"The King of Lahore? The prosperous country of trade?" soone gasped as others whispered to their friends.
"Yes, that country! I knew the King was a woman, but I didn’t think she was an Ogre," another person muttered.
"Why? Ogres can’t be Kings now?" asked an oni lady with a frown.
"Hey, I never said that! Chill," the dwarven lady said nervously as she was intimidated by the Oni’s size.
"Why is a King all the way here teaching us students anyway?" asked a young elf guy.
"Because Saintess Vanuer is an old-ti friend of mine," Gloria stated bluntly, "and I decided to help the school train good future Kings, Queens, and nobles, so you don’t end up rotten and stupid and ruin your country." She spoke without a shred of hesitation, not caring if her words insulted anyone.
"Well, she’s a super blunt woman. Gets straight to her point," a lady with flowers around her hair chuckled.
"Now then, back to the subject of ruling a country with newly freed slaves, as well as helping the citizens," Gloria stated, tapping her stick on the floor. "What do you believe is needed to be done for a country to prosper?"
"Money!" soone suggested.
"Jobs!" another said.
"Entertainnt!" another voice chid in.
"Yes, but what kind of entertainnt? What kind of ways to make money and provide jobs? What percentage of the population are to get jobs? And what kind of jobs?" Gloria asked, glancing around the classroom with a piercing gaze.
"For entertainnt, the warrior battles are the best!" squealed a girl. From her reaction, it was clear she attended a lot of these warrior battles.
And it was clear from the lack of confusion that almost every student present was aware of what the warrior battles were. A stadium filled with people all cheering for those in the middle who were fighting for their lives. It could be a battle where many people fight till one true winner appears, or a battle that progresses by duels, in which most of the other fighters end up being slaughtered.
"Wrong," Gloria stated flatly.
"Huh? Everyone loves them!" the girl huffed, clearly annoyed by Gloria’s response.
"If your country’s entertainnt is based on the fact that warriors are slaughtering each other, you’re making your citizens detached from feeling pity for the loss of life and turning them cruel. And most of the ti, the ones in these warrior entertainnt fights are slaves, which is repulsive," Gloria spat coldly.
"What are people supposed to use for entertainnt then?" another guy asked, genuinely curious.
"There is singing, festive days, dancing, board gas, treasure hunting gas, and monster hunting gas. That’s better than people slaughtering each other. Or at least change the target from people to monsters or even if you want people make it that anyone who is fighting has consented to participate and is not forced to do it or forced to consent," Gloria suggested as she stared at them.
"Change that mindset, or else those who would be at the bottom fighting there will co for the head of the leader, causing them to suffer!" Gloria yelled, pointing her stick toward them. "I have read it over and over again throughout our history, rebellion against cruel leaders! And the entire bloodline ends up dead! Just because you’re Royalty doesn’t an one day you won’t end up dead, no matter how many powerful people you have on your side. Have your feuds and fights in secret, and not for the public eye to witness!"
Gloria sighed before she continued speaking. "I’m sure, for jobs, everyone can list a lot of them. However, you should know the main problem is not the jobs themselves but rather the taxes placed on citizens."
"The taxes are used for their sake though, why must they complain?" soone asked.
"Maybe they complain because you’re a stupid child, too dumb to see the big picture," Gloria scoffed, causing the person to look annoyed, but they didn’t dare speak up.
"Let’s say I give you one gold coin to spend for the month. And I, as a ruler, said I’m taking fifty percent of that money as tax, but I don’t use it in any way to benefit you, I rather pocket it. How would you feel with fifty silvers when it could have been eighty or ninety?" Gloria asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, I’d be mad! Because there could have been so much to buy with that extra amount!" yelled an elven girl.
"Exactly! That’s why taxes shouldn’t be too much, but just enough for the royals and nobles to actually use the taxes for the people’s benefit and not their own. When most royal families get greedy, the Royal Humans deal with them!" Gloria declared.
"By arrest or...?" soone asked.
"Depends on their cris. If it was so bad that they hard a lot of their citizens, they would probably get a death sentence," Gloria replied firmly.
