show. He couldn’t remember exactly what he needed to say. It was probably something the general public really needed that he’d quietly veto a few weeks later. The only thing that made him want to be here was his new secretary, who had managed her responsibilities over the past week much better than her predecessors. She also looked very good in a pencil skirt. He didn’t look bad either, admittedly: he was wearing a dark red suit and tie with a black shirt, which had become his trademark overtime. His black hair was well groomed and he had a little bit of stubble around his chin; while he admitted he missed his youth, he still appreciated the fact that he was aging like fine wine.

  “I’m sorry, I must have drifted off,” he admitted. “We’re having a debate, aren’t we?”

  She managed to just contain her annoyance and said, “Yes. You’re debating the free healthcare bill with Senator Rogers. I don’t need to remind you what the bill is about, do I? Or who Senator Rogers is?”

  Kable shook his head. “Nah, I’ve got it down.”

  “Good, because you’re on in five minutes.”

  A multi-billionaire was not the kind of person that used to be in political debates. Kable could very easily sit on the sidelines and do nothing, just rule the country from the shadows. Instead, Kable made sure to get involved as often as possible. Making himself seem to be outside the government (and, to be fair, his fortune did not come from generational wealth) pushed the suspicion of the public further away from him. He liked fighting for the common man, even when he would be backstabbing them in the end.

  Of course, he would make sure the bill wouldn’t get through the Senate, and the media would completely drop it after a while to make sure people forgot about it, but no one watching cared for that. The viewers would just see Kable fighting for them, like he always did, apparently.

  “How has your first week on the job been?” Kable asked her. “I know I’m not the easiest person to work with. Billionaire playboy who always has other things on his mind than running a company.”

  “No, it’s been great,” she replied, not losing her composure. “I’ve settled in really well, thanks to you. You treat your employees very well, and you’re not hard to work with at all. ”

  Kable chuckled. “I know I’m your boss, but you can state your opinion if you want. I’m good with criticism. We can go out for a drink sometime if that would make you feel more comfortable.”

  She was a little flustered by that. “I appreciate the offer, but I…I have a husband.”

  Kable cocked his head to the side, bemused. “I never meant it like that, but that’s perfectly fine. Are you two happy?”

  She nodded.

  “He’s in the army. He’s fighting in Siberia. Hasn’t been home in months, but…we keep in touch when he’s able to. I wouldn’t change him for the world.”

  “Serving the country and not running off with some hot Siberien woman.” His secretary stared dagger at him and Kable smiled cheekily, which eventually disarmed her. “Sounds like a pretty noble guy. I hope he comes back in one piece.” Kable knew the Siberian offensive wasn’t going well for the US, but he had no intention of telling his poor secretary that. “Do you have kids?”

  “One. We adopted him.”

  “Good on you. So, what’s his name?”

  “James.”

  Kable nodded. “With such a kind family to back him up, he must be a bright kid.”

  She smiled. “He is. We’re very proud of him. Now, Mr. Kable, you have people to talk to.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Marlow.” The two walked out of the room, the secretary looking bemused. “What’s so funny?”

  “Sorry, I just didn’t expect you to remember my name.”

  “Oh, don’t worry, I’m very good with names.” She stood back as he walked towards the door to the stage. “Don’t worry about me out there, dear Sarah. I’ll get what I want. I always do.”