Chapter 374

    “Liz, I don''t like this. It looks... dumb.”

    Matt gestured at the mockup of their floating island.

    In front of them lay a fully decentralized layout that looked more like an opulent estate than a proper governmental administrative center, which is what their floating island would end up needing to be.

    It would be great if it was just for them and family to live on and they wanted to flaunt their power and wealth, but the island was supposed to be a headquarters of their duchy and a governmental hub.

    Her mockup might be imposing but it was tacky as shit and made him cringe just looking at the mock up.

    Liz gestured to the mockup the design team had made for him in return.

    It was a robust and imposing castle with more than enough room for a full administrative center and space for them to have a private area thanks to the battlements built right to the edge of the island.

    “That''s even worse. It''s just a battle fort slapped onto a floating island. We are not going to live in that, let alone rule from that. There is no way. We’ve joked about being evil overlords before but if we build this, it''s no longer a joke. Tacky is better than that by a mile.”

    Liz glared at the castle, and Matt glared at the estates.

    The designer raised a finger and pointed to one of the other prebuilt designs. “We always have the original estate version. It’s quite popular. Or one of our other, more esoteric designs.”

    Liz and he both groaned at the reminder.

    She had originally championed the original idea but upon seeing the layout, she had asked for a dozen ‘small’ tweaks until she ended up with the tacky estate.

    Matt hadn’t minded the idea in the first place but seeing it now, he really didn’t like it.

    Through his [AI], he asked Liz once more.

    ‘Do we want to have the house absorb whatever we end up with? If we change our minds with that, it will change what we can add to the island.’

    ‘No. The house is better portable. I haven’t changed my mind on that.’

    Matt agreed and so let the topic drop. They had discussed it but with the size of their island if they did have the house absorb it, the house would no longer be portable in the way they wanted.

    Their house was their house. It wasn’t meant to be a duchy capital and turning it into that would taint the very idea of the house.

    Not that they were sure it could eat the island once it was fully fleshed out in the way a duchy capital needed to be. The island wasn’t exactly a battleship, but it had a robust defensive system built-in by default. A system which wasn’t meant to be used in war and therefore didn’t follow the typical rules of combat restrictions. If the house was able to absorb the island and the built-in shields, they would probably be lowered to a Tier 26 level, which would defeat their purpose. The Tier 45 shields might be ‘in emergency only’ use thanks to their expense but for a few hours, they could withstand even the most robust attacks from even Tier 46s.

    So long as they saw the attack coming that was.

    Which was why Matt wanted to just lean into that. A full defensive castle would bolster the existing defenses, allowing them better passive defenses. They wouldn’t be as vulnerable as most floating islands who could do little if their shields were down.

    “But it looks incredibly tacky. I don’t want to live in that, Matt. And defenses don’t matter. Look at Duke Cumulus. Aiden killed him before anyone could raise the shields. Reaction speed means our best defenses are our own power. There is a reason most nobles don’t bother with the higher-Tier shields.”

    “That''s an awful argument, Liz. Or at least it doesn’t make me wanting a castle incorrect. A castle would have more passive defenses, as well as strengthen half the full defenses, which would save us from a surprise attack.”

    “Any Tier 45 will blow through the building''s passive defenses and anyone weaker than Tier 40, our guards can handle. It''s not necessary. This is a bureaucratic estate. Why are we pretending it''s anything but that? No one has used a duchy capital in a battle for at least a hundred thousand years. They weren’t even really used when Agatha took over. It''s just not done. It''s not necessary.”

    Matt threw up his hands in frustration, nearly knocking a napping phoenix Liz off his shoulder.

    Apologizing, he walked out of the room and onto the balcony of the building they were in. Needing to move, he took to the air and went to get a view of the island in question.

    It looked odd with just their house on it, but he couldn’t imagine it with a bunch of gilded estates on it.

    Ok, they weren’t gilded but they might as well be with the materials that were chosen and he wasn’t feeling generous enough to correct himself.

    Using an illusion, he sketched the idea out.

    He didn’t like it but he also didn’t like arguing with Liz and as dumb as this was, this was their largest argument in at least fifty years.

