Chapter 101
Prince Lukav sarcastically remarked, "Well well well, It looks like you finally took your revenge on that upstart from that humiliation 5 days back by creating these new soaps . However, from your looks, I can see that you have hatched up a new conspiracy or you wouldn't be looking this happy after that previous incident . Has Felix arrived today? ohh It looks like your Beloved Mary and Cousin Ben are here as well . "
"Well, Ben I will be blunt to you, previously I tasted this really good wine at Baron John . . . No COUNT John's place, I don't think your father's wine would stand any chance against it if it weren't for his relationship with his Majesty, King Lionheart . I guess Count John really needed some allies however, I don't think he has any good allies apart from me or Duke Sapphire Rose only if it is correct that Rose is intending to ally himself with him . As for Master Vlad, even I can't guess anything about him as he is quite an eccentric person . "
A lot of people's face changed after hearing these remarks from Lukav,
One of the nobles after watching Prince Lukav, "I guess there will be a big show today as well . "
Hearing this, there was a dark gloomy face on Prince Hector as he roared loudly, "What nonsense are you spouting over here, did you intentionally brag about those wines just to provoke us so that the royal family breaks their promise and become a laughing stock in front of everyone . If you are here to speak nonsense then please leave, you would anyway create a big matter wherever you like . "
Lukav showed a mysterious smile as he replied, "Whether it is true or not, people can try it at that famous restaurant Hope as it will only be served over there, As for those who abhor slaves, demi-humans or demons they should refrain from going there as you could likely meet the same fate that Lord Evan met previously . Well, it is good that they are only selling them in small quantities or it would be big trouble again . And yeah the food there was great as well . As for me being not welcome, weren't you the one who sent me this letter to show your prowess and connections among nobles . And as for me when it comes to always creating a big matter it is because I don't like the hypocritic nature of these high scale parties that only reeks of corruption from all the people here instead of truly enjoying an event . "
Prince Hector mocked him after hearing him out, "Well, since you don't like being a hypocrite, weren't you also raised in the same corruption since you too are a prince . Aren't you too being a hypocrite?
Lukav laughed as he heard Hector, "hahaha, I never said I wasn't corrupted, I got corrupted and liberated the same day when I decided to create that incident at Red Lake City 7 years ago . I guess Hector you were still a kid during that time . "
A lot of nobles started having goosebumps when they heard the taboo word of Red lake city's incident .
Lukav, "hahaha, look at all of you, the very mention of that incident scared you all like frightened rabbits and chickens . Don't worry I won't be doing anything of that sort over here unless Felix is present . "
Alistair rebuked and spoke, "Aren't you ashamed of openly declaring to claim Felix's life . Prince, you should at least have some decorum even though you guys are fighting for the throne in the future . "
Lukav shook his head as he mocked, "Well I ain't getting that throne unless that shitty king dies or I grab it from him or maybe killing all of my brothers and sisters would do it for me, why should I worry about all these needless hassles and engage in shitty polite talk . Do you think that old man ain't trying to kill me all these years? hmph, he is only afraid of the consequences if his plans fail . "
Alistair sighed as he heard Lukav and remembered his nostalgic past, 'I guess this also one of the reasons why he is banned all around the kingdom by the court and his majesty . I wonder what changed Prince Lukav into a monster he is today, everyone keeps their mouth shut when it comes to that incident 7 years ago, from the rumors I know that he was quite a good fellow and it only 10 years ago that he started changing . '
Prince Hector raged as he heard the cussing from his elder brother, "Damn, again this bullshit tirade against father and the whole family, I am sure you would have done something to enrage him thoroughly in the past or else he wouldn't have banned you from most of the events . Even that bastard stepbrother of mine, Charlie gets an equal treatment unlike you hmph . . . I have heard enough of your bullshit . I guess, you too didn't like Charlie as he was present during that incident of Red lake city and was introduced for the first time among all the nobles . It's too bad he survived that incident . "
Lukav said, "The only reason that old man is alive is that he has my mother who she is stupid enough to believe him without knowing anything .
