To Rebuild a Mageocracy

Sixteen

^^ World Map (Topographical, no Borders) ^^

— Arcata, Royal Castle —

The Emperor, the Marshall, the Sage, and the Coin Master all sat around their usual table, reading the same lengthy report, all taking less than a minute to read the entire thirteen pages. Then, they read it again, and again. Finally, the Emperor sighed, dropping his copy onto the table. "So, I suppose we can rest assured that Anitra the Dungeon Master is not hostile to our country, nor does she wish its Throne. Any further concerns?"

"How should we go about asking her for Taxes? She's created a Holy Order, and they do not pay taxes." The Coin Master sighed, rubbing his face tiredly.

"Her Guild, even if it is within a Cathedral, is not a Holy Order, is it?" The Marshall asked, as always slightly confused.

"Apparently it is, having been created by Muradin themself. Apparently, they've become irritated with how inefficient we are." Hothien the Grand Sage chuckled.

"Well... fuck. So we can't tax her?" Eric asked, trying his level best to understand.

"We cannot. We can tax her Ducal Territory, but she has not yet interacted with it nor spread her business outwards, so that's not a viable method of gaining access to all of her new Wealth. I advise we simply surrender access to those funds; already we're finding government officials who accept bribes from the Thieves' Guild, due to this incident, so it's a net positive to the throne." The Emperor commented calmly, looking across the room at the person kneeling in front of the door. "Anything that takes the knees out from under that Dark Guild is a net positive to the throne."

Hothien chuckled under his breath. "And of course, this part about the whole city flying, well... it's quite amusing, that she believes such a feat of magic is possible. Can you even imagine the logistics of such a thing? The amount of Mana required would be astronomical!"

"But with said mana, it would be possible?" The Emperor clarified, watching his uncles expression carefully.

"... well, I suppose anything is possible with enough mana, but the mana doesn't exist!"

"Even if someone had Infinite Mana?" Eric asked, tilting his head at the report in front of him.

"There is no such thing as Infinity in Magic, child... but I do admit that the power to cast Tier Seven Magic dozens of times in one day is... concerning. And if it were possible, to make the city Fly... well, truth be told, such a thing would be quite terrifying."

"But immeasurably useful in a war effort." Eric responded, rubbing his beard thoughtfully; this was the one area of thought he excelled at, after all, and he could instantly think of dozens and dozens of uses for such a thing.

"Indeed... and how about this portion, the part about her attitude towards the Crown and Royal Family? Should we be concerned that she disdains us so harshly?"

Hothien scoffed derisively. "And why shouldn't she? Have you ever shown her an ounce of affection? Why should she care for you? Why should she consider you her family? I've told you, time and again for the past two hundred years, that your method of raising a family will only ever give you three things: Idiots, Snakes, or Runaways."

"Hey!" Eric frowned, acutely aware of this dig towards his intelligence.

"Well, it has shown great efficiency in raising powerful, intelligent, and ruthless members of the family, which is what we need as a country, in our time of strife." The Emperor shook his head and tapped the table again. "Let's focus, now: Anitra the Dungeon Master, Duchess of Arcata. What do we need, how do we get it, how do we avoid conflict: Eric, Go."