Chapter 71
Joseph thought about his quarrel with his grandfather who was against him permanently taking a position as he thought this would be suicidal if John didn't succeed at North-frontier City and he was putting all the eggs in one basket, however, Joseph felt he would be too late if he took a late decision . He was still glad that his father supported his decision however he too was against making such an early decision .
***
Joseph and Frank's discussion a few days ago,
Frank seriously said, "You do realize that if you move there so early you will be taking an early stand and all your interests would be aligned with John permanently, even though he is your friend you should take rational decisions when it comes to your future . If he falls then you would fall as well, at least wait till the passing of this winter disaster and then make a decision . You should already know that this year's winter is totally an eye of the storm at North-frontier town where a lot of people from the north will be involved and he would most probably be isolated by lords over there as most of them are aligned with Prince Hector .
Even I, as your father wouldn't advise you to take such a big risk and an early position . Though you may think that Vlad will help him, you don't know what he is thinking all the time, at one moment he may smile at you while he is stabbing you from the back . He has always been an odd character, we only have business interests with him right now and not a tight-knit relationship, it would be better to wait and understand them a bit and make your bets . "
Joseph said to Frank, "I think I need to take an early position or we will always remain business partners and not someone who can trust each other when it comes to sensitive matters whether it is John or Vlad . After thinking a lot I have made my decision as this would show my sincerity to them . This country would be at war in no less than 15 years when all the princes compete for the throne with each other and nobody knows what that madman Lukav might do if he chooses to participate in this spat between Dukes and Princes . We don't have any connections to Prince Felix . Our only backers are Marquis Ray and Duke of Southern Forest . I would rather trust on John who can become big, and if he succeeds then I too will succeed . "
Frank sighed and said to him, "Since you have made a decision I hope you don't regret it in the future . "
Frank smiled and continued, "Anyway, I will be fair to all of you brothers however your Grandfather would be quite mad . Well don't worry about him he has always been like that . This can be best as well as the worst decision for you . "
Joseph smiled and said to Frank, "Haven't you taught me already that risks and gains are always linked to each other whether you are conducting business or other ventures? And I truly feel that My close friendship with John will be helpful in the future, unlike the fake ones . And this decision of mine will further solidify our trust and express sincerity from my side . "
Frank nodded as he thought and said, "Since you have made your decision, I will accept it, the same was for your father when we brothers took our own decisions, however, you have to be prepared for conspiracies from your brothers and cousins, this happens to even today . Anyway, I will give the same advice to your brothers as well . "
Frank felt nostalgic and sad when he remembered how one of his brothers died to his blade in the past because of competition and power grab . It was either his death or his brother's death and in the end, he chose the latter .
'I hoped that this didn't end in a bloody massacre, however, I can't control everything . Maybe father thought the same when I made my decision years back . ' Frank thought irritatingly as he saw that Joseph had already made his decision .
Joseph too understood the meaning behind Franks last words and said to him as he left, "Yes father, farewell, take care . "
***
Back at John's Mansion,
John said to people present at the meeting, "Okay since the Police force and militia have already been formed we will immediately announce the formation of the Police force with our new laws and the creation of courts to settle civilian disputes as soon as we are ready . "
John continued as he said to everyone seriously, "This information is only for people present in this room, I intend to create another force who would help us gather information on foreign spies and take missions outside to help us keep updated on the current events, we can't always hope to get help from Vlad every time, we need to be self-sustainable . Jake will head this department . Currently, he is out on a mission and doesn't know about this information and developments . In the future, he and his men will help us keep updated and they would only be directly answerable to me . The name of this organization will be Ghosts, the keepers in dark and it will be headed by Jake and it would be under my direct control . If there are any conflicts of interests and disputes with them then bring those issues directly to Taylor who will later inform about them to me and I will try to resolve those problems . We will also be setting up a military court with Military laws for both the army and Ghosts . "
Many people thought that Jake was too young to keep such a post but then they thought about his Master, Vlad and immediately kept their opinions to themselves . it was because they remembered about him and his men who would always be able to control the miscreants who roamed around the various factories which generated income for the City .
While Tornwall thought on the contrary to what people were thinking and said, "Quite a good choice to make his first knight to serve this position . experience can be gained but people who you can trust are hard to get . I guess it will be better for future considering Jake is still too young . "
Many thought and understood why John chose Jake for this position, Jake already made an oath to John while both are disciples of Vlad which made sense why he would make this decision .
