The case for governmental legitimacy has been beaten to death already. We are all aware of the malignant effects that come about when the general populations fails to put trust behind its government. Thus, no time shall be wasted on this universal truth, besides, that is not the lesson to take from Imperial Governance.

The true lesson is this measure of relative openness that is displayed by the Imperial Bureaus to the general population. To look at things in a vacuum would be missing the grander picture, as well as the fact that I am writing this for myself and myself alone. My history is with the White Pantheon, thus, comparison to the White Pantheon will take place.

And with this policy, the White Pantheon traditional form of directive-governance has been rendered obsolete. In the same fashion that Kassandora’s Corps structure has revolutionized warfare so far that it is seeing establishment in Pichqasuyu, Esberia and Ihon, I firmly believe that Arascus that the Arascan policies to rulership will shake up the governments of other nations soon enough.

We see little of Helenna’s influence in Imperial Policy, her traditional method of structured debate with one, clear, humiliated loser and one clear, concrete winner to breed consensus before policy is dropped is nowhere to be seen. Instead, Imperial Policy, especially Imperial policy of strategic importance, is usually broadcast in emergency viewings across all news channels. Problems are presented clearly, in simply terms, and solutions are given in just as simple terms. The populace is reminded not to panic, to follow directives and to get on with their lives. Rarely is it even stated that the problem will be solved, rather just things are progressing as scheduled and what to do next.

Whereas one can try to argue about the efficiency of such commands and how united efforts of course will contribute far better to the implementation of policy. There is another, more primal and very human, effect that is typically missed. One that has Arascus’ touch all over it. That is the effect we see of such policy amongst Imperial population. Whether it’s due to their victory in the Kirinyaan Invasion, the Epan War and the Anarchia Crisis, we see continuous, steady trust in Arascus’ rulership and the Imperial government. Certain factors, such as the penal Legion and the Ban on Gold, which should be terribly unpopular, have instead either been accepted as necessary if not outright celebrated.

It has come to the fact that one must consider a psychological explanation of the effects rather than a simple, cost-benefit logical analysis. Whereas we can point to loyalty, both Maisara and I highly doubt this reasoning. The simple fact of the matter is that even Divine Orders are paranoid with their new members and we take precautions, screenings, tests and examinations before accepting candidates. No. There is another just as human emotion that has been around for longer than most Divines have even been around.

It is the general atmosphere of Trust that the Empire has towards its subjects. Not the populace towards the government but vice-versa. The demands of Arascus government are dealt with as logistical issues rather than problems which first everyone has to agree on.

In such fashion, Maisara and I speculate on whether Arascus actually possesses the good will to actually trust his population or whether he considers himself so grand that the idea of someone untrusting of him is a concept entirely alien to his mind.

– Excerpt from “Spectator of the Surface War”, written by Goddess Fortia, of Peace.

Arascus stood on the small balcony that hung off the edge of the top floor as he watched the dawn rise over Anver. Dusk would be coming over Epa. Kavaa had slept for more than twelve hours ago at this point. One full day had passed since the Empire entered General Mobilization and he was stuck here looking after a Goddess of Health who was only a hair’s width away from a total breakdown. If she fell down that hole, they would have to spend a month dragging her out and it was unknown whether the creature that emerged would even bother to pretend it still had traces of the bitter Goddess within herself.

That was not an option. Arascus scrolled down his phone and selected the next Goddess to inspect. The lines were tapped, hundred percent they were tapped. The UNN could be considered incompetent if it wasn’t spying on them. That didn’t matter though. One of Imperial Openness’ greatest strengths was that they had little to hide even if someone had managed to find blackmail upon them. Arascus rang Olonia, she picked up almost immediately. “Olonia speaking my Emperor.” Iliyal had asked for little but compliancy could always be assured. The elf may have been made Hand of the Emperor and throwing that title around would no doubt beat the humans into submission, but Divines were a different, more annoying breed.

“What is your status on Mobilization?”

“I’m just briefing Mieszko on his responsibilities as my replacement.” Something clattered from the other side. “I’m leaving for Iliyal’s strategy meeting in thirty minutes Sir so…” She trailed off. Arascus heard her try to speak quietly. “You don’t speak like that, remember.”

