Chapter 77 – Negotiations Part 1

Translator: SFBaka

Editor: Thor’s Stone

The next morning, I felt a bit restless, so I took a bath to calm my nerves and kill time. I then put on my military uniform and headed for the training grounds with more than enough time to spare before the baron’s visit.

All of the Clan members were already gathered on the training grounds. They were all fully equipped even though this wasn’t a training day. Were they planning on meeting the guests along with me?

“What’s up, everyone? I think it would be fine even if I met up with the baron on my own though?”

“That won’t do. You absolutely cannot be looked down upon by a mere baron. We are going to show him the difference in your bearing.”

Adjutant Dalshim was really fired up for some reason. Well, I guess I’ll just let them do what they want.

Five minutes before the appointment, each team lined up on opposite sides of the training grounds in order to ‘welcome’ our guests.

The town bell rang, notifying everyone in the city that it was already ten o’clock. A short while later, the figures of three men gradually approached our Home’s main gate. Two of them were the attendants I met yesterday, so the middle-aged man between them should be Baron Volker Herring.

He seemed to be in his forties, and though he did look the part of your typical noble, he didn’t have an aristocratic aura at all and resembled an adventurer more than anything else. The members of my Clan all look more like nobles than this guy.

I thought he’d arrive via carriage, so I was caught by surprise a bit.

There was a loud noise behind me. I glanced over and saw that everyone was kneeling uniformly.

Although I reacted a bit late, I also followed after them and knelt down.

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Lordship. My name is Alan.”

“Ooh……… Oh! What a grand welcome this is. I am truly grateful. I am Volker Herring. Alan-dono, there is no need to kneel in front of someone like me. Please, stand up.”

I did as he said while thinking things were a bit different than what I first expected.

“Thank you for gracing us with your visit today, Your Lordship.”

“It was I who insisted on visiting today in the first place, so there’s no need to mind me so much. Please be at ease. But how about the men behind you?”

“These are the members of my Clan, Shining Star.”

“Oh! So these men are them! I can see why you’ve been able to make your reputation resound throughout the land with men such as these.”

“If it’s alright with you, Your Lordship, might I invite you inside for some tea?”

“Thank you, my good man. Please lead the way.”

We decided to have the meeting inside my office. We couldn’t possibly conduct it inside the dining hall, and there were no other suitable rooms for receiving guests.

When we arrived in front of the door to my office, I called the attention of the baron.

“If it’s alright with you, I’d like to have some others attend the meeting as well…… They are the members of our main parties.”

“I see. Of course, I do not mind. Go ahead and have them attend as well.”

We all decided on this bit beforehand. And so, my four party members and Adjutant Dalshim entered the office with us.

Only the baron and I took our respective seats. Our respective men didn’t sit and stood behind each of us instead.

Elna, who was very familiar with noble etiquette, made some tea for us.

“First of all, I must offer my congratulations to you for subjugating a dragon, Alan-dono. The imperial capital seethed in excitement after receiving word of a dragon subjugated by adventurers of our kingdom.”

“Thank you very much. Luck simply smiled upon us this time around.”

“Even His Majesty, King Amad Bertie was deeply moved by the news and even said he would like to welcome Alan-dono to the ranks of our fair kingdom’s nobility!”

“A noble of this kingdom huh…”

It would be bad if I showed my eagerness this early, so I proceeded to downplay the atmosphere a bit instead.

“A-Are you not interested in becoming a noble of our kingdom, Alan-dono?”

It looks like he’s starting to panic a bit.

“Let’s see…… I can’t say I’m not the least bit interested, to be honest. Yes, I think I do have an interest in that prospect.”

“Oh! That’s wonderful! Now, about the particulars. The king wants to grant you the title of baron, but some of the more inconsiderate nobles in our ranks have said that you have not made enough contributions to the kingdom to warrant being bestowed such a title. And that’s why the king is troubled about what to do right now.”

What? So that’s how they want to play this game huh. It looks like they want to begin negotiations regarding the dragon materials straight away. Well, it’s nice that the talks are proceeding quickly, I guess.

Basically, no one would have had the courage to oppose a decision made by the king, so the negotiations this time was most likely an idea by the king himself.

“I see…… That’s a problem, isn’t it? What should we do then?”

“Some people have proposed that offering the dragon’s magic stone as a tribute would count as enough contribution to the kingdom.”

“The dragon’s magic stone!? I see…… That’s unfortunate then.”

“No, please wait! Only a small number of people are suggesting it, and of course, most of us are in opposition.”

This guy sure is easy to read. He doesn’t seem to be cut out for negotiations at all.

“Oh, that’s good then. The moment I heard you wanted the magic stone, though unfortunate, I thought I had no choice but to refuse.”

The dragon’s magic stone was an item that’s practically priceless. It’s countless times more valuable than your usual national treasures, so I didn’t plan to put it on auction in the first place.

“I understand. That is but natural. …………Alan-dono, what I’m going to say next will be related to our kingdom’s most closely guarded secrets, so would it be fine if you cleared the room first?”

“Of course.”

I nodded at everyone who was standing behind me, and they left the room together with the baron’s attendants. A period of strained silence followed.

“……Alan-dono, as you can see, I am truly not one suited for negotiations such as this.”

So it’s not related to classified info at all huh. But his way of speech no longer resembled that of your typical noble. It sounded more relaxed.

“……So why go through all the trouble of sending your attendants to arrange an urgent meeting?”

“Since the preparation period before the start of the auction was quite short, they sent whoever was available immediately. However, this matter has garnered utmost attention from the citizens, and if, by any chance, the offer of the peerage was refused, the one who’s going to shoulder the blame would most probably be the envoy. Hence, no one wanted to burden themselves with such a responsibility. This job was basically pressed upon me, and I had no choice but to take it.”

He’s being brutally blunt now, isn’t he? But I like this guy’s honesty.

“That’s…… quite unfortunate.”

“If I fail in this negotiation, my house will probably be finished.”

“Do things like that really happen?”

“More often than you’d think. My house is one of those that are easily tossed aside. Alan-dono, please! Can you just tell me what your bottom line is?”

“……Understood. It would be cold of me to ignore the fact that your noble house might fall to ruin after all.”

“Oh! Alan-dono, thank you! Truly, thank you!”

“So, what exactly is the proposal of those nobles opposed to me being given peerage?”

“In case their proposal regarding the magic stone fails, I was given several more alternative plans.”

Baron Herring then began taking notes and maps out of his breast pocket and spread them out on top of the table.

“This is the first alternative proposal. This plan was the one that garnered the most approval. This area marked on the map is a part of the Khazar region. It has not been properly cultivated at all, but there is a wide river flowing from north to south, and the land around it is quite fertile. For this land, you can offer us the dragon’s skull and both its fangs.”

This negotiation suddenly turned similar to real estate consultation. I get that he’s desperate, but wasn’t he being a little too honest?

“This is the second proposal. This land is part of the Seth region. The river here is comparatively narrower, but it boasts the widest land area. There are several other good points as well, I think. For this land, you can offer both dragon fangs and its eyeballs.”

He basically just confessed the land didn’t have much going for it apart from how large it was. Is that really okay?

“This is the third proposal. This territory is part of the Rust region. This particular territory is the narrowest of the three, but it is closest to the capital and the kingdom’s main road. If you can come up with a local specialty of some sort, it should not be a bad choice at all. You can offer both dragon fangs for this land.”

Uh, any territory would benefit if you come up with a popular local specialty though. In this land’s case, if we don’t come up with one, it would be all over huh.

None of the offers were particularly attractive. It looks like what Silas-san said about the kingdom not having any decent land left was true.