Chapter 387 - The Leaders Meet

"Now that I'm finished with my explanation, it's about time that you tell me yours, boy," Tohrun said after he finished talking.

During that time, Lucia had been preparing tea for everyone, and seeing as the old man had finished saying his piece, she immediately served him some tea. She then poured some for her mother, her husband and sister, and then for everyone else.

"Hmm, this is good... well, to the main point. Cecil, please tell us in detail about what you saw."

Having everyone's attention focused on him, Cecil cleared his throat and began recounting his experience 'inside' of the vision. He explained that instead of seeing it, it was more like he was there.

He had embodied a minor elf soldier who had nearly died on the battlefield and was saved by a Saintess. Speaking of the Saintess, Cecil immediately asked Elder Tohrun whether he's heard about the woman or not.

"I'm sorry, but I don't recall ever hearing a Saintess from any race going by that name. Also, you said she was an elf, right? In the Elven Kingdom, there's currently no such figure who proclaimed or was appointed as a Saintess," Tohrun answered after listening to Cecil's inquiry.

"Is that so... I thought so. You see, this was why I didn't say anything. Since Elder Tohrun hasn't even heard of this Saintess Melanie, I can't confirm if this prophecy is true. Also, I'm not even sure how far into the future I was seeing."

Everyone contemplated on his words and the prophecy that he just divulged to everyone. It wasn't long until Elder Tohrun said that they could disperse. He wanted some time to think and he invited Lucia's mother for a private discussion.

It wasn't anything odd, but everyone today finally found out that Lucia's mother, the ever so happy-go-lucky housewife, was indeed a Transcendent. Since the two Transcendents wanted to have a private discussion, everyone else naturally had to respect that.

As for how many Transcendents the Urrugdrassil Continent had, there were a total of 14. Most of them lived in seclusion while a select few lived humbly just like the Spirit Sage Tohrun. Anna wasn't counted as an Urrugdrassil Transcendent though.

As for why? Well, the woman in question didn't say anything about it so no one dared to ask. Although, Lucia was going to ask her later after the two met up again.

The discussions on their side were over and when Cecil heard from one of his father's subordinates that the meeting with the other Earthling nations' leaders weren't finished yet, Cecil decided to drop in.

He didn't take the front door, but rather, he used Blink to silently move into the conference room. Cecil didn't want to participate in the discussions since it was the responsibility of the king and not the family patriarch.

He decided to just witness it all in silence. No one was aware of his presence until Fatima finally felt like someone was observing them. When she looked around and finally noticed that Cecil was observing the ongoing of the discussions in an inconspicuous corner, she was just about to inform their father, but quickly saw Cecil raise his finger over his lips.

"..."

Fatima eyed his brother weirdly and shook her head, deciding not to tell their father about his presence. In fact, Kaiser didn't need Fatima to tell him, he had long since noticed that Cecil was in the room.

Kaiser's senses were always sharp even before he had acquired his new abilities. It wasn't anything special if he noticed his son suddenly appearing in the room before anyone else. It was the result of his many years of training. The mana that he now cultivated only provided a boost to his already superior abilities.

He didn't mind his son staying inconspicuous since he didn't have any say in this meeting after all. Kaiser turned his attention back to the meeting and let out a boring sigh. It's been over an hour since Tristan Umphrey spoke about his goal in coming to visit their kingdom, but things still hadn't finished.

Even the patient Viktor Livadia was beginning to show signs of impatience after he had to listen to President Tristan's incessant driveling for over an hour now.

"As you can see, Mr. Kaiser, what our nation wants is but a cooperative front with yours. Naturally, we'll provide many resources for your kingdom's help, but if we took the easier path, maybe opening up your kingdom's soon-to-be-built city near the great lake, uhh, what did you call it again—"

"It's called Abyss Lake," Fatima quickly spoke up.

"Mhm, yes, Abyss Lake, the city that's going to be built there, if you wouldn't mind us investing in some of the land and property there, it would open up various opportunities for both our nations," Tristan said, finally finishing his piece.

"Investments, huh... we've already got an investor though... I do wonder what your nation can bring up to the table... Naturally, we don't need any manpower to develop the territory. Our partner would be providing that for us and I do not want to renege on our agreement."

"Yes, of course, but I did hear that things haven't exactly been negotiated, yes?"

Kaiser wanted to frown a little but maintained his poker face and asked, "And where did you hear this from?"

"I have my sources, Mr. Kaiser. Of course, I do not know who this 'partner' is that you speak of, but since the negotiations haven't started yet on either of your sides, then perhaps there is still an opportunity for a third party to join in as well? Maybe perhaps a fourth party even, right Mr. Viktor?"

Having the baton passed to him, Viktor only glanced at Tristan before saying, "That won't be necessary. We already have our own plans and imposing on Mr. Kaiser when we're the ones who are going to be asking for help is not on my agenda."

