"When are the barbarians supposed to depart?"

"They say they have finished their final preparations. They will arrive within a week at the latest."

"It seems they intend to meet the deadline."

"Surely they wouldn't be late for an important inter-city negotiation."

"There's nothing more foolish than trusting a barbarian. Their sense of time is unreliable, so track them thoroughly and report."

Time passed, and the secret negotiation between the two cities was just around the corner.

The City Government's negotiation team was busy as a bee.

There was a lot of work to finish, and the reactionaries were revealing their true colors and constantly posing threats.

The complexions of the working-level staff, including the aide, were turning dark.

Only Councilor Giselle showed no signs of disarray, as if boasting of his innate dignity.

"You seem very busy, is there anything I can help you with?"

"..."

Even Giselle often failed to control his expression.

It was the moment Claire approached with a bright smile.

"...There's nothing."

"I don't think so. The workload is excessive for the number of people. Wouldn't it be a little easier if I helped?"

The aide nodded vigorously behind Giselle.

The aide, who hadn't even been able to get a wink of sleep, would welcome any help he could get.

"This is the City Government's business. It's not something a corporate lackey should interfere with."

"I am also a member of the negotiation team, formally appointed by the council."

"The head of the negotiation team is me."

It was a fierce battle of nerves.

Giselle, who was putting up a wall, was one thing, but Claire, who persistently pushed her face forward despite the blatant cold treatment, was also shameless.

The one who was dying was the aide caught in the middle.

"Then I'll be waiting outside, so please call me anytime if you need a hand."

Claire was shameless, but she wasn't stubborn.

That's why it was hard for Giselle to get angry.

As she said, she was a member of the negotiation team.

There was no reason to kick her out.

The best he could do was to give her the cold shoulder until she got tired of it.

"She seems anxious."

"Excuse me?"

"She's not without pride, but she's clinging on persistently."

"If she's putting in that much effort, isn't it about time you opened your heart?"

"I must not give any room for influence to creep in. Have you forgotten that it's because of the greed of those merchants that I can't even move without an escort now?"

Due to the successive attacks, Giselle's vigilance was at its peak.

He was planning to exclude all entrepreneurs for the time being.

His subordinates were collapsing one by one from overwork, but... Giselle held his ground.

He thoroughly abided by the principles he had set.

For an elf, pride came before physical fatigue.

"Thank you for allowing me a private meeting."

The battle of nerves between the two finally came to an end the day before the negotiation.

The groundwork was already finished.

Since the room for tricks was blocked, Giselle responded to Claire's request for a private meeting with great magnanimity.

"What is your business?"

"I will also be attending the negotiation tomorrow."

"I'll allow it. However, your opinion will not be reflected."

"I don't mind, I'll just quietly stamp my seal according to the negotiation results."

"…?"

Giselle frowned.

"You're surprisingly obedient."

"I was prepared for it."

"The losses could be immense."

"I told you I would cooperate fully. It seems you didn't believe me."

How could he believe her?

Giselle narrowed his eyes to gauge Claire's intentions.

"Instead, I have a favor to ask."

"Do you want a personal favor?"

"No, that's not it..."

Claire, who had been confident, somehow mumbled her lips and then said in a reluctant tone.

"I'd like to reinforce my personal escort."

***

[How did it go?]

"It's going well. I'll be attending the negotiation in person tomorrow."

[Well done. You must not miss this opportunity. Use this as a chance to build a friendship with the city councilor and increase your influence.]

"Yes, Sylvester belongs to our family. I can't let a rolling stone take it away."

[I believe in you.]

Click!

"...Haaa."

After finishing the call with her father, Claire collapsed on her desk.

Her stomach churned with tension.

She knew well that a lot was at stake in the success or failure of this negotiation, without needing to be emphasized two or three times.

On a grand scale, the revision of the company's future strategy and losses due to a failed bet.

Personally, the loss of her qualification as a corporate successor.

Failure was not an option.

"Ugh, really. If he wasn't a councilor, I would have slapped him."

Just like that, Claire raised her hand, panting.

It was the first time in her life that her pride had been so scratched.

Giselle didn't give her any room.

In Claire's judgment, this bet was a half-success.

Giselle, being as upright as he was, would somehow make the negotiations succeed, but Sylvester would have no part in the process.

Even if it was a gamble with a lot at stake, what couldn't be done, couldn't be done.

Since the other party had no intention of clapping along, it was right to just quit and think about the next move.

"Just you wait if it's a lie."

Nevertheless, Claire stubbornly clung to Giselle.

It was all because of one man's proposal.

Thanks to that, she really had no way back.

If the negotiations broke down, Claire would have no room for a comeback.

Even if the negotiations went well, if there was no attack, it would be a loss as she would only have gotten on Councilor Giselle's bad side.

"I have to hope for the best."

But if things went according to the plan that man had mentioned...

Claire could get her hands on a lot.

***

"Hah, it's finally over today."

Hella said, chewing on beef jerky.

Her posture was crooked, as she had stuck her spear into the ground and was leaning on it, propping up her long legs.

She exuded a strong atmosphere of a neighborhood ruffian.

Thwack!

"Ugek!"

The divine punishment for her lax attitude was a fist that came down on the crown of her head.

Hella jumped up and down.

The sound of a watermelon breaking made it seem like it really hurt.

"You reckless fool. If you've received a request, do your best until the end without letting your guard down."

Drexier looked down at Hella, dusting off the fist he had brought down.

"Argh, really! Just use your words, old man!"

"You don't understand with words."

"Do you think I'm a teenager?!"

Hella's protest was not convincing.

No one in the mercenary corps, who had shared joys and sorrows with her, took her side.

I patted her panting shoulder and said.

"Don't relax. The day of is always the most dangerous."

