Chương 1138: 1168 - Sen'uus

Nora and Kaifa Sen'uus. The names ran through Leon's head fairly constantly ever since learning of them from Drusis. Such alchemists in his territory could prove to be a great boon, if he played his cards right. However, he wasn't able to personally play his cards given the demands of politics—and not just the negotiations with Drusis and Soraya. Clear had come through, pushing a generous offer from Leon and getting both envoys to come to a tentative agreement.

Both cities would be vassalized under much the same terms as Rolor's Highcastle, though since Leon never faced them in battle, he demanded less from them than he had from Numa. They were allowed to govern themselves for internal matters, but Leon would handle their foreign affairs. He would also expect certain tribute from both cities, though the amount he demanded was nominal.

He was far more interested in gaining access to their population and in the strategic location of their land—Elegan was the gate into the Serpent's Neck Bay and the King's Ocean west of the Storm Lands. There weren't any ports at all on the western coast south of Elegan all the way down to the mouth of the Blue Feather River—the land was too mountainous, the seas too rough, and the Ocean Lords too close for any population centers to have developed there.

Founding some new cities on the western coast would be an important strategic move in the future, but for the moment, Elegan was not Leon's western and southernmost port, and it was still far, far to the north of Artorion. Hosragan, meanwhile, was a large city with a deep well of manpower to draw upon. While it wasn't the strongest city in the Finger Lake region given its strategic position left it vulnerable to its neighbors, its fields were fertile and its people numerous.

Given the sheer number of people that Leon was planning on moving from Aeterna to the Nexus, having access to Hosragan's abundant food supplies would be critical. Food, a port, and millions of citizens. Great enough boons on their own, but Leon also extracted from them the promise to send troops whenever he demanded. He didn't envision a scenario coming about where he'd need their soldiers, but he thought it prudent to have that condition stated, just in case.

And with that agreement, he was freed from having to conquer those cities. Autonomous though they were, they were now part of his Kingdom, able to enjoy the benefits of free trade and travel, as well as his protection. They would no longer be completely free to act on their traditional rivalry, but Leon had ideas on that front as well.

He'd just have to find good space for a grand racetrack and sports arena in or around the Artor Valley—if they couldn't fight their differences out, then he'd give them a different avenue in which to compete. After that, he was left with only two more cities that he had his eyes on: Lancefoot and Krizos. He had his plans for how to deal with them, but foreign affairs weren't his only concern; he still had to consolidate his rule over Shatufan.

It hadn't even been a week, and though the city had been ravaged by his understandably furious troops following Manuchehr's attempted assassination during a parley, the people could still be a problem later if they weren't properly pacified. Worse, they had already shown a propensity to riot over politics, which he felt would only be a detriment if left unchecked.

He'd already gotten started on winning over the people by publicly dealing with the worst of his rampaging troops, but a few deserved executions wouldn't go far if the people were angry enough. To that end, he organized a public spectacle the day after Drusis and Soraya's arrival. Thankfully, they'd already agreed to his offer of vassalization by then—mostly due to Clear, as far as Leon was concerned—so he had to revise his plans for showing off his arks, but he went ahead with the ceremony anyway.

The site he chose was a wide open space that had once been a mustering field early in Shatufan's history. The area had been paved as the city expanded past it, but not built over, and many homes had sprung up around it. Now, as far as Leon knew, it was mostly used as a local market and fairground. Leon's first public decree was to erect a large statue of the Thunderbird in the center of this large square, which was then enchanted into a public fountain.

His magic engineers built it so quickly that when he arrived for his planned ceremony, it had already been completed. The statue was life-size, towering thirty feet above the ground, and made of pure white marble. The details on it were immaculate, and as an added flair, images of the Ten Tribes' Ancestors were added to the rim of the fountain at the Thunderbird's talons. The Thunderbird's head was turned southward, towards Artorion, but her body was facing east, where the Storm Lands' future was being decided.

When Leon arrived, more than a thousand people had congregated in the square, and more arrived every second. His soldiers, there only to keep the peace, drew many a wary and angry look, but so far, no one had acted upon those feelings. The part of the crowd that most drew Leon's attention was the most well-dressed—it had been made clear to the surviving Azadan who were still present in the city that their presence was required. This was where Leon would publicly receive their submission.

He was gratified to see that Kyros, the Azadan who had been supervising the Aurichalcum manufactories the day Leon had aided Jamshid in taking the city was among them. In fact, he seemed to be one of their leaders, though he did not look happy about his city's circumstances. All in all, only a little less than twenty percent of the city's Azadan were present. The rest were either dead or had fled the city.

Many of those that had fled had only gone so far as their country estates, but they would not be allowed to return to the city without showing their subservience to Leon in some way—he was thinking a tribute, though this one would be substantially more than the nominal tribute he expected from Elegan and Hosragan. When he arrived, he did so in Thunderbird form, flying over the city while filling the sky with lightning.

