Abuse of Magic

Chapter 177: Meeting Part 2

The beast kin in his council looked anywhere but at him.

"What happened to all of those bunnies?" he asked, standing.

"Your majesty," said the eagle-kin, "the healers have been getting better at casting the RELIEVE MADNESS spell"

"Shavist! Why wasn't I told?! This isn't a joke or a training opportunity!"

"Joseph, why are you so upset?" asked his father, confused. "None of us think this is a joke! We all believe very strongly, that you are a very busy person. It was decided by the council, when we found out, to do the best we could, without you, and we are telling you at the very first opportunity."

Joseph's face was red in anger, as he turned away from the confused looks of his council. He closed his eyes and counted to ten.

'Need me to do anything?' asked Joe, softly in his head.

'I need the anger from that shavist god, to go away. I don't understand why it's still around!'

Joe was silent afterwards.

"Joseph?" said Stella, stepping forward, "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine, just give me a moment to gain control of myself."

They all waited as he composed himself.

"Alright. I apologize for my outburst. When I defeated the last lesser god, he left a few lingering after affects that I am still dealing with. I am sure that I will overcome them eventually. Please, have all of the affected bunny-kin gathered for me to cure them of their madness. I greatly appreciate the efforts of those healers who have spent so much of their time trying to deal with this, but I am afraid something of this magnitude cannot be overlooked."

A young wolf-kin nodded at his request and hurried from the room to have them gathered.

"Please, while they are gathering, allow us to continue with your reports," Joseph said, making himself overly pleasant in an attempt to quell the rage that was simmering. This could not be allowed to continue.

RELIEVE MADNESS.

'That did nothing, Joe,' Joseph thought as a small bat-kin woman stood up.

"There have been several cases of **** reported, that were unique enough, we thought it best to bring them before you."

"Alright, let's hear them."

"A couple of egg-laying arachnae, seduced several males with their pheromones. The males were already married and were not very happy once they regained their normal faculties. The arachnae race is solely female, and are used to such means of acquiring men for such things."

"Another case of cultures clashing," sighed Joseph. "I suppose this is the only means by which the arachnae breed?"

"Yes, your majesty. There is also another case, of a dryadcoughsearching forseed."

The bat woman seemed to have a lot of difficulty sharing her report, and Joseph couldn't blame her. He never entertained the idea that matriarchal cultures would play into his kingdom. He would have to completely rethink his laws.

"Are there any other accounts?" he asked softly.

"Some of the alpha wolf-kin females formed a pack and went on a hunt for their mates. It is common in their culture to pick their mates, regardless of the target's consent."

"Of course. Are there any issues, with any of my laws, that don't involve ****?" he asked, looking over the council, as the bat-kin sat down.

Nidhogg raised his hand.

"Yes, Nidhogg?"

"Several races have no concept of currency, so the monetary system will need to be taught to many so that it is understood throughout the kingdom."

"We also have an issue where some of the races don't understand the concept of property lines," said William, looking down at his notes. "There have been various hunts with some of the farm animals."

"There is also a clan of rat-kin, who are entirely made up of females. They drain their mates for sustenance. If they are only allowed to marry one individual, they will starve, or kill their husband, if they are not allowed to feed from others. They number less than a hundred, but wanted to know if they could work as sex workers, after hearing about the rule of those who don't work, don't eat. Also, their children reach maturity at the age of eight, which means there is a four-year gap before they would be allowed to be considered adults. We have been able to hold off the worst effects of starvation for them, through the use of essential food, but only a dozen mages are capable of casting it. Normal food does them no good."

Joseph looked at the rat-kin who was reading from his report, in shock. "Okay, wait. Nidhogg, see to it that the people get educated on currency, form a new group in charge of teaching it, if need be. Father, we shall have to figure out a way to deal with the property issues. I can't have those of my kingdom stealing because of ignorance. Have someone look into what can be done for that.

"And as for these rat-kin, what do they consume from their mates for sustenance?"

The rat-kin looked extremely uncomfortable at that question, and Joseph suddenly understood why. "Never mind! Don't answer that! The law for adulthood was specifically directed at human's reaching their twelfth birthday. If there is substantial proof that this group reaches adulthood at eight, see to it, that it is noted and then allow them the proper rights as adults. If they truly need sustenance at amounts over what their spouse can proved, none of my laws restricted them to only one partner."

The rat-kin nodded, and sat down.

"Anything else?" he asked.

"Yes, your majesty," said a cat-kin, standing up. Her fur was a strange grey-blue, that caught the light coming in from the window, making her look bluer than she probably actually was.

"Go ahead," he said.

"Some of the clans of the beast-kin, have auras, or pheromones, that cannot be turned off. In regards to your drinking laws, I think the aura's have more pull, than a simple drink could."

Joseph groaned, covering his face. None of his memories of previous lives, dealt with such a difference in cultures or species. And he was trying to shove all of these different cultures together. This was such a mess!