Jonathan Goodman?

Jonathan closed his eyes, trying to catch the moments of rest, peace, and quiet that are slipping through his fingers.

To Jonathan… It was hard to tell if he enjoyed his work.

He was by no means complaining about his current life, certainly not, he was in a position where it was simply hypocritical for him to complain about anything.

Remnant's richest man, according to the 'official' survey, of course. Remnant's most powerful man, according to an equally 'official' version. And lastly, Remnant's most powerful Hunter, again, through the 'official' Hunter channels. Jonathan doubted that Ozpin, for instance, would put his magic in his bio.

On the other hand, if we're only talking about the scale of destruction he could cause, then yes, Jonathan was unrivalled here.

Though even without his magic, as a King of the strongest country on Remnant, he wasn't lacking in firepower. A country with an army that scours the area around Glenn for Grimm, preparing the ground for the colonization of the copious deserted lands around Glenn, or anywhere really. In his city-state, unconstrained by logistics, soldiers were ready to go in any numbers, anywhere in the world, for any purpose.

Where previously, states had to claw each inch of land one step at a time, with geological landscapes as the backstop to Grimm, and to allow easy logistics. First moving to the rivers, then to the seas, to arable land, step by step, snaking through their surrounding territory, creating outposts and paving roads. Jonathan, on the other hand, could just snap his fingers.

If, on the other side of this world, existed an isolated patch of land full of resources that would be too hard to occupy, it would be no trouble for Glenn, for no obstacle could stop their march. Logistics, distance, and defensiveness, no longer as crucial as before, important, but not a dealbreaker.

With copious colonization, Glenn had grown from a state that was a small blob, if a growing one on the world map, into a scattering of small patches, settlements hundreds of miles apart, with no single road linking them. Why should they? With the teleportation array, one could even get a cooked food from one side to the other without having it cool down.

Behind Jonathan was not only an army ready to appear at any moment on the doorstep of any Kingdom, a Damocles sword hovering over the world, behind Jonathan stood an economy free of all logistical costs. A combination able to provide an instant response of supply and demand, a trading crossroad for millions of visitors daily. Merchants that live their lives like a gourmet at the buffet, able to pick up the most 'delicious' pieces offered to the willing, the first who can reach for them.

Behind Jonathan stood the most powerful and influential logistical service of Remnant. Delivering anything, anywhere, anytime, freeing people from the need for contemporary medicine, from the doubts and fears of not being able to save a person.

Behind Jonathan stood the most technologically advanced army, fueled by Hunters, money, and influence from Cinder's organization, its eyes watching out of the shadows of every politician, businessman, and Hunter hurrying to do his business. The social ties that hold a fragmented society together securely, with its media groups promoting a chosen narrative. Manufacturing facilities, one step away from government control, and scientific institutions at the cutting edge of progress.

The shadow of Jonathan Goodman, King of Glenn, stretched far and wide.

And if by some chance his country were to be put on the back foot, there's Jonathan himself, a mage possessing incredible powers.

Unknowable magic, capable of healing the terminally and incurably ill as easily as he could destroy cities at a flip of the hand. The forefront authority in Dust transmutation technology capable of transforming one type of Dust into another on demand, not only playing with supply and demand in an economic sense, but providing access to the rarest types of Dust on demand. There were even rumors that the first pilot plant for the creation of synthetic Dust was also nearly ready to be launched.

There were also others that would support Jonathan, standing behind him. Cinder, the one whom journalists had already dubbed 'Glenn's young she-wolf', some, however, went further and was already talking about Glenn's future 'queen'. Something that perhaps that struck too close to home, considering their relationship now. Information about Jonathan and Cinder's relationship has not yet come out in full, but neither had it been in complete secrecy. Slowly, the journalists have been doing their job, something that censoring would only make even worse.

Still, even though it's inevitable, Jonathan has not yet risked announcing to the public what is going on in his personal life.

