Chapter 186 - Sneaky (8)

"Do people in the Neles state cut the necks of their allies these days?" Jean asked. "I remember a time where they were more civilized than this… What are you planning?"

"Not allies, but fools who thought that they could do more than they were capable of," Pablo said. "This was a failure… of an investment."

"We lost thousands of people here, asshole…" Marie said. "If you think that the three lives of these guys will solve anything, you are dead wrong. To make my point clear, maybe I should send your head to your leader."

"That would be a pretty unfortunate thing to do…" Pablo said. "It wouldn't prove anything. I am just a low-ranked officer. Naturally, my leader isn't saying that only this will suffice for all of your losses. He is willing to give you thirty percent of the current lands of Toles territory. Naturally, one of their dungeons will be yours as well. We are aware that you aren't fond of war, lord Jean. Do you want to keep this fruitless battle going on? We still are organizing the soldiers of Toles state under our command. However, we still have fifteen thousand fresh soldiers and around fifteen hundred beasts ready to fight."

"And yet, you are proposing a truce… that shows how much guts do you have," Marie said.

"Whatever you say, miss," Pablo said. "Let me not lose this chance to say that you are as tough as a cockroach. Your fame precedes you. I wonder how you became like that…"

Marie stepped forward firmly and then clenched her fist, but then Pierre jumped to stop her with his whole body. She was pissed, and in times of war, killing messenger is one of the worst things to do. In any case, it seemed that Marie had some sort of dark story and the enemy used that to taunt her… Billy never saw her with that much anger in her eyes. The messenger sure has balls, or he didn't value his life.

"Well then, lord Jean, your answer?" Pablo asked. "We are wasting precious resources here. My leader wants a reply before sunset. You have our promise that we will leave you alone for ten years as long as you don't meddle with our matters. Truth to be told, it is quite risky for us to keep going with this war as well… you have very capable soldiers."

Jean was in a tough spot. The truce offer was better than he had expected, but accepting would make him lose the faith of many of his subordinates. Besides, what were the chances that they would keep their promise? They might be wary of the guild masters and the Reinforcements of Hiloh state, but that wasn't enough for them to stop…

"... We will accept the truce," Jean said.

The atmosphere got heavy. Billy could almost see the disappointment in everyone's faces. Still, he could see some resolution in Jean's expression as well. He is probably going to retire as soon as he finds a successor, even a bit worse than him.

"Good, the papers about the agreement will be ready tomorrow," Pablo said. "Until then."

Pablo left the area and returned to his camp, but things didn't get even a bit happier on the defenders' side. The word quickly spread about the truce. Half of the defenders felt happy about it. They got to live for a few more months. The other half wasn't that happy. They wanted to avenge their fallen comrades.

"We are finally ready to go home…" Drew said.

"Let's not drop our guard until we step on our town," Billy said while wondering if the enemy would have the chance to think of some countermeasures against him to try to deal with him later.

"No, it is certain at this point…" Gerald said. "I heard that the beastmasters are quite fond of money, and war is expensive. With two extra dungeons annexed to their territory, they will have a lot of time to keep it running and making money."

Gerald was an experienced old man. He probably was one hundred years old even though he looked sixty, so his opinion had a lot of weight. Still, Billy decided to exercise his caution… Fortunately, things proceeded to end pretty quickly. The next day, Pablo returned with two agreements, one original and another copy, and both of them were already signed by the leader of Neles state. His name was Sieb…

"Sieb… I don't recognize the nationality, but I am sure it is a European name… this is weird," Billy furrowed his eyebrows.

Billy had a lot of time to think about that because the army stayed there for two more days until the enemy's army vanished. Still, some hundred soldiers were left behind to keep an eye on the borders.

Before going home, they made a stop for two days for a ceremony to honor those who lost their lives in the war. Much to Billy's surprise, Alexander's students, some of them survived, and they spent the day with him. Partying very timidly… they departed on the noon of the third day, and Alexander invited Billy to do some shopping. Each of them gained five gold coins for their victories in the war, but Alexander gained more due to his work. Still, Jean also decided to reward Billy with two Edish trees so that he would keep a steady diet of sour fruits.

"Let's buy some gifts," Alexander said. "You will need some to earn their forgiveness."

"Whose forgiveness?" Billy asked.

"The girls….you messed up big this time," Alexander said. "You did for their sake, but that doesn't change things that much."

Billy thought that just giving time to time would be enough, but he may be wrong. However, aside from Sarah, those girls could be quite stubborn, so maybe Alexander was right.

"Look at you, when did you grow up a d become an expert in understanding the hearts of the ladies?" Billy asked.