Underworld Negotiations XII

With things proceeding all according to plan so far, only one thing was left and that was to maximize their profit from the bribe. In other words, Morgan had to feel out the Four Satans' bottom line.

She would let them make their offer first and then try to push it as far as she possibly could so long as she could do so without giving up the absolute condition that had to be put forward for the plan to work without a hitch, the permission for unrestricted reprisal in response to any attack.

However, despite how everything seemed to be under control, Morgan was still destined to be surprised at the negotiations.

As for the reason, it was no doubt the initial offer from the four Satans which was very much unexpected, so much so that she doubted her beloved husband had even considered such a possibility . . .

The satans entered the train car Morgan and the others were sitting in and, after some brief greetings, they got right down to business.

Knowing full well there was no point in saving face by dancing around the subject and using veiled words as if they were not doing what they were actually doing, Sirzechs laid the terms out very straightforwardly.

"We would appreciate if minor slights against your group by some of our less diplomatically able representatives and in exchange, we are willing to provide compensation for all of our previous mistakes." The crimson haired Satan put things in such a way that left no doubt.

"We, myself included, have no issues with your people. It is you personally that we have a problem with. After all, if you had discussed this with your fellows beforehand, I believe at least Lady Leviathan would inform of how bad an idea that was." Morgan started.

"I would have demanded your life and razed your entire territory to the ground if you did not comply but unfortunately, my husband is not so unhinged as to do such a thing." She continued, saying extremely serious things with a cold yet somewhat casual tone.

It was as if mass destruction was just another tuesday for her and if not for Jun, the Devil Race would already be feeling her destructive tendencies.

"Still . . . Like Jun, I understand there is no purpose in doing such a thing other than self satisfaction so tell me what you chose to compensate us with and we shall see if I find your tribute deserving of my mercy." Morgan said and clearly, her every word was as if designed to be inflammatory.

Still, it was really not deliberate and the way she was acting at the moment, was in truth her preferred way of acting when she was not dealing with Jun or anyone directly related to him, which made her stance soften up to varying degrees.

The scathing remarks were met with twitching facial expressions but rather than waste all of their efforts with a childish outburst or even just a little comeback, Sirzechs just obediently laid out the terms of the table.

"Our compensation is simple. We will turn a blind eye to intrusions of the various secret and forbidden sites in the underworld that are within our control. All you have to do, is point out any particular site you want right now, and we will make the preparations." He stated.

"Needless to say, this is all unofficial, the defenses around those places will still be fully operational but intrusions will not be met with a large scale response even if notified, so long as no obvious signs pointing at your group are left behind." Serafall further explained.

By this point however, even though it was quite hard to notice due to her usual cold and expressionless face, Morgan had stiffened up with shock.

Serafall was the first to notice this.

"Is there a problem?" She quickly asked, wishing to gauge the response and ascertain whether things were looking good for them or not.

"I was merely a bit surprised at your sincerity." Morgan honestly said and it seemed things were looking up for the Satans as their offer was looked upon very positively but Morgan's next words poured cold water all over their expectation.

"Well, maybe you're not sincere and just have no idea how much critical knowledge of such forbidden areas we have." The fairy queen said with a bit of mocking undertone in her voice.

"Whatever the case, since you are giving us this much leeway, will will limit ourselves to three such prizes that you ought to just ignore and in exchange, we will set up an extra condition in our agreement to dismiss "minor slights" as you called them." She proposed.

"What is this condition?" Serafall asked before they moved on to the matter of how the the cut from the incoming extortion would be.

"It's simple. While minor slight will be dismissed as per your request, if any major slight were to occur, you must not interfere with our reprisal so long as it only targets the internal factions of you devil race involved in making said slight." Morgan replied.

"In other words . . . Don't start a war when we give a completely disproportionate response to any reasonably serious infringement." Ajuka reworded Morgan's condition into a much more direct and grave form.

"That's right. It's for your benefit. You don't want a war with us." Morgan unabashedly replied.

A silence then followed but was soon broken by Sirzechs.

"And what would be the three "prizes" you are going for?" He inquired.

"Once the contract is sealed, we will reveal them to you." Morgan replied.

A magical contract was laid on a table in the room with all the conditions spoke so far broken down perfectly in writing.

Giving it short read through let the four Satans realize there was no trickery and things would proceed as discussed should they sign it, however . . .

Morgan's words regarding their sincerity or foolishness left them wondering whether they should go through with it or not, especially when they would only get the critical information of what the other party wanted, after everything was signed and bound.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

P.a.t.r.e.o.n is officially up!

The link is: https://www.p.a.t.r.e.o.n.com/lusoba without the extra dots of course.

You'll get to read up to FOUR week ahead, a full month, but I'll still post here.

There's also my other novel Archon of DanMachi, do check it out!

I would greatly appreciate any support since this is going to be my breadwinner.