    Did he really care that much?

    The answer was easy once he contextualized it like that. He didn’t.

    As Liz floated up next to him, he said, “I’m sorry.”

    “Sorry. I—”

    Chuckling Matt pulled Liz into a hug to the protest of phoenix Liz who smacked human Liz on the head for taking up his shoulder space.

    Once they separated Liz gestured out at the island. “If you really want the castle, I can agree to it.”

    Matt sighed and rubbed his face. “No, that''s not fair either. It’s your home too. What if we just settle on the original estate design? We can spruce it up a bit more if you like, and if we use better materials and add a few defensive formations to the design, we can beef up our passive defenses.”

    Liz nodded and they went back into the building where they intended to limit themselves to two design changes each.

    That idea ended up being not needed as the designer had whipped up a model that was a fairly nice blend of what they both wanted.

    The center of the island was based around a smaller castle raised up fifty or so feet above everything else with buildings built in and around the castle before surrounding the whole thing with a wall that would act as a formation barrier. With the buildings poking out from over the wall, it would have space for everything they needed.

    It wasn’t perfect but Matt could live with it and it was good enough that both of them were fairly happy with the end product.

    That was marriage, though.

    Compromising and working through their issues.

    If only everything could be so easy.

    They were both too busy to dwell on their floating island with a thousand and one things to deal with.

    Matt took advantage of Allie being only an Ascender chat away to beg a ride to Frederic’s capital as he had been putting off that meeting for almost a year now. He didn’t know exactly what the royal wanted to talk to him for, but with Liz watching over Palustris, he took the opportunity to finish up an errand before they gathered their nobles together for their official inauguration now that their final worlds had arrived.

    That meant it was now time for Aster to start getting her worlds, and Matt was excited for her. He was also excited to poke fun at his bond when she complained about her ducal responsibilities as the minutiae set in.

    With the way they intended to connect their duchies'' capitals together, they would thankfully be just a teleport away going forward. Having their capitals on the border like that rather than in the center wasn’t the wisest move, as their advisors repeatedly reminded them, but they collectively decided they didn’t care. The duchies were keeping them separate enough already, no way were they adding months of travel distance between themselves.

    Or he would be a teleport away if Frederic’s request didn’t pull him from his ducal duties. He had no indication what Frederic wanted of him; Leon had no idea what the other royal wanted but Matt had a feeling it wasn’t going to be an easy request.

    Matt shook his head. “I can’t give more mana. Most of the hours of my day are already spoken for.”

    Aster shrugged next to him. “I''m not sure what I can do? Do you really need snacks ordered?”

    Frederic smiled as he leaned back and waved away their concerns, but the action only raised Matt’s warning bells.

    “We don’t need mana or snacks. If either of you really like the idea and want to donate, I’m not so foolish as to say no but we are seeking your political support more than your considerable financial or desert support.”

    Matt had already opened his mouth to decline, but the answer caught him off guard and piqued his interest. “Oh?”

    “This is a joint venture by myself, King Rusty, and Queen Tur’stal but before we get into that, let me start by saying I took it upon myself to mention this to you as I know I stand for something of a...” Frederic searched for a word before settling on, “representative of what you see as the worst of the hereditary noble faction.”

    Matt slowly nodded in acknowledgment even as he felt Aster flex their connection to give him support. He didn’t need it but it was nice. “I can admit that. I actually like you as a person, but the people you represent are—” Matt changed his mind and cut himself off. “Let''s just agree that I don’t have the best view of a large portion of them and their ideals.”

    “And that is why I’m the one bringing this up. If you reject this proposal, you hopefully won’t feel as bad as if you were rejecting people you have a better relationship with. If you aren’t wholly opposed to the idea, can I give you our proposal?”

    Matt wanted to just reject him outright but Frederic was being upfront and honest with him. He was also incredibly helpful with things like the new ring.

    “Sure. I’ll hear you out.”

    Frederic turned to Aster who nodded and he started speaking. “Do you know much about the Knightly Orders?”

    Matt shook his head in unison with Aster who said, “Not particularly. I remember it was something before the dynasty changed. Something about noble elites.”