Today or maybe even later in the future, everyone will face the consequences of their actions which includes me, hahaha, of course, I won't die as long as I have Felix and all the conspirators who collaborated against me die as well . As for you Hector, since you are my younger brother I will only give you one advice, Pursuing John will be your end . As for Charlie, I don't particularly hate him, it's just that he was present in the event where I needed a lot of people to die I guess he was collateral damage . "
Hector mocked as he spoke, "I won't be in this position unlike you who has no real allies if I followed your advice . Keep your advice to yourself . "
Lukav didn't mind Hector's words as he knew Hector didn't know a thing about the past .
He ignored Hector's mockery and this time said in a very imposing manner to everyone present in the Mansion, "Well, I guess, I can't stop you and since you have already made your decision, I hope you don't come to me in future if you regret your present actions . As for me, I actually don't regret killing bystanders or anyone stopping me from carrying out my objectives, remember this, if you try to stop me in good faith I will always treat people with one ideology when it comes to war and battles, it is either you are with me or you are against me . I will treat anyone as my enemy whether it is my blood kin, even the innocent bystanders if they are living in the cities of my enemies . Don't expect me to show mercy on them since you don't have any direct relations to my enemies . Your taxes fund the armies of my enemies and that in itself is a crime . And today I am here to announce to everyone here that a big war is coming and everyone should be prepared . For everyone wondering why there is a big war coming? Well, the very reason for that war is this Banquet where a lot of alliances are taking place . However, you won't be able to stop the war after starting it . I think a lot of people here understand that a small war is coming, however, I am only saying this for those who don't know that a big war is coming so be prepared and cautiously take your sides . Remember this, staying on Felix's side would mean becoming my enemy and I will make sure to kill every single member of your family if you side with Felix if I win this war . There won't be any mercy to my enemies . "
Chapter 102
Rob thought and spoke his mind, "I guess he already got that weapon from the looks of this imposing announcement . "
Chris shook his head as he gave his hypothesis, "Nah, I think he is bluffing so that the Royal family actively starts taking action against that noble since he didn't sell those ballistas to him . This would only corner that upstart to ally himself with Demons fully or come and ask for Lukav's support or maybe go to Radiant church as they have a lot of influence and power . "
Casey has other thoughts, "I think Prince Lukav looked very serious today, and from the way he was talking to Prince, it looked like he was giving sincere advice to him in the end . It seems we will have to be prepared if a big war is really coming as he said . The very creation of that weapon has increased the chances of war in my opinion from the looks of it . I think many countries will start moving as well as they won't like Aelius getting any stronger in navy as well as land . Meanwhile, from the way Prince Lukav mentioned Count John it looks like he sees him as a big deal . I guess I need to start taking him seriously since my domain is near to him below Mendez's domain and he has those Ballistas so I guess I need to take out my biases when it comes to demi-humans and demons if I don't wish to offend him in the off-chance I unconsciously act against his men . "
Rob rubbed his chin as he said, "It looks like Prince Lukav really has a big grudge against Prince Felix . I really won't like Prince Lukav as my enemy as he is very infamous about torturing his enemies far more ruthlessly . Even the royal knights who were spying Prince Lukav some years back were raped and castrated before their head was delivered to the king since they didn't speak a thing . "
Charlie signaled Rob to keep quiet and talk in a low volume, "Shh . . . Don't mention it if you don't want to get implicated for reducing the morale of the knight order . And even if you are discussing that you need to keep your voice low . Those weren't just the first two who were treated like that . I guess Casey, what you are saying is correct as well . We need to be prepared at least in case something big happens . "
Rob thought and asked, "Hey, have you noticed Prince Charlie is never present whenever he hears of Prince Lukav's arrival . I know for sure that he was going to come here today but I guess after learning about Prince Lukav's arrival, hehe . "
Chris gave out his rumors, "I guess, he is really traumatized after that incident where he almost lost his life after entering the aristocratic circle for the first time . Anyway, let's see what's going on over here today . However, from what I know, he is a real cautious guy when it comes to dealing with people . "
Lukav told his goodbyes to everyone, "I guess this party won't continue unless I leave, Well, my objectives and announcement here are done, So, Gentlemen, I would take my leave, you guys can enjoy the Sun festival and take your sweet time to think about your alliances . " Prince Lukav sarcastically ended his sentence .
