A/N: Rather than 'progressing' all the plotlines in this arc at the same time, I'm electing to focus each chapter onto one section. This means that chapters are only loosely in chronological order (eg. the next chapter about Cato and Minmay begins somewhere around the same chronological time as the start of this chapter)

Chancellor Duport rode through the streets of the city. She still didn't think of it as 'her' city. The fearful glances and hasty scurrying out of her carriage's path told her than the people here didn't consider her one of them either. All the bowing and scraping as the crowd parted for her guard was vaguely nauseating, her father hadn't received that kind of fear.

"Can you tell me why they are behaving like that?" Duport asked her chief of the guard.

The previous man, Enil, had been killed in the battle with Minmay and one of the first things she had done as a chancellor was to appoint his replacement. The woman currently standing in front of her looked and felt more like a chancellor than Duport did. Her stern steel armour was without decoration, brusque and direct, just like her disciplined features.

Idel was one of the rare few people in this place that Thomas trusted.

"The previous Duport was not a nice man," she said.

Ah. And he probably wasn't liked by the people either.

"They also don't like you. " She couldn't help but look at the woman in surprise. The woman just shrugged, "your paint your thoughts on your face. It's easy to see. "

"Why do they not like me?" she asked her chief guard. Duport did have some idea of why but she wanted to hear it in another's words.

"Many reasons. You as chancellor do not give confidence to the people. You are young and have barely finished your studies, while most others in your position are experienced as mayors. And... pardon me for speaking plainly, your figure does not fit the office. The way you walk and speak are not like that of an important noble. "

She tried to suppress her twitch but from the amused look Idel gave her, Duport was sure the woman had seen it. "How does that work? I can't imagine that how I walk has an effect on how well I can work. "

"Look around you," Idel gestured at the peasants moving around them. The people gave Duport's six guards a wide berth, clearing the middle of the street for her carriage. "What do they see? Only you, how you appear, how you talk. They don't understand things like the territory budget, or how you make your laws. "

"But you prefer more grounded reasons," the woman continued, "it is simple. Before you, Minmay's wife was ruling this city. She handed out charity, saw Duport city through the near famine that happened after the battle. Now you are here and she is gone, and with her the food handouts. Of course the people don't like it. "

"But she paid for the food using the old Duport's assets! There isn't any more money to do that and we are well past the food crisis anyway. "

Idel silenced her with a shake of the head, "that's what I mean. Firstly, Aesin has a reputation and the experience in management. Secondly, the people don't care that the free food can't be paid for now, all they care is that what was free is now cheap but not free. "

That was just unfair though. There was no way endless free food could be possible. But she knew even without looking at her guard that she shouldn't expect fairness.

Duport looked out the front of the carriage, seeing the people of her territory walk by. They were nearing the Thread and Weavers now, a large guild that collected and processed the thorndown grown in the salty earth near the sea that couldn't support windeyes.

"Stop over there by the corner, I want to visit the guild," she told the driver.

Idel looked at her skeptically.

"I just want to talk. Looking at the streets isn't going to help me understand what is going on, and Thread and Weavers are our biggest guild that pays our taxes. Perhaps I can find out more about how to govern this place. "

The man at the front desk glanced up and paled when he recognized her robes. A man wearing a flowing robe marked with a symbolic spool of thread was talking to him, but a quick word and another fearful glance sent the weaver scurrying off into the building, no doubt to fetch the leader of this branch.

"Welcome Chancellor, what brings you here? You were not expected. "

"It's all right, I just wanted to pay a visit. See how things are going and perhaps better understand what you do here," Duport nodded politely.

The man bowed and walked out from behind his desk, "allow me to show you upstairs. The guild leader is in today and he will be better able to guide you. "

She gestured for him to lead on and was brought through two corridors and a stairway before ending up in front of an office room. Idel and one of her guards followed behind, shadowing her silently.

"It is our honour to welcome you, Chancellor," the guild leader was a middle aged man, rail thin and decorated with ornate flowing robes in a complex pattern of colors. "I heard you wanted to learn more about us, shall I guide you on a tour through our premises? Your interest in our activities can only be a good thing for us after all. "

His smile was warm and clearly meant to put her at ease. Duport smiled back and let him lead her through the complex process of processing thorndown fuzz into fibres, which were then spun into thread and dyed before being woven into cloth of various sorts. Throughout the tour, the spinners and weavers were unfailingly polite but Duport noted the large number of empty spots as well as the constant flurry of activity that didn't quite manage to stay out of sight.

No doubt the guild was removing anyone in her path who might cause offense. That they felt such measures was warranted made Duport wonder just what the previous chancellor had done. That so many workpieces lay incomplete and spinning jennies left unattended, spoke of the number of people who might have cause for discomfort.