A hush settled over the crowd as he drew all eyes in the square, so much so that his entourage secured the area around the fountain with only those closest to it noticing their presence. Leon flew around the square eleven times—once for each of the Ten Tribes, and then once more the Thunderbird Clan. He alighted upon the rim of the fountain, whereupon he returned to human form, standing tall and regal, letting the crowd see him in the flesh.

After a few moments, he projected his magic power, channeling his darkness magic to touch the minds of all of his new subjects. He didn't speak to them using words but instead tried to convey feelings and ideas through his magic without forming them into speech. He sent them feelings of serenity and safety while showing them visions of a prosperous and happy Shatufan under his reign.

He doubted the truly dedicated would heed his message, but the crowd as a whole certainly seemed remarkably calm when he stepped down from the fountain and turned his attention to the Azadan. One by one, they were made first to bow, then to stand before Leon, hail him as their King, swear to do neither him nor any of his line harm, and then vocally apologize for their dishonorable conduct and throw themselves at his mercy.

Mercy he was willing to grant, though not without making something of a show of it for the people. His message was, he hoped, clear: both the people and the Azadan would both be accepted and protected in his Kingdom and they would still be allowed to participate in politics in their own city—though he, through his appointed Exarch, would still ultimately be in charge of Shatufan—as well as in Artorion.

Then, he allowed the people to come and bring their petitions before him, though always remaining behind a line of Tempest Knights, just in case one of them had another Sen'uus firebomb. One assassination attempt was all that his guards would tolerate, and Leon wasn't keen on getting hit by another one of those things. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. For the most part, the people complained about the damage to the city and the price of food.

Many of those sent on their ill-fated southern expedition had been farmers, it seemed, not to mention the deaths of so many Azadan meant their country estates were in turmoil. These were problems for Marcus in the long run, but Leon was able to reassure the people that the city was going to be rebuilt at no cost to them thanks to his engineers, and that the price of food was going to soon go down thanks to Shatufan now gaining tariff-free access to Hosragan's fields.

He stayed there for about three hours before receiving a message from Marcus via Lucianus, who'd come to deliver the message in person. The Sen'uus couple had been found and taken into custody. They now awaited his judgment.

Shatufan's prisons were small for how large the city was. Their largest prison complex amounted to a hundred small, though heavily warded cells, each one including anti-magic wards. Those made by the Ravens were still better, but Leon was surprised to see them in use in Shatufan.

When Leon wondered aloud why the prisons were so small, he was informed by Clear that Shatufan didn't seem to believe in long-term incarceration as a punishment—they preferred to handle justice in a more immediate manner, whether that was execution, mutilation, fines, or whatever else. More people were publicly flogged in Shatufan than were kept in prisons long-term, and it wasn't even close. It was in one of these small jails that the Sen'uus couple had been brought to, and so was where Leon now found himself.

They were the only two people being held within, though given the way the Thundermen watched them in their cells, Leon thought that they wouldn't hesitate to take a Shatufanian attitude toward immediate punishment if he hadn't ordered the couple to remain unharmed. The husband and wife were kept in separate cells, neither allowed to see each other despite one wall of their cells being made of enchanted glass and facing the central hallway—though the glass was made opaque by enchantment on their side.

No one wanted these alchemists to be able to communicate with each other, whether secretly or otherwise. Kaifa, the husband, was closer to the door of the prison, so Leon went to him first. He was short and stocky, with little in the way of classical good looks. His hair was sandy brown and fell to his shoulders in a messy mop, while his hands were heavily scarred and missing three fingers.

His skin, perhaps from breathing in too many alchemical fumes, had taken on a rather sickly yellowish color, though he seemed energetic and healthy enough otherwise. It seemed he and his wife had been taken in the midst of experimentation for he wore thick protective clothing and large boots, while an apron and a thick pair of leather gloves were draped over the edge of the only piece of furniture in his cell: the bed in which he lay, his arms crossed behind his head and his legs crossed over each other.

The sixth-tier mage looked like he hardly cared what was happening, but Leon could see some evidence of anxiety in the way his remaining fingers drummed against his forearms. The guards confirmed that he hadn't done anything other than lay on his bed since arriving, so Leon demanded to speak with him. The leading guard on his cell fiddled with some runes on the wall, and the glass brightened slightly—Leon guessed this made it transparent on Kaifa's side.

For his part, Kaifa reacted much more strongly than Leon would've guessed for someone in his position; as soon as the glass showed him who was on the other side of the wall, he sprang to his feet and walked right over, Leon's guards looking mighty concerned even as Leon waved them back.

"Oh! OH!" Kaifa exclaimed as he looked Leon over several times.

"You're the King! The one Manny wanted to kill!" He spoke the common tongue with barely a hint of an accent to Leon's ears, marking him as quite different from many in Shatufan.

"It seems he failed in that regard," Leon drily responded.

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmm," Kaifa murmured as he stared into Leon's eyes.

"How did you take the bomb? Was it powerful? Did it hurt? How did you survive it?" Leon held up a hand partway through Kaifa's barrage of questions, but he just kept going until Leon loudly shouted, "Enough!" He glowered at the alchemist, who silenced himself only reluctantly, and continued, "Are you not afraid, alchemist? You aren't even trying to deny that you supplied the explosive that Manuchehr used to try and assassinate me?"