No matter his intention however, no matter the dimension, the journalist shares quite a lot of similarities with shark, it didn't help matters that he's pretty much the 'catch' as a bachelor. If he couldn't teleport, there would be a literal army of journalists, for tabloids and actual newspapers both, documenting his every step. Quite literally, there's an article for every female, and even some men, he ever meets or talks with for a few seconds, each one theorizing on his love life.

It would be inevitable that the truth be caught in the net, when the fisherman seemed determined to dredge out the entire seabed.

Worse, with his thirtieth birthday happening this year, the speculation about his love life seemed to be ramping up to a ludicrous extent, people putting two and two together, that is him being a King and needing an heir. So of course people began to have questions and theories began to arise, ranging from the insane, to those that came dangerously close to the truth.

Thirty was the perfect age to finally decide on a life partner, to start thinking about children.

Even Cinder had started to bring it up occasionally, though she was certainly skipping a few steps when discussing it.

Before talking about children, you have to get to… The process that leads to them.

And that's a line Jonathan hasn't been able to cross yet.

Yet.

Next to Cinder, and his complicated relationship with her, was Neo. His second daughter was fidgety and yet could give a sloth a run for their money, simultaneously managing to combine hyperactivity and laziness. Having made it to her fourth year in the Hunter Academy, she was quite busy preparing to become a part of Glenn Academy's first graduates, among other things.

Cinder would've taken that spot, probably even earning the highest honor while at it. Instead she had leapfrogged the Academy entirely, and was already duly employed. Cinder, who had already gone above and beyond, completing her screening for RATS, and even its 'internship' period, landing herself not only a job, but also a promotion. Something that Jonathan had nothing to do with, and even if he wanted to, Cinder would probably complain.

In contrast to her overachieving sister, Neo simply chose to continue her education as a Hunter, Glenn's version of it at least.

Copying Atlas to a certain degree, Jonathan had decided to integrate the Hunters to Glenn's army, in their own special branch. The first graduates of Glenn's Hunter Academy would be a special fighting force, Specialists with a command structure of their own, though still integrated with the standard army command. Their role would be as a special fighting force, responsible for rapid response and 'deployment' too difficult or too costly for ordinary soldiers.

Speaking of the other young woman in his circle, Vernal, Raven's quote unquote protégé, had considered following Neo, or returning to the private army under Raven Branwen. After all, that was where Vernal had gone to train in Glenn. After all, her friends were there, a family of sorts. And Amber…

And Amber was now working on training Yang to wield her newfound powers.

Jonathan had thought a lot about this unexpected twist of fate.

Could it be that only by some completely coincidental coincidence of events had Amber turned out to be the Fall Maiden? And that she had revealed her powers just when Jonathan needed them so badly by sneaking into Cinder and Neo's inner circle?

Jonathan knew that miracles and coincidence upon coincidences do happen, and that stranger things could happen simply due to happenstance. But nevertheless, Jonathan still had to make sure that the miracle was not the result of someone else's machinations.

Of course, at the time of enrollment in Hermes, qualified specialists conducted a screening of the future students. Their backgrounds, relationships, abilities, nothing would remain a secret, and it was a screening of quite considerable scope and quality. Several suitable candidates in the past had been weeded out because of this. Either having conflicting loyalties, or even being outright spies or criminals. Though, the latter would simply invoke some 'special' treatment. And Amber… Certainly wasn't among those.

If Jonathan, or the agent he had placed the responsibility on, had any doubts about his daughters' potential teammates, she would have been quietly disappeared to the many 'dark' sites RATS handles. Or, just as likely, taken under surveillance, for as long as it took for Glenn to figure out her role, or the figure behind her, or to make sure there was none.

However, when Amber first filed her paperwork with Hermes and RATS had begun conducting a routine check of her identity, they found nothing out of the ordinary. Or at least nothing 'too' out of the ordinary to merit a closer scrutiny or monitoring.

