Vol 2 Chapter 9 (2/2)

I meet Lucie and change clothes then I go outside.

When I’m outside the house, Lucie….

「Cyril, you smell like Kuu-chan. I wonder if it’s my imagination?」

Her just saying that, wouldn’t mean there is any special meaning behind it right?

Surely, that must be the case.

My body is heavy since there is sake left in my system.

「【Enhanced Metabolism】」

Using magic power odo inside my body, I activate the somatic cells to speed up my metabolism.

The speed that the alcohol is broken down is increased, but the discomfort at the same time does too.

Since Alcohol is an unpleasant substance produced from decomposition, if the metabolism is raised it can be more quickly processed. In exchange though you suffer the a.s.sault of its effects all at once.

If possible I didn’t want to use it, but from here on out is a battlefield. So I must be in top physical form.

While I was tasting the feeling of suffering in h.e.l.l, the remaining alcohol from my body finished metabolising. Then I headed toward the jail that was next to the old village chief’s house.

「Good morning. Thanks for your hard work.」

「Cyril-sama. Good morning.」

The Elves watching the jail open the door with a key, and inside were four captured n.o.bles. Well, three since one of them was made an example of, then there was the other one that died during torture while gathering intel, so there are only three of them left.

There is always a guard posted here since there was a scheduled rotation. They are an important source of income so they have to be treated with care.

To keep them alive, they were given food and water, along with the place being kept sanitary.

「Be glad, today you’re getting out of here. The second son of the earl of the Empire for one thousand gold coins(Sixty million yen equivalent: USD $507,088.94), the viscount’s eldest son for seven hundred gold coins (Forty-Two million yen equivalent: USD $354,962.26) the baron for three hundred gold coins(Eighteen million yen equivalent: USD $152,126.68), is the prices that were set. If it’s all paid you will be all released is what was in the letter. Isn’t that great.」

If you were to count it, the large sum would come out to two thousand gold coins(One Hundred Twenty Million yen: USD $1,014,177.88).

If it’s a normal slave, they would fetch about twenty gold coins(1.2 million yen: USD $10,235.42), that would be a reasonable price. I would expect only about double for the second son of the earl, after all a second son is just a spare. Rather I must be thankful they are willing to pay such a large sum of money.

However, to be really thankful for is setting the price easily with gold coins, for them to send such an important son to a not so usual battlefield. I’m not going to lose sleep or step over the idiot earl and viscount parents.

「We~, we can go home?!」

「Yay!, Mama, Thank you for not abandoning me.」

「Really? is that really true?!」

The three are in the middle of celebrating. Seems about right, for someone who lived like a n.o.ble, this kind of life should be like a h.e.l.l to them.

Various considerations were made, such as them being given something better than what the Elves normally ate. Even so it’s still harsh for them.

「If they return a sincere response, you can go home. Although, don’t think of anything funny. That choker was crafted so that only I can remove it. If you try to forcibly remove it, you die. If you return before I receive the gold, you will wear that collar for the entirety of your life.」

The three n.o.bles can use body reinforcement magic even though it is a bit immature, is it because they received some guidance in magic? Anyway, since it’s dangerous for the guards, they have magic inhibitor collars.

Originally, it was an item worn by all the Elves. I a.n.a.lyzed it and found a way to remove it without breaking it. Taken off each and every person there was a lot of them stowed away, so I improved them.

「We~, we get it. We already don’t have the power to go against you.」

「Hi~i, hi~i, we get it, so please don’t hurt us.」

Since the person in front of me was literally broken and thoroughly tormented, he was surprisingly obedient.

One by one, their arms were tied behind their backs.

「I already said it, but those collars. If I feel like it, I can give a signal at any moment and kill you all, it’s best you all remember that.」

I constructed the circuit inside it for that reason

With one activation key, they’re done.

My words made the n.o.bles turn pale, I stuffed them in the carriage and set out from Elucie.

Today I am going alone. A fight is certainly going to break out and during that time being enc.u.mbered is something I don’t need.

The meeting place was about 20 kilometers from Elucie, on a hill with a good vantage point. On both sides there was 30 meters of overgrowth in the forest ahead.

The place is about one day away from Elucie, the area that was decided upon didn’t have much cover[Cover].

