章 48: Chapter 48 Important Intelligence
The next morning, Bright City witnessed a thorough downpour after a long absence, with bursts of thunder, leaving only Bender in the stable to calm the spooked horses.
In the dining room, Lis, dressed in pajamas, lazily ate lunch.
Having pulled an all-nighter last night, Lis had slept in and had only just gotten up.
He didn't blame himself; if there was any blame, it was only because sleeping on a rainy day was too comfortable, giving an inexplicable sense of security.
Just as Lis was indulging in the delight of a roast chicken specially prepared by his personal chef, Joyce placed a letter on the table.
Lis flipped through the thick, leather-bound envelope. It had no name on it, leaving him unsure of who had sent it.
Before Lis could ask, Joyce proactively replied:
"Young Master, this is a letter sent by Master Mora's people; they said you'd know what's inside."
Was it the intelligence he asked Mora to collect for him last time? It had finally arrived!
Lis had no appetite to slowly savor his meal any longer. After wolfing it down to satisfy his hunger, he took the envelope to the underground research lab.
Clearing a space on a table filled with various lab instruments and draft papers, Lis sat down and tore open the envelope to review the intelligence Mora had gathered for him.
The various kinds of intelligence were neatly organized and recorded on different formats of paper, showing how diligently Mora had worked on his task.
"Changes in important officials of the Kingdom? There's no big change there!"
"Migration shifts of Magic Beasts in the Kingdom's wilderness and changes in merchant routes? Also not useful."
"Recent activity routes of the late Count Sharon's widow? What is this, Mora sneaking something in!"
...
The intelligence prepared by Mora for him was diverse, such as the merchant routes that were as flat as a pancake—information that Mora's Guild had uncovered at great cost. If sold to peddlers in urgent need of intelligence, it could even fetch a large sum of money.
However, none of that was of any use to Lis. What he wanted to know wasn't this kind of information.
At the end, he found the most meticulous and important piece of intelligence—a statistical summary of the price fluctuations of commodities in Feis Kingdom and several neighboring countries.
For most people, this was a beacon for making money and getting rich, but Lis was not interested in those details.
Amidst the dense array of data, Lis quickly found the information he was looking for.
Within Feis Kingdom's territory, the prices of staple commodities such as grain, metal ores, weapons, and salt had risen slightly over the past six months, each increasing by five to fifteen percent from the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the prices of luxury goods and real estate had declined slightly.
Several countries near Feis Kingdom had experienced similar situations, but their price fluctuations were less than those of Feis Kingdom.
Following the intelligence, there was a suggestion from Golden Vine Flower Commerce's intelligence personnel, advising to increase the proportion of commodities like grain and equipment carried by merchant caravans.
Setting down the intelligence, Lis stroked his chin, his eyes filled with a profound expression.
This was getting interesting!
The continent had been peaceful for a long time, so even though Golden Vine Flower Commerce had noticed these unusual price movements, they didn't consider the possibility of war.
Looking at this, whether it was grain, weapons, metal ores, or salt, all were critically important war preparation materials.
If the fluctuations in grain prices could be due to seasonal factors, then the changes in the prices of weapons and metal ores made no sense.
But Lis saw things differently. Even though he wasn't much of an economist, knowing the inevitable outcome of war breaking out, he could easily guess the reason behind the price increases of these war materials.
Someone was secretly purchasing and stockpiling these significant strategic materials!
Furthermore, based on the degree of price movements, the main purchasing and stockpiling activities appeared to be taking place inside Feis Kingdom, which in turn affected the prices of materials in neighboring countries.
This was rather terrifying!
The movement of funds had directly impacted the prices of commodities like grain and weapons—what an astronomical amount of money it must be!
And such secretive purchasing activities had not even raised suspicion in Golden Vine Flower Commerce, one of the top five guilds in the country.
This—
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Without the cooperation and support of the Royal Family's upper echelons, Lis didn't believe anyone could pull off such a feat!
So, was that assassination during the Sacrificial Festival orchestrated by the upper echelons of the Kingdom?
Could it be the King?
Lis thought it unlikely, if the King really wanted to wage war, there would be absolutely no need to provoke a dispute through such an assassination during the Sacrificial Festival, which greatly damaged the Royal Family's face and prestige.
The King could easily use a minor border friction as a pretext for war if he wished.
Suddenly, a spark of inspiration flashed through Lis's mind!
Yes, unless the King didn't want to wage war, but someone needed to create an irresistible cause, forcing the Feis Kingdom's King to launch an invasion.
To divert domestic conflicts through warfare, to vent the dissatisfaction of the Nobles angered by the assassination!
Lis pieced together his thoughts bit by bit, and his eyes shone brighter and brighter.
So now the most important thing was to figure out who within the Kingdom wanted to push for invasion and the reasons for triggering the war.
Lis glanced at the intelligence in his hand again; the information sent by Mora was very useful to him—he had to thank him properly later.
Then, where to inquire about the Kingdom's upper echelon news?
Quickly, an image of a person emerged in Lis's mind.
Darn it, how could he have forgotten him!
---------------
Gedo Street, Yaya Adventure Group's headquarters
The rain outside continued pouring down, and in such weather, people stayed at home to rest, rarely venturing out in the downpour.
After all, in this era, a minor cold could take a person's life.
The members of the Yaya Adventure Group also enjoyed the rare leisure time, lazing around in the villa.
Lunbos still drank the beer that was as precious as Life itself, munching on snacks; the previous expedition had replenished his funds for buying alcohol.
Arsen was maintaining his Longsword and armor, carefully applying a special grease for lubrication and maintenance.
Ailina and Ya'er were sitting side by side on the couch.
"Oh, Ailina sister, let me hug Little Black again, I'll be gentler this time."
Ya'er looked at the Black Cat nestled in Ailina's arms with puppy eyes and spoke in a pitiful tone.
"That's what you said last time."
Ailina glanced at Ya'er, completely unresponsive to her coquettish behavior.
"How stingy, when I get my own, I won't let you play with it!"
Ya'er turned her head away huffily, complaining without good humor.
Just then, Lis pushed the door open and walked in, overhearing Ya'er's words, his lips inadvertently curving into a smile.
Forget about it, that irritable Red Dragon, how did you manage to get the most ferocious of the Five-Colored Dragons to be your mount?
Was it through physical persuasion?
Seeing Lis come in, Arsen put down his sword and asked,
"What's the matter, Lis, come over in this bad weather, got an urgent issue?"
"It wouldn't be about the reward for the last mission, would it?"
Arsen joked.
"Indeed, no, I have something I'd like to ask for your help with."
Lis shook the raindrops off his raincoat and said to Arsen.
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