Chapter 198: The Kukkoro Male Knight and the Loli Hag Elf Part 3

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“ A place for discussion, huh… ”

I groaned, pressing my hand against my forehead at Lady Dalaiya’s proposal. Of course, the negotiation itself was more than welcome on our side as well. If things went well, we might even be able to bring back the men who had been abducted by the Elves and return them to their homeland. Well, considering the severe shortage of men on their side, I doubted they would accept our demands so easily.

Still, even if negotiations broke down, it wasn’t like we wouldn’t gain anything. After all, the state of our Liseben army was terrible. We were made up almost entirely of fresh recruits. It would still take quite a bit of time before these soldiers could be turned into anything resembling an actual fighting force. As long as negotiations continued, the other side wouldn’t be able to act hastily. It was perfect for buying time.

“Of course, I agreed to the idea of holding a meeting. That said, we can’t do it immediately.”

The problem was whether this loli-elf was truly someone we could trust. After all, everything about this so-called Elfenia Empire was information we had heard only from her. There was more than enough possibility that the whole thing was a complete lie.

At the very least, we needed to confirm two things beyond any doubt. First, that this “New Elfenia Empire” actually existed; second, that Lady Dalaiya held a position of responsibility within it. We had to confirm those two points before beginning any practical discussions.

“I want some time to consider things to a certain extent. Will that be acceptable?”

“To be honest, I’d like to say no. If we welcomed winter like this, more of our people would starve to death. To prevent that, we came all the way to the edge of the forest.”

“But, the other side has their own circumstances too, Elder-sama. If we force only our convenience onto them, negotiations won’t go anywhere.”

The crow girl admonished the grumpy-looking loli-hag.

…She was admonishing her, right? Her dialect was so thick I wasn’t sure if I was understanding her correctly. Seriously, were all the residents of this New Elfenia Empire supposed to speak like this? Would we even be able to communicate properly? If we were really going to engage in serious negotiations, maybe I should study their language a bit.

“I know, I know.”

With an expression like she had just swallowed bitter medicine, Lady Dalaiya waved her hand lightly. Yeah, it seemed she also spoke with a dialect when she spoke naturally.

“To begin with, you’re probably wondering whether we’re swindlers or something, aren’t you? Well, you can’t just trust a stranger upon first meeting. That much can’t be helped.”

Well, yeah. Especially since she had approached us alone. She didn’t have the slightest air of being a high-ranking government official. …That said, if we had run into a group of Elven warriors at a place like this, we would have immediately called for reinforcements. And once that happened, there would be no discussion—only straight to battle.

“In any case, I believe we should quickly work on building mutual trust. What do you think?”

“Exploring options besides fighting is important. But I’m still nothing more than a rookie lord. I can’t just behave in an authoritarian way… Sonia, how long do you think it would take to gather the opinions of the people in the territory?”

I asked my reliable adjutant. Of course, I didn’t mean it literally. This was part of the delaying tactic. We had worked together for a long time, so we could read each other perfectly. Sonia made a show of thinking deeply, letting out a thoughtful hum.

“Let’s see… If we had ten days, we could manage somehow.”

“Ten days, huh… That seems too discourteous to Lady Daraiya. Could we shorten it to around seven?”

“That would be difficult. I’ll try to shorten it as much as possible, but…Please don’t expect too much.”

Ugh, what an obvious performance. Would such a cheap negotiation tactic actually work on a woman who was supposedly over a thousand years old? …Ah, as expected, Lady Dalaiya wore a faint, knowing smile. Yep, she saw right through it. Oof. The initiative in this situation had been completely taken from us. Tactically speaking, this was a moment where withdrawing and regrouping might be the right move.

“You need that much time because you don’t trust me, correct? Very well. That city of yours—Carrera, was it? I shall gather some of our troops in the forest nearby. That should make your stubborn folk realize their mistake soon enough.”

Please stop. If you do that, the Liseben army’s credibility would be in tatters. …Damn it, the region around Carrera, even as the provincial capital, turned into untouched primeval forest as soon as you left the city. If they hid there, we wouldn’t be able to do anything. This was bad…

“I’d prefer if you refrained from provocative statements, Lady Daraiya. If you truly want to negotiate, you should behave accordingly. Or does the Elf race desire war? If so, very well. Filling our fields with your blood may be amusing enough.”

What a textbook bluff. I felt embarrassed saying it. But show weakness, and you would be devoured. That was the art of negotiation. Fortunately, our Liseben army still had numbers. On appearance alone, our military strength looked decent. We didn’t know the exact strength of this New Elfenia Empire, but it was unlikely they completely outmatched us. Simply put, if they had overwhelming power, they would have already used force instead of proposing negotiation.

“Oh, how scary. Neither of us wants bloodshed, right? We’d prefer to settle things peacefully. But there are plenty of hot-headed folk within the Empire. I’m holding them back for now… But I can’t promise for long.”

Wow. That was some Yakuza-tier intimidation. A real barbarian vibe. Though, honestly, our own Galea Kingdom wasn’t much different beneath the surface.

“However, we have our own circumstances as well. Let’s see… How about five days from now? This time, I’ll host the meeting at my estate. It’s hard to have a calm discussion in the middle of a forest.”

“Oh? Is that so? I thought there was no calmer place than the forest.”

“That may be true for Elves. But as you can see, I’m just a hume and a man at that. Even now I’m terrified some infamous elven bow might come flying out of nowhere.”

“Hah! A funny joke… Very well, five days is fine. Next time, I’ll bring my Elven subordinates. Is that acceptable?”

With a low, sinister chuckle, Lady Dalaiya nodded. Internally, I let out a sigh of relief. I had bought five days. That was acceptable.

“Of course. But please don’t bring a thousand or two thousand people, okay? My kitchen isn’t big enough to cook that much food.”

“Fufufu, you truly are amusing, man. Very well. I’ll start with four or five people. That much should be fine, yes?”

…A shame. I had hoped her reaction would give me some clue about their population size. No such luck.

“Yeah, that should be fine.”

“Good, good. Excellent. Then that will be all for today.”

Lady Dalaiya exhaled deeply and stood up from her folding chair. It seemed this grueling negotiation was finally over. I braced myself to prevent my body from relaxing too much. After all, the opponent was fearsome. Staying tense was unavoidable.

“As a liaison, I’ll leave Uru here. If anything happens, tell it to her.”

Then, as if she had read my inner thoughts, Lady Dalaiya smirked wickedly and slapped the crow bird-person on the back. …Seriously? I had to take someone from the elf side into my estate? She was practically a spy. Please stop…

“…Understood.”

Still, there were currently no diplomatic ties at all between our Liseben territory and the New Elfenia Empire. Indeed, even if we couldn’t afford an embassy right now, we needed at least a point of contact. I couldn’t refuse.

…Should we send someone to their side as well? But their barbarity was guaranteed. One wrong move and our envoy might be killed. With the severe manpower shortage in Liseben, there was no one we could afford to risk on such a mission. Damn it, this information gap would only widen if things stayed like this. We had to find some kind of breakthrough…

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