An orphan from Mistral, after several years in a small orphanage she was adopted, after which they, tempted by the better working conditions, migrated to Glenn, along with their daughter, who was finishing her preparatory Hunter school at the time. A diligent student, excellent grades, extracurricular activities at just the right level for an 'excellent' student, with a small social circle consisting of school friends, neighbors, and a couple of people she met casually. People who, in turn, were as ordinary and unimpressive as herself.

The only thing that could in theory have aroused suspicion was the fact that Amber was from Mistral, Aifal's fiefdom, but surely Jonathan doesn't need to suspect every child of being Aifal's pawn? What's more, Jonathan had even gone to the trouble of ensuring that Amber was monitored even after her enrollment and a month later? Nothing. Amber was just a very ordinary, if exceptional, student, among hundreds of others. A diligent student, with copious teacher recommendations, with a squeaky-clean social life.

And then, six months later, Amber turned out to be a maiden, one who had hidden herself completely, revealing herself just when Jonathan needed one to fend off an attack from Ozpin through Yang.

Aifal's doing? Without a doubt. Aifal, apart from him, only Ozpin could have so thoroughly blurred every possible trace, hidden Amber, only to reveal the cards and reveal Amber when Jonathan required her. Sure, it's still possible that Amber was actually one of Ozpin's plants, or had plans that hinged on Amber… But he didn't see the point for Ozpin to bother about it, nor could he see Salem doing it.

If it was Aifal's working instead of Ozpin? Everything fits perfectly, about who and how decided to put Amber in Jonathan's hands, but it still didn't answer the main question…

Why?

Salem, if Ozpin was telling him the truth then, Salem required the Maidens, why put Amber in his hands?

The only logical explanation was that Aifal, and therefore Salem standing behind him, for some reason wanted to help Jonathan defend himself against Ozpin's attacks.

In other words, the puppeteer provided him with all the tools to fight Ozpin.

And if that was the case, it begged the question…

Am I not playing into Salem's hands by fighting Ozpin?

But, even so, Jonathan couldn't bow his head and return to Ozpin's arms, because they were different…

And because they both showed their willingness to go over their allies' heads to accomplish their goal. If they were to be on the same side, they would keep looking behind their backs for the sheathed dagger. They might as well be enemies.

At the thought of Ozpin and his many plans, Jonathan rubbed his face with his hands, exasperated, trying to erase the tiredness and thoughts that he was beginning to sink back into, returning to far more pleasant memories.

At least we got back what was rightfully ours.

When Atlas fell and his troops occupied Mantle, there was a deluge of administrative affairs that he had to handle, militarily occupying the city was much easier than administering it. In fact, there's no way Jonathan could make the wheels of bureaucracy spin faster, some things just don't get done in one day. You can't integrate Mantle into Glenn's economic and administrative norms in one day, you can't placate a crowd in one day, you can't deal with an army in one day.

There are of course some ways to alleviate the load, if at least to make things less tense if not faster.

Jonathan could allocate extra forces to occupy more of the streets and issue whatever instructions he wanted. Either for them to be assertive or relaxed, hurried or methodical, radical or conservative, to start humanitarian works or to crush possible rebellions. But, no matter how many times he gave an order, demanded one thing or another, signed ten or a hundred documents in a day, in the end, integrating Mantle took time, and a lot of it.

Time that Jonathan had spent fruitfully, regaining what he had deprived himself of in the past.

Restoring his Pattern was not an easy thing to do, it took Jonathan years to even get to the point where he could attempt it. He had to thank his lucky stars that he was able to manage it. Many mages in the past, who have decided to sacrifice the closest thing to the concept of 'soul' or 'self' they have, never recovered from such a thing. Not even years or centuries later, if they lived to see it at all, usually an all-or-nothing act, usually ends with the 'nothing' part.

Many, who chose to sacrifice their Pattern, died long before they could realize exactly what they were condemning themselves to. Jonathan was the exception, not the rule, an extremely fortunate exception.

Just a decade later, he was able to regain his seemingly lost 'self', his health, his organs, muscles, limbs, bones, everything he had risked bidding farewell to, forever.

