103 Chapter 6.24 - Vassal State pt. 2

Serin sat with Kira Marquest. The entirety of the evacuees from Morat had made their way from Morat to Haven. Although Serin had the power to let them teleport from Morat to Haven, he had Ale escort them by foot the entire way. This was a two fold effort. The first was that he wanted to make sure that these people learned that they could survive on their own merit, migrating through the frozen winter under their own ability. The second was that he wanted to give them the agency to control their own lives. They would be in control of the outcomes, whether good or bad. It was a plan that succeeded perfectly, as with Spring in full, the refugees arrived stronger and prouder than the broken mass they had left their last home in.

As Serin mused over the merits and challenges of the past few months, Kira sipped tea. "I honestly think that the Sarween Technocracy was a good idea that was poorly executed. The moment that the inventor of something became less important than the ruling families, it became a broken system."

Serin nodded, "So what do you plan to do?"

Kira had a book of notes "Our people are crafters, inventors, and technomancers. We are not soldiers. We are not farmers. We will stick to what we know, which is specialization in those fields. I am sure that we can come to agreements with Haven, just as your other allies have, that will benefit both parties. So far both Haven and Thul have benefitted from our inventions."

It was true. With the exhaust filters, the Foundry region's output had almost doubled with no change to the ecological impact. And with the pacification field generators, Thul's tamers had been able to scout their own lands. Serin learned that the pacification fields did not work in the dungeon, and their power was greatly weakened against stronger opponents. Kira had made the redesign on purpose, to ensure that the failure of Morat was never repeated. At best, the generators were useful in keeping small rodent monsters out of food storage.

Serin nodded. "I assume you will need access to our facilities still after you have established your region."

Kira nodded, "I have worked out all of the details with Shurik. He has produced Homunculi and pods to take care of our security and care of the botanical farms in our future homestead. Additionally we have created an agreement with the protectorate to provide weapon and armor repair in return for additional security." Kira smiled, "We both know that the workshops in town are entirely too backed up and currently don't have the production capacity to take care repair and of new workloads."

Serin nodded. Kira had learned quite a bit of city management in her time in Haven as an expat "Is there anything else Haven can do for you during this period of transition?"

Kira smiled. "To be honest, you have saved us from our own destruction. You have returned agency back to the crafters and inventors of our world. I am not sure we could ever pay back that debt. But I have some ideas where to start."

Kira sipped her mug, " I know that some of your citizens are still suffering from a lack of agency, to that length I poke at length with Hamil, a representative for the parasites. I have offered to let them setup a recruitment office in our region as their 'Partial Passenger' program seems to be a serious benefit for both parties."

Serin was a bit taken aback. "That's quite the generous offer of you. Are you sure you know what that entails?"

Kira nodded. "I am aware that many of our people are underpowered and underleveled. I discussed at length with Hamil on how to fix this. The human mind needs sleep, but with recovery magic, the human body does not. For two year periods, our people can sign up for a work-share program. For 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, when they are put to sleep, they relinquish control to the parasite they host and go to sleep. When they wake up, they will be in the same place they went to sleep in, but having gained experience. The host gains a portion of the experience the parasite does, so even when sleeping, they can improve. As well as we are promised two stats being brought up to 50, which for many of us would make the first two brought up to 50 in our lives."

Serin thought about it. Being able to improve at night while he was asleep sounded like a pretty sweet deal, and if he wasn't the ruler of a country it would be worth following. Also Olma pretty much demanded to be latched onto him most evenings so it would definitely make her angry.

Serin smiled, "I am glad you are exploring all options for your people. I am sure Sienna and her people will be glad for the ability to gain experience."

Kira chuckled, "Also the idea that there is another person who can add their mana to yours or cast as you do doesn't hurt either. And being able to fully split attention if an inventor's dream."

Serin hadn't thought about it, but he knew that parasites had their own very large mana pool but could not cast magic without a host. He hadn't thought that if the host was in control, the mana would be available to them. Serin smirked. He was just happy the parasites weren't well, evil. If anything they seemed more symbiotic than parasitic, which made Serin question who named their race. Serin chuckled, 'I have too much work today to muse over such philosophical things.' Although he wondered if it was possible for their race's name to change, as their behavior did not match its title.

***

The Second Vassal state of Haven established itself in the following days to their conversation. As the leader of the initiative, it was Kira Marquest that selected its perk and decided its laws. Modeling its government off Haven, while still including the purest form of their technocratic roots, "The Collective" was established. The perk of choice was chosen due to the high number of crafters and technomancers present, which was 'inspired', a perk that increased the amount of inspiration that came to the fledgling nation. As it was established as a vassal state, no announcement rite was conducted, but the other nations of the world were informed of its establishment. Like The Corvid Society, The Free City of Ston, and The Kingdom of Thul, an embassy building for haven was placed within with access to a teleport, allowing free movement for approved personnel between the different nations.

The Alliance that started between a backwater kingdom on the cliffside and a nation of monsters had blossomed into a diplomatic powerhouse that had reshaped the balance of power on the continent.

Serin looked at Kira, "Any idea on what kind of celebration we should have to mark this occasion?"

Kira smiled, "Easy. I want to make a competition we can win."

Serin smiled, "Unlikely, but challenge accepted. What kind of competition?"

Kira smiled, "An invention competition. Open problem set. One week development time. Open to anyone that is not currently employed at the Office of special projects. Myself, King Jeffry, 1st Speaker of Ston, Stem of the Corvid Society, and of course yourself will make up the 5 person judging team."

Serin smiled, "So you hamstring my team alone eh? Fine, I won't argue. The prize will be the full material bounty of a single dungeon run by yours truly, save items that our nation has determined are too dangerous for public consumption. Agreed?"

Kira laughed, "Sure but it's only fair that every nation put something up to the prize pool."

***