Jack checked his ruling power. He had 83 ruling powers at the moment. He needed 80 ruling powers for Call to Arms and Mass Drill. But by the time he could use those two powers again, he should also gain additional 60 ruling powers from his level 6 Sovereign.
Thinking that he could spare some ruling powers, he opened the Research Overview. For the three techs they were researching, University had nine more days left, Explosives had five days left, and Collective Ardor had seventeen days left.
They only needed to hasten the research of University and Explosives if they wanted to get to the techs they were discussing earlier. But since Jack was feeling generous, he hastened all three techs, spending 4 ruling powers.
He then chose the techs from the civil and military paths that Peniel had mapped before. For the mystic path, there was no special need so he chose Healing Diagram, the tech that John was previously fussy about.
Since the Collective Ardor was learned, Jack could now cast it as kingdom enchantment.
Jack went back to Country Overview. There was a new option to cast an enchantment there. Jack clicked it and a list of available enchantments was shown. There was only one on the list.
*
Collective Ardor (Country enchantment)
Boost productivity by 10%.
Cost: 100,000 mana
Upkeep: 10,000 mana/month
*
"Only ten percent," Jack muttered.
"It is the first available enchantment. Of course, it is not powerful," John said. "But even with only ten percent, it meant we reduce construction time and research time by ten percent. I said it's worth it."
Jack looked at the kingdom mana. There were still over a million mana available. The monthly income was over two hundred thousand mana after the Boundless Cache reduced many of the buildings' and units' upkeep. Even deducting the 50,000 mana upkeep from the Ancient Beacon Tower, they still had plenty to spare.
Thus, Jack proceeded with the casting. There was no special effect. This collective ardor simply popped up in the enchantment list, right under Serenity's Blessing. Jack wondered if any visual change happened outside when he cast the spell.
Finished with the casting, he went back to the Research Overview. He saw the days needed to research the techs he chose earlier had indeed been reduced.
He proceeded to spend more ruling powers. In a blink of an eye, the country completely learned the two techs from the civil path and the three techs from the military path. He also hastened the research of the Healing Diagram that John craved. He spent 21 ruling powers for all that, causing his ruling power to drop to 58 points.
The civil path was now learning the Mithril Forging. The military path was researching the Arcane Forge. As for the Mystic Path, Jack chose Mana Spring.
He let the research proceed normally without spending more ruling power. Even if he learned them now, he did not yet have the required mithril ores. He needed to negotiate with Four Winds first.
While they continued to talk about the paths of research, Thaergood finally entered the throne room. A draconian in opulent attire walked beside him.
Thaergood stopped before Jack's throne and bowed. "Your Majesty," He uttered.
The draconian stood beside Thaergood and stared directly at Jack with his chin lifted high. The gesture made Jack frown. Jack didn't need anybody to bow before him, especially the subjects of another country, but at least gave some respect like a nod or something.
'I warned you about his attitude, didn't I?' Jack received John's message.
Jack took a deep breath. If he was not a king, he would have thrown this draconian out himself. But he was one now, so he had to learn to be diplomatic.
"Marquess Guzrim," Jack greeted. He had used Inspect to find out the draconian's name and rank. Hydrurond Dominion's noble rank was similar to Themisphere's. Aside from that, his Inspect also informed him that Guzrim was a level 70 special elite. "It is our honor to have you in our hall."
"It is indeed," Guzrim said. He didn't drop his chin while speaking, as if trying to make sure that Jack noticed that he didn't consider himself beneath Jack.
Jack calmed himself and said, "You must forgive me for making you wait. I would have prepared a banquet if I know a Hydrurond's dignitary is visiting."
"I doubt your banquet will impress me. I am indeed displeased with the wait, but now that you are here, we can discuss compensation later."
'Motherf*cker…,' Jack cursed within. 'Are you here trying to pick a fight?'
John was secretly snickering beside him.
Jack tried to rouse his patience as best as possible, but he was not sure how long he could stand this overbearing draconian. So, he tried to cut to the chase, "To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?"
"It's good for you to ask. My time is precious so I don't wish to waste it unnecessarily. These few days of waiting have been a huge waste of my invaluable time. I am here in the name of our queen mother, Frorryntiar. I wish to remind Themisphere of their duty to pay semiannual tribute."
"Tribute…?" Jack's frown became deeper.
Jack turned to Isabelle beside him, who approached and whispered, "In the past when Hydrurond was the leader of the seven main countries, there was a custom for every country to pay tribute once every half a year."
"What kind of a tribute?" Jack whispered back.
"300,000 gold coins and some special resources from respective countries," Isabelle answered.
"You said in the past? So, we are no longer doing it even during Themos' rule?"
"We haven't been paying tribute for twenty years already," Isabelle replied. "The other countries are the same. All the other countries had grown strong enough that they felt they no longer needed to fear the Hydrurond Dominion. The Hydrurond probably knew that as well so they just treated it as if nothing happened. Probably they knew that if they tried to enforce the tributes, they would be the ones who got embarrassed."
"Then why are they demanding this from us now?"
Isabelle was silent.
'It's because they think us weak after you take over the throne,' John sent Jack a message. He was right next to Jack so he heard their whisper. 'You are an outworlder who took over the reign of a native kingdom. Even if you have the Goddess' backing, the Hydrurond believed that you don't hold the people's support. Not to mention you sent them a gift once you ascended. That act of friendliness probably gave them the impression that you are afraid of them instead. Maybe they believe under these circumstances, they can intimidate you into obeying their demands and becoming their vassal state.'