Tristan only gave Viktor a meaningful smile when he finished his piece and quickly turned his attention back to Kaiser.

"Well, Mr. Kaiser? What do you say? I'm sure if all three of our nations, Me, you, and this partner of yours, were to sit down and discuss some terms, I'm sure we'll be able to come to a rather favorable agreement."

Kaiser considered Tristan's proposal. It wouldn't hurt if they had another investor and he did think that as Earthlings, they should try to form mutual alliances where their nations' citizens could work together.

"Hmm... Fatima, what's King Alasthor's response?" Kaiser glanced at his daughter and asked.

"King Alasthor said that he would be arriving at our kingdom tomorrow at the latest," Fatima replied.

"...We'll see how King Alasthor responds to this new development. Send someone to inform him immediately. Yes, I'll give Luca a quick call and tell him."

Fatima stepped back and went to a corner of the room and pulled out her MID. Her actions naturally didn't escape the sights of Augustus, Tristan, and Viktor. When they saw the small device that she had seemingly pulled out from thin air, their eyes immediately flashed. When they saw her actions of tapping on the lit-up screen before she brought it up to her ear, they were all inwardly astonished.

'These Silvarias... they actually had the resources to create a cellphone?' Tristan thought. Augustus also had similar thoughts as him while Viktor was the only one who had different thoughts.

'Hmm, I was indeed correct to come to this country to ask for help. If their technology is already this advanced, then they'll be able to help...'

Fatima quickly ended her call and returned to Kaiser and reported, "Luca said he'll immediately go and report it."

"Good," Kaiser nodded before turning to Tristan who had a wide smile on his face. "We'll discuss things tomorrow, Mr. Tristan. About our cooperation, if things go in your favor, then maybe my other collaborator will agree to it."

"Yes, then tomorrow it is then."

"Alright, next is your turn, Mr. Viktor. What is it that you seek from our kingdom?" Kaiser asked after turning his attention to the leader of the NWR.

Viktor took a sip of the water place in front of him. He cleared his throat and quickly said, "Let me direct, Mr. Kaiser, so that we don't waste any more time."

Kaiser nodded at his words and Viktor continued, "My nation needs some help in defending our country from the native threats, the monsters."

"Okay."

"What I came here to do is negotiate with you so that my nation would be able to acquire some of your country's anti-monster weaponry."

Kaiser smirked and nodded, "Straight to the point...well, if it's a matter of weaponry, then I'm sure we can negotiate a few things given the right price."

"Very well, this is what our country has to offer. Yuri, the papers," Viktor waved his arm out to the side and the woman, who was most likely his secretary immediately stepped forward and went around the table over to Fatima and handed her some papers.

Seeing how clear and concise this man was, Kaiser took quite a liking to him. He didn't bullshit or put up a front like Tristan had. Fatima quickly took the papers and presented them to her father.

Seeing the conditions, resources, and the very interesting piece of information that the leader of the NWR put up, Kaiser didn't see any reason to refuse him. The only thing that he wanted to do was to lower the amount of weaponry he would provide.

"We'll need to discuss things a bit more. I don't see anything wrong with the price you're giving me, but 100 anti-monster cannons, 10,000 rounds of ammunition, and over a 500 anti-monster ballistae... it's a little bit much, right? Also, about that nice piece of info at the end, while I may not be interested in it, but I think my son would be."

"This can all naturally be negotiated. Shall we have our representatives do this, or shall we do it ourselves?"

"Why not let our subordinates do all of this? It's been nearly 2 hours. Why not take a break for now?"

"Alright, let's do that."

They discussed a bit and decided that their secretaries along with some of their advisors would be the ones negotiating their terms for the sale and purchase. Fatima naturally took on this responsibility with a few of the other representative families while on Viktor's side, his aide, the woman from earlier, Yuri, and a few of his advisors would be the ones representing him.

"I would like to take a look around your city, is that possible?" Viktor asked.

"Matheus."

"Yes, father. Mr. Viktor, please, this way. If you'd like to take a look around, I'd be happy to guide you," Matheus said.

"Ah, so you must be the crown prince. It's a pleasure," Viktor said as he stuck his hand out for a handshake.

Matheus quickly took his hand and shook it, "The pleasure is mine, sir."

"As for you, Mr. Tristan?" Kaiser turned to ask.

"Hmm... I think I'll be staying in my quarters for now. The journey here was tiring and before we even got a chance to rest, we were called for the meeting," Tristan replied with a hum.

Kaiser nodded and had his men escort Tristan back to his accommodation within the city.

Augustus remained seated since he still had something to talk with Kaiser. Kaiser naturally saw this and dismissed everyone from the room. Once everyone was out, he immediately asked, "What is it, Augustus?"

"...Are you going to play dumb, or do you need me to say it to you?" Augustus replied with a grimace.

"..."