Shatufan buzzed with nervous energy after Jamshid made his address. He focused on the ‘failures’ of Manuchehr and the need to ‘aid our neighbors to the south in their defense of the Storm Lands’, but if he was expecting celebrations in the streets, he was left sorely disappointed. Instead, most people stayed indoors, only leaving the ces they’d taken shelter during Leon’s storm in order to head to more secure locations, but there were a few angry congregations forming within hours that Leon noticed as he monitored the city from the air.


    Maintaining order in the city wasn’t his job, however; he left that to Jamshid and the rest of his interim government. Removing some old officials from their posts and installing others, ensuring the loyalty of the unaligned parts of the city guard, and making sure everything continued to run smoothly likewise wasn’t his job.


    His job, instead,y in the Aurichalcum facilities.


    He was met by Valeria and Maia as he flew over the enormous foundries. The Auri district was the singlergest district in the entire city,prising nearly a full sixth of the city. The manufacturing facilities were housed in long and narrow buildings built in a grid pattern, while the product itself was stored in simr warehouses where the district met thekefront. The warehouses opened onto a small, but disused private dockyard—since the main buyer of Aurichalcum was Despot Archus, Leon assumed he used arks or Lumenite strands to pick up his purchased material.


    “Was it easy?” Leon asked as he and hisdies drifted down toward the warehouses.


    “Easy enough,” Valeria stated. “There was <em>some</em> resistance from the workers, but the city guard handled most of it. Alix, Anna, and the Tempest Knights have secured the warehouses while the guard remains in the production centers.”


    “And the workers?” Leon asked. “How much blood was spilled?”


    “A few injuries from outraged workers who tried to resist,” Valeria admitted.


    [They shouldn’t have resisted,] Maia darkly stated. [They should’ve given us what we wanted when we asked for it. What else did they expect to happen?]“I imagine they expected us to leave in peace and then die to the Ocean Lords,” Leon said with a scowl.


    When theynded, they found Anzu and Gaius waiting for them in front of the first warehouse.


    “Brother!”


    “Leon!”


    Leon waved back. “What are we looking at?” he asked.


    Despite the tension in the city, Gaius grinned. “Icarius and Penelope are going through the warehouses now. We’ve counted more than a hundred tons of Aurichalcum, and we’ve barely gotten through half of the warehouses. If they’re all just as filled…”


    Leon sprouted a matching grin, though he doubted the warehouses were fully stocked. Still, Shatufan had traded about half a ton in total during their brief trade agreement. With two hundred times that confirmed, that represented a considerable amount of material they could use to protect Artorion.


    Whether or not it could actually be put to work in time was another matter, but for now, such a treasure trove sounded like exactly what Leon needed.


    <em>’And Shatufan is only a ‘small’ manufacturer of Aurichalcum…’</em>


    “There is… <em>one</em> thing,” Gaius continued, drawing Leon out of his thoughts.


    “What is it?”


    “One of the guild council members was here when we arrived. We’ve… requested that he remain in his office for the time being, but he was demanding to see you.”


    “Any particr reason why, or does he just want toin about all this in person?”


    “He wouldn’t say, but personally, he looked more terrified than he did outraged. He’s only sixth-tier, so he’s not much of a present danger. Still, I thought I’d pass it along. I left Felix to watch over him, just in case.”


    Leon nodded gratefully as he led his small group into the first warehouse. The first thing he saw was an open box by the door, two Tempest Knights and Cosmo with a record book standing over it. They immediately stopped what they were doing to acknowledge Leon’s presence, but he waved off their formality.


    “How are we looking, Cosmo?” he asked.


    “We’re flying high, Your Majesty,” he answered as he took an ingot of Aurichalcum about twice the length of his hand and half as thick out of the box to show Leon. The reddish-gold metal gleamed in the light of the warehouse’s magterns, and despite its rtively small size, it was clearly heavy. “High quality—as far as I can tell. I’m going to inspect as much as I can, make sure it’s all consistent, and then get it ready for transport.”


