Chapter 122: Surprisingly Skilled Negotiations

- Arachne Hidden Village, Riyuegu Xiamen Holy Manor - Rose's POV -

After seeing off Grampa Mors' aspect we finally got down to business, literally. Following Undine to a separate room with many piles of paperwork stacked high I was a bit surprised to see Zhizhu waiting for us instead of her grandmother. Unfortunately, she didn't understand the pointed questioning look I gave her and carried on with helping Undine with the trade negotiations as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Truth be told though I was a bit happy that it was her attending these talks rather than the cause of all the unpleasantness of yesterday.

[Now that introductions are over let's get started. So first things first let's get the most important article out of the way before anything else.] - Rose

[And what would that be exactly Lady Rose?] - Zhizhu

[Rose is fine, or Rose de la Amchier if you must.] - Rose

[...!] - Annabelle

[D-Don't be ridiculous, w-we would never be that familiar with anyone so close to Lord Love and your Grandfather, Dragon Lord Mortem Restisis.] - Undine

[Haaaaah, fine whatever. Anyway the first and most important thing I must ask is how large is your military in total and how much of it can you mobilize at a given time without putting your own cities in danger?] - Rose

Confirming once more that all parties that WERE going to participate were present, I decided to start off with the most important article, military might. I'd made sure to bring everyone that wanted to participate as well as keeping both Annabelle and Argent present as both protection and a source of confirming information on the state of things and exactly what we might need in the future. The glare that Annabelle sent the two though made me regret bringing her a bit as she made sure to enforce who exactly was in a superior position here. A good tool in bargaining but one that I didn't particularly enjoy using in my past experiences. Using force to get what you want was usually only useful in the short-term and would foster resentment and eventual double-crossing if the terms were extreme enough. Well whatever I'd just have to be sure to make it a fair deal so that didn't happen.

[Military, is it? Devotee Zhizhu, how goes your studying of the documents I gave you last night? They should have those numbers.] - Undine

[Yes, your Divine wisdom has guided your servant.] - Zhizhu

[And?] - Undine

[A-Ah! Right, we currently have... Ah, here it is! Yes, we have forces numbering in range of 4,000 to 6,000 depending on the time of year and whether it is harvest season!] - Zhizhu

[Hmm... with that many... let's say at most 50% of those need to be left behind to protect our cities adequately enough. We could most likely do with less than that but as a rough estimate that seems a fair amount.] - Undine

Donning a pensive face, Undine turned to her assistant in our negotiations asking if she had gone over some of the documents that were currently strewn around the room. I then got an answer to my earlier question as to why there were so many piles of paperwork everywhere as I watched the naive spider work her way through a pile in the corner before pulling out one in particular. The mess she left behind hurt my office worker brain.

[So, 2,000 to 3,000? Annabelle?] - Rose

[That seems a fair amount. A bit small for an Empire but considering their circumstances and difficulty of their environment it's an accurate number.] - Annabelle

[But 2,000? Honorable Father can produce that much by himself? Why so few?] - Argent

The amount was... small? Only vaguely familiar with military matters of my previous world I'd only really seen the most recent wars in news and such as well as history channel documentaries on WW2 and the Cold War. But one thing in particular always stuck out at me about those memories. The sheer amount of people that died and/or participated. I mean I don't remember the exact number, but I was sure the US military was significantly higher than a million soldiers. And even smaller countries had armies in excess of 100,000 or more. The thought that only a few thousand was only a "bit small" was a foreign concept to me, even moreso than military matters in general. Annabelle's confirmation though cemented in my mind that the number, while small, wasn't abnormal.

[Unfortunately, life in these mountains is difficult such that anyone that does not follow the Way of Battle is almost entirely unable to leave the settlement they are born into without a large military escort. As a result, only the most skilled end up in military service. I assure you however that each one is worth a dozen conscripts.] - Undine

[I-Is that how it is?] - Argent

[Annabelle?] - Rose

[She is most likely telling the truth; these caves hide some of the most powerful monsters on the continent and any soldier able to stay alive in such an environment would be considered quite powerful on the surface. If I were to guess, I'd estimate they'd average at least in the A or B-rank adventurer range.] - Annabelle

[A-rank?!? W-Woah?!?] - Argent

[Humu humu! Aren't we the best?!? Well, aren't we?!?] - Zhizhu 1Smug Boobie Spooder Noises

Ah, I didn't consider that. Unlike my old world where any person can pick up a gun and get trained to be a soldier in this one it does require at least a minimum physical ability as well as skill. Where you can be much more lenient with accuracy of guns the same is not the case with swords, bows and spears. On top of that is the inherent danger of actually existing in this world. With monsters and demons roaming around it'd be much harder to survive long enough to gain the minimum amount of skill you'd need to be anything other than a burden on the battlefield. Given that it's extremely likely that most citizens opt to not risk their lives and instead hide within the small pockets of safety that cities give them. The little(big) smug spooder made the whole thing adorable though.