Mary asked her Father, Duke Norman, "Father, what do you think? isn't Prince Lukav making a hill out of a mole . "
Norman thought and explained, "Well, what he partly said is true, my actual reason for aligning with Hector and cooperating with him right now is so that I can legitimately steal that new weapon and all those new creations coming out of that small city as they are pretty much profitable so I guess a big war is actually brewing in the upper noble circles to get a share of pie in North-frontier city . However, people still don't want to suffer losses first if he is somewhat of a hot iron . And from my information, after that show, many countries are moving to get that weapon as well . Which includes the Dwarven Island kingdom in East and Fire-abyss kingdom in the north-west . We don't know anything about the elves in the south across the sea . As for the West, as you know there is always anarchy with demi-humans with various tribes controlling the Western part to resist our wars . However, the most I am worried about is the Fire-abyss kingdom's royalty, I wonder how they will react to this news with Bluesea family having a good relationship with Count John . "
Mary asked, "And what about the war that Prince Lukav previously mentioned? could that small Count really resist attacks from all sides? Didn't Duke Fjord also order his men to start raiding Morgan family ships in the sea from now on? I am really curious since that small count is able to raise such big waves in the kingdom in such a short period of time . He would most probably suffer for his offense for not paying respects to father and offending so many people in the upper aristocratic class . even if he has support from Duke Sapphire or Prince Lukav, I don't think that would matter as their only access to North-frontier town is from the eastern sea while other places are landlocked in our domain . "
Norman smiled while nodding and spoke, "I guess you are starting to understand why I decided to act against him even if he has support of Duke Sapphire, this time geography played a big role in me and my court officials taking the decision to act against him, if he was near Duke Sapphire Rose's domain then I wouldn't have attacked him . Even those Old professors at the imperial university are offering a big price for that new type of printer and paper making machines from that domain . And there are always risks when there is war even if minimal, I guess you have to take your chances or get crushed by your rivals . Duke Sapphire's alliance with that Count is a big headache for us as they would only grow stronger slowly but surely because of all the money he generates for them . Even he himself would become a big threat in the future from the way he is growing so fast . "
Norman spoke with clear disdain when he mentioned Lukav and continued, "As for Prince Lukav, you don't have to worry about his Lunacy he might be bluffing the Royal family to act against him since he didn't get those ballistas . Meanwhile, I am only worried about outside forces meddling during winter in the north . A lot of people recently came north with the intention of traveling to North-frontier town however I think many are spies . Well, it is still good since the Tourism industry is finally booming and increasing our income because of that landlocked city . "
Mary thought and laid her thoughts, "I guess it is because of their famous food and new architecture . I recently heard they started serving a new dish called Hotpot . As far as food is concerned, that Count is quite good at creating new types of food . I guess I will travel there again . Dad, can't we bribe those Cooks from Hope to our Mansion or at least keep a spy near the houses of those cooks . "
Duke Norman sighed at his daughter's question and spoke, "If it was easy to bribe those chefs then even the Royal family would have already gotten their hands on them . Those chefs have a very high salary that is comparable to Royal chefs and it seems that count intentionally trained the local people so that they would feel guilty if they still abandoned the city after so many changes . We were only able to get some dishes out of the locals . And it is hard to contact those chefs who are staying in those new buildings near his mansion where all those men from Bluesea house patrol for suspicious unknown individuals . Even those men who we sent for creating ruckus in that town are now being handled by that internal force called the Police force . However, we were still able to get 1/4th of new dishes created by those locals with a big sum . "
Mary murmured, "I guess promoting the food culture really helped out that town, Dad, why don't we do the same?"
