On the other end of the continent of light, in Bastion City, Phoenix was currently still catching up with everything that had happened throughout the ten-year time skip. She felt a bit bored about having to do all this on her own and would have much rathered be out fighting monsters.
But this wasn't a duty she could skirt to someone else. But it wasn't all gray and sad.
She found many new functions in her interface that had to do with kingdom building and management, which hadn't been there before the update. One of which had brought an enormous grin to her face.
She was still hesitating to put it into function and had wanted to hold an officer meeting, to get everyone's opinion on the matter. But with Astaroth at the other end of the continent, Silent Light with him, and Khalor back on the dark continent, it would have to wait.
'I really shouldn't wait for them much. Maybe I could do a survey instead?'
Calling out for Brienne, Phoenix waited for her in a side room. She wasn't very fond of doing her business in the big throne room and preferred holding her small meetings in the small chambers next to it, where they had accepted to give the ambassador role to Elwin.
She had a small thought for the man, wondering what had become of him. But Brienne entered the room, breaking her thought line.
"My queen," Brienne said, bowing down respectfully.
"Brienne, please. Don't be so formal when it's just the two of us. All this dancing around is making my head hurt."
"As you wish, my queen."
Brienne stood back up from her bow, but her demeanour barely changed.
With a deep sigh, Phoenix gave up for now.
"I called you here to ask for your opinion on a matter."
"I shall give you an answer at the best of my ability, your majesty."
"I see in my management interface that I can impose a tax on Exp for the citizens of the kingdom, be it Native or not. But I wonder if I should establish it."
Brienne looked slightly confused at the jargon Phoenix used, but the two had spoken a few times before, and Phoenix had tried giving her a rundown of the jargon, so they could understand each other better.
"Although I am not sure what 'Exp' is yet, your majesty, I believe the Native citizens of the kingdom would not notice if you imposed a tax on it, given it isn't too harsh. Maybe we can do a survey? Would that ease your hesitation?"
Phoenix rested her chin on her hand for a moment, falling into thought.
'I guess a survey of the Native's thoughts on the matter would be the easiest way. I know for certain that players won't mind. It is common practice in guilds usually.'
She just wasn't sure if she should do this without asking Astaroth. Even though she was second in command, in both the guild and the kingdom, ultimately, he was still the leader.
'I could send him a message, asking for his opinion, while the survey takes place.'
She looked back at Brienne, who was silently waiting for her to take a decision.
"Alright. Do the survey. For clarity, Exp is what makes people gain levels, and become stronger. I know the Natives don't have as good a grasp on them as us Abnormals, but you guys are still aware of your levels."
Brienne nodded her head, confirming that statement.
"How should I word the tax on it, your majesty? Do you have a set amount in mind already?"
"I do, yes. I was thinking of setting the tax to five percent for the Natives. But I would like the survey to ask how much they would think is just. Also, I think that if we tax on Exp, we should reduce the income tax slightly, to keep everything fair. You can state that in the survey."
Brienne pulled out a sheet of paper and scribbled notes on it as Phoenix talked. They went over a few points together, before Brienne took her leave, going to put this into motion.
A kingdom-wide survey wasn't a minor task, but they should still complete it promptly. If she set up a survey office and posted about the survey on boards everywhere around the city, the citizens would come of their own accord.
This took a load off Phoenix's mind. She opened up her interface, sending a message to Astaroth, keeping him apprised of the situation.
*I started a survey in the kingdom for an Exp tax. I intend to tax the players of the guild a bit more than the Natives, but I think it wouldn't be bad to tax them, too. It would give us a larger safety net, come the need to level up quickly. What do you think?*
It took a moment before Astaroth's answer came, but it was expected. Silent had kept her notified of their progress in the Ash Elf territory, and she knew they were busy.
*I'm okay with it. Just make sure it's not too salty. We don't want the natives to think they are being treated unequally.*
*I'll explain what I had in mind when you have time to talk. Make sure you call me when you have a bit of time.*
*Will do. It's hectic over here, for now, but it'll calm down once we've taken care of the portals. I'll call you then. I'm reaching another portal, gotta go. I love you.*
Phoenix smiled warmly.
*Stay safe, and don't die. Exp isn't easy to get from what I hear from our players. Love you too.*
She closed her interface, not expecting a reply from him for a while. She had gathered intel on the tears and portals spawning everywhere across the two continents, and from what she heard, even though every monster was suddenly stronger, and gave more Exp, it still wasn't enough to palliate the massive amounts needed to level up past level fifty.
Dying against some of the stronger creatures coming out of the portals was like committing level suicide.
Leon had done a good job making sure the threats stayed contained during the time skip. Some kingdoms were less active about the issue and were now facing constant onslaught.
'Let's just hope we can keep our territory free of the demons. It would suck to lose all our progress to an oversight.'
Phoenix closed all her interface windows and went to take a walk inside the city. She needed to change her mind a bit.
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