Kalmar Union, Neues Reich…
The President of the Kalmar Union frowned as he read the information his network had uncovered, "The Tsardom and Hohenzollern are going to war…"
He thought for a moment, before calling out to his assistant on the outside of his study's door, "Call for an emergency council."
"Yes, Mr. President," The assistant's voice floated in before silence returned.
The President sighed, "This had to happen during my term. Damnit! 2 years was the entirety of my presidency, it was meant to only be a cushy position. But here was are, barely a year into my term and this is happening!"
…
The Kalmar Union traced its roots back to the tribal era. As the tribes came together, it turned out that their strengths were rather close to equals, preventing any one tribe from swallowing the others. When enough tribes ended up living close to teach other, the largest 11 tribes formed a deal.
They swallowed the smaller tribes such that their numbers were equal, before coming together to form a council. The Council composed of representatives selected by each of the families to secure their own interests, totalling 11 representatives.
Every 2 years, 1 of these representatives is selected to become the President, who would maintain the day-to-day functions of the nation, while for emergencies, or long-term decisions, the council would be called for a meeting and the decision would be made.
The ruling of the council itself was rather simple; with a total of 11 members including the one that become the president, everyone had only two options for each decision; either agree or disagree, with a simple majority being achieved on every decision at 6:5 in the closest case.
Plus, the number of representatives cannot go above or below 11, even in the case of injury, unavailability, or death, another representative would have to be selected by the respective family with haste.
With another condition that the president could not be from the same family for 11 elections, every single family would get the opportunity to have the presidency, becoming a rather fair system.
'Fair,' James scoffed, 'Only for the council families.'
As it turned out, while the major families were originally the main population of the Union, as time passed, and the families splintered, the true population had increased to the point where the council families were merely the elite. Comprising an astonishing 2% of the total population, the council families held all the legislative, judiciary, and executive powers of the nation firmly in their hands.
To further cement their control, these families had firmly rejected the pathway of technology, as it even allowed the lowest of lows to pose a danger to those in power. On the other hand, the path of Mana was what they had selected as their nation's future, as it allowed for them to completely control the dissemination of Mana abilities.
Plus, unlike technology, killing the few who had gained knowledge of Mana training methods before they become powerful Magi was easy, allowing them to maintain their control over the nation.
With this system in play, they had rapidly developed powerful Magi, without much innovation in the application of Mana, unlike the German Reich. With the missing training method that Armin II had worked most of his life on creating, the Kalmar Union had far fewer Magi.
But with all resources of the nation focussed on just a few, they had, by far, the most Rank 3 Magi; numbering almost 300.
Of course, over time, the foundation laid out in the German Reich would inevitably cause the Kalmar Union to be overtaken, but for now, it was the nation with the highest Magical prowess.
…
"So, what is this meeting for?" One Council member waved his hand while leaning back in his chair lazily.
"War," The President stated simply, causing shock to all those present before continuing, "Hohenzollern declared war on the Tsardom of Moscow. We need to figure out our stance. Do we join in the war? When? And which side do we support? These are the three motions that need discussion and voting today. It must be completed by the end of the day as the war is already underway."
The other nodded to each other, realising the severity of the situation.
…
"Stability! We need Stability to improve the Ranks of our Magi!" One council member roared in anger as his pale face flushed red, the argument already having been ongoing for the past 20 minutes.
"Nonsense! We need to reduce the population! Send them to war!" Another banged his hands on the table with immense force, causing it to crack.
"Are you insane! That could lead to a revolt! Like in Hohenzollern! Or worse!"
"We have all the Magi! Who can deal with them?!"
"20 Jerries can take down a Rank 1 Mage. 50 can take down a Rank 2 Mage whose Mana has turned liquid. Even if 100 aren't enough for the Rank 3 Magi who had solidified their Mana, 200 should be. If not 200, 500, or even 1000 Jerries. With so many Jerries, Rank 3 Magi can only escape. We have only about 290 Rank 3 Magi, some of who are not even under our full control. What was the population of the Kalmar Union again?" The President asked with a serious expression, the numbers and figured clearly running in his mind.
Without access to Mana or technology, the living conditions for the masses had not improved much, but neither hand their lifespans, resulting in a growing population for the Kalmar Union.
And so many Jerries revolting could cause all the council families to lose their power, and the result was that the meeting… which resembled an angry mob comprising of fans of various opposing teams, continued hurling insults and facts at each other before finally coming to a decision.
Word Count: 977 words