Lin says “No, you can’t do that! Then there will be no one to run the place and the empire is a big place. You haven’t even set up a government yet, how do you plan to run a hostile empire? A political marriage is by far the lesser of two evils.”

  “Just because it makes sense doesn’t mean that it is the best option. It will be an amazing stroke of luck if four of you can get along. Six would take a straight up miracle. I would much rather deal with some civil unrest!”

  Lin says “I know you would, but this isn’t about what you want. This is about what is best for the empire you want to build and those you are going to leave to run it. This will not be immediate, it will be further down the line. By then the four of us should be fast friends and will present a united front to the newcomers. We should be able to keep things peaceful that way, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

  “You have put a lot of thought into this, haven’t you?”

  Lin says “I started thinking things through when Mercy first contacted me.”

  Myria says “She even predicted most of what you have said. Some of it even word for word!”

  “I don’t know if I should be happy or scared that she knows me so well.”

  Lin says “It’s not that I know you that well, you are just predictable in how you react to certain things. Like getting more wives, something most men dream of.”

  “Dreaming about something and dealing with the reality of it are two completely different things. Anyway, I am just going to leave this mess to you from now on. You are going to be my chief wife or whatever you want to call yourself. That means that keeping things from going ballistic is going to be your job.”

  Lin says “Does that mean that I am going to be the one to pick out new wives and decide all of the details?!”

  “Yes, it does, but it also means that you are responsible for dealing with them when they are pissed off or being irrational!”

  Lin says “Alright, I will accept the position, but why me? Why not Myria? You have known her longer after all.”

  Myria says “Not only no, but hell no! Did I say that right, Ash?”

  “Ha ha! Yes, you said it perfectly, Myria!”

  Lin says “Okay, okay, point taken! Mercy, do you have any problems with this?”

  Mercy says “Nope, I am just happy to finally be with Ash!”

  “I really can’t understand your attitude. I am not that great of a catch, especially since you have to share me!”

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  Lin says “You don’t get it because of how you see yourself. If you could look at yourself from our perspective, you would know that we are the luckiest women in the world!”

  Myria says “Yeah, what Lin said!”

  “I give up, I am obviously not going to win this argument.”

  Lin says “Good! Now, unless you need something else, we are going to switch to my soulscape so that we can have a chat with Brightfire.”

  “Nope, nothing else. I have a golem to build, so I will leave the rest to you.”

  Lin and Myria give me passionate kisses before they leave, but Mercy is more reserved. She only gives me a hug and a kiss on the cheek, but I can tell that she is extremely happy. It makes no sense to me, but I am done trying to figure it out, it just gives me a headache.

  It is something of a relief when I end the soulscape and head back to my workshop. Then I pick up the book with the communication spell and start skimming through it. Once I find the right spell, I carefully read through it to see if I can make use of it.

  Surprisingly, the spell is going to work just as it is, all I need to do is make it into an enchantment. This is going to save me a lot of time and will also work for connecting the ship to the network. In fact, the spell is even better than the one I came up with for the medallions.

  It only takes me a few minutes to convert the spell into an enchantment and add it to the castle. As soon as that is done, I lock onto the ship, open a gate to my quarters, and head through. I head up to the bridge to access the ship’s core and as I am adding enchantments Pol arrives.

  While I am working, I fill Pol in on the current situation and also explain about the system. Annya soon joins us, so I go back and start over from the beginning. Even without her golem showing up, I know that Athena is listening to everything I say.

  So, while I am at it, I explain the plan to Athena and about the permissions I am going to give her. Once that is done I start explaining my plan for the government to Pol and Annya. As I am explaining, Pol looks normal, but Annya starts giving me a suspicious look.

  Pol says “It sounds like a good structure for a government.”

  Annya says “Why are you explaining it to us? What are you expecting from us?”

  “Hehe. I was planning to make Pol the Minister of Trade and you the Minister of the Treasury.”

  Pol says “It would be my honor, Your Majesty!”

  Annya shakes her head and says “What would my duties entail? How much work are you planning to dump on us?”

  “Your area would include taxation, the treasury itself, and eventually the making of our own currency.”

  Annya says “That doesn’t sound too bad, what’s the catch?”

  “No catch. I don’t plan to ask anyone to do things that they won’t like if I can help it. I know that people will do their best work when they are doing work that they enjoy. Give me a few minutes, I will forge your necklaces and then you will be able to access the system. I am still working on it, so if you come up with any ideas be sure to tell me.”

  Annya says “Alright, I guess I will accept the position.”

  “Good. Athena, are you able to connect to the system?”

  Athena says “Yes, I am. I am already chatting with Jarvis and he is updating me on a few things. I was also able to upload my map to update the system map.”

  “Perfect! Hopefully this will help you and Jarvis keep from being as bored.”

  Athena says “Being able to talk to someone who understands without explanations is a great help! Thank you for thinking of it!”

  “You’re welcome. Now, do any of you need anything before I head back? I still have a lot of work to do.”

  Once they all state that they don’t need anything, I say my goodbyes and gate back to the castle. I still need to make the crafter golem, but I also need to make a gate for Brightfire before I forget. Since I haven’t finished the plan for the golem, I start crafting a gate for Brightfire.