[Y-Yeah.] - Rose

[Haaaah... Devotee Zhizhu you'll have to work on that attitude of yours if you wish to fill the Head Priestess position in the future.] - Undine

[I-I apologize for my rudeness Honorable Guardian!] - Zhizhu

[Moving on, your... maid is correct Lady Rose. I know not the ranking system of these Adventurer's, but I assure you that my ward's forces are quite impressive.] - Undine

The pause as she assessed Annabelle told me that she didn't view my personal maid as anything less than a powerful warrior. The way that she froze on the word "maid" told me that she thought the whole idea ridiculous. And honestly, I'd have agreed considering how powerful Annabelle was except she was also impeccable with housework as well as any other tasks required of her. A perfect combat maid as it were.

[Well, that should help quite a lot then, would you be able to make them available when asked or will a certain amount of time be required to prepare?] - Rose

[Hmmm, given the distances involved and the difficulty of travelling we'd need at least a few months to prepare for any large troop movement. Why? Are you planning to invade anywhere soon? I'll tell you right now but even with our agreement I'll not send those under my protection to die in some futile war of aggression.] - Undine

The glare Undine sent caused my breath to hitch in my throat as the implicit threat she made was infused with mana to back it up. If this were done to me a day ago, I might have collapsed right then and there but since absorbing her Spark I'd either gotten more powerful or her less so or both. Regardless of the reason I was able to shake off the pressure exuded from her within moments as I smiled reassuringly.

[Not to worry, I mean to only defend my lands and persons rather than to fight for any outside territory. You see we have good reason to believe that my lands, and that of our allies, will be unjustly attacked by the Church of Light within the next 3 or so years.] - Rose

[Hmm? Church of Light? Is that related to the Light Gods? Do you know which one?] - Undine

[I do no-] - Rose

[The Church of Light worships the God that rules over all the light, the Unnamed God. He who is supreme. S-Sorry for interrupting.] - Argent

[No that's fine but Unnamed? You mean you don't know his name?] - Rose

[No, it's more like he doesn't have one, he's just God, you know?] - Argent

[Okaaaaay, Undine?] - Rose

[Hmmm, unfortunately I don't know of any God that refuses to name itself to its followers. Either it's a new God that came into being after I isolated myself or... it's a fake.] - Undine

[...!] - Argent

[Argent are you okay?] - Rose

[I-I'm fine, just have an existential crisis here, I'll g-get over it.] - Argent

Interrupting our back and forth the newly revealed believer in the faith the Church of Light follows actually explained about the God behind said faith. But Unnamed? Really? Perhaps it's similar to Monotheism back on Earth in that their God is literally the original one? Or at least claiming to be anyway. Unfortunately, Undine had another possibility in mind. He wasn't real.

[But hmm... A holy war? So, do they know of your identity? If so, then their hostility makes more sense. The Church I know from over 3,000 years ago followed a completely different God, Malphas if I remember correctly. Wonder what happened to his followers...] - Undine

[I'm fairly certain they at least suspect my identity; I've already been attacked twice by agents of the Church. The most recent one being a Summoned Hero.] - Rose

[Hero Summoning?!? They dare do such an inhumane thing?!?] - Undine

[I-I'm sorry?] - Rose

[Ah! I apologize for my outburst, the act of forcing a person from another world to participate in a conflict that has no meaning to them has long been considered a criminal offense within the God's teachings. Whomever this new Unnamed God is he is stepping far outside of what's acceptable.] - Undine

[So...?] - Rose

[I accept, we'll discuss the details with your family's negotiator and determine joint training regimens between our two forces so they can work together flawlessly over the remaining time. Now I'm sure you have other things you wish for as our trading partner than just military might?] - Undine

[You're right, first would be-] - Rose

- Crossroads, Merchant Lord Aste's Sector - Queen Laura's POV -

[So, you are trying to say that your niece Lady Rose de la Amchier had nothing to do with the incident that occurred in the Abelis territory?!? Ridiculous!] - Human Delegate

[Are you trying to blame our country for the vicious attack by the Church of Light against our ally?!? You dare?] - Queen Laura

[I am blaming you for trying to hide the tru-] - Same Delegate

[Silence! The ones harmed in this vicious attack were my own country and that of our neighbor Anguis. Are you, an uninvolved party, truly attempting to decide the truth of a conflict you had no part in?!?] - King Nero

[No of course not, I only meant to-] - Same Delegate

[Humu so this Rose character. She's the Demon Lord right?] - King Leo

[You dare?!? You know that the Church claims such revelations periodically with the purpose of Casus Belli! Are you seriously sugge-] - Queen Laura

[My harem has informed me of all of that, I am already aware of her ability to cast spells without chanting. A gift associated with Summoned Heroes and, if the stories are to be believed, the Demon Lord. Are you saying that despite that she is truly NOT the next Demon Lord?] - King Leo

[I am aware of your spies yes and my beloved niece is most certainly uniquely gifted with magic in that she is able to use SOME spells without using a chant. I could call your attention to multiple historical instances of powerful magic users that were seemingly able to use magic without a chant, are you saying that they were Demon Lords as well?] - Queen Laura

[Humu humu, a good argument, but most accounts question such claims. I'll leave it at that for now though.] - King Leo

[<Tch!>With that out of the way I'd like to call on the Gnomist Council Representative to present a call for combat readiness from all parties in this Alliance. We will be jointly proposing the bill for debate.] - Queen Laura

[Fine, let's get this over with! We're not done discussing the previous issue!] - Same Delegate