The guild leader then showed her one of the new spinning jennies. It was a strange and complicated contraption, with fantastically detailed gears and rods running to the central spinning wheel.

"This is the new spinning jenny, designed and built by the best in Minmay," the man said proudly, "it's a pedal powered version but can be easily driven by a proper power source. Better still, apart from the initial setup, the machine automatically winds threads from the spools here. It creates strong and consistent thread without need for operator skill. "

He then checked the four spools and the threads being wound together, "here, if you want to try it out, I can show you how it works. "

Duport just smiled and gestured for him to go ahead. Indeed, the machine itself was fascinating, all its myriad parts working together in harmony as the fibres moved around it. And all the guild leader was doing was pushing the pedals below it.

She was then shown to another room where there were two other machines. These ones were manned by a pair of twins, who didn't stop working as her entourage entered the room. Two rows of threads, the warp as explained by the guild leader, were held in the jaws for the weft to pass through. The wooden shuttle made a distinctive clacking noise as it traveled. Then the device seemed to turn over itself and the shuttle passed back again. Clack left, the jaws swapped placed, clack right, swap again. The twins working in harmony produced a racket that made it hard to talk but it was no less impressive.

"These new machines are allowing us to create better and cheaper cloth," the guild leader said once they retired to his office, "I hope you understand that we need these to keep up with Minmay. Our status as thorndown farmers and the convenient port here is not enough for us to compete with the Minmay clothiers. "

"I will not pretend to understand the intricacies of your business but I agree with your assessment anyway," Duport replied politely, wondering what he was building up to. She had her answer quickly.

"This is why we need to obtain the same magical power source that Minmay is drilling beneath his city. These machines are only the first step, without the power to run them, we will lose in the end. Humans are frail compared to the tirelessness of magic. We need this, Chancellor. We need this if we want to be more than a sheltered port and simple farmers. "

Hm. The weaver was asking her to look into magic as a power source? Duport had looked at the project that Minmay was undertaking. It was daunting both in scope and in cost. She simply couldn't afford anything like it now.

"I shall see what we can do," she said, sticking to vague platitudes.

The man was clearly unconvinced, judging by the disappointment hiding behind his smile. "Well, in the short term, there is also the matter of your gate tax. "

Duport raised an eyebrow. He was going to ask for a lower tax, wasn't he?

"I know you're thinking that I just want to ask to pay less and that is true. But consider this. Our carts pass your gates every day, moving cloth north to Minmay and taking finished clothes in return. The tax of three telins is affordable for these. However, we also handle far more thorndown fuzz than we can process. Most of that also goes to Minmay. The balls are large but lightweight, which requires many more carts to move the fuzz compared to the finished thread or cloth, incurring your tax multiple times. Add that the fuzz sell for less than finished cloth and you can see why this is a problem. In fact, your tax makes the balls so unprofitable that no one wants to export it by water, instead most of the farmers just sell direct to Minmay, collected at their villages. "

She had to agree. The tax was something Duport had inherited from the previous chancellor, she hadn't quite thought of how it would affect different types of trade. The man made sense though.

"So what I would like you to consider is a trade. Give my guild a special dispensation, a lowering in tax to one telin per cart specially for thorndown fuzz, and we can bring the thorndown fuzz into your city and south to Inath. Instead of losing money, I promise that you will instead collect more from the increased traffic. "

The girl sat in the chair, frowning ever so slightly. A lowering in tax could increase the amount collected? She would have to think on that.

"Allow me to consider the matter and confer with my advisors. Can you present a formal case to me in... two days time? I shall be better prepared then. "

When in doubt stall.

Now short of any further details to discuss, the meeting devolved into simple pleasantries and light refreshments.

"Thomas? I can't understand these numbers," Duport said, fiddling with the edge of the paper.

Her advisor reached over from his desk on the side and plucked the sheet away from her hands before it frayed completely.

"The financial summary can't be right," she continued, watching his eyes scan up and down the columns of numbers, "I thought we were losing money?"

"This is the ledger for the Chancellor's seat, essentially the money you personally control," Thomas pointed out, "I was looking at the territory wide ledger. "

He waved at the papers scattered over the table, "we definitely are losing money over there. "

"But we're not! Look, the new retainers for the city guard is lower than in the past, it's lower than the gate taxes! I don't understand how we can lose money in the territory but gain in the city. It was never like that for father, he always complained about how he had to take money from the country to pay the city. "

"Kaylar, every territory is different. "

She nodded like a good student before catching herself. Her ex-teacher using her original name brought back memories. Memories that she had been so eager to grow out of but now wished for nothing more than to go back to the simpler days.

