North Meeting

~Three months since Isaac back from DxD~

"Eli, How is the farm?"

"They are doing great, Isaac. However, I must inform you that the warehouse near the farm is almost full of all the grains and vegetables."

"Hmmm. I will order some men to move the goods from that warehouse to our main one. Coordinate with Rachel in transporting the goods. There should be enough soldiers there to transport the goods here safely."

"Do we need to use the soldier? There are no bandits around this city, you know? Not only that, the farm is only a few kilometers from the city."

"Just to make sure."

There is also a problem with you being there. While Eli technically is not a princess anymore, she is still being born from royalty, and not only that, she is also a mistress to the Lionheart family lord.

".... Anyway, is there anything else?"

"There is nothing from the farm. However, I request more soldiers stationed around the port. Another group of thugs from the Eastern Continent is trying to establish a Yakuza group inside the city. You should know about this."

"Yes. The barrier already informed me about it, and Richard already informed me about this as well. I will appoint another hundred soldiers to be guardians of the port. However, I must ask you if your little group of spies cannot take care of them?"

The Queen Dowager is already teaching Elizabeth how to make her own loyal group of Spy and Assassin. While Eli did not have many spies and assassins like the Queen Dowager have, she had enough spies and assassins to watch over the harbor.

Richard said that Eli's batch of spies is the branch of his own shadow. While yes, they are loyal to Eli, they are more loyal to Richard and me.

I guess it is Richard's way of splitting his duty. By giving Eli a part of his shadow, he did not have to watch the harbor part twenty-four hours a day. He still watches over the harbor district but not as much as in the past.

"Sadly, no. They cannot handle all the Yakuza wannabe around the harbor."

"Just how many of this Yakuza wannabe in this city?"

"I think there are around two hundred of them in the harbor district alone."

"Don't worry about the one outside the harbor. Lucina is already taking care of them. Right, Lucina?"

I look at Lucina, who is sitting next to me. Lucina nodded at me and said.

"Yes. I am already taking care of the one causing a problem in the city. Their bodies have already been disposed of."

I can see Eli's face paled up a little bit, but it returned to its normal color a few seconds after. Eli is already used to the way this world works. At first, she did not want to see a bandit get beheaded or seeing someone get killed.

However, after talking with Queen Dowager and me, Eli begins to get used to it.

"Good. Richard, how are the spies around the north?"

"I am already taking care of it, my lord."

"What is the reaction of Duke Frederick?"

"He is furious, my lord. After we do counter-spying, he becomes more and more paranoid."

"Good. Keep him on his toes. We will not cause the fall of the duke, but we will keep harassing him until he self-destructs."

"Of course."

"Now, what is the news around the world?"

"Bad, my lord. Really bad. The famine began to spread out to all the world. The only one that did not feel the famine in the north. Not the north continent but our north."

"Meaning that the price of food will soar through the roof?"

"Yes. I predict the price of grain will triple up the price we set."

Hmmm… I can use this to increase Lionheart family golds.

"Don't increase the price of our goods… Yet. I will announce it when we do a northern meeting in ten days. Richard, tell all the northern lords we will have another meeting in ten days."

"Of course, my lord. I will immediately tell the other lord to come here."

"Good. If there is nothing else, you are dismissed."

~Ten days later~

"Thank you for coming here on short notice, my lords."

"Think nothing of it, Lord Isaac."

I nod my head at lord Ekdal and sit down on the chair in front of the other lords. I look around the room and see seven lords of the north arrive in Sea Dragon City.

MacGrath family (Viscount), Duchamp family (Count), Ekdal Family (Viscount), Byron family (Viscount), Rahul Family (Baron), Saurial Family (Baron), and Metis family (Viscount).

They are the only family to survive in the north. There should be ten families, but the other three families died because of the monster invasion.

"Let us begin the meeting. First thing first, Please tell us how your land situation is. Lord MacGrath, you go first."

My good father nods his head and says.

"We are doing fine, my lord. There is some problem with the people coming from the east, but we are already taking care of it."

"Problem?"

"The people coming from the east are making trouble around the port. They think that because they have a number, they can boss around the merchant in the port."

"This problem has already been taken care of?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Good. There is the same problem in Sea Dragon City. They are what we call the Yakuza group. They are a group of people that try to establish an underground criminal group. Their group was involved in extortion and even murder. This is a serious thing. They are coming from the Eastern Continent, and even the Assassin guild did not like them. I said this because I want to say that I don't want any noble from the north to get involved in this group. I will immediately punish anyone involved in this group. The punishment? One thousand whips and then get beheaded. I will scratch their family name from the noble books, and the rest of their family will be exiled with only their clothes."

