Negotiation can only proceed from an equal position.
Chirp chirp.
In the end, the side at a disadvantage has no choice but to bow their head. In that sense, Yuyoung was confident. She had a clear understanding of the situation with the Royal Knights.
Glimmer.
The power of precognition that allowed her to see the future. According to the vision, the Royal Knights had all perished from a reckless expedition, leaving no survivors. So, she had tried to extract personnel before that happened, but…
Whack!
Her own will was too overwhelming to do anything about it. Ultimately, against her will, her dear friend followed the expedition and lost their life there. However, she couldn’t believe it.
Bling!
Visions could sometimes be incorrect. Thus, Yuyoung mobilized all her resources to gather information. Fortunately, she discovered that three members had returned alive.
Surprise!
And amongst them, her friend was thankfully included. Perhaps that’s why she was acting hastily. And now the result was this. Yuyoung rolled her eyes.
Roll roll.
Kluna, who was the top among the infamous Guardians of the Forest, and Yuren, the former commander of the Royal Knights who needed no introduction, were right in front of her. Just being in their presence suffocated her with their momentum.
Whew!
“Is any tea fine?”
Hmmm…
But the most incomprehensible was the man before her. He was merely a human yet was moving so calmly between those two powerful presences.
Huff!
Yuyoung promptly corrected her thoughts. The values of the beastmen are akin to beasts. That is, they tend to ignore those they view as weaker species, such as humans.
Bam!
In fact, after the founding of the Twelve Tribes, the humans had been the ones to wage the most wars, and they were also the tribe that mostly emerged victorious. So, it was unconsciously looking down on him.
Oops!
However, that was a very dangerous and complacent mindset. The position of the Royal Knights’ commander was not a position anyone could hold. She had heard he was an unknown knight from a refugee camp.
Grin!
Yuyoung was not the type to fall for information manipulation that elicited such snickers. And it was indeed true. Even now, look at that monster casually offering her tea in the midst of them.
Slurp!
“Anything is fine.”
Shrug shrug.
“First, I must apologize. It seems the reception from our members was quite rough.”
Oops!
“No, I wasn’t bothered at all.”
Blink blink.
Seeing the commander say this without moving an eyebrow, Yuyoung barely suppressed her frustration. She had already anticipated everything and prepared for it. This is how he apologizes?
Chuk!
However, getting angry here would only prove that she was mediocre. What’s crucial in negotiations is to hide one’s emotions and draw out the emotions of the opponent.
Whoosh!
Emotions are a good friend of sincerity. One can grasp the sincerity by observing the opponent’s emotional changes. If that happens, one can gain a better upper hand in negotiations. Yuyoung replied with a smile.
Smile!
“Rather, I should thank you for such wonderful hospitality.”
Wow!
“A wonderful hospitality?”
Hmm?
“Yes, thanks to it, my warriors were able to learn a thing or two.”
Chirp!
“I’m glad you think so.”
Phew!
With that statement, he immediately moved on to the next topic. There wasn’t a single change in his expression. How could this be? No, the absence of expression could be acceptable. That happens frequently.
Hmm…
However, having not even the slightest change is a different story altogether. Even that Guardian of the Forest had subtle changes in her flow. That man, however, had no changes whatsoever.
Pfft!
Could he really control his emotions to such an extent? Or is there something else going on? Speaking of which, they said that man was the one who saved Commander Yuren. Could it be…?
Thud!
No, no.
Flick!
It’s too soon to jump to conclusions. The unknown breeds fear, and fear soon leads to terror. And that emotion plays a very disadvantageous role in negotiations. Yuyoung opened her mouth.
Open!
“Shall we get down to business?”
Whoosh!
“What I wished for.”
Woo!
“To maintain a smooth relationship between the Twelve Tribes and the Royal Knights…”
Glimmer!
They talked a lot. However, more than seventy percent of it was merely decorative words with no substance. The commander responded appropriately to match that. The atmosphere began to heat up.
Heat!
Then, Yuyoung proposed one condition. She stated that she would provide support on the condition of accepting requests from the Twelve Tribes again. At first glance, it seemed a normal proposal, but the issue was the amount of support.
Thump!
It was ridiculously low to the point that it couldn’t even be called support from the Twelve Tribes. Upon hearing that, not only Kluna but even Yuren frowned.
Frown!
“What do you think? Isn’t it a fairly good condition?”
Whimper!
“Well, indeed. Then let’s go with that.”
Tick!
“…Huh?”
Gasp!