The girl and the advisor bent over their reports again. Her chancellor's robes fit her thin figure poorly, draped over her shoulders and concealing her already meager bust. Even her straw yellow hair, that everyone agreed was a beautiful colour, only served to make her look more like a scarecrow.

"No see, the problem is that we're forced to collect the taxes in windeye grain, the peasants can't get the money to pay us. That sells for nothing, the Minmay grain is forcing our price down even after bringing it from the Greenspring towns. So of course the territory is losing money, we don't get any money from the land anymore. "

Thomas added, "that explains one part of the problem. But the gate and wharf tax here in the port is fixed per cart or per ship, so revenue here has increased because the trade has increased. We're paying the guards less because the price of food has dropped so much that their weapons cost more than their salary. "

"The loss of money in the territory is greater than what we earn in the city, so that still doesn't solve our basic problem. We're spending too much and have to cut somewhere. Or raise taxes. "

"The citizens hate you enough already, we shouldn't raise taxes unless there is no other way. Cutting is also problematic, most of the irrigation projects you inherited from Aesin cannot be halted without wasting all the effort already put in. "

Their discussion was cut off by a knock on the door. Duport looked at her advisor, who went to open it while she got seated in a hopefully chancellor-like way.

"Sir," the messenger outside bowed to her, "the representatives of Minmay and Ektal have submitted requests to meet with you. "

"At the same time?!" she blurted out.

"Both letters were delivered to the front desk by the early morning runners. Your secretary just came in and noticed them before sending me to get you. "

Unsaid was that the chancellor sleeping over in the town hall office to get more work done was not a common thing.

She looked at Thomas who nodded fractionally. There was no way she could postpone talking to them, Minmay being the most watched person in the country and Ektal being the king. Rebuffing their representatives might cause a diplomatic incident. But she still had so much to do and learn, spending time with representatives of people who probably just wanted to manipulate her to their own ends was wasteful.

Ah! She perked up as she thought of a good idea. "Tell the secretary to write two invitations, I shall meet them both over lunch. At the same time," Duport grinned. Let them fight each other and she wouldn't have to worry about how they were trying to influence her! It was perfect!

The messenger bowed and left.

The wry smile on Thomas's face was not quite enough to blunt her glee.

Why oh why did she arrange this?

Minmay's man to the left and across the table regaled a long tale about how their new property tax worked and the wondrous new infrastructure Muller was building in Minmay city. The clothing he wore bore the new style coming out of Minmay, all severe dark colours tailored into a smart looking fold that managed to appear formal even without the puffy sleeves Duport had grown up around.

To her right, apparently listening with interest, was Ektal's representative. The older woman was just over childbearing age and her lightly greying hair was tucked into a bun above her stately dress. She sipped at the thick soup and occasionally nodded at the details.

"So you see, the cycle is virtuous. As you invest money into improving your city and land, so increases the taxes that it will bear. It is this very cycle that has born fruit in Minmay and will be the solution to your financial troubles," the Minmay representative waved a hand grandly, "all it would take is your will to make the cycle work for you. "

The Ektal woman cut in as he brought a piece of piyo meat to his mouth. "Those words you speak are useless without security and the confidence it brings. My lady, you need a strong arm first, only then can you dream of reaching the sky. "

Duport tried to keep from shaking her head. She knew that both of them were really speaking in the interest of their patrons but she couldn't see how either of those plans would benefit Minmay or Ektal.

It turned out that putting the two representatives together turned them even more flowery and bombastic than usual in an attempt to talk her out of listening to the other side.

The argument playing out in front of her, with Minmay arguing for investing in infrastructure and Ektal for raising a small army, was a graceful one of words but it was no less an argument. Just the politest screaming match she had ever listened to. In the corner, Thomas smiled at her discomfort over his plate of piyo meat. The man even had the temerity to wink!

She swore to somehow dump more work on him. He should have warned her not to do this. It was his job to help her!

"... in the end, the decision lies with the Chancellor. So what do you say?" the Minmay man nodded at her.

Duport blinked and review the last few sentences of the conversation quickly. "Both of your recommendations are impossible," she said then had to quickly cover her words, "what I meant was that the territory does not have the ability to pay for any of this. "

"If you require, Minmay is willing to extend loans for supplies purchased from companies within our city. The loans can be handled in our bank without requiring you to handle large amounts of currency. "

Right, so there was Minmay's motivation. Earning money and through her loans, exert influence. She still hadn't figured out how raising a Duport army would help Ektal though.