    Leon pped Alcander and Sofia’s eldest son on the shoulder and left him to his business. While they were working, he supposed he could have enough courtesy to meet with the guild councilman. If he was going to take all the Aurichalcum, the least he could do was topensate them as much as he could for it.


    As he, Valeria, Maia, and Anzu left the warehouse—Gaius stayed with Cosmo to assist with cataloging the Aurichalcum—Valeria took the lead in bringing them to the district’s central administrative building where the councilman was being held. As they moved, Leon got the impression that Valeria had something to say as she kept ncing at him, but for whatever reason, she held her tongue. Their journey was short, though, so he didn’t press her on what was weighing on her mind.


    When they arrived at the central administrative building, they found Jamshid’s guards going through the ce, some looking like they were taking whatever wasn’t nailed down while others restricted themselves to moving boxes and boxes of documents. What they were taking intrigued Leon somewhat, but he didn’t stop to ask anyone for details.


    Leon and his small party werergely ignored until they reached the councilman’s office. Felix and half a dozen city guardsmen watched over it from the office’s antechamber.


    Felix straightened up to formally greet Leon, and this time, Leon allowed the formality since there were others present.


    “King Leon! I stand at yourmand!”


    “Report,” Leon ordered.


    “My charge has remained in his office since being persuaded to stay within,” Felix diplomatically stated. “He has only opened his door once to repeat his request to meet with you in person.”


    “Then his request is about to be fulfilled; open the door.”


    Felix bowed his head before rushing to follow Leon’s order. The two guardsmen by the door seemed to be ready to argue against such action, but one of the other four—the highest ranking, judging by the marks on the pauldrons of his otherwise in, unadorned armor—shook his head, and the two rxed, though they didn’t take their eyes off Felix as he pulled the door open.


    Leon and his party entered the office, with Felix enteringst, closing the door behind him and standing in front of it just in case. The office wasfortable, with all the rich carpeting and plush furniture Leon would’ve expected. It was, however, utterlycking in personal touches; there were no paintings or tapestries, no signs that this was anyone’s permanent office at all. Even the desk was bereft of materials, and he couldn’t help but wonder if the councilman standing nervously by one of the small windows staring out at his city had taken the liberty of hiding all of the paperwork in the room—judging by the number of empty shelves and cabs, the office could’ve had <em>plenty</em> of documents.


    <em>‘Or maybe it was looted before we got here,’</em> he thought. Regardless, the administrative documents of the ce weren’t his concern.


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    “You stand before King Leon,” Anzu dered, the simple introduction bringing a smile to Leon’s face. “What is your business in requesting his presence?”


    The councilman turned and paled as Leon felt his magic senses briefly ripple over his eleventh-tier aura. But he weathered his fear well, standing tall under the passive weight of Leon’s power—not that Leon was trying to exert much pressure, though. He was dressed finely, though in an understated way—he wore pale blue robes with a leather belt around his waist and a red cloak around his shoulders. The cloak was trimmed in gold and featured a lion embroidered in gold upon it, but those were the only decorative touches to his clothing. Everything from his boots to his cloak was clearly of fine make, however.


    “Yes,” he croaked in heavily ented Nexusmon, though still more understandable than Manuchehr typically was. “I… thank you for your time, King Leon.”


    “You can rx,” Leon said good-naturedly. “All of this unpleasantness is… unfortunate, but so long as it remains smooth, it ought not to be violent. I sure won’t be punishing you for being upset with me.”


    “If only the traitors gloating in the m Pce could be trusted to be so… <em>even-handed</em>,” the councilman diplomatically stated.


    Leon sat in the nearest armchair and asked, “Do you fear for your life?”


    “I fear for my city,” the councilman said. “We have had stability in our government for the past seven hundred years. Now, your arrival has brought instability to us, and worse, you are taking all of our most preciousmodity!”


    “If it’s payment that you need…” Leon said as he prepared the vast amount of storm crystal he’d made to act as payment for what he was taking.