***
Jake was in the east of the imperial city right now, where he was doing a mission handed over to him by Vlad, originally Vlad was given this mission by one of his clients, which he thought Jake could handle . This was also one of the tests which Vlad gave him so he could evaluate his performance .
Jake was in a bar in the Redwood city which was east to the imperial city, this city was a transit hub for people and traders from southeast heading towards the center of the kingdom for trade and migration . This city was also a haven for Slave trade as the Royal family usually conducted their business from nearby cities or via their henchmen when it came to the slave trade . Here Jake's mission was to kill a mercenary who went by the name of Blacktiger .
Jake was careful when he asked questions to people, he already had most of the information regarding Blacktiger from Vlad but what he didn't know was that he had a bit of wrong information which was purposely given by Vlad . Vlad wanted to teach him this lesson of never to blindly trust anyone whether it was a friend or a foe when it came to important missions and do your own research as well .
He was already here at Redwood city for a few days already . This was a town which was always full of people . Jake had made quite an acquaintance with the bar owner in these days he was here .
Like usual Jake was drinking at the bar again today and looking for Blacktiger which was mentioned in the information given by Vlad .
The bar owner today decided to ask Jake as he saw him for quite a few days already looking for someone, "I have seen that you have been looking for somebody at this bar for quite a few days already whenever you here come for a drink . I don't know if I can help, you can ask me if you want any type of information . "
Jake understood and removed some gold coins and put it in front of the table, he finally felt that the wait was worth it, meanwhile, he smiled a bit and asked him, " I am looking for a man with Black tiger's tattoo on his face and he goes by the name Black tiger . "
It seemed that the Bar owner knew him and asked about Jake's purpose over here, "What kind of business do you have with him?"
Jake smiled as he laid out his guesses, "I am only paying for information over here, not the other way around and from your expression, it looks like you know a lot about him . "
As soon as he heard Jake he could feel a dangerous vibe coming from Jake if he lied to him . he understood that this was a dangerous man if he wished to play around and con him .
The bar owner hesitated a bit but then saw Jake's cold glint and decided to say the truth, "We can't talk about him here, we need a quiet place because he has a lot of eyes and ears around this town . ?"
Jake signaled him and both of them went to a room in the back, Jake cautiously checked the surroundings and room before entering it .
The bar owner said after he saw him entering, "Well, that guy Black Tiger usually comes to our bar and a lot of his men are mostly present over here as they treat it as their base of operations . You were quite lucky that you waited patiently for a few days before curiosity got the better of me and you met me . You don't look like a local, I assume you are here for the same thing as all the previous people who came here . I can tell you that all of the people who came before ended up dead, do you still want more information?"
Chapter 72
Jake, as practiced, said in a cold tone, "I only want Black tiger's information on where he stays usually and where he frequents usually . If this information is correct, I will double your reward . And you don't have to worry about my life or yours, I am only here because I was hired to do my job . "
The bar owner thought, 'Hmm . . . so an assassin, I guess its better than all those amateurs who come here to die every time they come here . I wonder which organization he belongs to that he is confident enough to slay that guy . I guess it's better If I don't ask him more questions regarding his identity or his work . '
The bar owner nervously said, "If you want to find Black tiger then you have to come at weekdays in the evening where he gathers with his teammates every time at least recently . And if you want to find him somewhere else then in 5 days he will gather at the grand canyon near the town with his teammates that's the only information I have regarding his movements . "
Jake didn't feel any lies through his speech, he nodded gave a few gold coins and left, "Hmm . . . good no lies . "
However Jake didn't feel good as he knew that his man would most probably snitch him out from how that man was acting a bit too cunning and how that person acted based on that person's power . Jake thought as he left .
'Dammit, Fuck that old man for giving me wrong information regarding that bar . Anyway, I still got some information out of him . Most probably I will get snitched and they will try to set up a trap for me . '
After Jake left, the bar owner looked around if someone was tailing him or not, after carefully checking out for a few more minutes .