"Why would I do that?" Kaifa asked, his tone almost innocent and confused.

"My wife and I work hard on our wares, and our work should be obvious! Self-evident! If what we made can harm an eleventh-tier mage, then our names will soar to the heavens and back! Our Ancestors will praise us as Juthol, Lord of All and Everything, will mark us as deserving of the highest honors in the afterlife!" He grinned as he leaned against the glass.

"I also can't properly evaluate the aftermath and improve on the design if I don't ask questions…" Leon snorted in amusement.

"Why did you provide Manuchehr with that explosive? Did you want to kill me?"

"Bah! No! Or not for personal reasons! We just wanted to know how our newest formula would stack against a mage of your caliber! And Manuchehr paid us a lot of money! Enough that we'd be able to focus on our experiments for years!" Leon leaned against the glass as Kaifa pushed himself away, wildly gesticulating as he spoke for dramatic effect.

"What was even in that explosive, anyway?" he asked.

"It was quite powerful…" Kaifa's eyes narrowed as a smile graced his face with its presence.

"A fairly conventional explosive, all around. Standard combustion materials that can be sourced locally… save for a single ingredient in the primary explosive: the crushed seeds of a Soul-Lashing Lily." Intrigue wound its way through Leon's mind. That was a dramatic name for a flower, but it seemed it lived up to its name if that ingredient was the reason for the explosive's power.

"Those seeds are not easy to get ahold of, you know!" Kaifa complained.

"The least you can do is tell me how well we did!" A chuckle escaped Leon's lips.

"It was effective, I'd say. It killed Manuchehr outright, while I was left injured."

"Huh. It wasn't supposed to kill him. I guess Nora's protective charm wasn't strong enough… or we didn't account well enough for the seeds' Aesiatic effects…"

"Wait, you also provided Manuchehr with the means to survive the blast? Or you thought you did?"

"Yeah," Kaifa said nonchalantly, as if what he'd done was about as important and consequential as meandering through a local market.

"This'll teach us not to sell unproven works, I suppose. But we didn't want to sell it to begin with… until Manny insisted that we give him something. I just wish I could've been there to see it explode with my own eyes! What a spectacle it had to have been!" Exasperation began growing within Leon's mind, and he could see it reflected in the guards' expressions.

"Where'd you get his new ingredient?" Leon asked.

"Huh? Oh, the Soul-Lashing Lily? We heard batches of the flowers were being harvested in Vile Indilon's Aesii, so we put in an order for their seeds. Nearly cost an arm and a leg!" Kaifa sucked air through his teeth before clicking his tongue several times.

"They should've been more accommodating! My wife and I are pushing our understanding of the universe forward! To see the effects of such ingredients is invaluable!" Leon ran a hand through his hair, unsure how to take the alchemist. He seemed completely, utterly genuine, but Leon couldn't fathom how he could be so clueless, or careless, about his situation.

"You seem… particularly forthcoming with this information," Leon noted.

"Huh? Should I be more quiet? You'll kill us or you won't, I'm not too worried. The only thing I want to know is how you survived that explosion!"

"Trade secret," Leon replied.

"What if I decide to lock you and your wife away for the rest of your natural lives?" Kaifa frowned.

"Does this mean we would be freed for our unnatural lives? I'd take that deal." Again, Leon snorted, unable to stop himself from simply liking this strange man.

"I don't have any way to take notes, but is there anything you can tell me about our formula? I'd hate to meet with my parents again beyond the Aesii with these questions burning in my mind…"

"That depends…" Leon stated.

"I'm not too upset about what you and your wife did— this time, anyway. Swear to never do it again, under pain of such torture as to make your remaining years awful beyond measure, and I'll overlook it. Such an offer will not be made again, whether for this incident or any others."

"Why would I do that?" Kaifa asked.

"What if another client comes in, wanting to partake in our art, and attacks you with what we give them? We can't read minds and know what our clients truly intend!"

"Stop working with clients, then," Leon stated.

"Come and work for me, you and your wife both. I happen to know some people who would be thrilled to work with a pair of mad alchemists like the two of you…" Kaifa blinked rapidly as his eyebrows rose almost into his hairline.

"Hmmmmm… our business is already booming… and I'm not too fond of having a boss…"

"Then let me be clearer: either swear yourself to me or be put to death for providing an assassin with his weapon. I'll give you a day to figure out where you stand on the issue."

"Huh? But what about my wife? I can't cook a licten chicken without her help! I can't make this decision on my own!"

"You'll have to. The only way you and your wife will be reunited is under my banner. Or Death's. I'll leave it to you to decide which is better." Leon stepped away from Kaifa's cell, and the same guard who'd brightened the glass made it opaque again, removing Leon from Kaifa's view. The alchemist simply stared at where Leon had been, dread and anxiety finally crossing his features as Leon made his way over to Nora's cell to make the same offer. He hoped they'd make the right decision.

These two would make invaluable vassals, weird though they may be. They'd fit right in with the Ravens, if nothing else.