Sophia and the others met the mayor of Sava and began to explain the planned travel and transportation changes between selected cities and the capital to her. Even though the blonde’s explanation skills were as outstanding as always, she still had difficulties explaining the plan to her. Because of that, she decided to get help, created a portal, and disappeared through it for a couple of minutes.
“S-Sophia?!” Back in the capital, Menzor was currently having a meeting with a few of his ministers when an uninvited guest suddenly stormed their meeting room. “What are you doing here?! It’s almost been a month since you left!”
“Really?” The blonde tilted her head. “Wow, my sense of time is almost as bad as my sense of direction… I could’ve sworn it was a week or two at best!”
“No, it’s been close to fours.” He lightly shook her head. “Again, what are you doing here? Also, as you can see, we’re in the middle of something here.” He pointed at the ministers around him. “I would appreciate it if you don’t suddenly barge into my meetings.”
“I’m busy, too, you know!” She started pouting. “We’ve arrived in… in… uhh… We’ve arrived in a city that was on the list you gave me!” Sophia gave up on trying to remember the name. “You know, the cities where a portal would be nice.”
“Ohh, is that so?” The king’s interest was piqued. “Did you offer them a portal connection?”
“That’s why I’m here.” The blonde scratched her cheek. “I’ve run into a bit of an issue.”
“Hmm?”
"I remembered that I really hate explaining things!”
"That is not new to me or anyone in this room." Menzor then glanced at his ministers, who all nodded in unison.
“And because of that, I need to borrow you for about half an hour!”
“For what exactly?”
“Not only am I not good at explanation, I also don’t want to deal with them.” She shook her head a few times. “Because of that, I decided that our dear king will do the explaining for the mayors of the cities we visit.”
“…” Menzor stared at her for a moment. “Why exactly did I not see this coming?” He sounded disappointed in himself.
“I don’t know?” The blonde shrugged. “The others knew immediately before I even finished telling them my plan.”
"Well, everyone in your group is about as eccentric as you are, so it's not surprising you think alike."
"Ah." She didn't appreciate being called eccentric by yet another person. "Also, your daughter is part of my group!"
“That’s how I know.”
“…” Sophia paused for a moment. “I did not remember our king to be this sassy.” She looked at the ministers behind him.
“When he’s right, he’s right.” They all just nodded.
“Hey!” Menzor glared at them. “You’re speaking about my daughter here!”
“…” They immediately went silent.
“Anyway, let’s go!” The blonde pointed at the king. “We have a meeting to attend! Also, before you start complaining, you have two options here. One, you come with me and explain it to the mayor. Two, that city isn’t going to get a portal. Neither is any other city where you aren’t going to cooperate.”
“Haa,” He massaged his temples. “I guess I don’t really have a choice here, huh?” Menzor then faced his ministers again. “Let’s reschedule this to tomorrow, okay?”
“Yes!” They nodded.
Once he was done with his current meeting, Menzor followed Sophia to attend another slightly unexpected one.
----------------
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
“I wonder if I ever get used to this?” The king lightly shook himself after coming out of the portal. “Oh, Mayor Vess, long time no see!” He noticed the girl with the dumbfounded expression. “Does that mean we’re in Sava?”
“Probably.” Sophia shrugged as she had given up on remembering names for the time being.
“Father!” Seeing him, Anna directly ran up to him and hugged her father.
“I missed you, too.” Menzor quickly hugged her back.
“Aww.” The blonde liked that. “They love each other even though he calls her eccentric and all that.”
“Huh?!” Hearing that, Anna let go of him.
“HEY!” Menzor glared at Sophia.
“Y-Your Majesty?!” Luckily, Vess stopped being flabbergasted and saved him from the wrath of his daughter. “How?! Why?! What…?”
“It’s quite overwhelming, I know.” The king sympathized with her. “Explaining this situation will take a while, so how about we sit down?”
Doing just that, everyone got comfortable on their chairs again before Menzor began to tell the mayor of Sava what was going on right now.
