Volume 7 - CH 5

Chapter 5 – Wataru’s Negotiation and the Dark Elves’ Decision

The discussion with the dark elf village chief began in a subtly tense atmosphere.

“So, Village Chief-san, you said you were going to have a discussion in the village; what have you decided to do?”

Please tell me you’ve decided to go… that would be incredibly helpful.

“After our discussions, we are all interested. …But we cannot deny the possibility that we are being deceived. We need you to give us reason to believe.”

It’s a hassle, but… from the dark elves’ point of view, they’re abandoning the village, and I’m the one who came to invite them, so I guess I’ll have to show them what grounds I have.

I know a great place, do you want to go? I’m not a smooth talker. If I had the beauty of a dark elf, I might succeed, but if the other party is a dark elf and where they are going is to abandon the village and move to an island… I think it’s an impossible task.

The only way to get a good deal is to use my humanity when I can’t use a contract. I don’t have charisma or military might. All I have is money, though. …All I have is money; it’s amazing that I can say such an arrogant line; the other world is amazing, isn’t it?

I’m a rich man with hundreds of platinum coins. So I don’t need to deceive them… No. If it were me, I wouldn’t trust rich people and would kill them if they said that to me. Plus, I’d be sure to lose the trust of those around me. It’s too risky.

Would they put their trust in God? The God said he was watching us, and if they prayed desperately to the Goddess of the Forest, they might take pity on the dark elves and expect some help in persuading them… Is that too indefinite?

“Wataru-san, what happened?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was thinking that it would be better if I could get people to believe in me for now, but it’s difficult. I don’t have any proof that it is safe to believe me. I will answer what I can to your questions, so could you please judge for yourself?”

It would be different if I had something like the seal case of a grandfather who is a middle-aged man and a deputy general*. Next time we meet, could I get a seal case from Creator God-sama or something like that? It’s very reliable, isn’t it? [T/n: I’m not sure about this reference.]

“I understand. Then, how did you get here?”

As I thought, they are curious, aren’t they? But I can’t tell them everything when there is a possibility that they might not come to immigrate.

“Well, to put it simply, I have a barrier that even a large army of monsters can’t penetrate. When a large army of monsters came, we holed ourselves up in there and got through it, and here we are. The details are a secret.”

“I heard about the contract, but the price for you and Felicia is not balanced. Why is that?”

I’m getting a little annoyed when people call her Felicia without ‘san’ or anything. Is it possessiveness? I’m afraid if I tell the truth, I’ll be rejected, but it seems impossible to lie… so I’ll just tell the truth.

“I needed an escort, and Felicia was strong and beautiful. Felicia’s terms were also doable, so I signed the contract.”

I was unsure about Ines because she had sold herself for a gamble, but Felicia seemed serious, and above all, a dark elf, silver-haired, big-breasted beauty, I’d go for it.

“I-Is that so? …There are dark elf women in this village, but we won’t offer them to you. Would you still like to continue our conversation?”

This was a check because he might be trying for me to ask him to give me a woman. A beautiful dark elf woman, Felicia, would be enough to satisfy me, but I’d be happy with more. If I had persuaded him well, I could have taken a step forward to a harem, but nope, that was a mistake.

“I won’t ask you to give up any of your women. I’m here because I promised Felicia I wouldn’t ask for any consideration.”

If you insist, I’ll gladly take it, though.

“I see.”

I don’t think there’s any need to be so bluntly relieved.

“Is there anything else you want to ask me?”

“Yes, what you said to Gael yesterday about whether we have a future if we stay here, really stuck in my mind. I guess we have no future even if we stay here. When the monsters go crazy, we hide in the hollowed-out rocks and survive. Only insects can fly in, which saves our lives but destroys our houses and furniture. We have very little space in the rock and very little food, so we can’t even increase our population.”

Whoa? Something has suddenly changed. I wonder if they’ll decide to emigrate at this point? I mean, is there space to hide in that rock? I wonder if it’s like we’re taking refuge on the Hideaway.