    “Correct. Empress Agatha took a... let’s call it a negative outlook on the program and those who survived her usurpation of the throne understood they should keep quiet about their status if they didn’t want to end up on suicide missions. While technically not outlawed, all imperial funding of the program was redirected to the Path and its expanded faculties. With the treaty limiting the size of the Path, we’re experiencing a glut of military funding which we are seeking to use, at least in part, to revitalize the Orders. It will both maintain a major part of our history before it’s too late and increase the diversity in our elites.”

    Frederic paused letting Matt and Aster think everything he said over.

    “Are you just looking for a mouthpiece to push the program for public support?” Matt nodded his agreement to Aster''s question.

    “Not quite. Between myself and my fellow Royals, we have enough political power to push through the initiative but it would be costly in political terms.”

    “Is Manny against it?” That idea immediately raised Matt’s hackles. “I also want to know what you’re getting out of this and why you’re coming to me of all people before we go too much further. I get Aster. She enjoys politics but why me?”

    Frederic shook his head. “No, nothing like that. If he was truly set against it, we wouldn’t bother. He''s taking a politically neutral stance. If we can force it through, it will cost us and weaken our position for other arguments. Besides, the Orders aren’t entirely outlawed, they’re just largely vestigial, sharply in decline, and lack most of what they need to operate. I, Rusty, and Tur’stal can and intend to grant them most of the legal permissions required even without full Imperial support. But, there are a few things which we can’t provide, and it would be far simpler as a full-Empire initiative regardless.”

    Mollified, Matt leaned back as Frederic added. “As for why I want you two? The Emperor is neutral, which means Mara and Leon are neutral. Harper will remain neutral unless someone sways them but all are happy with them remaining neutral. I could bring them over to my side, but the cost-benefit calculation doesn’t work out in favor of that. Given this is a military initiative, that provides an additional dimension to the calculation. Rusty is working to persuade the Academies and their Graduates it would be a benefit for them as well, and I’m looking for support among Ascenders. Allison and Zack don''t care enough about politics to give much weight and Elizabeth is in a delicate position, so I’d rather not put her in a spot where she would publicly oppose her parents like this. That leaves you two, Aiden, and Lila. Aiden is too irritable right now while in recovery to be properly persuaded for something like this, and while Lila has already expressed her support, she has politically aligned with the hereditary noble factions often enough that her support is less valuable than it could be. With the two of you and her both supporting the initiative, however, that would be bipartisan Ascender support, and would sway a substantial number of existing fence-sitters.”

    Matt pursed his lips and thought over the proposal. Frederic was being honest with him and he appreciated that. If Manny didn’t care enough to deliberately block this initiative it couldn’t be all that bad and Frederic’s logic for not asking Liz made sense.

    He however, could support the idea but the question was did he want to?

    Matt’s initial thought was to just decline, he wouldn’t call himself a loyalist but he wouldn’t argue if someone else did.

    Manny was about as good a ruler as could exist outside a vacuum and genuinely did his best for the Empire and the people inside of it. That didn’t mean the hereditary nobility was inherently bad but Matt had a distaste for them having grown up on Lilly and in some of his recent interactions as a duke. He could at least logically recognize his homeworld was an outlier in how badly it was mismanaged but that didn’t change his feelings on the matter.

    He could also feel that Aster would follow his lead if he vehemently rejected the idea which he deeply appreciated.

    “I’m not going to say no, but I’m not familiar enough with the Knightly Orders to commit either. What are they, and why were they originally cut back?”

    “Much like most pinnacle elite programs, the Orders are about concentrating as much power as possible within a single person. So much power, in fact, that the person underneath the power barely matters. For the Knightly Orders in particular, that comes in two forms. The first is a specialized natural treasure, frequently imbued within a child from birth. The Everflame Order was the most prominent Order for centuries, using Eternal Embers to create fire-based elites with some truly impressive skills.”

    “From birth? As in, using Natural Treasures before awakening? That’s possible?” Aster''s ears wiggled in surprise.

    “Yes. While not all Orders managed it, and those that did kept the ‘how’ as an incredibly close secret, the greatest ones were able to manage it with some regularity. It worked quite well, though, and having such potent magic as a child tended to drastically influence their Talent and Domain in a beneficial way.”