The Bar owner then left for another place in the town, he knocked on the door three times and spoke a password, after some time there was a voice from inside the building,
A short man could be seen opening the door as he said to the bar owner, "come in . "
The bar owner's name was Damien, "What is it this time Damien that you had to personally come over here . "
The bar owner hesitated but spoke out, "There is a situation this time around . Someone hired an assassin to hit Black tiger this time around . It's good that the guy didn't have any accurate information about the bar he was visiting . However, that guy gave me a dangerous feeling, unlike the other amateurs who usually came in the past so I didn't make a move on him . "
The short man looked at the man in the back for an answer when that man said, "It seems, that businessman still hasn't given up on my assassination from all those years ago . It's quite hard to target him after I got to know about him from previous assassination attempts . "
That man was Black tiger who Jake was targeting this time around, he looked like a big man
The bar owner hesitatingly asked him, "I have always seen you changing the subject when it comes to the topic of this assassination but what sort of grudge does that guy have with you that he spends ludicrous amounts of money just to assassinate you all over the years? Plus this time the guy that he hired seems a lot more dangerous than other ones . "
Black tiger spoke with a sigh as remembered the incident, "Well as you know I am a mercenary and we have our own dirty secrets, And since you asked me about this I might as well tell you today . 9 years ago like all the previous wars, we were in the borders and were returning after a long march . since we didn't make a lot of gains during that war . We decided to ransack a border village as we were anyways going to lose that place so we decided to Slave the people and took anything that we could so that we could recover the losses . So a lot of things happened during that ransacking, people who resisted were killed, some were raped and another half of the lot slaved . Unfortunately, after a year someone from our team bragged about the incident and some people got to know about it and from that moment that businessmen have been trying to assassinate me and my team . After further investigation, we got more information on him and it was revealed that a certain lover of his was residing in that village during that time and just happened to get raped and died later on . Well, a Big mercenary unit is hard to control at times so its part and parcel of this sort of job .
To save my life even I have been trying to assassinate that guy but till now there has been no result . That guy is loaded with money and bodyguards . "
The bar owner asked a question, "Master, from your tone it can be seen that you regret that incident . Why did you order the ransacking of the village if you know something like this would mostly happen after that incident if it got leaked . "
Meanwhile, the short man was listening from the sidelines .
Black tiger frowned and said, "Well, that's none of your business on why I did it . Anyway, enough of chitchat tell me more of your conversation and how that guy looks like . "
From this Damien understood that Black tiger didn't want to reveal the person who was behind the works and who gave the order that time to ransack the village .
Damien then answered him right away, "From his voice, he looks like a young man around 15-18 years old but I can't see his features as he always covered his face like the vagabonds with a black scarf . However, there was one thing peculiar about him and that is, he gave a dangerous vibe just like those men we observed in the past . do you think he is related to them?"
Hearing this he was shocked, but then he immediately recovered thinking that young man's age as that boy wouldn't be able to join them this early .
"It's ok, I don't think that guy would have any contacts with those men as just contacting them requires a lot of money and resources or incredible or horrible luck . Additionally a guy that young wouldn't be here doing fieldwork . It would at least take him a few years to carry out those work . did he have small horns on his head?"
Damien immediately replied: "No, I don't think so . He looked like a human, nothing special or different . The only information I gave him was about your schedule where you usually visited and the next plans of our visit to the grand canyon . "
Black tiger was skeptical a bit but he still asked: "Since you felt that he was stronger than you, then he still didn't try to kill you immediately?"
Black tiger then looked at the short man who understood that Black wanted him to check the surroundings first .
Meanwhile After Jake left the building he was observing Damien from a distant place . He also didn't try to kill him as he confirmed that he was most probably one of the Black Tiger's henchman .
Jake tailed him cautiously using the stealthy steps of hell and reached the place where Damien knocked on the door and said something before entering it . He could see a small fat man before the door closed immediately .
Jake thought, 'I guess he is going to inform about today's event to his masters . I better be cautious and not enter the building without confirming anything . '
Jake then tailed him to the building, it was only a two-story building . He climbed to the roof and started to carefully hear their conversation . He heard about the conversation on why that certain guy wanted to kill him and he also understood that there was more to the previous incident then what was known to others .
'Most probably a noble or someone in the court controlled this Black tiger mercenary group and ordered them to ransack the village . Maybe I should extract some information before I kill him . '
Jake very well remembered about his training on extracting information when he trained with Vlad and hence his thoughts on getting more information from the Black Tiger .
As soon as Black Tiger ordered for a check of the surroundings, Jake immediately threw a poison needle on the body of Damien from behind after he entered through the window .
