“I am only worrying about function right now, not appearance.”

  Brightfire says “Do you want me to get the artists to do something with it?”

  “You can if you want, but they can’t carve it. The stone cannot be altered.”

  Brightfire says “What if we cover it with something first? Or paint it?”

  “Either would be fine. As long as the original stone isn’t damaged it will be fine.”

  Brightfire says “Alright, I will take care of it.”

  “Thanks. That will save me from trying to think up something.”

  Brightfire says “No problem. Well, I will let you get back to work, but you should come visit when you have some free time.”

  “I will try, but no promises. Free time is the one thing I don’t really have. Maybe after I get back from my hunting trip. Assuming that I get the government up and running properly. That reminds me, I need to talk to your dad at some point.”

  Brightfire says “What about?”

  “I want him to be my prime minister.”

  Brightfire says “I’m sure he would be honored! If you want, I can go ask him to come talk to you.”

  “Okay, sure. I am going to be enchanting this thing for another hour or so.”

  Brightfire smiles at me and then runs off to look for her father while I go back to enchanting. I create a channel from the obelisk to the core and then start connecting the enchantments. I make the connections extra robust because there is going to be a lot of data being transferred.

  The enchantments will be collecting information on every single living being inside the city. I say beings because the system will track animals and beasts as well as people. This isn’t as important in the elven city, but in other cities it will be able to keep track of livestock as well.

  The elves have started keeping some animals in the city, but not enough to be a concern yet. That may change in the future, but for now this data is mainly for other cities. It is going to be detailed enough that the system user will even be able to track the health of people and animals.

  Having a healthy, happy population is an important part of building a solid foundation for a kingdom. Especially considering how many different races are going to be members of this kingdom. That means that small problems will quickly balloon into major problems if things aren’t stable.

  However, if things are stable and people are content, small problems will stay small or vanish altogether. The better things are for the people, the less problems that I will have to deal with. That also means that I will have more free time to do the things I want to do, so it is worth the effort.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  When it comes down to it, that is what it is all about, me not having to deal with bothersome things. Of course, I know that I won’t be able to prevent all of the bothersome things, but I can try. Before long, Stillwater shows up and Brightfire and Core are both with him.

  I use Divided Mind so that I can talk to them and keep working on the enchantments at the same time. First, I explain in detail what I am doing to the enchantments of the city. Then I explain the system in detail and how it is going to work, assuming my plan goes well.

  At that point I stop to answer any questions they have about how the system will work. Once I have answered all of their questions I move on to the final part, the government. I explain the structure I want to build and how I want the government to work.

  Stillwater says “That sounds great! It sounds like it should work well, but what do you need me for?”

  Core smirks and says “Didn’t your daughter warn you?”

  Stillwater says “Warn me of what?!”

  Core just laughs as Brightfire suddenly hides behind me.

  “I want you to be the Prime Minister of the new government. Your power will be just below that of my wives.”

  Stillwater says “Wait, really?! Are you serious?!”

  “Yes, I am serious.”

  Stillwater says “Shouldn’t your prime minister be a beastman? They are the people who supported you first.”

  “All races in my kingdom are equal, who joined when does not matter. I want the best person for the job and I believe that is you.”

  Brightfire says “I wasn’t expecting you to ask questions, I was expecting an instant refusal!”

  Stillwater says “If he had asked when we first arrived here, that is what would have happened.”

  Core says “What has changed?”

  Stillwater says “My people are happy here and I find that I have nothing that I need to do. At first, it was nice, but lately I have been really bored.”

  “To be honest, I was expecting you to refuse as well. I already planned to go talk to your wife after you refused.”

  Stillwater says “Now that is just playing dirty!”

  Brightfire says “Maybe so, but it would have worked.”

  Stillwater says “Even if true, we will never know.”

  “You mean?”

  Stillwater says “Yes, I accept the position.”

  “Great!”

  Core says “Yes!”

  Brightfire says “Why are you so happy?”

  Core says “Because if your father wouldn’t do it, I was Ash’s second choice. Now, I don’t have to worry about Ash trying to convince me to take the job. Instead, I will be the governor of this city. So, Stillwater, you can just leave the city to me and worry about the kingdom’s issues.”

  Stillwater says “That is a relief, I expect to be quite busy.”

  Brightfire says “Yeah, you will have to do all the work that Ash avoids!”

  Stillwater says “It won’t be that bad. I just need to find a beastman to be my assistant and deal with the tribes for me. Wait, does this mean that I need to move again?”

  “You don’t have to. You can have a suite in the palace if you want, or you can just have an office.”

  Brightfire says “In that case, he has no choice. My new mother will be the one making the choice and she will want to move!”

  “Why? Is there something wrong with your current residence?”

  Brightfire says “No. It is just that everyone knows where it is and will bother them for the stupidest of things. They won’t be so brave if they have to enter the palace to bother them.”

  “I take it some people have really bad timing?”

  Brightfire laughs and says “The absolute worst!”

  Stillwater says “That’s enough out of you! I will check with my wife, but chances are that we will be taking the suite.”

  “Alright. Oh, that reminds me. I was thinking that we need an honor guard for the palace. I want the first group to be elves, but we will add others later. The main requirement is that they be elite fighters. The enchantments will deal with most problems, but we need guards to handle anyone who can nullify magic. I don’t expect it to actually happen, but I want to cover all possibilities.”