novelraw Chapter 133: Who works for Whom?
Chapter 133: Who works for Whom?
The Dwarves coming to chat was unexpected for Ambrose.
The formal negotiations were only a few days away. Why was Hoffman Ironfist visiting suddenly? He knew the Elves were staying here. Did he want to reach some consensus before the official meeting?
That seemed plausible.
The biggest fear in negotiations was a breakdown. Without any tacit understanding between the parties, it was easy to get into a heated argument and say something extreme or irrevocable, which would drag the negotiations out for a long time.
Hoffman Ironfist's visit was surely to confirm the bottom line with Catherine, making it easier to maintain restraint during the formal talks.
*It should be like that.*
Ambrose didn't take it too seriously. After weaving a "corporate slave" future for Catherine, he knew this Elf Queen wouldn't be in any danger, at least not until this war ended.
So, he could relax a bit. The rest would proceed step by step; Fate would arrange everything.
Hoffman Ironfist seemed quite anxious. A few hours after sending the visit request, he arrived at Ambrose's castle.
Heggie Stone, the vampire middleman, accompanied Hoffman.
Ambrose, along with Catherine, politely received the group of Dwarves.
Whether it was because the Fate Weaving was too effective or not, Catherine had already started to inhabit her role. She didn't look like an Elf Queen, but rather like Ambrose's assistant.
When Hoffman Ironfist saw Catherine coming out to welcome them as well, his expression shifted curiously. He whispered to Heggie Stone, "Is this Elf Queen fake? Her welcoming us alongside your friend doesn't seem to fit protocol, does it?"
Heggie Stone shook his head. "I don't understand Elf etiquette, but if you tell me this is a fake Elf Queen, then how beautiful must the real one be?"
Hoffman Ironfist couldn't help but glance at Catherine a few more times and had to admit his old friend was right. Such charm couldn't be faked; otherwise, the Elves wouldn't need to fight wars. They could just send a few Elf maidens to walk around, and the continent would be unified.
But Hoffman Ironfist still keenly sensed something amiss. Queen Catherine was too close to this Lich; it didn't fit normal social distance at all. Wasn't the "High" in High Elf supposed to mean arrogant? Undead should be the race they despised the most, right?
Despite being full of doubts, Hoffman Ironfist kept his purpose in mind.
*Find a way to get Catherine to leave this Lich castle, so the Elves fall into the trap again.*
Hoffman Ironfist tried hard to remain calm as he followed Ambrose into the castle.
Ambrose, as always, served plain water to everyone, claiming that Liches didn't need to eat or drink, so he hadn't prepared anything.
Heggie Stone looked at Ambrose with utter disdain. He had intended to mooch some blood here. *You're a Lich, fine, no wine or delicate snacks, but not even fresh blood? Are you trying to stiff a dead man?!*
Ambrose ignored Heggie Stone's resentful gaze. The vampire wasn't the protagonist today; why so much complaint? Did he not see that the Hand of the King and the Elf Queen didn't mind?
Hoffman Ironfist took a sip of the bland, tasteless water and took the initiative to speak, "It is presumptuous to disturb you today, and rather rude. But with the talks imminent and the previous accident in mind, I wanted to meet with Her Majesty Catherine in advance. I hope the previous ambush incident won't affect our upcoming negotiations."
Catherine said calmly, "It was just an accident. Fortunately, with Master Ultraman's help, no Elves died. After treatment, they are all beginning to recover."
*Not a single Elf died?*
Hoffman Ironfist was somewhat disappointed. He previously only knew Catherine was safe, but not the details.
*Using a Hell Gate for an ambush and failing to kill even one Elf? The Cerberus Family is truly useless.*
*Or perhaps... this Lich is too strong?*
Hoffman Ironfist looked at Ambrose, who had taken human form. It seemed he needed to re-evaluate this Lich's true strength.
Ambrose saw the disappointment hidden deep on Hoffman Ironfist's face but didn't find anything wrong with it. Although the Dwarves and Elves were starting peace talks, their stance was still hostile. It was normal to be disappointed hearing the enemy suffered no casualties.
