Chapter 124
The scout, "Lord Alistair already ordered his men his search the area and they concluded that there weren't any new additions of spies or professionals to the town . Nowadays, people are mostly moving towards north-frontier town lured by lucrative money and standard of living . "
Alistair nodded and gave him a letter addressed to the king, "I guess he is not Hector's strategist for nothing . Well, anyway take this report and give it along with my letter to His Majesty at the capital about the current events . "
Scout, "Okay, Milord . "
****
In Count Casey's domain a few days after Sylvan's Assassination,
Count Casey was quite shocked after watching Sylvan's assassination . He spoke to Rob and Chris as they had gathered today at his mansion, "I think I need to create some distance between Duke and Myself . I don't want to get implicated if that Crazy count gets angry thinking I am providing him help . I recently heard he even survived an Assassination from the Templars of the Radiant Church . That guy has a lot of dreadful weapons who knows when my number is on those weapons if I piss him off just because I am friends with Duke Norman . I would rather make Prince Hector my enemy instead of that count . "
Viscount Rob too nodded as he heard Casey, "Well you don't need to worry that much Casey, That Count isn't this petty as I heard a lot of good things about him from his men, however, he is someone who doesn't like people targetting his loved ones . To be honest, those weapons of his are quite dreadful if he can make them in huge quantities . I wonder how Baron Mendez is feeling right now . From what I know, those captured Templars will face a big ordeal now . The biggest mistake they did was targetting Melanie's Great-granddaughter, Eva, I heard she is one of his first friends when he came to North-frontier city . Well, Chris what do you think of Baron Mendez's position now? I think he was already pissing his pants after he saw Sylvan's assassination, right? Would you still like his position with no power and control right now?"
Chirs nodded as he explained, "I guess Casey was right earlier when he said Baron Mendez was in a very delicate position . I never expected this count to be so defiant and have so many means against his enemies . However, this will only create more enemies as the Royals always take their face very seriously . I guess I too will sit on fence after watching this show . I don't want to die such an ugly death because of choosing the wrong side . However, I am more concerned about Radiant church as Prince Hector can't maneuver more because the Royal family wouldn't want to act against that Count before getting their hands on those weapons and fully tested blueprints . "
Rob laughed as he spoke, "Well I won't worry too much about Count John and his actions, What I see is him reacting to the provocations of others and slapping their faces very tightly . Anyway, I recently heard that those old men from the Imperial university are quite unhappy because of all the new books coming in the market from Count John's Domain, they also don't like the fact that poor commoners are getting a chance to educate themselves as well . "
Chris thought and explained, "I think they are more pissed by the fact that Count John is pouring loads of money for educating all of his domain while earning the goodwill of the masses at the same time and not particularly by commoners as this is also reducing their power and influence . I think they believe that their influence will deteriorate later on when all these commoners come mainstream in Literature, arts, war, strategy and various other fields . The very fact that the new books are being printed is the fact that more teachers are now willing to go and teach at Rose Institute as they are trying to show the facts that they capable of fulfilling their demands . However, I didn't see any radical or controversial books from Black & white publishers, I think that was the name of that printing press . I guess they are treading this path very carefully as they don't want to anger the Royal family for now and are only publishing conservative works for now . "
Rob too nodded bought a newspaper to show them, "Yeah, I read one of those books from Mr, Prague which described the culture, people and way of life of the people living at North-frontier city . It was quite interesting . I heard they also released this thing called the newspaper so that people can get news about internal matters and external matters outside the City . However, it is mostly regarding the internal matters of the City . I bought one of these when I visited them . However, the thing called newspaper is mostly controlled by the Administrative headquarters and I heard it was his butler Taylor who directed the direction at least in regards to the external policy . Meanwhile, Glenn is one of the guys who is handling the internal news of the city while keeping people informed . Because of the release of these newspapers, common people as well are also getting more interested in studying and reading those newspapers themselves . This has also opened opportunities for a new field called Journalists in that domain . "
Chris smiled and spoke as he heard about newspapers from Rob, "I can now understand why the Radiant church is so keen on this Printing press as they want to spread their teachings hard, soft and fast . I guess traders and officials are the ones who buy those newspapers the most as they can get the latest news regarding the policies of the city from the paper instead of heading to the Administrative Headquarters every day to confirm the latest news with respect to trade and new opportunities . Quite a convenient tool of communication and persuasion . I guess this is one of the reasons that those old men at the Imperial university can't wait to get their hands on this technology . I too will change my strategy and start investing in this town . Just looking at this paper is giving me so many ideas for profit . However Casey, you need to be careful as you can't be blatant in defying Prince Hector . You too are landlocked so you should communicate with them secretly . I guess Baron Mendez is contemplating on how to resolve this situation because I think he too understands that Count John won't forget this type of thuggery at the eastern port . "
Casey nodded, "Well I was doing that already from the start after Prince Lukavv's announcement however I was quite afraid . Now too I am afraid that Radiant Church might get pissed if they discover my position on this matter and have a shot at me as I am sure that the previous hit on Count John was given with the approval from top men of the radiant church . As for the opportunities in North-frontier City? I have invested in the real-estate market as there are those new mansions with that new agent and I would like a luxurious more sturdy mansion . If those men could provide us their services at my domain then I would have generously paid them whether it is new types of furniture, architecture or those new gardens and pools they have designed . The peculiar thing about that city is the new types of inventions they are doing frequently which excites people . I really envy that count for having such an amount of creative people under his belt . "
Chris smiled and spoke, "Well, part of the reason is his presence as he is one leading the town when it comes to new creations . Take their soaps, papers or cuisines for example, right?"
Casey sighed, "I guess this is true, because just previously that town was just a barren land that baron Mendez was just itching to sell because of the impending danger . Well, that impending danger is still looming over their heads, I guess big players will start moving after the start of winter as there would be an opportunity at that time . I need to be most careful at that time . Anyway, I plan to start my business over there as there can be a big potential in that town even in the short run . The Mulberry and Sand business in itself is such a big opportunity for me to earn big bucks . "
****
Pope David this time heard about the failure of assassination from his knight Calvin at the Radiant palace in Radiant city,
Calvin gave his report to Pope, "They have caught Francis and the other guy this time around . While the other assassins were killed by that count in their earlier encounter . The assassins even made the perfect decisions this time around as they targetted him when he was with Eva whom he had to protect . However, he had quite acute senses and combat ability as he was able to protect her and kill the assassins . How do we respond to this matter as Francis is in his hands now?"
Pope nodded as he heard the report from Calvin, "This seems quite humiliating, Francis should have escaped if he wasn't able to handle that count and his men . Considering he is his disciple this will be quite a stain on his reputation . Well, write him a letter saying that as long as he gives Francis appropriate treatment and stops engaging with Demons especially Vlad and Prince Lukav then he can get anything he wants . Well, write it in a way where we aren't lowering our head and it is his honor that this letter is personally addressed by the Pope to him . We will deal with him later on when the winter starts . Robert's plan is also approved and all the cardinals too feel the importance of a printing press as we can use it for propaganda, We are already watching the effects of that Printing press in the Literature Circles and this is quite alarming . However there is one problem, People are illiterate so it will be hard delivering God's message to them in writing, I guess we can still educate our priests and have them get the bibles at least . Anyway, Inform Robert that his plan has been approved and we can allocate them the funds and power required later on . And bring that letter to me first after it is prepared . "
