The position of chairman of the Council of nobles of the Akad Empire did not give special privileges, but it was extremely honorable. The functions performed by the chairman consisted in the fact that he was the arbiter of all discussions, created the order of speeches of those who were going to address the meeting, and also led the meetings themselves. As already mentioned, this post did not give direct benefits. But any experienced bureaucrat would have noticed a lot of space for manipulation here. The chairman decided who would speak at the beginning of the meeting, when all the listeners were fresh and benevolent, and who at the end, when everyone already wanted to go to their rooms. If there are a lot of speakers, well, they had to not listen to someone at all. The entire nobility of the country will not stay longer than it should for the sake of a few losers. So the amounts of bribes that passed through the hands of the chairman were not small.
This post has been held for two decades by Count Richard Liszt. Twenty years ago he was an ordinary count, neither poor nor rich. He took the post thanks to eloquence, bribes, promises, services, and something else. Now Richard was one of the three richest counts. An excellent achievement, given the scarcity of his native territories. The position was elective, and the chairman was elected every time before the start of the assemblies, which, by the way, took place within two weeks. Each year Richard had to make less and less effort to keep his position. The fact is that he knew with whom it was possible to conflict, and with whom it was impossible. So today he was asked for a favor by a man who certainly could not be refused. It was impossible not only to refuse, but even to ask for a reward for Richard's labors.
- So, summing up the results of voting for manifesto No. 205 " the freedom of entry and exit of nobles from the Akad Empire", and considering that more than eighty percent of those present voted for the adoption of this act and that is, a qualified majority, I inform you that the document will be handed over to the emperor for signing no later than ten days from today. Since we have finished with the current agenda, I invite the Archmage of the Akad Empire, the Governor-General of the Nippur region, Count Crassus en Janet, to address the assembly.
A man rose from his seat, which was close to the podium, catching the numerous glances of those present. Such attention was ensured due to the fact that he was almost the only magician at the meeting. Although there were many aristocrats among the magicians who had the right to attend such meetings, but they did not attend them so often, or rather they almost never did. A successful sorcerer has little time. And among the nobility, there were a vanishing number of bad sorcerers. So among the participants there were about a dozen graduates of academies who had not even reached the level of masters and several magisters guarding the meeting.
"How I love ordinary people. I can't conjure in the academies and the Council of Masters, so I have to rely only on my own eloquence and intelligence. But now everything will be much easier. The magisters are already on my side and will not interfere. Even if they were faithful to duty, the auric effects would still not have been noticed. Not every Great Mage will notice them. But it is better to use spells for reliability, after all, this method is more studied. Even if you screw up somewhere, no one will go crazy and become stupid."
Crassus didn't care that his spells could be seen by magicians among the nobles. Not only will they not be able to see what exactly he will use, but they will not even know if he was casting any spells at all. The gap in skill was too big. Quickly, without even focusing on it, on the way to the podium, he cast dozens of weak personal spells, casting them on everyone present. "Clouding of consciousness", "rage", "excitement", "persuasion", "mind control" and many other weaves covered the council layer by layer. Despite the different names, belonging to different schools of magic, and even the fact that they were collected by the archmage from all over the world, they all had about the same effect. Strengthening of emotions, weakening of logical thinking, trust in the speaker, openness to new ideas and thoughts. It would be possible to do with one of them, just by making it strong enough, it would not be any difference. But this is the way of a magician - always to experiment. Today, the sorcerer also conducted an experiment on the effectiveness of applying a variety of non-mental spells that affect the human psyche. Whether they would conflict or enter into synergy, Crassus personally did not know, although maybe experts in this field of magical knowledge had an answer. But will they really share? When en Janet spoke, there were already more than a hundred spells hanging on the room.
- Friends, today I asked for the opportunity to speak because I have very valuable information that has not been announced anywhere else. That night, an attack was made on one of the northern border towns - Prast. The treacherous barbarians, violating the terms of the truce, stormed the city under the cover of darkness and destroyed it. Those of the inhabitants who did not die were captured into slavery. The city itself was looted and burned to the ground. I think it is necessary to answer. Respond decisively and harshly.
