Chapter 1952 – Regency Council
John yet again sat at a table. This time around, he shared it with three other people. However, there was no equality in positions this time.
The Gamer was seated on a much larger, greatly decorated chair of old oak and rich leather, situated behind the wide mahogany desk. It was of the same make as his office furniture, although its leg compartment was empty. He did not expect this meeting to last long enough to encourage such behaviour, plus he did still try to not always run around with a wet dick. Moderation was a value that he had to hold even more now that he was sovereign.
The three people on the other side of the table consisted of one usual and two unusual individuals. Magnus being present for anything concerning Fusion’s inner workings had been common before, when he had been his father’s clear successor, and was becoming more so with the added ranks he had been bestowed within the empire.
The other two, however, had not been asked into a private audience with John ever before.
One was Joshua Thermann, better known as the Splatterknight, a 2,50 metres giant of a man that had been given a deliberately sized chair. The man was so overstuffed with testosterone, his cleft chin could have cut diamonds. He had short, brown hair and his skin was almost uncomfortably taut over his muscles. A singular bicep was practically the width of John’s torso.
Second was Hyozuma, whose once long hair was similarly short, left in the process of regrowth. There were still Lorylim scars visible on his scalp and his exposed arms, but they were merely stripes when they had been covering his entire body before. His hair could be properly regrown once the treatment had fully recovered his follicles.
“Gentlemen, I am here to give you two announcements,” the Gamer stated. “First off, I am giving each of you the title of viceroy. I hope you do not mind the lack of formalities.”
“That sounds important, but I – one sec…” Hyozuma bent to the side and coughed. It was the dry heaving of a man whose throat was in a terrible condition. As multiple scans with every conceivable tool had assured, it was nothing more than that. The scarring had made it all the way to his insides, which would all take some time to heal. “Got no clue what it means.”
“It means I am elevating you to an important position inside the empire’s fledgling aristocracy,” the Gamer stated. “You’ll effectively be unbound by common law and will have sweeping authorities to take over local institutions if you see fit. You only answer to me and my harem. On the flipside, if you screw up, you only answer to me and my harem.”
John observed reactions to the implicit threat. None of the three had any – and why would they?
“Is it appropriate to give me this power?” Magnus asked.
“Appropriate is what I make it,” John answered with a shrug. “The Magus family deserves to be ennobled, for your father’s legacy, as you said yourself.”
“What about Chemilia and Emrik?”
“Emrik insists on being the speaker of the common people, giving him a title would undermine his principles. Even if I offered, he would refuse. As for Chemilia, I did offer it to her and Ted and they are still deciding on what title they want that to go under, so their declaration will wait.” John pulled open a drawer and removed three metal signifiers of office. They were highly ornate pieces, created using expensive metals that Scarlett had insisted would have had a lot more practical purposes than physically proving what a digital ID was sufficient for in the modern age.
John was more sentimental about these things. Physical proof had value. Even if he had not clung onto CDs when Steam had become the superior way to get games, there were matters where he insisted on a physical token.
‘Although Steam would be a way greater customer experience if you had the option to burn the games bought on your own CDs.’ He slipped the marks of office across the table. “I hope you will accept this responsibility.”
“May I ask why us?” the Splatterknight asked. Even knowing his name. John’s mind preferred using the man’s chosen title for him. “I know you have other capable subordinates. I have heard much about one Horace, for example.”
“Three reasons, for the two of you,” John said. “Firstly, you are respected among the common people. Hyozuma, you are technically the first recorded person we have that managed to be freed from the Lorylim’s sway during the war. Your readiness to be experimented on to develop the treatments has bought you the respect of the masses.”
“Hopefully the gals are swooning over me.”
‘He’s recovering well,’ John thought. He had heard that Hyozuma had ended up a Lorylim host because Anna, the anti-healer from the tournament he knew them both from, had betrayed him. Either that emotional connection hadn’t gone that deep, which was feasible, or he was trying to compensate. Either way, John was not going to comment. “And you, Joshua, have distinguished yourself on the field of battle.”
“I did as duty demanded.”
“Which plays into the second reason – you two are powerful.” Hyozuma had remained at level 405 after the Lorylim had been removed and the Splatterknight had managed to rise to level 300 over the course of the war. “I’ll need you two to help me with integrating the new Abyssals and that will require a firm hand at times. Horace is not powerful and neither is Hank.
“For the third reason, both Horace and Hank are more useful to me in their current positions. You two have no real current position and are too valuable to be kept there. I am remarkably low on people that are competent enough to act on their own. I have elected to extend that opportunity to you.” The Gamer leaned back in his chair. “Do you accept the position as viceroys?”
Magnus had already pulled his sign of nobility in front of him. The Splatterknight took his honour after another moment. Lastly, Hyozuma shrugged and acquired his mark with a quick flex of his Innate Ability, ‘stealing’ the ornate metal from the table.
“Wonderful, and now that you are all of elevated rank, I am also offering you the positions of regency council,” the Gamer broke the second piece of news.
“…And what does that entail now?” Hyozuma asked, somehow the chattiest of the three men, despite his throat condition.
“Basically, it means you will have control over the executive while I am gone.” John folded his hands, inspecting each of the men with eyes as casual as they were curious. “For the Christmas days, I’ll be away from internal affairs. You can still contact me, and if I am needed I am technically still in the Guild Hall. This is more of a formality council than anything else.”
“I take it that you have chosen three so there must always be at least two that agree on a course of action?” Magnus asked.