Chapter 103
Duke Norman explained, "Well, it all comes down to resources and right now he has money from all those businesses and his town is small which really helped him in promoting it while at the same time creating those new dishes personally that helped it eventually . Anyway, we don't need to worry about it because after the war next year those personnel working for him will be ours . "
Mary nodded, "True, if all goes well in the war, that works as well . We would only need to be cautious against other forces . "
Duke signaled Mary and spoke, "Hector is arriving, don't mention that count in front of him unless he himself mentions him . "
Prince Hector meanwhile arrived as told them, "It's good that he is already gone after speaking all that bullshit, I originally invited him to make a mockery out of him previously, Who knew that upstart would ruin all of my plans . Still, there are no worries, I have already ordered Alistair to make a hit on Evan with his men . "
Mary gave a smile and remarked, "It looks like the plan is going well from your expression . "
Hector smugly replied as he unconsciously revealed his plans, "Of course, It most likely will go well as Evan's brother Ralph is providing us information from his spies and Duke Blackwolf's minister, Justin just informed me that Evan just left their communication point . Simon will carry out the assassination with his men after communicating with Duke Blackwolf's men so everything is going according to the plan . We have also particularly called a magician this time to imitate the same poison that was used by that upstart's slave, we also intend to integrate that magician with Simon's team . Even if Duke Fjord knows about our plan later on when things have escalated to higher levels, he won't be able to back off and we already know about his relations with Duke Sapphire so you know what will happen . "
Alistair spoke his hypothesis behind Prince Hector, "Duke Fjord would mostly be in denial even if he hears that we planned his hit, he would unconsciously believe that this is a conspiracy by that Count and start to suspect his own people or he may be good and realize our plan . I hope for the previous one . "
Norman laughed and spoke, "I guess we need to be prepared to face a cold shoulder if we meet him the future . And as you said he won't be able to back off after realizing our plan to make him bear the burnt of damage after starting his attacks . We would also be able to gauge the firepower of those ballistae on the field . Hector why don't you lend Alistair to me . He is quite good at planning conspiracies I would like to have such consultants in my court . Hey, Alistair why don't you leave Hector and work for me, you would get the same treatment as my right-hand man . "
Alistair saluted to Duke and spoke neither offending anyone, "Duke Norman I appreciate your interest but I have taken an oath to serve Lord so it would only be possible if Lord agrees to lend me . "
Hector Joked, "Duke Norman, You can always ask via Mary if you want any consultations from Alistair . As for lending Alistair, it can't happen as he is my Butler as well as my right-hand man giving important consultations in my times of need . "
Norman sighed, "I guess it was your fate to have Alistair working under you . Anyway, let's meet other nobles and conclude our meeting with Finance Minister Justin and Baron Mendez . We don't need to worry about Baron Mendez as he will be under our supervision and he has also taken more than necessary for the next 30 years even if he faces trouble . "
Alistair spoke his plan for Count John, "We will start attacking them by increasing the taxes of the port town on the guise that they are taking up more resources of the Port town compared to other small fleets with which they are turning into a monopoly . We will reduce the taxes of small traders so there won't be a backlash from traders . I think we still need to be careful about Duke Fjord attacking the port town . That is the first phase of our plan . This would eventually force the hand of Count John which also includes the assassination of Lord Evan . "
Norman rubbed his chin and spoke, "I guess you took a lot of considerations to plan against him . I wonder if you have anything planned against the siblings of Prince Hector when they compete for Throne . "
Alistair nodded his head in denial even if he had planned something .
*****
After leaving the mansion,
Duncan asked Lukav, "Master was it really necessary to relay such a piece of important information and such an imposing announcement in front of everyone . Your father would actively start taking actions against you instead of acting passively if he sees that we are causing big trouble . "
Lukav smiled and spoke, "It's better to make an imposing announcement before the start of the war and they would anyway take this announcement of mine as a bluff as they would try to think more into my statements, as for those who would take my announcement seriously, only they would benefit . It is anyway better than laying low where they would think something suspicious is going on and try to infiltrate more . Well, I wanted to scare Felix's allies and those intending to join him a bit more and announce my arrival after 2 years . Since we got this weapon, we have to start making preparations . let's see how those pussies hole up in their castles from now on . And they don't have proof that John sold his weapons to us since we only made a verbal agreement . Let them become paranoid at the fact that I may get that weapon anytime . As for me causing trouble, he asked for it all those years ago . If not for him pulling that trick on mother and taking my promise to not to kill him, I would have already tried to kill him directly . However, he knows if he tried to kill me directly, I won't have any reason to keep that promise and that is also the reason why I am provoking him now . Another reason is that I am prepared to fall out in a big way after all these years of preparations . Well, it would still take some time however moving the waves up is better . "
Duncan said after remembering the men at Prince Hector's banquet, "It looks they are intending to create chaos from the way they are grouping here, I guess we will be too late to stop any conspiracy they are planning after getting any news . "
Chapter 104
****
Meanwhile, John checked his notifications in WDS when all of this was taking place .