Arascus chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Tell him as long as he reports, he can speak however he wants.” Arascus said. “I was just checking in. Good luck to you.” And he shut the call off. It would be annoying but Aliana had needed to be told to hurry up whereas Saksma, with all of Doschia, was still struggling for candidates. Arascus slid the phone back into her pocket as he turned from the dawn to the snow-capped mountains in the west. They bounced sunlight off their peaks brilliantly. Roads ran between them, a traffic had jammed up as it did every morning. Below, the situation was much the same as people drove their daily work. That was no surprise though, Etala had been embarrassed about the amount of congestion and she promised that the other cities did not experience this but Arascus highly doubted that. The simple fact of the matter was that the survivors of the east had needed to be resettled. No city in Epa would be able to take a sudden doubling of its population as well as Anver did anyway.

Arascus went back inside. He took the cup of tea he had made for Kavaa and drank it for her if she wasn’t coming back out yet. It had been sitting for an hour now, the fourth one that had been brewed and the eighth Arascus had drank. Strong, the taste of the raspberries had seeped well into the drink. Arascus set the kettle on and pulled out another two bags of the fruit tea that had been brought over from Epa. They only drank coffee here but it didn’t fit the mood for what Kavaa had gone through last night.

The kettle started to hiss as Arascus pulled out his phone and texted Iliyal: Our Docking Rights have gone through, use the logistics fleet for North Arika evacuations. The rest, the elf could handle by himself. The basic necessities, upping production of gas-masks and canned goods, making sure that the city bunkers had their storerooms full and so on would already have gone down the list. Iliyal answered almost immediately. He just reacted to the message with a saluting emoticon. Arascus rinsed out Kavaa’s cup, threw her a bag of raspberry mix in and drowned it in boiling water. He did the same for his. The trick to improve the taste was to set a small plate over the cup to stop the steam and temperature from escaping.

And so, Arascus stood with nothing much to do. He looked at the news again, the Gold Ban was still the mainstay of every front-page. But already Iliyal had personally announced the re-instatement of the Penal Legion that had seen sporadic use throughout Lubska. Now though, the call for conscription had been extended to every man behind bars. That had come just minutes after the announcement that the Empire needed fighters and that general conscription was to be activated.

Arascus wondered how it went over that most students, unless they were in engineering or some other technical subject, had not been made exempt. Nor had married men without children. That and singles aged eighteen to thirty-five were the blood that needed to be spilled so far. It could be expanded if they found themselves short. Arascus looked at the sun, now creeping over the buildings and finally heard shifting from Kavaa’s room. There was a slight moan. A wail that sounded like the crying of a child for only a moment. Then lethargic crashing as she dressed herself.

The God of Pride inspected his own cup of tea, ninth one today, and stared at Kavaa’s door. The Goddess of Health opened it gingerly. She had dressed herself for another shift at Anver health, dark trousers and a white shirt over which the black coat would go. Strands of grey hair stuck out in all sides, Arascus tried to keep himself from smiling at the sight of it. “Did you take my phone?” She asked.

“You left it in your coat last night.” Arascus said. He nodded to the table. “I’ve plugged it in to charge.”

She stared at her phone for a moment and sighed. “I need to brush my teeth.” She said.

“I’ve messaged the Order already and told them they won’t see you again.” Kavaa looked at him for a while, anger sparking across her face, and then she just sighed. Her eyes dropped down to her feet as she undid the top two buttons of her shirt and loosened it.

“I need to brush my teeth.” She repeated. Arascus shrugged and tilted his head to the bathroom. The Goddess of Health did not even bother closing the door as she looked down at toothbrush next to his. Through the mirror, her eyes were fixed on him. Meticulous as always, even though Divines so much as plaque. It was largely to dispel the poor smell that set in after the night.

She spat and leaned on the huge sink, staring into the water flowing away. Arascus simply watched as he sipped the tea. Brilliantly strong taste. Kavaa took her brush and began… Arascus watched her… What was she even doing? He had met Divines incapable of styling themselves but the woman used it like a weapon upon herself. “Kavaa.” Arascus cooed. Her grey eyes locked on his and a blush entered her cheeks. “Do you know what you’re doing?” Arascus the tea down.

“Of course I do.” She said. Arascus smiled and pulled out a chair.