What's more, he was not only able to regain what he had lost, but instead became 'more' than he was in the past. Not satisfied merely returning to 'normal, Jonathan decided to 'compensate' himself for the years he had spent as a cripple. After all, in a world of Hunters, superhumans that are able to lift laden lorries with one hand behind their back, tear metal and perform other physical feats impossible from the point of view of ordinary people,

Jonathan looked rather… Weak in comparison, even with all the modifications he had made. And if you can't beat something, why not join them? So Jonathan had awakened his Aura.

As an Awakened, he did find the process quite ironic.

And to tell the truth, even if he decided to gain the abilities of a Hunter, who would gainsay him? Not that he had to account to anyone for his awakening, had to hide those, or additional powers of his physical body had any adverse effect on his position or condition.

He could easily have gained some more stamina, agility, and strength, and so he did just that.

True, his cane won't be going anywhere soon, even though it was no longer needed as a crutch, over the years, Jonathan had become accustomed to it, it had become part of his routine, his image, his appearance… And even if he weren't a mage where those things are important, it still contained an extremely dangerous weapon capable of wiping out a metropolis overnight, so Jonathan preferred to continue using it.

It took three months for him to recover his body's full functions, and another three months to get used to his new body. To remember what it was like to walk on two legs without limping, on how to breathe with two lungs, to hear with two ears again, and then…

And then the real work began.

A law here, a court case there, and a gruelling eternity feeling teaching people how to use the portals without killing themselves or opening a portal to Hell, somehow. The class mostly spent corralling inquiring minds, they would find the strangest ways to disrupt the workings of fairly simple magic, or asked questions that Jonathan either had learned years ago, or never even planned to get.

What happens if you stick a portal into another portal? Depending on the type of portal, for general use, Jonathan used a 'door' system, so trying to stick a portal into a portal simply resulted in the portal peeking out of a second portal. The act generated the occasional strange fractal shape, the sight of which could generate a headache, but nothing more. In the case the portal was created by 'overlapping' locations, then superimposing one on the other does have some interesting consequences, usually with an extremely unfortunate outcome for the place where they overlapped.

So Jonathan, like the logical Mage that he is, did not release that technology to the mass market. Who knows what would have happened if someone had thought to carry out a terrorist attack in this way… Okay, not so important.

What mattered was that, at some point, Mantle's integration finally began to bear fruit, and gradually the troubled region on the brink of revolution began to settle down. A city that was deprived, day by day, from an increasing number of reckless defenders and vigilantes capable of reckless moves, began returning to normal.

And the work begins again.

The unstoppable Sisyphean labor of the political upper classes.

And it was at that moment that Ghira tried to slip out of Glenn's grasp.

Jonathan… He once thought about what constituted a good man.

And he still hadn't arrived at his answer, moreover, he was sure that day by day he was moving farther and farther away from that answer instead. At least, an answer that would not also condemn him.

And yet, Jonathan did not see himself as a villain, he really wanted to help those people who relied on him. The citizens of Glenn, the people of Mantle, the whole world, if he could manage it, Jonathan really wanted to help anyone and everyone.

By any means necessary to do so.

Ghira Belladonna…? He also wanted to help everyone, that is, everyone in Menagerie, all the faunus of the world, the entirety of Remnant, though he wasn't opposed to Humans, the Faunus were his priority.

It's just that… Sometimes, people couldn't agree on the way to help people.

Jonathan wasn't planning anything horrible or disgusting, he didn't want to use the Faunus of Menagerie as pawns in big political games, he still did want to help them. Whether it was through new jobs, technological discoveries or even media projects, but day by day, Jonathan discovered that…

Simply, it was easier for him to help Menagerie when Menagerie was under his control.

Jonathan was aware that he was stepping, no, he had done so a long time ago, he was now going further and further down the crooked path.

