World Development System 169 100. Hunting Sebastian.

**
Diana asked Vlad with a worried face, "What was written in the letter? and is there any news from Father?"
Vlad nodded and spoke"It seems Fireabyss Prince Chad was able to convince a lot of Nobles against us. This was only aggravated by our monopoly on Soap and Paper trade. The king himself is quite wary because of our purchase of Ballistas and has placed a unit of his army near our western borders with the pretext of infrastructure protection and road safety because of robbers which were planted by them on the roads to clean them up. While your father sent me a secret letter to not to come home as it seems ministers are probably doing funny business to jeopardize our relations with John. However, I think I will have to go eventually and make sure your father is safe. However, it is not right now."
Diana smiled and asked, "You read the newspapers, right? What do you take of John's declaration previously?"
Vlad thought for a while spoke, "Watching his boldness, I get nostalgic and remember my younger days. I guess this is also one of the reasons why most of the kingdoms hated my guts. However, I guess John is more crazier and bold than my previous self. But if he has some big plans then he might be the most cunning person I have ever known. He would even beat the devils in that case. You see I can't make predictions on him as he is someone who will bring something new out of the box like the last time when he introduced the ballistas."
Diana smiled as she heard him and spoke, "Well, in that case, you are right when you say he is a very cunning person, you just missed the last meeting when you were out and there were new secret weapons that were being developed by John. John asked me to keep it a secret and only to tell you. Not even my dad. What do you think?"
Vlad thought and agreed, "Hmm... I guess he is planning something big and he doesn't want our ministers to know about it. Okay, we will play along with his act as it seems more interesting. His previous feat in the eastern seas has made me more hopeful. Meanwhile, tell me about the new weapons that were introduced."

Vlad was shocked after hearing about the details of the Cannons. He gasped as he remembered what John said to him previously when he had made the Ballistas.
He remembered, 'If they betray me. I will simply make weapons that are more lethal and are thousand of times more destructive than the current ones.'
With a shocked face Vlad thought, 'My God, it seems he already had planned on making these weapons from the start.'
Vlad slapped his forehead and spoke with a smile after he heard about the Cannons, "It seems he was successfully able to goad everyone in the playing arena of this continent. It looks like he will be successfully able to build a kingdom."
Diana couldn't understand as Vlad murmured, "What are you saying, Vlad?"
Vlad shook his head and spoke, "Nothing, you won't understand in one sentence. I will explain it to you later. So tell me what other things have you noticed recently and the new inventions built in this town. Recently I have been busy training Jake and Georgio,"

Diana thought about clock tower, "Well, there are a lot of things. I think we will need a whole day if you plan to explore all the new inventions. Take that Clock tower, for example, lets head there."

Vlad nodded and headed with Diana,
**
Chad, Demon prince at the Imperial palace in Fire-abyss kingdom.
A subordinate of Chad handed over the report, "Master, you can see the report of the current waves in the Aelius Kingdom. I think this is going open a pandora's box for the whole region."

"True, this Count seems very interesting and cunning at the same time."
"Why do you say that Milord?"
"Looking at the history of his decisions then it can be seen that most of his moves were calculated, whether it was buying the Archer slaves or buying that border town. At the same time he has handed over the tech of those ballistas to the royal family but he still hasn't handed over tech of those printing press and finally he has started using it. My instincts say that he is baiting the all the players to play his game. From an outsider's point of view, he seems carefree and doing what he wants to do. Anyway, the current situation is grave after watching the power of those ballistas in the seas. What was the reaction of dwarves?"
The subordinate spoke, "Unconcerned it seems they are waiting for something big to happen."
Chad smiled and spoke, "It looks like they too have their own secrets and playing for time. Is there any news on Diana and Bluesea House?"

