Authority

My power among the populace reached new heights with that last execution, and many of the families that sent their failures never knew what sparked the increased recruitment. The doors of the offices for recruitment into the army were practically being blasted at the hinges.

Everyone wanted to work under the fair and incorruptible Supreme commander that would not allow others to wage theft of their salaries. I may even have helped along the perception as rumors started that I even stood up to Elder Tyrone and Kelly under threat of death from Tyrone. This sparked even more populace movement in my direction, and the Army became extremely popular in the tribe.

Gold was flowing in from new sources as I opened small businesses under my name. The employment there was extreme, and I had my pick of the litter as people wanted to work under me. I had to maximize this movement in my favor, and the Elders who were currently against me couldn't act because the Grand Elder supported my Elite Army and Logistics army approach.

I was doing Small businesses that I wanted to turn into juggernauts in industry eventually. They were in shipbuilding and many things related to newer technology that would be used in farming and the Navy. Many would never notice that I was starting at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution while working on so many other things simultaneously. Working with my ladies at home to help everyone started to help out a lot while caring for all my babies. Tina was especially busy with her invention as she learned to make essentially a magical cannon. They started to implement and work with manufacturers and were taking charge while Katie helped them out with our babies, although even she alone couldn't take care of the growing family by herself.

What was my Harem started to pick up and do things that started bringing in a small amount of gold to us personally. This was crucial to my later works and if they could help me run the business while I was in the war, I would use it as a springboard to move forward faster when I returned from the war.

Finally, while I was making moves in public, I took the gold that I had and made a loan from Rose. Rose was working with my policies and created a business that was now bombing in general trading. Rose snapped Elder Tyrone's family's businesses, and now she had some liquid funds and with her loan, I purchased a large swath of land in the north near the border of the Elven Forest. The land was mainly barren and the Monster Invasions that happened there meant that no Villages lived there and so with my declaration to the Dragonic, I purchased it for future use as it was technically their land.

The Dragonic were happy to take my gold for worthless land and it was highly understated and out of the public eye that I finally purchased the land needed for my ultimate plans. Sure, the land was useless, but there were more things I kept out of the public eye as I adopted a more Conspiratorial mindset. What I most feared was that I would get the perception that I was cashing in perse on my reputation.

Never in my lifetime did I think that I would be the one to create a conspiracy and hide what the left hand was doing while everyone was watching the right hand. With Rose, I started even to hire those that were farmers and I sent them to the bottom corner to start to reclaim the land. It would be a slow process, but the farms and income would need to be built first. I would need to recruit a B ranker with C ranker guards to stay there in case of Monster invasions, as I didn't want my people dying.

But it was a start, and no one even knew it was happening. I made sure that the start of all of this was while the public was still going fan girl over me defending the laws. It was insane, and the Cat-kin and the Dog-kin were right on board. The Army was in the best shape, and the new mercenaries were sent to the boot camp to live in misery for the next few months.

Months passed, and I tried to spoil my babies while still doing so much for the country that no one even noticed what I was doing. Today was a critical day, and the day was here. It was time as a Dragonic tribal leader appeared at my office door and stepped in without respect as I worked on paperwork.

"Chelsea Loveknot," I heard a gravelly voice say. I looked up, and surprise filtered through me as someone came in without knocking as I was in the middle of working on my contingency plans for the first wave of invasions into the Empire in case it did not go according to plan.

"Yes?" I asked, looking up.

"I hear you are the Supreme Commander of the Army?" The unknown Dragonic said. I looked over the Male Dragonic and the Scales, a dark Crimson red that was much more prevalent than Yuri's scales. They almost reached his eyes, but they trailed down the sides of his head and were like a collar around his neck, almost like natural armor. Unlike me, the Dragonic wore light military armor, and the crimson dye on it was nice. More dangerously was the enchantment lines running through it. He bore a sword on his hip, but his mana was Wild. It was like the man did nothing to contain it and allowed it to move with his emotions. Right now, it was calm and almost contemptuous but Powerful. The man was at least B rank, and he had more time to grow in the Rank of mana than I had. I looked him up and down, and I rolled my eyes.

