Chapter 94

John smiled and replied, "I guess that won't be a problem since I have already decided to arm Joseph's fleet . I will keep in mind about Duke Sapphire's visit . "

Marquis Ray laughed as he mentioned Frank and Joseph, "Frank will handle all the negotiations later on . Since Joseph is one of your men now, I think you might intentionally make Joseph handle all the negotiations . Well, I only Hope his Grandfather Carl doesn't curse him like hell . "

***

Ambassador Luke spotted Melanie as she arrived, "It has been quite a while Grand Potioneer Melanie, I didn't see you previously at the show of Ballistas . Father and a lot of people in the court still miss you . "

Melanie mocked Luke as she heard him, "I think they miss my potions more than me and curse me more when they are in a bad mood . As for the Ballistas I wasn't interested in them as I already knew about them . "

Ambassador Luke tried to confirm one of the rumors as he asked her, "I heard you recently decided to teach some students on Pharmacy in the Rose Institute from now onwards . I guess you have decided to fight the Radiant Church actively . "

Melanie thought and said, "Well that's the only thing that my Disciple asked me in help and it was for the well being of common people so I thought to help him out . Recently, Eva has been too busy with the institute so I thought to help her out when I am present at the institute . I guess your only goal here is the Ballistas that John showed earlier . Well, You won't have to be disappointed as long as it is a fair deal . I guess he wanted to balance out the enemies he had made recently . However, don't push your luck and be too greedy when dealing with him . "

Ambassador Luke showed a surprised as well as a happy face when he heard that, "Of course, we will give him a fair deal, I guess Lord John didn't want to compromise with Radiant church when it came to certain ideologies of theirs where they discriminate other species . However, I will still warn you that the madness of the Radiant church won't stop with using money as well . I guess they have taken a liking to paper and printing unlike the Royal family . "

Melanie mocked him when she heard him, "Well you guys are no different as well when it comes to certain interests, it's just that this time you guys are only interested in Ballistas so I guess John decided to ally with a stronger force with fewer restraints . So don't be hypocritic in front of me . "

Melanie meanwhile thought, 'I guess John values the printing technique more than those ballistas . Maybe he and the Radiant church can see what others can't . Or maybe it is Vlad and Tornwall's influence that he doesn't want to impose the Radiant church's ideology . I guess it is the mix of both . '

Luke blushed as he heard her however he didn't refute her as she knew the in's and out's of the Royal Palace .

Luke looked at Marquis Ray and commented in front of Melanie, "It seems John is done with his business talks with Marquis Ray, From the looks of Marquis Ray I guess he got what he wanted . I think reading people's expressions has become a habit because of this Job . "

looking at Robert he mocked, "looking at Bishop Robert, I think he is quite angered by the answer of butler Taylor . However, it can be seen that he is still waiting to meet Baron John . Well, I will head first and conclude our talks . "

****

John greeted Ambassador Luke when he entered his office .

Ambassador Luke smiled as he met John, "It looks like you intentionally revealed your position to Grandpotioneer Melanie before you decided to meet me . Well, I will get straight to the point, The Royal Family would like to purchase the Blueprints of the Ballista you presented previously . Ofcourse we will offer you enough compensation for the production lines and those blueprints . Currently, we are prepared to waive off the Taxes for the next 50 years and promote your Aristocratic status from Honorary to Hereditary Status . Meanwhile, your Noble status would also be promoted from a Baron to Count . "

John thought, "Well, I don't think that would be enough since the yield in my domain would be quite negligible to the Royal Family . As for the Noble achievement, I can easily earn them in war and get the hereditary as well as the status of the Count with those weapons . I think you need to stop being stingy . The only real gain is the waiving-off of the taxes but it would be accumulated in the next 50 years . "

Luke blushed a bit and made an excuse, "Of course, that was only our initial offer, Royal Family is also prepared to give special rights to you where you can trade at the Domains controlled by the Royal family with half the taxes just like the Dukes . You can also have access to markets of Imperial Capital without any restriction . And because of all the troubles that Prince Hector is giving you and as we can't control him If you have any special requests then we can consider them as a sort of compensation . "

John smiled as he heard and mentioned his request, "Special requests? I would like to have the right to expand my borders in the wilds . Of course, I won't infringe upon the rights of my fellow neighboring lords as long as they don't infringe upon my rights . And as I am recruiting basic and intermediate Pharmacist/Potioneers I would like to get in contact with some of them as I hope to counter The Radiant church by expanding my funding and my research on the common diseases . I would also like to have access to granaries of Imperial Capital in case of emergencies, of course, I will buy it at market price . "

Ambassador Luke "Well, we can agree to your requests as long as this deal is completed before winter this year . In fact, we are even prepared to give you access to one of the magic metal mines . However, you would not be allowed to sell the blueprints and the technology to any other party . I don't think any of us would lose in this deal "

John thought and agreed as he wanted access to magic metal mines, "The magic metal mine is quite enticing . Okay, I will take this deal since I don't have any access to magic metal mines, I hope this deal is announced before Prince Hector's Banquet and this as well is one of my conditions .

Luke asked him as knew Prince Hector would certainly reveal the new soaps and said to John indirectly, "Are you sure? Because I think this will anger Prince Hector and Duke Norman quite a lot . We won't take any guarantees on any of their actions . "

John shrugged and spoke without any hesitation, "Well, Prince Hector is a petty person either way so I would like to rub salt on his wounds . And you can't control them either way so I guess it is all right . I am only interested in legal rights to expand my borders so I guess this works . "

Ambassador thought on John's answer, 'This guy has quite the guts while at the same time ruthless to his enemies, And bolder than what we previously thought, from the looks he isn't really afraid of Duke Norman or Prince Hector . I guess he likes to hide his true intentions by appearing weak . It's good that he is only interested in the wild lands, he would have to start from scratch even if he is able to survive after this winter . '

Ambassador Luke smiled and nodded, "Well, I guess we can conclude the deal . We can immediately sign the Deal and I can immediately announce it to everyone . I will take my leave as we have concluded the deal . "

John too nodded, "Taylor will handle the deal, I will inform him about the details . I hope you enjoy your stay at Hope . I am sure you will be satisfied with the hospitality of my men . "

Luke thought about the deal as he left for the party as he watched Prince Lukav, 'It's good that he had friction with the Radiant church or it would have cost us more to get those ballistas . However, I guess it wouldn't have been possible without the magic metal mine that we offered him . I wonder why that madman is here today, I always wonder why he doesn't along well with anyone in his family . I guess the Royal family has its own secrets that they intend to hide . '

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