The negotiations had only just begun.
Yet, it seemed they were already at a standstill.
Those conditions were undoubtedly harsh; no sane person would ever agree to them.
“Miss Aililan.”
Baccus’s eyes were slightly bloodshot as he said with suppressed anger, “As long as one is a person, they would never agree to these conditions. I believe you are toying with me. You have no sincerity in this negotiation at all.”
Aililan nodded and spoke calmly, “I can understand your feelings, and I respect your decision.”
Baccus was somewhat exasperated. “You, you…”
Aililan merely smiled and continued, “Chief Baccus, you needn’t be angry. Even if the deal fails, our friendship remains. You have your difficulties, and we have ours.”
She paused for a moment.
“As humans, we must first provide guarantees for our merchants.”
“We must consider the millions of pounds of grain they bring.”
“There is also salt piled as high as mountains.”
“Spices as precious as silver and gold.”
“A single carriage holds hundreds or even thousands of pieces of clothing.”
“There is cotton, softer and whiter than snow, even warmer than charcoal fires.”
“And mellow, fine wine.”
“As well as medicinal herbs that can cure diseases and save lives.”
Aililan sighed and added, “And what about you? What can you War Pigs give us? Grass roots? Not even the livestock we raise would eat those things.”
The War Pig Chief’s face flushed. The words of the human girl before him were hurtful, but they were all the damn truth, leaving him unable to find any way to refute them.
Aililan spread her hands and said helplessly, “I think you are a good person, but you have nothing, yet you refuse to agree to anything. There is no such logic in this world, wouldn’t you say?”
“Since that is the case, let our negotiations end here.”
“But I will say it again: even if the negotiation fails, the kindness remains. May my friendship with the War Pig Tribe last forever.”
Aililan sighed.
She turned around, intending to leave.
The War Pig Chief, who stood over 2 meters tall and had a physique sturdier than an ox, suddenly seemed at a loss. He was frustrated on one hand and anxious on the other.
Reason told him he absolutely could not agree.
But the desire for the beautiful things Aililan mentioned beckoned him.
The War Pig Chief gasped for air and called out to Aililan’s retreating figure, grunting, “Human, wait a moment.”
Aililan turned. “Hmm?”
“My reason tells me I cannot agree to you.”
“And so?”
“But I feel that what you said makes a lot of sense. I cannot make this decision alone. I hope you can give me a little more time. Is that possible?”
“Chief Baccus, although our friendship is still fair, I must remind you that my time is very precious. The Jackal Tribe is also waiting for good news from us. If you can’t provide the conditions, there are plenty of others who will.”
“I understand, I know. One day… no, half a day. I swear that before your lunch begins, I will definitely give you an answer.”
Aililan put on a troubled expression before finally sighing. “Fine. For the sake of Chief Baccus’s sincerity, I am willing to wait here for another half a day.”
The War Pig Chief said gratefully, “Thank you, thank you so much.”
***
After the War Pig Chief hurriedly left, Aililan finally breathed a long sigh of relief.
Don’t look at how the War Pigs could provide nothing and think the Beastman Great Plains were all like that.
Livestock and leather had always been important export products for the orcs.
It was just that the War Pigs ate far too much.
They didn’t even have enough livestock for themselves to eat.
As for leather… one could only say that when people were starving, they would even boil leather belts to eat, let alone the War Pigs.
While waiting, Aililan looked toward the sparring area.
Fina Nisi was truly a peerless warrior; when she said she would fight ten, she fought ten.
The warriors of the War Pigs gave their all, but they were still no match for that “cheater.”
Fina Nisi wore a proud expression.
Her gaze shifted toward her lady’s direction.
She expected to receive a look of admiration and love from Aililan.
However, there was none.
Aililan merely nodded in approval, her expression saying, ‘As expected of my subordinate.’
Instead, a burst of shouts erupted from the edge of the field. “There’s no mistake! You must be the strongest existence! You are already qualified to be my, Boli’s, lover!”
A War Pig girl was shouting crazily for love.
Fina Nisi was stunned. ‘Wait, you pig-headed, human-bodied creature… you, you, you… don’t come over here!’
Fina Nisi, whose thoughts were usually dominated by her lower half and believed that any female would do, was currently in the most sober moment of her life. Her hair stood on end, and she was breaking out in a cold sweat.
Aililan turned her head away.
One could only say that the orcs of this world…
Well, how should she put it?
They were a bit too “purebred.” A beast’s head on a human body was the mainstream of the orc race. Those with animal ears and human faces were rare creatures, making up less than 10% of the population.
After all, aesthetic concepts differed. One could not use human aesthetic standards to judge the definition of beauty in the eyes of an orc. Humans thought orcs were hairy all over, while orcs thought humans were hairless monkeys.
Aililan took one last look at the besieged “warrior,” then said softly, “Keep it up, War Pig girl chasing after love.”