Just like if Ambrose heard Ryan was at war but kept winning, he would also feel very disappointed.
Ambrose didn't want to waste time, so he suggested directly, "Lord Hoffman, since you are here today, we can actually discuss some details of the negotiation in advance. If we can reach a consensus now, perhaps the formal negotiation will go much smoother. What do you think?"
Hoffman Ironfist had originally wanted to find an excuse, like inviting Catherine to see their newly built palace, to see if he could get her to leave the castle.
But with Ambrose suddenly bringing this up, he had no reason to refuse. After all, the peace talk was the major event. If he changed the subject abruptly, it would easily arouse suspicion.
"In that case, we can indeed exchange views beforehand. I am also very curious why the Elves, who have always been aloof from the world, suddenly deployed troops. The territory of the City of Alchemy shouldn't mean anything to you, right?"
Facing Hoffman Ironfist's question, Catherine was prepared.
"Actually, it's because the City of Alchemy owed the Elves a huge sum of funds. In recent years, the City of Alchemy has been borrowing heavily from outside. Considering we were neighbors, we lent them a large amount of supplies and gold. Who would have thought the City of Alchemy would be destroyed overnight? To guarantee the interests of our Elf race, we took the initiative to send troops to reclaim what belongs to us from this land."
The secret of Magic Addiction couldn't be exposed, so a plausible excuse was needed. This was something the Elves had prepared long ago.
Anyway, the City of Alchemy was gone. Whether they really owed money was up to the Elves to say; there was no way for anyone to verify it.
"Is that the reason?"
Hoffman Ironfist didn't think too deeply about it. It was a fact that the City of Alchemy had a serious economic crisis before its destruction.
Although this reason sounded reasonable—if a debtor died, the debt didn't vanish for a nation—sending troops to seize wealth was a very logical situation.
While the Elves' previous actions were a bit strange, he really couldn't pick any holes in this.
Ambrose saw that Hoffman Ironfist seemed to accept this explanation, so he chimed in, "Exactly. So the Elves don't actually want to fight for this land; they just want to guarantee their interests. I have already spoken with Her Majesty Catherine. As long as they can be guaranteed to recover the debt, the Elves can forgo the territory of the City of Alchemy."
Hoffman Ironfist nodded repeatedly. At first, he didn't feel anything was wrong, but hearing the last sentence, he suddenly couldn't stay calm.
"Wait, what did you say? The Elves won't fight us for the land?"
Hoffman Ironfist truly thought he had misheard. Wasn't this exactly what the Dwarf Kingdom wanted most?
"We Elves have always loved peace. War is a helpless act. If there is another way to solve the problem, we wouldn't let Elves go to the battlefield. Every Elf should live a happy and peaceful life."
Catherine said this very sincerely; these were indeed her true feelings.
If there were a choice, the Elves really didn't like fighting. Painting, playing music, planting flowers, and drinking tea at home all day—how happy that would be. Only the damned Magic Addiction destroyed everything. Fortunately, now that a solution had been found, Catherine decided to stop the war almost immediately.
Hoffman Ironfist found it incredible. Was it really that simple?
Then weren't all those previous schemes a waste of effort?
The Dwarf Kingdom was terrified they couldn't beat the Elves, so they used various means to weaken them, hoping to grab more land in advance to facilitate their migration.
As a result, the Elves weren't fighting them for it at all; they just wanted money?
That was easy. The Dwarf Kingdom lacked everything *except* money. They dug up massive amounts of gold from underground civilization ruins every year. The ones with the most gold on the continent were the Desert Dwarves.
"If it's just that, Your Majesty Catherine might as well state the price. Once we occupy the entire territory of the City of Alchemy, we will consider repaying this sum on their behalf."
Although Hoffman Ironfist's words sounded insincere—what did "consider repaying" mean?—both Ambrose and Catherine understood his true meaning. The Hand of the King was tempted. He wanted to solve the problem with money if he could.
Speaking ambiguously was a basic rule of negotiation. Nothing should be said definitely. Now was just discussing intent; when the formal contract was signed, it naturally wouldn't be "considering," but writing out the repayment details clearly.
