World Development System 273 204. Duke Friedreich's Arrival at Sky.

Duke Friedreich furrowed his brows and thought as he heard about Food Yield, "Hmm... I also never expected it to come true. I guess this is related to that thing called Fertilizer which Vlad spoke about. Maybe I should ask John about it and negotiate a deal with him for the formula. The food yield will serve as a good foundation for our duchy for the next 50-100 years. Since he is focused on Common Magic Crystal Mines, I can offer him one of the biggest mines from my duchy. I should also open a research Institute like John with a group of experienced farmers and magicians who are interested in Flora research specifically related to farming for better results in the future. Anyway Lyon, hurry up to North-frontier Town for now. I heard their New Capital is still under construction and would be prepared in a month."

Lyon nodded respectfully and gave his orders to the escort team to hurry up, "Yes Milord."

At the same time,

At North-frontier Town, Ambassador Luke was quite excited after he had completed his talks with Taylor as this deal had quite a lot of benefits from him. He was currently preparing the Ambassadorial Manor for Finance Minister Joel who prepared the deal and Grand Duke u0026 Defense Minister Plato who broke through u0026 negotiated with Taylor for the same.

He thought and spoke to Elison, "I guess there might be a big storm brewing up in Imperial City today since this deal has the favor of Lord Joel, Lord Plato and His Majesty Lionheart. I predict that Prince Hector would surely be having a rough day in Imperial Court for the first time since he would be butting heads with Lord Joel and Lord Plato. And If Prince Hector is not careful and runs off his mouth then he may get implicated."

Elison too sighed and spoke, "Isn't your father the Lord Mayor of Imperial City so Prince Hector may contact him? No no, I spoke abruptly, I guess Lord Mayor too has his fair share of problems when it comes to Prince Hector and Prince Felix so Lord Mayor would certainly not be helping him out today. Well, then Prince Hector's only hope is the Lord Prime Minister to save the asses of his men today at least the ones who have their hands clean. If he is smart then he will try to negotiate a deal with him."

Luke shook his head and spoke, "Nah, Knowing the ego of Prince Hector he won't bow down and would only make a deal with his head high up when he is certain to make a profit. As for Prime Minister, he is a very cautious man in political circles according to my father so he won't support Prince Hector easily. As for Lord Father, he has his own priorities rather than taking care of Prince Hector and complete this deal, I can see that a big storm is certainly coming up since his Majesty is Determined to complete this deal since it is related to reducing the influence and finances of the Radiant Church which has been eating away Aelius for Centuries. Anyway, this deal is good for our political career currently so we should be focused on welcoming Lord Joel and Lord Plato currently."

Elison nodded and spoke, "True even Lord John is quite cautious against religions taking a root and amassing influence u0026 political power so he always keeps them at a bay and that is especially so for Radiant Church."

Luke thought of a conversation with his father and spoke to Elison, "You see, in my experience previously Lord John is a shrewd person and looks from a long term perspective. In the Last rebellion as well he was baiting the Imperial court, Lord Plato, His Majesty and Lord Fjord with their greed for a long time while at the same time he was using Prince Hector's grudge against him to incite Aelius against him the whole time. When he gave up those ballistas as well he was already prepared with other stronger weapons to resist us in a righteous tone when a perfect opportunity presented. When he set up the Newspaper, we thought that it was a loss-making venture and had no use but his true goals lied in his Political goals with the use of newspapers and embarrassing Prince Hector to scheme and wage a war against him. The Royal family too ignored the influence of this newspaper in the North-frontier city because the North-frontier city was far away in borders and they thought that this was only a personal vendetta between Lord Count John and Lord Hector at that time. So in my opinion, Lord John planed his moves quite meticulously with a long term perspective to amass influence among the populace. Even Lord Plato previously commented that we were neck-deep in greed which was aimed to lose our rational which was a net spread out by Lord John so that we attack him and then via his newspapers he influenced the people of North-frontier town to a breaking point about the politics which was going on between Lord John, Prince Hector, Duke Fjord and the Royal Family and the thing was we couldn't sue him as there wasn't any law previously which could prevent him from publishing facts in his own domain only now do we have a law in the publishing industry. Previously The Royal family simply controlled the Imperial Institute and the elders u0026 principals to control content which were against the interests of the Royal Family. In the last Rebellion, I guess the breaking point of people at North Frontier City was the Massacre of Greenwoods' village with no action from the Imperial Court. And then the Imperial Court's stance with supporting the mercenaries when it came to the destruction of Mercenary camp which was established by Prince Hector not to mention the sanctions placed by the royal family on food purchase. So these were quite meticulous plans from Lord John with long term goals. In Lord Plato's words, we lost quite bitterly against Lord John in all the fronts whether it was Politically, Economically, and then Militarily when Aelius lost the hearts of the people at North-Frontier city who were supporting for the rebellion after the Mercenary Camp fiasco and Food exportation sanctions. In this whole rebellion, the most important point was the hearts of the people that we lost and hence no one here supported the Imperial Court or Aelius but instead were encouraging for a rebellion after watching the deeds of Prince Hector, the Imperial court and the Royal family. That small Publishing Company had so much influence in North-frontier town. Even I was quite influenced unconsciously after reading for a long time but since my interests lied in Imperial Capital I soon realized it's importance before the rebellion when people started getting courage to speak out against the royal family and ministers at the imperial court. In Lord Plato's opinion, this Meticulous rebellion by Lord John was a big lesson for all the politicians in the Imperial Court and also the Royal family. So from now on, they will also be considering the effects of their decisions on populace so that outer threats can't use it against us."

