Steel and Mana

Chapter 40 – First Council Meeting

After calling up the people I trusted with my tasks before leaving, I hosted the very first 'council meeting.' It happened in my throne room, which was much more decorated by now. The empty walls had paintings of landscapes depicting the mountains around us, while the wide, dark red wooden table before my throne hosted my future ministers. Not all seats were filled, only a quarter of them, but it was a start. They wore casual clothes, looking like peasants, but that didn't matter. What was important was that I began establishing multiple departments and delegating work to capable people.

The fact I was smiling eased their worries as I looked at the three men, two women, and one lonely child amongst their ranks. Surprisingly, it was the kid, Merlin, who looked the most ready, swinging his legs, wanting to jump up and give his report already. 

"It is good to be back!" I started, nodding at Merlin first, "I see you can barely sit still. Let's hear what you have to say, Prime Minister Merlin!"

"Yes, Your Highness!" He stood up, standing on his chair so I could see him bow. "I oversaw and coordinated the collective while you were away. The construction of the city is going to be officially completed before the end of fall, right before schedule!"

"Good work! I returned earlier than expected and am glad you all worked harder than my expectations!" 

"Of course!" Merlin nodded, feeling that it was the most evident thing of all, "Not just that, I made sure that the less talented builders began clearing the way to let us start constructing the walls as soon as possible!"

"How's the mine expansion that I asked for?"

"Yes!" Merling nodded, looking at one of the men, prompting him to stand up. I could see how nervous he was while holding the edge of his clothes. From the looks of it, he was in his thirties, already balding a little, and his skin was rough from all the hard work he had done in the past. 

"Your Majesty!" He bowed to me, mimicking Merlin, but he was much stiffer. "My name is Paxon, the... um, Minister of Mining." Huh... I think it was Merlin who gave him the rank. I would have used the word industry, but I liked how his brain worked, so it is okay.

"Mhm, well met, Paxon. Please continue; you don't have to be afraid. Just report the current progress!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty! The mine has been constantly expanding. We are still not at the designated size, but we managed to produce enough slabs for the wall to begin building, and we found a vein of iron going deep into the mountains!"

"Oh? Good, I was expecting that after what we saw at the original spot. Continue as you were! We will begin opening up a proper mine, so start collecting people who will work it. I need that iron! Merlin, I will need a formal report about the salary of-"

"It is already done, Your Majesty!" He answered proudly, getting out a parchment from his robes, letting it roll down, and reading it loudly. I was initially surprised, but then I couldn't help but praise my luck for finding such a kid. He already worked out everything without me telling him to do so! Am I a bad person? Is this child labor? Not that there are any laws against it yet... huh. Lucky me. "That's my initial calculations, Your Majesty!"

"I have earned a free year, so I won't have to pay tithe for the next cycle! We can finance our endeavors from the treasury, and I plan to expand our tradings." I knew I didn't have anybody for that position overseeing our trade routes. But I already had a candidate in my mind. My Mother. If anybody, she would be perfect for the post. 

"Mhm." Merlin nodded in the meanwhile, thinking rapidly, "That would do, but we do need to fill up the treasury. With what we rob- khm, I mean, confiscated from the nobles, those won't last for long!"

"When commerce is getting steady, taxes will be introduced." I added, forgetting that I was talking with a kid, taking Merlin as an equal. No... He was an equal. "For now, let me worry about that! Paxon, continue as you were and focus on extracting the iron ore! We should focus on establishing a proper industry and creating superior tools we can sell! A well-crafted sword worth more than a lump of iron!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" He bowed, sitting down, wiping his forehead with a silly, happy smile.

"What about the food production? I want to cut our imports by at least half in the coming years. Merlin?" I asked, curious about what they came up with.

"Yes, yes!" He nodded, looking at another minister, and this time, one of the middle-aged women with tied-up black hair stood up, bowing in the same manner.

"My name is Zita, Your Majesty; I have been tasked with overseeing our food stocks and reviewing your outlines while you were away!"

"Mhm, good to meet you. Please, continue!"

"First, as you suggested, we collected as many seeds as possible. We are in the middle of relocating people who were previously under the government of the now-dead minor nobles! We will have around 6,000 people distributed between five villages who will focus on working the fields."

"Did you take my plans into consideration?" I asked, and it was Merlin who answered.

"Naturally! The villages will work independently! They will choose their village elder, who is going to be our spokesperson, and I made sure to stress that they follow the plans for crop rotation and the preservation of soil fertility! I had to host some private lessons so they understood its logic. But if I may, Your Majesty, I don't think they get it."

"Not everyone is like you." I chuckled, making him blush, "As long as they follow the plans, it is all good! When we have time, we will improve the villages. We will build them proper homes, mills, and anything else that helps our local production! Besides crops, start focusing on sheep and goats; we must buff their numbers! They will provide us with not just meat, but their wool is perfect for making more than just clothes!"

"Understood, Your Majesty!" Zita bowed, sitting back down.