Damien was numbed as the needle struck him, he turned around to see what happened and was shocked to see the guy who met him earlier tailed him all the way without getting noticed . He was sure that he checked multiple times before heading here but he still got tailed by him He then fell unconscious as remembered how this guy seemed different and gave a dangerous vibe compared to others .
Damien immediately fell on the ground after watching him blend in with the dark . Watching the commotion the fat guy came inside the room .
Jake then threw a knife at the gate from where he heard the footsteps, as soon as the guy came in the room . he was struck with a knife on his throat which penetrated deep inside his throat .
The fat guy caught his own neck as he squirmed like a dying fish on the chopping board . He squealed raising one of his hands in the direction of Black tiger before he lost his lost consciousness as he saw both Jake and Black Tiger taking a defensive posture . He was very surprised to see such a young man with such frightening skills to kill two veterans in a matter of seconds .
Black Tiger was watching this from the sidelines,
Black Tiger thought, 'This guy was able to enter undetected even when I actively searched for anyone tailing Damien . From his movements, it looks like he has mostly been trained by a professional expert in assassinations . The most fearsome aspect of this guy is how fast and aggressively he attacks his enemies . '
Chapter 73
Black Tiger said to Jake as he watched him observing the surroundings and his movements, "I guess you still haven't made a move on me because you intend to extract more information out of me like all those people in your organization . "
Jake nodded and said with a smile, "You are quite perceptive, Well I have this habit of collecting information wherever I travel, so I guess you are spot on . However, It won't bother me much if I can't get information from you since my job this time around is only your assassination to complete my test . "
Black tiger said as he remembered those men from the past, "As expected you are one of those men from that demonic organization . However, I wonder how were you able to join them at such a young age and how were you able to go on the field this early? From what I know they don't send kids this young to do missions . "
Jake said with a sharp tone, "I guess there were special circumstances when I came on the field . "
Jake continued as he said, "However . From your previous information I wonder which person gave you the order when that incident took place,"
After not getting any answer from Black tiger . Jake took out his rusty knife and charged at Black tiger without a moment's hesitation .
Black tiger was in a defensive position as soon as he detected Jake's presence after he had arrived,
The rusty knife clashed with the sword that Black Tiger was wielding from the start .
Both of them clashed heavily as sounds of metal and sparks could be heard after their frequent clashes . Rustling sounds of movement could be heard everywhere in the room .
Jake was moving at fast speeds with a faster momentum as he attacked Black Tiger continuously without stop . Black tiger got scratched for the first time on his body after a few clashes . Little did he know that the knife was poisonous and his movements were getting paralyzed faster as he moved more .
After a few moments, Black tiger began to realize that he would lose the battle if he didn't do anything as Jake was faster than him and more aggressive moments suitable against him .
Black tiger thought, 'My movements are getting slower, I guess it is because of the poison, I wonder which potent poison is working on me . This situation is very tight, I think I need to pull that last trick . '
As Jake approached him for the last strike to completely paralyze Black Tiger, at that moment Black tiger did an all or nothing attack to Jake without even considering if he would get stabbed in the chest after that attack .
Jake was completely flabbergasted and shocked at this turn of events as he watched Blacktiger attacking without any care however he still followed his training and moved forward to attack Blacktiger . After this exchange, Jake was injured in his shoulder with a sword stabbed on it, while Blacktiger was completely paralyzed and immobile after that last attack . Jake Breathed heavily as the sword stabbed him on his shoulders .
Both Blacktiger and Jake were bleeding heavily, Jake took out one of the potions which were given to him by Melanie, meanwhile, after drinking the potion he also started to treat his injuries .
Jake then carefully approached Black Tiger, gave him a syrup and started his interrogation after confirming his body condition .
Jake asked him patiently, "So were you ordered by someone during the incident where you ransacked the village after the war?"
Blacktiger nodded his head in agreement a bit before trying to maintain his mental state .
Blacktiger thought, 'Damn, this guy has poisons which have effects even on my mental state, I won't spill the beans even if it means death, if not, all of my sacrifices would come in vain . If not for Damien I would have been safe . ' Blacktiger sighed as he thought about his past and the blunder of his teammate .
Blacktiger had a determined face when he faced Jake and his interrogation .
"It seems you were indeed ordered by someone . Even under such a potent poison, you are able to resist this truth syrup I wonder what is giving you the strength to keep this secret . You know you would die if you don't answer my questions, right?"