It's for their own good, Jonathan, isn't it? We know what's best for our citizens, for Menagerie, for the world, don't we, Jonathan? Just a bit of parental advice, wise teacher's admonition, friendly remarks. There's nothing wrong with that, right?

And if they won't listen to us, sometimes naughty children need to be punished, right?

Being a part of a common economic initiative is not something bad, isn't it? Creating a common market, bringing the economy in line, standardizing export duties, and other such tedious dry lines of nation-building that ordinary people barely cared about, even those who did decide to listen to the economic news out of boredom.

We have also taken the Menagerie economy hostage, so that might be the reason.

When comparing Glenn and Menagerie now, it was difficult to determine whose economy was stronger. Glenn had retained the factories, worker competencies, and industrial base since Vale's time. But Menagerie was growing rapidly, taking advantage of its population size advantage and rapidly growing tourism industry, and the culinary, media projects, service industries swept in behind it.

But what if you put Glenn along with the industrial giant, Mantle, and the tech-scientific giant, Atlas, on the scales?

It's not even a comparison.

If comparing Glenn and Menagerie, economists would clearly hesitate to cite summaries of one industry or another for comparison, then with the overwhelming economic power captured in Solitas, Menagerie was dwarfed entirely.

And so the introduction of an economic zone in Menagerie was not an act of trust or friendship, but as a threat. Sure, it effectively shielded Menagerie from the economies of states other than Glenn, but it also made any economic initiatives by Menagerie to be negotiated within the 'economic union'. That is, Menagerie's economy was now firmly tied to Glenn, and responded only to Glenn's orders.

Ghira had seen this coming, foreshadowed or even predicted it, perhaps not specifically in this form, but Ghira was not blind or stupid. He'd realized that Glenn, having suddenly gained power in the political, economic, technological, military, and all other arenas, now loomed as a huge shadow over Menagerie. The previously protective aegis, now instead threatened to swallow it whole.

Menagerie had only one future should it stay connected to Glenn as it is, to become another state of Glenn, gradually losing any semblance of independence. And then, ten, twenty or thirty years later, finally joining the cohort of vassal Glenn states. Who knows, maybe in fifty years Menagerie would be abolished as a state altogether, changing its name and official capital, and people would welcome it?

Glenn had a sterling reputation with the people already, should it be allowed to grow for a generation or two? Already, it was a 'close friend' of Menagerie, an important ally, if Glenn were able to plant its roots further, Jonathan wouldn't be surprised if there would be a movement to make Menagerie a part of Glenn.

Menagerie never really had a nationalistic bent in the first place.

With Ghira always adhering to a pacifistic rhetoric, only resorting to violence at the most extreme moments, and under the urging of Glenn. And although he seemed too soft and indecisive to some people, far more people on the contrary saw such policies as a triumph for Menagerie. After all, Ghira was able to stay on top and was able to help the faunus of the world, what was that but proof that his course was right? And it was in interaction with Glenn that Menagerie was able to flourish, transforming itself from an association of gangs and villages into a full-fledged state, what was this but a sign that Glenn wished only good things for Menagerie?

Ghira was an example, raising a whole generation of faunus, in an atmosphere of pacifism, love for Glenn, belief in a brighter future. And now he was paying the price.

Ghira had tried to break free from Glenn's grip, and he failed. He had tried to do it, as usual, with his favored tactics, peaceful economic initiatives and political reforms, not knowing that there's no way that Jonathan would allow them to slip away.

So, when rhetoric and negotiation failed, what now? Menagerie didn't have much room to maneuver, peaceful economic initiatives had been taken over by Glenn, and now what?

Suddenly announce a sharp U-turn in policy, issue a condemnation of Glenn, announce a military build-up?

Ghira brought up a generation of pacifists, and now he is paying the price. The people not only wouldn't understand his tough rhetoric at the moment, they would actively rebel against it. How funny, when we first met Ghira, the people demanded toughness from him – now the people are demanding softness from him. That's what happens when you don't manage your image carefully, a danger for both politicians and Mages alike.