“Come here.” He said. “It’s not a battle.” Kavaa, looking utterly defeated, dragged her feet back to the main room as she awkwardly shuffled to sit on the chair. Arascus took the brush from her hands and passed her the cup. She smelled the hot air and sipped.

“How are you feeling?” Arascus scooped up the woman’s hair with one hand to try and separate it. When was the last time she had brushed herself? Surely not this year!

“Terrible.” Kavaa said quietly as she looked down. “Forget what happened last night.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Arascus finally took the brush and began to run through the matted mess. The greyness somewhat hid the mess, it was a colour both light and yet one that didn’t bounce light too greatly. “You do it like this.” The brush got jammed on the first stroke. “Like this.” Arascus tugged it free and started at the bottom.

“Mmh.” Kavaa said. “I know how to brush my hair.”

Arascus ignored the fact that if she knew, it wouldn’t have gotten to this state. “But what happened, happened. You needed to get it out.”

“At the end.” Kavaa said. “I pushed into you.”

“I remember.” Arascus said dryly and started going faster. Once he had brushed Fer’s hair, there was nothing that came close in difficulty.

“I…” Kavaa trailed off again. “I’m sorry for that. It’s not my place.”

“It is what it is.” Arascus said. “You’re not the first and you won’t be the last.”

Kavaa chuckled. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“Did it?” No response. Arascus kept brushing. Another set now. “But I did mean it, when I said that I trust you with Kass.” Frankly, if anything, last night had solidified everything he needed to know. Kassandora needed something to work on other than war and he would be around if they started dragging each other down.

“Why do you even say that?” Kavaa blabbered out.

“Because it’s true.” Arascus said. No response again. Arascus brushed once, twice, thrice. What a mess. “I won’t hold anything that you said last night against you.” Again, no response. Arascus brushed once, twice, thrice. It was getting better. “And I do not care if we have to repeat it again. We most likely will.”

“I hope not.” Kavaa said and Arascus smiled from behind her as he moved on to another section.

“When it comes to it, it comes to it.” Arascus said as he moved onto her other side. It was going smoothly now.

“Where did you learn this?” Kavaa asked as she felt the strands of her hair.

“I have daughters.”

“Mmh.” Kavaa said, once again going quite. “I…” She trailed off again. “Really though, I want to apologize.”

“It’s settled already Kavaa.” Arascus said. “You have nothing to apologize for. You dressed up ready for work in the morning.”

“I overslept.”

“Who hasn’t?” Arascus asked.

“You.”

Silence.

Arascus supposed she was right, although he rarely bothered to sleep. That was more a case of just skipping time and somehow, agelessness made the passage of time sting all the more. Arascus doubted he would be able to fall asleep even if he tried to. “You’ve chosen a bad comparison.” Arascus replied. No need to rub it. He started moving to the last set of roots. Her hair was smooth enough that it naturally unwound itself. Nothing like Fer’s curly mane. “How’s the tea?”

“It’s good.” Kavaa said replied. “I thought you would have made it a drink.”

“Didn’t fit the moment.” Arascus replied and Kavaa chuckled.

“I suppose it didn’t.” She said. “But I didn’t think you’d like fruit tea.”

“When I formed, we had not even invented wine yet.” Arascus said. “Brewed fruit was a luxury.”

“Well it’s a luxury now too.”

“It’s for special occasions.” Arascus said. “Whiskey is good enough usually.” He finished and set the brush down. “There.” Kavaa took another sip and stood up. She caught herself in the mirror and smiled as she looked at herself from either side.

“Don’t tell Helenna you can do this.”

“Your warning is late.” Arascus said. “She’s made me do this several times already.” Kavaa chuckled and touched her hair as if afraid she would ruin it.

“Did you really tell them I’m not coming in today?” Kavaa asked, still looking at herself. Before, it had been the grey of ash. Now, it was of the grey of snows at night. Arascus went back to drinking his own cup.

“Things have worked out badly.” Arascus admitted. “But know I would have given you a day off either way.”

“So there is something?” Kavaa’s smile did not drop. She went to sit down on the couch. Arascus had made sure to keep the remote control to the television near himself.

“There is.” Arascus said. “Clerical recruitment will be in the evening, and then we’re going back to Epa.” Kavaa collapsed backwards and her head to finally stare at him in the same fashion he stared at her.