"You too with the nagging? What's so dangerous? No matter how conscienceless the corporate guys are, would they really make a move when a negotiation team from another city is here?"

She wasn't wrong.

No matter how high a corporation's prestige was, directly touching the ruling class of a city was a shortcut to ruin.

"In terms of experience, I'm your senior. How's my judgment? Killer, right?"

"A senior is only a senior if there's something to learn from them."

"What, you punk?"

"Don't take my words lightly."

The miscalculation was Centrim's ambition.

Centrim, from the position of a corporation, tried to control even the City Government, the direct ruling power of the city.

Well, when you think about it, it was no different from what they usually did.

It was just that the social position of the target was high.

If the cleanup was perfect, there was no need to worry about the aftermath.

'And the cleanup was indeed perfect.'

All the negotiation team members died, and the full story was not revealed.

Because the conflict between the two cities deepened and a war broke out, the investigation into the truth was pushed back.

In the meantime, it was not a difficult task for Centrim to conceal and manipulate the truth.

"Watch your back."

"...What?"

"An internal member will cause a commotion. The suspected individuals are two or more. The confirmed enemy is the black magician Mezaia, and the suspected person is Felixo. We also need to consider external support."

"No, what are you suddenly talking about... Wait, a black magician?"

Hella's eyes, which had been fixed on the one word I had let slip, changed.

"Is it true?"

"It's my mission. I don't talk nonsense."

I had already revealed my ability once.

The whispers of Mother Nature.

Although it was a misunderstanding born from a misunderstanding, the Drexier Mercenary Corps trusted my information network.

"These bat-like bastards, I'll just...!"

"Calm down. Act as usual."

I stopped Hella, who was panting and about to rush at the enemies.

"If we know the traitor, we should deal with them right away!"

"It will interfere with the negotiations."

The priority was not the prevention of the attack, but the negotiation.

If we showed a messy state to the barbarians before the negotiation even started, we didn't know what kind of whim they would have.

If that happened, all the work we had done so far would be in vain.

"Tell Drexier to change the escort arrangement first."

Councilor Giselle's perception of contractors had changed over time.

From a lower-class person he couldn't associate with to a hunting dog whose abilities were worth seeing.

But a hunting dog was still a hunting dog, and there was no human trust.

Therefore, the Drexier Mercenary Corps would escort the negotiation team, and the contractors would handle the external security.

It was an arrangement that could perfectly respond whether an attack came from the outside or a disturbance occurred from the inside.

That is, if the assumption that a contractor would betray was not certain.

If a contractor betrayed from the outside, the inside would be surrounded.

"Mix the contractors and the mercenary corps members in the arrangement. So that they can be subdued immediately in case of an emergency."

"I can ask the old man to do that as you said, but then should we just drive all the suspected individuals to the outside? We have to make sure there's no harm to the negotiation team, right?"

"No."

If only the dangerous individuals were let out, there was a high possibility that they would notice, and the risk of being surrounded would not disappear.

Also, a dramatic scene comes when faced with a life-or-death danger.

And if that danger was within a controllable range, it was like a staged play.

"Send Mezaia inside and stick her next to me."

Of course, not everything in the world goes according to plan.

A variable that could happen in a million.

I had also prepared for that by bringing Claire to my side.

"I will subdue her."

A black magician is not scary.

The World Tree raised its branches high, as if showing its confidence.

***

"Nice to meet you, I am Giselle, a councilor of Gellerg City and the head of the negotiation team."

The Persear negotiation team had arrived.

There were seven of them.

It was a secret negotiation, and since we were the ones who were desperate, they had even kept their escort to a minimum.

"Oh, it's definitely different."

"Quiet."

Hella's rude act of admiring them like a country bumpkin, unbecoming of an escort, was immediately suppressed by Drexier.

'I understand how she feels.'

Their appearance was that unique.

While the Gellerg City negotiation team was dressed in suits and showed courtesy, their attire was lax.

Their faces were painted with dye, and tattoos were visible on the exposed skin between their torn clothes.

They were people who were preserving the traditions of a tribal society in a developed world where cities were brightly lit and civilization flourished.

"Nice to meet you. I am Kalkorum."

Even the name had a bizarre pronunciation.

Giselle's eyebrows twitched at the short answer.

Giselle let out a shallow breath.

It was still within a tolerable range.

"You must have had a hard time coming a long way. Please come inside."

The Persear negotiation team moved according to Giselle's guidance.

The destination was a spacious conference room inside a temporarily built building.

No one but the negotiation team was allowed to enter.

It was an artificially sealed space created by their social status.

That's why they had no way of knowing what was happening outside.

The opposite situation was also the same.

"Are you confident?"

Claire asked me in a small voice while we were moving.

"What about you? Are the escorts you brought trustworthy?"

"They are my private soldiers."

If they were the personal escorts of a large corporation's successor, their skills were beyond question.

Since they were also her personal subordinates, any damage would be a loss.

She had bet everything on this matter.

"There will be a response from the outside. I will suppress the inside, so you deal with the outside."

There were at most two traitors.

It was physically impossible to defeat all these people and even clean up afterwards with just two.

There would be many collaborators.

Whether it was an army or a gang.

"I'll trust you."

Claire's voice scattered with the sound of the door closing.

"Long time no see, young man."

Mezaia approached me.

The escort personnel were grouped in pairs of two and were tasked with patrolling the inside of the building in rotation.

It was intentional that Mezaia and I were grouped together.

"Don't be nervous, let's go. No matter how dissatisfied they are, they won't be stupid enough to carry out an attack on the day of the negotiation."

I held back a sneer.

To me, who knew her inner thoughts, the old woman's words were just ridiculous.

"Let's do that."

But I played along with her.

The moment Mezaia revealed her hidden inner thoughts.

That moment would be her last.

(End of Chapter)