Blacktiger laughed a bit and said with a mocking tone to Jake, " I will die either way, it's better if I die protecting something . "
Jake said as he understood something and said, "Maybe, you may think you are dying to protect something, but are you really sure? Who knows that guy will go back on his words and who knows how many more of Blacktigers will be created in the future this way if his identity isn't revealed yet . Tell me his name and I can at least promise you to protect the guy who you intend to sacrifice your life for . "
Blacktiger didn't believe him as he pretty much knew a lot about Jake's organization .
Before Jake could say anything, Blacktiger already popped a pill hidden in his teeth and bit his tongue as he started bleeding profusely . Blacktiger knew that Jake would extract more information from him if he stayed more under his captivity and it would be fatal for them so he decided to pop the pill and bit his tongue after making a tough decision which would cost his life .
Blacktiger began to lose consciousness as he remembered his brother from the past who hated him .
'I wonder how he would feel after hearing about my death . '
After watching this, Jake thought, 'Truly a stubborn fellow, a man with no morals if it comes to his loved ones . I wonder if I would become someone like him one day? Anyway, I still got something out of this mission . '
Jake began to hurry as it had been too long since commotion began at this building, he knew that people would begin to worry and come here so he left hurriedly as he was already injured and it would be suspicious if he remained and tried to tail them any longer .
Jake thought, ' It's better that I leave right now or else I will get in trouble . Blacktiger's death would be a big matter and most probably people would try to search for the killer . It's better if I don't tail their men who would come to investigate . I will first inform of the success of the mission to my contact and other details which I got earlier to them . '
Jake cleaned the room for any of his traces but the poison in the bodies of people would still remain and they could most probably guess how Blacktiger and others died .
Jake didn't return to the bar but to the place of contact for supplies . This was one of the bases of Bluesea house which was directly controlled by Vlad and his trusted men .
In the slums near a certain dwelling, Jake knocked on the door in a certain pattern a few times . After entering, a middle-aged man could be seen smoking at the counter, Jake had entered this place from a backdoor . This guy's name was Grey, he handled all the affairs in the central of Aelius kingdom for Bluesea family . Earlier he was called by Vlad to come over here at Redwood city to look after Jake if anything happened . He was pretty much surprised after watching Jake's patience over these days and after watching his movements over the days he was pretty sure, Jake could handle Blacktiger and his men all on his own as long as he didn't fell in their trap .
Grey wore white and grey robes like a vagabond, he had a straw hat on his head with a fox-grass which was being chewed by him . He had 2 long white Blades besides him with their sheaths . He had rugged curly and small white-greyish hair on his head . he had a small tattoo on the left side of his face which happened to be some sort of symbol . Jake had never seen this type of symbol . It seemed to be written in a different language that Jake couldn't recognize .
After Jake's arrival and watching his condition, Grey said to him in a bland and nonchalant tone, "It seems you are quite injured this time, its good that you have those herbs and potions or you would have leaked your whereabouts just by the leaking of your blood, I guess it was your lack of experience and the desperation of a cornered rabbit which harmed you, as you only have one wound and that is on the right of your shoulder I guess it was the last attack . Okay, so what do you want to report, I don't have much time for a kid, I already wasted much time looking after you in this city these days . so spit it out . "
Jake saw and thought, 'haven't you already waited 8 damn days already, a mere 10 minutes wasted won't bring the world to its knees . '
However, he still detailed the matter of how he tailed them, on how he heard their conversation and only took action after there was a need .
Grey thought a bit and said, "Hmm . . . it seems you used your mind quite brilliantly this time when you decided to tail him, however, it won't end this way all the time as many times there is a lot of surveillance if someone even suspects that they are being tailed . "
Chapter 74
Grey then signaled to one of his men to go and look at the location where the incident took place .
Grey thought a bit and said, "So it seems there was something bigger going on than what our employers previously knew . And from the looks of it, it seems that those people in power have gotten more rotten than what I previously thought . "
He murmured a bit in a soft voice which could hardly be heard, "Do we need to do some cleansing or wait for a perfect time . "
One of his men heard him and said, "oh please, we have the same problems in Fireabyss kingdom and if not for our assassination business who knows what sort of business Bluesea house would have chosen . "
This guy had a big beard and an average height . His name was Martin .