She took a deep breath and began to admire the scenery of the plains.
If the negotiations went smoothly, perhaps a city belonging to humans would be built here in the future.
The War Pigs did not make Aililan wait too long. As noon approached, just as the knight squad was starting the fires to cook, the War Pig Chief Baccus returned. But this time, he was accompanied by an elderly War Pig who looked very old.
Baccus said hurriedly, “Miss Aililan, I’ve come again.”
Aililan smiled and said, “Welcome. So, how have you considered it?”
Baccus scratched his head and pointed to the elderly War Pig beside him. “I’m a bit slow, and my mind is straightforward. I don’t understand those complicated twists and turns, so I brought the Sage of our War Pigs. Let him talk to you.”
The War Pig Elder bowed to Aililan and said, “You may call me Cyril.”
Aililan responded, “I am Aililan.”
The War Pig Elder, Cyril, stood before Aililan. After a moment of silence, he said, “The conditions you mentioned are too harsh. It is truly difficult for us to agree.”
Aililan spread her hands. “Then what is there to talk about?”
Cyril smiled slightly. “Miss Aililan, a so-called negotiation involves giving and taking, wouldn’t you say?”
Aililan also smiled. “You’re right. So, what is the War Pigs’ opinion?”
Cyril thought for a moment and said, “We must discuss certain terms. For instance, the matter of building a castle is impossible.”
“If you won’t agree to the first point, then there’s nothing to talk about.”
“Miss Aililan, please do not be anxious. Although we won’t let you build a castle, we will allow you to build a village.”
“No. It must be at least a low-specification castle, otherwise, we have no guarantees.”
“A castle is absolutely out of the question. At most, we can let you set up a camp. It cannot be any more than that.”
Aililan paused. “…Fine.”
“Miss Aililan, we also cannot agree to the stationing of troops. I hope you can understand.”
“I won’t station many; 1,000 people will be enough.”
“No, absolutely not. That is no different from burying a needle under our pillow. We War Pigs swear we can absolutely guarantee your safety.”
“Sage of the War Pigs, I must also tell you that a human garrison is a necessity. I can take a step back. How about 500 people? It really cannot be any less.”
“Two hundred at most.”
“Five hundred. Not one less.”
“Let’s each take a step back. We will allow you a garrison quota of 300. This is the bottom line for the War Pigs.”
Aililan gritted her teeth. “…Fine.”
The two sides then discussed various other terms in detail.
Aililan’s conditions were still harsh, but after the negotiations, they were barely acceptable to the War Pigs. Since the humans held the initiative, they had no choice.
After finalizing the terms, Aililan stood up, exhaled, and said, “Sage of the War Pigs, I hope our cooperation will be pleasant.”
Cyril smiled as well. “I look forward to it too. So, when can your human merchant caravan arrive?”
“Within ten days, we will have people come here to build a simple prototype of a market. At that time, merchants will bring grain. I only hope they won’t encounter beastman attacks on the way.”
“I assure you, we will absolutely guarantee the safety of the human merchant caravans.”
“Then, one last thing.” Aililan pondered for a moment before mentioning a very important matter. “As partners, you can obtain some tax revenue from the transactions in the Mutual Market. Of course, if you War Pigs have enough capability, we also allow you to monopolize the trade of human goods.”
Here, Aililan was reminding them.
Human merchants came to do business, not to give them grain for free. If they wanted things, they had to bring things to trade, and they should set aside any bad ideas they might have.
The War Pig Sage, Cyril, took on a look of deep thought. After a long while, as if he had made a decision, he said solemnly, “As you say, we War Pigs absolutely have the capability to monopolize all of your human goods.”
“Mr. Cyril, you War Pigs are currently… well…” Aililan chuckled. “Forgive my rudeness, but you’re so poor you’re stuck eating grass roots, aren’t you?”
“Miss Aililan, you are mistaken. We War Pigs are poor, but our best brothers, the Gaozhang Binzhu, have a river flowing with gold sand.”
“Then I congratulate you on having such good brothers. I presume they are also willing to share that river of gold sand with you. You all have a bright future ahead.”
The corner of Cyril’s mouth twitched. He cursed inwardly, wondering if Aililan was being sarcastic.
Him?
In truth, both of them were clear in their hearts. If the Mutual Market opened, gold would be the best trading currency.
Even taking a step back…
Would the War Pigs truly be satisfied with just collecting taxes?
And taking another step back, if their brothers used the gold sand to live a good life and even became stronger than the War Pigs because of it, would the War Pigs truly allow that?
Aililan smiled.
“Ten days. Within ten days, I will let you all see carriages fully loaded with grain.”
“Well said. After ten days, if the trade is real and you let us eat grain, we War Pigs will surely use gold sand to buy all your goods.”
A trade had only just begun.
Had a tribe of orcs already begun to walk toward the edge of extinction?