Supreme Magus novel Chapter 2426

Royal Forgemaster Rogal was a bulky woman in her sixties, with long grey hair held up in a chignon.

"We don't have unlimited funds and your idea will allow the Kingdom to do what's best for its citizens for a reasonable price. If the project ever reaches the next phase, of course." The way her eyes shone when she spoke about money and her cynical laughter reminded Lith of Nana

"Of course." Lith nodded, recognizing her as the Forgemaster who had examined the blueprints of the Black Star on the day he had been promoted to Great Mage.

'Do you believe me now, Solus? I don't remember only hot women who I've seen naked. My memory is not that of a Lich.' Yet once again his thoughts met only silence and his mood turned sour.

"I agree with Royal Forgemaster Rogal, but I also agreed with you on the day you pitched the Tablets to us." King Meron said. "Let's not think about the problems of today for a second and worry about the future problems of the Kingdom instead.

"What do you think is the most far-sighted approach?"

The eyes of the Archmages went wide not only because the Kingdom was already short on funds due to the War of the Griffons but also because Meron was asking Lith what he would do if he were the King.

"I gave this a lot of thought while planning the Tablets and how to build the best possible Web of Knowledge." Lith tentatively said to avoid overstepping his boundaries.

"In my opinion, if the Tablets program reached phase two and we start spreading them throughout the Kingdom, every medium-sized city, even those with no Warp Gate, should have their own main unit.

"Limiting the number of Boosters also limits the effects that the sabotage or malfunctioning of a single Booster can have. Let's say that a storm or a monster horde topples even one of them.

"With the current model, the rest of the Boosters would lose the signal as well in a domino effect that would leave most of the regions in a blackout until the problem is spotted and fixed.

"During winter that might take days, if not weeks based on the storms and how isolated the Booster is. Also, giving a main unit to those cities would make it safer for the people to colonize their surroundings and spread further without feeling isolated.

"What I learned during my two years as a Ranger is that the people of the north are as harsh as the climate, but not just because of the hardships they undergo. During winter, every city and village is no different from a small sovereign state.

"For a quarter of the year, words like Kingdom, Crown, and unity mean nothing to them. They are cut off from the rest of Mogar, not knowing if the food reserves will last until the end of winter.

"They live in constant fear that the next storm might be so long and violent that their pantries will empty while they can't afford to take a step outside to get their rations for days.

"That bandits or monsters might invade their homes, stealing their food and destroying everything they have worked hard to build. Their only tether with the Kingdom is the Ranger but only the village chief has a communication amulet.

"All those things make the people of the north feel abandoned and isolated. They grow resentful of the foreigners that eat their precious food and of the Crown who seems to forget about them until spring when they have to pay taxes.