I arrived at noon, just before the promised time. There were five carriages and support units of armored soldiers, about twenty of them.

Just to be sure, I search the surrounding area with【Enhanced Perception】, there are agile soldiers armed with bows hiding among the trees in the forest looking in on us.

The way they erased their presence is good, they are certainly masters at it. But, as long as there is air around in the atmosphere, it’s impossible to deceive me.

Hanging from my hip was a custom made knife, also I check the state of the integrated shortbow that was on the back of my hand.

「Soldiers of the Empire, I thank you for taking the trouble to come here. I am a representative of Elucie, Cyril. I am different from you in that I have no surname, just Cyril. The representative in the letter is Baron Lurvishe Florence, is it okay to ask for him? 」[Lurvishe]

I greet them with a smile.

But I find it hard to stomach the bear-like man that has such a beard. He lumbered about in his party and squared his shoulders.

「For savages like you from your savage tribes to demand a ransom and to make a fool of us humans! And what is with that n.o.ble-like way you talk!? Did you think you could hide your despicable nature?!」

「That wasn’t my intent you know, just as Elucie’s representative, I thought it would be good to negotiate in good faith.」

I say so while lowering my head, seems like that was just pouring oil into the fire, the other party is just boiling.

「What is Elucie?」

「It’s the name of our country, since we are independent of you, that’s all that is needed to declare it so.」

「For you to even bring it up, that kind of thing is something we don’t recognize! You b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are just a village that revolted, sooner or later, we will dominate you!」

「We already are aware that the Empire is going to try, even so we have no intention to stop calling ourselves Elucie.」

That is something we will absolutely not yield, it is the foundation of our pride.

Incidentally, the Empire is not really it’s actual name.

In this world there is one Emperor that governs the country, that’s why it’s called the Empire. Except for the Emperor in the Empire, any other Emperor is not recognized. That’s why, in this world there is only one Empire, so there was no need to name it anything other than that.

「Since this kind of talk is just going to get more unpleasant, let’s just get to the real issue at hand. Shall we exchange the prisoners for the money? The procedure is simple, I’ll let everyone but the Earl’s second son go, then, when I get the full amount of gold coins I will leave the last person here.」

「Very well then.」

Thinking about it normally, It’s easy to recognize that the Empire is accepting a procedure that they wouldn’t normally accept.

There is only one meaning to this, for this exchange to be going this well, the Empire’s side must be thinking this is all going as intended…..

「Well as arranged.」

And then as if unconcerned I exchanged the hostages for the money.

The money I received is tightly packed in a large leather bag. The sound of the leather bag doesn’t indicate any impurities mixed in the bag, checking the weight and seeing if it’s what it’s suppose to be, two thousand gold coins inside.

I release the third person. Surprisingly the exchange of the hostages ended smoothly, I unfasten the collars on them and send them off.

「You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, you said you’re the chief didn’t you. You don’t intend to obediently follow the Empire? I will forgive you, If you give ten Elves as tax this year, and promise your previous way of life will not change, if you do it now.」

「You’re looking from high above aren’t you? For those words you say, the forces needed and the range of profit in your judgement would make you unable to capture Elucie, right? I am doing this in good faith, I didn’t even have to tell you that.」

Yes, war requires money. Much less the Empire is 200 kilometers from the remote region Elucie is located in. Dispatching soldiers is a burden, even five hundred people is considerably harsh. Unless they can send a force that is guaranteed to win, the Empire would run a loss.

「Well… So you understood that much huh.」

Today is the first Baron Lurvishe made a smile on his face.

「Ahh, yes that right isn’t it. Of course you a.s.sume the needed amount to get Elucie to fall, would be about two thousand people or so right. That said, you’re going to a.s.sault it with about three thousand instead, right. I mean that is the amount you should be sending.」

「Hahahaha, for you to say it that magnificently, I can’t deceive you now can I. Ah yes, that is exactly that, it’s certainly as you say. It isn’t worth it to send three thousand soldiers. But even so, the Empire will do it.」

He looks at me with a glint in his eye.

「This a matter of pride, as it stands now to lose to a bunch of savages is something I can’t forgive. When spring comes, I will spearhead three thousand troops and a.s.sault Elucie.」

Those words would be the truth.