    “I can imagine....” Matt tapped his chin in thought, “But you mentioned two forms? What was the second?”

    “Their Squires. A given Knight would have a dedicated support team who specialized in helping them specifically, rounding out their weaknesses and enhancing their strengths, and forming a cohesive group far greater than the sum of the already impressive parts. Some Squires would even go on to become Knights of their own, but that’s another conversation.”

    Matt mulled that over with a few silent fluctuations of his and Aster''s bond to see how she felt about it. “I have a few concerns, but nothing that would cause me to reject it. Why were they disbanded, exactly?”

    “Politics, mostly. The Orders very definitively sided against Empress Agatha during her coup. She also had personal issues with many of the existing Knights. Then, noble families closely entwined with an Order tended to have undue power, which she sought to curtail. Combined with the absolutely abysmal state of the Orders, most of whom were absolutely rife with incompetence and corruption, she saw it fit to sweep the board of them all. A modern revival would be without most of the excesses and abuses of the old system, hence the lack of true opposition from even the Emperor.”

    Aster asked a good question Matt hadn’t thought of though. “I can see why you personally are supporting these but why are your political blocs backing you in this? Seems like they would lose influence as proportionally their power decreases with new strong players entering the field.”

    “A good question. The famous Orders were massively influential that is true, but often lost to history were the numerous smaller Orders funded by a few noble families who were in turn helped by the Orders giving the families a wider influence. That direct support ensured the nobles were invested in the military strength of the Empire in a way they aren’t currently and is part of what we want to replicate.”

    They asked a few more questions but he didn’t see a reason to say no. Not directly. He actually agreed with Frederic that nobles should feel more invested in the Empire. Any such investment would be a net positive but empowering a faction he didn’t particularly like didn’t sit right with him.

    He suspected he would end up agreeing but he’d need to talk to Liz no matter which way he leaned. Even if she wasn''t publicly supporting it with him, there would be some bleed over.

    But ultimately the major reason was that the Empire needed unity. It needed to see that despite differences, all sides were still a unified whole working for a greater whole even when they disagreed.

    Matt didn’t like politics but he was aware of his image enough to know he was something of a poster child for the anti-hereditary noble faction.

    Frederic, Rusty, and Tur’stal could do this without his or Aster''s help but even with Lila’s support, it would be a decidedly one-sided endeavor. His and Aster''s support could even, if not tip the scales, add some weight to making it a bipartisan effort of all nobles, not just hereditary ones.

    That was undoubtedly a good thing never more obvious than having Kees as his vice guild leader. As a former hereditary noble working as his second-in-command and leading day-to-day operations, his clear oppositional political stance from Matt kept a lot of issues from manifesting. Thanks to his influence, Titan’s Torch was largely apolitical and even more surprisingly, people believed and trusted that.

    In their working on setting up the guild, he and Cato had suspected and created dozens of plans for when the inevitable politicization of his guild happened but even though they were still in the early years, there were zero signs of that happening, which could be directly laid at Kees’ feet.

    There was a weight to bipartisan support.

    He had questions, though. Many.

    One thing he hammered down was what the Empire was supposed to be providing? Frederic surprised him by not wanting for mana directly, though there would be some level of support for nobles with low-Tier worlds. They wanted access to the resources, namely legacies and rare skill modifications, the Empire typically saved for Pathers and Academies. There were also a number of statutes which the Order’s traditional ‘raise a child with access to powerful magic’ broke, and they’d need specific legal consideration for that, but even without support from the central government, the Royals had enough leeway to make it work.

    There were other things, but that was the major sticking point as far as Matt understood it.

    Once they were done, and had full documents of the ideas tucked away for further review, Matt and Aster stood up and shook Frederic’s hand. “I don’t know if I’ll agree, but I’m leaning that way. I need to talk to Liz, but I understand and agree with a lot of what you said.”

    “I would expect nothing less. Either way I would like to thank the both of you for hearing us out.”

    Matt’s mind didn’t stop racing even as he and Aster hitched a ride on the Allie Express.