The Market
"This is the proposal from my side. As a part of the Alliance, we hope to be able to obtain the purchase rights for the 30 goods on this list at market price. Also, we hope that our Elfish traders may enter and leave your citie freely."
In the wide conference room, the extravagance of the Elves could be seen by the fact that even their table edges were carved with pictures of Elves dancing with the sword. Listening to the negotiation from both parties, I was almost on the verge of falling asleep.
Annie would negotiate in regards to the military matters while Elisa would assist her with economic deals. I guess there's nothing much for me here. Since I had nothing better to do, then it was time for me to look for some fun.
"…Within the list, these 23 commonly seen goods in our market can be sold at market price, but mercury, dragon poison, liquid sulfur that has been worked on and the rest of the 7 goods belong to the group which our officials control or ban, so it isn't allowed to be sold to the outside. Unless you all agree to an equal trade with the unique goods we have on our list. Also, as long as your Dark Elf merchants are proper merchant and not assassins or spies wearing the cloak of a merchant, then why should they be afraid of our checks?" Propping up her glasses, Elisa replied.
"… Big sister, must you haggle about this little amount of cucumber? Fine, 25 dollars, take it all. But, you must take away these tomatoes. Don't worry, they are all fresh goods."
"Hehe, little girl, then we shall deal with these one by one. To tell the truth, all these trades were just an appetizer to tighten our relationship. Perhaps, we should start talking about the main topics now. For example, how about that Power of Law of yours." Kajah smiled and says.
"Hehe, so young one, let's do it this way. Auntie don't really care about this little bit of money. Right, how much were you charging for that yellow croaker?"
This time, Elisa started to frown but didn't say anything else. Instead, she looked at Annie.
"Un, you can leave this matter for Annie to settle. If you Dark Elves are interested in the Power of Law, you are free to send people to Sulfur Mountain City to learn. But before that, you all must swear in the name of the Spider Queen to not harm the citizens. At the same time, you also all must swear an oath to stop your assassination attempts on those Dark Elves in Sulfur Mountain City. "
"Un, that yellow croaker, if you want it, its 12 dollars
Hearing Annie's reply, Kajah shook her head.
"The will of the Spider Queen cannot be slackened, traitors have be vanquished. We Elves have all the time to wait, so let those traitors patiently await the day they will be terminated… Alright, let's not talk about the unhappy stuff. Maybe, we can talk about even deeper matters. For example, a military alliance against a certain faction. Of course, it won't be on paper."
"How can that be, our canteen's boss is very particular with debts, the money you owe for the potato must be paid in total… But, let's talk about other things. For example, when should we go and beat up that big fatty who always bullys people. Naturally, if we get found out by the fatty in advance, I won't admit it."
Unsurpsingly, all the previous things discussed were just appetizers. The private military alliance that they were talking about now was the main reason for the secret meeting today. Annie hesitated but Elisa's eyebrows were knitted together and her face was full of frost. She seemed to be troubled about something.
He, it should be very troublesome. Of course they would be very troubled. This decision would determine the future of countless lives. However, it was because of this immense pressure that they would grow up and improve. I have high expectations of you 2, Elisa and Annie.
"… Please give me a moment." Finally, she steeled her heart, stood up straight and then… walked to my front.
"Master!! Have you had enough? Can you stop uttering those lame vegetable lines in my head?! Stop interrupting our discussions!!!"
"Ah, did I mention it to you accidentally? Sorry, sorry," An apology with no hint of sincerity was given. Then, I lowered my head to reduce my presence… Of course,
Fine, in the eyes of outsiders, Elisa was just standing silently in front of me, staring at me. At the same time, I remained silent, as though passing over the rights to make the decision to the other party.
"Sorry for the trouble." After apologizing, Elisa returned back to her seat.
"Actually, what I'm saying isn't that wrong either. Isn't negotiation basically like haggling and counting every single cent, so what's the difference between it and the market?"
"I am thinking right now, so please be silent."
