After three hours of back and forth about andnts to the standard agreent that were mostly transparent attempts to use legalese to create loopholes in the agreent that would legalize weapon smuggling and invalidate most of the compensation clauses for breaking the deal, the Emissary retired for the evening to put the current anded version of the agreent for a vote by his leader.
That freed Wolfe to go to his next eting with the Minister of Finance from Gormana. The Candidates were already ntally exhausted from the procedure, and Wolfe couldn’t help but smile.
"That is part of the negotiation tactic, you see. If they can ntally exhaust you, there is a chance that you will slip up and agree to one of their more outrageous terms and requests.
They never expected to get them all, or even most of them, but any one of them would highly favour their nation once they started to exploit their new loophole, so you need to remain sharp at all tis." Wolfe explained.
Behind him, Risa chuckled. "Once you awaken your powers it will be easier, and if you officially take on the job, we will give you a refreshing amulet, so you can stay ntally alert through these sorts of etings. Saint Noxus has modified his body so that he doesn’t get tired like a normal person, so he can keep these marathon etings going for days if he has to."
The girls looked at him with deep jealousy, and Wolfe just shrugged. "Working through exhaustion builds character. How do you think that I learned to optimize my body to eliminate it?"
That was clearly a lie. Risa had talked to the witches who had known him the longest, and he had always had that ability, so it wasn’t sothing that he picked up after years of gruelling hard work and exhaustion, but a trick of Magi magic that he had known from the start.
They joked as they made their way to the other eting room, leaving the Emissary with his staff to finish their calls ho and prepare for tomorrow’s etings. The Finance Minister of Gormana was supposed to be already waiting for them, but why it was him and not one of the ambassadors, Wolfe could only guess.
It would be an educated guess, going by his job title, but still a guess.
Gormana’s Finance Minister looked like he had been up for a week, with dark bags under his eyes, and a slumped posture that he imdiately straightened when he noticed that he had visitors.
"Saint Noxus, it is wonderful to see you again. I do wish that it could be under sowhat better circumstances, but that is the nature of our positions. We never do get to see anyone unless sothing is wrong." The Minister began.
"That is true. You look exhausted, and I will prepare a good night’s rest for you here, so let’s get down to business. What have they sent you here to request?" Wolfe replied as he took his seat, with the Candidates in the sa spots on either side of him as for the last eting.
"Gormana’s infrastructure is undergoing a massive rework, to change from the non-renewables, which we are running out of, to magic. However, as we are a nation of humans, and not magic using humans for the most part, though we do have a few dozen here for training, we are sorely lacking in the level of mana supply that is needed.
We have managed to obtain so of what we require, and the Guardians are willing to help, but there is only so much that they can do. What I have been sent to request is five million units of mana, either as a currency loan, or stored mana to be repaid in instalnts." He explained.
Beth, the human candidate, looked at Wolfe with a bit of confusion. She knew that the currency here was based on mana, but not exactly how it was asured. Khalifa just whistled in appreciation for how much money they were willing to ask for to rebuild their country.
Eighty thousand caster hours was no small amount of magic.
"A unit is one minute of sustained maximum effort by a peak Rank One magic user worth of mana." Wolfe whispered to them, then let Beth do the ntal math.
"Is that even possible?" She replied.
Wolfe nodded, "I can manage it, but the repaynt schedule would be rather difficult for a nation so short on magic users, which would be why they sent the Finance Minister here to et with ."
The Finance Minister smiled. "If it was just about money, it would be no big deal, it’s only five million units. However, as it is mana, and we need it all at once to convert our Capital City Power Plant to a sustainable mana powered one, we have been wracking our brains as to whether to burn it from the Governnt’s stored currency reserves, or to ask for a loan.
The Guardians working together don’t believe that they can manage the task, though they have been a great help in using their magic to repair the aging nuclear facility."
Wolfe considered that for a mont. "If the facility is Nuclear, then you should be able to continue creating fuel for it with magic, correct?"
The Finance Minister shook his head. "Enriched Uranium is one of the primary source materials for null stone. It can’t be made with magic, and even being around it interferes with magic use. Our spent fuel reserves might as well be a null stone repository, and they can’t treat them either."
"And all the uranium that the humans could find was dug up and turned to null stone long ago, now you’re out of fuel for your nuclear plants." Wolfe guessed.
"Exactly. The last mine was played out fifteen years ago, and we’re down to our last set of fuel rods. We’ve realistically got about a year to make the switch, but an insider leaked the information, and the public panic is growing." The Finance Minister sighed.
Reviews
All reviews (0)