----------------
“Sooo…” Vess scratched the side of her head while looking more confused than ever. “You’re telling me that the capital invented a magic that makes it possible to travel between places instantly? I’ve seen it with my own eyes, but I still can’t believe it. In the first place, not only does it seem to be chantless magic, but it also seems to be uncategorized! That should’ve been nothing more than a fable!”
“Ahh, right…” Sophia rolled her eyes. “I forgot that most people still believe in magic being insanely limited and reduced to a few elements at once.” She then looked tired after remembering how most approached magic in such a boring and unenthusiastic way that they thought it was only possible to use one or two elements like fire or air at best.
“Our views on magic have greatly changed in the past year." He took a short glance at the blonde, the reason for said change, before continuing. “Our scholars are currently in the middle of writing down the new teachings before distributing them throughout the kingdom. The portals will immensely help with that, too.” He then looked at the shorter tiger once more. “Also, unfortunately, it wasn’t anyone directly in the capital who invented them. It’s our Sophia here who came up with them.”
“I’m also the only one who can use them.” The blonde suddenly sounded a bit more serious. “Menzor will tell you the rules later, but those portals run on a strict no-strikes policy. Trying even one shady thing with them means they're gone, and trust me, I'll know even without being nearby."
“Yes.” The king nodded. “Every city participating in the network will have to sign a very detailed contract explaining all the details. Furthermore, the capital will serve as a central point, and no direct portals between cities will exist. That way, we can perfectly monitor all activities from there. We’ll be running on even stricter rules to prevent Sophia from shutting us down. This is way too important to treat it lightly.”
“I’m glad you understand.” She smiled at him before facing the mayor again. “Do you see now why the initial costs are of no concern? It’s because there are none. The tolls are mainly there for the upkeep, like the bureaucracy, supervision, and management. Obviously, that also includes my cut for inventing and installing them in various cities. My pension is secured!”
“W-Wow.” Vess wasn’t sure what to say. “J-Just who are you?!”
“I’d love to know that myself.” Menzor nodded a few times while both stared at the short tiger.
“Me?” She pointed at herself. “I’m just an eccentric girl with too many ideas and a vivid imagination.”
“…” The two went silent after noticing the blonde was still upset over having been called eccentric by them.
“Anyway~.” Sophia’s mood returned to normal as she decided to change the topic while addressing the king. “Is the portal building outside the capital finished already?”
“Of course not!” He shook his head. “You don’t construct a building that size in a mere month! It will take many more!”
“I see.” She scratched her cheek. “I never really understood why you’re building a new place outside the capital walls anyway. I’m sure there’s something like a warehouse that could’ve been used instead, no?”
"A warehouse is no place for something of such importance.” He shook his head. “This will be the first thing the entire kingdom will see when using the portals and arriving in the capital. It has to look the part.”
“I guess that’s fair.” The blonde nodded. “I also like to make the places I stay in look nice and cute, so it makes sense.”
“The biggest reason for it to be outside the walls of the capital is the security side of it, though.” Obviously, the king didn’t just think about the style of the project. “The hub will connect to many dozen cities once it’s fully operational. It’s way too much of a risk to give all of them immediate access to the inside parts of the capital. We’re not worried about internal strife, though that has to be considered, too, but what if a city gets attacked and overrun. The attackers or monsters could breach our entire security and destroy the capital from the inside before we could react. Outside the wall, we have at least some time to react to close the gates and ready our standing army.”
“Clever!” Sophia seemed impressed by his forward-thinking. “By the way, I can configure my portals and limit the individuals that go through. I can block monsters, non-beastfolk, or people with obvious malicious intent from using the portals.”
“AND YOU DIDN'T THINK THIS DETAIL WAS WORTH MENTIONING BEFOREHAND?!” The king got a little loud.
“Oops~.” She didn't feel the slightest bit sorry about it.
“W-Well, there’s always the chance that someone’s capable of hiding their intent. It also makes more sense for the hub to be outside from a logistical side, so it’s still the best way to do it.”
Afterward, Menzor needed a bit of a break to get over the eccentric girl’s antics. He also had to go into more detail about the project for Vess because the poor mayor hadn't been able to follow them in the slightest.