Chapter 458: Restricted

Janis’ plan seemed to start off smoothly, which only made her a little nervous. Not because there weren’t issues, but those issues weren’t quite what she’d thought they would be.

For starters, the actual military aspect of it was pretty easy. The mercenaries seemed content to follow her instructions, as long as they were paid. And she had enough people to send with them as observers and ‘advisors’ to ensure they played by the rules she’d set, at least largely. The mountain of gold she’d thrown at them seemed to have made them inclined to follow orders and not try to rock the boat by being greedy and plundering civilians when she’d forbidden it.

Not that they had had many opportunities to do that yet, admittedly. Things were only just starting up. She had sent a few companies further away and they seemed to have done well, moving in without encountering much resistance.

It was a delicate balancing act. Janis didn’t want to simply attack the cities or provoke them too much, but at the same time showing that she had a large and capable fighting force was vital.

Also seizing the territory immediately surrounding the base. That was only natural.

It only took a few days after her arrival until she had everything prepared and ready to formally announce that she was establishing an exclusion zone around the place. Well, it was more like a message her mercenaries sent to people around them, but still. Janis wasn’t going to quibble over the details here, even if she had spent a while trying to settle on the best wording. Ultimately, the core point of it was that her forces would be controlling the area and preventing anyone they didn’t want there from entering it.

Not that it was really possible to just completely cut off the area or prevent anyone at all from being there. If nothing else, her own forces were too numerous to keep it empty of people and needed bases and transport as well. And there were roads running through it that people would use.

For another thing, there were a few settlements not too distant from the base’s location.

Janis went to one of them herself, escorted by some of the remaining Imperial soldiers they had kept in the south and a larger group of mercenaries. She wasn’t very happy with what she saw, to be honest. The village was small and the houses huddled together. More importantly, it clearly showed signs of recent conflicts.

Perhaps the recent war between the city-states had still left traces. And maybe the ‘rogue’ soldiers who had come through here had also not been perfect guests.

Either way, she had wanted to use these settlements as bases to recruit more forces herself, too. As well as for organizing the mercenaries she had hired, storing and giving out supplies and just generally acting as a logistical center without burdening the outposts they’d quickly put up or, worse, the actual southern Hivekind base. But looking at the way the villagers shied away from her and her escorts, at the dark looks and faint traces of soot on the walls, or the clearly recently patched places where younger wood had been used, she knew it wouldn’t be simple. More complicated than she’d hoped, at least.

“We do not mean you any harm,” Janis told them. “We will not hurt you or take your possessions. We are simply here to assure the security of our own, of a place that holds great importance to my people. You will be able to go about your lives, and I will make sure you are provided for.”

It was obvious they didn’t believe her, even if no one outright spoke up to challenge her. She wasn’t surprised by that. In their shoes, she would have been skeptical, to say the least, too.

She met with the local headman and elders more privately to sort out a few details, but in the end, there wasn’t much they could really do. Janis tried to make it as clear as possible that any misbehavior from her hired troops would be severely punished, and that she was serious about sharing their provisions with any locals in need of aid. She hoped that would be enough.

Not that they had unlimited provisions to spare, of course. They could get some from the Empire via the base’s teleportation pad, but that would hardly be enough indefinitely. They needed to buy food locally, which was another big issue of its own.

At least she had effectively unlimited money for it. The problem was the availability of food. The locals needed to eat too, and they generally didn’t produce a very large surplus; most places didn’t. It meant they would have to do some careful planning.

She also had to deal with a few other concerns, and try to assuage those of the locals. It seemed there might have been a few misunderstandings.

"How long are you planning to remain?” the headman of the village finally asked her about a day after she had first arrived.

Janis paused, looking at him. He was clearly nervous. She considered it a good sign that he was willing to question her, though. “Not indefinitely,” she assured him. “It is not my plan to annex this village, or the rest of the area. But we need to secure it, as I have explained. Once things have been settled with the local cities, we will likely withdraw our forces from here.”

