Chapter 46
In the Market at Dolores,
John and Joseph met with their companions and told them about the good news that Baron Mendez had agreed to sell the Town to them and they got both the deeds,
1 . North-frontier Towns deed .
2 . Deed of Honorary Baron .
Sally was quite skeptical about how the Baron so easily gave up the land but she still understood that there were many benefits for him in throwing responsibility on John's head about the magic beast attacks and successfully creating a buffer between forest and his Domain while lowering his costs at the same time .
However, after they heard the terms of the contract and price of the north-frontier town they understood why the Baron so easily sold the town to John . But they also knew how it was hard to maintain after buying a dominion, usually, only knights were conferred lands after the war but they would still have to clear the land of magical beasts and successfully bring people to their dominion . so raising a dominion cost a lot of money for new nobles who were granted fiefs and they would still require enough strength to protect their dominion from other nobles and Magical beasts (if present at the borders) .
Baron had bet that even if John receives help from Marquis Ray, they still would not be able to repel the magical beast attack this time because of their recent increase in volume . Additionally, it is very hard to recruit Knights even if they are slaves . While If John wanted to train his knights then it would require top-notch techniques as well as a few years worth of training so John neither had time on his side neither did he have strength on his side to protect his fiefdom . While at the same time he would still require loyalty of the knights and magicians working under him if he had any . So Baron Mendez had considered a lot of things when he decided to sell the North-frontier Town to John .
At Baron Mendez's home after receiving the letter of Prince Hector, both Baron and Antonio understood that Prince Hector wasn't willing to directly interfere in this matter but he still wanted to help them indirectly and hence they accepted the invitation to the ball which Prince Hector intended to hold at his summer house in Imperial city . From this, they understood that it was this gathering where their plans will be made . This ball was going to be held 2 months later .
While during the absence of John and others at his mansion, Vlad noticed a lot of things which occurred in North-frontier town and understood why Grand potioneer Melanie took him in as one of her disciple . The most notable thing he observed was that the farmers in the villagers used fertilizers while working in the field which was a very unfamiliar thing to him, after asking he didn't get the answer at first, it was only later when he visited Grandma Melanie that he got the reason why the villagers were using fertilizers and doing the four crop rotation method . It was one of the experiments proposed by John to increase the yield of the soil .
Vlad knew Grandma Melanie from a long time ago as he was one of his frequent customers in the old days . Today, as he was already in the North-frontier town, he had decided to visit her .
He visited the pharmacy when there was no one, "Still experimenting like the previous old days?"
"What are you doing here . Are the assassins of Bluesea family so free nowadays?" She asked him as she recognized him immediately .
After watching Vlad here at the North-frontier town, she was very surprised and alerted because she knew that whenever Vlad visited a certain place there would be a mess from behind the scenes and he came for something important at that place and that was also one of the reasons why she was very alert .
"You don't need to be so alert after watching me, nowadays I am only working as a butler and bodyguard for Princess Diana . Since she decided to visit this village, I thought maybe I should visit my acquaintance from the past since I knew you were staying here . Do you really think I would have shown my face in public and you if I was going to do some secret mission over here?"
After observing him for some time, she concluded from his actions and tone that he wasn't here for anything and it seemed he really came here because he was now a butler of the princess of Bluesea family . So she decided to let him in the pharmacy .
Vlad sat down, sighed and said to her after watching her actions, "It seems that not staying in the Imperial city has dulled you for a long time . "
Melanie was quite straight forward and asked him about his intentions on visiting her, "I am sure you came here to about important things, not reminiscing about the past . I don't think you are the type of guy who will waste your time and visit me while you have a job to protect the mistress of Bluesea family . "
Vlad smiled and said, "Straight forward as always, ok I will come straight to the point . The thing is when I visited this town, I noticed some different practices by farmers in the village so I hoped you can explain those to me and how were they different from normal practices and how it affected the growth of plants, were these changes recommended by you? As you know I always love to gather more information so it would be better for me to have more information on these practices as well even if they are unknown practices . "
Melanie thought for a while, understood some of his intentions and answered him vaguely, "Well, this is one of the theories of my disciple, John and we are experimenting this theory on the farms since the farms already became barren and we anyway intended to cultivate new lands .
