Negotiations For the Battle (the others)

– Do you think Connor will be able to convince everyone? – Mac asked as he ate a sandwich he had made in the kitchen.

– He is the best at converting other people, his way, his air of reliability and the fact that he himself had already dealt with the goblins on the last expedition give more credibility to what he says than any smooth talk from a merchant. – Anna replied.

– Because I feel like when you say that, it seems like you are just using him to get something? – Mac asked, slightly irritated by the way his younger friend described his other friend.

This earned a hurt look from Anna, because he was right, she was indeed using her friend to get the support of the other groups to launch the attack against the goblin village. But let it be clear that she was only doing this. I thought it was the best option this time. If there was another one, she would choose it.

– There's not much I could do, even if I was completely honest and begged them for help, the chances of them accepting it still wouldn't improve. And we need to be able to defeat the goblins to move on to the next level.

Anna said with both remorse and guilt and a conviction in what she said to the point of watching the others at the table a little.

– This has been puzzling me for a while now, why do you want us to advance to the next level so badly? – Mac asked, taciturn as always, but the stern look was completely ruined by the fruit sauce spread on his mouth.

– Seriously, how can you be so meticulous about everything except the way you eat? – Cali said, using a napkin to wipe Max's mouth.

Of course, Mac made fun of the two and took a double elbow in the ribs, and only didn't take more damage thanks to his defense that was already at over 35 since he had reached level 14 yesterday.

Mac: 'But it still hurts!!! Those bastards had to put 45 in force?!!!'

Seeing that her friends were still the same, Anna felt more relieved and recovered from the small conflict that had been on her mind for the past week. Thinking both as a merchant and as a friend, she weighed the pros and cons of telling him why she wanted, no need, to get to the next level quickly.

- You know Baron Calizio, right?

- Of course, he's the nobleman directly responsible for the village and the city, how could we not know him? - Max replied, taking a sip of the blue fruit juice they had obtained from the Ordeal.

- So you know the rumors surrounding him, right?

- What, that he's a sadistic maniac who hunts employees for sport? Or that he supposedly killed his uncle when he was a child and stole some kind of family secret that guaranteed him the position he has now? Or any of the dozens or hundreds of stories about him being basically shit to everyone besides him and the partners who line his pockets? – Cali answered everything in a single breath and with an almost bestial look of rage.

– All options. One of these "partners" who fills his pockets is an old acquaintance of my family.

This made the others stop eating and look at the youngest with silent astonishment.

– Before you ask, no, he is not a friendly acquaintance. It is better to call him a fierce competitor in the delivery of more different and exotic products... on his side more... questionable products.

This brought a collective sigh of relief. There is a saying in the kingdom where they live, an easy way to define whether you were someone trustworthy or not was whether you had any connection with Baron Calizio. If so, you would probably have at least a less... palatable business, if not, it would already be proof that you had more awareness and less desire for quick and dirty money.

The fact that one of the richest and most respected common men could have any connection with someone like that was worrying to say the least for his daughter's friends.

– Please continue. – Max asked, going back to eating his second sandwich, earning an eye roll from Cali and a smirk from Mav seeing the two of them.

– This old acquaintance has been doing several jobs for the Baron, which has given him a certain control over the flow of goods in some parts of the territory. A while ago, he tried to make a scheme that could put the lives of several smaller villages at risk, a scheme that my father and our friends managed to foil. – she said, stopping for a moment to drink some red juice.

– Obviously, he didn't like it at all, and I assure you that he would find a way to return the favor. Ever since the goods from the Ordeal started to become a little "easier to obtain", my father and the peddlers managed to secure a temporary monopoly on most of them. But now with this qvkrabu* in control of the routes, things have become more difficult to move the goods to other places.

She took another breath while the others listened, not even Max ate his sandwich now.

– My family's caravans can still travel without much difficulty with the Marshal's permission, that's another story that I might tell later. Independent peddlers who form small caravans are usually stopped, searched and often have some property "confiscated", when they are not arrested for completely unrealistic reasons or even killed, as has already happened with 4.

– So the Baron left this qvkrabu in partial control of the trade routes and also of a part of the army to torment your family. Okay, we understand, but what does that have to do with going to the second level of the Ordeal? – Mac said.

Anna nodded and continued.

– Last week, during one of these inspections of my family's caravan, one of the guards claimed to have found a particularly dangerous item. That could cause great damage if not used carefully, with the support of a mage from the Order of the Indigo Cloaks, the same order that had helped in the expedition. Obviously it was nothing more than a maneuver by that damned mudslinger, but with no proof and them having the testimony of a mage, things got bad.

Anna said, remembering the screams she heard coming from her father's office, even though she was almost on the other side of the house.

– Whether it was a setup or not, this gave the Baron the excuse he wanted, and he then imposed a heavy fine on my family, basically taking away our control over the Provação and prohibiting us from selling any product taken from it in the territory.

– And let me guess, transferring the rights to this qvkrabu as well as any type of structure that your family had already set up to help transport the goods, am I right? – Cali said, tapping her finger on the table.

– Basically, my father bet practically all of his chips on the products of the Ordeal and the profits were quite substantial, so he can't lose control, so we made a deal.

– Because I feel like I won't like what comes out of your mouth. – Mav said, resting his head on the top of the chair.

– With the discovery about the goblins and the possible entry to the next level, my father made a proposal. If we can be the first to get there and establish equal control in the forest and allow a safe path for the Baron's and the Order's forces to get there, all the confusion would be forgotten and we would still maintain control, but under the "supervision" of someone sent by the Baron.

– It doesn't seem like a very good deal, in fact, you would technically lose, wouldn't you? – Mav asked.

– It's still better than the alternative.

– What would it be?

– In addition to losing control over the products and the Ordeal itself (commercially speaking), all our assets would be confiscated, every contract we had would be revoked (whether business or payment to subordinates and personal employees), and this fine could be, and probably would be, passed on in full to "any illegal participant in the dangerous scheme created by the Halbelles merchant house."

Cali and Max sucked in air hard enough to make them do the same, while Mav.

– Uh-huh... can you repeat that last part?

Anna slapped her forehead, Cali gave him a dead look and Max just stared at his brother and explained.

- That means the full amount of the fine would be passed on to anyone who was providing the Ordeal goods to Anna's family, that would include us, the people from Connor's village and the peddlers who had been helping since the beginning.

- Oh ok now I get it... And out of curiosity, how much would the fine be?

- 100,000 large gold coins.

* Qvkrabu: one of the creatures of this world, in appearance it resembles a mix of a possum and a vulture. It is a scavenger and attacks small animals, and can also attack babies and unprotected children.