"I see,” he said slowly, but frowned as if he didn’t, in fact, see. “Thank you for answering my questions, Miss. Er, Lady?”

Janis only looked up from the documents on her desk briefly and tried not to sound unkind. “The formal address is 'Your Imperial Highness’, also acceptable are ‘Your Highness’, ‘my lady’, or ‘Princess’.”

He blushed, barely noticeably on his sun-tanned face. “Excuse me, Your Imperial Highness.”

“It’s perfectly fine, I don’t stand on ceremony,” she assured him. “But since you are here, Headman, I wanted to ask about the mood in the village. Are people getting on alright?”

He looked slightly puzzled; maybe she should have been clearer. “Of course, they are getting on as usual. Your soldiers have been well-behaved. A few of them tried to buy things that folk weren’t selling and were a bit persistent, but they left off with no harm done in the end.”

Janis nodded, making a mental note to follow up on it. “I hope we’re not disrupting the normal operations of the village too much.”

“Not much,” he hedged. “It’s lucky the harvest is already done, though we have to start sowing soon.”

It was still a bit odd to her that people basically planted the most important crop in the autumn and harvested in the spring or summer here. Janis knew the climate was different and she had heard enough about the difference between summer and winter wheat, and they were used in the north too, the pattern just wasn’t she was used to or would intuitively assume. Though it was probably a good thing it wasn’t currently harvest season around here. That would have meant even more work and things might have turned uglier. Although it wasn’t like there weren’t other crops who would be due soon, even just in everyone’s garden; she had noted what the village was growing, anyway. Fruits and vegetables should be harvested about now, and maybe olives too, though she wasn’t an expert on that.

Janis just hoped the region’s harvests wouldn’t be too adversely affected by the current situation and the fighting, if there was to be more of that — which there probably would be.

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Tem poked his head in. “Janis, the company you were waiting for arrived. The captain wants to speak to you.”

Janis nodded and turned back to the village elder. “We will have to cut this short here,” she said. “Did you have any other questions to address? I can make time later.”

He shook his head. “No, it’s fine, Princess. I’ll leave.”

Janis massaged the bridge of her nose for a second as he left, then put the documents aside and stood up. She still had a lot of work to do.

She didn’t mind meeting with the mercenary leaders personally, to form an impression of them, but admittedly, this one could have been handled by someone else. It was a smaller company, and the captain didn’t strike her as particularly noteworthy compared to all the other mercenaries she’d met recently. A bit self-important, and as prone to bragging about his or his company’s prowess as the next of them.

Janis decided to take the opportunity to walk around the village a bit after that meeting, checking on things in person. Of course, that didn’t necessarily give her a good view of its normal operations, considering everyone stopped what they were doing when she got too close. The soldiers saluted or bowed, and the villagers bowed too if they didn’t manage to disappear before she got in range. It left her a bit uncomfortable, in a way she hadn’t really felt much lately.

I thought I got used to being a princess, Janis reflected as she turned back. Is it just because we’re outside the Empire now? She sighed quietly. Maybe because they’re afraid of me?

She hated this entire situation, when she dwelled on it. The Empire should have minded their own business and left these people alone, to their own affairs. Or at least, helped them with technological or even economic capital, not this. But unfortunately, they needed to keep the southern base safe, and the cities couldn’t just let things be. Now she needed to go further to secure the base. And to be sure the gods aren’t involved, or try to figure out what their play here is.

Her mood brightened a little when she recognized the person standing outside the town hall.

“Iliam, right?” she called.

He turned and gave a half-theatrical bow. “Princess Janis. A wonderful day to you.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” Janis approached, smiling. “I didn’t think to see you here to soon.”

“I made good time from Veragles,” he answered. “It sounded like it would be better for me to come sooner rather than later.”

“That’s probably true,” she agreed. “Do come in, and I’m sure we can find a drink here.”

The dwarf grinned. “Thank you for the welcome.”