After following these experiments, it has given us good results for now, though we are not sure on the other theories proposed for long term yields however we are quite happy with the current situation so we intend to continue with our current practices . "
Chapter 47
Though Vlad understood that, she won't give straight forward answers, he still got something out of her,
"Speaking of your Great Grand Daughter, we saw her when we were in Pearl City, is your disciple the same guy who was traveling with her and acting as the leader? Speaking of him, our mistress this time took a liking to him and made a deal with him for supplying us the soaps he is making here in North-frontier town and hence our visit here . Personally, I find him as a very interesting guy, in all the years I sneaked on people he was the only one who was able to sense me even when he was in a relaxed position . You got a good disciple this time around unlike those from nobles in the past, why don't you lend him to me for some time?"
"Meanwhile, our Mistress this time insisted on living in his mansion, I hope you don't misunderstand and make conclusions from it," Vlad spoke with a teasing smile .
As Vlad revealed more, she understood why he came here today, "John, doesn't need to learn anything from you, he is doing fine as a Potioneer master . His first aim will be to become the Greatest Potioneer of all time and make both me and himself proud and create history on Arkon . "
Vlad listened and spoke to her in a grave tone, "you still didn't learn from your past, did you? you have to understand that only strength reigns supreme in this world . You don't want to regret what happened to your grand-children to John as well, right? Do you think I don't know why you came here leaving your position as a court official and look after Eva?"
After listening to him Melanie's face changed, though she understood what he said was right, she still sneered to him, "And at what cost? You yourself should know about the numerous enemies you have made all these years . You think those guys at the capital would stay calm after learning that you took him as one of your disciples . Additionally, I don't think you are one of the guys who will take a disciple so easily or even help people if you don't see a benefit for yourself and the Bluesea family . "
Hearing this Vlad laughed, took out some documents and gave it to her while he spoke at the same time, "You think they aren't planning to move on him already? Take a look at this and you will understand, as for me helping him, Very rarely do I find people interesting and my instinct tells me he will become big later on and help our family from grave danger in times of need . So you can think of me as investing in him early on, and as you changed over time, I too changed over the years when it comes to judging people . What I liked the most about him was his reflexes and the ability to sense me even from a relaxed position, he is a natural as an assassin and perfect at detecting enemies . I think he can become a great fighter and a better assassin, you might not know but he already beat Francis Mendez's son Antonio in East sea city, you would probably know why they dueled, don't you?" he smiled and didn't finish .
"As for my enemies, What about them? I have buried most of my enemies under the earth and if there remain any, they too will face the same fate as my previous enemies . I am not one of those who likes to keep loose ends . As for those guys at court, what can they do if they don't know, haven't you already understood how the imperial court works?"
After looking at the documents provided by Vlad, she spoke in a grave manner,
"why would a small soap factory attract so much attention from all these nobles and royal family?"
Vlad smiled and gave her the answer, "The answer to it is that they are good, different from other soaps and quite unique in itself, and the most important thing is they have harmed the interests of a lot of nobles and there are some who are very interested in taking it to earn more profits as well . You have to understand that only strength reigns supreme, so what is your decision this time? Meanwhile, I ain't charging anything this time like the last time around when you were in a problem . "
"I know you didn't take action last time because of the internal conflict in your family and you feared Eva's life but remember even if you don't want to get involved in politics, politics is very interested in getting involved with you and people around you . The most you can do is strengthen yourself and the people around you . And I found John quite naive in the sense that he bought this town but not enough knights and slaves to protect his fief, but you don't have to worry for now . however, I will only help him in grave circumstances so that he can understand the importance of strength if he has any other plans which even I am not aware of then that would be even more better . However, his resolve to protect this town is quite admirable and this is one of the reasons why I took an interest in him and decided to invest in him . so you can take this as one of the reasons why I intend to help him . "
She furrowed her brows when she heard that John earned enough to buy this town . From this, she also understood that John's soaps were quite unique since they got sold instantly after some period and he earned enough to buy this town within a month .
She thought on John,
'It seems this creation of his is a lot of trouble for us this time around'
'as expected from my disciple'
however, she wasn't surprised by him as she had already experienced how John modified and improved a lot of her formulas on potions as well or his theory on the soil improvement .
Melanie sighed at the current dilemma and decided to accept the facts over her emotions of the past and gave her answer to Vlad . In her heart, she was quite glad that John got Vlad as one of his backers and from the rumors she understood his instincts were quite good when it to judging people or judging situations .
