“Well, that was fast,” Jason said as he paced back and forth in front of the table where Tyler had shared the news with the council. “I didn’t expect those villages to say yes that quickly. Asking them to pledge allegiance to us was more of an opening negotiation line than a final offer.”

“It makes sense,” Tyler said. “They either continue to submit - and they have seen the soldiers eat, drink, and break more than they can afford to accept. Or they petition Brighton to try and take the town, which they had apparently been debating.”

“Seems logical. Brighton is the only other major force in the region. Besides us, I guess, but I’m not sure we qualify yet.”

“Our men did win against one of those major powers already,” Alex opined.

“Just one battle,” Jason argued. “With the advantage of surprise on our side.”

“We know that,” Samantha reminded them. “I suspect they do not.”

“You are correct,” Alex continued. “Earna told me they keep hearing rumors of some mysterious force that appeared from nowhere and wiped out hundreds of Silver Kingdom soldiers. She and her husband were careful not to give up our identity, and they certainly haven’t been correcting the numbers. But I would not be surprised if the news of the battle had spread.”

“It’s certainly no secret in our town,” Phipp added. “It wouldn’t take much for travelers to spread the word in all directions. We may have convinced our enemy that Brighton was secretly behind our victory, but we can’t be sure. And we don’t know how long the ruse will last.”

Tyler spoke up again. “Quite simply, my lord, you have two villages that believe we have the strength to drive out the invaders and are willing to pay with their loyalty. You get to call yourself a king and probably collect a few taxes. Nothing much changes beyond that.”

“Except we send a message that the unclaimed lands are not pawns in the cities’ game. And we paint a large target on our backs,” Jason said wryly. “You’re right. It’s not much of a kingdom. But it’s a start.”

---

Pierce sat on his opulent veranda, savoring his glass of wine. He swirled it idly, looking out across the gardens of his city estate and further into the City of Brighton, then took a sip, enjoying a momentary respite from his duties as the head of House Woodmere.

The House wasn’t the largest noble family in the city. However, Pierce still commanded significant influence in the government due to having shared a tutor with the current ruler some 30 years ago. He had been a young teenager at the time, and to the best of his knowledge, no one but him could say they had called King Archibald a nickname like “Archie.” At least if they wanted to keep their head. Pierce wouldn’t mention out loud it either, but it was a memory that he was fond of nonetheless.

The large doors between the mansion and the veranda swung open, and Pierce frowned upon seeing his butler enter. “Sire, I would not normally disturb you at this time, but a man and a woman showed me an item they have for sale. It is something that a collector such as yourself might want to see.”

Curiosity piqued, the nobleman nodded at the butler. “Bring them in.” I wonder what it is. If it were a painting or a sculpture, he would have told me, surely? Perhaps something for my weapon collection?

A young man and woman entered the room, the man carrying a package wrapped in cloth. Pierce’s long experience in reading people’s body language made him think they were husband and wife, or at least lovers. The two of them bowed to the head of House Woodmere, and then the couple carefully placed the package on the small table supplied by his butler.

Pierce looked at the brown cloth-covered bundle. “Well?” he asked, directing searching glances at their faces.

The man obliged Pierce by talking as he slowly drew back the cover. “It is an honor to be able to show you such an exclusive item today, sire. As of now, it is the only one in existence.” He pulled back the brown cloth back to reveal a second bright crimson wrapping that he began to peel back slowly. “More may be made, perhaps in days, perhaps in years - who can tell? I don’t want to promise rarity when it is something I cannot control. But what I can promise,” he continued as he reached the end of the crimson wrap, “is that this is the first. And who better to have this opportunity than you?” he asked as he revealed the object.

At first, Pierce thought it was a particularly shiny serving tray. But he moved closer, and he noticed the bright reflection of the veranda roof in the object of his attention. He ran his hand around the bronze edge banding and stood a full minute inspecting his face in the reflection. This is so much better than my polished silver mirror. I’d love to keep it, but this would make a perfect present for the king at the next ball, Pierce thought as he stared in fascination. On the other hand, my wife might murder me if I let this slip out of her grasp, even if she understands the reason.

Finally, he turned and looked at the couple, whose faces showed they were pleased by his reaction. He’d seen that look on merchants many times throughout the years, but this time he didn’t care.

“What’s the price?” he asked bluntly.

“Twenty gold,” the young man practically blurted out.

Pierce nodded slowly and thought for a moment longer. “Do you think you’d be able to get me another by the same time next month if I paid twenty gold for each?”

The woman by the young man’s side looked like she was struggling to take a breath while the young merchant quickly responded. “I cannot be sure, sire, but we would do everything in our power to make it happen.”

Peirce nodded again. “For that price, I don’t want to see any of these in the capitol until after the Royal Ball in a month and a half, even if you miraculously find more. Can you guarantee that for me?”

“Yes, sire,” the man quickly nodded. “It will be as you say.”

“Good,” Pierce said, then nodded at the butler who ushered the two merchants out and went to pay them.

Finally, a gift fit for a king. Or rather a gift able to convince his wife that my son is a worthy match for their daughter. Well worth paying the apparent premium to have our two houses be the only ones with this luxury.

---

Neither Earna or Edvin spoke a word until they were several houses away from the Woodmere Estate. Finally, it was too much for Earna to handle. “Twenty gold!” she whispered with an amazed expression on her face. “And he didn’t even haggle!”

Edvin’s small smile turned into a face-splitting grin. “I know. I can hardly believe it myself. I thought we’d be able to keep him above seven or eight gold if we started that high. Alex is going to be ecstatic, and so is our lord. But do you know the best part?”

“Our tenth of the profits?” Earna laughed.

Edvin shook his head in the affirmative. “How about I treat you to an extra-nice dinner tonight as we discuss how we will grow our business empire? With all the new products coming out of Enderton, we need to think bigger.”

“I think I would like that, sir merchant,” she replied as she gave him a peck on the lips.

---

Tanya skimmed the report by the technician requesting more server resources for the Jason Hoffman simulation. Apparently, she read, simulations typically preserved resources by taking shortcuts in areas of the digital world that didn’t directly affect the human participants. The report explained that a flooded river miles away from any real consciousness could be taken care of by merely noting that the flood wiped out a small village and removing it from the map. This was much less resource-intensive than simulating each NPC’s experience. It was a crucial part of resource-management for any simulation.

In this case, the technician noted, the controlling AI’s instructions to allow for the streaming of Jason’s world had caused a much more significant portion of the world to be active at any given time. Anything the AI deemed to be likely to directly affect Jason was kept active. That included the entire lives of digital characters one or two steps removed from him, meaning virtually everyone in his town and quite a few of the significant figures in the surrounding regions.

Tanya knew Razor had a surplus of processing power, so she authorized the technician’s request without concern. We’ll make any costs back many times over with our streaming service. The launch of Cutting Edge was the most popular in modern entertainment history.

The busy CEO moved on to the next item on her list. She saw the clips she requested had been sent to her, so she pulled the 2D versions up on her screen and started to watch the clips of the battle interspersed with scenes of Jason and Otto working on designing the guns. These are perfect. My contacts will appreciate a story that they can easily make sensational. They’ll probably even get viral content bonuses for doing what I suggest.

---

Jason’s wife, Sarah Hoffman, woke up and glanced towards her husband’s side of the bed before she remembered he wasn’t there. A tear slipped down her cheek as she rolled back over to the edge of the mattress. She sat up, feet falling off the side of the bed, and asked the house controller to show her the news on her bedside display.

DIGITAL INTELLIGENCE GOES STRAIGHT FOR GUNS!

That’s not good, she thought. What will happen if the world turns against him?