Janis was curious what he had to say, but she contained herself for a little while, knowing he’d probably want a minute after the rigors of the trip. Instead, she tasted the ale someone had procured from somewhere. It wasn’t bad, but she stuck with one cup; she wasn’t used to drinking alcohol and didn’t have much of a taste for it right now, anyway.

"I admit I was looking forward to seeing a few of the old crew,” Iliam said once they had settled down. “Is Dan not here?”

“He’ll be back soon,” Janis told him. “He had to go to see to another matter, but he should return any moment now. You might also see a few of the others in time, but I’m not sure.”

Personally, she was really curious about the outcome of Dan and the others’ expedition — what she’d heard already sounded rather interesting; a buried Mesen spaceship? — but it would probably take a while until she got an update. Probably with Dan or the others returning, she doubted they would be needed in Antarctica for long.

“Good. But I assume you want news from me rather than questions about old party members.”

“That’s true. Do you have a message from Lucian, or the other leaders of Veragles?”

Iliam set down his mug and looked a bit more serious. “Not an official one,” he clarified. “That will be handled through ‘other channels’. But privately, the archmage told me that he sympathizes with the Empire in this matter and is willing to act as mediator or the like. However, they can’t just tell Iliucin to knock it off. And I got the impression that if you want the city’s direct help, they’re open to the idea, but they’ll also want to profit from it in some way.”

Janis nodded. That was more or less what she’d have expected. “In your opinion, is it true that they didn’t know this was going to happen?”

Iliam hesitated for a moment. “The leadership of Veragles isn’t a monolith,” he finally said. “I don’t think most of them knew. Lucian probably didn’t. I’m less sure about others, they may have heard something from Iliucin. They have a lot of contacts and influence there, after all.” He shrugged. “I’m not a politician, Princess. I can’t really tell you anything for sure.”

Janis suppressed a grimace. She supposed he had a point. It was still unpleasant to consider. We can’t really rely on Veragles, she reflected. Not that I was planning to. Still, the political currents of that city could shift, and if a faction more hostile to us takes power, it would be an issue. We’ll have to deal with this on our own, for the most part. But without angering them unnecessarily, either, of course.

“I appreciate your insight anyway,” she said.

The dwarf shrugged. “Your Empire has done a lot for my people, this is the least I could do.”

Before they could continue the conversation, someone knocked on the door. Janis called for them to enter and one of the mercenary officers she was vaguely familiar with poked her head in.

“There’s a group of travelers from the north, Milady,” she said. “They’re not taking kindly to us telling them they can’t continue on this way. Captain Terrace thought it might be best if you spoke to them, if you would.”

“Alright, I’ll be on my way.”

Iliam lifted his mug slightly when she looked at him. “Doesn’t bother me, I’ll just sit here and finish this fine drink.”

Well, he has it easy, she thought grumpily as she rose and followed the mercenary out. She would rather not have to deal with pissed-off travelers and explain why she had declared this region off-limits for anyone to pass through, either.

This was the largest group they’d seen yet, though this road wasn’t that well-traveled, anyway. About a dozen people, with several carts, and their leader already had a head full of steam talking to the mercenary captain. Who was keeping admirably calm, at least. Janis sighed and joined them.

While she argued with them, she couldn’t help but reflect on how much more disruptive their presence was going to be.

“Well, then we’ll just stay here until you clear this road, you barbarians,” the leader finally snapped.

“Feel free,” Janis said drily. “We won’t force anyone to accommodate you, though. You’ll have to see what the villagers are willing to sell you.”

The man paused and looked around. “Are you maybe in the market for some goods yourself?” She could practically see him realizing the possibilities of the troops present and calculating potential income in real time.

Janis almost snorted at the quick turn-around. “If you want to sell here, and your goods are high-enough quality, you may do so.”

“Let’s see what you’ve got, then, merchants,” Terrace said, grinning.

Janis frowned as she watched them get down to business. This was probably a good thing, but she also didn’t exactly want her outposts or occupied settlements to become magnets for commerce, either. Well, that probably wouldn’t be a problem, given everything else.

Things at least seemed to be falling into place.