The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 399: The Art of Bargaining is always asked for exaggerated things at the start

Chapter 399: The Art of Bargaining is always asked for exaggerated things at the start

Their eyes were now on Alveitya, who was vibrating proudly beside me. Even the chirping little bird who adorably flew around it did not lessen the charisma it was trying to show.

The first one to make a voice was Zarfa, who stood up while grabbing her chest and gasped. "Is...is that...Alveitya?"

"Yes," I nodded, trying hard to control and prevent myself from gushing out about it to Zarfa.

She must have been curious, as the one who had been writing about it--even if it turned out to be a revelation and not purely coming from her imagination.

But I couldn’t let myself falter here.

The second person to speak was the Hero; "But...that’s..."

"Different?" I smiled, and Alveitya buzzed again as if scoffing. "What you had seen before was the ’spear’ in its dormant state. But Alveitya wasn’t just a spear, it’s a--"

"Scepter..." Tsalinade finished my sentence in a daze. "The Royal Scepter..."

"What?!"

I looked at Zarfa. "You didn’t know, huh?"

"I didn’t even know you--I mean, I didn’t know that Young Master is a Sil Seahl," she covered her mouth and smiled as if she had just made a silly little mistake.

I almost rolled my eyes, so I grabbed Alveitya and forced myself to get back on the business.

"Ah, well--anyway, now you know why Alveitya came to me," I said, and the Hero as well as Ian nodded in a daze. "And that should give you a picture of what I expect from you."

Aina and Ian were only lounging in a daze at the conversation, but the others were straightening their back at my words.

"If you want to use this as a negotiation, then I’m not going to accept what you can get from auctions or black markets. Many of them, I know, are sitting around uselessly in some palace or aristocratic house."

Alveitya let out a crisp, metallic sound. It was clear to anyone that the Spear was angry. After all, Alveitya had experienced years of being shipped around, to only be sealed for decades in some treasury of people who didn’t even know how to use it.

And many of these ’treasures’, which were filled with Mother’s blessing or made of the Great Tree, had to endure it still. They were waiting for someone to take them, to awaken them, to use them as they should.

I swept my gaze across their eyes one by one, as I spoke my next decree. "I don’t care whether you buy it, steal it, beg for it; everything--and I mean everything--must be retrieved."

* * *

[Master don’t eat candy?] Jade asked me curiously when I gave my little bird the midday snack.

"Maybe later," I patted the green head, and felt a flick of tail on my shoulder. "I’m fine. I’m feeling great, actually."

"If you say so," Ignis nodded before lowering its head to lie on my shoulder again.

I didn’t lie, though. Things had been great. I had thought I would have to make an elaborate play before, but the magician isolating me was actually working great. I could unleash all of my rage unperturbed, and through the sheer leftover of emotions, it became easy for me to demand something outrageous.

Certainly, I wouldn’t think they could drive an entire population of principality out of the land of the former kingdom of Druid.

But as Eruha told me, I needed to start big in negotiation, because it rarely ended with the initial bid being granted. Since I gave them such a ridiculous, almost impossible demand at the start, everything else would be much much more viable. Cheaper, so to speak.

I even told them taking something that had been stolen before wasn’t stealing, but recovering. You know, to ease the burden on some righteous hearts.

Of course, to make this work, I need to be convincing. Usually, it would be better to stay calm and unfazed, but in this case, I used anger and sorrow to make it believable, to make them see I had the right to my claim and that my demand was reasonable considering their interest.

Well, the anger and sorrow I felt was not a lie anyway.

And right now, Zarga was leading the discussion among them, stirring them into an agreement. Tsalinade wouldn’t even look at these people as her equal before, but since she was the one most in peril right now, she was ready to agree with anything other than my initial demand.

Me? I was enjoying the view with my companions and hovering spear.

"Technically, that vegetable garden is Grandma’s, isn’t it?" I tilted my head. Well, I mean, the whole island was; but the one who cultivated the garden in the first place was her.