"Administrative headquarters have been completed . Congratulations to Host for successfully creating an administrative department . You have earned 5 million exp points . "
"The winery has been completed . Congratulations to host for successfully creating a winery . You have earned 3 million exp points . You currently have 13 . 5 million exp points . "
John ordered, "open the gift box . "
"Are you sure you want to confirm it?"
"Yes, Confirmed . "
"Congratulations to host for getting water-powered forges . You can power your machines via these machines from now on . you can also get other types of water machines blueprints . So go ahead and make use of that river in your city . "
Taylor meanwhile came in with a report .
"Lord, certain circumstances have developed right now at Prince Hector's Banquet . Lord Vlad asked me to report you the circumstances that developed over there . It looks like Baron Mendez has decided to increase the taxes of the East port town . From this, it looks like they are intending to provoke us intentionally by only raising our taxes . And since we are landlocked it looks like they want to force our hand . Duke Fjord also announced their intentions to raid Morgan family fleets as revenge for previous humiliation of Lord Evan . And it looks like our soap machines were actually leaked to Prince Hector as he was openly displaying it over at the banquet . Previously we were able to repel Duke Fjord's fleet because of our Ballistas . "
John thought and spoke, "Hmm . . . we will endure for now and pay the taxes . We will clear the area north of that port town later so that we can get exclusive rights to sea . At sea, only power would matter . As for Duke Fjord, we don't need to worry since we have already installed the new ballistae in Eric's fleet . So we don't need to worry as their ship would sink first without even being able to engage . It seems Prince Hector is really challenging us, bring in Jake, it seems we really need to show off our prowess in assassinating his important men . "
Jake entered the room after one servant went to call him,
"Jake you will have another mission right now, your job would be to assassinate this guy called Sylvan . Taylor and Master Vlad will provide you with details . How is the construction of the spy team ghosts going on?"
Jake saluted John and reported the current situation, "I have already gathered men who are ready give an oath to you milord, it would only require 5 more days to fully integrate it, it seems after your previous actions that day against Duke Evan, many of the slaves have started believing you and thus wanted to work for you willingly . "
John smiled and asked Taylor, "I guess my bet was worth it when I defied Duke Evan . What do you say, Taylor?"
Taylor nodded and agreed, "Yes, these actions of ours are finally bearing the fruits of our trust . "
John explained as Taylor said, "You see commoners can be trusted, unlike phony aristocrats who would change their tunes at the chance of profit or loss and hence my bet on commoners and slaves . Jake, you can start making preparations for your Sylvan's assassination . Though it is different about Aristocrats who deem honor above interests . "
Taylor, "Milord I would like to inform you of another thing, Duke Sapphire Rose has already arrived at North-frontier and has currently sent one of his men to meet us . From the looks of it, I think he has arrived in a disguise with his men . He is currently at one of the hotels we recently built . it looks like, he arrived as a trader from the south . Do you want to meet him right away or later on?"
John thought and immediately made a decision, "We will meet him right away, you can inform that man that duke can come in his disguise to meet me right now . I would anyway like to make an acquaintance with him . I would also like to hear what sort of information he has right now . "
****
After some time a half-elf in a traders disguise came to John's Mansion .
Taylor greeted him with a smile, "A very warm Welcome to Duke of Southern-forest, Sapphire Rose to Lord John's Mansion, I hope you enjoy your stay here during your tour . "
Watching Taylor's welcome all the servants in the Mansion were shocked and became alert after hearing Duke Sapphire's arrival . Instead of the usual slack behavior, they became alert as they knew that Duke Sapphire was an important guest .
