World Development System 120 50. Gritos.

Justin smiled as he spoke, "It is as Mr. Alistair expected, he has taken the bait and ordered his men to start full-scale raids against Morgan family, Marquis Ray and Duke Sapphire. As Duke Sapphire has recently started increasing to send his trade ships towards the north and hence the raids against him as well. It seems they have made some agreement as a lot of ships containing paper are being shipped there nowadays."

Duke Blackwolf nodded as he heard the report, "Hmm... It seems a war between Dukes is coming in the eastern seas. And what are the reactions of the Royal family and that upstart Count?

Justin reported to him, "Royal family didn't take any position and advised all the parties to resolve this situation amicably indicating they won't be taking any positions publicly at least. While that upstart seemed carefree in his public meetings, this was reported by our spies. However, there is a point to be noted, He has recently made his own naval fleet where they were fully deployed with those new ballistas and recently there was an attempt on his life by the Radiant Church. 2 of the assassins were captured, one of them is the disciple of that man. Do we need to tell Prince Felix about this situation as he might be unaware?"

Duke shook his head and spoke, "Nah, Prince Felix himself doesn't like that upstart because of his interactions with Prince Lukav so we don't need to worry. He might have already known about this assassination. Even he is involved? This situation will get as he is involved as well."

Justin hesitated and then asked, "There is another thing, would you be attending the ceremony of those new soaps by Prince Hector. Additionally, we are one of the collaborators with them."
Duke thought a bit, "Hmm... Yes, I expect to watch a show. Make preparations for my journey over there. It would anyway be a good show, we also got some results using that new technology to make our soaps, it has at least reduced our costs."

****
Currently, John's Mansion was full of people.
Sally and Josephine were the first ones to arrive as they heard about the incident that took place in the market.
Josephine arrived and roared at John who was sitting in the head chair of the meeting room, "Are you really ok? Why are you still conducting these meetings? You should be resting now instead of doing work.
She then moved her gaze to all the officials as she roared and asked, "Hey, aren't all of you officials ashamed that your Lord is still working after such an incident?"
The officials kept their mouth shut as they heard Josephine's dissing.
The guard came in and apologized to John, "I am sorry Lord that I couldn't stop miss Josephine. She barged without even caring for her life, we didn't dare take any action as opposed to our code."

John sighed and dismissed the guard, "It's ok. You can leave."

Tornwall whispered to Josephine and Sally, "It was Lord who insisted on this meeting. We initially gave the same advice to Lord John so we had to follow the orders."

Sally then asked John and all the other officials, "And why are you guys dealing with Lukav? Don't you know how dangerous he is? He is someone who would flip at a moments notice."

Tornwall sighed as he explained to her, "It's all based on the interests, actually the last assassination's information was also given to Lord by Prince Lukav and hence he was more cautious and prepared in case something happened."
"Because of Prince Lukav's warning, Lord John always wore an armor inside his clothes and hence the injuries weren't threatening his life. I too think that we can trust Prince Lukav for now as it was his information that helped us this time. This assassination was carried out by Radiant church's Templar Assassins and they are quite difficult to deal with even for veteran men as sometimes they won't care for their life and go for a Do or Die attack."

Sally sighed as she heard Tornwall's explanation as she didn't bother them and said, "Okay, I won't argue anymore. Anyway, I don't think you guys would be able to carry out this meeting as people would continuously come to check on John's health. Look even Glenn and Prague have arrived after hearing about you."

John sighed and ordered to everyone present, "I guess she is right, We will carry out this meeting later on. We won't be able to carry out this meeting if people will come continuously and wait outside the Mansion. You guys can go and do your jobs. I will meanwhile take some rest."

Tornwall whispered to John before leaving, "Lord, I have some important news to share. I hope to meet you later on as soon as possible. There are new developments in the workshop."
****
Gritos, Duke Norman's capital.
Today was the day when Prince Hector was going to announce the start of his new soaps. A lot of nobles arrived today. Duke Blackwolf was also present here today with his finance minister Justin and his guards. His guards were unlike the knights. His guards seemed more like barbarians and spies, while there was only one Knight named Dirk who was escorting Duke Blackwolf.
Duke Blackwolf's Entourage came in a grandeur fashion as they entered the capital.
A man in barbarian clothes and a Wolf mask was behind Duke Blackwolf. He asked the Duke, "Lord, was it really necessary to ally with Norman. I don't have problems with Prince Hector but a lot of our interests conflict with Norman and We have lost quite a sum of men in the last war due to that old bastard's schemes."
Duke shook his head, "No need to be stressed so much, Fen, I am here today because there will be a show from what I know. As for Norman, we have to let go of some interests if we want some cooperation with them. Additionally, our main source of income still are those soaps. It was only recently that we diversified our investments as per the suggestion of Justin so it will take some time to stabilize our industry. And we don't need to worry anyway as most of the work will be done by that shorty Fjord or that Barbarian thief Norman. Additionally, we are tied right now because of the circumstances. That Lunatic Lukav is always blackmailing me with filling our markets with that new soaps and we don't need to cross him or who knows I will end up as one of those knights. It is good that I am reselling those soaps outside of the border in the west for a good profit and hence we are keeping afloat. It is good that Justin was here to guide our direction of the economy."
Justin smiled and saluted, "You over praise me. Lord. However, I feel quite honored by serving you."
Fen laughed a bit and spoke, "Hmph, you were just worried about losing your head in case lord decided to charge you on your corruption for taking bribes from traders. You should be glad that you have a good head for suggesting that idea."
Justin hmphed as he thought, 'Hmph... I wonder you would even get your salary if not for my ideas.'

Duke Norman's men made a parade and welcomed him. One of the knights welcomed him personally, "Welcome Duke Blackwolf for coming to Gritos. I represent Duke Norman and present you our heartfelt wishes on Duke Norman's behalf for long-lasting cooperation between our 2 duchies."
Duke Blackwolf nodded and entered.
Grey arrived at the Northern Capital, Gritos in a disguise currently,
He murmured as he saw the scenes, "It seems there is a big celebration going on over here. It looks like everyone is waiting for a big show. I guess people's instincts are always acute. Anyway, lets finish this task early and head home early. This beauty will come in handy for this mission."
Grey checked the mini-ballista in his backpack as he patted it.
Grey then arrived at the production site of the new soaps. He looked at the soaps from a distance as he judged them.
"It seems they weren't able to fully replicate the soap machines. However, these new soaps still seem better than the previous ones that Duke Blackwolf produced. I guess this one of the reasons Blackwolf allied with Norman and Prince Hector."
Grey then watched Fen who was with Duke Blackwolf instinctively, "It seems he is quite cautious this time around since he is here as well."

Chapter end