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Leo

Elaria was helping Leo out of bed while Allis did the same for Glia, and the four of them made their way up to the inn's dining area to continue waiting for the architect. Leo may have overexerted himself with way too much yesterday, because he fought a dragon and became mentally exhausted from a bunch of revelations and constant arguments. So ending the day with a pleasurable evening with Glia, may have been a little too much for his body to handle.

Elaria seemed to have a self satisfied expression plastered across her face ever since laying sight on the both of them, and was more than willing to assist in their relocation, but Allis seemed a little disappointed that she missed out on such ‘activities’.

‘Next time Allis, and definitely without the venom.’ Leo mentally noted to himself with a sigh.

When Leo got comfortable at one of the tables, he felt the all too familiar gazes of lust directed toward him. Looking around he noticed that the stares were back with a vengeance, all because he forgot to cast a sound barrier on the room. After last night with no sound barrier, as well as a few people that were spying, not even him being known as a mage was going to deter people from running wild with their imaginations.

'The staff idea was nice while it lasted…' Leo thought as he opened his sketchbook to clean up the rune system for his rifle.

After a few hours of everyone chatting among themselves, mostly about each other and the rebels in town, Fel entered the inn. She was wearing her not too breathable looking cloak as she walked over to their table. "So my morning could have gone better…" She remarked exhaustedly.

Leo closed and put away his sketchbook, while double checking the sound barrier before he spoke. "Did something happen at the base?" He questioned.

Fel sighed heavily. "I explained the full situation to the major, and she was less than pleased. I believe her exact words were, 'doesn't matter if it's the military or a rebellion, the higherups will always find a way to fuck me with a pissing contest.' She also brought up a few other problems that you now have to resolve." She finished pointedly.

Leo grimaced, remembering the threat Yez made. "Let me guess, supplies, since Yez has such a beating heart for the cause."

Fel frowned a bit. "She does care, but she's a control freak, and even though we dragons are very self aware of our tendency for being stubborn, it's only in regards to certain traits or beliefs. And yes, it's about supplies. The army needs about fifty gold a month to-" A small thud and chiming of metal interrupted her.

Leo had tossed a bag full of gold coins onto the table in front of Fel. "There's a hundred, go nuts." He remarked bluntly.

Fel looked between Leo and the bag before she pocketed it. "Well that was easier than I thought, because Yez used to only feed us some silver and goods every week." She said with a small chuckle.

Leo grinned with a smug expression. "And that's just another reason why 'I' am actually the superior option." He teased.

Fel huffed. "Yet to be seen… Which brings me to our next problem, support. We had an entire web of informants from in and around Selaria, but most of that has now been cut, and only a few of the most committed are probably still in contact."

Leo furrowed his brow, because spy networks were the definition of sketchy, but they were plenty useful. "Okay, then have the people that are still with us try to build back up those connections again. The only reason we lost them is because of trust, so it's going to take some time to regain that, but they will most likely come to us once they see we're worth a damn to work with."

Fel nodded. "The last problem we have is not an immediate one, but we need to start thinking about expansion. Yez always spoon fed us what to do, giving us a general idea and working out the details slowly, so we don't know what to do after the academy's attack."

Leo became deep in thought. ‘Yea, my long term plans kinda got fucked as well, and now I'm stuck on a collision course with the people who control the kingdom. I can easily deal with the inquisitors, fuck that's still a stupid name, but if they send an actual army it might draw the councils attention if I send them all packing my self. Escalation breeds more escalation… Gonna have to finish up my rifle, but I would like to use something less lethal, I don't want to kill or permanently wound future subjects because that doesn't make a happy population…. Stun rifles maybe? Wait, getting off track. She said expansion, I don't want to take over by force, or even take over to begin with…. Unfortunately, the town is already mine, wait! Maybe I don't have to give up on my previous plan!'

A cunning smile crossed Leo's face. "Hay, Fel. Do you know what a 'city state' is?"

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Elaria

As Leo finished explaining the concept of a 'city state', everyone at the table looked at him with a mixture of shock and disbelief, because Leo would be establishing himself as a king.

Elaria was especially shocked, since she would end up being a queen. 'I don't think I could handle that…' She thought worriedly.

"So you want to be a king…" Allis said what everyone was thinking.

