332 332 Payment Plan
Peach looked at the large copper discs covered in the complex, layered Array that Wolfe had made with a look of shock on her face.
Wolfe smiled at her and stepped away from the discs. “There you go. The Arrays should keep the city’s electrical grid powered for the foreseeable future. What do you think? Are they worth the collection of rare magical plants that we needed for the gardens in the Den?”
ραΠdαsΝοvεl ƈοm
That had been a constant issue for a generation, and every building in the lower levels had one now, which the residents would fill as part of their rent payments.
Wolfe was intimately familiar with the process, and he had been intending to use his forged Mana Crystals to do exactly that before he was run out of the city.
With lower power prices and reliable power, that would change in a hurry since filling the batteries would cost more than just using the grid power. That would help a lot of people in the lower levels, for whom daily power costs were a large part of their bills.
It would also help the overhead lights in the levels, which were designed by the witches to run off electricity, but were low-level magical items. Then it would only be the water and sewage systems left to work on before the city could be brought back up to the standard it was at when new.
Compared to Forest Grove, it was a filthy and dark dungeon even when it was built, but it was certainly better then than it was now, and Peach’s Family was in charge of the lowest levels, where things were worst right now.
Every bit of assistance that Wolfe could offer would help the people they looked out for and make their jobs easier. The grid was set up on reduction switches so that if there was a shortage, the lowest levels lost power first. Currently, they were often down over half the day when the other areas of the city were using the most.
Headmistress Peach could only imagine their shock when the lights came on and stayed on. Just stayed on all the time.
“Before we go any further, let me see if the APC is still here. They were supposed to leave this morning, but I’m not sure if they did yet.” Peach informed Wolfe, then turned to the security spells that were displaying the various areas of the Academy.
“Oh, good. They’re still here. They got sidetracked talking to staff and students, so they’re just having breakfast now.” Peach informed Wolfe as she reached for the Intercom.
“Will the security detail from Morgana Coven Council please report to the Headmistress’ office before your departure? Thank you.”
Peach turned back to Wolfe. “Now, about your payment. I’m guessing that you still want a lot of herbs and magical plants for the gardens since you negotiated for teachers the first time.”
“If I didn’t know better, I would say you were psychic. Seeds are best, but we will take cuttings if that’s the best way to grow them.” Wolfe agreed.
“Alright. We have a stock of seeds from the ones we grow for the students, so I can provide a variety of them that I didn’t see among the gardens. I won’t guarantee that they’re not ones you have stored somewhere, though.”
“Good enough. The Witches have planted most of the ones we got from Myrrh Coven, but even I don’t know what is left in that mixed bag of seeds that I got from them.”
“I will get them arranged before you start working on the students tonight, and then I will have to arrange for teachers to be sent to you. I’m not sure where I will get them from, though.” Peach sighed.
“How about Witches who were in their final year and were damaged in the attacks? That’s where most of our population came from, and other than being in the army, they didn’t have much else in common.
Very few of them were powerful, but the other Covens didn’t hold a draft, so it was only the risk takers who wanted to cut their public service to six months who were there.” Wolfe suggested.
Peach frowned. “They only require six months of military service instead of two years of regular service? How do they keep soldiers?”
Wolfe shrugged. “Well, there are the paid soldiers and village guards who are full-time career military, but the others start in the fall and go for half a year when the monster attacks are at their worst. That’s enough to get them by with the year’s graduates.”
Peach frowned. “And now every Witch who was stationed alongside a Myrrh or Sylvan Coven force will know. I need to have a serious talk with the Council Member in charge of the Military and see what is happening in Morgana. We don’t take nearly as many attacks, and we have the humans to fill numbers on the lines. But every time there is a real Monster Tide, we’re left instituting a draft.”
Wolfe shrugged. “Coven issues really aren’t my problem. Not anymore. I’ve got a good thing going in the Frozen Wastes, and I’m going to grow it into a proper little nation of our own, so the Coven can take care of itself.”
Peach chuckled at her impression of Wolfe’s ambition. A nation full of cute young witches, animal girls, and himself. Somehow it didn’t shock her, even if the concept sounded like the plot of a cheesy adult video series.
It did give her a great idea, though. Since Wolfe was building up a Harem nation, she could send willing Witches there as Professors to train students who would be friendly to the Coven, gain power in the enriched environment, and then come home after a year or two.
If they came back pregnant with a Rank Four Demon’s children, that was even better, and the next generation would have a solid link to the Fae Forest.