Plans for Aeternum

It's been a few days since Eternal Universe Online was officially released, ending the beta period. On Planet Vopal, the Seven Nations, the Church of Light, and the Land of Fortune, the city-state under the administration of the International Bank of Vopal, all the major forces on the planet have been in a state of minor chaos with the arrival of millions of players. Everyone except for Astur. Astur has spent the past several days not doing much of anything. Although she herself claims to be busy.

While Astur isn't 'doing nothing' in a literal sense, she isn't really doing much herself, despite her claims. She is leaving most of the work to others, namely Elizabeth and Ystur. Kretea was kept far away from any administrative task, being utterly incapable of it, much to the dismay of the former two who have a talent for it. As for what Astur had done, it was mostly drawing up various ideas and letting Elizabeth or Ystur take care of it. Astur's end goal for these ideas is turning Aeternum from what it currently is, a slightly more advanced starting city for the players, into a true end game player hub, a place where the players will naturally gravitate to.

Under the instruction of Astur, the planning of Elizabeth and Ystur, and some insight from Asterion, the Oulvgar have begun expanding the city. Currently, the City of Aeternum resembles a basic Spirit City. The seat of power in the centre, Astur's island. Then in a layered circular arrangement around the seat of power are the residences of state officials, followed by military-related facilities, following that are business districts, next are the residences of the common folk, followed by agriculture districts, and finally more military-related facilities. Although the setup of Aeternum doesn't follow the exact model along with the many finer details and intricacies of a Spirit City, the City of Aeternum is made up of wood and stone rather than various metals and alloys, but the basic layout and design are similar. The new city expansions, however, are planned to be vastly different compared to what will become the centre of Aeternum. The areas are to be built directly connected with the trees and built without disrupting the forest, not too unlike old elven cities.

Beyond the basic expansion of the city, Astur also wants to open a branch of the International Bank of Vopal. There are three cities where negotiations with a high ranking member of the International Bank can be done. The first is the Capital of the Kingdom and the second is in a far off coastal province of the Kingdom, but neither of these places is suitable. The coastal province is simply too far and the Royal Capital isn't a place Astur feels good about going to considering the uncertainty between the Holy Oulvgar State and the Kingdom of Virpal. This leaves the third option, while it's the smallest of the three, this branch of the bank is still larger than the others in the Kingdom and has the benefit of being close, being located in the Capital of the Dresuar Viscounty.

As for who is going to conduct the negotiations with the management from the International Bank of Vopal, Astur is currently discussing the matter now with Elizabeth, Kretea, and Ystur. Her first thought, to just leave it to the players, or Irregulars as they are commonly called by the people of Vopal. But this suggestion was completely denied by both Elizabeth and Ystur.

"Why would you even think about suggesting such an idea? How can we leave such an important task to them?" Elizabeth says.

"Then why don't you go and do it? You can take Ystur along with you," Astur says.

"Eh? Me too? That kinda sounds like a pain in the arse, I'd rather just spend my time hanging out here. That's much more fun. The Oulvgar are such interesting people to be around," Ystur says.

"Aren't you only saying that because they'll do anything you tell them to because you're the Princess around here?" Elizabeth questions. "I saw you riding on the back of one of the Stags yesterday. Sure seemed like you were having quite the fun time there."

"..." Not saying anything, Ystur turns to Astur giving her the puppy dog eyes, silently pleading for help.

Giving in, Astur tries to help Ystur get out of Elizabeth's interrogation. But before she can say anything, Elizabeth interrupts.

"Don't you dare. You bailed her out the last four times I caught her goofing off on the job and I won't let it happen again. Ystur needs to understand that she has responsibilities that need to be taken care of. Actually, the same goes for you too, Astur. You push all your work on to us and then it gets worse because Ystur constantly slacks off as well, so I end up doing everything," shaking her head, Elizabeth continues, "The apple really doesn't fall far from the tree. You both have good skills in administration, but both of you just slack off all the time."

Elizabeth continues to lecture the mother-daughter pair on proper work ethic and the two decide to just keep their mouths shut and let Elizabeth vent her pent up frustrations.

Meanwhile, Kretea has been simply standing by Astur's side, thinking about what to eat for dinner. Despite being Astur's personal guard, she doesn't intervene, mostly because she agrees that the Infinity Wolf pair are too lazy and she knows that Elizabeth means well, so she'd rather focus on deciding her next meal.

After an hour, Elizabeth eventually finishes and they return to the previous topic.

"Alright, so where were we... right, about me dealing with the negotiations. I don't mind and I think taking Ystur is a good idea. It would be harder for her to slack off if I'm constantly watching her."

"Hmm… are you sure about just you and her highness going alone? Kretea asks.

"Is there a problem?" Elizabeth asks.

"It's just that… well… the two of you are young, to say the least," Kretea says, taking their height into consideration

"I feel like you're insinuating rude, but go on," Elizabeth says.

"The people from the Bank may not take you very seriously if it were only the two of you who were to go and meet with them. Given your… youthful appearance."

Elizabeth remains silent and gives Kretea a disapproving look, but after a few seconds, Ystur says, "You know she's right, admit it. Compared to them, especially Mom, we really do look pretty small."

"Don't call me that," Astur says, although everyone ignores her, having gotten used to her interjections.

"You're the small one! My height is close to the average for Vampires! I only look small compared to those two abnormally tall women!" That's what Elizabeth wants to say as she holds it in as she suddenly comes up with an idea. "You know what, you're right, we should probably bring someone else who looks a bit older than we do. Astur should be the best choice. Ignoring her attitude, she's not bad at this kind of thing and it'd be good for her to get out too. And if Astur comes, then as her guard, Kretea would naturally follow. I believe it would be much better if Astur led the negotiations. if I led them, who knows what would happen, after all, most Humans aren't too fond of Vampires."

"... I absolutely hate that you have a decent argument," Astur says. "But despite knowing you have a point, I still don't want to go."

With how Astur is refusing, Elizabeth pushes Ystur forward. Understanding what it is Elizabeth wants from her and unwilling to be the only one dragged along, Ystur performs her speciality, the puppy dog eyes and says in a pleading voice, "Please, I want to go on a trip with you."

"... N-no!" Astur says, though her stutter and wavering voice betray her along with her tail that's wagging behind her.

Ystur doesn't say anything but she doesn't give up and continues to silently give Astur a pleading look.

"... Fine! I'll go! But it's not because you're asking me, I just think it's the best choice."

As she is leaving the room, Astur turns her head back and says, "What are you all waiting for! Hurry up and get ready!"