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 noble-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 bastards 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 bastard, 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.