The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 598: Who To Advise

Princess Alexis’ proposal seemed to intrigue the King.

But that intrigue was not exclusive to him. Many others had ideas about who would be an excellent advisor on foreign policy and international relations for the new Governor and Governess.

“Perhaps a few emissaries on full-time assignment to Wistover might not be a terrible idea. It would help keep lines of communication open, as we share such a large border with Stansia Province.” Prince Fahad suggested.

“That’s not an awful idea. Mitfield also shares a border with Stansia Province, and with the edge of Wistover Duchy itself.” Prince George agreed.

“It is also the central airship hub for the Merchant’s Guild. It couldn’t hurt to have at least one or two people here.” The advisor to the King of Keria added.

“I just want to get away from the salt air for a bit, so I’ll volunteer myself,” the advisor from Chip joked.

He wouldn’t actually get to stay long, he had duties back home, dealing with the aftermath of the storm.

Hiding here, thousands of kilometres to the southwest, was not an option.

“Alright, enough jokes. Obviously, we will all leave an emissary here in Wistover. I believe it has earned that right as a budding metropolis. There is no need to let our advisors run wild and put their own names forward,” the Necromancer King insisted before Trionne could recommend herself.

He was well aware of her past, and was not about to allow her to use a flimsy excuse to lay about Wistover Manor all day feeling nostalgic and skipping out on her actual duties.

Advisor Trionne’s peculiar personality was no mystery to her King. Out of all the gathered Royals, none could claim to understand the insanity that was a Techno Witch’s mind quite as well as he could.

Prince Alex raised his hand to calm the chatter in the crowd, and began to speak.

“As you all might have guessed, that means there will be a few changes around Wistover in the near future. Obviously, there will be a security force arriving.

That is an essential for the Governor to do his work.

However, we will also be commissioning a public portal array to link Wistover with the three cities of Stansia Province. The location is not yet confirmed, but it is likely to be near the centre of town.

Furthermore, additional infrastructure teams will be deployed to complete a roadwork project, linking Wistover to the main highway running between Causter and Lympsbury.

The exact route is yet to be determined, but we intend to have it finished with in the year, and will be conferring with the Merchant’s Guild regarding the matter, as they are currently the largest traffic group moving between the locations.”

That was huge news for everyone here.

The portal array would reduce the mana cost for mages to move back and forth between cities, but it would also allow those with a lower level portal spell to move further than normal.

That wasn’t just a boon for Wistover, it was a huge infrastructure bonus for the entire region. Everywhere in Stansia Province would benefit from it, as Wistover was becoming a magitech manufacturing hub, but even as far as Castle City and Darden would be able to open portals to Wistover with minimal effort.

That change marked a monumental shift in public policy.

Portal arrays existed in every major city, but they were usually in a mage tower, or a secure room within the Lord’s Manor and directly linked to another safe location, not a public area.

Building an open public portal system was a level of consideration and access for the common people that would have been unthinkable to most of the other Regents present.

You simply didn’t do that.

In fact, if you did it, you risked having them bribe a mage apprentice to send them to another region at the first sign of drought or an additional tax levy.

It didn’t take much for people with little to lose to consider moving. If they thought that there was somewhere they could start over that would be better than where they were, it would be a dangerous precedent to set.

The Necromancer King saw it as a flex by the King of Cygnia. A statement to the others that his people were doing so well that his Nobles weren’t concerned about them not coming home if they travelled.

And more than that, it said that the commoners were wealthy enough that they could travel. That wasn’t common for the typically impoverished sharecroppers of most rural regions.

If you had enough money to travel by portal, you had enough connections to ask the local Lord or Mage Sect to open one for you.

Dominic saw it the other way around. The public portal would make it so much easier for every other Noble to try to poach his skilled workers.

If they could be hired off to do a job, with the promise that they could easily return home by portal, it would be an entirely different matter than asking them to take a week-long trip by merchant caravan through monster infested wilderness.

While Dominic tried to read into the hidden meanings behind the King’s decision, the King was already acting.

He had instructed Prince Alex to open a portal, and they were ushering a group of retirees through.

Obviously, those were the advisors that the King had chosen. None of them were fighting age men, and none of them smelled like magic strongly enough to be the mage intended to gather their military force.

Most likely, Prince Alex would do that himself. Or, he would ask the Duskblade Sect for their assistance.

A strangely familiar face came through the portal, and General Merlot stepped out of the crowd to hug an elderly man with tattoos running from his fingers up under his sleeves and all up his neck.

“Dad, meet Duke Dominic Wavemates.” The aging General insisted.

The old man smiled at Dominic. “Well, look at you. Looking just like your father, no hiding that. I’m told that you need to know how to keep the Nobles in line without using Dragon Fire.

Well, you’re in luck. I’ve trained three generations of titled brats now. They won’t get anything past me.

Oh, George, you’re here too. You should come drink with me, we can go look for some lovely ladies, like the old days.”

Prince George of Mitfield laughed. “Old man, you’re thinking of my father. And don’t let mother know that you took him out to a brothel.”

General Merlot’s father smiled. “Aye, that wouldn’t end well for either of us. Right properly scary that woman is.”

This day was definitely about to get more fun, Dominic decided.