The conversation continued, with troubled parents trying to find some solace and closure to the events. Still worried of a possible recurrence. I refused to participate, despite my children attending in the new year. They can handle themselves. They already know more than anything the academy can teach them, that… I am sure of.
By the end, Headmistress Aurelle was able to calm the nerves of the parents, gaining their support for the upcoming academy year. It was caught in disbelief, seeing these 'high and mighty' Lords act in a parental way. Most of them don't even mention their children in a professional setting.
The king picked up a small scroll in front of him, reading out the name, "Following through with the order of the meeting, next is… Lord Wittrock."
Standing up, Lord Wittrock performed a sloppy bow to the King, burping slightly while rising, before loudly clearing his throat to speak. His voice hoarse, like it's fighting between his throat and his diaphragm, "Your Grace, we need more land. After the devastating blow to the population and land after the Dark Long Night, the kingdom is quickly rebuilding. The ruins still lie North of the Service District, heavily populated by Beasts. After the war, there was a boom in economic growth and population growth; now is the best time to once again expand our borders to accommodate all the people. I am also formally requesting an expansion to the Upper District South, and to clear the land South of the Voyager District. Because of the economic growth, more citizens have been moving into the Upper District, and we need to be ready for when it becomes too much. I request aid from Lord Oberfell to deploy soldiers into Beast territories over the next few years to expand our borders."
The king, looking slightly annoyed, gazed at Lord Oberfell upon his name being mentioned and addressed him, "Lord Oberfell, would you please explain to Lord Wittrock why territory expansion would be difficult?"
Lord Oberfell sighed heavily, side-eyeing Lord Wittrock, while rising from his chair. Bowing respectfully to the King before responding, "Of course, your Grace. Lord Wittrock" –He addressed calmly, eyeing him with a piercing look, his old voice displaying confidence— "It seems that your information is off. The reason for the economic boom is that during the war, while the citizens in the Lower and Middle Districts were dying off, the rich were left behind to procreate. After the war, with countless dead families and relatives, many were forced to move to the Lower District. Leaving more of an earning opportunity for the ones left behind. The amount of zen has stayed mostly the same, but there are more poor people than ever. The reason many are moving to the Upper District is that the Middle District is shrinking in size and population. The wealth gap has grown larger and is continuing to grow. We can expand our borders, but there would be no one with enough zen to move there, and the ones with ample amounts would be unwilling. There… is your zen problem. The soldier problem is this. To compensate, many Lower-District citizens have resorted to becoming Voyagers to make zen from bounties and commissions, while becoming stronger to survive the wild. This has led to a decrease in the number of soldiers enlisting every year. So, I do not have the troops necessary to perform these expansions swiftly."
Lord Oberfell then shifted his gaze back to the King. "Your grace, if I may offer a suggestion?" The King nodded in affirmation. "Lord Wittrock, if expansion is truly necessary, while I can spare a small number of Elite soldiers for the stronger Beasts, I suggest you get in contact with the Voyager Guild and see if you can put up some commissions." Speaking his mind, Lord Oberfell bowed to the King before calmly taking his seat.
Lord Wittrock was left standing in a daze, going over Oberfell's words. Making a fool of himself, a few other Lords were caught shaking their heads in disapproval.
As if they are any better.
The King simply shot Wittrock a dark look.
Lord Wittrock physically recoiled from the King's gaze, before quickly sitting down in panic, "O-of course. I will do that right away!"
The King loudly exhaled, "Moving on. Next is Lord Oberfell and Lord Elgin." The King looked up from his scroll and right at me, completely ignoring Lord Oberfell while he stood and bowed. "It's good to have you back… Lord Elgin. I hope your trip with your son was enjoyable."
Standing up from my seat, eyeing Oberfell, before responding, "You are too kind, your grace. The voyage was delightful."
"Now! Why don't we get on with why we're here?" Lord Oberfell exclaimed.
The King gestured for us to continue.
Bowing once more, Lord Oberfell took point on the discussion. "I regret to inform… that during Lord Elgin's voyage with his son, Noble Leo, they discovered a worrying truth. It seems that one of our neighboring kingdoms, the Freila Kingdom, is preparing for a large-scale assault. Growing and training a strong army. It is unclear whom they seek to attack, but as they are not part of the Haldon Empire and its territories, we cannot dismiss an attack as one of the closer kingdoms to their borders."
