With the help of the elemental sylphs, the hunting competition came to a successful conclusion. The body count tallied, and even if some of the hunted bodies were already cooked, Erika kept a tally of who hunted which frog.

The food smelled delicious, and almost everyone could not wait to dig in, even though Rino had no idea how undead could eat. Seeing how the women taste-tested, he supposed there was no risk if they were not poisoned or dead yet. They definitely ate more than him while cooking.

With everyone feeling impatient, including himself, Rino cut the winning speech short and dispensed with the anticipation of knowing the winners. Instead, he was going to appoint the talents he needed and call dibs on that king frog thigh he had been eyeing ever since it was stewing in the large clay pot.

"The hunting game was a resounding success, and I cannot thank our hunters enough for participating in the hunting game. Before we start the feast, let me congratulate the commander of the hunting team."

Everyone held their breaths, and Rino scanned the three teams. Most people were rooting for the goblin chief who raked in a whopping twelve king toads. Mutt only dragged back four, but he worked alone, proving his superior strength to everyone. The human hunters brought back twice the amount that Mutt brought back, but they worked as a team. Moreover, they borrowed work tools from the farmers to bring the bodies back, dismantling them with knives they stole from the cooks in the outdoor kitchen. Unsurprisingly, nobody really liked them despite their amazing results.

The cheers each hunting squad received from the crowd spoke of their popularity, not that Rino did not know how well-liked they were already. The goblins maintained a very close relationship with the farmers and humans, who were generally not siding with the arrogant archer. Even Erika got along with them swimmingly.

However, Rino had another place in mind to put this goblin chief and shaman. He needed someone capable of thinking on his feet, adaptable to change and loyal to his followers to protect this territory when Rino was gone. There was no doubting the goblin chief's loyalty to Rino either, so instead of picking him as the obvious winner, Rino looked over and pointed at the arrogant archer.

"You have proven your skills as a hunter with or without a bow. Your experience is needed for the founding of this kingdom. After you receive your name from me, you will take a vow of eternal loyalty as my subject to never betray me and always serve the Kingdom of Solitude for as long as your soul is mine."

The archer's friends pushed him forward, and he fell onto his knees to receive his title and name. There was discontentment going around about Rino's decision, but nobody voiced it out of respect for their king. 

Rino knew. However, he wanted them to also know that he was a fair monarch who ruled with fairness. The archer might have a dislikeable personality, but his actions and skills earned him his position as the commander of the royal hunting squad.

"From this moment forth, your name is Fowler, my royal hunting squad commander. Serve me and my kingdom well until the day you return to the darkness you were born from."

Receiving a name and a position was a huge thing for any undead. Rino watched as Fowler and his friends burned in purple soul flames that did not hurt them. Instead, like Erika, flesh started to cover their bare bones, and Rino saw what they looked like before their deaths.

Lesser Vampires! Rino almost could not believe his eye sockets when Fowler stopped transforming. Unsurprisingly, the hunter had platinum blond hair that was slicked backwards. Apart from that, his square chin and broad shoulders were probably the only things he retained from his appearance when he was alive.

No wonder he was such an arrogant little shit! RIno hated to admit it, but this man was rather good-looking despite looking close to his middle age. From his countenance, there was no doubt that he was a lady-killer in his prime before he died. Women would fall at his feet left and right if he flashed them a toothy grin.

Unfortunately for him, he has walrus-like fangs that could not be retracted and long nails that looked like a hawk's talons that also remained in their true form. Unless he found a way to become a full-blooded vampire, he was going to remain like this for a long time.

Those blood-red eyes and elvish ears gave him a dangerous but mysterious charm, and Rino clicked his non-existent tongue in disdain. They defeated the purpose of blessing this arrogant prick with ugly teeth and nails now. Rino hated how he was giving Fowler more reasons to act like a windbag. He felt a little sorry for the person he would put in charge of this loser now.

"This is not to say that efforts and talent in other areas will not be rewarded. Know that I, the Monarch of Solitude, am a fair king who rewards based on merits."

Hearing that the king was not finished with his ceremony, the shadow army could not help but be curious. For now, food was forgotten as hope rekindled in their hearts. Could it be…?

Could it be that there was not only one winner in this hunting game? The king was too generous!

Rino did not know what they were thinking, but he found the perfect candidate to fill in one of the most troublesome spots when he was gone. Erika might be good at managing the housekeeping affairs and reporting numbers to Rino. However, he needed another reliable person who knew how to manage the ground situation that Erika could not personally manage. The magic web array was still a work in progress, but Rino had fewer worries about defences once that was up.

Instead, what did not threaten his community from the outside would begin to fester on the inside. Call it a public service officer or a disciplinary regulator, but Rino needed someone to keep these fools on a leash. A dog would forget discipline as soon as its master is away for an extended time. That wouldn't do.

He smirked and walked to the goblin chief, who bowed. All his clansmen bowed, and Rino placed his bony hand on the goblin chief's head. If Erika turned into a ghoul and Fowler turned into a lesser vampire, what would naming a goblin do?

Suddenly, Rino couldn't wait to find out. He had just the perfect name for this little monster too.