Leo looked appalled at the remark. "Hell no! But it's the most efficient way to get Selaria to back off after the academy attacks. They wouldn't want to waste the effort on a border town with little strategic gain, especially one that manages to repel a squad of mages. It shows that we may have the strength to back up our claims. Also I'm not going to be taking the position, because I'd rather not have a big shiny target on my back, nor do I want to deal with all the politics and management associated with it. So I'll need to find someone willing and trustworthy to bestow that lovely role to, preferably a selarin." He finished explaining with a tired tone.

Elaria mentally breathed a sigh of relief. 'Oh thank the gods…'

Crossing her arms, Fel raised a critical eyebrow. "So you're going to be a kingmaker." She remarked skeptically.

Leo stared blankly at Fel, and Elaria mentally added 'kingmaker' to his list of titles. "Uh huh… Bottom line is that I can continue with my previous plan, just with a few alterations." He remarked casually.

Allis cocked her head. "The 'revolution', right? Don't you need to finish the designs for the enchanted weapon for that?" She asked curiously.

"Since I already have the beginnings of a city state, I don't need to think about trying to change all of Selaria by force. Now I can just proceed with growing Telnar into a center of power all on it's own, so it can influence surrounding territories economically and politically, and that's going to take some time in itself. So the weapon is going to be a side project until after the academy is dealt with, because I don't know if they ‘would’ be willing to send an army." He explained with a shrug.

Fel looked between Allis and Leo. "Revolution? Enchanted weapons? What are you talking about?"

Leo facepalmed, realizing that she wouldn't know because of his sound spell. "Right, I need to fill you in on my plans as well as my world." He paused to let out a resigned sigh. "So basically 'everything'... At least I won't be doing anything else for today, because this is going to take a while."

Glia chuckled. "That's a relief, because I still don't know what the fucks going on." She remarked in amusement.

Elaria couldn't help but bark a laugh. "Trust me Glia, It's not much different at the front of the line."

'But at least things seemed to have calmed.'

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Rak

Rak was leaning back in his chair, waiting in his office while bored out of his mind as he missed his old posting. It may have been a lot of work, much of it unneeded, but at least he took pleasure in it. Now he had absolutely nothing to do, because he was reassigned due to 'excessive involvement' and ‘souring the image of dragons’.

Rak sighed sadly. "All the power at my fingertips, and I'm stuck guarding some useless insect hill…"

Rak continued to sulk until there was a knock at the door. "Come in, it's not like I'm particularly busy…" He stated indifferently.

The headmaster and recent arch mage of the academy walked in with a smile on their face, much to Rak's irritation.

Rak gave the mage a cursory glance before returning his attention to the much more interesting ceiling. "What do you want, bug?" He questioned irritably.

The headmaster's expression faltered a bit. "Well, we received word of an uprising in one of our border towns, and I thought that you might be interested in joining us." She remarked with high spirits.

Rak rolled his eyes. "A few dozen peasants with pitchforks isn't even enough of an appetizer to sate my boredom, much less put in the effort to leave this room for…" He trailed with an exaggerated sigh.

The headmaster smiled wickedly. "I have good news for you then, since the town was actually taken by hundreds, maybe even well over a thousand, armed soldiers."

Rak’s eyes slightly widened as he sat upright to regard the headmaster directly. "That… Could be worth it… But that's still nothing the inquisitors can't handle, granted with some actual effort. So why come to me?" He questioned suspiciously.

A wide and sadistic smile crossed the headmaster's face. "The nobility seem to consider the number of rebels there to be a massive threat to the kingdom's unity, as well as the town itself." She answered darkly.

The beginning of a knowing smile started to show itself on Rak's face. "Oh? Do go on." He insisted joyfully.

The headmaster chuckled. "Well since so many rebels are there, many would slip through the combing of the town, and infect the surrounding population. Not to mention the population of the town itself, who knows how many people have fallen to such traitorous ideas."

Rak’s face became warped with manic excitement. "Such a terrible situation, but how exactly is the academy going to resolve this unfortunate circumstance?" He inquired exaggeratedly, knowing full well what the answer was.

The headmaster's visage darkened. "By enacting an old decree that's still conveniently written into law. A complete and total purge of the town, in other words...." She trailed for him to finish.

Rak stood up with a new found vigor. "Extermination." He stated with an edge.

The headmaster nodded. "Exactly. We are currently rounding up the most 'zealous' of our mages to properly carry out the effort. Currently we have about forty, more than enough , but I think a guardian like yourself would be a welcome addition. So what do you say, enough to 'sate your appetite'?" She asked with a playful tone.

"And here I was missing the Gron territories."

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