Grey got irritated as heard this and said to him, "Then you can bloody expect me to not work over here . And if not for Vlad, I would have rather been a vagabond to achieve my goals . "
Grey again focused on the current situation and said to Jake, "Apart from your last decision in the fight, most of your work was on par . I guess you weren't trained by Vlad for no reason for achieving these results . Go to the backroom and rest, your work here is done . When you have recovered, meet me before you leave for North-frontier town . "
Jake nodded and then left for the room upstairs to rest .
After watching Jake leave .
Martin looked at Grey and said, "Isn't this kid quite different from others we had seen earlier, Maybe only Dearil is only his match?
Grey said in a bland tone, "Who knows, only time will prove whether he is different or not . However one thing is for sure, He killed those men without any hesitation and this is a good sign as an assassin . "
Martin smiled and said, "The fact that he decided to tail the bar owner was good enough or we would have to go out with him if he left for the bar in the evening or the canyon . This alone proves that he has good instincts and good decision making which he took without any hesitation . "
Grey smiled a bit and said, "I guess that was a good decision on his first mission or he would have fallen for Vlad's trap and struggled more for the current mission as Blacktiger would have been on his guard . "
***
Professor Hague just arrived at the north-frontier town, He was currently in the market looking through people .
He looked like a man in his late 50's with a little bit of white hair, he wore a coat like most of the scholars, he was of average height . His eyes were deep as they reflected the pains he had gone through all these years .
Professor Hague looked at some slaves who were buying their daily necessities and he looked quite astonished after looking at their faces .
He approached a certain shopkeeper and cautiously asked him, "Hey, if you don't mind can I ask you a certain question regarding the slaves over there?"
The shopkeeper smiled and said, like he always said to the newcomers in this town, "Though I don't know all the details, However, from What I know, I heard that Lord had decided to give the slaves the same wages as other people who work at his factory as he wanted to reduce their deaths and increase efficiency and hence these slaves have a different look compared to slaves from other domains . "
Professor Hague observed keenly and said, "However, that still wouldn't explain that look in their eyes as their fates are still tied to slavery . aren't they?"
The shopkeeper thought in confusion and said, "I don't know, however, it's still better than nothing and they may be glad that Lord John bought them instead of someone else . "
Shopkeeper changed the topic as he didn't like where this conversation was going as he said to him, "Anyway, why don't you try this specialty from our town, it is called a hotdog, it's quite delicious, it is rumored that Baron John personally created some of the dishes we recently provided in our stalls . and it was also under his orders that Hope spread their various recipes to the locals . "
Hague could see a lot unlike what others couldn't see as had researched a lot on the topic of slavery and understood the mentality of slaves and from what he saw he believed they were commoners just like others who didn't show any signs of slavery if not for the slavery mark .
Hague murmured in a small voice, "I guess his plan for removing Slavery systematically was true when he wrote it in his letter and not just lip service from him when he mentioned that . "
Hague saw the shopkeeper as he prepared the Hotdog for him with sauce sprayed on it, "Its a pretty interesting snack, which type of herbs are you using on it . is it really edible?"
The shopkeeper smiled a bit as he had experienced the same thing earlier and said in an all-knowing tone to Hague, "Alone, they may not be edible but if mixed with certain things they are quite delicious . Recently a lot of chefs in Hope are experimenting a lot with various herbs and trying to make various dishes, if you want to try something special then I would recommend you to go to Hope and try their Ice-creams as they have quite the reputation and are always sold out as they are liked by the traveling merchants and nobles . "
Hague looked at Tornwall and asked, "Is he really the boss of the forge? He doesn't look like a slave as he has quite an intimidating demeanor and looks like someone who is experienced at this work . "
The shopkeeper laughed after looking at Tornwall and said, "Well, he is a slave only in name, he will most probably be freed in a few years after making some achievements, he is the chief forger of the town and has quite an influence on Baron . Recently from the rumors, I heard that Baron John just started the construction of a brewery for him and his men for his recent achievements . "
Hague: "The commoners here have a different look compared to the commoners of other bordering towns, what is the difference between them?"
The shopkeeper said: "Ohh, it is most likely the taxes which were reduced to the minimum in the whole of Aelius kingdom by the baron and solving the current problem on yields which occurred recently . "
Hague was quite surprised at the reduction of taxes from John as a new noble, He thought, 'Quite surprising, I think Protection of a Domain requires a lot of money and resources, I wonder why he is so confident that he reduced the taxes to the bare minimum . '
Hague looked around and saw that someone was looking after him, he smiled and thought, 'It seems he already knows about my arrival here and sent some men either for observation or my protection . I guess they are amateurs from the way they are tailing me . They may be the recently recruited personnel and need more training . Anyway, I guess I should try the famous ice-cream here which I heard about in Imperial capital as well . '
Hague smiled a bit as he thought of ice-cream, paid his bill and asked the shopkeeper before leaving, "So can you give me directions for that famous restaurant, Hope?"
