"You need to see me?"
It seemed that with Lis's serious expression, there must have been something important. Arsen nodded slightly and stood up.
"To my room?"
"Yes."
Lis set aside his raincoat and followed Arsen straight to his room.
Although Ya'er and the others were curious, they had no intention of eavesdropping. If Lis had wanted to share with them, he wouldn't have gone to the room.
Arsen's room was on the first floor of the villa, on the east side. Inside, besides the simple bed and wardrobe, there were many different styles of longswords and armor neatly arranged on a rack to one side.
Seeing that Lis was looking at the weapons and armor, Arsen said,
"This is a little hobby of mine. I like to collect these, some are forged by dwarven masters, others I've had purchased from other countries."
Lis nodded, having appraised them, it was a hobby that cost a bundle. He finally saw a semblance of a rich young master in Arsen.
"Let's not talk about that. What's the matter that you sought me out with such formality?"
Arsen changed the subject, moved two chairs, and gestured for Lis to sit.
"You know I rarely interact with other nobles, so if I have something to ask, I can only come to you."
Lis slowly spoke, having thought of Arsen beforehand.
As a young lord of Duke Hade's family, the most prestigious nobles in the Feis Kingdom, he certainly had a grasp of the kingdom's top echelon.
As a member of the adventure team, after interacting with Arsen, Lis felt that this future Golden Lion Knight Commander was trustworthy.
"What do you want to know?"
Arsen was curious about what mattered that couldn't be learned through other means and had to be asked of another noble.
"It's like this, do you know, within the kingdom's nobility, who, just maybe, would wish to provoke a foreign war?"
Lis carefully chose his words and spoke slowly to Arsen.
Arsen was surprised to hear this, and even the typically composed youngest son of Duke Hade's family nearly lost his composure.
"Do you realize what you're asking?"
Lis's expression didn't change as he looked up intently at Arsen and said,
"I am quite sure of what I am saying. Can you tell me?"
Arsen raised his right hand to rub his temple, feeling somewhat of a headache. He had not expected Lis to ask such a sensitive question.
To be honest, through recent contact and understanding, he himself felt that Lis was a person well worth befriending. Most of the rumors heard about Viscount Kane seemed to be impractical and fabricated.
He was a low-profile and composed genius!
If Lis needed his help, of course, he was willing to offer whatever help he could.
That was the tradition of the Hade family.
Make fewer enemies, make more friends.
But help wasn't to be offered in this manner!
This kind of talk, if carelessly spread, could bring serious trouble for the Hade family.
But... Lis probably wasn't someone so tactless.
Arsen lifted his head to look at Lis's determined gaze, pondered for a moment, and said,
"Can I know why you're bringing this up?"
Lis nodded and spoke up with the explanation he had prepared earlier:
"To be honest, I've received information from other sources that there might be people who want to incite a war between our Kingdom and another, so I want to know who within the Kingdom might be inclined to do such a thing."
"Is that so?"
It wasn't that Arsen didn't believe Lis, but this continent had been peaceful for a long time. Under the mediation of the Church of the Gods, any conflicts or disputes between Kingdoms were resolved well in advance, and there hadn't been any large-scale aggressive wars for quite some time.
The most recent minor conflict had been a skirmish involving a thousand troops on the border between the Feis Kingdom and the Norton Kingdom in the west, several years ago.
However, Lis was aware that, despite the mediation by the Church of the Gods over the years, the accumulating disputes and each Kingdom's demands for development had become like an ever-expanding powder keg, lacking only the final spark to ignite.
On Arsen's side, he was aware of some Nobles' dissatisfaction. They felt that their own development had stalled for years and were desperate for a new opportunity for enhancement.
Arsen hadn't taken some pieces of information seriously before, as complaints from Noble lords were commonplace about things like a lack of novelty in recent operas or how their children weren't as excellent as themselves.
But Lis's mention of the possibility of war today was something Arsen hadn't considered, forcing him to reassess the actual likelihood of war breaking out.
Lis spoke with a very certain tone:
"The situation is indeed as such, I have reliable intelligence, but I cannot tell you the source of the information, for reasons you understand."
Arsen nodded his head; this could involve the Kane family's heritage and resources, naturally, he couldn't be told everything.
Thinking of this, Arsen couldn't sit still any longer, he stood up and began pacing back and forth in the room, quickly considering the situation in his mind.
After a while, when Lis thought Arsen was still undecided, he was about to add fuel to the fire.
Just then, Arsen stopped pacing, stood in front of the window with his back to Lis, seemingly admiring the July thunderstorm outside.
Arsen, facing the window, seemed to be talking to himself, but his voice clearly reached Lis's ears.
"Duke Rame of the Eastern Territory has always claimed that the Kingdom should have its own seaport and shouldn't let those Bodici make a fortune off the Kingdom's vast amounts of Gold Coins."
"Finance Minister Blaifu Jite has stated that tax revenue growth can't keep up with the Kingdom's expenditures and that a new source of finance must be found."
"The number of Court Nobles grows ever larger, increasing the burden on the Royal Family, while the Nobles' desire and demand to own territories is becoming increasingly intense."
...
Goodness, Arsen knew quite a bit.
Lis listened and made a mental note. Among these people, there might be the instigators behind the scenes.
Arsen turned around and said to Lis seriously:
"These matters can only be known by you; you should know the trouble it would bring if it gets out."
Lis was well aware that speaking carelessly before things were clear would only cause trouble for himself and might alert those orchestrating from behind the scenes.
"I understand, thank you, Arsen."
Arsen thought for a moment then carefully said:
"You need to handle this matter carefully. If there is any other news, you can come to me."
In Arsen's view, since Lis, a marginal figure in the Nobility, could obtain such critical information, it seemed that the power he concealed was not simple. He was worth getting to know more deeply.
Moreover, Arsen had just realized that these pieces of information he had not cared much about, when connected together, suggested that the clouds of war were looming over not just the Feis Kingdom but the entire continent.
It seemed that he needed to make a trip back, to discuss this matter with his father.
After all, as the King's confidant, his father ought to know more than he did.
Lis nodded; Arsen's words were like a promise to him, offering limited help in this matter, which was an unexpected joy.
After all, Arsen was not a Transcender and couldn't be as certain as Lis that war was inevitably going to break out.
"I'll keep an eye on the things you mentioned, and I'll inform you if there's any new information."
"Alright, then I should head back now!"
Lis put on his raincoat, greeted Ya'er and the others, and then headed out into the rain.