379 Negotiations (1/2)
Sitting down around a small, circular table, I got japnuesse vibes from how long this table was, forcing everyone to sit directly on the floor instead of using chairs like any normal people.
”There really isn't that much to this technique. It's something developed in my family, and if you heard about my passion, you should know what kind of oddballs we all are.”
Like always, bullshiting was the way to go! There was completely no reason for me to give them any sort of information, especially with how likely I would be making enemies out of them during my soon-to-be rampage.
”Hah, travelling through the seas and visiting all sorts of places… Being strictly tied to the orders from the ancestors of my clan, I really envy your freedom!”
Laughing out, the man replied, while giving me accidentally a clue. I guessed he wanted to point out at the existence of a force way greater than himself that was backing him on his mission here, but instead of scaring me off, he actually pointed my thoughts in a more concrete direction.
Clans? Ancestors? Wasn't those just different names for the same thing I saw in the cultivation area of this world? Replace clan with sect and ancestor with the elder, and the picture of this part of the world turns out to be exactly the same as the one I already expelled myself from.
”The grass is always greener on the neighbour's lawn, isn't it? You can trust me, living the kind of life I do, isn't free of its dose of troubles and worries. Sometimes I'm even tempted to just settle down somewhere, but every time I'm actually starting to seriously consider it, I recall why did I chose the way I'm living in the first place.”
No matter how annoying it was, I had to keep up this kind of conversation for as long as it the other party could take it before finally moving to the real point they wanted to touch by inviting me for a talk.
”Let's not waste our time then, and move straight to the real deal, I came to offer you.”
As if reading my mind, the guy leaned over the table as if he was some kind of mafia boss trying to coax chief of another group for some kind of big heist. With a small blush appearing on his face, I could tell that getting to the hear of the discussion got him excited.
Big fail!
If his clan sent someone incapable of keeping his emotions in check or at least preventing them from appearing on his face, they either weren't as significant as this envoy they sent wanted me to believe they were, or they didn't value this mission as much as to waste the time of someone actually capable of those basic things!