"That is not my position, but that is what the populace calls me," I said with exasperation. The Ultimate Title that I wanted to give myself was General. That had more use, and the Americans in my last world were right to use it. "The problem is that General Chelsea Loveknot did not seem to catch on," I told him.

"So you are Supreme Commander of the Army," He said stoically, ignoring the words I said for the last minute. "You seem weak for a position that sounds as important as this," He almost growled out, and I shrugged.

"What are you here for," I said, gathering my mana and bringing it to the forefront. Void Mana in the Silvermoon Tower did not work well, restraining my abilities harshly. But I was in no way weak as I stood, "If you are here to challenge me, We shall leave my office," I told him, not backing down.

"I only make note that you are weak," He said.

"I only note that you are rude, and a fight between us would be undetermined," I told him, "Are you sure you would like to have one?" I challenged him.

"I am not here to fight a weakling. I am here for you to submit your warriors under my control for the upcoming war, Supreme Commander Chelsea Loveknot," He said, and I looked at him, stunned.

My anger disappeared for a couple of moments, making way for doubt and hilarity as the words hit me. It was hilarious that he thought the army that was structured entirely around me as the commander would submit to someone who didn't even understand its rank structure. Even worse was the fact that he would be abysmal at understanding the ability of the Elite army or the supply lines and logistical capability of the logistics army to run it. Then when the hilarity was over, I realized that this person had not even introduced themselves, and my mana rose again as my anger reached a peak.

The man before me began to seem surprised as my emotions whiplashed, and I started to gather my mana into the world. "Who, The, Fuck, Do, You, Think, You, Are?" I asked through gritted teeth, ready to attack at a moment's notice.

"I am the Dragonic war leader appointed by the Elder Council of the Dragonic Tribe. We are the strongest in our nation. It only makes sense that we Dragonic conduct the War with our strength!" He announced, "My name is Lexrov, War Chief of the Beast-kin Nation."

His announcement cut into my anger, and I snarled, "I will not submit to your command, and the Bunny-kin Tribe's Elite Army and Logistics army will not submit to you in any way, shape, or form." I said, regaining myself, and Lexrov looked annoyed.

"I am the War Chief," Lexrov replied, "You Must follow and submit to my orders," He told me, his tone showing his annoyance, and I could tell that he expected this argument to go differently.

"I am not stupid enough to submit to you," I told him, "The Grand Elder of the Bunny-kin tribe is whom I submit to. Not some War Chief that understands nothing about how my forces work. The mere fact you tried tells me that you do not understand how my forces work or what the Allies I work with expectations of the Bunny-kin tribe." I explained to him, trying to keep my anger in check.

Lexrov grew visibly angrier at that, "I AM THE WAR CHIEF!" He announced to me again.

"YOU WILL DESTROY MY FORCES BY MAKING ME SUBMIT, YOU FUCKING MORON!" I yelled in his face. Lexrov looked surprised at that, and I pressed, "The Succubi are only contractually allowed to follow My overall orders," I told him as I had put this in the contract itself to protect myself and Mira's interests so that we would not become cannon fodder or her Succubi women. "if I submit my command," I shrug, "There will be no army. The forces will disperse, and you will get nothing. My forces will become nothing, and you will have hurt the War effort as War Chief as the very first thing you did as War Chief." I informed him.

Lexrov looked at me, surprised, and his anger was obvious. I could tell that this man was Wild as his mana. He might be expressionless, but I could literally feel his wild emotions on his mana. It was a unique experience; I could feel calm in his storm of emotions and reinstate itself quickly.

"You will submit to me, then they will listen to you as the Secondary War Chief," Lexrov said, and I shook my head.

"No, I will not submit to someone that has no understanding of my forces. The Dragonic's tribe, like my own tribe's main forces, are Barbaric in their war-fighting capability. My forces will not submit to the main forces, and our Army will run separately and feed the main forces in the war to come." I told him, "You will submit to my stipulation. I will be a separate entity fighting in this war, helping and providing information and combat specialty. You will submit to this, or you will lose my support."

Lexrov's anger reached a new peak, and I could feel his mana turn up into almost a tornado, and his expression slipped. His stoic face turned into a snarl as he looked at me. "I will submit to nothing," He said, and I shook my head.