Some part of her displeasure must have reached her face for Minmay's representative blanched and quickly changed the subject. "There are other ways we can help. For example, I was also asked to carry a warning to you from the Minmay bank. Nothing to do with loans, I assure you!"

The last part he added on hurriedly when she reacted to the mention of the bank.

"Speak, what is this warning?" Despite her attempt, Duport couldn't quite keep the frost out of her voice. To the side, she noted that the Ektal woman was paying more attention than the polite regard she had held before.

"We think there will be currency troubles in the future," Minmay's man said, indicating the dishes laid out in front of them with his fork, "Cato and the Recordkeepers have determined that there simply isn't enough money to go around. "

There wasn't enough money to... go around? Duport glanced at Thomas at the end of the table but he shook his head. No help there either.

"Every week, we produce new machines and tools. Each new machine helps us produce more goods than we did before. Since this applies to food and most construction, we think that the price drop in food is going to continue for the foreseeable future. Windeye farms just aren't going to earn money any more. " Thomas nodded again, "with a permanent drop in prices of most things, the value of each telin and rime coin as measured by the amount of stuff you can buy with it will increase. "

"You mean it will increase in the Minmay region," the Ektal representative said.

"Right, and if one telin can buy more chokos in Minmay but less everywhere else, what do you think will happen?"

Like a bright light on the horizon, comprehension dawned on her. This explained the oddities in their territory budget! The money was physically leaving their territory in exchange for the imported grain keeping the price down. The coin was concentrating into the hands of the Minmay merchants who could pay the gate taxes.

And since her gate taxes were a fixed sum per cart, that would be why the Thread and Weavers wanted her to lower the taxes for them. The prices of thorndown were dropping while her tax stayed the same.

Duport glanced at Thomas again and saw that he had also realized something. They would have to discuss this.

The rest of the lunch meeting washed over her but the chancellor was already distracted.

The shift leader waved her hands as the steel cables finished spooling out, the clear thunk from the steel frame echoing across the grounds. The owner of the Ironworkers Company looked down expressionlessly from his perch above the dismantled forge.

"We have reached required depth!"

The cables ceased their rattling as the drill ground to a stop. The flow of water going down the pipe did not halt however, the rock chunks at the bottom of the well required more time to be flushed out. A few hours later, the final piece of the steel lining would be inserted into the well.

Similar scenes played out across the countryside. The new drill head allowed the thin wells for the magic density pumps to be sunk through bedrock, and with advancements in the efficiency of the enchantments, the wells only had to be sunk to a depth of three hundred meters to be viable sources. All in all, the reduction in cost had made it profitable to start covering the countryside with a grid of mana pumps.

Placed too closely, the pumps reduced the power of each individual well. Two pumps next to each other yielded less than twice the amount of additional power. This led to a complicated balancing act between the depth and diameter of the well, spacing of the wells and the cost of laying the piping. Plus expected demand and other varying costs.

Cato and the other Recordkeepers working in the University had done some figuring and had drawn up a grid of pump sites through and around the city, dense and small deep bores in the city, sparse and large shallow bores in the outskirts. Now drill heads were being built and rushed into action, sometimes on the same day the assembly was complete.

Willio nodded as the last of the smallest diameter and deepest wells finished drilling. The drill head was emerging now and the front blades would be replaced before moving on to the next well.

Above all other priorities, the Ironworkers Company had been pouring steel for the drills and pump piping for the last two months. Virtually all other construction had halted for the lack of steel while the great drilling projects were rushed forwards under the authority of Minmay. The sheer amount of steel demanded by the project was choking out most other businesses, which had to delay their own activities for a lack of material and even reject orders in extreme cases.

Needless to say, the Ironworkers received the first set of mana pumps. The shutdown period for his forges, to drill pumps right below the two hills occupied by the Ironworkers, was painful to contemplate. But the cost would be worth it, magic would power all activity in the future. It was going to be as ubiquitous as electricity in Cato's world. So it was only good business to have the steel producer expanded first to meet the future demand. Steel was the bones of the economy after all, and magic its blood.

One mana pump in the city would only yield just under a tenth of the power of the Borehole project. But Minmay city planned to have over two thousand once the first phase of drilling was complete, and it was never going to be a finished project. There would always be a well being deepened or broadened, and new wells being sunk throughout the countryside.

The sheer amount of power was unimaginable.

To think of the industry! The great bellows, blasts of heat! Towers spewing fire into the sky! All made possible by the magic that came from beneath the ground. It would a glorious age to come, one to match even the First. And he would live to see it arrive. Willio watched the winch raise the drill head from its rocky tomb and smiled to himself.

And the value of money continued to increase.