I Reincarnated But Will Try To Live Without Using My Cheat Ability - CH 267

I don’t think he plans to upset the main agreement.

But I can’t quite figure out what he’s thinking.

Either way, I guess we just have to keep talking.

There is no point in being hasty.

“Even though Mr. Oliver could see things so calmly, you still couldn’t stop Mr. Valentin, huh.”

Oliver laughed without uttering a sound.

“I am ashamed to admit, that the more bluster, the more pleasant it is to the ear. Niklaus was not keen on it either, but he could no longer hold back his younger colleagues from pushing him forward. The entire tribe’s dissatisfaction with Dorius was on the verge of exploding. After Mehtilde’s incident, he was accused of being weak-kneed. In addition… Valentin was in love with Mehtilde, so he was inciting everyone around him with a passion.”

Oh, you’ve been antagonizing me with your role models.

But there is no room for sympathy when you involve others in your personal affairs.

“Indeed, when passions get out of control, you can’t stop it. I hope this will bring him back to his senses, though.”

Oliver looked at me with interest.

“I see that Lord Alfred is very calm. I must confess I am surprised.”

I chuckled.

“It would be disqualifying for a top executive to lose his cool. Also, I’m not calm, I’m just timid. I’m just afraid of failure as a result of my shortsightedness.”

“I don’t see much point in categorizing people as timid. It’s just a matter of results. If you succeed even if you are reckless, you are said to be brave. If you are timid, but lead them to success, you are called cautious.”

“You are right. But even my wife sometimes gets angry with me for looking too far backward.”

Mil was surprised because the ball suddenly flew to her.

“I, I’m not angry. I’m just saying that you not to take on too much on your own…”

Oliver laughed again without uttering a sound.

“You’re really lovey-dovey…It’s enviable for us old people. Thanks to it, I understand Lord Alfred’s personality a little better now.”

I knew you wanted to know my personality.

“I thought you understood my character based on my past accomplishments.”

“The Lord will set the policy for the territory. Lord Alfred is especially incredibly careful in his governance. You can continue to be that careful… many powerful people would get bored or burnt out.”

There are many cases of first a great ruler and then a tyrant.

He has been polite up to now, but here you are being so direct that it could be considered impolite.

Is this the point you want to impress?

“You are right. So, how did you see me?”

Oliver looked at me with interest.

“You don’t look like you’re pushing yourself too hard. You don’t look like you’re trying too enthusiastic. I think you’re doing what you do naturally and carefully, which is rare. Furthermore, you are trying to reduce your burden by delegating your authority.”

That’s a great compliment.

“I wonder if that is so. You’re correct that I’m trying to reduce my workload, after all.”

“I wanted to know how much of that will you have to sustain, Lord Alfred. When you lose the will to sustain, you tend to go for easy solutions. And the more effort you put into it, the quicker your will breaks.”

He is strangely concerned about the future.

The future after Oliver’s death…is that the point?

“What are you curious about the future?”

“Lord Alfred, is your purpose to pacify the land? If we can coexist through discussion, is that considered good enough for you?”

“”

I can’t read his intention at this point.

Is it a deliberate roundabout way of trying to be more persuasive?

“Of course, if we can coexist through discussion, there is nothing better than that. If they are willing to do so… that is.”

Oliver looked at me and chuckled.

“I, for one, do not want to fight with you, Lord Alfred. There is no chance of winning. Even if our intentions are aligned through coexistence, it will be meaningless if we cannot sustain it.”

Even if you try to avoid problems so nervously, you will not be able to control the future.

We don’t know how things will change in the future.

You seem to have some serious concerns.

“That’s true, but the harder you try to control it, the more sand will spill from your hands.”

“I understand that… I do. Let me change the subject a little and explain.”

Then Oliver sipped his tea.

I waited patiently for his next words.

“Lord Alfred, do we demons live deep in this region? Why do you think we continue to stay so close to the monsters’ source?”

I had wondered about that.

It is certainly effective to exterminate them before they multiply.

But I couldn’t help but wonder why the demons were the only ones responsible for this.

