RE:WRITE

60.0 Candela_Chapter 17: Blitz

"Speed and efficiency."

"Yes but –"

"Your complaints are neither expeditious nor efficacious," I said. "So, shut the hell up."

"But sir, we do not have the money to make an order of this size. We're already behind on payments to the Earth kingdom, and the LeAgua company threatened to cut off trade with the Dark Kingdom if we didn't start paying off our debts soon. If we make this order, we won't be able to service the debt and –"

I raised a hand to silence the silky-haired minister of finance. He stopped mid-sentence and stared at me with a dissatisfied look in his eyes. He was probably still complaining inside his head.

"Speed and efficiency. Those are my priorities for now; not servicing the debt, not pleasing a company, and certainly not explaining myself to a disgruntled bureaucrat. You do as I say and you do it as fast and as efficiently as possible. Understand?" I turned around, my robe flicking sharply. Someone grumbled about big government and ignorant rulers, and then an angry set of footsteps accompanied the grumbling until, eventually, they both died out.

"Sire!" A young woman walked out of a door to the side.

"Walk with me," I said, quickly making my way down another corridor. I called into another room, "Someone tell Azoth to meet me in the main dining hall, immediately." I turned to the woman. "What is it."

"The citizen's council is demanding that we open up the castle. Trade is at a standstill because no one can get any permits from the government. The mobile unit you setup outside the interior walls can't handle so many requests. Black market trade is also at an all-time high. At this rate, we'll –"

"Speed and efficiency, Margery. I'm streamlining the government, cutting off some loose ends, removing red tape, that sort of thing. It'll take some time and it'll be painful, but it must be done. Now go tell that to the council," I said. Margery nodded and scurried off.

Note to self: Streamline political decisions by removing the citizen's council.

"Brekhart!" I shouted.

"Sire!" said the stocky, middle aged man working on some documents in the room I had just passed. I walked past the room without breaking stride. The sounds of papers being shuffled, a desk being pushed, and someone groaning and heaving preceded Brekhart's arrival by my side.

"Status report," I said, tersely.

"Sire, my aides have drafted all of the policy decisions you requested. They will be ready to be put into effect by next month," said Brekhart, a satisfied smile stretching up to the bags under his eyes.

"Not good enough. I need to implement them today," I said, picking up my pace.

Brekhart blinked, and had to jog to keep up. "But sire, these are all first drafts. We still need to proofread them, check for loopholes, get them approved by the various departments they will be affecting, and –"

"Send all the drafts to my office in two hours. I don't care if you mix your you'res with your yours, but stamp out all the loopholes or I'll dissolve your department for being useless," I said. Brekhart slowed down, grabbed his knees, and panted for breath. I left him behind without a second glance.

I met several aides and ministers along the way, admonished them for being slow and gave out a few more orders, until finally flinging open the doors to the dining hall. The room fell silent at my arrival, as dozens of gazes fell on me; some clearly dissatisfied and others outright enraged. I ignored them and went up to the front of the table. I nodded to Azoth, who ignored me completely.