Chapter 210: 210
One of the guys reported the king, "Lord, they even killed the 5,000 personal Soldiers of Prince Hector . The thing was, the soldiers were protecting the camp so General Anak assumed that they were mercenaries and hence dealt with them as well . That was one of the reasons given by Count in his newspapers . "
Lionheart cursed as soon as he heard him, "What! He dared to kill our soldiers as well! That Count dares play with words . Just because a few villages near his domain were targetted and he decided to obliterate all the mercenaries which could have been useful to us . So many capable fighters . They would have been useful against the Barbarian beasts at the western border . It seems we really need to tighten the screws, Ok it's decided, from now on they will face full sanctions from our side . No trade, nothing . We will be considering him as a rogue . Start targeting his ships in the seas with Fjord . We will attack him with Templars 4 days later since we need a revised plan . Now the north-frontier domain will be considered as the property of the Royal family and we have legitimate right to invade it . "
One of the ministers in charge of Legal matters came spoke with a grave face after hearing him, "Milord it is not possible legally since other nobles too will feel threatened by this move of ours . We should have a valid reason for annulling the agreement which we made with Count John . The most we can ask him is to handover the General and other captains since their General took unilateral actions . We can consider him a rogue though since it doesn't break any agreements . Give him a time period for handing over the generals and then we can invade if he doesn't comply . "
Lionheart cursed as he thought about the results of this battle, "I am more pissed at the fact that we were completely fooled by that count . He dared to fool the royal family by giving us the blueprints of substandard Ballistas . Do we have any legal actions against this fraud?"
The Law and Justice Minister shook his head and answered, "No Sir, I read the agreement carefully and they mentioned that they had handed over the Blueprints of Prototype 2 . I guess their substandard ballistas were Prototype 2 and they had hidden the original and other types of ballistas . We clearly signed the documents which mentioned Prototype 2 . But we can still use this as propaganda that they betrayed the Royal family who funded them without any doubts . Using this we can create public opinion where we will be justified to invade them . We can also assure the other ministers and aristocrats that Count John betrayed the Throne's good faith and that is the reason we are invading them . And more importantly, currently, we still have an advantage i . e . Magic metal Ballistas from the Lorr Family and also their Lorr Short Swords . Currently, we are exploring the use of Ballista and how they are operated in magic . We have currently made the same type of mini-ballistae which the Dragons knights can equip . "
Lionheart nodded after hearing him, "Ok, start with the sanctions and tell them that they have to handover that General in 2 days or they will have to face the consequences, that General can be useful to us . Yes, also try contacting that General with our spies . While also start propaganda against that Count in the whole kingdom so that most of the guys support us on our war . "
The Law minister hesitated and spoke, "Sir there is another matter . "
Lionheart furrowed his brows and asked irritatingly, "What is it?"
He nodded and spoke, "It is about Prince Hector, many outskirt villages near Dolores are abandoning their fields and moving to NF city after the previous expose by those mercenaries of Goldrush . This would be detrimental to us if those guys abandon the fields . "
Lionheart cursed as he remembered about all the scandals of Hector, "Previously he impregnated that noble girl and now this scandal already . That Brat is always leaving the trails, Hmph, Anyway, let them run, they can't do shit . Those villages can become helpful as bases when we invade them . Anyway, tell Luke to try and get in contact with that General . "
****
Currently, Emena was at Eastern port city with the guards in civilian clothes who escorted her previously .
Emena roared as she asked a guard at the borders, "What? Why can't I move to North-frontier city? After traveling such a long way, I can't even go there . "
One of the guards smiled and answered with a tough tone, "It is because of current rising tensions and the previous battle near Dolores . You don't seem like a local, are you a tourist? If you are a tourist why don't you travel to other places?"
Looking at the tone of the guard she understood that he wouldn't budge and was trying to persuade her to travel elsewhere, She smiled and spoke, "Yes, I am a tourist, I especially came to Aelius because of the North-frontier city . Or else why would I travel such a long way from Ayananore . Hmph, I am here for the medicine made at North-frontier city . If you guys really have a cure apart from the Radiant's church, I won't mind traveling elsewhere"
As soon as the Guard heard of Ayananore and about their medicine's, he furrowed his brows as he was from one of the factions belonging to Antonio's General . He was frustrated by people going to North-frontier city for trying to get medicines .
The guard smiled and answered in a mocking way, "Miss you shouldn't believe in those rumors of the north-frontier city curing Malaria, typhoid and other diseases . And if you insist We can't help it since these are orders from the top . If you want to go there, you can take other routes . "
Looking at the map she understood that the Guard was mocking her as there were no other routes . Looking at the futile situation, she left fuming .
The guard then pointed to Emena and told one of his superiors, "Boss, what do you think of her?"
The superior laughed and answered, "Quite a beauty, I guess she is someone rich and hence she came here looking for a cure . Lord Antonio is in a bad mood these days, Maybe I can introduce her to him and gain his favor . Keep a look at her and also her dwellings . "
The guard smiled and answered, "Yes, boss . "
From a nearby stall, Binz looked at both the guard and his boss as he remembered their face, After hearing their conversation, he murmured, "It seems both of these men are looking for death . "
His subordinate had an angry face as he asked Binz, "Any orders boss?"
Binz nodded and answered, "Yes, you should know the routine, Kill both of these men today, take their sketch and distribute it to the men . I don't want to complicate matters if that pervert Baron gets involved . Meanwhile, Don't let Princess know that we are here . Do you have any other news?"
The subordinate nodded and got to the point, "Look at this paper, Boss . "
Binz touched the paper and commented, "Hmm, good quality, where did you get it?"
Subordinate slapped his forehead, "I am not talking about the quality of the paper, I am talking about the contents . I got it from a bar where they were selling information . These papers are sold for pennies at North-frontier city . Look at this article about the mercenaries . "
Binz nodded and read, "Woah, 70,000 men . Now that is quite a number . I guess a lot of nobles participated to eradicate these pests as they were hurting their interests?"
He shook his head and answered, "Nope, It was done by Count John and his General alone . Currently, they are facing sanctions by the Royal family . It's the same situation as the Lorr family when they made that Magical Short Sword . This time it is because of these weapons called Ballistas . "
Binz nodded as he understood the current political situation, "I guess there are at least some guys who really care about common men in this kingdom . No wonder, Princess wanted to meet this guy . Anyway, Complete the task given, make sure it seems like an accident . Try to contact the spies of North-frontier City as well so that we can find another way to meet Count John . Mist and Alison had said that we should contact those spies in case we face any problems . Take this address and go meet the spy . "
He nodded and left, "Yes, Sir . "
****
Templar Johnson was currently with Francis who was leading their Men to Dolores, "So how do you feel now that you are free from that count?"
Francis said as he looked at his cut off fingers, "How can I feel good unless I pay him back for the previous humiliation . "
