"Long time no see, old friend." Astaire had a head of beautiful golden hair and he was as handsome as before, "You seem to be doing quite well recently?"
"Alright, Astaire. So you're a spy and a guide? In short, no matter what, I welcome your arrival! "Laing gave the gnome a warm hug.
He had fought side by side with Astaire several times, so their friendship was deep enough. If it wasn't for the gnome pulling the strings, he would not have easily obtained the wood elves' trust and assistance.
There were around twenty Eternal Wood Elves following behind Astaire. They were always vigilant as they watched the people around them.
"Hello, your excellency Laing. I am Vieruodis from the Eternal Forest." Another female lord of the forest stood in front of Laing. She was tall and looked very fierce. Moreover, her face was covered in brown patterns, looking like she had been through hundreds of battles. There were many calluses on the hands of the lord of the forest and she was wearing a thick layer of eye shadow. From a human's point of view, it was hard for Laing to consider this lord of the forest to be beautiful, "Hello, your excellency Vieruodis. I am Laing, Laing -Macado."
"This is my husband, Ogros." A strong male wood elf walked out. He was only wearing a simple breastplate and leather armour, other than that his body was covered in leaves. There was a bow on his back and a short sword hidden in a leather sheath at his waist. His expression was not good, but he still reluctantly greeted Laing.
The wood elves were a matriarchal society. In the Forest Council, most of the people in power were women. Even if it was the king of the forest, Ao Laing, he still listened to the orders of his wife and queen, Aleil. The wood elves and the king and queen were all half gods with powerful magic. Aleil symbolized tranquility, rebirth, and growth, the harmonious side of the forest. Ao Laing symbolized wildness, chaos, and the struggle for survival, the cruel side of nature.
If it wasn't for the Brittany and the wood elves having a diplomatic relationship, it would have been hard for Laing to know this much. The wood elves' messengers emphasized every year to keep the knights away from the forest. Even like this, many young knights would charge into the wood elves' territory for glory …..
"Welcome to my territory." Laing calmly welcomed this group of wood elves. "I think we need to talk."
"I think so too, Your Excellency Ryan. You've proven to us that you're an excellent Holy Grail Knight. We have a common enemy, and that's why you're able to gain our friendship. You should know how distrustful Aisles are of humans, so please don't waste our trust in you. Otherwise, you'll have to face the wrath of the forest." Vieruodis, the Lord of the Forest, came up with a warning. She was quite arrogant, and her chin was raised very high.
Laing, however, did not fall for it. The Holy Grail Knight calmly said, "Trust is mutual and also requires joint efforts. The trust between us is obtained through fighting side by side and mutual trust, not through the charity of Aisles. I hope that we can put aside our prejudices and talk on equal terms. Otherwise, this fragile contract is destined to not last long."
The wood elves fell silent. As Laing was speaking in the elven language, the guards and humans who came to ask could not understand what their baron was saying.
Only Laing frowned. If the wood elves had such an arrogant attitude, then there was nothing to talk about between them.
I may need to trade with you, but I will never beg you like a grandson. Even if Laing backed down now, their future cooperation would definitely not last long.
Historically, long-term cooperation had always been based on relative equality and mutual benefit.
The wood elves also felt that the humans in front of them were different. Many humans had a natural fear and worship of elves, which allowed the elves to gain the upper hand when facing humans.
However, Laing was different. In his eyes, these pointy-eared elves were no different from normal humans. On the contrary, he believed that no matter what kind of elves it was, they were not good birds in nature.
Only humans were destined to rule the galaxy and be the lords of all things. His father thought so, and so did his son.
A flash of anger appeared on the face of Vieruodis, the Lord of the Forest. However, the wood elves then thought of the great prestige and strength of the human in front of them. She coughed twice and softened her tone. "We don't mean that, Sir Laing. I think you've misunderstood. We hope to establish an observatory and a trade point in your territory. We don't want to start a dispute with you."
"Then that's for the best. However, I still have to remind you that there are some rules that I can respect, but there are some rules that I can't change because of you. If we can reach a consensus on this point, then I think we can continue the discussion. What do Vieruodis and Aogros think?" Laing continued.
"Of course. Humans have their human laws, and elves have their elven laws." The wood elves agreed with this point. These elves who stayed in the forest all day and almost never went out were the ones who wanted other races to stay away from the forest. They naturally understood that the rules outside the forest were different.
Finally, after reaching an agreement on certain aspects, the wood elves were the first to state their demands. They wanted to carve out a small piece of land as their outpost outside the forest and send out a garrison to build their own observation station. Humans weren't allowed to enter the outpost unless they were invited. But in return, the wood elves would cooperate against any possible invasions and pay the rental fee for their own observation station.
At the same time, the wood elves would trade with humans. They needed ores, amber, wood, and food from the humans, which they desperately lacked.
In return, the wood elves would provide fine wine, exquisite gems, and rich handicrafts to trade with the humans.
The price offered by the wood elves was very fair, or even a little too fair. However, Laing understood that the wood elves were stubborn people. They didn't care about suffering a small loss. What they cared about was a stable and trustworthy trading partner. The wood elves hated deceiving and scheming with humans. They had a natural distrust of humans. When a human merchant spent 20 to 30 years to gain the trust of the wood elves, he might be old and gray-haired. However, compared to the wood elves' lifespan of at least 800 years, a human's lifespan was too short.
Therefore, the Holy Grail Knight, who had a relatively long lifespan and was trustworthy, became the wood elves' ideal choice.
Laing left the negotiation to his butler, Katzenberg. The wood elves' conditions were ideal. Both sides only needed to discuss some small details.
Laing and the demon hunter Eiber slipped out. Laing asked curiously, "So, Mister Eiber, are you going to prepare the alchemy materials now?"
