Raymond Harlon didn’t think he was a very good diplomat. Normally, that skill or lack thereof would not bother him, but under the present circumstances, he could not help but feel somewhat anxious. He might be a Prince of Nerlia, but he felt woefully unprepared for this event.

At least he had known about the founding of the new Empire ahead of time. He shuddered to imagine what it would have been like to be blindsided by an announcement like that, and unwillingly felt a bit of sympathy for the other delegates at the summit. Not that their countries were involved the way Nerlia was.

In fact, he still was not quite sure what to make of it. He had reserved judgment on the decision, but the longer he spent at this ostensible peace conference, the less sure he was about anything, it seemed. Kneeling before a monster and swearing his and his family’s fealty had not bothered him. After all, if she really was an Ancient as the rumors said, and as he’d heard information that seemed to confirm it, then she had as much right to it as anyone. Besides, he was only just adjusting to the idea that he might actually be responsible, in the future or even today, for the fate of his kingdom. It was everything else that left him a bit baffled and uncertain, though he tried not to show it. Queen — no, Empress Regina clearly had a lot of ideas. Most of them felt good and even sensible, the sorts of things a kind ruler would do. There were a lot of them and he knew many others were discomfited by it, though.

For now, though, it was the more practical aspects that left him nonplussed. Although calling them ‘practical’ was rather ironic, anyway.

The Empress herself was not here, but several of her drones had taken it upon themselves to give demonstrations and discuss how they might be able to help their new countrymen. They weren’t putting it quite like that, of course, but he wasn’t stupid and he knew that was the way it was going to go. The Hive was their superior in intellectual and technological knowledge, and it was Nerlia’s — and, he supposed, Cernlia’s — turn to profit from this.

The first revelation hadn’t been much of a surprise, but he still recognized the tremendous implications. The Hive did possess Conjuration magic and used it freely, to a frankly astonishing degree. Almost every mage Hivekind they had met seemed proficient in it. He knew that couldn’t be as simple as it seemed; mages had tried to access it before and almost all failed miserably. Therfore, for so many drones to gain and use these Spells, they had to either transmit the knowledge and skill somehow or there had to be something fundamental about the Hive which allowed them to master it so easily. He supposed their superior knowledge might be it.

They were clearly able to create gold, silver and precious stones, which would explain the Hive’s deep coffers and offered promising things for their new nation’s future. In addition, they could create rare materials for use with magic or their science-based technology, which he suspected was crucial, too. But that was only the beginning.

The drones had clearly prepared in advance, and had several booklets of information ready. They looked printed, he noted, as his eyes traced the regular script, the letters somewhat oddly-shaped to his experience but duplicated exactly at every position. They were not like the System messages and yet held a similar quality. The bindings were not as good. But the information contained within was the valuable part. The one he held looked to be a primer on basic principles of Ancient science, with a particular emphasis on physics and chemistry. A section at the back added some more applicable knowledge, with diagrams and descriptions of various mechanisms and devices. None of them seemed too extraordinary, although he supposed the drop-hammers fed by improved waterwheels did constitute a significant improvement. His gaze lingered on the last page, which offered details on telescopes and microscopes, arrangements of shaped glass lenses (the Hive must use their Conjuration to get theirs) and the rules of optics governing them. Also some practical tips on solutions and dyes for the latter, he noticed.

“Why microscopes?” he muttered, then raised his head when he noticed the others had fallen silent and were looking at him. “I can understand the use of spyglasses and binoculars, but looking at very small things? Everything else included here has clear practical value.” And it was placed in a prominent position.

“It was rather important to the Hive Queen,” the leader of these drones, a woman called Mia, answered. She didn’t sound concerned, but the way she was watching them, he suspected she was debating how much information to give them. “It can show rather important facts that otherwise would not have become known, such as the existence of germs which is needed for proper medicine.”

Raymond frowned, but nodded. He was no scholar, although he had received a rather good education, so he thought he had a vague idea of what she was talking about. Anything that helped to reduce outbreaks of disease, or its spread, would certainly be valuable. Although he privately doubted that identifying ‘germs’ would help as much as proper healing magic. But what did he know?

“You have only included things that would not be disastrous if they fell into the wrong hands, I suppose,” Princess June spoke up. She was paging through her own version rather quickly, presumably already familiar with the contents. As the mage apprentice to the Empress, that was to be expected.

Raymond was unsure how to feel about the girl. A small part of him felt he should be upset at being eclipsed by someone who had until recently been the younger daughter of a marquis, and was now technically higher-ranked than him as crown princess of Cernlia. He tried not to listen to that voice.

Not that she would be my superior for much longer. He hid a reaction to the thought by looking back down at the book. He was not certain, of course, but everyone had started to suspect he might be named crown prince of Nerlia soon. Although perhaps not, if their plans work out and I marry Queen Kiara. They would likely not want such a close union of the crowns, then. Perhaps even Adelaide would be the heir? Female rulers do seem to be in fashion currently. He smiled to himself. It wasn’t like he wanted to lose his birthright to his sister, but the thought was funny in an ironic way.

June Lyns caught his eye and smiled slightly, perhaps misinterpreting his expression. He nodded at her, then turned his gaze and his attention back to the drones who were presenting their technical accomplishments currently.

As she had pointed out, he noted that there was little in the way of machines of war. Certainly less than the Hive possessed, he knew. But that made sense. The books and even examples they presented here might easily fall into foreign hands. They would take more precautions before they showed them anything truly dangerous, presumably after this summit was over. He found it interesting to note that the Empress did not seem very concerned about this information spreading beyond her control, though.