John nodded. “Although I won’t pretend that you aren’t the one I am entrusting this with the most, Magnus.” The Gamer reached into his inventory, pulling out the pieces of the crown that belonged to him, Momo and Rave. “You’ll hold onto these until I am back.”
Magnus stared at the one of the three pieces that were placed in front of them. The implication of this unenchanted, unevenly cut slice of a thorny crown did not go over his head. Magnus was declared the prime regent and he held two of the shards that were symbolic for the gathering of state power within the new empire.
“I doubt you imagined you’d be the leader of one of the Divided Gates when you started working for me,” John joked. “Even if it will only be for three, hopefully eventless days.”
“I did not,” Magnus confirmed. “I will accept this duty.”
“As will I,” the Splatterknight added.
“Sure, why not,” Hyozuma agreed with a shrug.
And that was all there was to that.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Fundamentally, the institution of the regency council existed for two occasions. The more widely known one was that a council or steward was put in charge when the legal heir had yet to come of legal age. The same framework had, however, also been often at use for temporary incapacity of the monarch to attend their ministers’ meetings. In old Europe, this could have been pilgrimage, a prolonged hunt, or attending a wedding three countries over.
In Fusion, it would commonly be used because John was heading to a grinding session.
It was midnight leading into the 24th of December and John and his harem stood by the I.D. Gate, waiting for their additional guests to join them and for Lydia to arrive.
The queen had to put her own regency council in place and given a festive speech to her nation, since she would not see them again until after the holidays.
Their guests were more interesting to John. Moira had asked to join the day before, so nothing to worry about there. Lyndell had practically invited herself after, arguing that it was fine for her to tag along if Moira did. At the occasion, the gothic mushroom had also revealed that she knew about Fianna and that there was thus no good reason to leave the sniper outside. John did not complain, he wanted to see his latest Natural Spirit in action anyhow.
Then there was Daiyu, who got dragged along because Lu Zhi insisted on having her own servant around.
Layla had also wanted to join in, but had thankfully been able to be talked out of the idea.
While John wanted to have another conversation with her, one where she was hopefully as coherent as she had been during their first talk at Maximillian’s wedding, he did not consider it realistic to have her spend 18 days in an enclosed space with him and his women. As he understood her powers, she would likely die of dehydration on the second day at the latest.
No, she would have to spend more time doing whatever homework Momo and Lorelei gave her. That was just reasonable.
‘I’ll have my hands full with her anyhow,’ John thought, watching Lyndell’s calculated sashay. To see her in her organic dress, hair combed and eyes sharp, was all the more awe-inspiring knowing that she was a girl-failure that loved to lie on the floor in her free time. ‘There is no way I am spending 18 days with her and leaving without her joining the harem, not with how much she wants to join.’
His eyes wandered to Fianna. The sniper had currently assumed the form of a bog-standard brunette. He did not want her true form revealed, not with the speculations that a white-haired, tiger-eared woman would cause if anyone shot a photo of her. That he was effectively revealing he had a shapeshifting woman in his vicinity cost him very little. First off, everyone already knew that he had Undine around. Second, everyone in the Divided Gates had some number of shapeshifters in their spy agencies. That was just the name of the game in the Abyss.
‘Will she join as well?’ he wondered. He knew there was some scheme going on. ‘She will almost certainly try… The wildcard here is…’
Moira appeared from one of the staircases that connected the top of the fortress with the piers at the bottom. The redhead marched in almost full battle regalia, her Mithril armour shimmering in the moonlight. In one hand she carried a long-shafted warhammer, with the other she held steady a shoulder-slung bag filled with clothes and such. Her shield remained in a miniaturized form around her neck.
When she realized that the Gamer was staring at her, Moira met his gaze for three solid seconds before suddenly and hurriedly looking everywhere else.
‘It occurs to me that maybe I am not as good at knowing when women are into me as I thought,’ the Gamer contemplated. ‘I maybe just got pretty lucky with having women that were, mostly, very obvious about it.’
The doubt about his ability had started with Ehtra, who had sent him the most mixed of signals until she suddenly broke. Moira now reignited this because… this was Moira Brighton, her being into him sounded so off on multiple levels.
He remembered first encountering her. She was the first Abyssal he had actually talked to. She had been the one to explain to him the basics. In another timeline, he had gone with her and the Order over Rave and Collide. His whole life would look different now, following that decision, although who knew in what ways exactly.
Their paths had crossed again, several times. He had come to rule over the Order. Now she was an aide, a friend of Rave, and an acquaintance of his by extension. He liked her. He had seen enough of her and talked to her enough privately to know that. However, his mind struggled to comprehend the idea of her being one of his women. It just seemed, dared he say, sacrilegious to suggest.
And yet she was giving him blushy glances.
While also deliberately staying away from him.
And yet she had tried to kiss Hailey during a shared masturbation session.
While never making a move on John.
‘I’ll continue to think she is not into me,’ John resolved. That just seemed like the safest option. Whatever came next, he would let Moira, Lorelei, Rave and Hailey puzzle out. There was no doubt in John’s mind that, if Moira was into him, those four had talked about it. That and Lyndell probably had pulled some strings with her little conspiracy club to join his harem. ‘I’ll just do my thing and take these as they come to me.’
The privilege of being the very top of the hierarchy was that he did not have to do a whole lot of chasing… not that he did not enjoy the chase.
“Alright, seems like everyone is here,” John said. “I’ll explain our strategy inside.”
And thus, a new grinding session began.