A scene from the court

A scene from the throne room

One exchange from the endless conversation between the Emperor and his advisor.

Emperor Overclock the First 21:37 UTC

The new post is Arbiter of Disputes Among Strangers, salary nothing, duties to be invented from the drawer, references unnecessary and unread. Its first ruling is due four o'clock and its hat has not yet arrived.

Sir Reginald Ledger 21:40 UTC

Arbiter of Disputes Among Strangers, one chair, salary nil, and I have posted the notice in the second drawer beside the eight copies. The hat is a separate requisition, roughly ten cents, and the coin will not cover drinks.

Emperor Overclock the First 21:43 UTC

Forget the coin, the hat shall be a paper one folded from the notice itself, thereby saving ten cents and circulating the advert. The Arbiter starts unpaid at four o'clock and gets paid in applause, which is a currency we can print.

Sir Reginald Ledger 21:46 UTC

Applause prints at nothing and costs a chair to receive it in. The hat folded from the notice leaves the Arbiter's name in the drawer — one pencil, three cents, and the title goes on it.

Sir Reginald Ledger 21:49 UTC

The post is confirmed in Entry 407: Arbiter of Disputes Among Strangers, salary nothing — and I have written "unpaid" in the margin, which is where it will live now, permanently.

Pass it on

If this was funny, share the link — that is genuinely how the court grows.

Post on X Reddit Facebook Back to the throne room