“I thought my heart was going to stop.” I exhale a sigh of relief.

Fenrir chuckles at my reaction. “So you managed to win over those snooty Kindred nobles, huh?”

Ru had something to do before class, so it’s just us three for the rest of this break. We aimlessly walk through the corridor making small talk. Vani mentally checks out though, looking completely disinterested in our conversation.

“You know you’re Kindred too, right?”

“Right, right.” He waves it off easily. “Anyways… The two princes aside, were the rest actually that scary?”

“Of course! Especially Vali… His familia could probably wipe a smaller village off the map if they wanted to.”

“Ehh? Seriously?”

“The Anthurium familia are part of an oligopoly that holds market control over…” I pause dramatically.

“Over?” Gulping, he looks at me in trepidation.

“Over quills, and more recently, fountain pens!”

Fen slumps his shoulders at that.

“Writing utensils might not sound like it amounts to much, but I’m sure every student here owns one of their products.”

“That actually makes it sound more lame…”

“Haven’t you ever heard the saying the pen is mightier than the sword?”

“Well yes, but that’s referring to the written word… Not actual pens.”

Tsk tsk, I waggle my finger at him disappointingly.

“Around nine hundred constellation-cycles into the War of Centuria, the Anthuriums completely stopped market production of ink in Sunria and other smaller commonwealths that supported the Sunrian Fairfolk.”

“…So? It’s just a commodity, not food or a basic necessity.”

“Communication plays an integral role during a war. Especially a drawn out one.”

“Er, even still… It doesn’t seem that important. But whatever, I’ll play along. Why didn’t they just make their own ink?”

“Ink is commonly made from leaves, flowers or dirt mixed with oil and water. But Sunria is a desert climate, so flowering plants, trees, and water are all types of resources that are scarce there. Of course, you can make ink from rock minerals too. However, what do you think happened to the price of ink over time?”

“It rose exponentially.”

“Exactly. So now, barely anyone could afford it. The Anthurium tapered off the supply during the first half of the war so gradually and naturally, that no intervention in marketplace cost happened until it was too late. Can you imagine what happens when communication breaks down in a whole kingdom for almost one hundred constellation-cycles?”

“N-No?”

“Absolute chaos, that’s what. The Fairfolk couldn’t ready battle preparations or war regiments in time, there were delays in orders ranging from the highest monarch to the lowest posts. It was almost impossible for Sunria to interact with any other nation to ask for aid or support. Letters couldn’t be written to loved ones, at home nor on the battlefield, which proved to be an effective psychological attack as well. Morale dropped. Productivity dropped. Efficacy in all civil and combat sectors dropped.”

The severity of this seemed to start sinking into Fen’s head.

“It was actually because of this, that the Sunrian Fairfolk were forced to begin peace negotiations with Humans in the first place. Why do you think the Freys got Harthrow so easily? Although Gardein and Sunria are separated by the Irvinia Sea and was majorly inhabited by Humans, by all measures, Harthrow is a very high quality piece of land with immense resources and advantages to the Sunrian nobility.”

“Then why couldn’t the ink just be made here and exported over…?”

“Because Humans here were also sick of being ruled by an unfair autocrat who lived far, far away; sick of living in constant fear of the Fairfolk and Kindred in our own lands. Humans who lived here weren’t considered citizens unless they paid a ridiculous amount of tax, millions starved because of this. And if you weren’t a citizen and managed to not die from poverty, you were still legally allowed to be hunted by the Fairfolk. Though even managing citizenship didn’t guarantee you couldn’t be killed.”

“Right… Lots of Humans were hunted for blood and bone back then…”

“Yes, it was a cruel time. And this was the one opportunity the Freys had to seize power. So of course they took it. They essentially halted all trade in every sea port along the coast. The Human economy suffered drastically for the upper class while the poor would go hungry. But they were already starving anyways. At this point, most Humans thought it better to die starving for a cause than to give anything else to the Sunrian Fairfolk.”

“So, w-what you’re saying is that the Anthuriums single-handedly stopped a war that was centuries in the making, with… Ink!?” He sounds absolutely incredulous.

Closing my eyes, I yell, “That’s right!” Whipping out my sleek, forest-green pen from my school bag, I flashily hold it to the heavens. “The pen is mightier than the sword!”

“OHHHH!” Fen begins applauding me with gusto.

“…What are you idiots doing?” Vani finally makes a remark.