Chapter 510: Still on Track
In any case, as Natasha’s marital sisters, Marianne and Cynthia were very familiar with what their Second Sister had been up to, so they spent the next 10 minutes or so describing all the nobles Natasha had pissed off, big business owners she had wrung money out of, and craftsmen guilds she had chronically overworked these past few months.
The Second Queen was full of enthusiasm and hadn’t intended on taking any prisoners when she launched her economic revolution, but the early days had still been a harsh struggle for her.
Then, she got Lucas’ walkthrough guide which was filled with cheat notes from what was essentially a future-seeing oracle. With that in hand, Natasha really began ripping into her opponents.
In summary, Natasha Summers was causing chaos on an enormous scale and at a dizzying pace while smashing her way through any resistance which was set up in front of her. Still, to any objective observer, this chaos was leading to improvements in the flow of goods in the Rockwell Kingdom.
The effects weren’t that obvious yet, as there was still a lot of trouble related to the disaster in the South-West Province, but both Marianne and Cynthia could honestly say that the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which the two of them headed, were benefiting from the various reforms and improvements.
Perhaps the most notable thing, however, was that many commoners all across the Rockwell Kingdom were seeing higher pay from their jobs and lower prices on essential goods. Even some luxury items had dropped in cost these past few months.
Money was beginning to circulate more freely, which in turn improved the people’s happiness and productivity.
This was especially noticeable in places that fully embraced the Economic Cultivation Initiative, like the Balfour March.
After receiving the glowing review mixed with a few complaints here and there from the Queens, Lucas nodded then made a completely unexpected request, "When you return to the capital, please ask the Queen Natasha to identify some of the emerging problem in the South-East Province related to her project."
At first, both Marianne and Cynthia were confused about why Lucas was asking this of them, but it didn’t take long for them to realize what his plan was.
"Are you serious, Lucas?" Marianne asked with a deep frown on her face.
Shrugging his shoulders, Lucas smiled helpless, "It’s the only way I can think of to achieve all of our objectives, without raising further suspicions."
"But, if you do this, won’t it lead to..." Cynthia Morgan, who was also taken aback at just how reckless and ruthless Lucas was being, tried to object.
"I know," Lucas cut in, despite knowing how rude it was to literally interrupt a royal, his face turning extremely solemn, "but people are already dying, and if we don’t act quickly, many more may perish. We can’t just wait for an opportunity to present itself, we need to make one, and the best way to do that is to ’let our guard down’ and allow our enemies to cause some chaos."
.....
"So, we’re agreed?"
"Indeed. It’s risky, but we’ll try to cause some... disruptions to the activities going on here in this city and in this province."
"Very good, I knew I could count on you."
"Don’t thank me yet. I said we’d try, I never said we’d succeed."
"Oh? It’s unlike you to be so... uncertain of yourself."
"That’s because, unless ordered to, I only act when I’m certain of success. What you’re ’ordering’ me to do now is definitely an uncertain bet."
"You hold those... children, in such high regard?"
"If you had interacted as much with them as I had, you would too. Don’t underestimate them, especially that boy, he’s more dangerous than you can possibly imagine."
"Should we not then..."
"Impossible. Even sacrificing every agent in this city and completely exposing our plans won’t be enough."
"Fine fine... but if the opportunity ever presents itself..."
"I know what do."
"Excellent, then I shall leave this matter in your capable hands."
"Hmph, just remember, when this is all over, I expect to be properly compensated."
"Oh, don’t worry, you’ll receive your just reward..."
"I hope so."
"Hahaha, suspicious as always, but worry not, the organization always pays its dues."
.....
After his pleasant conversation with a certain important member of Misty City, Mr. Blank left the individual’s home and began wandering the streets aimlessly, seemingly just taking in the sites.
Whether he really was touring around, or doing something far less innocent, only he would know.
It was now late evening, and ordinarily, even in a place as big as this one, the city would be relatively quiet; however, a festive mood had persisted throughout the day and now seemed poised to carry on through the night.
The Balfour Family and Rockwell Kingdom as a whole had really gone all out, not just organizing a massive banquet for Princess Christina’s birthday, but also contracting a large number of restaurants and bars to serve discounted meals to all who wished to celebrate the occasion as well.
Earlier today, when Mr. Blank had first learned about Marquess Balfour spending tens of thousands of Gold Coins and offering exclusive deals to several big companies to get them to offer everything on their menus for half-price, he had thought it was just another wasteful display of noble excess, but looking around now, there was clearly a deeper meaning to all of this.
The sun had set hours ago, yet the marketplaces were still bustling with people and all the shops were open, doing as much business as they normally would in the middle of the day.
Smiles were everywhere as coins flowed freely.
Are they trying to raise morale in the city even higher? My. Blank wondered. It seemed like the only possible explanation, but given how buoyant the mood in Misty City was already, that hardly seemed necessary.
Unless Marquess Celestina and the rest of the leaders of the Balfour Family were planning on doing something unpopular in the near future, that is.
When this thought came to the traveling minstrel’s mind, his carefree smile cracked for just a moment.
His instincts were telling him that something big was afoot, but what that something was, he had no idea, nor did he know if it would be a benefit or detriment to the organization’s plans.
Whatever the case, he decided that for now, he should trust his local associates to handle things. Given their cooperator’s status, they should be aware of any big operation that was coming up.
Unless, of course, they had already been discovered and they were the target of this operation.
Shaking his head, Mr. Blank smiled wryly as he realized his bad habit of being overly suspicious was acting up again.
Buying a piece of fruit from a street vendor, Mr. Blank settled his mind as he slowly walked off into the night. The situation in Misty City was indeed a bit troubling, and the local situation was far less than ideal, but he took comfort in the fact that the overall plan was still on track.