ELECTUS

Said Seer talking about Alama.

"She returned rather quick. It hasn"t even been 2 weeks yet!"

"I suppose she was in a rush to spread the good news once striking the deal."

"send her in."

Alama walked in, following the King"s a.s.sistant and bent the knee the second she was in an appropriate distance from the King.

"What news do you bring me, Alama?"

"I managed to make the deal you offered to them. King Michael was very reasonable. He agreed in a heartbeat.

But…"

"But?"

"I might sound crazy by saying this, but i saw a group of Soldiers heading towards Gaster Kingdom while I was on the road back here."

"How many Soldiers were there? They could be attacking Pameres Kingdom. Why would they go for such a poor place."

"I am sure they were going towards Gaster Kingdom. They entered that upper branch of the large forrest, the one really near the Kingdom.

I think they were about 10. Maybe 20!"

"Then what"s to worry about. Such a small number of soldiers is surely sent to make a deal or at least pa.s.s down a command."

"You don"t understand sire. A group of those soldiers were around 10 feet tall and they were led by Ignites.

This is why i arrived early."

"10 foot tall men! Are you sure about that?"

"How can i be mistaken about such a sight sire? I thought i was seeing demons.

I feared that if they saw me, they would shred me to pieces."

"Could this be another race sire?"

Asked Seer in both concern and curiosity.

"I am not certain. It could be another one of my father"s experiments!"

He released a sigh and added

"If the Kingdom is under attack, those 100 Guards Gaster Kingdom can at least hold them off long enough before help arrives!"

"With all due respect my King, even Guards who reached Grand Mastery in any close combat skill can"t hold off even one of those 10 foot men. Even the Guards from Crutal Kingdom can"t do it.

They were in full body armor."

"Whatever the case might be, King Michael could use a.s.sistance!"

He paused for a bit, thinking of a proper solution to this and finally said

"Seer. a.s.sign one of the Guard Commanders to lead a group of 100 Guards to a.s.sist Gaster Kingdom.

Tell them to observe the situation first before attacking."

"But sire what if any other Kingdom attacks ours? Would it be wise to weaken our defences?"

Asked Seer. He didn"t mean to question the King"s decision, he just wanted the Kingdom to be safe.

"We still have 200 Soldiers even if we dispatch ⅓ of the army to Gaster Kingdom.

If that isn"t enough to hold off any attack, I can offer quite a helping hand.

Carry out my order Seer."

Said the King in a friendly tone.

"As you command sire."

Seer quickly carried out the order and vanished from the King"s sight.

But Alama remained in the room with him.

"Seer will be quite busy for a while but i a.s.sure you will get your payment once he is free.

I a.s.sume you can clearly read and write?"

"Of course sire. Speaking of that, here is the paper you required for King Michael to sign."

"Perfect. Give that to me and grab a quill and some paper. I need you to write me down a recruitment paper.

I would write it myself but I"m slow at it and i need this to be done fast.

Once you finish writing it, you are to find Seer and give it to him. He will do the rest."

"Of course my King but one question. If you are practically aiming to strike deals with minor Kingdoms, how can you afford having 300 Soldiers?

Even if you pay them 100 Gold Coins each per month, it still costs 30,000 Gold Coins."

"It"s simple. I don"t pay them. I offer them food and shelter. They all are immigrants.

This is paradise to them considering their origin, but I do aim to pay them, even though I am giving them 2 meals a day, and trust me they are meals of good quality. But that is why I"m expanding my territory. I aim to pay them soon. They have done so much for this Kingdom."

"Thank you for not misunderstanding my question sire. In Crutal Kingdom they had different rules, that"s why I asked.

But please speak your plans so I can write them."

"Perfect.

Since you managed to strike a deal with King Michael, even if we don"t make a deal with the Zamerians, we can make a deal with some other place.

But we do need Blacksmiths and Hunters as soon as possible!"

Sounds reasonable. Blacksmithery is a craft requiring good physical strength and a long lasting Stamina. You will need to offer better salaries or you won"t get good results."

"Yes. And not to mention that hunting can be dangerous even if they mostly set traps.

I"ve been thinking about the payment.

Write "Any Blacksmith with over 5 years of experience, shall earn 350 Gold coins per month with a 100 gold bonus every six months, but it is not a permanent increase.

They have to be under 55 Years old as well."

"That should drag in more workers. The word of mouth for such pay will be ground breaking.

What about the ones that have under 5 years of experience?"

Asked Alama. She secretly started admiring Zar"s skills when it comes to economics.

Even though their age isn"t so different from each other, she already saw him as an inspiration. A mentor.

"They shall be paid 285 Gold Coins per month with a 35 gold coin bonus every 4 months of work. Its considerably a good pay for Blacksmithery.

I don"t need limits on how many recruits we need that have over or under 5 years of experience. But for the experienceless we need some boundaries."

"How many experiencless Blacksmiths do we need my King?"

"We need 60 at max. They will be paid 100 Gold Coins a month with a 20 Gold Coins bonus in every 3 months of work!

Also, they should be at least 20 years old or under 40 years old since this is a long term job."

He took a breath and asked

"Do you think that"s a reasonable price miss Alama?"

"I mean. Well of course but um…"

Alama wanted to speak but was found nervous after the King himself asked for her opinion.

"Take a breath. Don"t be nervous."

Said the King in a comforting tone.

"It is a good deal but blacksmithery is still a hard craft. May I suggest offering a 50 Gold Coin pay, on their first day of work. That should attract more people and prevent starvation."

"You have a bright mind Alama. It shall be how you say!"