Chapter 236: Negotiations Commence

With me behind her back, Roa ran along the valley road like the wind.

Staring at the end of the road, Roa burst forth like gale————

[ ! ]

Hearing something, I, Lieselotte, perked up my ears.

(The sound of horse’s hooves.)

Are those the Centaurs?

Are they Qir and the others?

As I was thinking about this———– Roa suddenly stopped.

She began scraping on the ground, until a cloud of dust danced in the air.

There are multiple shadows approaching.

Slowly getting within visual range, they were getting closer.

[Those are———-]

Realizing who those horse’s hooves were from, my eyes opened wide.

[It’s the humans?]

Humans mounted on horses.

All of them are armed.

With the opposing party incoming, I turned around.

The giant wolves are still on their way, catching up with us.

The harpies were still far behind in the sky.

Considering all these factors, my mind quickly spun.

[Roa, you go back on your own! Back to the door!]

[? Leaving Prime Minister-dono behind, I am to return alone?]

[Isn’t it obvious!? Those approaching humans are probably the Goddess’ aforementioned army! Your appearance would likely be aggressive in the eyes of the humans! You’re also to tell the giant wolves, harpies and the Dragon Light Army to stand down! As for the Serpentine Light Army————]

The Lamias’ upper body closely resembles that of humans.

Their first impression might be better for us if beings relatively familiar to humans were here.

[Tell them to come to my side!]

Meanwhile, the humans had stopped moving.

I can see that they are discussing something on horseback.

The other side clearly sensed our presence.

My heart was beating loudly.

It feels like I could even hear it.

I can’t fail here.

Facing them right here feels like I’m heading into a presentation without preparation.

I thought I was prepared for this…

But I never expected that I would meet the outside world humans like this————

[——————-]

[——ter———dono.]

[…………………]

[Prime Minister-dono!]

[ ! ]

Roa’s call pulled me out of the vortex of my thoughts, snapping me back to reality.

[Should I really fall back?]

[Y- Yes…… ———–Yes! Who do you think I am!? I’m the Faraway Country’s Prime Minister, Lieselotte Ornick, you know!?]

[……I understand.]

After I alighted from her back, Roa falled back.

She then went towards the giant wolves.

Upon her arrival, the Lamias and the Dragonewts alighted the giant wolves.

Next, Roa called out to the harpies.

In the end, all but the Lamias retreated as instructed.

Seeing them do as I instructed, I looked forward.

(With this, we are ready to negotiate.)

[ ! ]

The humans started moving.

They are getting closer to my direction.

Watching their approach, Armia and the other Lamias joined in.

[Prime Minister-dono.]

[Armia, are the white flags ready?]

[Unnn, just as you instructed.]

We’re going to raise a white flag.

In the human world, it’s an action that symbolizes that we don’t have the intention to fight.

——–is what should have been.

Does this action still mean the same at this time?

Perhaps, I should have asked him.

That fly, I mean.

[——————]

Perhaps, I should have asked that fly more things.

……No.

That’s wrong.

There’s a chance that he might feed me false information and manipulate my knowledge to suit his needs.

(………………)

Since the cavalrymen were approaching, I thought of loudly calling out to them.

However, it’s no good.

My voice didn’t reach them.

Their distance was too far.

Suddenly, I saw the other side drawing their bows from the distance.

Atop their horses, they drew their brows.

(Oh no! Quickly, raise the white flag……!)

Taking the lead, I quickly raised the white flag.

Thereupon, there was a reaction on the other side.

(They lowered…… their bows? Ahh……)

I feel like my heart skipped a beat there.

The humans had also raised a white flag.

My intentions got through!

They understood that we don’t intend to fight!

Without turning my eyes away from the humans, I raised my hands to hold back the people behind me.

[Serpentine Light Army, stay here and wait.]

[No, even if it’s just me, I think you should be accompanied by someone. You’re too defenseless.]

[It’s exactly because I’m defenseless! This is an opportunity of a lifetime! Moreover, we have to hurry……! Fortunately, it looks like they and Gio and the others haven’t run into each other yet! We need to quickly negotiate with them and tell Gio and the others that we don’t have to fight anymore……! Otherwise, it will be too late!]

[Them not having run into Gio and the others itself is odd though.]

[…….What are you trying to say?]

[This is also…… something you haven’t thought about huh?]

Strange.

Armia’s hands were slightly trembling.

[Gio and the others…… On their way here, these humans should have already———]

[Stop thinking of the worst from the start! Pull yourself together, Armia Plum Lynx! We still weren’t sure about that matter yet, right!? You should trust the other side first!]

[Liese…… I don’t think I can let you do this? If the humans had killed Gio or Qir———]

Pakk!

I slapped Armia’s cheek.

