World Development System 168 99. S+ Threat.

Taylor replied in a nonchalant manner to Luke, "Just as you can see. We are only reporting facts nothing different. You see our professors were itching to write these pieces for a long time but never got an opportunity. While Lord was in a very good mood yesterday after hearing the verdict, he allowed them to publish it today. And hence the result. Did you like it?"
Taylor ended in a cheeky way.
Taylor spoke in a grave tone as he got straight to the point, "Okay, lets cut the chase, As you guys never intended to fulfill your promise and are brazen siding with Fjord, what do you expect from us? This was, in fact, a very mild reaction from the Lord."
Ambassador Luke tried to calmly explain about the verdict, "It was only a fair verdict, Mr. Taylor. You guys should have at least sent a man representing your case at the imperial city. This was very offending And the fact that you guys employed a wanted pirate by the Royal family only infuriated the king further. You must understand the circumstances."

Taylor nodded, "Hmm... That's reasonable but why weren't you bothered about Blake before our delivery of Blueprints or when we appointed him? It is not like you didn't know about him, right?"

Luke spoke with a shred a shame on his face, "We were waiting for you to hand him over to us without offending you."
Luke was quite used to it as he was a diplomat.
Taylor made an innocent-looking face and spoke, He gave a document to Luke and smiled, "Well... that's reasonable as well. Have a look at this document. What do you think? You see Master Vlad was asked to come to Bluesea Domain Yesterday by the ministers of Bluesea Family. The timing and coincidences are quite interesting, right? Additionally what happened to your previous promise of political protection when I delivered you the blueprints?"

Luke's face was red as he read the reports which exposed their activities left and right, If he could find a hole, he would have immediately hidden his face in it. However, he was quite thick-skinned being a diplomat for a long time.
The document revealed about king Lionheart's meeting with Demon Prince Chad.
'Damn it. How were they able to spy and get so much information about our confidential meetings. I am sure there is a mole in the imperial palace. I guess, this is it for King's relations with Count John at least on a personal level. We can't even target him just because he is exposing some scandals.'

Luke seriously asked before leaving, "Are you guys really intending to continue your charade?"

Taylor nodded and spoke without any hesitance and a grave tone, "Yes, Lord is prepared this time around to confront all of his enemies. Don't think we don't know your plans. We have a lot of eyes in your court. The meeting of His majesty with Prince Chad was our red line."
Luke left with a red face as he didn't have any arguments to resolve the current situation.
Taylor reminded him as he left, "Yes, you guys shouldn't be worried about us giving those ballistas to the Dwarves or any other party. However, you should be worried about pirates in the seas. And we would continue to expose a lot of things from now on. Just treat it as an Eye for eye treatment from us. And just because we are a small city, don't think we can't fight."

Shivers ran through Ambassador Luke as he heard Taylor. For the first time, he could see the power of information control as he remembered about Today's incident.
Luke thought, 'This will be a tough nut to crack, I wonder If I should believe him that he won't provide those ballistas to others. I hope this decision by ministers is correct or we will be in a deep mess knowing the personality of this count. This Count gives me a lot of danger signals as he always seems carefree without any worries. He is no less crazy than Prince Lukavv. I guess I will increase his ranking to the S+ category for most dangerous people which are the biggest threats to the kingdom. He seems as dangerous as those demons in the west. I guess we need to be prepared for war.'

There was a lot of hubbub in the city because of the explosive news that was reported today,
One of the Dwarves spoke to one of his Human mates in the pub, "haha, from now we can drink those new wines as much as we want."
The Other guy drank Red Moon and spoke, "True, I always cursed to wait in those long lines every day, not to mention those paid guys who would line up every day to sell these delicious wines in the black market. Such a waste. Those guys in the black market were simply ripping off common men like us."
One of the demons laid out his hypothesis after wines were sold in bulk, "I think this decision was taken because of the previous verdict which was given in Duke Fjord's favor."
The dwarf smilingly spoke, "Bullshit, It was because Tornwall successfully completed the Clock Tower Previously. This has improved the life and productivity of everyone in the city."

One of the guys spoke, "I recently met the guys who came from the Eastern Port. This time we got a big raid of Fjord's ships. You can see the newspaper tomorrow to confirm this news. It seems the Battles are intensifying in the seas. It seems north will be a mess."
The Dwarf shook his head and spoke with a smile which was full of optimism, "Nah, it will be all fine, I believe in Lord. Since Tornie is willing to die for Lord John then so am I."

Prince Hector was red-faced as he read one of his most embarrassing scandals, "Who the fuck revealed this news to those asses in North-frontier city. How were they able to get their hands on such sensitive information."
Instead of focusing on other news, Prince Hector was more worried about the scandal where he was performing BDSM being the one dominated by one of the women escorts.
Alistair coughed and spoke, "Lord, most of the men in the palace know it because of noises. I think those who left work previously ratted you out to earn some money. These days the Black and White Publishers are offering money for serious scandals related to aristocrats. They have most likely targeted us this time because of Your Father's sanctions which were taken in the last court meeting."

Hector was fuming with anger as he almost gave out an insane order, "Damn those peasants, rattling out for small change. Kill all the servants, no it won't work since that Count would immediately use this against me and report it in his newspapers. I want full proof walls where not even the voices of a whole banquet can be passed out. Do it immediately. I am already stressed with that moronic Baron. I am more worried now since we can't be forceful now after watching the power of these newspapers."

Alistair nodded and spoke." Yes, Milord, I will immediately sort it out. Lord no need to worry about that Baron, if he doesn't do our bidding. We can use his son Antonio. Additionally, he has grudge against John So he can be a nice good pawn for us. Sir, I would like to give a suggestion."

Hector nodded and spoke, "Continue."
Alistair nodded and laid out the current scenarios, "Now that Count John has infuriated Lord Lionheart I think we can close the eastern port without any worries from the imperial ministers. However, we would be open to warfare because of such radical action. We can do it now or we can do it later on when the Beasts in winter attack him as we planned. My instincts are saying that he has intentionally provoked everyone right now but I don't understand why he would do this right now. We also got a letter from His Majesty that they are willing to provide those ballistas if costs are paid upfront. So the decision is up to you to decide."

Hector furrowed his brows and remembered the warning of his brother and asked before making a decision, "What is the battle report?"
Alistair immediately handed over the report and spoke gravely, "Very severe. I think you already know about the last battle of Eastern Seas where Fjord lost 5000+ men. And just recently that Pirate, Blake has seized 11 ships already. 2 of which belong to us. And if we go by the reports, I think we lost 3 more ships in the seas. They are most likely targeted by Count John. Recently they had a lot of suspicious movements."

Hector thought for a long time and made a decision, "We will wait till those ballistas arrive. Immediately answer father that we will pay upfront and buy them. I don't want to take any chances before moving against him like the last time. You can fund the mercenaries to attack them via land though. That scummy father of mine would try to increase the prices so tread with caution before you go into negotiations. And use that Antonio whatever guy since the Baron is being a pussy, we must use someone else."

Alistair nodded and left to carry out the instructions, "Okay, Milord. I will proceed as you ordered."

Chapter end