The room quickly surged with commotion from these accusations. Vestige Hugo promptly unleashed his Aura, with restraint, sending a slight tingle throughout my body. The room once again silent, the King called for our continuation.
This time, however, I spoke, "It is not uncommon for threats of war to be directed at our kingdom, given its proximity to a variety of Beast territories, and advanced technology. If these actions of war turn out to be directed at our Kingdom, they will already have spies within our walls scouting out defences, and distribution of Holders. Any dramatic move to take defensive actions will lead to leaked information. This must be kept sensitive. And with the many changes becoming the kingdom, it is safe to say we are not prepared for a frontal assault."
Lord Oberfell cut in, "If the Freila Kingdom's army does pose their attack against us, we must take swift action in recruiting and training soldiers. Luckily, we have an advantage in numbers, terrain, and technology. As well as our most valuable advantage, our Will's. It is common knowledge that the Freila Kingdom is situated North, near multiple volcanoes. That means strong Fire-Will Holders. However, we have the common equalizer of Water-Will Holders, including a Vestige, and Frost Hold…"
"Wait a minute!" A weak-willed voice barely rang out above Lord Oberfell. Further down the table from me, on the Queen's side, a hunched boy, fidgeting with his hands, slowly stood up. The new Master of Coin, son of Lord Norn Eisler, James Eisler. "Apologies for interrupting Your Grace, t-there are just a few p-problems with what the Lords are s-saying."
The King shot him a glance of disapproval. Lord Oberfell was about to yell out when I lightly grabbed his shoulder, stopping him. "Very well. Continue." The King said.
The boy bowed. "Put simply… my Lord! We don't have all the funds for what everyone is asking for. The funds needed for the Queens' proposal is already putting a strain on the Voyager Guild, putting out so many commissions for Decent Wills. The debacle this year at the Academy left them thin as well. And if Lord Wittrock is truly going to be assigning more bounty commissions, it would attract more Voyagers to sign up. And now, you are talking about war? Straining the Bell family for more armor and weapons, enchanting them, along with providing safety artifacts."
Lord Bell stood up upon being named. "It is true, your grace. We are already swamped as is."
The Bell family oversees the development of weapons and armor in the Oston Kingdom. With the wide variety of Beasts in the area, it has aided the kingdom in quickly surpassing others. Their lead HQ of experimentation is in the Oston Commune of Iston, North of the Kingdom. They run the Commune as members of the council.
Lord Eisler continues, "These ramifications would require more mining for the resources from the Durst family."
Lord Durst stood up, nodding in affirmation.
"We can't simply increase the value of one thing without also preparing for the effect it'll have on everything else!" James Eisler finished, breathing heavily from rushing through all the words in one breath.
The King stood, staring daggers into Lord Eisler. "And what do you suggest we do? Lord Eisler."
James Eisler gulped dramatically, still catching his breath. "Um… my Lor… Your Grace. In my humble opinion, we should grow our economy and importance to the Capital by encouraging more trade. We've managed to get by, for now, but with our technological advances, we could make a lot more zen by selling them. Instead of earning funds by proof of concepts in our research, and trading outdated artifacts across the Haldon Empire. It could also make them more open to helping us in times of peril…"
While we are allied to the Haldon Empire, they take great importance over zen than anything else. Monopolized in the Capital, South of the kingdom, we are close enough to enemy borders to make us a 'hazard' kingdom. Because of our withholding nature over our technology, they only accept us if we trade older models for protection.
The King's expression hardened a bit. "We have been ahead of everyone else by keeping what is ours to ourselves. Only allowing the technology we create to leave the Kingdom on our say-so. And you, with one simple decision, wish to dissolve that? Allowing everyone else to be just like us?"
The room was quiet, deathly quiet. James Eisler looked about ready to soil his pants and leave running.
"Any thoughts?" The King said calmly.
The room surged with noisy opinions, every Lord and noble thinking they had the most sensible answer. Agreement was out of the question. Half the room agreed with encouraging more trade, while the other disagreed, with a select few posing 'compromises'.