Keeping the Peace [Mission // Training]

There are many jobs that court magicians are supposed to take - Helping the people, researching magic, coming up with new ways of using their gift, and doing whatever it is that the Pharoah, Vizier or Magister requires help with this very day. There were countless jobs, the power and prestige that came from being in the court was balanced by just how hard a job it was.

That being said, one of the most difficult jobs that he was supposed to do was to help encourage the spread of peace anywhere and everywhere. Well, as long as the war didn't directly benefit Heliohept in some way or another. The magicians were the wise men of the country, and thus they were often able to bring people to reason when nothing else was.

Whilst there was no war between Reim and Kou, after everything that had happened, it wasn't too unbelievable to think that there might very well be a war one day if things kept going down this path. Even with the new leaders. Still, nobody would benefit from a war between these two great nations, and he was sure that it would make it difficult to make potential allies  when people were attempting to kill each other.

It was because of this reason that it was his duty to be able to bring people in the kingdom of Reim to working well with the swelling population in Kou. This was a dangerous job for him to do - he had heard countless stories about the people who had attacked innocents because they were angry about a supposed "occupation". He was going to be dealing with this very sort of person today, and though he was not scared one way or another, he knew that he would have to be very, very careful.

Embracing the East - 304 / 500

Today, Seti was having to walk a fine line. At once, he had to make sure that the war was unlikely to break out and he had to make sure that nobody worked out who he was. Because, whilst he was sure that being a representative of the Pharaoh's court would buy him some clout, he also knew that it would attract him some seriously negative attention, something that would make any further missions within this land uncomfortably difficult.

Because of this, he had dressed himself in some clothes that he had been allowed to keep from the ship, and his staff was resting on the side of the stall. He simply looked like a normal man, or rather a normal magician, his white hair completely hidden underneath a bandana and thus his heritage hidden from view. He could, hopefully, make it through today without drawing too much attention one way or another.

---

The event was a rather small one. A stall had been constructed juts outside of the Mantua marketplace, in a place secluded enough so as to not get in people's way but out in the open enough to know that nobody would be able to truly ignore them fully. There were a good five people manning the stall apart from him, from Kou and Reim and even one he was certain that was an Imuchakkian.

"Hello!" Seti called out, catching the attention of one of the young men passing by "I would like to talk to you about Kou!"

Embracing the East - 500+ / 500

As you could probably expect, the vast majority of people simply reacted by shrugging it off. He could not really blame them for not wanting to get involved one way or the other, the simple fact of the matter was that this was something that most people didn't want to think about, but it was his job to make them want to think about it.

After five minutes, the first person who actually seemed half interested in what they were actually trying to do approached the stall. However, judging by the scowl on his face, he got the feeling that he was not interested for the reason that Seti wanted him to be interested.

"Urgh," the man's voice was nasally and pompous. It instantly brought to mind some of the more spoiled court magicians that he had dealt with. ", you do realize that the people of Kou occupied our nation, right?" Well, no they weren't, but he wasn't able to reply before the man continued "You're asking us to sit back and take it from a country of bullies."

"Actually, I'm asking you to give it time to work things out." Even when he disliked the man, his voice still didn't change from the usual serene tone that he was known for. "I agree; the old emperor was manipulative, but he's gone now. The troops have pulled out. Now you have two options - embrace Kou whilst they're weak and still adjusting, or keep being confrontational and start a war that nobody will walk away from happily."

There was a flicker of doubt on the man's face as if he understood something that Seti was saying but didn't want to admit it.
"But..."
"Tell me something - would you rather your country become rich and your standards of living improve, or would you rather have your country go into a bloody war that you will likely be made to fight in? One way everyone's happy, the other way nobody is."
"... fair point."

The man seemed to bite his tongue, not wanting to agree with the man due to his obvious pro-Kou leanings, but there was a definite point there. It seemed that even if the man wasn't happy with what was going on, he wasn't going to start any trouble. That was really all they needed.  

People Convinced 1/3
Gravity Lift, Stage one 380/500

It was, unfortunately, more than clear that people weren't really paying attention. They had put themselves in an area where they wouldn't be able to go unseen, and yet people were choosing to act as if they weren't there just because they didn't want to have to deal with them. Whether this was because they didn't want to defend their hatred of Kou or whether they just didn't care, he wasn't sure. However, he decided that he should draw the crowd's attention. If they weren't going to give him their attention willingly, he would just have to make them give it to him by force.

Grabbing his staff from the side of the stall, he gave it a quick twirl as white rukh began to flurry around him. He had very little knowledge of magic outside of the orange subtype, but he had had one spell beaten into him in Magnostadt. Something that would draw the public's attention harmlessly. As his spell finished, he shot into the air, his feet free of the draw of the earth.

"People of Mantua!" It was at times like this that he seriously wished that he had sound magic. It would act as a wonderful amplifier, but he was just going to have to do with shouting. "I know that a lot of you are upset about the current situation with Kou. Some of you are scared that your country will be attacked, some of you are angry that you're being made to rely on another country. However, I want to personally assure each and every single one of you that you have no need to be worried."

People's attention was drawn to him as he began his spiel. Some people smiled at the sight of someone flying, others silently contemplated what he was saying, whilst others were still discontented with their situation.

"Are you seriously so desperate for attention you would resort to magic like a sideshow attraction? Do you really have so few good things to say about Kou that you would act like this just to draw a crowd?"
"No. I am flying because you people seem content to ignore the situation. Some of you are angry, and I can understand that, but others of you just don't seem to care. You walk past this wonderful opportunity and let it pass you by without even attempting to grab it for your own.

Trade opportunities, jobs, new people to meet, new things to learn. I challenge each and every single one of you to attempt to show me that Kou is not the best thing that has happened to this country!"

Gravity Lift, Stage One 500/500
People Convinced 1/3

The crowd seemed to be muttering among themselves. Even if he couldn't convince people, at least he managed to trigger debate. That was the very least that he could do. His master had once told him something - people's minds are never changed in the course of a single day, all you can do is plant the seeds of further understanding and tolerance. If that was all he managed to do today, he would be content.

It was a full moment before the first voice chimed out.
"What about the Fanalis corps? They were slaughtered by Kou forces."
"I agree! The Kou forces did horrible, unspeakable things." The crowd seemed to gasp as he admitted it "but so did your men when you fought against Heliohapt so long ago. Your Fanalis corps has stormed two dungeons, one of which they came out with loot from. A full out war would have killed thousands of innocents, and that was exactly what the Fanalis corps was intent on starting."

The person didn't even respond, so he had to hope that they were contented with that answer. The crowd was so thick that it was almost impossible to see through it to see who he was actually talking to. He was just going to have to hope that their lack of an answer and the lack of anyone leaving the crowd meant that they were fine with it.

A second voice cried out.
"What about Lagi? Lagi had no right to the throne, and yet Kou put him there. He doesn't know our traditions, he doesn't respect our people, and he's making us call him king. We Reim have never had a king before, why should we now?"

"I understand how you feel, but Lagi is a great man. He outlawed slavery, he's made steps to repair the country, and if after everything he's done you still have a problem with him, direct those issues to him directly.

The general people in Kou are not to blame for the decision of their higher ups. Did you decide to launch an attack on a dungeon where many people died just to get some lousy treasure? Did YOU decide to start a war with Heliohapt over 100 years ago? You can't tar everyone from the same country with the same brush."

There were some whispers in the crowd, and he could only hope that that meant that they agreed with him. Those examples should have made things a lot more understandable, but he could only hope. There was no definite way to tell for sure.

People convinced 3/3