Inheritor Of Magic: The Magi King

As the morning wore on, more of the crystals were traded to the stations in exchange for coins and charges on the cards, while a few larger merchants who had come from the other towns had decided to get their cubes charged with their earnings.

Even if there was some movement to reject the cubes and cards as money, they still contained mana, and that had a value of its own, the same as the crystals that they were exchanging. There really was no way that they would lose out in the process, and simply possessing the new currency was enough to show that you supported Forest Grove and its efforts to unify the Frozen Wastes.

That was a fact that wasn't lost on the Fae and Demons who were serving as guardians of the villages. Since they arrived, they had essentially been operating autonomously, but now it was clear that there would be an overseer of the whole territory, with a unified currency, rules and regulations.

Though, the rules that Forest Grove followed were easy enough for all the Guardians in the Frozen Wastes. What they were more worried about were taxes. If there was a Kingdom, it would surely need taxes, they assumed.

But that was not what the Witches had in mind. The major industries of the town, the underground farms and the airstrip, as well as the manufacturing plants, were not run by a nobleman or industrialist, they were run by Forest Grove leadership, and Forest Grove kept the profits after paying the workers.

That was why the kitchens were free of charge, and how they could distribute so much aid to the other villages without causing any unrest. The Fae actually had a word for the setup. Crown Businesses. With so much of the city's operation belonging to the leaders, they didn't need to tax, they just let everyone buy their goods at a reasonable rate.

Of course, the Fae had never considered that you might make giant cargo aircraft that would sell for such a massive amount of money. Just the ones that they had orders for would cover everything that they might want to buy for years to come.

The first of the dual-purpose cargo and passenger aircraft for the Incubus Kingdom was being produced that morning, with an estimated finish date of three days, with four more approved to follow. That would form the basis of the Incubi Airlines fleet, with airstrips now built outside of seven Capital Cities.

The payment would be made in Demon Realm currency, so that Forest Grove had coins on hand to exchange when Demons were headed home.

But the most significant change that had happened that day was not the complex politics behind the situation, or the amount of influence that Forest Grove had gained with the change in currency. No, the largest change was the markets.

Both the underground merchants exchange for bulk goods from other towns that weren't suitable to set up a vendor stall, and the main market in the middle of town were now operating entirely on the new currency, and tap to pay had become a cultural phenomenon.

You touched the vendor's card, willed over the money, they checked the balance on the merchant card and you left. Compared to counting coins and making change at every transaction, it was incredibly efficient, required no math skills or verification of coin weights and authenticity.

The vendor cards would not accept fraudulent cards, though Wolfe hadn't heard of that happening yet, so the vendors could just check the number and be done with it.

While the amount of haggling over price didn't change, the end of the negotiations did. The usual handshake now involved both hands. The right hands clasped in the handshake, while the left ones tapped the cards together to make the transfer.

It looked like some sort of secret order special greeting, but everyone was catching on to it very quickly. It appeared to have started with a few eager buyers who thought that they had gotten one over on the merchant and wanted to finalize the price before they could back out, but now every shop with goods that were bartered for was doing it.

Wolfe was sitting down to have a quick bite of lunch at the exchange stall when one of the Guardians came up to greet him. This one didn't smell of the Frozen Wastes, he smelled of hot sand and beach, so he was almost certainly foreign and visiting for the day.

"How can I help you?" Wolfe asked.

"Will this currency be available elsewhere?" The man replied, looking at the crate of coins.

"It is available to everyone that trades with us. Did you have something larger in mind?"

The man nodded in reply to Wolfe's question.

"I am Arthur, the regional Guardian for Gormana. My apologies for not making my introductions earlier, I was working with Morgana Coven Territory on a new initiative to improve food production again.

The changes you made earlier this year have almost eliminated starvation in the nation, and among our closest allies, but I think we can do better. I heard about the changes you are making here, and wanted to talk to you about bringing both the Gormana allied regions of Morgana and Gormana itself into your trade group, with a shared currency.

The humans' coins are essentially worthless now. They no longer value gold or silver, they value food. It is the perfect opportunity to make a significant change, and a currency that holds mana will allow the witches that we have enticed to move east a better motivation to work.

I am going to talk to the Coven Leader in the Fortress City after this, and I will try to get her on side, so that all of Morgana can be said to be united again."

Wolfe smiled at Cassie and Ella, and Arthur gave him a confused look.

"Do you know the woman? I am told that she is a young leader, but powerful, almost on par with these witches of yours." The Demon asked.

"I do. In fact, you could say that we are good friends. Perhaps it is time to go to the city and make a deal to bring them back into the fold. The Elders are a bit backwards, but it shouldn't take long to shake some sense into them.

Do you know if the Morgana Fortress City has a guardian that I haven't met?"

Arthur shook his head. "They're unaligned so far, and have used the Kind Intentions barrier that you cast to rebuke all attempts to negotiate a deal."

"Then I guess we should fix that as well. It's a good thing to have someone with real power looking out for you in the background, no matter how much those old witches value their political power."