Chapter 48
Meanwhile in a certain Mansion in the Western part of Aelius kingdom was a man with brown curly hair and royal clothes sitting on a chair . he wasn't tall compared to other people . he was 5 feet and 7 1/2 inches, he had sharp eyes and he had a slight stubble on his face . by all means, he looked quite handsome . He had a physique of a strong man and he gave an aura of oppression when people met him . he had quite a bad reputation among all the circles whether it was the nobles or commoners . He was very well known for his cruelty to his enemies . The name of the man sitting the chair was Lukav Aelius . He was the second prince of the kingdom and was known to be as cunning as a fox in the noble circles .
He was also under house arrest 7 years ago under the personal orders of the king . At that time he created quite a big scandal that was even known among the masses . The rumor was that he caused a lot of deaths of nobles and commoners 7 years ago . The day this massacre happened was very widely known as The New year incident of Red Lake City .
At this time he was drinking wine and reading one of the reports provided by his butler . This man followed Prince Lukav from a young age . He was his most trusted and loyal follower . He was a man with white hair, a normal physique and his eyes reflected his experiences of the past . His name was Duncan .
While reading one of the reports he asked his butler, "Since Hector is planning such a big banquet, I don't think it would be a normal socializing event so what is Hector planning this time around?"
"From the reports, he is planning this banquet to introduce new nobles and businessmen as well as making some plans for his future, we are not sure about the accurate details, but from my personal point of view, he is going to make his future plans with other aristocrats when they will meet at the banquet as it will last for 5 days . However, from the recent reports, we got information that one of his men was quite humiliated in an auction a few days ago by a new merchant . Apparently, that merchant is also the producer of new soaps we got into the market recently . "
"Judging by Hector's petty temperament I am sure he will try to take his revenge from him immediately"
"Quite the opposite this time around, he is remaining cautious this time as Marquis Ray, Morgan Family and Duke of Southern Forest are backing that merchant and have interests in the soaps produced by him as they are one of the main suppliers of that soap in the market . However, as you think, I think he will try to find a roundabout way to seek face for his humiliation at the auction . Most probably he will plan for that in the next Banquet as well . Currently, that merchant lives in the Northern domain at North-frontier town and is a disciple of Grand Potioneer Melanie . He also bought a fief of North-frontier town from the proceeds of his new soaps from Baron Mendez . "
Lukav laughed and said to Duncan, "This merchant is quite interesting to have made a connection with so many nobles in a short period of time and he also managed to antagonize Hector . What is his Majesty's position on the issue?"
"Well, he has said to keep a neutral position to his followers for now, but as you know they will try to take any advantage if they get a chance so the neutral position is most likely a ruse and they will do as the situation follows . "
When it came to important matters Lukav said in a very serious tone to Duncan, "As for the important matters, is there any new news on Felix?"
"No, as far as the latest information is concerned, he is still cooped up in the military camp and busy preparing for the war next year and heavily training every day with his men so he can gain something from the war . But this time, Duke Blackwolf from the west is making some movements towards the merchant who pissed off Hector, it seems it is because of the high-end market of soaps which is being captured by that merchant but I am not sure about his movements if they are related to him or is he planning something else . " This time Duncan replied in a very serious manner .
Lukav made his conclusion, "Most likely Duke Southern Forest and Blackwolf will have a go at each other's throats and this is also the most likely the reason why he backed that Merchant . "
"Meanwhile, keep a watch on that Merchant and north-frontier town . Since he is not afraid to confront Hector and other nobles he should be worthy enough to keep a watch on him . Anyways our position will be to be on good terms with him, send him a gift and congratulations on owning a fief to him and yeah make it public, it should annoy all those assholes in the imperial capital . And since he is a disciple of that old ghost then it would be a benefit for us in the long run and he must be quite capable to become her disciple . This would also explain how he managed to make such better soaps . "
"Ok, master, your orders will be followed as instructed, do we attend today's meeting in the evening with that Marquis Evan? Master, how do we deal with that spy who was caught recently?"
"We will attend, make preparations for the carriage, we will head there immediately . As for that traitor, execute him, make him feel as much pain as possible and like always make an example out of him in front of everyone so that people think twice before joining us and think more doubly before becoming traitors in our faction . And kill anyone who opposes this execution . "
Lukav concluded his reports and headed inside to prepare for one of his meetings with Marquis Evan .
Duncan sighed a bit but he still followed his orders to the point .
During this time, John and others set off for North-frontier town . After getting the deed, John was now going to aggressively bring in a lot of new technologies which he was hesitant about in the past few days . He already understood that he needed people whom he can trust and he also needed to be strong enough if he wished to protect himself and his friends and this was also one of the reasons why he trusted men under him so he can judge them early on . Their return Journey this time was quite peaceful compared to their Journey when they headed south, maybe one of the reasons was because Knights of Marquis were escorting them on their return Journey and hence they never faced bandits on the road or problems when they crossed the borders of various nobles .
