Lucky then further told his thoights, "if you want to trade with us through the sea route, go for it. But we're not making it an exclusive trade deal. As we are speaking right now, Pandora has already finished buying ships from dwarven merchants in the Jadeus Empire. We are preparing to set sail to the West continent in the coming months. So an exclusive trade deal will not be possible."
"I see...." spoke Gerald dejectedly. He knew that Pandora was a much stronger nation than Avant, so he couldn't force such trade deals.
"So, do you have anything else to say?" Inquired Lucky.
"No, well, I had some more to say. But those things fell apart when you rejected our trade deal...." spoke Gerald.
"Very well then. Do you want to know what that strange little toy over there is?" Asked Lucky.
"...."
Gerald was too burdened by the failure to negotiate to even care anymore. He was now sure that he won't be re-elected in next year's elections.
"You don't want to? Fine, I guess we're done with this today," spoke Lucky.
After the meeting was done, Lucky thought to himself, 'was I too scary for him to meet, or was his negotating skills just that bad?'
'Either way, this means that the true strength of Pandora that we have kept hidden for the past 2 or 3 years are slowly being known by the nations surrounding us.'
****
'Who should I pick for Minister of National Security?' Thought Lucky.
Due to Pandora's rapid growth, its leadership positions were still mostly handled by Lucky and the 3 elves.
Aside for Oer, who had Otur as its mayor, every other city was being led by Lucky.
Him being the sole and unchanging ruler of Pandora was also becoming more and more of a problem.
The bigger and more complex Pandora grows, the worse his workload would become.
He was simply too naive to think that he could manage everything by himself.
Just regretting his past self was useless.
So for the past few days, he had been cooking up a new system for his government.
He was going to introduce a parliamentary system, wherein he would choose the candidates for each ministry.
In the future, he would make it so that candidates are chosen via voting.
Still, the top position, the Sovereign, would still be held by himself.
Pandora would still be a dictatorship going forward, albeit with a bit of democracy.
Suddenly, just when he was thinking of putting Elena as the Minister of National Security, he felt a strong presence.
This presence was rapidly approaching from the sky.
'It's my kin?' He thought.
Lucky promptly exited through an open window in his office.
Being on the second floor, he immediately fell down.
And due to his extremely compressed muscles, his weight was far beyond what his body size would have.
Thus, when he fell, the garden outside of his office was messed up.
But instead of caring about it, he merely observed the approaching winged figure in the sky.
Soon, the figure landed.
"I have come to serve you, my Liege," said the figure. It was Aurea.
"Hoh? You've changed, I see," spoke Lucky. He knew immediately that it was Aurea just from the way he spoke.
"Please, give me your orders," said the kneeling vampire.
"Perfect, you're now the new Minister of National Security!" Exclaimed Lucky.
"Huh?"
"What do you mean, "huh?"" Asked Lucky.
"Could you repeat that, my Liege?" Asked Aurea back.
"Become the Minister of National Security?"
"What does that mean, my Liege?"
"You didn't have ministers in Utara?"
"W-we did, but I have never heard of "National Security" before," spoke Aurea.
"Well, you better got used to it. That's your new position now," said Lucky.
"Anyway, I'm off to pick new mayors now. Go make yourself at home, this mansion is now yours. Also, there's going to be a gathering in Oer to establish the new ministers, be sure to com. The event will be held in 5 days. And for the Prime Minister.... hmm, I'll make it a surprise," added Lucky.
Then, Lucky headed towards the road to walk back to Oer.
'I should really push the researchers to finish the new train,' thought Lucky.
'Umm, aren't I supposed to be your knight?' Thought the still-kneeling Aurea.
****
Five days later, in Oer....
In the city hall, a ceremony was being held.
The inauguration of the ministers and mayors was proceeding without any trouble.
There were around 30 different ministries, but since there were still not many people loyal and competent to be ministers, most ministers held the position for multiple ministries.
Elena was chosen as the Minister of War and also the Minister of Defense. She also still held the position of the Chief of Military and Chief of Police.
Once someone competent comes, she would gladly give them any of the 3 remaining positions. Like Lucky, she also felt overwhelmed by the amount of work she had.
Erina was chosen as the Minister of Trade. She also still held the position of head of the Oer Trading Company.
And secretly, she also still held the position of the head of Pandora Intelligence Agency, or PIA.
Ella on the other hand, held only two positions. She was chosen as the Minister of Education, but she also still held the position of Oer Academy's headmistress.
There were many others chosen as ministers, but they weren't chosen directly by Lucky, but were recommended by the elven sisters.
However, there were 2 other ministers directly chosen by Lucky.
They were Brutus and Aurea.
Brutus was chosen as the Minister of Construction, Minister of Mining, and also Minister of Technology.
While it was obvious that his skills for metallurgy, smithing, architecture, and mining were what led to him becoming the Minister of Mining and also Construction, being the Minister of Technology was a different thing entirely.
You see, Brutus had not been slacking for the past 3 years he had been in Pandora.
After learning of cement, he had learned of so many new things during his stay.
To the point where he applied for citizenship.
Of course the other dwarven refugees also followed him, since he was their leader.
And finally, Aurea. Chosen as the Minister of National Security.
To be honest, it was currently still an empty position.
Seeing as it wasn't that much different from the Minister of Defense, it was something Lucky thought of at the last second.
The main difference was that National Security encompasses everything, while Defense only specializes for defending from outside attacks.
Currently, Pandora wasn't lacking much in terms of national security.
But in the future, it would be.
Lucky thought that separating it from war-related stuff this early would be key to a smoother future in governance.