The overlord's attendant of Blossoming Flower Land was a middle-aged man with a big belly. His head was shiny, reflecting the candlelight.
His attire was luxurious yet a little vulgar.
His silk coat looked as if it could hang all the gold and silver on it. Each step he took, the coat would jingle.
"Greetings, Lord Priestess, Outpost Master."
The emissary tried his best to bow, making himself look humble and respectful.
Unfortunately, the emissary's belly was too big.
It was so big that no matter how hard the emissary tried, he couldn't even bend his waist.
The emissary seemed to know it, so after a bow, he went straight to the point.
"I am here on behalf of our lord.
Our lord hopes to gain Arya Outpost's support to fight against those monsters together.
Of course, we are willing to stand on Arya Outpost's side. No matter what decision Arya Outpost makes, we will support it! "
The emissary spoke in a dignified manner, but the hidden meaning shocked Nelson.
After a glance at Atrina, with the silent permission from the priestess, the Outpost Master spoke.
"All the decisions?
Including helping Arya Outpost build an outer wall? "
The Outpost Master asked.
"Of course!
"With Lord Ryan, the Hero, helping Arya Outpost build an outer wall is a reasonable thing to do.
"But we hope that the other lords can contribute more, do you understand?"
The emissary smiled at the Outpost Master.
Nelson finally understood what the emissary was trying to do.
Harming others without benefiting himself.
No!
More precisely, harming others while preserving his own.
But … But …
After thinking for a while, the just and strict Outpost Master couldn't find a suitable word to describe his current state of mind.
He knew the lords of Yort Fields were despicable, but he didn't expect it to be to this extent.
At the same time, he thought of what the previous Outpost Master told him when he became the Outpost Master, "Don't care about those bastards. The purpose of Arya Outpost's existence is to clear the bandits on the way to Naveya City."
As expected, don't care about them?
Nelson couldn't help but smile bitterly when he thought about all the useless efforts he had put in in the past two years.
Then?
The whole meeting was handed over to Atrina.
In just a few words, the envoy of Blossoming Flower Lord was drenched in sweat.
A qualified negotiator would never look at the bargaining chips on the other party's table. They would also look at the bargaining chips hidden by the other party.
Without a doubt, Atrina was an extremely qualified negotiator.
She had more than doubled the amount of chips that she could have originally obtained.
It was enough to feed two thousand people for a year.
There must be no less than a thousand laborers, all of whom must be strong and fit.
Also, there must be ten to twenty craftsmen with considerable skills, but they cannot be apprentices.
As a result, when the envoy from the Blossoming Flower Region left, his face was pale and he staggered.
"What a bunch of people who only know how to fight amongst themselves."
The Outpost Master sighed.
He couldn't imagine why the other party would agree to such harsh conditions. After all, such conditions had no benefits to speak of.
One had to know that the Blossom Flower Region wasn't a huge territory. Among the dozens of lords in Yort Fields, it was ranked at the bottom.
"Because he firmly believes that he will obtain more."
"In his mind, I'm afraid he has already started to plan how to recoup his losses multiple times over — to the other lords in Yort Fields!"
"I can assure you that once we gather enough men here and cause a lord's territory to be empty, it will be the time for them to send their troops."
Atrina laughed coldly.
She knew what the envoy was thinking.
As a matter of fact, in the recent decades in Yort Fields, similar things had been happening all the time.
It was either the east wind suppressing the west wind or the west wind suppressing the east wind.
But this time, it was different. What she wanted was … everything!
The whole of Yort Fields!
"You are saying?"
The Outpost Master looked at Atrina in hindsight.
But before Atrina could reply, the messenger came to pass the message again —
"Priestess Atrina, Outpost Master Nelson, the emissary from Matsutake Land requests an audience."
Right away, the outpost master widened his eyes at Atrina with his mouth agape.
The priestess smiled.
She uttered each and every word.
"I've said it before, they won't just agree to our conditions, they will fight to be the first to agree because we have more than one collaborator!"
…
The sun had just risen, its golden rays shining outside Arya Outpost.
The soldiers on top of the walls were looking at the direction of Naveya City with utmost vigilance. They were also looking at the exceptionally fertile Yort Fields with faint disdain.
In the past two days, the ridiculous stories about the lords of Yort Fields had spread throughout the entire outpost.
Aside from the wooden swords and sabers.
Even those who fell down on their horses could be considered brave.
In order to better decorate the camp, they covered the grass with cowhide and hung satin on the branches, all sorts of ridiculous stories were spread out endlessly.
Whenever the soldiers thought about how they were wary of such enemies back then, they couldn't help but pout.
But soon enough, the disdain was replaced by seriousness when they looked at the direction of Naveya City.
Although there were sporadic attacks from the monsters in the past two days, each battle was exceptionally difficult.
If it wasn't for the walls of Arya Outpost, they would have to face casualties again and again.
Therefore, when the lookout saw a black line appear on the horizon, the alarm bells were rung.
The heavily armed soldiers climbed up the city wall.
The Knight even split up into groups and acted as a rescue team for the battlefield.
As for leaving the city to fight?
The size of the black line at the end of the horizon allowed them to make a more rational decision.
However, as the black line got closer, the lookout at the highest point cried out in surprise.
"Convoy!
It's the temple convoy! "
…
The voice echoed above the outpost. The people's tense nerves were relieved right away and they looked further away in delight.
What else was more delightful than the arrival of Naveya City's people?
Among the convoy was Kieran, who had left earlier.
"Open the gates!"
Atrina said impatiently as she rode her horse out.
Nelson and a group of Knight followed closely behind.
The two groups met in front of Arya Outpost.
The archpriest slowly came down from the wagon and looked at Atrina and Nelson with a smile.
"Archpriest Pelder."
Although they belonged to different temples, the proper etiquette was still the same.
"I am no longer the archpriest."
The archpriest waved his hand.
His words sounded suspicious, but Atrina didn't press further. Firstly, it wasn't the right time and secondly, she was more concerned about Ryan.
"Where's Ryan?"
Atrina asked.
"Your Majesty?"
"Over there."
"Look, he's here."
The archpriest smiled and pointed at the back of the convoy. A golden figure slowly walked over. His face was a little blurry under the sunlight, like a God shrouded in divine light.
Atrina stared blankly at the figure, her mind echoing the way the old priest addressed Ryan.
Your Majesty?
Your Majesty!
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