“How wonderful it would be to hear you and Felicia’s story, if it were true. Singing whenever we wanted, that alone was unimaginable to us.”

It wouldn’t be fashionable for monsters to attack them en masse if they were singing.

“But as the people in charge of the village, I couldn’t take the gamble either. It’s too risky to make a decision based on what you’ve told us without knowing what’s out there.”

The conversation took a turn for the worse… Is it a no?

“So, will you take Gael with you? I want him to check out the safe haven of the dark elves.”

This is getting troublesome. I understand that you want to check, but does that mean I have to go along with him there?

“Village Chief-san, that’s a tough call. It takes two months just to go through the forest. It will take even more time to get to a safe haven. And then we have to go back and forth again, so the burden on us will be considerable. Don’t you think that’s terrible?”

“…Yes, that’s right. Is it still not good?”

I don’t like the idea of saying no. It might be faster to take Gael-san with us, even if it takes longer than to search for the dark elves again from scratch, but I don’t want to go back and forth through this forest again just for peace of mind. Well, if I can’t find them elsewhere, I might come back here… but I’d be pretty shocked if I did.

Even just for the sake of it, my plan to wholesale pepper every two months is falling apart from the get-go, and… I’d indeed rather not go back and forth again.

“Yes, I understand that you want reliable information, Village Chief-san. For me, it would be a waste of time. I hope you will make a decision this time.”

“…I see.”

Hmm, did I say too much? But if I get swept away here, I will have to go through the Demon Forest at least three times. I can’t be swept away. Is there any way I can convince them?

Even if I reveal that I’m from another world, it’s no guarantee that I won’t deceive them. The same goes for my ship summoning skills. So I have to play with my own personality…

“Um, I know it’s a cowardly way, but why don’t you try some of the food out there? You can eat it in the safe haven because I’m the one bringing in the food.”

I don’t have confidence in my character, so let’s catch them with food. I have a large stock of delicious food, even if it is not from another world. If I can get them to eat this, they might be more willing to emigrate.

“Does that mean that eating good food will make life here less difficult?”

“Well, it does. It is certainly dangerous out there, but there are a lot of things you can’t get here. I think it would be a good opportunity to emigrate, and it would appeal to people that once you arrive in the safe haven, you will be able to eat delicious food and not have to live in fear.”

“Wataru-san, we are happy about the delicious food, but the question for us is whether we believe you or not.”

“I understand. But if you guys emigrate, we won’t have to force ourselves to look for dark elves afterward. If I could reach them with food, I would. If you know there’s such good food in your safe haven, you’ll want to believe it, won’t you?”

“Maybe so, but wouldn’t it mess them up if I told them?”

“I am confident that if I offer you food and let you try it, you will like it. But if I let you eat it without saying anything, you would be very suspicious, wouldn’t you? As for me, I don’t want to deceive you; I just want to tell you how attractive it is out there.”

“…I’ll stop. I will not gamble with the future of the people in the village because of the food.”

I guess it’s still not good. I think it’s too obvious, but if I let them eat without saying anything, that’s going to make them lose faith in me. I wish I had been honest with them and they had been interested.

“Wataru-san, if we were to decide to emigrate, would it be possible for us to get out of the forest safely?”

“Yes, I think so. We don’t know what will happen, so I can’t say for sure, but I think it will be fine. Does this village have a way to move freely through the forest?”

“No, as I said before, we can hide in the rocks.”

“I see. Then, if you want to migrate, shall we do it my way?”

I’ll give them tickets, and when the monsters’ trigger switches on, they can jump into the magic circle of the Hideaway, and there will be no problem.

“I understand. I would like to discuss it again with everyone. How much time can you give us?”

“I don’t want to take too long, but I can give you a couple of days.”

“If so, can you give us another chance in two days?”

“I understand. Okay, I will leave.”