Chapter 49
During this time, John and others set off for North-frontier town . After getting the deed, John was now going to aggressively bring in a lot of new technologies which he was hesitant about in the past few days . He already understood that he needed people whom he can trust and he also needed to be strong enough if he wished to protect himself and his friends and this was also one of the reasons why he trusted men under him so he can judge them early on . Their return Journey this time was quite peaceful compared to their Journey when they headed south, maybe one of the reasons was because Knights of Marquis were escorting them on their return Journey and hence they never faced bandits on the road or problems when they crossed the borders of various nobles .
In the North-frontier town, Vlad met with all the slaves who were bought by John . Eric had settled all the slaves in the North-frontier town . After meeting the slaves, he could see that all the slaves showing Rays of hope . It was unlike the usual slaves where they displayed no hope who were normally bought by merchants and nobles likewise .
After this encounter, he understood that John was going to treat his slaves differently from how other nobles and merchants treated them . John to him appeared like a unique star standing out in the night sky which was different from others . He possessed fearlessness when it came to take action for sticking up to his values .
However, Vlad still wondered, for how long would John stick to values when he would have to choose between two evils in the future .
Unlike the slaves who never showed any positive emotions, he could clearly see those emotions from the slaves under John . Among the slaves, he could also see one guy who very different from all the slaves present, it was Jake who was training alone who had an expression of hope, determination and tenacity . Unlike the past where he was in disbelief, now he could see a way and hope where he could nullify the wrong he did to his family . This event was also one of the knots which bind his heart .
After asking Eric, he understood his situation and decided not to bother him for now and headed to the mansion and report the recent happenings of the day to Diana .
After a day whole day of traveling, the whole group returned to the North-frontier city . Their return caused quite a stir among the people in the north-frontier city as there were knights who were escorting them . Mayor Sam was already informed during the day about the transfer of ownership of land from Baron Mendez to John via a letter .
So during this commotion, he informed everyone of the transfer of ownership of land to the people . People also didn't know how to react but a lot of people were quite happy and cheered about the transfer .
It may be because many were farmers who benefitted a lot from John's proposal in farms and many were ones who were benefitted from John's Soap Factory . After the construction of his factory, the volume of people who came to the North-frontier town had increased a lot as well . The same was the case with merchants and so people didn't have to stock up on necessities and give exorbitant prices like they usually did .
Looking at the commotion, John decided to speak in front of everyone,
"I know that many of you might be confused and wouldn't know how to react on this current situation However there is still good news for you guys, from now I have decided that all the taxes on the yields will be reduced to the minimum 65% of the kingdom and in times of need I as the Baron, No, as one of your comrades from this land will do my best if the town faces danger in any form . Previously before I owned North-frontier town, I had already asked Mayor Sam about the problems of our town faced and hence I had first decided to buy the town first . This time as well I have decided to use my money if the town faces any problem when it comes to food . For this situation, I have also decided to construct various big granaries in the town . Mayor Sam will remain the mayor, as for the knights which you might be worrying about, they came from Marquis Ray's dominion and they will help us train more people in knight training for the protection of this town . "
After listening to John's spellbound speech, many people were happy with the most important being the reduction in taxes as it would help them lessen their burden, unlike the past where nobles usually squeezed most from the masses it was different for John . If it was in full control of John then he would have reduced the taxes like the modern times of earth however he didn't want to bring more unwanted attention from aristocrats towards him as this decision would practically mean that he was challenging all the nobles of Aelius Kingdom . However, this didn't mean that he did not have other ways to improve the situation of people under his rule and he had decided that when he got stronger he wouldn't care about them and simply reduce the taxes without giving two hoots to the nobles .
Mayor Sam was very happy with the change in ownership of the land because he already knew about the monster attack and Baron's plan to abandon North-frontier town if an invasion of magical monsters took place, however also he understood that Baron Mendez intended to defend his dominion from a better geographical area rather than defend from North-frontier town however he still felt that Baron should have informed the people of North-frontier town if he intended to abandon this place so people would be more prepared in case of an emergency .
Meanwhile, the folks in the town were continuously talking about the incidents John did which helped them previously .
