The expression on Barod's face eased up a lot, and he could finally see a smile. Seeing the warehouse full of canned food, the heavy burden in his heart finally disappeared.
Correspondingly, his attitude towards Tang En had also improved.
Tang En could clearly sense the change in Barod's attitude, and he was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
He was like those rich players who used materials to smash their corresponding reputation from indifference to Worship. The only difference was that they used silk and raw materials, while he used canned food.
However, from the looks of Barod, the 70,000 tons of canned food didn't smash his reputation to Worship. It only went from indifference to friendliness.
Tang En couldn't help but rub his nose. Compared to the warm and hospitable dwarves in Hammer Forging Castle, the reputation of the underground dwarves was considered a faction that was very difficult to farm.
After returning to the palace, both parties finally sat together and planned to discuss serious matters.
And at this time, it was finally Fiona's home ground.
Fortunately, Barod knew Loen; otherwise, Fiona would've been at a loss. She didn't know the dwarven language.
"Hello, Great King of the underground dwarves. I'm the chief executive officer of the feudal lord. I'm in charge of all administrative matters in Ellington."
Fiona sat opposite Barod and briefly introduced herself. Then, she opened the document in front of her, pulled out a few pieces of paper, and threw them to the side. "Because I didn't know that you knew Loen, I got Brian to help prepare an introduction book in the dwarven language. But from the looks of it, there's no need. I'll talk to you directly …"
Tang En, who was standing by the side leisurely, crossed his arms and looked at Fiona. The blonde girl's temperament was completely different from when they first met. Although she was still the blonde girl in her twenties, she was mature, steady, and could see the big picture. Furthermore, she was very clear about the priorities of the matter.
Even after knowing who her enemy was, she could temporarily put it aside and focus on the development of Ellington. She wasn't distracted at all. She was indeed a very rare talent.
Tang En imagined Fiona wearing gold-rimmed glasses and an office lady's uniform in his mind. Then, he suddenly grinned. Whether it was her brilliant blonde hair or her temperament, they were very suitable for the office lady's uniform. However, the style of dressing was completely different from Barod's.
Fiona carefully introduced to Barod the things that Ellington could provide. Most of them were things that the underground dwarves hadn't seen in a long time or had never seen before: cheap paper, ceramic utensils, fresh fruits, juice, sugar, refined salt, various staple grains, meat, and so on. There were also various magical machines produced by Ellington, such as magical kettles, water heaters, washing machines, refrigerators, and so on.
As for the main product that Fiona had previously proposed, the magical air conditioner, there wasn't much of a market for it. To humans, it might be very hot, but to the underground dwarves, they had long adapted to the temperature and found it very comfortable. If the temperature suddenly changed, they wouldn't be used to it.
"These are the main products that we can provide for trade. Of course, if necessary, we can provide more products, but we will need to slowly search for them in the future."
After introducing the products that excited Barod, Fiona brought up Ellington's trade demands. "Then, as one side of the trade, our Ellington's main demands for the underground dwarves are various ores, including gold, silver, copper, and iron, as well as magical metal ores such as magical iron, adamantine, mithril, and other magical herbs used in alchemy, especially the underground specialties. We are happy to purchase all of them. Various gems, rubies, emeralds, topaz, sapphires, and so on. There are also various magic crystals above standard, advanced magic crystals, and even rarer magic essences …"
Fiona spoke eloquently. After a pause, she added, "In addition, we also welcome all kinds of underground magical beast specialties. As long as the scales, bones, blood, and organs are in good condition, they can be used for trade. We also welcome the underground dwarves to go sightseeing in Ellington … "
Then, Fiona took out another contract and said, "This is a bilingual contract that we have prepared in Loen and Dwarven. You can take a look. There's no need to rush to give an answer. Please consider it carefully before giving us an answer."
Barod took the contract and glanced at it before saying to Tang En, "It seems that you are well prepared."
"Of course."
"I will seriously consider your request and give you an answer in three days at the latest."
Barod got up, clapped his hands, and said, "Men, take the guests to their rooms to rest."
"No need."
Tang En also stood up. "Our people are still outside, so we will find an open space outside to set up camp. We will await your news at any time."
"In that case, we won't force it. The earth will always be by our side. My friend, may your beard be as lush as the Tree of Life."
"May your kingdom be as vigorous as a hammer and forge."