"Yes, I'm not alone. I have a friend called Jules, who is also a demon hunter. He's waiting for me in the hotel." Eiber said that he wanted to go back to the hotel first. "I also need to confirm the appearance of some vampires."
"Okay, I have something to do as well." Laing thought that Olica was still waiting for him at home, so the baron didn't stay for long.
After bidding farewell to Laing, Eiber returned to the hotel alone.
It was a small two-story hotel. This kind of hotel was very common in the old world. It had a small courtyard, fences, wooden tables and chairs, and simple furnishings. It was the most common resting place for demon hunters during their travels.
"Eiber, you're back? How's the situation? " A young demon hunter was sitting in the lobby of the hotel. He was eating lunch with malt wine.
This Demon Hunter didn't seem to be in his thirties, but his body was also covered in scars. He also carried two long swords on his back. When he saw Eiber, he waved his hand and signaled to Eiber that he was here.
Eiber sat down and shouted to the owner of the hotel, "Sir, please give us a plate of horse sausages and a glass of malt wine!"
"Okay, demon hunter," the owner replied. He wasn't very enthusiastic, but he didn't show any obvious disgust either.
"How's it going?" The two demon hunters began to whisper.
"It's going well. I found Mister Laing. Fortunately, he still recognizes me." Eiber couldn't hide the joy on his face.
"Gosh, when you first met Mister Laing, he was only a child of five or six years old, right? What did he say? "Jules continued to ask.
"He agreed to help me ask, but he wants us to finish the task at hand first." Eiber lowered his head and said, "There's not much time left. Let's finish our meal and leave as soon as possible."
"Okay!" The two demon hunters continued to eat.
A few minutes later, a group of new customers suddenly came in. "Boss! Six people! Big table! I want the best Kislöw vodka and horse sausages! "
The newcomers were all burly men. Most of them were bald with thick beards. Their skin was slightly pale, and they wore breastplates and leather jackets. They also carried weapons on their backs.
"It's Mrs. Kiesler!"
"Why are they here?"
There were whispers in the hotel. The two demon hunters found the situation strange, so they whispered, "Strange, why is Madame Keesler in Brittania?"
"I don't know. Maybe Mrs. Kiesler is here for a vacation? Don't worry about them. Let's do our job, "the two demon hunters said.
Kislöw was located in the northern part of the Old World, in the Taqir Desert, east of the Nords Kingdom. It was a semi-vassal state of the Empire.
About a thousand years ago, these nomads from the other side of the Roof of the World came to the Old World to settle down. They were located in the northeastern part of the Empire, just south of the Chaotic Wasteland. It was also the northernmost civilised state of the Old World. The current ruler of Kislöw was Katarina, known as the Ice Queen.
It was also a very interesting country.
The Taqir Desert was a land of bitter cold in the truest sense of the word. It was cold all year round. Under the dual oppression of alchemy pollution and severe cold, almost nothing could be grown there. Food was basically dependent on trade and hunting. There were only three cities in the country that covered a large area.
This also made the Empire have no intention of conquering them. On the contrary, this country was the first to suffer every time the Chaos invaded. They would play the role of an outpost, so the Empire had always tolerated their existence.
In the great Holy War, facing the second Chaos Eternal God's anointed Isaac Kuval, Kislöw was, of course, the first to suffer. Its land fell, its cities were destroyed, and the so-called King of Kislöw (who called himself Tsar, but no one admitted it) led his people to fight and flee all the way south, bringing news of the Chaos invasion.
After the great Holy War, Kislöw was rebuilt. King Bokhar, who realized that he was not strong enough, made a shocking decision. He spent a huge amount of money to rebuild the kingdom's army. He also used a shocking price to import cannons and muskets from the Empire and the dwarves. The famous' Winged Cavalry 'was also built at that time. It almost bankrupted the entire kingdom.
What was even more hilarious was that after the Winged Cavalry was built, the Kingdom of Kislöw, which started the construction of the Winged Cavalry, did not have the ability to support such an expensive cavalry. So, the Winged Cavalry had been running around as mercenaries, earning their own maintenance fees. Only when the kingdom was in the most difficult times, the Winged Cavalry would return to Kislöw to defend the kingdom.
Currently, the Winged Cavalry was under the command of Emperor Karl-franz of the Empire as mercenaries.
"Come! Shopkeeper! Wine! " A few burly men were venting their dissatisfaction. "Damn the Empire people, trying to lower the price. We can't even sell the bearskins! But the Brittany idiots are even more annoying. They actually told us that we don't need the bearskins! "
After saying that, these burly men began to drink with a bellyful of complaints. One cup after another, one bucket after another.
"Let's hurry up and finish eating. These days, Mrs. Kiesler likes to get drunk and then start causing trouble." The two demon hunters were experienced in this kind of thing. They quickly finished the rest of the bread in a few mouthfuls and finished the ale in one gulp. They wanted to leave.
But it was too late.
A few burly men were already red in the face from drinking. When they saw the two Demon Hunters standing up, one of the burly men immediately slammed his hand on the table. "Brothers … Burp … There are two Demon Hunters here!"
"Ha! Bastards of the Empire! "
"They … want to fight us one-on-one!"
"Then kill them! Kill them! "
Eber frowned and said, "Gentlemen, we didn't provoke you. We didn't mean to start a fight …"
"What the f * ck?! We were … Burp … We were talking about the business that lost us a few days ago, and you guys stood up. If this isn't provoking us … then what is? " One of the burly men was so drunk that his face was red. Even his nose was red. He subconsciously pulled out the machete at his waist.
The other four or five men also took out their battle axes and machetes. They surrounded Eber and Jules. "Let's show these bastards our power!"
"Kill them!"
Eber and Jules pulled out the steel swords on their backs.
"There's no other way."
"Do it!"
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