Chapter 81- Initial negotiations

One of the young men asked, "What is the use of dialogue with you? Maybe we should equip an army and destroy your Empire? "

Ivo thought for a bit and then replied "In fact, this legion alone will be enough to destroy your two camps, and then if I gather my troops, I will march through your kingdoms with fire and sword. Have you forgotten that your united army lost to the barbarians? "

The old man said "Indeed, our kingdoms have lost to the barbarians, but I am also sure that these barbarians also suffered greatly."

Ivo nodded in the affirmative. "It's true. However, now instead of barbarians, there is an Empire with the same strong warriors, and better equipment and organization. The only state in this region that can really threaten the power of the Empire is the Republic, but I do not think that now they will want to deal with such a distant country "

The old man chuckled bitterly "Your awareness is amazing, in such a distant place, you even know about the miracle on Maritopee Island."

Ivo did not show it on his face, but a huge question mark appeared in his thoughts, he had never heard of these islands at all, he just wanted to say that the republic does not have time to deal with a small empire.

So, realizing quickly, he turned to the system "System, what miracle is this old man talking about?"

[There are two answers to your question, the first at 10 FP is generally accepted, the second at 200 FP is more detailed]

Ivo mentally said "The first option"

[Transaction successful -10 FP]

[A month ago, the sky over Maritopee Island was lit up with a blood-golden sheen, this phenomenon was simultaneously visible on two continents, but from your location, you could not see this incident]

[Various countries from two continents sent their people to investigate this incident, as it turned out later, the fauna and flora on the island have changed a lot. Creatures and plants have become much stronger and more dangerous. After a few days of research, the reason was found.]

[Huge red crystals covered with golden crust were scattered all over the island, these crystals filling the island with unimaginable magical concentration. Also, in addition to crystals, the explorers found that there is a red rain on the island every 7 days, which also enhances different creatures.]

[Some people started calling this rain the blood of demons or gods, and the crystals became their flesh. Many only guess about the origin of this miracle, but it is obvious to everyone that these things can make people much stronger, so now all strong enough countries are trying to gain as much control over this island as possible]

Analyzing the notification, Ivo suggested that the second option revealed details about this phenomenon, but now he was not interested.

Ivo said "It's just my hobby to know everything about everything. But now is not about that. I want to solve everything peacefully, as it can benefit all of us "

The old man thought for a while and then said "I have to warn you, the fact is that we are not people who can solve this issue, we can only transfer this matter to our kingdoms, you understand that if the royal families find out that some unknown Empire demands peace from them, then these families will feel offended. Why would they have to decide not to attack you? "

Ivo smiled broadly and then clapped his hands several times. After clapping, several soldiers entered the tent with wooden trays. Approaching the table, they put down these trays and then left the tent.

Everyone began to look closely at what they brought. The old man also began to do this. Looking at what they brought them, he saw that there were 6 transparent containers on the tray, in which there were various substances and a pile of some kind of white sheets.

In two containers there was a friable white crystalline powder, in four other containers, there were some 4 liquids.

Ivo said "I think that war is a good thing, but war can never be as good as a trade. Now you see in front of you only a few things that we can trade with your kingdoms. "

Approaching the table, Ivo began to point to various containers "As you have already noticed, all these things are in containers made of glass, which, thanks to our craftsmen, can achieve such an unprecedented purity."

Without exception, everyone began to carefully examine the glass. The glass that can be bought in the republic has a greenish tint and this glass is also rather cloudy, but at the same time such a product is highly valued in the republic and only rich patricians can afford it.

They did not notice this, but Ivo slightly chuckled at their admiration for this glass, because they had not yet seen the glass that Ivo makes on his own with the help of his magic.

Then Ivo said "The first two containers contain sugar and salt. As far as I know, you can buy these things from the Republic, but they are there, and we are here. I think it will be easier for you to buy these goods from us, although I have to say that it is difficult to produce salt and sugar, therefore the price for them is high "

Nobody began to argue with this. Ivo continued "These 4 glasses contain 4 different types of alcohol that are produced in our empire. The yellowish, frothy beverage is beer, the cheapest alcohol in the Empire. Any residents can afford this drink "

Then, raising his glass, Ivo first enjoyed the aroma of beer, and then drank the entire drink with a light movement. The guests also followed Ivo's example and did the same.

The old man tasted this alcohol in his mouth felt a bitter-salty taste, with light bubbles. The old man was surprised, he had never tasted carbonated alcohol, but what really pleased him was the wheat-sweet aftertaste. Enjoying it all, he said "This drink is really good."

Ivo smiled. "Glad you liked it. Next, we have a drink on the list that each of you is familiar with, this is wine. However, our country's wine is different from Latin wines. The main difference is that we do not dilute our wines as it is not required. "

Then the guests began to taste wine as well as beer. After drinking the wine, the old man suddenly said, "This is really different from our wine. Yours is sourer, but not so sweet. "

Ivo said "This has to do with preferences in our country, but now let's move on to the other two drinks. I call these drinks noble because their production requires a lot of money and time. That is why these drinks are more expensive than the previous ones. "

After that, the people in the tent continued to test the remaining drinks. Although many people did not like the strength of these drinks, they still appreciated certain taste qualities.

When finished with drinks, Ivo moved on to another item "And finally, the most interesting. You should have appreciated these things already when you held the message scrolls. "

The old man and the other leader nodded affirmatively. Ivo said "This thing is called paper. Production of paper is cheaper than the production of papyrus or parchment, so we are also ready to sell this product to your merchants, in the hope of strengthening our relationship. There are ink and pens next to the paper, you can try to write whatever you want on the paper. "

The guests did not bother themselves with politeness, so a little fuss began in the tent when these young men tried to write something on paper with a pen and ink. After 10 minutes, everyone was already quietly sitting in their places, but you can see that some of them had ink on their faces and hands.

The old man shook his head, uncomfortable with the behavior of the Latin youth. Finally, he got up from his chair and said "Your goods are really interesting and I am very interested in trading with you, however, as I said earlier, it is not I who decide, but the rulers of our countries."

Ivo nodded in agreement "This is really so, I understand you perfectly. Therefore, I am not rushing you with your decision. When your kingdoms have decided on their opinion, please send your ambassadors here, it is desirable that the ambassadors arrive together, it will be tiresome to receive everyone. "

"Also, please understand that although we prefer peace, we are also ready for war, so when your ambassadors arrive in our territory, please be sure that they have only an escort squad with them, not an army."

The old man replied knowingly, "I will pass this on to my king."

Ivo smiled "That's good, I hope for our fruitful cooperation. By the way, at the exit from the camp, you will be offered to take with you some of the things that you just saw. I hope this will speed up the process "

An hour later, none of the guests remained in the camp. Ivo stood on the wall and watched attentively as their guests disappeared into the distance. Kato was also standing next to him.

Kato said, "Do you think we can do it?"

Ivo shook his head "No. There will definitely be stupid rulers who want to cash in on us and there will definitely be smart rulers who will want to test us with the first. "

"In any case, some skirmishes await us in the near future, so we need to tighten control over the southern border."

Kato asked, "We only have 8000 warriors, do you think we will be able to resist these kingdoms?"

Ivo thought for a moment and then replied "Now there are constant skirmishes between the kingdoms and the republic over a certain resource, in addition, there are no strong kingdoms near the valley, so you can exclude large kingdoms from this equation. We will have no problems with the remaining countries "

"I am sure that we can even offend the large kingdoms, but now they cannot do anything to us, they are too busy."