Inheritor Of Magic: The Magi King

"I thought Chancellor implied an elected title, not a form of Royalty?" Wolfe asked.

Prince Niall nodded, "It does. But Gormana is a bit different. You see, we decided after the war that a Monarch was a terrible idea, assigning leadership based on date of birth. So, we modified the system, and when one Chancellor is ready to step down, the rest of the Royal Family enters into the running for Chancellor and the people elect the one that they think is the most suitable.

My Grandfather won't be in his position too much longer; he has already expressed his desire to retire and spend his days in peace, so the rest of the family is doing their best to develop a reputation and job skills to replace him."

"Then wouldn't it make more sense for you to have introduced yourself from the start? International negotiations are a fairly impressive item for your resume." Wolfe reminded him.

The prince chuckled, amusement glinting in his pale gray eyes. "Oh no, you'll not trick me into getting involved in that mess. Not only is it dangerous and exhausting, but all of your dirty laundry is aired before the public by your family, and in the end, the best you can hope for is being stuck in a high-stress job for the rest of your life.

I have come here to the Morgana Swamps to do business with my friends from the military. What we're hoping for is to get filthy rich while finding a way to keep everything running back at home."

Wolfe smiled at the Prince. "Well, I suppose that we can help you with some of that. This village wanted to work on their skills as a trade hub; another that I stopped at wanted to become a Palm Oil producer, but what market did you want to fill?"

"My niche in life has always been engineering. I've brought fifty of my best designers and workers with me, and we're hoping that the Witches can help us with new designs to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels."

Wolfe and Cassie both burst into laughter while most of the soldiers looked confused. Magical items were definitely a thing. There were dozens of them in this room alone, including the coffee maker.

Cassie delicately wiped a tear from her eye. "You mean like the helicopter that we flew in on or the load of kitchenware that we delivered?"

The Prince looked stunned for a second. "Well, I never thought that you would get one up on us, but tell me, how did you convert a helicopter to run on magic? The amount of mana required to spin the blades against that resistance would be astronomical."

Cassie shook her head. "We have our ways. If you ask nicely, we might even work with you on the development of some of your own items."

The man next to Prince Leopold sighed. "We're moving again, aren't we? This is definitely a sign that we're switching cities."

The Prince clapped his subordinate on the back. "We will see. That negotiation can come after the deal here for trade goods to distribute is finished." 

Cassie looked for Wolfe's opinion, but he just shrugged. They did need Engineers, and if they came from Gormana, that was just as good as anywhere.

The fact that they were mostly military engineers and one Prince of the nation would help with the versatility, as well as the legitimacy of the products that they sold as well. The humans wouldn't question items that their own leadership had a hand in designing nearly as much as they would random items from a Demon in the Frozen Wastes.

There were other advantages to having him here as well. They needed military goods to develop for the Eastern Border this winter. He was with the military. Prince Niall might be able to get them all the vehicles that they needed, imported to his people in the swamps and then sold to the Frozen Wastes for cash.

That might be a black market transaction, though, and Wofle wasn't sure how that worked in Gormana. Once they knew it was for keeping the Grand Dutchies at bay, they would likely agree, though.

The local Mayor cleared her throat. "So, Mister Wolfe, what would you need in exchange for all these trade goods you've brought us today?"

Wolfe smiled and made his play. "What we need right now are transport helicopters. So, we're willing to trade for cash until such a point as we have enough to purchase one."

The Witch shook her head. There weren't any available for sale in the Swamps. Those helicopters were rare, and the only few that existed here were being used to move goods between villages already.

But the Colonel took out his cell phone and tapped through a few screens before showing it to Wolfe.

"This is the surplus sales listing. Most of this is old civilian vehicles, but there are listings for helicopters and planes. What do you need?" He asked.

"I need ones with instruments and controls that are suitable for high mana environments. All mechanical and pressure gauges, mechanical controls, no computers. They will fail in the environment that we have created back home. The mana is too dense." Wolfe explained.

The Colonel scrolled for a second and then brought up a smaller helicopter, one with sliding doors on both sides, a similar turbine engine to the one that they had already, but much smaller. This one looked to be designed to have seating for about ten people with a cargo capacity about the same as the twin-engine plane that they currently used.

"Once upon a time, the military put guns at the doors and used these to deliver soldiers. But these days, they're a relic of the past and only really in use for industrial companies and tour operators. It will likely need some work, but we can get one delivered here for about a quarter million Credits."

Wolfe thought about it for a moment. The delivery that they had today, including the weapons and the rest, was worth more than that by a fairly wide margin.

"Then I think we can work a deal. We will sell you the goods for cash, with the requirement that you get us one of those helicopters delivered here for a quarter million Gormana Credits. We will take the rest when you can provide it and trade for more surplus items out of Gormana later." Wolfe agreed.

The Mayor smiled. "Then we have a deal for cash payments for the cargo?"

Wolfe nodded. "That we do, but there is one more item of business to go with it before we get to the Prince's proposal about engineering new magical items. The lovely Lady Cassie has a whole pocketful of Rank Two Witch-created charms to trade to the villages."

The old women's eyes began to glow in delight. They had been hoping for that when they saw Cassie get off the helicopter with Wolfe, but there was no time to politely bring it up, and it would have been undignified for them to outright beg her for them.

No matter how strong the temptation was.