Chapter 173 The Puppet Master? Somewhere inside a secluded Forest in the Sumatran Kingdom… "How are the plans for the war coming along?" a Tigerkin with black stripes in his hair asked. "Will we be able to mobilize in a month?" "At the earliest, yes," an Old Tigerkin wearing glasses replied. "But according to my informant in the Palace, the Conservative Faction is trying to convince the King that launching a war against the Barbarians will just cause hardships for the people. "Fortunately, our faction has more members than them, Lord Brigham. Because of this, the pleas of the Conservative Faction will not change anything. At most, they can delay the war for two to three months. But, this war will push through no matter what." Brigham shook his head firmly. "The war must not be delayed. If we can't move out in a month, we should move out after two months. Tell everyone in the capital to push for this proposal. Make sure to start the war propaganda as well. "We must make the people understand that conquering the entirety of the entire Valbarra Archipelago will benefit the Tigerkins, as well as promote a peace that will last for hundreds of years." "Then, what about the Generals?" a Tigerkin whose hair was nearly silver asked. "More than half of them are from the Conservative Party. Even if the Nobles vote for the war to push through, it is the Generals who march with the army to battle." "Negotiate with them," Brigham stated. "Bribe them if you must. The armies must march in two months at the latest. Who is the General that is being vocal about this war being a bad move for the kingdom?" "General Stark," the Old Tigerkin wearing glasses answered in a heartbeat. "Since his wife is a seer, his words are not something that the King can ignore." Brigham clicked his tongue after hearing his subordinate's report. "That General has always been an annoyance to our Faction. Can you people not kidnap his wife or something? If not his wife then his kids. As long as we have them, he will be easier to convince." The six Tigerkins, who were in the clearing, glanced at each other before shifting their gaze back to Brigham. "That will be a bit difficult to do," the Tigerkin with silver hair said. "Since his youngest son, Percival has disappeared, the security in Karabor City has become stricter. Anyone visiting from the other cities must first get permission from the General himself before they can enter the city. "Bribing the guards will also not work since all of them sympathize with the loss of the General's son. It will be hard to bring our people inside the city." "Then how about Assassins?" Brigham asked. "Although their specialty lies in killing people, I'm sure they will be able to at least capture a member of their family right? If not the wife then get his daughter. As long as we get one of them, he will have no choice but to yield." The Old Tigerkin wearing glasses nodded his head. "Understood, Lord Brigham. I will handle the negotiations." Brigham nodded. "For now, prioritize speeding up the war preparations. No matter what happens, we must bring the Barbarians to their knees!" """Yes, Lord Brigham!""" After the meeting ended, the six Tigerkins silently returned to their respective domains. They would often meet in this clearing in a secluded area of the Sumatran Kingdom because they didn't want other people to know that they were meeting each other. On the surface, all of them were political enemies. But, this was only a ruse that they had made in order to have spies planted in the different factions of the Sumatran Kingdom. In short, they were the Masterminds who were pushing for the war to happen as soon as possible from the shadows, instigating the common people, the nobles, as well as the military officers of the Kingdom to rise up in arms to fight against the Barbarians. Before Brigham left the clearing, he noticed two birds that he hadn't seen before perched on top of one of the trees in the distance. The two birds were quite ugly, so he didn't pay much attention to them. This wasn't the first time that wild animals and monsters had appeared at their meeting place, so the thought of them being spies never crossed his mind. Once the two Pocopocos were certain that all the Tigerkins had left the Forest, the two of them flew away to share the news with a certain seven-year-old, who was currently busy making dozens of truth serums alongside the Shaman Rafiki. ———————————— Two days later… General Stark, who had been told about his wife's and her daughter's vision, was currently inside his office alongside Briella and Zion. The three of them were making plans for how to delay the war as long as possible, and ensure that they would be able to identify the real reason why this war was being pushed through by the Radical Faction. Thirteen had proposed many plans, which made General Stark start to treat him more seriously due to how decisive he was. There was even a plan to kidnap the King of the Sumatran Kingdom, which General Stark vehemently rejected. He would never commit treason against his own liege, causing the seven-year-old to smile and tell him that he was just joking. However, General Stark knew that the boy wasn't joking, due to how serious his eyes were when he presented this idea. While the three of them were discussing, Vassago and Poca flew through the window and landed on top of the table, where a map of the Sumatran Kingdom was laid out. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚 "Welcome back, Vassago," Thirteen greeted the Pocopoco, who had been away for nearly a week after the boy had given him a mission. "How was your scouting mission?" "Fruitful!" Vassago answered. "Tell us what you discovered during your scouting mission," Thirteen ordered. The Pocopoco then began his report, even repeating the exact words that he had heard from the people that Thirteen had asked him to pay special attention to. When Vassago arrived at the part when Brigham had ordered assassins to kidnap Briella or Cleo, the General's face contorted with rage, but he managed to hold himself back from breaking the table due to his anger. "That sly fox!" General Stark growled. "So he is the one pushing for this war from the shadows! He hid himself well!" Brigham wasn't the leader of the Radical Faction. In fact, his position in the Faction wasn't really that high in the pecking order. But, Thirteen told Vassago to pay more attention to him because he was the most suspicious among the bunch. He knew for a fact that smart people always liked to keep a low profile, which was especially true for Villains. They would only move in the shadows, hiding in plain sight, and were more than happy to let other people take the spotlight. These were truly dangerous people. If not for the fact that Thirteen knew how Villains operated, he wouldn't have known which one on the list that General Stark had given him was the one with the highest chance of being the puppet master behind the scenes. And fortunately, his gamble paid off, greatly shortening the time they needed to take to narrow down the suspects that he had marked inside his head.