“What happened?”

Arascus took a deep breath and took the remote. He had a channel prepared already. “I’ll brew another tea. It’s urgent but it’s no so urgent.” It was the most urgent thing in the world but there was little he could do to help when it came to the scale of intercontinental warfare. That had been a lesson learned during the Great War. Ultimately, as powerful as he was, he was just one man. The Empire was designed from the ground up to function with as little levers as possible. Iliyal had already jump-started the engine of General Mobilization, there would be nothing to assist with in terms of papers and even less when it came to interfering with the Bureaus. Gears worked best when they didn’t have wrenches thrown into them after all.

“It’s bad.” Arascus said. “But we’ve dealt with it before.” They dealt with it before and they lost. The situation was different now, true. Paraideisius had not descended upon Arda yet nor had the White Pantheon officially thrown in their support of Tartarus. Although they had little to throw in at this point. Fortia and Maisara’s unofficial exit from the Pantheon had stripped them of their second and third largest armies. The official betrayal of Kavaa and of Elassa had stripped them of their largest in the Clerics and of their most powerful in the mages. The Seekers would not make a move of that scale without Allasaria to represent them. All that was left were the various Forces that had their own small sects but those were famously careful with their followers.

But likewise, the Second Expedition had caught the Empire out of position. The War College of Arcadia was not the titan it had been in ages past. Most of the Goddesses had been sent underground to try and secure victory for the Second Expedition in one final assault. It was truly descending down to a clash of systems. They should have their machine Gods by now, but even the project of Mass Manufacturing Divinity had been sidelined at its final step. “There is nothing we can do.” Arascus held the control. “It’s not the death of a Divine, but it’s equally bad. But there’s something else.”

“What?”

“The wait is the worst part.”

Arascus turned the television before Kavaa on and it immediately flickered into life. It was the EIE broadcast that Helenna had given today. It had been dawn for them back then, the video said as much: Live broadcast by Goddess Helenna, of Love. There she stood, in a black uniform, her hair red. Arascus had not fed her a script, she was much too competent for that sort of micromanagement but he did tell her how to frame it. The old style of White Pantheon policy would not do.

And so, the Helenna in the television began with a readjustment of her high-pointed cap. It bore her emblem: the thorned rose. A mirror image was on the silver band on her belt. “Ladies and gentlemen.” Helenna began dryly. “As you have heard yesterday, the Empire has entered a state of General Mobilization.” Kavaa gasped and Arascus filled the kettle again. “I am sure you have all heard of Minister Trosk’s speech regarding this, I would like to confirm everything he has said is true. The demons of Tartarus have in fact breached the Sassara and are currently making their way to Epa and Arika. The cloud of ash.” From her podium, Helenna pulled out a large piece of paper. The camera zoomed in on it. It was just a satellite image of the yellow sands of the Sassara as seen from space. And in the middle was a dot of grey and black. “Effectively block reconnaissance and we will not throw lives away by sending men to confirm whether it is true or not. What is known is that Tartarus has operated this way during the Great War and they still operate like this today.”

“That’s real?” Kavaa asked.

“That’s real.” Arascus confirmed as he poured another pair of teas to set.

Helenna continued. “That image I just showed you was from two days ago, when the cloud finally became visible from space. Yesterday morning, our satellites took this photo.” She showed off another image. The dot had doubled and another had appeared by its side. “This is the image I received two hours ago. This is the most recent image I have seen although I am sure Imperial High Command is keeping track of the situation.” She showed off the third image. Not a dot anymore but a line that stretched a tenth of the desert. “The unnatural shape excludes chance it may be geological activity and we have received additional information from the Second Expedition.”

Helenna sighed. “And in regards to this, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sons, mothers and fathers and daughters and sons, the news is not good.” Helenna stared into the camera for a moment. Arascus could not help but smile at how natural the Goddess of Love was at it. Not good was an understatement, the situation was atrocious. “The Second Expedition has indeed confirmed the fact that Tartarus is on Arda, and they have been engaged with pushing the demons back from our world. They have succeeded insofar as here.” Helenna brought out another image, one that was a map of Epa with lines the represented the underground tunnels shaded in various colours. There was considerably more red than blue.