After leaving the palace, Fiona couldn't help but say, "My Lord, I still don't understand why you are unwilling to raise that condition …"
After seeing the average strength of the underground dwarves, Fiona wanted to add a temporary clause in the contract. As both parties of the contract, Ellington could borrow soldiers from the underground dwarves if he needed them.
"Fiona, although you are very talented in business, you are a little slow in politics."
Tang En patted Fiona on the shoulder. "Transferring soldiers is rare even between the lords of the surface world and the duchies that have a very close relationship, not to mention that we don't even have a cooperative relationship with the underground dwarves."
"Transferring soldiers means that both parties are not on guard against each other, and our secrets are completely exposed. Under such circumstances, we can't fully trust the underground dwarves, and the underground dwarves can't fully trust us either. If we rashly raise this condition, it will only make them more vigilant."
Tang En certainly understood Fiona's eagerness to strengthen Ellington as much as possible, but many things couldn't be done in a single step. For example, now that they had established a trade relationship with the underground dwarves, if they wanted to completely integrate into Ellington and assimilate into Ellington's culture, it would take at least a hundred years if it weren't for Tang En's various strategies.
Even with Tang En's various ingenious ideas, this process might take a few years for the underground dwarves to completely accept Ellington.
In a situation where both parties didn't know each other, keeping a distance and carrying out normal trade was already the best situation.
As long as Ellington could maintain the leading level in culture, economy, and technology, the underground dwarves would be completely assimilated by this soft invasion and become part of Ellington's culture sooner or later.
"My Lord."
When they returned outside, Depp and the rest had already organized the warriors to set up tents in the open space outside the city.
"What's going on over there?"
Tang En pointed not far away. The adventurers seemed to be arguing with the dwarven soldiers. Perhaps due to the language barrier, both parties were gesticulating wildly.
Locke curled his lips and said, "Those adventurers seemed to want to cross the blockade line of the dwarven soldiers and continue to explore the cave ahead, but they were stopped."
There were still people who wanted to go deeper?
Tang En was very surprised. They were previously dragged here by Caesar's Force. Now that they had a chance to replenish their food and water, they actually wanted to go further instead of hurriedly replenishing their food and water. How fearless were these people?
"Some of the smarter adventurers have already begun to barter with the dwarves. They plan to return to the surface and resell them to make a profit. However, those who want to go deeper are definitely those who aren't satisfied with small profits."
Locke sneered. "My Lord, just watch. Caesar's Force's people are right next to us. After crossing the lava river, they don't plan to rest at all. I think they'll continue to go deeper if they have the chance. I don't know what triggered Caesar's Force, but the whole mercenary group's style has changed."
Just as Locke said, the members of Caesar's Force were all gathered together. Although they didn't show any hostility, the team that had been silent all this time exuded a strange sense of coldness.
Tang En was stunned for a moment. "Locke, the mercenary group you used to know didn't have such a cold and serious style?"
He thought that Caesar's Force had always been like this.
"Of course not. If they've always been like this, how can they deal with their employers?"
Locke spread out his hands. "Although I'm not qualified to deal with Caesar's Force, I've seen them from afar. They're still considered normal."
Tang En glanced at Caesar's Force and shook his head slightly. "I guess the profit from this adventure is relatively large, so they want to deter others and maximize their profits."
"That's possible … Eh? They're moving! "
As soon as Locke finished speaking, hundreds of people from Caesar's Force moved. Their mighty movements immediately attracted the attention of all the adventurers around them, and also alerted the dwarven soldiers. The dwarven soldiers drew their weapons and warned them loudly.
If it weren't for Tang En's face, they would have attacked immediately. The combat power of the dwarves was really not inferior to Caesar's Force's mercenaries.
At this time, two people walked out of Caesar's Force's mercenary group. One was a tall, bald man in armour, and the other was a man covered in a black cloak. They came to the dwarven soldiers and whispered to each other.
Locke pointed and said, "That bald man is the founder of the mercenary group, Caesar. I don't know the man in the black cloak next to him, but from what the other adventurers said, I'm afraid he's a wizard hired by Caesar's Force."
A wizard?
Tang En frowned slightly. In an elemental environment, everyone was shrouded in dense mana. Under such circumstances, it was impossible to detect whether a person was a spellcaster through their affinity with mana.
After a while, Caesar and the man in black returned, and the mercenary group returned to their original place.
It was obvious that they had been rejected too.
Then, Tang En saw Caesar and the man in black walking into the city under the guidance of the guards.
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