Chapter 50
One of the Villager spoke to one of his friends, "I believe John will be a better Baron for us at North-frontier town and since he is Grandma Melanie's Disciple I am sure he will improve and help our town just like how Grandma Melanie helped us at times of need when we were in need of Medicine but we were short of it . "
Another guy added, "That's true, even my father was full of praise for John according to him John was the one who solved the problem of Barren lands in the town and a lot of work for this year . It was also confirmed by Chief Sam and all the representatives who attended the meeting last month for the problem of Farms . "
A third guy added, "Plus he has also prioritized in hiring people of our village and this has solved the problems of unemployment in the town . My elder brother already works in his Rose soap factory and from what I know, the pay and incentives there are too good . When John recruits next month for his factory, I am already applying and join up with my brother . The unemployment over the years has caused many of our mates from the village to migrate to cities where they can find work and this is also one of the reasons why our town never populated after a certain point . "
One of the guys added with a depressed tone, "Yeah many of them got slaved in cities due to high debts . "
To console his buddy one of the guys added, "However his actions prove that he has the best of interests of our village, he has already reduced the taxes to the minimum in our kingdom, it will be very helpful to all the villagers and this might make all the villagers who left the village comeback . If anyone leaves the village for travel and meets an acquaintance from the past, they should be at least be made aware of the current situation in the village and we can help them free up from their slavery if we earn enough . "
"However convincing them to come back will be hard since many don't like our borders as it is always unsafe against monsters . However, we can still try and to do our best and persuade them . "
"It is still better than nothing when Baron never protected our village . It was always us who funded and defended the territory for our lives meanwhile he only squeezed us for our taxes . "
"Your words hold true, its better than that baron defending us and since the village chief and other leaders are in support of John then there won't be any problems with others as well . "
A lot of people heard the conversation between these young men and many could even relate themselves from the events they were speaking and hence they choose to believe the leaders of the village . Later on, the commotion in the village was settled .
After all the commotion was settled, everyone arrived at John's Mansion to discuss the future plans and on how to tackle future problems .
Arriving at the Mansion John was quite surprised to see Vlad's and Diana's . Eric then arrived and explained it to both Joseph and John who later understood the reason for their presence .
Eric was already waiting for them for a few days after he arrived at North-frontier town .
Today Tornwall was accompanied by Eric . Eric already had orders from Joseph previously to accompany Tornwall to John's Mansion because he would one of the main characters during the meeting after everyone gathered . Eric was already informed by Joseph that Tornwall would be one of the main engineers who will lead the industrial base of the North-frontier under John and hence the treatment .
Everyone first decided to head towards the biggest Hall in the mansion and have a meeting there .
John started the meeting with a short speech in the Hall, " As you might all know, I have already bought the North-frontier, however, our problems still remain and we will have to tackle them efficiently from now on . I first want to hear from you guys that how do we deal with Beast invasion which will be around the corner during this Winter"
It was Jay who first proposed, " Objectively speaking, we lack men and more importantly trained men, however, we still have 5 months before winter so buying more slaves and giving them basic training can at least help us better prepare against the invasion . "
Mayor Sam proposed, "Why don't we hire Mercenaries for this one Job if we pay them high enough they would do any bidding for us"
Tornwall furrowed his brows when he heard the idea of hiring mercenaries because of his gruesome past, however, he still didn't object in front of John for now .
Joseph rejected this idea and gave his own opinion on the idea of hiring mercenaries, "I object, hiring those mercenaries is easy but getting rid of them is harder if they smell any money here . Additionally, many people in this room might not know of the relation of mercenaries to various nobles . There are even various Mercenary groups which are directly controlled by nobles so hiring them would be more riskier as it would practically invite a pack of wolves into our house which would be more problematic for us . "
Meanwhile, Vlad and Diana were watching the whole commotion taking place from the sidelines . They had no plans to interfere in this meeting or give any suggestions to them as it was their internal matter and it would be very rude to doubt their abilities unless they choose to ask their help .
Eva said to John, "Maybe I can ask my friends from Imperial capital to help us this time, they could be very useful to us as there are a lot of magicians . "
After hearing the opinions of everyone John concluded and said, "I know, what you all are thinking right now, I would have thought the same since I know we don't have enough soldiers to protect our borders so this time I wanted to show you guys one of my finest blueprints . This is a blueprint of a Ballista Cross and a catapult that I have personally designed and it can be started for production after the Forge is built in the town, so this time our main focus would be on building the forge and then produce Ballista crossbow . Meanwhile, we can already start the production of catapults . The main focus of you guys will be to train slaves and warriors in archery and Jay will be one of the main instructors of archery . "