"Alright, alright, you all only know how to bully these old bones, then complain that these old bones are getting annoying. Fine, then these old bones shall go out to explore around the city… "
Perfect, I had been starting to get really bored of the uninteresting atmosphere in the negotiation room, so I stood up and prepared to leave…
"Please take care and return back to our base early. Don't pick up random things on the street to eat and don't make too many little children cry, otherwise their parents will come knocking on our doors. Also, don't get caught while doing any bad things. I am not very close with the police station here, and I don't want to go and fetch someone from their prison."
Fine, hearing the nagging that seemed to be directed towards an old child, I started to reflect on exactly where I went wrong. Back then, the cute little girl who was afraid of the dark and loneliness, the girl who came hugging the corner of my shirt to sleep with me during stormy days, exactly how did she turn out to be so venomous and twisted under my education.
On my way out, I had to tolerate Elisa's cold glare and pretended not to see the passionate gazes and secret invitations from those Elf Matriarchs… What a pity, the Dark Elves' adult art and all their techniques were known to be amongst the world's 'most precious art collection' to experience, and it was the dream of every man…
Fine, even without that venomous maid, I still couldn't do anything to them. But it should be okay thinking about it, right? As a man, imagination was not a crime, right?! …Elisa! Could you stop singing 'Gong Gong Pian Tou Tong!!' in my head? I really shouldn't have taught her to sing pop songs back then! I regretted even, that I had explained what a
"Hmph, wait till I revive…"
Before I left, I looked back once more at Annie who was talking very seriously. I looked forward to the day she would be able to hold up the fort independently, so that I could collect my reward and revive…
Yet, I had been unaware that as soon as I left, all of the Dark Elf Matriarchs seemed to have heaved a sigh of relief at the same time.
"That
"There are totally no changes in his emotions and even his heartbeat can't be felt. If I close my eyes, it's as though he isn't there at all. How the hell does something like this exist?"
"Is it a demon? A human? Elf? Undead? There's totally no way to find out. The two young girls seem to be very reliant on his judgement and yet he chose to leave now. Why? Could this be some scheme?"
From a certain sense, the only thing hindering this negotiation was…Wumianzhe.
For Dark Elf Matriarchs who had lived through countless years, the strong weren't something to fear. What was to fear was always the unknown and Wumianzhe was just too bizarre and dangerous.
"As the founder of a new kind of Power of Order, it's impossible to overestimate him. If the Power of Law is destined to become a powerful Order like the Holy Light, then we might be facing a future God. But no matter what, his departure is a good thing for the negotiation… Though maybe, we should let some 'shadow' follow after him, if there's an opportunity…"
Luciana, the Number 1 Matriarch of Morsblight City. From a certain perspective, she was a neighbor of Sulfur Mountain City. Even though those eccentric Dark Elves who believed in Holy Light and betrayed the Dark Elves had caused the original First Family to lose the trust and doting of the Spider Queen, it had allowed the Syfan family which Luciana was part of, to gain power.
But no matter what, Diana and the others who had escaped and were living better lives, remainrf the disgrace of Morsblight City. If they did not erase of this disgrace on time… The Spider Queen was never a reasonable True God. The screams of agony by the previous First Matriarch when she was turned into the spider was still etched onto her eyes.
But at the same time, Kajah, who was still talking with Annie, gazed at her, as though seeing through her private wishes.
"…If there is a chance, send out a small present to improve our relations with that Lord. If we are able to forge an alliance with this rising Autarch, Sulfur Mountain City, it will be easier for us to fight for the command of the Underground Alliance. This is a big affair that concerns the entire Dark Elf tribe. No one will be so short-sighted to allow their personal desire to affect the entire situation."
Even though Luciana changed her expression fast enough, but as Kajah's gaze continued to remain on her, she felt like her heart was about to stop, her back was instantly wet with cold sweat.