    “It is not a matter of <em>your</em> payment,” the councilman replied. “It’s that you’re taking metal that has <em>already been paid for</em>. By <em>Despot Archus</em>. We are only holding his property until he sends someone to im it. When he does, and that official finds that we do not have what we were contracted to produce, then Archus will be enraged. And with an illegitimate government, who knows how he might respond? Or how those fools in the pce will handle the situation? You have ced my entire city in an awful position, and I can only ask that you refrain from taking what is not yours.”


    “If only it was that simple,” Leon murmured. “For what it’s worth, I apologize for all of this. I would’ve preferred to handle this another way, but I <em>need</em> that Aurichalcum. The future of my people depends on it. For however much it’s worth, I give you my word that I will do what I can to protect this city from reprisals.”


    “You have to resort to stealing from my city to defend yourself,” the councilman bluntly replied. “How can you hope to defend us against the wrath of Archus?”


    Leon opened his mouth to respond but no words came. No response felt adequate to assuage this councilman’s fears.


    <em>‘They’re pretty justified,’</em> he thought.


    He sighed, but in the silence that followed the councilman’sst statement, it seemed other questions bubbled up to the fore of his mind.


    “How else do you n on ‘protecting’ my city? Dearest Shatufan might seem quiet now, but in a few days, when the reality of what has happened sinks in, the people will not stand for this. There will be riots. There will be violence. The men you have given power will not retain it. They do not rule with the consent of the people. And if they refuse to back down, will they kill the people of this city over their just and rightful wrath? Will you protect the people from those men, or will you protect those men from the people?”


    Again, he raised questions Leon wasn’t quitefortable answering, so he remained silent.


    “What of our other neighbors?” the councilman pressed. “Shatufan’s sisters Hosragan and Sentudon will react, as will everyone else on the shores of the Finger Lakes. Elegan, our rival in the west, may see an opportunity. Krizos, who has always coveted Shatufan’s industry, may move her forces across the Shaded in to attack us. Will you protect us from them, or will you be too preupied with your war to bother with us?”


    “I will do what I can,” Leon promised.


    “I hope so,” the councilman responded without much enthusiasm. “May your legacy in the Nexus not be one of violence and instability, King Leon. May few shed blood in my city’s violent future. May you survive your war so that you may take responsibility for this mess. May we all soon return to peace and order, as ought to be the rightful state of affairs.”


    “Indeed,” Leon agreed. “What is your name, Azadan?”


    “Kyros,” the councilman said. “Of the ancient House of Deioces.”


    “Kyros…” Leon murmured, a faint smile ying across his lips. “The previous agreement was to pay for Aurichalcum with its weight in storm crystal, plus ten percent on my end. I’ll pay for the Aurichalcum with its weight plus fifty percent. Hopefully, this goes some way to helping your city recover from this.”


    “If it reaches the people, perhaps,” Kyros said. “<em>If</em>.”


    Leon repressed a grimace. While it was only implied, he thought that Kyros might be suggesting that Jamshid and his faction were going to keep the storm crystal, which… he supposed was hardly an unrealistic worry. He might not be able to protect Shatufan in the near future given his preupation with the war with Terris, but he at least silently vowed to impress upon Jamshid the need to not hoard this wealth.


    But he also knew that all such assurances would ring hollow. Without much more discussion, he wished Kyros well and left his office, feeling dirty after leaving Kyros’ questions unaddressed. He ordered Felix to follow the rest of his party, not wanting to spare any of his people on guarding the councilman—in some small way, he wanted to wash his hands of the affair, to keep them as clean as possible even though he knew that all of this was happening because of his orders.


    At least, it was partially happening because of him; Jamshid had thrown this together on such a short notice that it wasn’t hard for Leon to imagine he’d been nning something like this for a while.


    As they left the administrative building, Valeria murmured to him, “Hardly the most honorable thing we’re doing right now, is it?”


    Leon hummed in agreement. “We’re doing what we have to do for Artorion. To ensure our survival.”


    “Are we…?” Valeria wondered aloud. After a moment, she subtly shook her head and said, “We do what we must. To save our people. To save our families.” Her sapphire blue eyes turned to Leon, and he knew exactly what part of their family she was referring to.