After having Gael-san take us to the Japanese-style boat, I summoned the Hideaway to a remote and out-of-sight location, just as I had done yesterday. I moved to the dining room and explained the contents of the meeting.

“I see, but Wataru-san, was it okay to refuse to take that Gael-san with you? Wouldn’t it have been safer and easier to show him around?”

“Ilma-san is right, but if I accept, we will have to go through the Demon Forest three more times for sure. If they decide to migrate this time, we will only have to go through it once. If not, we will look for another place, and if we can’t find it, we will come back here again.”

“Fufufu, if you can’t find them, it will be a very long way.”

“Yes, but if we look for another forest, it will be quicker in the end because it will be in a place without strange obstacles, and we will be able to save time if the monsters do not come in a group like in this Demon Forest.”

The Demon Forest is a place that we can pass through in our situation, but it would take an incredibly long time. I don’t want it to take two months one way.

“Well, that may be true.”

The girls seemed to agree with me.

“That’s why, Felicia, we’ve found a place for them, but if they refuse, we’ll have to find another place. Sorry.”

“No, it’s up to those people whether they want to emigrate or not. I’m just glad to know that my brethren are alive in another place.”

You really don’t mind, do you? It may be a masked smile on the surface, but I’ll believe it.

………………

From then until the appointed day, I lived an elegant life, enjoying the beautiful scenery and being at a lakeside vacation home. I’ve never been to a lakeside vacation home before, though…

Two days later, I, Felicia, and Alessia-san boarded Gael-san’s small boat that came to pick us up as we headed to the dark elf village, and we were guided to the village chief’s house.

“Hello, Village Chief-san.”

“Hello. Thank you for coming.”

Hmm, I can’t tell which way it went from his expression, but I wonder what happened. If possible, it would be more convenient if they decided to immigrate, but I guess that’s not possible since they had strong suspicions.

“I’m sorry to be so quick, but did you reach a conclusion?”

“Yes. Can you please let us immigrate?”

…Oh, I succeeded. My persuasion made them decide to move… If I have negotiation skills, I might be able to do it easily, though. I see a nice smile on Felicia’s face. It’s a nice thing to see.

“I understand. I will do my best to help you, don’t worry. But I was afraid you would refuse. To be honest, I was surprised.”

“Haha, people in the village are still anxious. But the idea of being able to live without fear was very appealing. Life here is a life of hunger and fear of monsters. We decided we wanted to have fun rather than just live.”

I guess their life was tougher than I thought it would be. It seems that they hated their life here more than my persuasion.

“I see. I promise you that, at the very least, you will eat well and live without fear. How many people are in your village, and how long does it take to prepare for migration?”

“There are 25 people in the village. We don’t have much to carry, so it won’t take more than three days.”

Well, it’s surprisingly small. But it’s not like the monsters’ trigger doesn’t get switched on during the migration, so the Hideaway will surely be discovered. If that’s the case, let’s just take it apart and get the luggage loaded.

Or maybe I should just keep the ferry hidden? The ferry is going to be quite a mess since the people on the dark elf island don’t know about it. Or should I buy a ship that’s a reasonable size?

…Hmm, pulling the Hideaway with the Lutto would take quite a while to get to the dark elven island. Maybe I’ll buy a ship while I’m through the forest.

“Understood. Then tomorrow I will show you how to get through the forest safely, so please gather the villagers in the morning. Pack up as much luggage as you can so that we can load it into the ship.”

“I understand.”

………………

We returned to the out-of-sight area and gathered in the dining room of the Hideaway.

“They have made the decision to emigrate. Starting tomorrow, we will disguise the interior of the Hideaway to match this world.”

“Understood. Wataru-san, why don’t we take a bath today?”

Oh, Ilma-san, nice suggestion. Good things keep coming.

Now that we’re on track for the appointment, we’ll have a light drink and enjoy the bath. Let’s have plenty of fun, do plenty of lovey-dovey, and nourish our spirits. Today is a good day, isn’t it?