Just having Lorci's blessings wasn't enough for Kajah to control over half of the Dark Elf Tribe. In the cruel and heartless society of Dark Elves, this High Priestess who was always smiling also used bloodshed to suppress those who went against her, leaving their bodies cold. Otherwise, for the Dark Elves who regarded insubordination as an honor, there would be no reason for them to bow to this High Leader in name.
"Then, the present will be prepared personally by you, the noble Matriarch of Syfan. What we need right now is, indeed, a trustworthy ally."
"Yes, that shall be my honor. I will make sure to get it done perfectly."
She already had no more energy to bother with the secret laughter of the other Matriarchs. Luciana Syfan could only rejoice over surviving this calamity.
"Then, just to confirm on our mutual communication channels…"
The Alliance between two powers, even if it was an Alliance in which each of the powers had their own goals, they still had many minute details to discuss over thoroughly, so this meeting was destined to take quite long.
But, I didn't really care. Or rather, I didn't need to care.
Just like what I told Elisa, the discussion between countries and different powers was actually no different from buying vegetables from the market. It was just about how you gave me two more cents and I would give you an additional carrot and potato.
When the market prices were fixed, even if your negotiation skills were top-notch there was not much you could do, but it was still only a small rise from the price line.
To tell the truth, the conclusion of the negotiation was normally determined even before the talks. That which couldn't be obtained on the battlefield would normally remain unobtainable on the negotiation table… Alright, I know that there are exceptions so let's not talk about that unbearable history. If the ruler was useless to such an extent, then discussions and fighting were all meaningless.
That 'market price which determines the result of the market trade' referred to the circumstances of the two parties before the negotiations, what they had and what kind of bargaining chip did they have to exchange. The side that was more anxious with less bargaining chip would find it harder to gain the initiative to lead the discussions, while the side with more chips on their hands would find it easier to earn more despite giving in less, achieving a bargain.
Due to our hard work throughout this period, the initiative in this negotiation was already in the hands of Sulfur Mountain City. Also, Molly and Shou had started to make quite a bit of moves while Ainsterna Eduar and the Devils backing him were cunning and fickle, an apparent two-faced faction which shouldn't be relied on. Also, with the Dark Elf Matriarchs who didn't know the concept of loyalty, certainly plotting behind her back, Kajah should be under intense pressure.
I remember that in the 'original history', 10 years after the epic war since the Underground Alliance started invading the surface, the High Leader of the Dark Elf was a Dark Elf Matriarch named Victoria… The retirement of an influential Dark Elf was never peaceful and it was impossible for them to retire on their own accord. After all, that often meant an ending even worse than death.
So, regardless whether it was for herself or the Dark Elf power that she represented, she needed an alliance very urgently at the moment.
For Sulfur Mountain City, this negotiation and even the invitation to the Underground Alliance, we could totally turn our heads and leave in case the negotiations fall through. At least, before that small joke which wasn't convenient to tell others and my little tricks got exposed, Sulfur Mountain City had no reason to step into these muddy waters.
Since the initiative for the negotiations were in our hands, not mentioning that the other party had requests to ask of us, they had already made up their mind to strike an alliance with Sulfur Mountain City, so the Dark Elves had to ensure that this went through by hook or by crook. On the other hand my side didn't really have to care about the results of the negotiation and we had plenty of bargaining chips so no matter how this negotiation turned out to be, the final winners would still be us.
This was also the reason why I kept refusing to interact with Kajah and Ainsterna. I wanted to make them panic, worry that I might reconcile with Shou and Molly and instead, cause the internal balance of the Alliance to tilt in favor of the other side.
That is why I said the results of the negotiation are decided even before the talks. Also, Elisa's negotiation techniques were above average, there was no trace of her shying out or panicking and that's why I could leave with peace of mind.
At this moment, as I walked on the street of Vance, looking at this other kind of prosperity, I decided to start with my little plan.
"I, Wumianzhe, am not a very forgiving person. Since you all dared to attack Sulfur Mountain City, you all should have prepared for my revenge. Shou and Molly, the things that you owe me, it's time to pay up!"