The feeling behind those eyes and that guy’s demeanor and presences, don’t give me a sense that he is not lying.

「Of course, when the time comes you will have countermeasures for our bows, right. The front guard is going to be a large amount of expendable mercenaries, along with burning down the forest to do a multi-directional a.s.sault. Or perhaps what you were thinking beforehand was you will send a few hundred lightweight soldiers as ambushers from the opposite direction?」

「wha~, you, why.」

The Empire is just a bunch of morons, there were several people who returned alive with two or three arrows, with that it wouldn’t be weird for them to think up countermeasures.

「Until then, Elucie doesn’t take the Empire lightly you know. And also the one who made the bows was me. So, it’s not like I wouldn’t know its own weakness right? And then, knowing that you would think that I needed to have a countermeasure after that countermeasure ready right? I’ll give you a warning, if for example your soldiers number in the thousands and you a.s.sault Elucie. Even with your countermeasures, it’s still going to end up like the last time you know. If you increase the amount of people the damage that will be inflicted will also get higher, right. 」

Half was a bluff, the other half was a serious warning.

Of course, I don’t think I could pull it off with just this.

So my goal for now at this juncture was just warn the other party.

「Interesting, how interesting this is. You, for there to be Elves like you…. I changed my mind, I’ll negotiate, your an opponent that deserves it. Give up the Firefox b.i.t.c.hes[b.i.t.c.hes]you’re harboring. If you do that, I promise until the end of time, the Empire will have nothing to do with you guys. Like before, it would be problematic if the Firefoxes self-destructed along with you guys. Deceive them, put magic inhibitor collars on them, and then bring them to us. You guys can do that right? The fire magic stones are worth a bit more than the wind stones. It’s needed for iron processing. Even though we can make iron, it requires a large amount of wood, and we have reached the limit to how much trees we can cut down. If we can get the fire stones we will overlook it if the Elves surrender them in some form, in this way the Empire can save face.」

If it’s just thinking about only the Elves, this is the best proposal.

Originally, Kuu and the others were just a nuisance, selling them off would make it over and done with and I could return safely.

In fact, if it’s me, it would be easy to trick the girls right. I could put sleeping medicine in the food and place collars on them all, then send them off in a carriage to the Empire.

But in this case I don’t even bother thinking about it.

「I refuse. the girls are citizens of Elucie.」

More importantly, the problem is how did he know the Firefoxes were in Elucie.

From the beginning I suspected there was a certain Elf inside Elucie that was leaking information, just coming here and hearing all this just confirmed it right.

「If that’s the case there is no choice but war, isn’t there. Here is another proposal. How about only you come to the Empire? You have a good head and nerve, and also having the technology of that iron bow. I was impressed seeing the arrows you know. It was pure iron with no impurities in it, along with that even the arrows were exactly the same quality. Even the Empire can’t make such things. You’re a person that would profit the Empire, killing you along with the savages is something I don’t really want to do, I would rather collect you.」

For whatever reason, this man thinks if he goes to war he can win.

My saying is, have confidence to smash through countermeasure after countermeasure.

He is quite an interesting human, if he was leading the recent raid with five hundred soldiers. Just to be sure, out of say five cards I had up my sleeve, I probably would have used all except one card.

「I also refuse that. I am the chief of Elucie, and it’s my duty to protect everyone.」

「Is that so, what a shame. For such a person to die here in vain, I would say for an all around enemy like yourself, I can’t let such a dangerous one like you live.」

At the same time, the bowmen that were hiding drew their bows, and arrows flew at me from five different directions.

I made a distorted grin.

From the beginning the empire had no intention of handing over the money, after so easily exchanging for their prisoners.

Answer courtesy with courtesy, words with words, rudeness with rudeness and swords with swords.

Because that is the thing called negotiation.

Editor Note(s):

Translator Note(s):

After-party: Probably referencing an after-party.

Cover: Cover actually says like screen more like coverage from being fired upon.

Lurvishe: ルルビッシュ rurubisshu Sounds kinda like Lurvishe, if you don’t like it comment with a suggestion to see if it goes through.

b.i.t.c.hes: 雌: mesu :Female animal, essentially saying it in the derogatory for the girls.

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