And Ghira had few cards left in his hand, but there was still one there nonetheless.

Ozpin.

Jonathan had defeated Ozpin on the field of confrontation in Mantle, at an expensive cost, but he did it nonetheless. By pushing the fold, by brazenness, and by an almost boorish disregard for the world's existing consensus on the fate of Atlas, but he still had won that match.

But Jonathan won't hope for a repeat of the one-off miracle, Ozpin now knows what we're prepared to do, and he won't misread us next time.

Indeed, Jonathan had gotten a big win at Mantle by taking Ozpin by surprise… And he had already lost that element of surprise.

But what now?

Jonathan saw no way for Ozpin to get to Menagerie, the weakest link at the moment in the Glenn political landscape, but that doesn't mean that one doesn't exist. Jonathan's position, image, and support in Glenn was almost transcendent, he embodied every trait the common people of Glenn could ever dream of. He had spearheaded economic prosperity, technological advancement, and with his personal charisma, physical strength, well-meaning domestic politics and solid diplomacy, his position is unassailable.

He was well-regarded by the economists, the military, the pacifists, and even the hawks; in Glenn his position was virtually unshakable. And given that his personal popularity was underpinned by a loyal and powerful Secret Service, an army and an extremely vague but fully deployed laws that gave him power over almost anything, it was pointless to attack him in Glenn.

Certainly not a reason to neglect our personal defenses inside Glenn. Amber was an interesting and very unpleasant discovery, after all.

But excluding attacking him in Glenn, what would Ozpin do to undermine him? Diplomatic pressuring him would be complicated by the fact that Mistral remained under the control of Aifal. With Vacuo leaning towards supporting Glenn, and any danger from Menagerie trivialized by the opinions of their people, what remained were the other cities in Solitas.

Having lost their capital and largest city overnight, the other cities were trying to put pressure on Glenn, but were at best only a nuisance rather than a serious problem.

Mantle? Thanks to Kaiser, Jonathan has mopped up potential problematic elements with all his might. After Robyn withdrew from political life due to health issues, Fiona had replaced her, with a little help from Glenn, as the most pacifist of the Mantle Liberation Front's wing.

Given the all-out support given to her faction and the pressure on the increasingly radicalized and militarized groups, Kaiser's work and the fact that Jonathan had really put his energies into making things better for Mantle. Mantle, though not entirely reliable, could hold back Ozpin's onslaught for the time being.

Atlas? It was impossible to destroy its militaristic tradition in just three short years, but Kaiser had done quite well to not only separate the disloyal elements, but to remove them all together. Not lethally nor permanently, not yet at least, but by creating all the conditions for the migration of former Atlas soldiers and officers to other Solitas cities.

Of course, this led to some Specialists escaping from Glenn's hands, had weakened the army, and increased revanchism in other Atlas cities, but at least it had weakened Ozpin's ability to tap directly into Glenn's work through the Atlas army. Ozpin was probably even now trying to grasp some influence in Atlas, but for a while at least, Kaiser and RATS should be able to manage the worst from that side of the issue as well.

Menagerie is the weakest link at the moment. The fact that we don't see a suitable way for Ozpin to make an impact doesn't mean there isn't one, only that we don't see one.

Jonathan covered his eyes.

This isn't the first time for us, Jonathan, is it? We've gone over Mantle's head, stabbing our erstwhile ally with enthusiasm, why not pull that stunt again? Menagerie already expects us to make similar moves, so it wouldn't be called treason, would it? We just disagreed on our understanding of what is good, what is right, what 'good man' means with Ghira, no big deal.

After all, we know for a fact that our decision will be the right one.

And those who would disagree with us…

Jonathan opened his eyes and reached for his mug of coffee, then took a sip before leaning back over the documents.

What do we do with them, Jonathan?

Jonathan looked up at the mirror hanging in front of his desk.

Instead of answering, the Jonathan Goodman in the mirror only looked away silently.

Do you still see Jonathan Goodman in the mirror, O King?