A simple punitive operation is not enough for us. Our emperor's father also said: "a truce is what we conclude with our enemies in order to better prepare for the next war." And I will tell you that we are ready to respond to this act of treacherous aggression. Now I am talking to you not as a magician, because I have not been one all my life, but as Count en Janet, by whom I was born and brought up. What distinguishes us nobles from all other estates? Our honorable families. And what did our ancestors do to secure such a status for their families? They fought, fought and won. We will no longer tolerate barbaric attacks by turning the other cheek instead of one. No blow should go unanswered. And we will respond. We will answer in such a way that their villages and cities will burn.
The strength of our army will allow us to end all of them once and for all. For too long we have endured this disgusting neighborhood of our ancient and enlightened civilization with them. Our ancestors wanted our flag to fly in all corners of the world. We should at least bring this moment closer by completely conquering the northern tribes. And how our ancestors passed this burden on to us, to pass it on to our sons, to pass it along with the newly conquered territories. I have finished my report, are there any questions or objections?
The Governor-General was pleased with himself. No, he didn't really like his speech. On the contrary, it seemed very awkward and not convincing. Especially the end. He even wanted to add a couple of phrases after a few seconds of silence, but that would completely blur the performance. If he hadn't thought of forcing one of the northern leaders to attack a border town, then everything would have been even sadder. But the result of the enchantment was excellent. Judging by the emotions of those present, which he read from their auras, everyone completely and unconditionally agreed with the archmage. It was as if the nobles were already ready to go to war with the Northerners. It would be possible not to bribe the leader of the anti-militarist faction. He, by the way, was also eager to fight and could barely remember about their agreement.
- Of course there is, Your Excellency. Judging by the increased number of troops in your region, we can conclude that we are preparing to repel the Federation's attack. Is it worth it in this case to further disperse our forces by sending a large number of soldiers to war?
- I think I can answer this question better. - Prince Azrael stood up from his seat to everyone's surprise. He was the unspoken leader of the nobles, and no one expected him to enter into the discussion of this issue so early. - There are already enough troops in Nippur to deter any aggression. But to increase security, I propose to send an additional second magic corps there, under the command of Archmage Luther. In the northern war, we should mainly rely on the regular army, with minimal support from magicians. The barbarians only have shamans, so even a few sorcerers will be enough. We, on the other hand, will win this war with the help of our blades and prove our usefulness to the emperor.
- And what about the financing, Your Highness. Wars are very expensive. Are there enough funds in the treasury for this mission?
- Thanks to the extraction of resources from the abyss, the treasury is now full of gold, you should know this yourself. And money likes to be spent. Shouldn't we, the nobles, know about this?
- Let's say you're right. But we are not talking about a raid, but about a large-scale war. Will we be able to hold the conquered territories? After all, if not, then there is no need to start.
- The population of our country has doubled over the past twenty years, thanks to the fact that it turned out to reduce child mortality. We need a new living space. And these lands will provide it.
The scene was played out as if by notes. The Archmage dispelled his spells. If they continued their action, the nobles would run right now to seize new northern provinces. Something, however, went out of plan. Crassus had not spoken to the prince about the second magic corps. Increasing the number of subordinate wizards is very good, but there was one catch. The prince did not say that the sorcerers would be sent to the Governor-General. He said that the corps would be sent to his region, moreover, under the command of another archmage. Luther was one of en Janet's teachers and one of his rivals for influence in the Council of Masters.
"It seems that the prince decided not to put all eggs in one basket and create a counterbalance to my influence on the border. Couldn't he have found another archmage instead of this old fool? I'll have to do my best to resolve the situation for the better."