He accepted the proposal too easily. The one left surprised was Yuyoung. She never thought he would accept such a ridiculous proposal. She had anticipated a follow-up.
Wham!
Suddenly, the commander readily accepted the proposal. As a result, Yuyoung found herself in a predicament. Although the Royal Knights were enemies, they could receive support almost for free now.
Ding!
Of course, there was the benefit of re-establishing the relationship between the Twelve Tribes and the Royal Knights. However, Yuyoung wasn’t satisfied with just that. She continued with slight embarrassment.
Huh?
“You’re accepting so easily?”
Huff…
“It’s not a time for us to be delicate about things.”
Hmm…
“But…!”
Bam!
“Is there a problem?”
Duh!
What should she even say? However, she couldn’t articulate a word, as if something was stuck in her throat. She still felt nothing from him. There was no flow.
Stuck!
As if pretending to know nothing, this isn’t just a mere feigned ignorance. Not just the lack of expression, but he was also preventing her from reading the flow. There, Yuyoung felt an unknown emotion.
Phew…
Not everything was correct, but visions do fall somewhat into place. And she could make use of that. However, she had never been in a situation where her visions were completely wrong as of now.
No way!
When there was a dispute with the elves before, she had rushed things and made a mess of it. And the Guardian of the Forest, who knew of her visions, unexpectedly disrupted the future, but until then, it had never been wrong.
Bunker!
But this man before her was different. The annihilation of the Royal Knights, the death of Commander Yuren. All these visions had completely gone off the mark. All due to that man in front of her.
Bam!
She couldn’t think otherwise. Because in the future she had seen, that man’s existence was nonexistent. The unknown experience twisted into fear, and fear bred terror.
Flick!
It was much like a regular person becoming blind.
Snap!
If suddenly those eyes that could see perfectly became blind…
Crash!
What person wouldn’t feel fear?
*
Ah~ what a relief.
Phew!
I’m really relieved. The negotiation with the Twelve Tribes ended up not being so bad. Yuyoung, was it? She suddenly seemed unwell and hurriedly left her seat.
Whoosh!
Well, that’s only natural.
Thud!
After all, I had two aggressors next to me. I would have reacted the same way if I were in her position. Of course, I tried to shake them off. But they were insistent, so I ultimately backed down.
Hmm…
Is it just my imagination that I don’t feel an ounce of dignity as a commander? No, that’s fine. It’s no big deal. If I start seeking dignity through my title, that’s where things will diverge. For now, let’s be satisfied with this level.
Chat chat.
“Commander, is it really alright?”
Tap!
“It was surprisingly a small amount of support.”
Swish!
“Isn’t it better to receive that than nothing?”
Huff!
Could we really dismiss this as cold rice in a situation like this? If stale rice was right in front of us, would we be in a position to turn it down? Of course, we had to resolve the requests from the Twelve Tribes in return.
Chomp!
But that was actually what I wanted. The Royal Knights were a coalition of various races. In other words, it means they can’t maintain without support from other races.
Clunk!
Of course, the support from the Twelve Tribes is woefully insufficient. There’s no way one can be full with just one meal. Moreover, to even obtain that much is a blessing. For now, I’m thankful.
Cheer!
“You all worked hard. But next time, do not act roughly and respond politely.”
Doh!
“Indeed, Commander, you’ve chosen such a method.”
Whoosh!
“Yes, exactly that.”
Whew!
Kluna said in admiration. I nodded. Since I demonstrated it first, Kluna and Yuren should be able to follow along without difficulty. They soon returned to the room.
Bounce bounce.
“It seems you were quite flustered.”
Hmmm…
“This time, Commander Yuren’s assistance was significant.”
Hmm?
“What do you mean? I also…”
Phew!
“Anyway, with this, I, too, accomplished something.”
Dust!
Watching their backs as they left the office, I let out a sigh of relief. There was no need to forcefully scold them. The fact that I addressed them was important.
Ding!
I provided them a warning. This fact is significant. This way, if a problem arises later, I can appropriately cover it up. This is something I learned from my previous employment.
Tip tap!
No matter what problem arises, the way to slip away like a loach. It’s a pity that I couldn’t master that and had to quit instead. Regardless, I didn’t want to expend emotional energy on unnecessary anger.
Whoosh!
After all, I was planning to hand over the commander’s seat soon.
Right!
Let’s just aim to not cause any issues.
Smirk!
This negotiation is no exception. If I try to push for more gains now and cause the negotiation to fall apart, wouldn’t it be better to just take what I can get?
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