Annan had the beginnings of a plan in mind: one Prototype that would weaken the Rikaner Kingdom bit by bit, boiling it like a frog.
Commerce alone was not enough. People drawn by money would eventually leave for money. Free City needed to offer something else—something intangible, yet undeniably real.
And that was exactly what Free City had been building all along...
"Little Wilhelm" was a name that would make actual Wilhelmites frown, but Annan had not chosen it on a whim. Call it borrowing prestige if you liked. If Wilhelm stood for a better life, did Little Wilhelm not promise a little taste of one?
That was why Free City kept attracting new residents. Granted, they were poor people with nowhere else to turn... but it was a good start.
Free City was only two years old, after all. It still had plenty of time to grow alongside Annan.
Annan simply had not worked out how to turn it into a weapon. Scatter leaflets? Please. Commoners outside the city could not even write their own names. If he scattered anything, it would have to be Magic Newspapers, and he would still need to show people where to tear them open to activate them.
Make Magic Films? They would help, but only a little. Ask people to pay one gold coin to watch a Magic Film? They might not even part with one copper coin... So films would have to be distributed like leaflets.
Cut off trade between the Rikaner Kingdom and the outside world? No... Its nobles would barely feel it. The commoners would be the ones who suffered.
Have the Sorcerer Protection Association descend from the sky? Each of its three summonings could only be used once. Spending one on the Rikaner Kingdom seemed wasteful... Besides, word that