- Since we have solved the main issues, it is necessary to choose the future commander-in-chief of the northern front. I believe that if, along with our demand for war, our Emperor learns that his brother, our Prince Azrael, will command the army, then he will be much more accommodating. So I'm nominating the Prince for this position. Are there any dissenters?
There were no dissenters. Everyone loved the prince. He was also the most distinguished of those present, as well as a good commander. En Janet decided not to break the agreement, although the prince interfered with his plans. Crassus knew that of all the nobles, the prince was his most important asset. The magician didn't even use spells on him when they were talking some time ago. Like any manipulation, these charms worked well for a short period of time. If, after removing them, a person begins to think about his reaction, emotions, actions, then he can come to a conclusion opposite to what the magician convinced him of. If it is possible to convince a person with simple eloquence, then he will continue to stand in this position, because he came to it himself. Therefore, Azrael will not turn anywhere from the planned path.
- Well, thank you for your speech, Your Excellency. Now you can take your seat and I will continue to lead the council.
If the archmage had not been an experienced politician, he would have immediately teleported to Nippur. Magicians longed for his wise advice on increasing their own power, bureaucrats demanded a strict fatherly gaze, and sometimes a shout, without which they were unable to work, and Typhons were waiting for his spells to turn into a puddle of alchemical reagents, thereby bringing him the money that everyone and always needed. But these were only side goals. More importantly, he was waiting for his own magical experiment. Moreover, the experiment can be said to be colossal in its significance for the future of his country, the future of magical science and his own future as well.
Many magicians and people mistakenly considered Crassus to be primarily a combat magician. In fact, as a researcher, he was no worse. The mistake was simply due to the academic system of the magical community. Each wizard had to go through certain stages on his path of development as a magician. Graduation from the academy, becoming a master's disciple, a master, a magister, a great mage and, finally, an archmage. There were two options to move from one stage to another. The first is to provide the commission with a magical discovery. Of course, no one expected revolutionary works from the graduates, but science cannot be pushed only by geniuses, ordinary mediocre people are also needed, whose whole advantage is in numbers, and therefore in man-hours that they could spend on solving certain tasks. But the higher the level in the hierarchy of magicians, the more significant the research should be. Archmages, on the other hand, had to provide the results of their scientific research every five years to confirm their status. Although no one prevented them from revealing only what would help them not to lose the title, and keep the rest for themselves.
The second way was a magical battle. Whether this way is harder or easier is up to each of us, but statistically less than nine percent of mages decided to advance their careers this way. Among the archmages, only Crassus did so. And he certainly didn't need to confirm his qualifications any more– magicians didn't get weaker over time. The magic battle was always conducted with a superior number on the side of the enemy. To become an archmage, en Janet defeated two of his not the weakest future colleagues at the same time. Claiming the title of great mage, he fought with three bearers of this title at once, demanding the title of master fought against four and so on. The number of opponents decreased with the increase of the title, as the difference in strength between different holders of the title also decreased. Among the graduates of the academy, some sorcerers outperformed others at times. Among the archmages, all were roughly equal, perhaps, except for Crassus.
Since en Janet received all his titles exclusively in battle, for some reason everyone thought that this was his only strong point. And as already mentioned, this opinion did not really correspond at all. Thanks to such tactics, Crassus was doubly dangerous now. As the most powerful combat magician, and as the magician whose research no one has ever seen, whose specialization no one knew and, therefore, no one could prepare properly for a battle with whom.
With thoughts about the path chosen correctly at the academy, the Governor-General listened to the discussion of the upcoming military company. It was not a meeting of the military staff, but it was necessary to work out, as well as all the points in the requirement that would be submitted to the emperor for satisfaction, and to discuss the general principles of the upcoming strategy. There were no nobles here who were not involved in military or civil service. And it would be nice to outline in advance the interaction of all state authorities. The sorcerer even had to answer several times, as a representative of the Council of Masters, about the number and quality of magicians who could be attributed to the planned company without reducing the country's defense capability. But with all his thoughts, the magician was already in the upcoming experiment. What does he care about human problems?