To my surprise, Avery did not show up. Stacy returned with a message, "Unfortunately, I am currently busy with some work at this moment, Mistress. I will be unavailable for the next few weeks." Was the message, and I could not help but be surprised, which brought me back to my assumptions I had been thinking about.
Something was happening in the Demon Lands because of the Ambassador, and because of that, People were acting in odd ways. Carl must assume that I know what is happening at the top as well, which is why he assumed I was not the one to attack his businesses.
Which was fantastic, because that meant I had something fun to do.
Although some of my plans included Avery, that did not mean I needed him. What I needed was information on some key convoys. Shipments were on the rocks right now, with not many trusting the transportation from the sea on those trashy Galleys. So that meant they used land transportation, with bandits being easier to deal with than the number of pirates at sea.
They got too greedy, and the State was about to get their army involved, potentially. Either way, I know how I could do damage to Carl without letting him know it was me. Which meant I needed to get to work outside the city, and I needed to know his shipments. With my cute tigers and Freya, I would have to kill everyone in his convoys and know when to attack. Which meant I needed to get somewhere they hold those documents.
It was either that or go the untargeted route, which would have more consequences. I wanted Carl to think it was someone else. I want him to think it was the Necromancers, or frankly, anyone else. At the same time, I did not want the authorities to think it was a group related to me.
It would be to my demerit to leave a living soul to report any sightings, and I would even have to disguise the pickups I make. It would need to be a slow process of transporting things back to the capital or creating a paper trail of purchases in another place when bringing them back into the capital on a convoy or something.
My biggest problem is that the Indiscriminate attacks would bring the ramshackle government down on my head. A targeted attack against a trade group would be something that traders would not scream as much about. If a hundred traders are at the government's door, it looks like an epidemic, and people start talking. It undermines the government, especially if people agree that it is a problem.
If a single trader or a few traders are the only victims, it looks like it might be another issue. Insurance companies exist in this world, and I wished I had the capital to get into the scummiest of the scummiest industries, but I did not at this point. As a mobster and gang leader in my past life, I could not even touch the toes of the pure savageness of the insurance industry in my home country.
One day, I would open an insurance company of my own and reach new depths of black-heartedness, although this world did not seem to have the ability to reach the depths of depravity I could have if I accomplished the same in my last world. I could only chuckle at my thoughts and remembered the reason for what I wanted to do and why it needed to be targeted.
Insurance in this world was still in its early stages, but I knew the Demon Lands and the Empire were spreading it. Although I might be remembering it incorrectly, the Kingdom of Arlin was also beginning to allow insurance companies to operate. This allowed traders to offload some of the risk of transportation onto others, and I would not be surprised if it only grew.
There was a reason why insurance existed after all.
Either way, the reason I wanted to target Carl was to disrupt his businesses and the flow of goods. Interuptions in the product would hurt more than cash flow issues because I wanted to attack his Market position. Which meant I needed to have competitors ready or to have demand for competitors grow.
"It seems that I need to figure out who transports for that Devil," I finally said aloud.
"Oh, I know," Freya suddenly said, and I snapped back to reality as I realized that I was at the dining table, lost in thought about my movements in the next couple of days.
"What?" I asked, my voice showing my surprise as I turned to the ex-noble brat who smiled at me.
"Mistress, I have been looking into Carl like you asked me to over a year ago," Freya said, and Stacy nodded. "Stacy and I have been working on those orders without stopping. The Shipments for his general stores have been a combination of four smaller transport companies with one larger one. The large one is Brock and Grock Transportation, which is run by a prominent Gargolye named Charles Bluerock. They run a small amount of cargo for Carl and usually the high-priced items in the General stores.
Next is Waves Ground Transportation, a weird name, honestly," Freta said, pausing for a moment to make note of the weird name. "They are one of the main transportation companies and are run by a Djinn named Juliet Vice. They are a small transportation company that almost EXCLUSIVELY runs cargo for him." Freya paused and looked at me, and I motioned for her to continue.
"Alright, the next is Green Drop Conveys, which is a small transportation company that tends to run in convoys. They only do some runs for Carl when they need an emergency shipment, from what I have been able to see. They are a group that is run by a succubus, but I have only gotten the species. Not the name of the owner." Freya told me, and I nodded.
"Then there is Frequent Hauls Transport. They do most in city transportation with the last company being Quick Hauls, which is in direct competition inside the city with Frequent, and Carl likes to change between the two to lower costs, I think." Freya finished, and I nodded.
"Perfect, are their relationships still active? What about insurance?" I asked, and Freya smiled.
"Their insurance guarantee is Linchor and Finch Insurance," Freya replied, "The relationships are active and ongoing."
"Perfect, get me a drawing of their logos, or memorize what they look like." I told her bluntly, "Although no need for hunting inside the city. We are going to leave the city later today with my cute tigers and start doing some hunting," I informed her, and Freya nodded.
"I will quickly go out and memorize them and have Stacy prepare the necessary things," Freya replied and quickly asked, "Are we leaving on foot or some form of transportation?"
"Get a carriage, a large one, also, maps of any known routes they take," I said, and Freya nodded.
"I have already gathered those when you asked for them a year ago. I dont have maps but I do remember them," Freya replied and i smiled.
It seems Freya was more talented than I originally thought. I wonder what the Marquis would have thought about that. It had been years since he last saw his 'son' and given Freya to me. I would have taken Freya anyway, but Freya herself already met the noble obligation of inheriting their lands. The fact that his lineage was struggling with C-ranked showed just how badly they were raising their children, in my opinion.
I shook my head of errant thoughts, and Freya left.
Soon, I would attack the routes of Carl's businesses. I was not going for a death blow but undermining his foundations. While Carl bunkered down while the Ambassador was in town, I would strike. War waits for no one, and I believed he did not even know who the enemy was.
I wonder how long it would take for him to learn that he was under attack? Or even at War?
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Thank you for reading.
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Futa Teacher Pet: Book 1
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