"Then Talk to the Grand Elder of the Bunny-kin to make me submit," I said as I brought my mana into my muscles and blood, quickly shoving my desk away. The paperwork and the desk flew to the side as our mana clashed, and Lexrov tried to intimidate me, which felt like nothing compared to Elder Tyrone. I looked at him with disdain. "I will not submit to such a moronic War Chief. I will work with you, but my forces will not submit to your misuse. Leave my office, or we shall clash, Lexrov, Moron of the Dragonic Tribe."

Lexrov's Emotions hit a height, and I could feel a mana storm of power around me, and I met it with equal force. Our mana clashed as Lexrov tried to make me submit, and suddenly a noise sounded, and I heard wood click. "Lexrov," I heard a new voice say, "Seems that you have made the Supreme Commander angry and threaten to withdraw. You seem to be a bad pick for our War Chief. You have failed at the first member you have tried to make submit to our Tribe." Lexrov seemed to tremble, and his anger disappeared and calm reinstated itself as a Black scaled man walked in. "My apologies, Chelsea Loveknot. It seems we picked someone too headstrong without enough give-in to them to be War Chief. We will pick a new one with a better mind. In the meantime, please be more perceptive to the fact that one Tribe must lead all the others. Your forces are important." The new man said.

"I will Submit to no one completely," I said, turning to him and letting my mana calm. "You will do best to remember that," I said, turning away, "Both of you leave and come back when you are not going to treat me as a subordinate." I closed the conversation hiding my anger.

Both now looked angry, and I turned to them, and I felt my anger spike as both looked at me with anger. "You both have intruded without an appointment or even knocking. You will only come back when-" My voice was cut off as I felt wild Mana shut me up. It Solidified, and I couldn't breathe.

"Listen, Rabbit Bitch," The black-scaled man said. "I am part of the Dragonic Elder Council, and you will respect me.

"And you will leave our Supreme Commander in one piece, Matthew's," An Elderly voice said. A shiver went through the Black Dragonic, and he turned to see the Grand Elder looking at him. "This is the Supreme Commander of two forces in our Tribe. Our Main forces will submit to a better War Chief," The Grand Elder said, "But they are not like the Supreme commanders forces. She will have an equal spot at the table, or I will withdraw the Bunny-kin entirely. Is that Understood?"

Suddenly, I could breathe again and felt my anger spike as the Grand Elder cowed the Black scaled Dragonic. "This is the Bunny-kin position. I will let the council know it," He said, and both the Black scaled Dragonic and Lexrov left leaving my office.

"You heard me, Chelsea Loveknot, Our Supreme Commander," The Grand Elder said, "I do not wish to participate more in this game of politics," He said slowly, "But I must see if your forces are the future of our tribe and maybe our Nation. Do us Proud," He said, and as quick as he appeared, he moved a step forward shakily and disappeared from my sight as I blinked.

I fought my urge to curse and throw things as my privacy had been violated, and for the second time, someone threatened my life. Although not as bad as Tyrone, that Matthews fellow took my ability to breathe away from me. Despite being close to an A ranker for so long in the name of Queen Mira, I couldn't help but feel that the power difference was insurmountable. I needed power, and political power meant nothing in this world compared to Mana's power.

Still, I would follow what I got and smile as I realized all my fail-safes were still in place. I had controlled so much beforehand that even the Grand Elder would never be able to remove me as the Supreme commander. My high risks brought about these rewards, and I would move with confidence with them.

I took a deep breath and got to cleaning up as Alexia moved into the room and helped me. "Sorry," Alexia said, "They pushed me aside, and I couldn't say anything, and I felt my anger peak."

"I will do something about it later; sorry about this," I told her, and I internalized Lexrov and Matthews from the Dragonic Elder Council. I would be able to deal with this later.

Now I had to deal with my lack of authority and deal with the fact that I would not be directing the war front. Somehow I let myself believe that I would be a major controller. I still would be, but I wouldn't be the head of the war. My ego took a minor hit, but I had other things to be doing than moping around. Just a new Complication, and as I cleaned up with Alexia, I settled in my mind a new plan, and I wondered who would replace Lexrov. That man to headstrong and believed in his superiority over others. I was glad he tried first on me and not on other tribes. Things were going to get complicated, but so was life.