Duke Sapphire smiled and spoke, "I guess you are the personal butler of Count John . I heard you manage a lot of things in this town . I guess you have a lot of authority comparable to Forgemaster Tornwall in this town . I couldn't make it here a few days back when there was the Ballistae event . "
Taylor neither agreed nor disagreed, "It seems Duke has made his own preparations before coming here . As for not being able to come here, we understand that people have their own circumstances and we already got information from Marquis Ray that you were going to come here so we appreciate Lord Sapphire's good intentions . "
Duke Sapphire nodded and said, "I never expected to see something big of that sort when I heard that you were introducing a new weapon for your forces . I guess I missed out on the opportunity to see that weapon live in action . "
Meanwhile, John just came to the room and gave his suggestion,
"I think we can still see that weapon live in action, Why don't we have some important talk later on . "
Duke Sapphire looked at Jake who was behind John and waiting upon him, "Looking at that boy behind your back it looks like he is preparing for something, I have some good news for you boy . However, it would be bad news for your Lord . "
Jake was confused as he asked, "What sort of bad news would it be for my Lord?"
Duke Sapphire smiled after watching his reaction, "It seems you really care more about your Lord, Well I got some information from my men and it looks like Prince Hector is planning to assassinate Lord Evan so that Duke Fjord acts against you guys and they become their vanguard facing the brunt of your attacks when they start taking serious actions against you . I guess the operation is already underway . "
John thought as he spoke, "It seems Dearil may already know about it but I guess he already knows the outcome that he will be too late if he came to inform us . Jake, change of plans, we will assassinate Sylvan later, you will first go and meet up with Dearil in the southwest of North-frontier town after you go to the checkpoint of Master Vlad's hideout, I guess they will know the general idea of the location of Dearil . I think you would need closure at least even if Evan is dying at the hands of other men . "
Duke Sapphire was quite surprised at such a sudden decision by John without even flinching an eye . He thought, 'I guess he is quite a decisive man . Good as a potential leader and doesn't hesitate in front of unknowns and potential danger . '
Chapter 105
Jake spoke to John, "Lord I won't mind if that scum dies at the hands of another man, I already had my closure when I confronted him last time around . I was glad that I choose to defy him in my past or else I would have died in shame for my whole life . I wouldn't even be able to meet you if I didn't resist him in my past . Now looking back into my past I don't have as many regrets as I had earlier before confronting Evan and his men a few days back . "
Sapphire thought, 'It seems he doesn't have a naive mentality and he really has moved on after that confrontation . I guess he really trained under that demon Vlad . "
John smiled and said, "It's ok, we can still teach that Petty Prince a lesson later on and since he wants war and wants to involve everyone, we might as well give him his war . You can go and kill Evan yourself since they would any way blame us and things would anyway escalate to bigger matters . We might as well take an opportunity since we are already strong enough to resist them . If you are able to reach in time, first meet up with Dearil and both of you can act together, I will write a letter to Dearil so both of you will act together in this mission . Taylor, what is the current population of our city and the number of people in our armed forces . "
Taylor immediately reported, "Currently we stand at 60000 population right now . The total men in our forces currently stand at 8500 men in Border security forces and 1100 men are in the internal police force and training schools . There are 600 men in Jake's spy force that we recently created, however not all the preparations are finished when it comes to the Ghosts . "
John nodded and spoke, "It looks like Duke Sapphire already waited for enough and is bored a lot and since all the plans are made I would like to personally tour you North-frontier city and our ways . Jake, you can head on to meet Dearil . Let's go, Duke Sapphire . "
Duke Sapphire smiled, "It would be my honor for you to take out your personal time and tour me this city . "
John laughed and answered, "hahaha, I guess the truth is, even I wanted to relax a bit today and since you are here today I would like to use this opportunity to tour North-frontier city as even I hadn't toured my whole city since I only read the reports from my men and checked the site once before giving my decisions . So we will have a lot of fun today . "
Taylor immediately signaled one of his servants to make the spy guards ready to head out and protect both Duke and John as they will be visiting civilian and military places .