Luke Drank water as he continued in a solemn tone, "So In my opinion, Lord John has studied the history of Aelius and Fire-abyss Kingdom in-depth and has come to the same conclusion as our top strategists that he should keep the religions at bay so they don't disrupt social and political order in his country in the future. I am guessing that in the first opportunity, Lord John will Ban Radiant Church Completely in the Sky Kingdom when they create any sort of trouble. Well, the last rebellion was quite a lesson for me and others at Aelius Politically. At least now I know that the hearts of the people are very important politically and now it seems His Majesty too is focusing on the same as he doesn't want to see the repeat of Rebellion of the North in the near future. The Royal family will at least keep up their appearances and cover-up scandals if they see any so as not to affect their popularity."

Elison too was quite stunned after having this conversation with Luke and thought, 'This conversation with Lord Luke is a good lesson for me politically and my future career. I guess a lot of shrewd scholars would already be studying the impact and origins of the Rebellion of Lord John. I wonder what name would the future historians give to this event. Anyway, I better prepare for the arrival of Lord Joel and Lord Plato.'

After a few hours, they saw the Bluesea family escorts carriages who came with Duke Friedreich.

Luke furrowed his brows a little and commented as he saw the carriages "These demons are quite show-off when they enter any new territory. It's like it is their inherent nature to dominate anywhere they go."

Elison nodded and spoke, "Well, Its Duke Friedreich's Bluesea flag so maybe someone important has traveled this time after looking at the escort and guard team. I guess they are here to witness the new policies and the peace-trade deal between Aelius and Sky."

Melanie looked at Friedreich carriage from her store as she sensed a strong power, "My, my, What are we looking at, Duke Friedreich himself has traveled to another country after such a long time. Must be an important occasion."

Duke Friedreich who was inside the carriage signaled for it to stop and came outside after hearing Melanie, "Well I just came early for my son in .. I mean Lord John's crowning ceremony in advance. Maybe I will strike some deals with him. If possible I can kidna..., I mean Invite him to Bluesea duchy. You seem more anxious about my arrival, Old hag. You should go back to your lab." 

Melanie snorted as she sneered and spoke, "Hmph, whom are you fooling? You think I don't know your means. I can also see that you will make him marry your daughter in the name of inviting him. You better don't try anything.

Melanie continued and murmured in a very soft voice which could only be heard by Duke, "Anyway, he will become my son-in-law, you won't even know when it happens."

Friedreich nodded and asked, "You seem quite happy over here doing your research in Sky because of John's enormous funding. Won't you go to Aelius where most of your members are feeling restless because of you and your Great-granddaughter? I don't think he would mind if you go there as I can sense that he knows of your strength after his rigorous training with Vlad. Well, you shouldn't worry much, I am only here on behalf of Bluesea family and one deal of Fire-abyss family because John released those Sky dollars where we don't have any good understanding of this Banking thing and from the way he is emphasizing its importance I understand that it will be one of the pillars of his country at least. Anyway, see you at Sky Headquarters. By the way, I just got some information that you should check out some news on the Imperial Court of Aelius as there is a show going on over there."

Lyon came over and spoke to Friedreich in a low voice, "Lord, it looks like even the Devils are here. Won't His Majesty Apollyon be pissed after hearing such news."

Friedreich had already expected this to happen and spoke, "You don't need to worry. They will still make friends with Lord John as it is in their interests currently. The power Balance in this continent has shifted a lot and you will see it in the future. Our Investment in John was the right choice. You see, most of the people here have different eyes as compared to others on this continent and it is not just humans but all the other species here have something different. I guess it is the sense of Identity which I only saw in the upper cadres of most of the empires as their interests and sense of belonging were linked with the empires."

Lyon nodded and also felt a bit differently when he arrived at the North-frontier city, 'I guess that's true. People here seem to have more money to spend after watching them in person. Anyway, lets see Lord John in person who brought this change to this city and now an empire step by step. After watching a number of businesses over here I see that he focuses a lot on commercial activities in his domain as well. I guess this is the result of the policy of no taxes when you don't make any profits in your business in Sky unlike other countries and nobles that tax straight on the sales price. Maybe we should do the same in our Duchy who knows we can benefit from this policy. Additionally, the Merchants too will be happy because of this which will inevitably increase the number of merchants which will, in turn, increase the amount of tax. Next time I will propose this Lord Friedreich.'

Chapter end