When Petros opened a small portal to contact Wolfe a few hours later, the first thing that Wolfe requested was a full copy of the books that the excerpts had been taken from, or the originals, so the Witches could copy them with magic.

“I suspected that you might want that, as your own world’s historical archives have been destroyed. I have already had them copied, along with a few other reference books whose excerpts didn’t make it into the missive.

If you would kindly open a full-sized portal, I will bring them over to you now, and we can have a talk about my request.” King Petros asked.

Wolfe considered telling King Petros that the portal would be much easier to open if he just routed it through the already open portal to the trial grounds, but decided that it was better if he didn’t go spreading that trick, in case someone with bad intentions learned it.

It wasn’t easy to get around the spells surrounding the valley, but it might be possible with a large enough group of mages, or assistance from the Lowest Planes.

Not that those things would need it. More than once, Wolfe had sensed their magic surveillance over the city.

Petros stepped into the Library with two spectacled young women behind him, each carrying an armload of leather-bound books that still smelled like fresh ink.

“These are the tomes you requested. They are freshly inked, so be careful not to smudge them with finger oils. But they should give you a better idea of what our people remember from our interactions with the Magi.

There is a lot in there about the Demons as well, because they are history books, and the two topics tend to overlap. We have been at war with the Demons since we had reliable record keeping, so they are in every aspect of our history.

How is your schedule looking for the day? I know it’s fairly early in the afternoon here, so there is still time to have a nice chat about my idea, or we can do it in a few days after the chaos of the hiring fair dies down.” Petros suggested.

“The chaos never really dies down here. We’ve got so many new people arriving that it will be months before everything is settled again, and there are no odd demands on my time, or requests for new city developments to cover aspects that we had overlooked.” Wolfe sighed.

“Wonderful. Should we take this somewhere private? Or will we be needing public input?” Petros joked.

“Well, we will be needing input, but possibly not public. Why don’t we take this to one of the meeting rooms? They’re set up for about fifty, which should be plenty for our purposes. I am guessing that with your proposal, you already have people in mind, and that will naturally cause contention among those who are already in the Pentacles.” Wolfe replied.

Petros chuckled. “Yes, with the Witches, and the Demon Princesses, I suspect that there will be many strong opinions on who is suitable to fill the two remaining Pentacles. But I wouldn’t be so presumptuous as to think that I would get to pick the last ten people.

I do have a few names in mind, both to add a human presence to the Pentacles, and to help spread the influence of the input that you get from your advisors across a wider cross-section of society.

There are plenty of soldiers and Princesses, but not many people in the middle, I have noticed.

Well, I suppose now they all have a unique sort of status, with the way that they are growing, but you get my point.

The crafters, merchants, middle Nobles. They have a different way of seeing things, especially when they are from different worlds. You are getting input from the viewpoint of the local witches, and the Demon Royalty, but what about everyone else?” S~ᴇaʀᴄh the N0vᴇlFire(.)nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“So, a bunch of mid-rank Noble Artisans and traders from your world, who can use your magic? I suppose that is a logical suggestion.” Wolfe agreed reluctantly.

They could only use Unholy Magic, and it was tied to the Lowest Planes. As a group for the Pentacles, they weren’t actually a good choice. Their magic was too limited, and even if they could advance to become Saints, they still wouldn’t have the level of versatility that the Witches did for solving the problems of the people they were sent to work with.

If it was an artificer, that might make sense, as they got around their limitations with magical devices, but otherwise, it was not appealing.

King Petros smiled. “I actually had a different idea. Yes, to sending you craftsmen and artificers, but not existing Nobles from my world for the Pentacle. What I was thinking was to send them young, right as they are about to awaken their powers.

So, they won’t awaken only to the powers of the Divine One, but they will learn the ways of the human mages at the same time. If they can learn our magic, and the magic of the other world, along with Artificing and the magical trade skills, they would be able to fill nearly any role as advisor and ambassador.”

“Interesting. You would like me to train an entire team of incredibly versatile troubleshooters, who could work as negotiators and problem solvers? What’s in it for you?” Wolfe asked.

Nobody made a request like that without having a particular plan in mind. Even considering that there were no ulterior motives would be ridiculous.

“Loyalty, and children eventually. I want to send you five young ladies who have strong ties to the Fallen Empire, who can be trained to use the widest variety of magics, and whose children will come home to their families.

Not all of them, of course. It would be customary for a travelling dignitary to keep their heir close at hand for security reasons. But the others would come home with a solid chance of passing on the Magi gene, which would allow generations of young men to use much more potent magic, with Mana Cores like a Demon.” King Petros answered honestly.

A shouted voice from the ceiling interrupted their talk.

“I called it. You heard it here first, and you all owe me a honey pop. King Petros wants Wolfe to knock up a bunch of cute girls.” A Faerie was shouting, drawing the attention of other Fae and creatures with sensitive hearing outside the meeting room.

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