[Pull yourself together! If that’s the case, we need to negotiate with them even more! We need to quickly explain to them———— that we aren’t like Gio and Qir’s group! If we don’t…… They might think that the citizens of the “Faraway Country” are the same “enemy” as Gio and the others! Explain in all sincerity that they disobeyed the country’s decision and cast aside the country!]

[……I still think I should accompany you, Prime Mi———-]

[Didn’t I tell you I’m going alone!?]

Turning my attention back to the humans, I took a deep breath.

It’s alright.

The other side has raised the white flag.

They don’t have any hostility towards us at the moment.

The foundation for negotiations has been laid.

With the flag in hand, I began walking towards them.

Meanwhile, one of the people riding the horses also rode towards me.

He was obviously dressed different from the others.

He seems to be a person of high standing.

Is he one of those so-called “nobles”?

The distance between the two of us was only a few raeters.

The distance between us grew even closer.

We’re at a distance where we could clearly see each other’s faces.

The human was on horseback, so I had to look up at him.

The man on the horse wasn’t wearing a helmet.

Compared to the others, he seemed to be lightly armed.

A man with a well-defined face and dark chestnut-colored hair.

His eyes were a little droopy, but together with the look in his eyes, I could say that he’s quite manly.

His facial features were very distinct, giving him a sense of elegance.

He seems to be around late 20s to mid 30s.

They weren’t as robust as Gio, but he had a good physique.

[Excuse me. It isn’t polite to talk while on horseback, isn’t it?]

Saying this in a calm tone, the man dismounted.

The man then fixed the white flag to the saddle of his horse.

Turning towards me, he bowed elegantly and introduced himself.

[My name is Mikhail Eucalion. The second son of Alion Kingdom’s Eucalion Family. And——- I am the Chief Commander of the 13 Cavalries, and the Captain of Alion’s 1st Cavalry. Now then…… The fact that you raised a white flag means that you’re not some monster that attacks the common people. You also don’t have golden eyes. In other words, can I take it that you people…… are citizens of the Faraway Country?]

I let out a sigh of relief.

He has a gentle demeanor.

I don’t know if it’s thanks to that or not……

But even when he was largely built, he doesn’t look intimidating.

Moreover, he even took the consideration of dismounting, showing his concern.

He must be a nice human.

[I am———— My name is Lieselotte Ornick. The Arachnid Prime Minister of the Faraway Country. First of all, I would like to thank you for accepting our intentions when we raise the white flag. ……How may we help you?]

Mikhail looks puzzled.

[Ah, no…… You just spoke so fluently and elegantly…… It might be rude to say this, but I was slightly surprised. Moreover, you are so beautiful……]

Hearing his unexpected words, I felt a blush rise up my cheeks.

(This won’t do……)

It would be a problem if people think I’m so easy to cajole.

Some sort of affectionate smile appeared on Mikhail’s lips.

[You were the one who sent that Harpy messenger, right?]

[Eh? Yes.]

[That Harpy told us to come here. That you wanted to settle matters through negotiation, and not with war. Having heard this, we rushed towards here.]

[So that’s how it is.]

They managed to send the message huh.

Thereupon, I noticed that Mikhail’s attention was elsewhere.

[………………..]

[Mikhail-dono?]

His glance looked past me, seemingly looking behind me.

[Are they…… Lamias?]

[That’s right. Ahh, please don’t worry…… They aren’t violent.]

[I can’t see their weapons though? Are they perhaps magic tool users?]

[No, they are armed only with shields.]

[T- They don’t have any weapons!?]

His voice raising in disarray, Mikhail looked confused again.

Even though he’s that big of a guy, he might unexpectedly be “naive”.

That’s kind of cute though.

[It’s something we took upon ourselves to do. When we negotiate with humans, we want them to believe that we have no hostile intentions. We may be able to use weapons, but we left all of them behind. We also had the monsters that could be misinterpreted as aggressive……]

I explained to them how “we don’t advocate war”.

Listening like an obedient student, Mikhail finished listening to what I said……

[Oh my…… To go that far…… How incredibly surprising. For someone this wise to be in the Faraway Country…… Lieselotte Ornick-dono……]

Mikhail came up to me and held out his hand.

It seemed like he wished to shake my hand.

Since he asked for one, I grasped his hand.

Thereupon, Mikhail’s sincere eyes met mine and firmly grasped back.

Looking upon this situation, I was almost overcome with emotion.

I wasn’t mistaken.

That fly had decided that these people were untrustworthy.

However, that fly was only saying that because these people were a hindrance to him.

That was close.

We had almost gotten ourselves into an irreversible situation.

[I’ve always dreamt of the day when we could hold hands with the humans like this.]

[Yes…… To be honest, I’m surprised too. I never thought that the citizens of the Faraway Country————]

His eyes relaxing, Mikhail smiled back.

[————-would be so stupid.]