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Chapter 93: Twenty Years

Translated by XianPiete

Alicia\'s heels clicked over the tile floors as she walked through the cold halls of castle von Plettenberg. She walked into a great chamber where two men leaned over a table with a large map. The younger man said, "My emperor, another million poor surged through the border here and here. They have been put to work but if this continues, we won\'t be able to support them. We\'ll have to start closing the border to them soon or they will cause an even greater food shortage."

Alicia walked up and put her arm around the older man\'s wide back and asked, "Trouble?"

The older man rubbed his temple and said in a deep voice, "The same trouble we\'ve had for the last fifteen years. Whenever the Aumont-Ito empire lays off a workforce they come surging through our borders looking for salvation. There are only so many men I can put to work before the food runs out. Alicia dear, I\'ll have to rely on you again to find a way to feed them all."

She sighed and said, "It\'s no trouble to use magic to feed them, but clothing and housing, my husband, we just don\'t have space anymore for more people. The poor are living in squalor while thousands of acres remain empty in the Aumont-Ito empire."

"Why did my Wütendes Menschenreich become the dumping ground for humanity\'s wretched refuse?" He growled.

She laughed musically and kissed him softly on the cheek, "Because you had the foresight to do the right thing. That wretched refuse as you call them became the backbone of your empire. Did we not survive the Aumont-Ito calamity that claimed the rest of the world?"

He grunted his approval. The younger man asked, "Mother, why don\'t we just go to war against the Council of Magic now? Our school of Wizardry is just as powerful."

Alicia sighed and said, "Charles, haven\'t I explained this before? When we created the Council of Magic, we recognized that the world would have its end at the hands of magic if something like that were to occur. That\'s why we signed the Montfort convention against teaching the dark arts to wizards and mages. Magic can only be used to help the people, not for war. The days of war magic ended when the original Mages were lost."

"But mother, you are one of the original war Mages, with your power alone, we could take back enough land from the Aumont-Ito empire to provide housing for these people," Charles argued.

The older man grunted and said, "Charles, magic isn\'t the way to fight wars. You need airships and men. The Council of Magic doesn\'t fight the wars for the Aumont-Ito empire. It\'s the sky force and their drop knights."

Alicia smiled and then mussed up Charles\' hair. "Wolter, speaking of that, I came to tell you, the mines are out of Iron. If you want to build any more dreadnaughts you\'ll need to find a new source of metal."

Wolter slammed his fist against the table and said, "Damn it. My fleet of ten dreadnaughts will be powerless against the Aumont-Ito Armada. I need better weapons. Those new battleships of theirs out gun our old cruisers four to one already. My dreadnaughts were the only ace up my sleeve."

Alicia smiled and said, "Murphy and his men said that the Aumont-Ito empire ships have a serious design flaw. They still rely on fuel, unlike the Montfort design ships we have."

Wolter sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Yes, but will they run out of fuel before their Armada flies up to my doorstep?"

Alicia laughed musically and said, "I have spoken to elders in the school of wizardry, we think we may have a solution, we are just researching if it breaks the convention or not."

Wolter ran his fingers through his balding hair and growled, "God help me for saying this, but I wish that madman Guy de Monfort were still with us if we had his help and the other war mages, this wouldn\'t even be an issue."

An alarm claxon sounded and then the emergency lighting kicked on as the sun disappeared. A sound like the boom of thunder sounded outside and then the light returned. Yells from all over the castle sounded before a man came running into the room dropping to one knee, "a Montfort class transport ship just appeared above the castle, it\'s marked strangely, \'Just Married\'. No other markings are visible, my emperor."

Alicia seemed lost in thought, she called out, "Montfort class? Are you sure it said, \'Just Married\'?"

The man nodded, "Yes, my Empress."

Alicia ran over to the window and looked out, she gasped and covered her mouth, "It\'s them... Tell your men not to fire on that airship, I\'ll investigate it myself." She looked at the ship and said, "Gate." A silvery portal opened and then she stepped through disappearing. The gate closed a moment later.

*****

As everyone started coming to a silvery gate opened on the bridge and a woman stepped through. She looked like a more beautiful version of Alicia\'s mother, Countess Foix. She looked around and then said, "Well, it\'s about time you all return, where have you been?"

Madeline asked, "Alicia, is that you?"

Alicia walked over and gently touched Madeline\'s cheek, "You look so young. You look just the way I remember seeing you twenty years ago." Tears formed on Alicia\'s cheek as she smiled at the younger woman.

Guy straightened out his uniform and walked to Madeline\'s side, he asked, "What did you say? Twenty years?"

Alicia smiled at Guy and said, "Mm, it has been twenty years since you all left for that Honeymoon. A lot of things have happened since you were last here."

Diggory, Ella, Algernon, and Olivier were still staring out the window Olivier asked, "What is this place?"

Alicia smiled and said, "Wütendes Menschenreich, the last center of freedom left in the world. The rest of the world has been enslaved by the Aumont-Ito empire. They live under a tyrannical system of financial oppression. I think we should all talk with my husband and son down below."

Doreen asked, "Your husband?"

"Wolter von Plettenberg. I am the Empress of Wütendes Menschenreich." Alicia smiled, "It\'s going to take a while to tell the story, you\'ve all been missing for over twenty years."

Guy looked unconvinced, "You said your enemies are the Aumont-Ito empire?"

Alicia nodded, "Guy, it\'s not what you think. Madeline\'s brother became King of Pays Des Abrutis. He was seduced by the power offered by some of the men in charge of the Ito Conglomerate to change the Kingdom into a warring state. They used your airships to conquer the world. Only Wolter and his School of Wizardry managed to hold them off."

Diggory asked, "And the Council of Magic?"

Alicia sighed, "I followed our original plan. I taught a few Mages who taught a few Mages. Five years after you left, they voted me out and started taking gold from the Ito Conglomerate. That\'s when I joined Wolter. I married him five years later. The Council of Magic now has thousands of Mages, but most of the more powerful spells no longer exist. I destroyed the books before they could be learned. I brought a lot of magic to the School of Wizardry, none of it offensive. A few years ago we signed an agreement with the Council of Magic that dark magic, offensive magic was forbidden from use in war. The eight of us here are the only war Mages."

Guy frowned, "I think we should all go see Wolter."