Now that she had open encouragement to get out of the house for the day, Alexis began to make the plans for regular outings with the Paladins.

At first, she had been worried that Dominic might not be good with babies. There were a lot of gaps in his knowledge base, and it didn’t seem like he would have had many chances to interact in a normal family setting for the last decade.

While that was true, he did have some essential instincts for this, and he had somehow managed to completely avoid Katerina’s early tantrums, during her fire breathing stage.

Every time he held her, she was in a good mood.

Once she was back in the field, hunting Ogres with her Paladins, Alexis began to feel like herself again for the first time in ages. Being pregnant had put so many limits on her, and then having a small child kept her confined to the house most of the time, even though she had recovered with magic.

Now, she could finally get out and kill monsters to let out all that frustration and boredom.

"Are we going to make this an overnight outing?" Wilkes asked as they reached the area where the Ogres had been detected.

"No, we will likely go back tonight unless we fail to find those Ogres. The Adventurer’s Guild supposedly has the situation pretty well in hand."

As she travelled, Alexis began to realize just how true that was. There were many signs of past battles in the region, but none of active monsters until they got close to where the Ogres were supposed to be and smelled smoke from a campfire.

There was also the smell of fresh meat, and the Royal Guard was instantly on full alert.

If the Ogres had caught a group of adventurers unaware, this might be a rescue mission for any possible survivors, not just a subjugation. So, instead of preparing for close combat, half the guards switched to their rifles, while the others kept their swords and shields at the ready.

Cautiously, they approached the smell of wood smoke, and heard the voices of multiple Ogres arguing about something unintelligible.

They didn’t recognize the word for human, which was a good sign, but it almost sounded like they were fighting over food. Alexis gave the signal for the team to get into position, with the riflemen behind and to the side of the front lines.

The guards put her behind them as the magical support for the initial rush, standard procedure, as she was a Royal, even if she was a Paladin.

The Ogres looked up as they saw the Paladins approaching and grabbed their weapons, ignoring their meal. There was some sort of deer or cow on the spit over the fire, a great relief to everyone involved.

The Paladins made a shield wall as Alexis put up protective spells over the front line and prepared a [Consecrated Ground] spell for after they were in close combat.

The Ogres charged, and the rifles fired, causing the Ogres to stumble.

Having high-level rifles really was a cheat code against monsters, and firing from under twenty metres away, it was nearly impossible to miss a target the size of an Ogre.

A second volley was fired just before the Ogres reached the shield line.

The clubs smashed into the barriers, and spears thrust forward, plunging deep into the monsters and forcing them back. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Alexis activated the holy damage area effect, and then the spears were dropped, in favour of charging forward with [Smite] activated on their swords to finish off the Ogres.

It was smooth, practiced, and efficient. More of a slaughter than a fight.

"Check them for loot, and clear the camp. We don’t want to miss one that was out hunting."

The guards smiled at her enthusiasm. The Princess was definitely hoping that there were more Ogres out here somewhere. Anything that gave her an excuse to stay out for more than one short fight.

"Let’s just go find another target. I know that you’re not ready to go back home yet.

You’ve earned this outing."

Alexis laughed at her old friend’s encouragement. "We just left Dominic with Katerina for four days, we shouldn’t be out too long."

Wilkes laughed. "You say that like he minded. Those two just resonate with each other’s chaos. I don’t think you’ll have any worries about doing what you please, even if he’s alone with the kids, much less when he’s got a whole house full of staff."

"You’ve got a point. I don’t need to feel bad at all. It’s a Paladin’s duty to clear the land of the monsters, just as much as it’s a Duke and Governor’s duty to keep up with the paperwork that keeps the territory running."

"That’s the spirit! Now, should we look for small threats or big threats?" Wilkes agreed.

"I think that we should go for multiple little ones today. Let the professionals get the worthwhile rewards, while we take care of some of the drudge work."

"In that case, let’s go looking for something a bit milder. I’m thinking maybe a nice village of Goblins to terrorize, or a pack of Gnolls."

"Oh, that would be a change. I haven’t had a chance to go killing goblins in ages. I know you used to love it just as much as I did."

The Royal Guards all chuckled at that. Yes, they did enjoy killing goblins when they were younger. But after a while, the small green creatures were no longer a threat to them, and it became a monotonous task.

So, they had moved on to bigger prey and left the Goblins for the younger generation, and the adventurers who couldn’t afford higher end gear.

A balance, of sorts. So everyone could progress.

There was likely the same sort of arrangement among the Adventurers here in Wistover, but a single outing to kill Goblins wouldn’t mess up the balance. Assuming that they could find any, that was.

From what Alexis had heard, the monsters mostly ran away from the city, or went into hiding when the airships were near.