Should I find it spiteful that she kept the garden despite the thing she had done?

Wait...if it came down to it, this tower was also...

"Shouldn’t you start by returning this island to me?" I said without turning back. I knew she was listening; she had been keeping her attention on me, probably so that she wouldn’t miss anything if I was about to do something.

"T-that’s..." as expected, she replied. "Well...you’re right. I...I’m going to put it in the contract."

I smiled against my cup. "Make sure you do. Ah, don’t worry, I’m not going to tell you to vacate the place, so you can still come back here from time to time."

"...from time to time?"

I turned around and frowned. "What? Aren’t you going to collect my inheritance? Are you going to do it while sitting here and let the others do the work?"

She lowered her head instantly. "Y-yes, you’re right..."

"I’m going to send some golems to take care of the tower and the garden, so don’t fuss about it."

Naturally, if it was mine, I would take care of it. Well, I would ask Natha to take care of it. I didn’t want this magician to run off to some random kingdom seeking asylum though, so a little bit of carrot was needed amidst all the sticks I had for her.

"Yes...Young Master..."

With a gleam in her eyes, Zarfa immediately jotted down a new clause in the contract they were drafting to be presented to me. She really looked like she was having fun, even though she also had to bear the brunt of the money in this retrieval endeavor.

Not long after, just before I emptied the teacup in my hand, she told me that they were done with drafting the contract between us three. And by us three, I meant me, the magician, and Fatia’s country. I didn’t care who was in the last group--whether it was the Hero or any other people, because they only acted as a support. The main retriever, naturally, should be the sinner.

As a guide, I provided them with the list of the druid’s lost treasury that I got from the tribes. I had crossed the ones Natha got for me, and the ones known to be destroyed already. Natha also gave additional information about who had what items, although half of the list was still obscure.

Well; couldn’t make it too easy for her, could I?

To put it simply, the contract stated that I would give Tsalinade enough drops of Amrita for her to be able to use her power. Of course, that power should be used solely to retrieve the relics and treasures of the druids. Should she use it for any other means, the curse--which hex system I found out from D’Ara--would get even stronger, to the point that it might even shatter her core and reduce her to a mere human with no magic power.

Eh. At least she wouldn’t die.

With Fatia, I would purify the corrupted land, and in turn, she would provide financial and labor support in the retrieval of my inheritance, including surrendering some that were held in her own country. It would be up to her whether she wanted to employ the Hero or Zarfa, but since she was the one who wanted the land to be purified, she would be the representative in the contract.

Pretty nice, I think?

Honestly, the payment from the humans didn’t matter much to me. But Lesta told me that I should never go into a habit of doing things for free; especially when it involved fixing things. Fixing other’s mistakes, to be more precise.

And the corrupted mana was a result of the war between humans--in other words, their screwup. Thus, they should take responsibility for it by paying me to purify it.

Uh-huh. I had no plan to play Hero.

The contract was done on an enchanted paper, and signed by me, Tsalinade, and Fatia. Naturally, we made three copies of it, and I went to the window with my scroll of contract.

"You there?"

A hooded figure emerged, perching on the window. They used the cloak and outfit that Heraz usually wore, but I knew it wasn’t him--since I sent him to a different mission already.

Tsalinade flinched and widened her eyes amidst the surprised gasp from the other humans.

"Oh Goddess, that surprised me..." Zarfa patted her chest.

Tsalina stared at the shadow guard dazedly and stuttered. "How...how could..."

Ignoring them, I gave the hooded figure my copy of the contract. "Straight to His Lordship’s hand," I ordered. "If he’s not available, then either Eruha or Lesta."

They took the scroll with a gloved hand and bowed their head. "By your command," they said, before vanishing in the shadow.

"...it still unsettling after the second time," Ian muttered.

Well, I couldn’t blame them. It took quite some time for me to get used to Heraz suddenly appearing on my balcony with no warning.

I turned around and clapped my hands. "Now, let’s talk about the teleportation scroll."