“I can only assume that there is a reason.”

“We have a tradition. We made a pact with a certain being. As long as we continue to exterminate monsters and maintain peace in the vicinity of our home, he will protect it in the event of an attack on our stronghold.”

Suddenly it’s a story full of fantasy.

I’ve been doing so much politics that I’ve forgotten all about it…

“A certain being? Is it the Lord of the Mountain?”

Oliver gave a small laugh.

“Something similar… but a dragon.”

Hey, hey, hey…here comes the outrageous story.

However, I have no grounds to deny it.

In a reincarnation story, dragons are treated as weak, an underdog.

They are strong and powerful, and people around them are afraid of them, but the moment they appear, they are exterminated.

They are treated as a kind of flag.

It was as if we were watching the second coming of Barth, and when it opened, it was no good, it was as if we were watching a helper.

Let’s forget that groove.

In here, unless it’s an apostle, it should be hard to beat.

“I heard that the dragons have been hunted down by the apostles and are nowhere to be seen.”

“I have been told that. No one in this generation has seen them. But we have remained in that place to protect it.”

“If there were such a powerful being, I’m sure the elves would sense its presence.”

“The mountains where the dragons are said to be are mountains with no vegetation. It is beyond the detection of the elves.”

Something strange suddenly appeared on the board…

Should we assume that something is there even if it is not a dragon?

“With such a powerful entity in the background, were you treated unequally by Dorius?”

“It would only do so if we were attacked on our stronghold. Basically, it is said that they do not take part in people’s conflicts.”

So you don’t want your presence to be known too much… but monsters are in the way.

“Let’s assume there are dragons. What does that have to do with future conflicts?”

“Some began to say, ‘Let’s just drag them into our stronghold and let the dragons annihilate the enemies’. But such an act of betrayal of the pact is absolutely doomed.”

Indeed.

A painful rebuke is usually waiting to happen for such shallow wisdom.

“If we are provoked into attacking the stronghold of the demon tribe, both sides may be doomed. So you say.”

Oliver nodded quietly.

“That’s right. If Lord Alfred and I have a non-war intention, we can avoid that situation. I will do everything in my power to prevent any reckless actions. Therefore, I ask Lord Alfred…”

“You want us to show no openings so that they won’t easily provoke us…”

“Yes. I think it is dangerous when an entity that is not usually visible shows itself.”

I agree with that guess.

Does it simply not want to stand out and be targeted by the apostles?

When apostles see something that looks strong, like a dragon, they innocently want to defeat it, after all…

Dragons may sanction the demon tribe after they annihilate us.

“I understand. There is no reason to ignore the lore. I also understand that we both need time.”

“Yes, so I would like to ask for your consideration, Lord Alfred, in concluding an armistice agreement that includes the return of prisoners of war.”

So it came to that.

He said that in order to suppress the demon tribe, he would have to achieve results or he would have less say in the matter.

He wants me to bring him something.

He’s quite a shrewd old man.

“Then… I will lower the price to 10 gold coins per captive. But if we lower it too much, it will undermine the original intention.”

Since they are an ordinary soldier, we can’t ransom prisoners of war for much money.

It’s a remote area, so they have that much money.

After preliminary negotiations, we decided to settle on 10 gold coins per person, for a total of 2,000.

Kiara asked me if this was a good deal, but it was a very difficult amount of money for the other side’s pocketbook.

A person’s life in the frontier is cheap…

Even if we wanted to receive the territory of the demon tribe, there is no advantage because it is a bottleneck.

Magic items can be made on our own.

Even if there is a super-rare item, we can’t get it unless we take the chief’s relatives as prisoners of war.

The only prisoners of war are ordinary soldiers.

In other words, there is only money.

If they think we are weak-minded about the amount of money, the main warring factions will make a fuss.

Oliver leaned forward.

“”

“How about three gold coins?”

That’s too low.

“Nine gold coins.”

“No, I’ll go with four… and I’ll give you some monster material as an extra.”

What are you, an Arab merchant!?

Mil looked at me and Oliver with a look of disgust as we suddenly started negotiating the price.