The shopkeeper gave him directions happily as he tended to other customers .
Hague immediately left for Hope,
Meanwhile, the men tailing Hague thought,
One of the men was Joe tailing Hague, he thought and asked, "Is he some big shot or spy that we need to keep an eye on?"
Other man Marsh said after hearing him, "Mostly likely a big shot as we were ordered to keep him safe if any commotion occurs"
Marsh then continued as he removed a small diary and began to write the current events, "I guess Jay has his own thoughts . We should just complete our job and report about the happenings which take place . our only job is data collection and reporting to our superiors . "
Joe said in an angry tone as he heard of giving reports, "Damn, we have to write all this shit, can't we just report him in verbal instead of writing?"
Marsh smiled as he understood as Joe hated it and said to him, "Well it is compulsory for every official to attend the schools and universities, I guess it would be beneficial for us later on . "
Joe cursed out in a murmur, " Fuck this, I hate it"
Joe sighed as he irritatingly said, "I guess its part of the job and since Jay says it, I will do my best . But I still frigin hate it . "
Marsh smiled and said, "hahaha, it's okay some people felt the same and you are only one expressing these emotions and John says that it is necessary then I guess it would be necessary for everyone . "
Both of them were local men which Jay hired for the police force and they were currently doing their job of tailing Hague instead as Jay was currently lacking men .
Marsh, "Come, it looks like he is entering Hope for the famous ice-cream, I guess he is a big shot . "
Joe's eyes sparkled as he saw the Big restaurant as he grinned with a big smile and said to Marsh, "Come we should follow him in the restaurant as it is part of our job,"
Marsh sighed as he understood from Joe's smile that he wanted to bill the ice-cream to their work-related expenses because of their need to tail Hague in Hope .
Marsh couldn't say no as he said, "Okay, we will go in and follow him . I bet Jay would curse us for more expenses . "
Joe laughed as he entered in a Jolly mood and said to Marsh, "It's okay, It's okay you don't have to worry, he himself is a big foodie and comes here every day . So I don' think it's a big deal . "
Both of them entered as they tailed Hague from behind .
Chapter 75
Martha noticed them after they entered the establishment, seeing the looks on their faces, immediately she let out a sigh of exasperation .
"I guess Jay is footing the bill tonight . . . "
Meanwhile, Hague calmly sat at his table as he watched the comedic scene happening before his eyes . Laughing slightly, he thought .
"Damn, their eyes mean that the food here is more attractive than their observation target . Hahaha, who would have thought! They are professional at protecting and observing me huh . If I didn't notice them earlier, even I would have thought that they were just here as customers…"
A few hours after Blacktiger's assassination…
Grey and his men were scouting the area where Jake assassinated Blacktiger and his men . Astonishment filled their eyes as they noticed that the area was barely even damaged at all .
The big bearded man quietly remarked to Grey, with an obvious tone of happiness and pride .
"Heh, the little bastard did a pretty clean job huh . If not for the injury, it would have been a perfect job well done . "
Overhearing his words, Grey turned around and commented .
"It's all part of the learning process of being an assassin… Only with experience will perfection truly be achieved, but remember, experience isn't usable most of the time . Only through honing your instincts will your battle sense improve, and will you be able to deal with your enemies faster . Many at times, it's usually your instincts that tends to decide the life and death of you or your enemy… Hmph, he is young and just needs time to train . "
The big bearded man, Martin thought a bit,
"Guess you are right . The more talent you have, the better your chances of survival will be in this survival of the fittest world… Well, he is doing great for just a beginner . Anyways, regarding the completion of Jake's mission, I already informed my men about it . He is currently traveling to the north to say, any other orders other than that?"
"… For now, just keep a look on the men over there, like you said they might be related to the masterminds behind the previous incident . We can't let it happen again!"
Grey then looked at Jake's room with slight emotions brewing from within, he walked away and spoke,
"Keep a look on that kid's situation, I'll be out to take a look at that situation for a while . "
***
Meanwhile, a meeting was held in John's mansion between Ryfon, John, Tornwall and Taylor as they were personally called by John a day before .