All of the lords nod their heads with a grim expression. What I'm basically saying is that both individuals have a connection to the Yakuza and their families.

"This is not only affected to the noble family but to all individuals."

Seeing them nodding their heads, I looked back at my good father and said,

"Lord MacGrath, please continue."

"There is nothing else to be reported."

"How about the crops?"

"The crops are doing great, my lord. The fertilizer you give to us works really great."

"Good. Next, lord Duchamp."

My grandfather nodded his head and began to say.

"Nothing is happening in my territory. The crops are good, the trade is doing great, and the monster has been cared for. I don't know if there is a group of Yakuza inside my territory, but I will try to investigate it."

"I see. That is good then. Lord Byron, it is your turn."

Lord Byron nods his head and says.

"There is a problem of the monster stealing some vegetables on the farm but other than that? There is nothing to be worried about."

"Monster stealing some food? Is there any nest nearby?"

"There was a nest nearby, but after I ordered an investigation party, there was no more nest."

"Good. Lord Ekdal, you are next."

Lord Ekdal looks at me in the eyes and says,

"There is a problem, my lord."

"Problem?"

"Yes. Pirate. There are too many pirates coming from the center continent and the northern continent."

"I see that is a problem. We cannot reinforce the eastern sea because there is no short route to the eastern sea."

"That is right, and the pirate knows about this. They get bolder and bolder when they know about this situation."

"Then they will regret this. Lord Ekdal, can I build a naval base in your territory? This naval base function is to build a good amount of ships and train a marine to fight the pirates."

"Of course. It would be an honor."

"Then I will send some people to build the base."

"Thank you, my lord."

"Think nothing of it. Now, Lord Rahul."

Nathanael Rahul. Nathanael is a human with short black hair and purple eyes. He has a goatee and a body like a bodybuilder.

"There is nothing in my territory. There is a pirate, but it has already been taken care of, so there is nothing."

"I see. Do you want to build another naval base?"

"No. However, can I ask for a loan? I want to build a fishing village."

"Sure. Talk to Ayas about this loan. Tell him I approve this loan."

"Thank you, my lord."

"No problem. Next, Lord Saurial"

Filhem Saurial. Filhem is a beastman, a leopard beastman. He has a pair of leopard ears on top of his head and a tail on his back. He has golden hair that he cut short and green eyes with the same pupil like a cat.

"We did not have any problem. However, I got a report that there is a strange movement in the north. My scouts said that it was a monster. I think it is a sign of a monster invasion."

"Monster invasion, huh. Send another scout, make sure this is really a monster invasion and not only a group of monsters roaming the area."

"Of course."

"If it is really a monster invasion, send the fastest raven; I will send some troops."

"Thank you, my lord."

"Lastly, lord Metis."

Varul Metis. Lord Metis is an Elf. He has silver hair like mine, but instead of letting his hair flow like mine, he ties his hair into a ponytail. He has green eyes and is around 185cm tall.

"There is nothing to worry about, my lord. The crops are good, and there is no movement of monsters near my land. However, if what lord Saurial said is true, then I sent a hunting group to see if there is a monster nest nearby."

"Good. If you encounter the monster, I need you to send a raven to Lord Saurial informing the monster's location. If you two think you can handle the monster, then immediately exterminate the monster. If you think you can't, send a raven to us."

"Of course, my lord."

With that all done, I took a deep breath and said.

"My lord, the reason why I call you here today is to say that it is time we increase our goods price."

"My lord?"

I look at my grandfather for a second before telling Richard to pass the report we get. I let them read the paper for a few seconds before saying.

"As you can see, there is a huge famine across the globe. The only one that did not have famine is us, the north. Right now, grain is in high demand. Some of you may already realize this, but many merchants are coming to your land to buy some grain. Because of this, I was hoping you could increase the price of the grain you sold to the others. However, please do not increase it too much. Double the original price is good, but triple it? I think it was too much. I don't order you to do it, but I recommend you not to increase it too much. The only time you need to increase the price more than three times the usual price is when some asshole decides to buy from us. For example, the Frederick dukeship. They keep sending a spy to my territory, and now I increase the price of the grains sold to them by ten times."

When I said that, I could see an evil smile on all northern lords. They have endured too many insults and humiliation from the southern noble, and now it is time for us to pay them back.

There is a common saying among the north.

'The north will remember.'