"The Diery county is not equipped to take on the refugees." Althea stated "The county is currently dealing with a beast horde crisis, in addition to several other…administrative changes."
The fortress thing totally counted as administrative changes right?
"A beast horde crisis." the Duke of Zerolian stated, his doubt clear. "In the Diery county. Tell me, when was the last time you had a beast horde?"
"I dealt with one just yesterday." she replied, her voice as curt as the Duke’s. "And every village around Deadre has reported a huge increase in beasts. A predator has moved in at least in the Diery region, with suspected movements throughout our forests.
I have dispatched soldiers to every village in the county, but we are already stretched thin. Even after making a cultivation manual public, I do not expect the situation to stabilize soon."
The declaration had the entire council pause. The representatives bowed out one after the other, replaced by their dukes and the other two guardians of the Empire. The entire royal council, three guardians, including her, and the duchies were here.
"So, the Diery family has publicized their manual." the Zerolian Duke said. "So you did cultivate the older manual." Althea didn't miss how he said the Diery family, not county. Or the threat in his tone. The Zerolian family was the only other ten thousand family in the Empire.
The county was beneath his notice, the family was not. If the duchy had anything close to the vault, he would know how much stuff she had. Even records would be enough. Althea made note to take care, the Duke seemed hostile to begin with.
"Yes. And every person that uses the manual is required to protect their village if danger arises." Althea said. The royal council didn't seem to think much of her condition.
"If the Diery county truly cannot take the refugees, then we have an issue." the Duke of Reh said. "The Reh duchy cannot accept the refugees, we do not have the money."
"Perhaps you should take a loan from the Diery family. I am sure they can lease some of your land to you." the Zerolian Duke quipped. The Reh Duke bristled at the insult.
The Reh Duchy should have been rich, but a Duke generations ago had sold their ports to the Diery family. And then her family had bought the duchy's debt, exchanging for their fleets of merchant ships. The Diery county couldn't trade food, but there were things other than food in the Empire. The Reh family’s bad decisions had come back to hurt them.
"The Diery family can loan the Reh family the money, without interest." Althea said. If it was just the cost of building stuff, it would barely impact her wealth. Althea had seen the numbers. But taking the cost herself was another matter entirely. Even the Reh duchy was far ahead of her in terms of infrastructure.
"There is an island, east of Reh." the Reh Duke said.
"There are a lot of islands east of Reh, you'll have to be a lot more specific." the Zerolian Duke said. Althea frowned, why was he targeting the Reh Duke now? The Zerolian Duke glared at her as she hastily schooled her expression. Note to self: don't frown in the royal council. But seriously, just what had stuck that guy’s nerve?
"The island is large, a bit barren, but large." the Reh Duke said. "I could sell the island to the Diery county, and the Elves could be settled there. "
"I think the royal family would be a better choice." Althea said before it could get any worse. How exactly was she going to monitor and maintain an island on the other side of the Empire?
The Zerolian Duke rolled his eyes, scoffing at her. Althea got a feeling that she had missed something important.
"The Human treaty makes sure that no Empire or Kingdom may take in non-humans as citizens or nobles." the sole Duchess here said. The Leria duchy was the second most impacted by this, and the only one that had a female ruler. The duchy was also slowly being eroded by the other duchies.
And then there was the Human treaty. A very young treaty that basically said that the various empires and kingdoms would work together to fight against outside invaders. And not take advantage when one was weakened by an outside influence. And apparently, it went as far to make non-humans outcasts on the continent.
But the Duchess’ predicament gave her a hint as to why the Zerolian Duke had such a stick up his ass. The fact that she, a woman was the ruler. Althea hadn’t really encountered much sexism, contrary to what she had expected. The people seemed to be willing to accept her orders, and trust her.
But that might just be because the county had a female ruler before. The Empire forbade internal wars, but the duchies could get individual nobles to change affiliation. The Leria duchy had been losing a dozen nobles a year since the Duchess took control. And that was from a fully functional duchy with a huge army and people at the Adept stage.
"The Diery county still lacks the naval and administrative resources-" Althea began, her mind still a bit distracted.
Not a single noble, or their representative came to her coronation. Not a single one even wanted to discuss the harvest in three months. Not a single one came to help with the beast horde. The Zerolian Duke may claim ignorance, but the nearby territories had to know. Not even the Bern march had sent a letter.
"Oh please." the Zerolian Duke said. "The Diery county has a huge merchant fleet, land once you buy it, and enough food to provide for the Elves. The trait should solve the food problem soon enough."
"And leave it vulnerable to being found out. The other countries will question why the island is suddenly so fertile and producing so much food." Althea answered.
The noble that had to handle them would be opening themselves to an ocean of problems. The administrative problems were just the beginning, the Elves would need observation, checking for loyalty and there would be political issues.
A thing made harder by the fact that the Elves would probably be unwilling to live in a place where they were essentially a lower class. Althea was surprised that passing on the Elves hadn’t been suggested yet. The other nations seemed happy enough to do it. What was keeping the Zerolian Duke from doing it? Another thing she was missing.
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"The Empire can help by casting a fertility spell, it will even be a show of power." the Zerolian Duke said. Yes, that tactic wasn't likely to come back to harm her.
"Does the council agree?" he asked.
Five dukes agreed within seconds. The rest of the vote didn't matter. The Empress did not vote, but the others agreed. The Diery county would bear the cost. Althea was very irritated by that. Not even her fellow guardians helped.
The meeting ended as quickly as it had begun.
Althea walked back to the court, a bit irritated. The court opened again, and the Queen was back.
"And what has the council decided?" the Queen asked.