    Leon reached out and took her hand. “No matter what, I’ll always put us first. It… doesn’t feel right, and it isn’t. But it’s a matter of survival.”


    [This is the price paid by those who resist the strong,] Maia matter-of-factly stated. [Now they serve us, and so must do as wemand.]


    “Maybe,” Leon said, counterarguments that he didn’t have the energy to voice flitting through his mind. “What’s done is done, now. Let’s just focus on getting what we came here for…”


    Despite his distaste for simply using his power to take what he wanted, Leon led his people back to the warehouses to aid Icarius and Cosmo in securing the city’s supply of Aurichalcum.


    ---


    The next two days went well enough in Leon’s opinion. It was rtively peaceful, but even the blind and deaf could tell that tensions were starting to build. Small protests had beenunched all over the city, though Jamshid sent in the guard to break most of them up. For the most part, the guardsmen were courteous enough, being natives of the city. But during one of the protests, the people started hurling stones and roof tiles at the guardsmen, even killing one.


    There was little tolerance for the protests after that. They were broken up quickly almost as soon as they started.


    Leon focused on the Aurichalcum, leaving these matters to Jamshid. The tenth-tier mage was eager enough to pledge Shatufan’s loyalty and support to Leon, especially once it became clear that a sizable portion of the city guard—those under themand of another of the city’s three tenth-tier mages—was not supportive of their actions. Those guards did not participate in keeping the peace, though Jamshid continued to negotiate with the rest of the leading men in the city.


    What was more concerning was that on the morning of the second day, it was found that many of the city’s Azadan—including, most notably, Manuchehr, despite the heavy guard that he’d been ced under—had fled the city, prompting Jamshid to try and force the city gates closed, escting the increased security he’d already ordered the city ced under. That led to thousands of people trying to storm through the gates before they were fully sealed, but Jamshid’s guardsmen kept most of them from fleeing.


    It all sat wrongly with Leon, but he couldn’t stay and help keep the peace with Diluvian arks maintaining their siege on the Artor Valley. Despite his desire to stay and try to help put the city back in order, he left by the afternoon of the second day. There was nothing more he could do except trust Jamshid to control the city well.


    Somehow, he wasn’t that certain it would go well.


    “This is part of the reason why Heaven’s Eye never got involved in politics,” Icarius said as they flew away from the city. “Keeping the Empires off our backs was the main reason, but I have always refrained from dirtying my hands with such messy political affairs. It’s almost never worth the price of interference.”


    Leon didn’t have much to say in response. Such distance was no longer possible for him, and hadn’t been for decades.


    Not too far out from the city came the next question that he was more than willing to throw himself into, if only to take his mind off Shatufan, and that was what they were supposed to do next.


    The obvious answer was to immediately return to Artorion with the Aurichalcum they’d taken—all one hundred and sixty-eight tons of it—and use the material to reinforce the valley’s defenses. However, Leon wasn’t sure that Aurichalcum alone would save his city. It would take time to manufacture weapons from it, and even then, Terris’ forces outnumbered his so much that he didn’t know how much even a few dozen more of Nestor’s new Lances would help.


    He needed as much power as he could acquire to maximize his city’s chances of survival.


    To that end, he transferred all of the Aurichalcum they’d managed to acquire to Penelope to hold onto. Then he ordered her and Icarius to take a significant amount of storm crystal and purchase as much Lumenite as they could get their hands on in a week. After that week, they were to take those resources back to Artorion, and hopefully, Nestor would be able to use the Lumenite and Aurichalcum to get at least one more use out of their new gateway. The dead man himself wasn’t definitive in saying it was possible when Leon called to confirm, but Leon thought the chances were favorable enough that he rolled those dice anyway.


    Leon, meanwhile, decided to investigate some of the other possibilities for aid floated by Jamshid—namely, the Stormborn Oak, Kavad’s Lance, and the Seventh Iron Order.


    Resources alone weren’t going to save his city, but resources, powerful artifacts, and allies just might be enough.