“Red is our forces. As you can see, we have pushed into the Sassara and almost gotten to the cracks in the tunnels that we suspect formed during Continent Cracking and gave Tartarus entry into them in the first place. As you can see, Tartarus is not undefeatable, they are merely grand.” If Arascus had a drink to raise, he would raise one for that line. That was a thoroughly excellent way of reframing the situation. “We will push them back.” The camera zoomed out to once again focus on Helenna as she set the image back down. There were flashes of light from reporters taking photographs although not. “We will win this war. They will crash upon our shores like a wave and we shall send them to the depths of the ocean. Ashen skies will be washed away, end times shall be put on hold and apocalypse may come to gaze upon us, and we shall gaze right back until it moves away.” Helenna’s hair changed to a more fiery red as she spoke. She had gotten better at controlling her emotions like that and using her hair as a call to arms itself.

There were a few cheers in the room from that from the reporters. This time, Helenna did wait for the noise to settle down. “Now I have come to announce the purpose of this presentation. We have instituted the Imperial ban on gold.” Helenna prepared an image. “Whereas I am aware it sounds farcical.” Perfect play of words there. Arascus himself would have said the exact same thing. “It is not. This.” Helenna brought up a picture that was of a hand holding a coin in its palm. “Is an image taken from the Second Expedition. I will hand these out later. Here is another.” This time, the image was of a coin sitting on the sleek armour of a military vehicle. And another. This time of a coin on the ground. That was the image most clear. “These are all photos taken by the Second Expedition.”

Helenna herself turned to the image as if she had become a teacher presenting. Her hair switched to a professional black as she pointed. “What do we see at the centre of the coin? We see a demon.” She pointed with a long finger to the figure sitting in the middle. A demon on throne leaning forward, his mouth twisted into a smile, his horns turned downwards. “This is Mammon.”

Kavaa turned in horror to Arascus and he sipped the tea. That was all there was to it. It wasn’t a lie. “What is Mammon?” Helenna continued in that teacherly tone. “Mammon is a Tartarian Prince. He is their spymaster. He cannot hurt you nor is he dangerous in the traditional sense. Yet here.” Helenna brought up all three photos again. Two in one hand and one in the other. “You can see the differences, in one photo, he is sat up, in one, he is smiling, in one, he is leaning to the side.” Helenna held the images for the audience to inspect.

She dropped the bomb-shell that sent silence throughout the room of reporters. “These are all of the same coin.”

The silence held on for a few moments until Helenna restarted the explanation. “Mammon is very much alive and he can see you. Whereas he can hear, we simply do not know but we work under the assumption he can. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the reason for the ban on gold. If you have jewellery, if you have plates, if you have statues, it is mandated that they be locked away in your deepest cellar and not to be brought out until this threat is defeated. Any office of government and any military facility will be inspected for gold which shall be temporarily confiscated as this war rages on. From this moment on, it is illegal under penalty of monetary fine and confiscation to wear gold out in the open. To wear gold into military installations or government offices will be treated as being a facilitator to espionage.”

Helenna put the images back down. “That is all. This is no joke. Mammon is the greatest spymaster to ever exist. I have personally removed all gold from my establishments.” She bowed her head. “We are in a time of crisis, apologies but I will not be taking questions.” And with that, Helenna walked off screen. The reporters were too stunned to even shout after her. The video cut and ended. The television once again became black.

Her voice was that of a child’s. “What do we do now?”

“Have tea.” Arascus passed her the new cup and Kavaa passed back the empty one. She sat there, wide-eyed. Arascus sat down next to her to let her process everything. It was out of his control. The Empire was strong enough to withstand. He had built it. It would be strong enough. Failure was not an option. Arascus sipped his tea and leaned back. As he had said before, the wait was the worst part.

“We’ll win though?” She said.

Rarely did Arascus talk of things he did not know. That was the best way to make oneself into an irredeemable fool on the spot. But how could he answer that question? Kavaa may not be adopted, but that was only a formality at this point. If he brushed her hair, then she was one of his.

He said the same thing he would to any of them, as definitely as he could. “We’ll win.”

She nodded and stared and sipped her tea.

And Arascus smiled as he leaned back and sipped his. Crisis or not, he had done some good for the world. Maybe Kavaa had not noticed it, but he certainly did: She had not sworn once since she woke up.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep