Nine months after the day the scavenger section of the universe reset ended.

David blinked groggily and he was not the only one as both Silve and Gark were awoken for the same reason he was. Five in the morning was not an hour you typically wanted to wake up to when you were up till past midnight the night before.

“ Stupid paperwork.”

Silve give him an eye but said nothing as the three sat at the table. Every Warden was marshaled up at the same hour and was suited up in the new mark 2 Warden armor. The Spartan armor kept to a lighter feel and had places for secondary kits such as a jet pack backpack in development or the autoloader belt for sidearms. While the Juggernaut armor was heavier and had more options for combat. And every Warden was ready for a fight if needed.

David kept his grumbling to himself as they had plans to greet over five hundred people. Most of them would surmount to skilled laborers or family, but David had three, in particular, he was chosen to deal with. The first is Bracket, the dwarf city planner. Next was the man he hoped to recruit as the head tax collector. A second faction of the government he would make that would answer only to the council called the black books. Which are the ledgers he was going to make them carry and be the ultimate symbol of their authority. The last is the one he really did not want to do. But neither of the others wanted the job either. With a sigh, he began his interviews.

-----

David looked at the dwarf who had a literal hole in her front tooth as she smiled at him. The actual interview had proceeded smoothly and the contract was negotiated and signed within ten minutes, but an hour after that he was still trying to coerse the dwarf to stop hitting on him.

“ Come on, a big stong fella like you scared of little ole’ me?”

David blinked the half sleep away then had an idea.

“ Sweety, I could use a drink and my cup is dry.”

Azanii catches him talking to her and figured she had had enough of watching him squirm. After standing and getting the pitcher of water, she filled it up for him before nuzzling his cheek. Then with a moment of humor dumped the rest on the dwarf. Without saying a world the entire time. This caused the dwarf to move to her crew so David could finally summon the next person.

“ So, let me get this straight, essentially I will be penniless. Nothing to my name, not even the clothing on my back. But I will have a credit account that I have unlimited ability to draw from.”

“ Not exactly, everything you own will be audited and accounted for. If you own or buy land during your employment, the expenses for it will be taken out of the designated account. Such as upkeep costs. Clothing and other personal items will be credited to you of the value and if you had to replace them during your duties, they will not be deducted from the account when the final tally after your employment ends.”

“ But you will not tell me what the wages are.”

“ That is part of the terms, it is permitted to let you know you will be one of the best-paid individuals we seek to recruit today. In addition, you will be granted a noble title. If you so desired, if it is within your duty, you could even breach a councilor's home uninvited to audit their property at any hour you wish and you can call in anyone you wish to assist you in doing so. And if anyone raises more than token resistance. You could have then justly executed.”

“ So I could have you killed then, justly I mean?”

David stiffened to that and his hand slid halfway to his hip.

“ I shall warn you that even joking of misuse of power this great is, in turn, an execution level offense.”

“ But I need to know the bounds of my authority.”

David relaxed a little and looked the man in the eyes.

“ Technically, you have the authority. You better be sure of such accusations and attempts, however. You have the ability to make anyone poor, but we the council have the authority to take even more away from you. We are granting you a lot of authority with this position. With that comes strict oversight and rules.”

The man nods as he starts looking through the contract.

“ Ah, my work will not officially begin for a few years yet. What shall I be doing in the meantime?”

David sighs relieved to hit upon one of the actual questions he planned on being asked.

“ One you will begin training underlings. While you have the authority to audit and tax any property of the country, your underlings will take select towns or settlements. In addition, you will familiarize yourself with security procedures. You will be carrying a lot of money on you bound to the state’s coffers.

Next, you will begin a program to help the masses prepare to be audited and taxed. Nobody likes paying them, but everyone’s got to. And informing people of the how will hopefully make the process easier.”

The man looks through the papers he was given again before nodding to himself.

“ I can see the reasoning behind your decisions and find them mostly acceptable. I would like to make a few amendments, but overall I think I will take the job. One of which is the cost of setting up the programs and the new hires.”

“ Covered by the state naturally, within a defined budget, anything past that will have to go against your credit.”

“ I see yes, what of traveling expenses? Food and lodging while traveling from one area to...”

David rolled his eyes wishing he could get back to sleep.