“Huff… huff… huff…”
The twin-tailed loli struggled her way back into the city, finding the others from the Market Administration Office.
She looked like she’d been running, but in reality, her speed was even slower than a stroll.
She really had been running at first, but when she couldn’t run anymore, this was all she could manage.
“Little Ai, why didn’t you—wait for me… ah!”
Seeing Vina looking like she was about to drop dead, Leah hurriedly sent a Blessing her way, finally letting her recover a bit of strength.
“I’m exhausted… I just climbed up the mountain, and barely rested before running back down. Little Ai, you didn’t even wait for me. By the way, how did it go? Did I miss anything?”
“It’s already settled.”
Celes told them about their decision to form an alliance with the Rhinoceros-horn Legion, who had split from the Demon Race.
Vina was completely baffled.
“Why let them leave the Demon Race? Why not just ally with the Demon Tribe Army directly?”
“Why not?”
“That’d be way more exciting!”
Celes fell silent.
She really shouldn’t have said anything to her. For a moment there, she’d actually thought Vina had a serious reason.
Clearly, she still didn’t know her companions well enough.
Ella pressed her palms together and gently smoothed things over.
“Anyway, I’ll go talk to them and discuss the alliance together.”
“That’s fine, but aren’t we missing someone?”
Leah counted around, left and right—sure enough, there were only four.
“Where’s Zero?”
Yeah, where did she go?
Ella had a little guess in her heart.
She figured Zero was probably off pretending to be dead again.
“She might have something important going on. She had an investigation a few days ago and still hasn’t reported back. Maybe it’s at a critical moment now.”
“Then let’s handle things on our end first.”
Celes made a swift decision.
“Let’s settle the alliance as soon as possible, then arrange for the civilians.”
***
Ella had guessed right.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Zero slipped into an alley at the first opportunity, found Lisa and the others, and started making all sorts of preparations.
The saltwater was ready, and she’d gotten the homemade Map.
“This was left by Granny. The black mark is the original site of the Shrine. The other red marks are places Granny guessed might be it. In reality, you can’t see anything there, but maybe with a different perspective, you’ll find more.”
Lisa told her, “Granny didn’t investigate each place one by one because they’re dangerous. You have to be careful.”
Zero nodded, carefully studied the Map twice, and memorized the marked locations.
“All right, let’s begin.”
Slipping into the saltwater, the girl once again entered her Necromantic Form.
***
The alliance meeting was held in a teahouse not far from the Market—yes, the one right across from the Workshop.
There was nothing special about it; it was just the closest spot.
General Yanpo came alone, not thinking much of it.
How could the Demon King harm him?
Then Ella’s hand was suddenly grabbed by Celes.
“If negotiations break down, or if it turns out they have other motives,” the Sword Saint girl calmly made a throat-slitting gesture, “we’ll just—!”
Ella broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly said, “He won’t! Yanpo’s been honest since he was a kid.”
“Honest since he was a kid? Since he was a kid?”
“Ahem, just a figure of speech. From what I know of him, there’s no way there’ll be trouble. Otherwise, would he dare come alone? That just shows he’s… well, not the brightest—uh, I mean, he’s straightforward.”
Celes thought about it and realized it made sense. Still, facing the cunning Demon Tribe Army, it was wise to keep a backup plan.
“Negotiation is part of forming an alliance too. I’ll leave it to you again this time.”
“No problem~”
Ella wiped her brow, shooting Yanpo a glare from afar. byd, why not bring a few more people with you?
Why insist on coming alone and making yourself stand out.
The others had already taken their seats. Because of his massive size, Yanpo sat by himself on one side.
Leah and Vina quietly sized him up.
Why is this guy so tall and so burly? He’s as big as two ordinary humans put together.
Even more curious, he’s got a horn on his head—no wonder he’s called the Rhinoceros-horn General.
Soon, the girl with icy blue hair and the pink-haired thunder girl entered too.
As the latter stepped in, Yanpo instinctively stood up.
“No need to be so polite, General. Please, sit.”
Ella gave him a warning look while speaking gently.
“We want to thank you and your men on behalf of everyone in Harbor City.”
Celes chimed in, “That’s right. If it weren’t for your timely rescue, even more people would have died at the hands of the Sirens.”
Hearing these two lines, Yanpo finally seemed to remember who he was supposed to be.
He gave a little cough and sat back down, calm as ever.
“We’re not like those barbaric Sirens. When we go somewhere, it’s to build a life. When the Demon King was still around, he always told us: wherever you go, if you want to live well, you have to focus on construction and development.”
Ella smiled and nodded.
“That’s right.”
Good, good, he’s kept my words in mind.
Even if it’s just flattery, I’ll accept it.
“Very well, General Yanpo. I believe the civilians of Harbor City share the same vision.”
Celes said. “I hope we can reach a consensus on the alliance agreement.”
She laid out a few demands.
First, the army must not interfere with Harbor City’s internal affairs and should only serve as defense against outside enemies.
Second, in general, they must not break the law or oppress civilians.
Any commercial activity in Harbor City requires application and approval.
And so on.
Yanpo agreed readily to most of the demands, but had a problem with the first:
“If something changes within the city, or if there’s internal unrest, are we supposed to just stand by and watch, even if Harbor City might fall into a dire situation?”
Celes thought for a moment before replying, “Any actions outside of defense must wait for official orders.”
While they talked, Ella pretended not to listen, occasionally sipping her black tea. It was really quite good.
Of course, that big oaf Yanpo had no idea the words he’d just used were ones she’d taught him. As for her purpose—
“I understand. In short, except for defending against outside enemies, any action the army takes in Harbor City requires an application and official orders. Here’s the question, then,” the Rhinoceros-horn General asked in a deep voice, “who will be responsible for reviewing and issuing these orders?”
That was a sharp question. Celes was a bit stumped.
“To be honest, it’s not that I don’t trust you, but the human officials—especially in places like this—are mostly just useless figureheads.”
Yanpo argued earnestly.
“Even if you sometimes get someone decent, they’re usually pretty mediocre.”
Celes couldn’t argue with that.
In theory, he was absolutely right.
If you had both good character and ability, would you really be assigned to a place like Harbor City?
And in reality, things were even worse than theory.
The Lanai Family was proof of that.
“What do you think?”
When she asked, Yanpo finally got to the key point: “With all due respect, the only person I can trust here is Miss Ayla. She’s made countless wise decisions and given us many excellent suggestions. Everyone in the army has faith in her.”