I Reincarnated But Will Try To Live Without Using My Cheat Ability - CH 268

The bargaining battle was over.

In the end, we settled on six gold coins per head.

I felt very defeated.

Then, Mil’s eyes turned from astonished to stern.

No, this old man… he’s definitely enjoying it.

I believed him when he said he would give me important information instead.

He wouldn’t do anything foolish at this stage of the game.

“What is this information?”

Oliver chuckled quietly.

“The real reason we are trying to expand our territory.”

“Do you have another purpose?”

“Yes. Until now, it has been forgotten. But Valentin, incited by Suzana, brought up the subject. As a result, there was a lot of talk that we should get the land.”

He really kept doing nothing but unnecessary things… I guess I’m going to have to take care of this, huh?

“Is there something special about the land?”

“That’s right. The second city that Lord Alfred built is near the place where the founder of our tribe died. It can be said that it is a sacred place for our tribe.”

Give me a break, such an unreasonable story is a minefield.

“I didn’t build the city knowingly, though.”

“At first I suspected that Lord Alfred had targeted it, but I soon realized that you had no intention of doing so. The story goes back to the time when our ancestors were wandering around in search of a safe haven. The founder had checked out the location and thought it was a good place. Then he got into a fight with a monster, and the founder lost his life.”

“You were wandering, so you abandoned the place in desperation to find a safe place to settle down.”

Oliver nodded quietly.

“Yes. At one time they tried to build a city there and even fought with the ancestors of Dorius. They were defeated in a battle near the Mountain of Death and gave up. Since then, we have continued our relationship under conditions that could be described as unequal.”

“Ah, is that also why Mr. Valentin took up a position on Death Mountain?”

Oliver nodded and then sighed.

“He must have thought it was a strange idea. If he had succeeded, his fame would have reached the top.”

“So there is the possibility of targeting sacred places. If it were a pilgrimage, I could permit it.”

I’m sure that’s not comforting.

If such talk were enough, the Crusaders would not be trying to take Jerusalem.

Oliver sighed.

“As you already know, Lord Alfred, that won’t make it any easier. We’ll just have to somehow weather it over time.”

That’s hard to do too…

But it’s information worth the discount.

If it comes to a fight, we’ll know what the enemy wants.

“We, too, want to provoke them as little as possible, but… We haven’t received any reports that there are grave markers of any kind.”

“The location is only told. You can’t give consideration to people you don’t know, right? And the problem is that the location is unclear.”

Right, you can expand on that as much as you want.

“Can you hold them down with a bomb like that?”

Oliver gave a small laugh.

“That’s all right there. Lord Alfred gave me a discount, after all. I’ll have enough power of speech.”

“Then be careful not to get stabbed in the back by a young man with a temper.”

“I appreciate your concern. By the way, may I have the opportunity to satisfy my personal curiosity?”

Is there something he wants to know?

“What is it?”

“It’s Lord Alfred. Lord Alfred’s strategy is in accordance with the Apostle’s Art of War. On the contrary, it even complements what is lacking in the Apostle’s Art of War. Where did you learn it?”

There’s no way that I’ll say that I knew about this because of my reincarnation.

However, I do know what it is.

It wouldn’t be hard to fake it.

“It’s simple. I don’t know anything about the Apostle’s Art of War.”

Oliver’s eyes narrowed.

“You figured it out yourself?”

I laughed and waved my hand.

“I just did what I had to do to survive.”

The Art of War, in summary, is nothing more than a statement of the obvious.

That is why the Art of War exists, because it is difficult…

Oliver stiffened for a moment, but then burst out laughing.

“I see… wisely said. It was a bad match-up for Valentin. There is no form that can beat the intangible, and yet we have destroyed ourselves by insisting on a form that looks good.”

“My main job is politics, not military affairs, so I don’t care about the form. We can only achieve our goals with the least amount of sacrifice, whether by fait accompli or by chance.”

Oliver nodded in a good mood.

“This is looking more and more like a no-win situation.”

I shrugged.

“What are you talking about? I’ve been beaten to a pulp in the last round of negotiations.”

“I think it is because ransom is not an important issue for Lord Alfred. I think you’re even willing to accept a free ransom as long as peace was assured.”

“You’re overestimating for it. I am not that generous. In the meantime, may you satisfy my curiosity for one more thing?”

Oliver nodded quietly.

I lean forward a little.

“Where did you get enough gold to pay 2,000 at worst when you drifted to the frontier?”

Oliver laughed out loud.

“There is a sea in our territory, and a merchant ship once drifted into it. We helped them so that we could rescue them and get them out of the port. We have been trading with them for about 40 years since then. Our land is close to the monsters’ source, so we can collect valuable materials for them. After 40 years of trading, we have accumulated about 2,000 gold coins. I have been negotiating with that merchant ever since I was young.”

So, that’s why you can bargain like that… it made a lot of sense…