Duke Rose nostalgically said after watching the architecture, "I would like to meet the Architect of your City, from this I can see that he has a lot of freedom to express when it comes to making various new architecture in your city . "
John thought as he remembered, "Now that you mention about architecture, we have only recently finished the construction of our administrative headquarters . Let's head there as my chief architect is also stationed there as making a grand Administrative headquarter was the most important task for him . "
Duke Rose remembered the biggest structure when he arrived at North-frontier city, "Is it that tallest grand structure in the center of City that I witnessed after coming to this town, It looked like an imperial palace just from the size of the structure . I saw that it was a sealed area protected by your new internal force called the police . It is good knowing that its construction is already finished and I can be the first man to visit it with you . "
John spoke, "Coincidentally, my Cheif architect is also a half-elf . I guess it is fate for you to meet him today . "
****
Simon was in the northeast of the Aelius kingdom at Riverside town . He was currently tailing Evan's after he left Duke Blackwolf's communication point .
Simon roared to his right-hand man, "Where is that damn magician, we have to make sure that all of the entourage dies or only Evan dies in secret . "
One of his men responded, "Master, he is currently resting in the carriage . "
Simon grunted as he heard his men and ordered him, "Is he here for work or for a picnic on our expenses while we are doing all the field work, geez this is one of the reasons why I hate working with others apart from my team and especially those magicians . We are going to start our operation right now, tell him and our men to get ready . "
The men responded to him, "Okay, Immediately to the orders sir . "
Dearil meanwhile was tailing both the parties and watching the show from sidelines . He thought as he saw the current movements, "I guess we are too late, It seems these guys are intending to do something big . That foolish Duke is done for right now, I guess Jake won't be able to personally take revenge against him . " Dearil sighed as he thought of the current situation .
****
Duke Fjord meanwhile got severe damage reports from his men when they started attacking the Morgan family naval fleet .
The marine scout from the port came and reported it directly to the Duke, "Milord we suffered severe losses at the sea after the Morgan family was deployed with those new ballistas . Particularly those runic ballistas were very dangerous to our main ships . Any ship directly hit by it sunk into the sea after catching fire . Milord, I think the situation right now is very serious and we need to do something about it since we lost a whole fleet of 50 men, Captain Shannon is awaiting your orders .
Duke Fjord thought and gave his orders, "It seems I really underestimated that guy, from the looks of reports I can see that he is a hard nut to crack . Try making a deal with the pirates that they would be allowed to sell their loot in the eastern port of Laguna city if it is only the Morgan family fleet that they are targetting . We won't attack them blindly, attack with caution and know about your enemy before engaging them fully . However, use the harassing techniques to them at night so that they can't sleep at night peacefully . This would at least fatigue them mentally . However, be careful about keeping a distance from them . Use our best scouts so that they can easily gauge the distance of their ships . "
Meanwhile, Ralph thought as he heard of the reports from the scout in the court . 'It seems they aren't paper tiger like we thought previously . From this, I can say that they have some real firepower when it comes to naval warfare . I wonder how would father react at the news of his favorite son's death . '
One of the Ministers gave a suggestion, "why don't we target them on Land instead of Seas, that very weapon is giving them an edge over us at naval warfare, We can't hope to use Magicians so early when there isn't even a war or a need to assassinate someone in sea . "
another of his ministers, "Why don't we ally with Duke Black . . . "
Duke Fjord showed his hand and interjected, "Don't even mention him or that Northern Barbarian Norman . "
Ralph suggested, "Father, Why don't we attack that port east of North-frontier town belonging to that noble Mendez, isn't he being too chummy with Prince Hector and Duke Norman . And since we know the source we can at least nip it in the bud . "
Duke Fjord nodded, "This plan of your's is better and suited for our current needs, however, we would need the legality to attack that town since it belongs to that baron . I would rather have the dwarves from the east attack them . However, the Royal family wouldn't be happy if we give them a route to that town . Well, I would still consider your plan since it is better for us . "
Ralph suggested, "Why not threaten the crown that you would open the eastern front if they interfere in this personal matter . Or why not use the pirates to attack the town?"
Duke Fjord laughed at this childish remark and then said, "That won't be possible as they too would put sanctions on our trade which would be lethal for us . We would need a bigger reason to hold the crown hostage where even they hesitate to take action against us . As for pirates, you think they won't know about them? Pirates can only be used in seas . "