“Perhaps the most important innovations on a larger scale are these,” Mia continued, and he made an effort to pay full attention. “We call them harvesting machines. They’re somewhat simple, modeled after earlier versions of the same, but they can be crafted easily and take no external fuel or anything beyond ‘musclepower’. This one combines some tilling and seeding, good for making regular rows of crops …”

This would let peasants cultivate more farmland on their own, leading to bigger harvests, he realized. That truly was important. He was not sure how well it would synchronize with System-given Abilities, however. But, if they were still doing the work, just with the help of these machines instead of simpler tools, most Class Skills should still work.

After the harvesting machines, the drones presented several similar inventions that would also be useful for agriculture and crafts, such as spinning or weaving machines and improved carpentry tools. There would be a new set of standards introduced, Lady Mia explained, for measuring distances, weights and volumes; examples would be sent out soon to all major cities, so they could be adapted by local craftsmen, and anyone would know what and exactly how much they were buying, selling or ordering. Raymond approved. He’d only traveled a few times but he had noticed that the weights used in markets differed. The crown had previously tried to standardize them, perhaps a century back, but only had moderate success. Perhaps the Empire could succeed.

He tried out several of the simpler devices and tried to pay attention to what the others were doing and saying. Quite a few of the people present seemed rather enthralled with the offerings, and he could hear heated discussions. Several of the more scholarly inclined were clearly eager to see more of what the Hive could give them, even to the point of complaining loudly, which only had him shake his head. They would see more if and when the Empress decided they would, arguing about it would not avail them anything. Several hours passed by quickly as he tried to imprint everything in his memory, determined to share it with several people back home, along with the book. He was likely only here as a courtesy, but that did not mean he couldn’t take advantage of it.

Unfortunately, his time here was up sooner than he’d like. He excused himself, bowing politely to Lady Mia and her assistants, and then left for a nearby parlor that had been turned into a conference room. Adelaide had been present in the meeting held there, but asked him to join after noon, as they would be discussing important matters.

He had a better head for numbers than she did, so he was not surprised to find the meeting quickly got technical in a rather different sense. The people gathered were starting to hammer out the true basis of any crown’s power and stability: taxes, tariffs, and the like.

As he’d suspected, Hive Queen Regina was a rather lenient Empress in that regard. He’d almost think she only insisted on taxes being paid to the Imperial throne as a formality. But he did find a few of the seemingly odd quirks they’d come to expect from her. Namely, she seemed more concerned with introducing a new standard of minted coins than the exact amounts tithed from each acre of land or noble title. These would continue to be collected on the basis of the kingdoms, of course. She also announced her intention to introduce several new taxes, such as one to be paid by mercantile companies simply for existing. In turn, she set very low tariffs for exporting or importing goods outside the Empire and even suggested entirely abolishing or at least having low tariffs between their constituent kingdoms, saying it would encourage trade and increase the crown’s revenue indirectly. Hopefully, they’d be able to talk her down from the idea of completely abandoning them, but he supposed she might have a point about encouraging commerce and increasing their people’s wealth.

This time, at least, Raymond was confident he had an understanding of what was being spoken about and contributed more to the discussion. At least more than Adelaide. In return, she seemed to be making mental notes of who spoke up when and what their opinions on proposed measures were, most likely trying to suss out any webs of allegiances and interests. He didn’t think she’d have much luck with the Hive, they seemed content to let their Hive Queen set everything and only chimed in occasionally with clarifications or queries on further details. There was one person, of course, he was not sure was part of the Hive or not. Galatea seemed almost bored. She’d arrived almost at the same time as Raymond himself, and acted much the same way previously, not speaking up much. Still, she was clearly here for a reason and he wouldn’t underestimate her.

“Now that that is settled,” the Empress said finally, followed by a short pause. He gave her his full attention. “It is time to talk about the political structure of the Empire.”

“I thought we were retaining autonomy for the individual kingdoms,” Lord Galman interrupted. He sounded a bit anxious, and Raymond couldn’t blame him for that, but he still shot him an irritated glare.

“Cernlia and Nerlia will have local autonomy and control over their own affairs in most respects, of course,” she replied with a slight twitch of her eyebrow. “As long as they adhere to Imperial law. But there does need to be at least the bare bones of a government at the federal level, to perform the usual functions of a court, support the crown and implement its directives, otherwise what would be the point of having the Empire at all? I certainly can’t rule it by myself. You understand?”

Raymond found himself nodding. “Perfectly sensible.” His father had often been talking about the same thing. Or complaining about the officials and his efforts being slowed.

“In that vein, I’d like to set up several departments and agencies. We will certainly need something to regulate and oversee jurisprudence in all member states. Beyond that and traditional ministries like foreign affairs, I’d like there to be an authority for matters of education. And, perhaps, one for our current reforms of technological nature.” She glanced at them and raised an eyebrow. “Positions and leadership roles in all of them will, of course, be available to people from every corner of the Empire. In fact, I think it might be helpful in unifying our knowledge, so to speak.”

The last part had certainly grabbed their attention and soothed some of the dark expressions on the faces of some of the delegates, Raymond noticed. Perhaps it was actually intended as a direct appeal to them? The people making up the delegations would most likely be in the recruitment pool for these agencies.

Raymond himself was unsure what to think of it. But it didn’t seem likely that he would be able to talk the Empress out of it, anyway, not when she seemed so set on her course, so he should be thinking about how to make sure Nerlia benefited from these developments. The answer to that was obviously two-fold: making sure Nerlians got high positions in the Imperial court and ministries, and that the Hive’s innovation and ‘uplift’ — a bit of an insulting word, but not entirely wrong — would help all of the kingdom.

With a tentative goal in mind, Raymond buckled down and asked about further details, thinking about a few suggestions he might make. Perhaps some kind of assurance that people from any member kingdom, or other community, would be represented. Empress Regina would likely approve of the notion.