In the time before the Dunois heir's birthday (there is a whole set of internal rules and laws about the Dunois family succession), I got to know the rest of the Dunois family pretty well and visited the local ministry again. By the way, I didn't stop there last time, so I'll briefly describe the structure of the French Ministry of Magic.
The structure is not different from the similar structure of the world of simpletons, i.e. there are a bunch of different departments, sub-departments and "divisions". Lots of bureaucrats, commissions of various kinds, and so on. As for the main building where all this is housed, in France they approached the matter with a reasonable saying: "Don't put all your eggs in one basket".
I remember from the movie that in England the ministry is a huge complex of buildings connected by elevators and corridors. On the one hand this is good, but on the other hand ....
The French have done something completely different — they have scattered different parts and departments of their government in different places, well protected. Here you can't go from the sports department to the economic department just because they are in different parts of the city. I think service portals are mandatory here, but no one told me about them.
I went to the ministry to resolve a land issue. If anything, I haven't forgotten that I have a whole collection of expensive and rare plants, mushrooms, and algae that need to be planted somewhere. Only a fraction of them, a very small fraction, can be propagated in greenhouses or expanded spaces, so I need soil.
Not too much, but not too little, and also such that there is a river flowing into the sea. It's not a problem to buy a farm, but the proposed locations don't suit me from the word "absolutely". As a magician, I frankly do not care what the sea shore and the fullness of the river — it is solvable, but the fact is that the coast — a special zone, according to the laws of the world of mages and simpletons can not just take, and close a large area to the public. I want to do agriculture, entrepreneurship? Why won't you show me? Or do you want to do something dangerous?
No, sir, only with constant competent commissions and supervision can we allow such things. Yes, and our services will also install special artifact recorders — we care about our country and its citizens, so we can't risk the possibility of dangerous magic.
La gloire de la France! However, it is possible, but only under supervision, not to mention the monstrous prices: 10 hectares of suitable land with a steep rocky bank and a shallow river, almost a brook, were offered to me for a "ridiculous" 5.5 million galleons.
No bragging, I could make that much money just by selling some of my materials, gems and such, or by creating more serious artifacts, but... BUT. First, Ludovic explained the official's words "competent commissions" to me.
No, these are not the usual come-and-go visits of a bunch of bribe-takers. In such cases there is a special procedure, if you shorten the explanation, I will have to build everything at my own expense, grow everything, hide it from the simpletons with magic, build on MY territory comfortable housing by ministerial standards, in which a group of ministerial specialists will live all year round, with the right to stick their noses wherever they want and go everywhere. How cool is that?
According to Dunois, these "specialists" will have the right to poke around my library, workshops, and even my bedroom at any time — it's their right. When I legitimately asked: "Why the hell are these liberties being taken?", I was told that this has been the policy for the last hundred and fifty years. The authorities do not want to create an enemy coven on their own land.
Of course, this does not apply to local nobles and ordinary pureblood citizens, who can even raise chimeras. By the way, raising chimeras for agricultural work and security is a legal business here. But golem building is considered to be very dangerous, so above the school level of Sharmbaton, that is, the basics, you cannot get involved, to work with golems you should have a license and permission from a special commission.
Without further thought, I immediately decided that I would not let anyone into my workshops and laboratories — I had learned the lesson of the United States: do not look for good where it is not even in prospect. I hoped to find an opportunity there, a niche. Of course there is, but the price is high. Just like here. Or did you think I didn't get the hint from Dunois?
I did, but I don't have the right temperament. In a fit of indignation, I even thought of breaking the contract and leaving, but I thought better of it. And come to think of it, why should the natives want to please the outsiders? They're their own people, if you ask me. So I decided to freeze the situation at the current level, where I feel comfortable. But I'm going to buy a villa on the Cote d'Azur, and I don't care if it's expensive — I'm going to pay for it out of future income from government contracts.