Leon leaned back in his chair, rocking it back onto its hind legs, looking slightly depressed. After uttering a long sigh, he explained his reasoning.
"In the last ten years, we had many discussions between rulers of the many kingdoms of the continent. The consensus is that, regardless of how powerful an ally the abnormals can be, your kind is a wild card.
"No one knows what side you will ultimately decide to fight for. You could be the end of this world, just as much as its saviour. There is just no telling. Although many rulers were impressed by your previous actions, in a good way, other kingdoms have established a strict ban on abnormals because of the actions of the few.
"Even I have had to bend to some of their unreasonable demands."
Phoenix so far agreed with the thoughts of the rulers of New Eden. Players had their own agendas, varying from simply levelling up to ruling kingdoms, or sowing chaos everywhere and anywhere.
"What demands are we talking about here?"
Waving his hand dismissively, he answered.
"Nothing too big or undermining. Most of them were just about cutting any ties to them, be it commercial or from the teleportation network. Speaking of which, I took the liberty of having a teleporter installed in the main plaza, while you guys were gone.
"It's connected to all the cities with one, the only exception being the ones who refused to associate with a kingdom ruled by abnormals."
Phoenix nodded her head.
She had yet to open the guild interface, to see what new buildings or edicts Leon had put into place. She doubted he had done anything harmful, given the city was apparently prospering.
"How expensive was that to set up? I hope you didn't burn through all our funds. We will need them to keep fortifying and growing."
Leon laughed lightly.
"My queen, the original funds you left behind are long gone."
"What?!"
Phoenix stood up abruptly, slapping her hands on the table.
Leon raised his hands in a motion of peace.
"Relax. The original five million gold is gone. But it wasn't wasted. The treasury isn't empty."
Phoenix opened up her interface, wanting to pull her hair out from the anxiety. If he had burned through all their funds, how were they going to grow now?
But she gasped as she opened the treasury interface.
*Guild Funds*
Gold: 64,495,215
Silver: 7,709,058
Copper: 588,043,528
'So rich!'
She snapped her head in Leon's direction, who was sporting a victorious grin.
"Where did you get all this money?!"
"In a few places. Taxes, transactions, military aid, and a few other things."
"Taxes? Taxes on what?"
Leon brought his chair back on its four legs before snapping his fingers.
Phoenix looked at him curiously.
When a human woman came out from a side door, next to the throne, she wondered who she was, and what she was doing there. She was dragging behind her a trolley, with piles of scrolls, as well as ledgers.
The woman stopped a few meters from the table, bowing down ninety degrees.
"My queen!"
Phoenix looked at Leon with a puzzled look.
"This is Brienne. She is the kingdom's bookkeeper. The trolley behind her is a paper trail of all the transactions made in the last ten years, on which we made a profit or loss. There is not much loss, though."
Phoenix looked at the woman, who was still bowed down.
"You can stand at ease, Brienne. I am not much for formalities, currently. What is it you do, aside from bookkeeping?"
The woman straightened up, brushing the creases out of her dress with her hands, before smiling widely.
"I am a trained royal notary and accountant. I was educated in one of the greatest schools on the continent, and taught how to redact or notarize any transactions between a kingdom and any secondary party."
She looked proud of her education. Phoenix could tell from her posture that she didn't come from a rich upbringing, though.
She was standing too rigidly, and lacked the ease a noble would have around royalty.
"How long have you been working for our kingdom, Brienne?"
Leon raised his hand, answering the question for her.
"She was gifted to us by the very school she was educated in. A few years after you all left, when the invasion started breaking out across the continent, I accepted a protection contract to defend the Mathematic Academy of Themisca.
"After defeating the corrupted waves, and sealing the crack from which they were coming, the Academy insisted we take one of their newly graduated student, as a bonus on our payment. They said it would be their honour to have one of their brightest work for us, and ensure our continued prosperity."
Phoenix knew about the kingdom of Themisca, since their capital was one of the five greater cities on the continent, and the biggest and most prosperous one, too. But she had never heard of that academy.
'The players still have so much to learn about this world,' she thought to herself.
Bringing her attention back to the matter at hand, she turned her gaze to the ledgers and scrolls behind the woman. She wasn't a fan of bookkeeping, and did not want to go through this.
"I don't need to look through all of it. I trust you did a good job. But I will want a rundown of our current financial situation. Current costs and income, and such."
"Yes, my queen. I will get to it right away. I should have a report ready by the end of the day."
Phoenix nodded her head. Her thoughts wandered to Astaroth, who had told her he was accepting the task given by Prince Nalafein a few hours prior.
'I wonder how it went. He still hasn't contacted me back.'
But she still had many things to discuss with Leon, so it would have to wait.
"Let us get back to our discussion. You still haven't told me all the concessions and opinions of the other rulers. I would like to know that."
Leon nodded, waving at Brienne, dismissing her.
After bowing swiftly, the woman grabbed the handle on her trolley and carted it out through the same door she came through. Theirs would be a long conversation, and Leon didn't think the woman needed to be part of it.
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