"Batholem... you’d never do that to , right?" Aurianna whispered to him as he sat opposite her.
"Aurianna... I..." Batholem stamred, not knowing how to respond.
"What is with that look, Peter? I’m just asking. I wouldn’t want Batholem to beco my enemy in the future," Aurianna chuckled, her tone light but her eyes cold.
"I know it’s your duty. So you better choose one, alright? After all, you’re my friend, Batholem and friends wouldn’t do anything to hurt each other," Aurianna stated coldly, as though she were warning him, and Batholem understood what she ant. She had already made it clear she would destroy her country and her citizens if needed, aning a massive bounty would be placed on her head. And even at the mont, she already had a bounty. But the main thing was that she would be an enemy.
"You know you have a bounty on your head for destroying the Shinia Highland’s main city," Peter whispered to her.
"Yes, but I already followed the rules of war goddess," Aurianna huffed.
"The problem is that those citizens were unard, and you killed them. I could honestly care less if others die, but I’m just telling you now: the Royal Humans will probably hunt you down, since it breaks their rule to harm citizens when a war is happening and it’s Batholem who’s been stalling them. The ones attending the school are too weak to even attack you. So basically, your strength is what’s protecting you, but there are people far more powerful on the Royal Humans’ side that even Batholem can’t stop," Peter stated seriously.
"It’s kind of ridiculous since humans and other races harm the losers of war in their small villages and towns and most likely sell them as slaves. So why am I the one being punished?" Aurianna asked, clearly annoyed.
"There’s actually a limit on how many people that must die before we’re allowed to intervene. We can’t really do much if it doesn’t surpass that limit but once it does that’s when we are allowed to do our job," Batholem explained.
"Thanks, Batholem. I’ll be able to deal with the rest myself, so don’t worry too much. You should have told earlier so I would have known," Aurianna chuckled, patting Batholem on the shoulder.
"Yeah, my bad," he stated nervously.
_______
Sitting in the living room of their house was Aurianna, her expression visibly annoyed as she crunched hard on so sweet balls.
"Well, you look unhappy," Peter stated calmly, standing nearby. He was currently in pajamas, and so was Aurianna.
"Yes, because I was overthinking, and now I realize sothing you said in class really annoyed ," Aurianna stated as she eyed Peter sharply.
"Is it because I didn’t agree with your point about the mark thing?" Peter asked.
"It wasn’t bad," Aurianna defended.
"I know," Peter said, sitting on a chair opposite her, "but I personally find that was too controlling."
Aurianna raised an eyebrow slightly as she stared at him.
"I just wouldn’t like it if soone could constantly control what I do, feel, and know what I think," Peter stated calmly.
"Lem guess, your Sacred told you about it. That’s why, even though you’re part of the Church of Ti, which is an ally of mine, you don’t have my mark," Aurianna stated calmly.
"Yes."
"Hmph. Just so you know, it has benefits as well," Aurianna huffed.
"Oh? Like what?" Peter asked with a playful smile.
"If there’s ever a case where you were to die, my magic would automatically revive you," Aurianna stated confidently.
"It’s not like people die often," Peter replied dryly.
"You never know. That’s why I want them to have it, if possible," Aurianna grunted.
"If that was the only purpose of the mark, or soul binding as it appears, that would have been good. However, I can confidently confirm the reason you do it is because you’re afraid soone close to you would betray you," Peter stated firmly.
"Obviously. I can’t take any chances. After all, not everyone I have around is with because of loyalty," Aurianna scoffed.
"You’re quite honest," Peter blurted out.
"Always been. Get used to it," Aurianna replied.
"Hahaha!" Peter laughed, placing his hand on his stomach as he wiped his eyes.
"I’ll think about it, accepting your mark," Peter stated finally.
"Hmph. I knew you would. After all, it would benefit you," Aurianna said with a small grin.
"But only on the condition that you change it up so you can’t see my mind," Peter added.
"Why?" Aurianna asked, clearly annoyed.
"I’m a guy, after all. You wouldn’t want to see what I’m thinking about most of the ti," Peter said teasingly.
"Don’t worry, I’ve seen worse," Aurianna chuckled with a smirk.
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