"The Elves can remain." Althea said. The Diery county couldn't handle the Elf settlement, she was sure of it. The only option she had was to make a deal about it. The Empress wouldn't do, the Human treaty was too delicate and important to risk.
And the lesser nobles were too uninformed and lacking influence to handle it. Just carrying food and people there would require a fleet that a smaller noble would not have.
The Steward hurried in with a communication orb that was glowing.
"Duchess Het Leria for Countess Althea Diery." the orb announced. Althea gave a grin. Just who she wanted to ask. The Leria duchy was desperate, she was desperate.
"I will have to take this, Queen Elara. I hope you don't mind waiting." she said, walking back without even stepping into the hall. The cabinet looked quite worried.
The Duchess' image appeared as she stepped into one of the halls.
"Countess Guarding Diery, I hope you are not offended by my actions in the council. The Zerolian Duchy is powerful, and things are delicate." the Duchess said.
Althea rolled her eyes inside. But she was curious about what she was talking about.
"What do you mean, Duchess? I am quite isolated here." she replied.
The Duchess raised an eyebrow. "I would have thought you would know…but I suppose Diery county isn't really troubled by these things. Do you know what decade it is?"
"The second decade of the Emperor's reign?" she asked. And here she thought the Duchess was going to mention the pressure she was in.
The Duchess shook her head. "No, Countess. The decade is the Starving Decade. The sea current that brings most of the main continent's rain will flow in a different direction this decade. And the recent wars have left most of the granaries in ashes."
Althea rolled her eyes for real this time. "So the idiots started a massive famine."
The Duchess nodded. "Yes, just like in the burning but with food instead of cultivation manuals."
Althea made a note to read up on the burning. That wasn't a part of her curriculum. The only thing she knew was that it was something similar to the world war and involved the countries targeting each other’s manuals.
"So the duchies want more food to trade?" she asked. But wouldn't that make them more reasonable to her?
The Duchess laughed. "If we could have some, it would be a great joy. But sadly, our stocks are sold out, and the other businesses aren't doing very well. The decade is barely three years in, and we are making losses. That was why the agreement was so quick, the county is the only one making profit."
And the other duchies are jealous. Althea couldn't understand why they would offend her though, the Diery county could provide more food.
"Why not just ask me for some? " she asked.
The Duchess looked at her like she had grown another head.
"The Diery county still has more food?" the Duchess asked.
"Yes?" The Diery county had over three million kilos of food in stores around the county, a million of which would go bad in a year or two. The reason for that was because the county did not have proper storage facilities. And an estimated three hundred thousand kilos of excess every year. An estimate that had been exceeded by fifty percent last year.
"Tell me, Duchess, if I were to let you buy a million kilograms of food, would you handle the settlement of Elves? And if I threw in another hundred thousand to be traded each year, would you be willing to take care of them and let them trade in your Duchy? " Althea asked.
"The offer is just to buy, you still have to pay money, and the prices may be slightly higher than normal. "
"The Leria Duchy is willing to pay a silver per kilo!" The Duchess said, doubling the price at once. Just how much food had the idiots burnt?
"Well, Duchess, I think we have a deal." Althea said. The million kilos would delay the need to build more storage facilities, and so would the hundred thousand kilos every year.
The Duchess paused for a second. "Are you by any chance doing this to take revenge on the Zerolian Duchy?"
Althea just smiled as the connection ended.The thought hadn't occurred to her, but as far as she knew, the Diery county had provided food based on land. The technique had kept the balance in the Empire. But if the duchies wanted to play with the county, well, the county could play back. Not much, but enough to let them feel the burn.
Althea felt much better as she walked back to the main hall. The ministers looked quite constipated as they talked with the Queen.
"Queen Elara, we can talk now." she said, walking into the main hall. The ministers breathed a sigh of relief, following her. The court was packed, every free man, woman, and Elf seemed to have turned up. And yes, the half-Elves were here, in the court.
"Countess Guarding Diery, I have a request to make of you. The Emperor of Sorelia has already given me permission to trade directly with you. What do you say? " The Queen said.
"The county will offer a minimum of one hundred thousand kilos for the current rate of one silver per kilo. The county can arrange for transportation, the Elara kingdom just has to pay for it." Althea said.
The Queen paused. And so did the court. The price for food in the county was three coppers per kilo. And as for foreign prizes, they were probably higher than what she offered. The deal wasn't that bad.
"The Elara kingdom accepts the terms. " The Queen said, waving her hand. A person next to her wrote the deal down with magic. Althea recognized it. The same magic that was in the manuals. The person was a precious Scribe. And a Queen was using his magic to make the deal. No, not a deal. A treaty. A magic contract. The treaty would be magically binding and hurt the dealbreaker.
Althea read through what was basically a transcript of her words and signed it. The Queen did the same.
"The treaty can remain in the Diery vault. " she said as she teleported away.
"I will make sure of it. " Althea said, handing the treaty to the Steward. A treaty. Well, she certainly had risen in life hadn't she?
The next applicant was a half-Elf. The court wasn't over after all, and they had a rather pressing issue.
"The royal council has deliberated on the issue and made a decision. A representative can meet me after the court has ended. " she said before the half-Elf could make his request. An open court wasn't the place to share what she wanted to.
The next person was from one of the outer regions of the county, here to report an increase in the number of beasts. And so was the next one. And the one after that.
Althea assured them that their regions would receive expeditions from the army soon, and that they should encourage their members to start cultivating to protect the county.
At least they seemed to be satisfied by that. The news of her mobilizing the army had probably spread. The stats were coming back to, seven out of ten applicants had cultivated the manual. Althea wasn't surprised, nearly every person had one of the natural elements. Three of ten had reached the Apprentice stage.
Now she just had to hope that this Elven thing was easy to deal with, and that the army was able to deal with the hordes.