Ryan reported his recent accomplishments and works to John, happiness filled his heart as he began to speak with excitement and pride,
"The construction of the brewery has already started after I met Taylor and heard about Tornwall's amazing performance previously . After starting it, the only thing now is the distillation machines which you mentioned before and given to Tornwall to handle . Now it's just on his end and we are waiting for him in order to finish the project and start the brewery operations . "
"Luckily, there is a piece of good news this time . After checking out the cement and experimenting with a lot of materials for construction, it seems that when the cement is mixed with Mulberry Glue, the results have proven that the toughness is 200% stronger! Its solidity can allow us to construct stronger structures too! It was an unexpected discovery that we learned about after an accident happened at the construction site . "
John was quite surprised after hearing this and happily laughed out loudly
"Never expected that useless fruit actually being so useful, quite an unexpected discovery that Mulberry Glues actually increased the properties of cement . Ryfon, reward the person who contributed to the discovery!"
Ryfon smugly replied,
"Already ahead of you, we rewarded the person who discovered this shocking effect of the fusion between cement and mulberry glues . This also sped up the construction speed by quite a fair bit too… Most of this newly found trick has also been implemented in various industries and quite a lot of it was useful in the road constructions, due to the increased speed of construction, the need for labor has reduced .
John nodded in agreement and seemingly satisfied with the way that Ryfon handled the situation, and immediately gave his orders .
"This discovery must be kept top secret and classified from others . The people involved in it will be under a gag order and rewarded appropriately in order to prevent any information leak, though make sure the involved officials know about this . Though it won't affect us as much since cement making is a secret, but the prices of mulberry fruits for sure will increase if anyone ever knew of its useful ability to increase the properties of cement… Ryfon, from now on stock up on as many mulberry fruits as possible . It will be one of the strategic resources for us in the long run . Furthermore, continue experimenting with various tests which would give us better results . "
Ryfon smiled a bit and said,
"I already expected this and had immediately ordered my men to buy as many mulberry fruits as we can, since we require these materials in large quantities for the construction from now on . "
After Ryfon completed his report, Taylor came and said to John,
"Lord, Jake has completed the mission given to him earlier and Mr . Vlad ordered me to inform you about his current situation . According to the letter, Jake was injured during the mission . He is currently recovering at one of the bases of the Bluesea family in Redwood City near the imperial capital . "
After hearing this John said,
"Hmm… It seems that problems occurred while he was on the mission . Anyways, it's good that he is back safe and sound . Are there any movements from the other Nobilities?"
After saying so, Taylor handed over a document that contained information as he summarized the report .
"Currently, the only movement is from Prince Hector's side . He is preparing for a big banquet that he organized for the Sun Festival after this month . There are also movements from the Duke of the west . He is funding more pirates to interrupt our trade routes, recently Joseph's fleet was also under the attack of pirates… If not for the high defense abilities and the fact that Joseph and co were prepared for confrontation like that to occur, they would have probably lost their lives from that attack…"
John said in a small tone,
"It seems that Duke Blackwolf has already started moving against us huh, I guess we need to arm Joseph or else it would be bad for us . "
John smiled a bit and continued,
"What do you think about arming them with half powered ballistas? We can also demonstrate it in front of the other officials of the kingdom in order to showcase our power and wealth . This will pull some of the officials and nobles in to try to get us to their side and we will be able to get better backings and stature . What do you think would be the perfect time for such a show?"
This time Tornwall smiled as he understood him and said to everyone present,
"I think the best time would be to test our weapons before Prince Hector's banquet, we should also announce the sales of the Ballistas to Joseph's fleet on the same day too . It would be quite a scene for the aristocrats supporting Prince Hector but drooling over our Ballistas, We can at least deter Duke Blackwolf if not Prince Hector because of his Royal connections . However, it would at least make other aristocrats take a position on the fence since they would like to acquire those Ballistas . "
John smiled and said,
"We think so much alike, As proposed by Tornwall, we will announce our official tests of Ballistas 5 days before Prince Hector's banquet . In addition, I will announce about the sales of those weapons to Joseph's fleet as a goodwill gesture . "
Tornwall nodded in agreement and said,
"A good decision, Lying as ducks won't take us anywhere, we need to show some strength if we want others to respect us, the same is the case if we want power and wealth . "