The subordinate read the report, "It looks like she is going to stay in that town and from my reports she is quite close to that count and his friends. This time she may get inflicted because of the oncoming war. As for the Bluesea family, they have started arming themselves with those new ballistas after we deployed a unit of the army under the same pretext of finishing off the bandits near their borders. However, the ministers there have summoned that guy, Vlad. If he doesn't come then we can use Bluesea's brother, Draco to create internal conflict in the Bluesea house. This will be an opportunity for us to divide that family."

Chad nodded and spoke, "Okay, that will a good chance for us, I just hope Diana comes back safely because that town will be the eye of the storm. Damn that count, if he wasn't courting Diana we could have become great friends. This is also one of the reasons why I didn't meet earlier when I visited the Aelius Kingdom."
The subordinate had a confused face and asked, "Why do you say so, master? Is he really that good?"
Chad explained as he tapped the table with his fingers, He spoke with a serious expression, "Well, he is someone who is very cunning. which is to my likes. and doesn't show his fangs until the right time. And I guess my liking is also because of the food and all the technological inventions which were most likely triggered by him. If he was a demon then he would have been the biggest asset or the most dangerous individual to the Fire-abyss kingdom. I say him being the most dangerous because I can literally see his ambitions if this thing is a bait. And he is not someone who is stupid as he understands the importance of Information control by not giving that printing press to anyone and this is also one of the reasons why I believe that this weapon given to the Royal Family is a bait by him. Anyway, we will keep a look at him and the Dwarves as they are making unorthodox moves these days."

Henry meanwhile was in the Capital of southern Domain, Iron Rainforest. Inside a pub he was here to collect information on political events.
He called the Bartender and ordered a beer, "Extra Special Wheat Beer."
The Bartender smiled as he understood and asked, "What kind of special beer do you want?"
Henry was familiar with the routine and got straight to the point, "Hmm... Ones related to the political events of the Aelius Kingdom. However, I would like it was focused on Duke Fjord and Duke Rose's Domain."
The Bartender took out a newspaper and handed it over to Henry with a couple of other information related to the lords of the Fjords domain.
I think this can answer your questions. He handed over 2 Newspapers to him.
Henry was quite surprised as he had seen these newspapers at John's domain before leaving.
He read one of the newspapers which were circulated and got most of the information.
He spoke after reading, "You are quite sharp in realizing the value of these newspapers and using them for your benefit."
The Bartender smiled as he gave Henry his Beer and spoke, "You flatter me, Lord."
Henry smiled as he drank the Beer, "So what do is your personal opinion on the last battle of Fjords and Johns."
The bartender spoke without any hesitation, "A complete riot as most of Fjord's fleet is underwater right now. I guess those ballistas were quite a game-changer and hence this is also one of the reasons why Duke is attacking them as this affects their personal interests in the seas. As for Duke Fjord, A very ruthless person to be very honest, he will use and throw away anyone who is under him is what I concluded, whether it is his subordinate or his own kid. He was quite good at using his own kid's death for his own benefit."
Henry smiled and continued asking, "What about Count John?"
The bartender thought a bit and spoke, "A generous lord and quite an inventor. I heard he was one who previously invented those Soaps or the ballistas created recently. As a person, he cares a lot for his men after I heard about his debacle with Lord Evan and I think this can be his strength and weakness at the same time. However, I don't feel bad about this weakness. He had shown quite a spine where most of the Lords would have backed down in his position. So I guess this has also inspired a lot of people in his domain to work under such a lord who is ready to protect his men. However, as an enemy, I think he is quite ruthless after knowing the results of the last battle. However, this is war so you have to leave some of your morality behind if you expect to win it. Anyway, after this war, if the North-frontier town and Lord John are able to survive then I am planning to move there as most of my colleagues have earned quite a sum doing business over there."

Henry nodded as he took his opinion, "Okay, I got most of the information, you can leave for now."

Henry muttered as he read about Duke Rose's travel to the south, "It seems Duke Fjord is traveling right now, maybe I should meet him later and try hunting that bastard Sebastian or Darius for now. This would be a good blow to that scum. I guess I need to travel to Laguna city. Before that, I need to get a good disguise or I will be identified too easily."

Chapter end