"After we have enough resources in storage, we can start trading... to speed that up, I plan to build a road network to our borders. But for now, don't worry about it; I just want Merlin to keep that in the back of his mind!" I chuckled, trying to further ease the mood before listening to the others.

Hearing the rest, I was happy that everything worked smoothly while I was gone. There were no problems with the water; by now, the fact that bathing was so readily available was becoming the norm among the people. Good! Diseases were not what I was looking for, so my immediate problem would be finishing the sewer system. For now, it was leading far away into an open field. That was anything but ideal, but with my new knowledge in my head, a solution was very near. I just needed a little magic to help me with it. 

I listened to the rest for the following hour, encouraging them to continue before adjourning the first official meeting between us, asking Merlin to stay back a little. The little guy was like a hamster on coffee right now; he was in his natural element, ready to work, work, and work, his brain requiring challenges.

"Calm down!" I laughed, patting his head while he was bombarding me with questions about what it was like in the city. "I will tell you everything, but before that, here!"

"A present?!" He yelled, taking the thick stack of papers from me.

"Kinda. I read a lot of books while I was away and found a description of your magic! When we were coming back home, I summarized it for you! They call it 'Chameleonic Transmutation,' but that is unimportant! Your powers are designed to amplify other spells. I compiled an approach to help you understand yourself from what I gathered. This has descriptions of its characteristics and how similar wizards used it in past occasions for reference. It is a rare ability, so be proud, Merlin! Not many mages exist who can do what you can!"

"Waaaaah! Thank you, Your Majesty!" He bowed multiple times, taking it away, looking just as excited as a kid on Christmas morning. 

"Go, you can study it at your leisure, but I will need your experiences later on!"

"What are we going to do?"

"I am drawing up in my head a new formation that should allow us to purify the sewer water. I am still working on putting it together for now, but when I'm ready, we will start running tests!"

"Cooooool!" 

He wanted to know more, but I told him to study what I gave him. I will only tell him more when he finishes his current studies. Nothing can be rushed when it comes to magic.

...

.....

.......

"I missed you..." I whispered as I was kissing Sasha's neck, sitting with her inside our bathtub, surrounded by multiple candles. My hands held her perky breasts while she was grinding her bottom against my crotch, splashing water everywhere.

"Me too!" She moaned, chuckling happily before slipping her hand between her thighs and holding onto me as she sat down on my spear, giving me another happy moan. "Hauuuh, you already shot it out!" She leaned back, giggling, keeping her waist moving continuously. 

"Can't help it! I told you I was pent up!"

"I bet! Tell me about it! I will do the moving, you just relax!" 

"You vixen... You know, I can barely concentrate with you sitting on me! The way you massage my second brain down there short-circuits my primary one!"

"Ahaha! Silly!" With a laugh, she turned around on me, pressing onto my chest as she began riding me with even more vigor than before. "I thought you were smart enough to focus on multiple things!"

"Cheeky! I may be able to do it, but I don't want to! I will retell everything tomorrow; tonight, I want to only think about you!"

We continued enjoying ourselves, and when I lifted her out of the water, bringing her over to the bed to keep mounting her from behind, I noticed that our door was slightly open. It was only a quick glimpse, but I could swear I saw a violet eye peering in... the little pervert! Hehe, somehow, the knowledge she was peeping on us made me even more excited, so I decided to not tell Sasha about it. Not even when we were finished an hour later, laying there, her hot body spread out on me with a satisfied smile. 

"How's our new maid?" I asked, purposely not looking toward the door.

"She is polite and intelligent. But do we need a maid? I can also do the housework and-"

"For now. But you will also have your own responsibilities, sooner or later we won't have time to deal with everything! She will be the Head Maid and assemble her own little crew whose task will be keeping the palace prim and proper."

"She told me about what happened in the restaurant... that was dangerous!"

"Not really." I smiled in answer, kissing her lips. "They scrambled the moment they thought their sexy time would include horrendous pain."

"You... want to do it like that?"

"What? No!" I answered immediately, but she quickly raised an eyebrow as my voice didn't convince her. Neither me... "Okay! I found the idea of being a little bit more forceful arousing but not to THAT extent!"

"Then to what extent?" She questioned me curiously, drawing circles on my chest, "Hitting?"

"Huh? Maybe spanking? But not like, literally punching you. No way! Other than that, maybe doing it a bit rougher? Um... how about hair pulling...?"

"Choking..." I heard a faint whisper that almost made me choke, too. 

"Ahahahaha!" She laughed out suddenly, surprising me, but also made it so she didn't hear Luna's drunken voice coming from behind the door.

"What...?" I asked, pouting, and she kept laughing before flicking my nose.

"You are embarrassed! I never saw you this way before!" She continued giggling, teasing me as she sat up on my stomach. 

"So what if I am? It is embarrassing to talk about what you find exciting... I don't want you to think of me weirdly!"

"I don't mind. You can do those things to me. I will tell you if I don't like it so you can stop, but until then... feel free to experiment with me! I am yours, Leon... not just in body!" 

With a whisper, she leaned forward, kissing me, initiating the night's second round, lasting for another hour...