Catherine glanced at Ambrose, seemingly asking what price would be appropriate.
When designing this excuse, the Elves had made up an astronomical figure, essentially wanting to use that number to shut everyone up and prove that the Elf deployment was imperative—that this war had to be fought.
But now, saying that fabricated number wouldn't be appropriate; it might cause the talks to collapse again.
So, Catherine couldn't help but look at Ambrose. This Lich was so good at "business"; he should be able to make up a reasonable number to quell this war quickly.
Hoffman Ironfist noticed Catherine's small gesture. This Elf Queen was acting too strangely. She didn't know how much money the City of Alchemy owed? Why look at that Lich?
Ambrose was the quickest to react in this regard. Feeling Catherine's gaze, he immediately understood her thoughts. He said to the already suspicious Hoffman Ironfist, "It's like this. To quell this war, I have already persuaded Her Majesty Catherine to lower the repayment requirements. We just hadn't had time to tell you. Now that Lord Hoffman has brought it up, let me state the City of Alchemy's debt on behalf of Her Majesty Catherine."
*Who are you kidding?* Hoffman Ironfist didn't believe for a second that this Lich would willingly help drive down the price in advance. A middleman making a profit on the difference was more like it.
Hoffman Ironfist said with a hint of sarcasm, "Master Ultraman, you have truly sacrificed a lot for this peace talk."
Ambrose didn't care about the sarcasm at all and replied earnestly, "Can't be helped. For peace."
"Alright, give me a price, so I know how much you've 'sacrificed' in this matter," Hoffman Ironfist said.
"The City of Alchemy... borrowed a total of ten billion gold coins from the Elves. Additionally, they owed payments for large quantities of magical materials over consecutive years, almost one hundred million a year, adding up to another ten billion gold coins. They even borrowed artifacts from the Elves, and because the City of Alchemy vanished, these artifacts were lost with it. These losses are significant."
The more Catherine listened, the more wrong it felt. Wasn't this the remuneration the Elves were paying *him*? This Lich exaggerated the number ten times and requoted it? Wouldn't the Dwarves be angry? The Elves couldn't accept this price; who could produce that much cash?
But hearing this, Hoffman Ironfist didn't immediately flip the table. Instead, he frowned and started thinking.
If it was just gold, twenty billion gold coins would be a painful blow to the Dwarf Kingdom, essentially breaking a bone, but gritting their teeth, they could produce it. If spending this money could avoid war with the Elves, the deal couldn't be called a loss.
The real problem was the Elves' lost artifacts. The Dwarves couldn't replace those.
Ambrose seemed to see through Hoffman Ironfist's thoughts and continued, "Regarding the loss of artifacts, I have discussed it with the Elves. I will work for the Elves for a long time in my capacity as a Legendary Mage to compensate for the artifacts."
Hoffman Ironfist was shocked but skeptical.
"Master Ultraman, although you are a Legendary Mage, excuse my bluntness, how many years would you have to work to compare to the Elves' lost artifacts?"
Ambrose said confidently, "I once received an invitation from the President of the Alchemists' Council; he hoped I would join them. I also held the title of Distinguished Scholar in the City of Alchemy, and my papers were published multiple times in *Legendary Incantations*. I am not an ordinary Legend, nor an ordinary Lich; I am a research scholar. The Elves have recognized my ability and believe I can assist them in forging new artifacts. If you don't believe me, you can ask Her Majesty Catherine for her opinion."
Catherine almost ground her teeth to dust. It was clearly *her* selling herself into servitude, so how did it turn into this Lich wronging himself to work for the Elves in his mouth?
The key was, she had to play along with his lie.
Seeing Hoffman Ironfist's skeptical look, Catherine could only agree, "Yes, Master Ultraman's wisdom is breathtaking. We are confident we can forge new artifacts."
This time, Hoffman Ironfist was truly shocked.
He felt he had already overestimated Ambrose's strength, but he didn't expect this Lich to be even more outrageous than he imagined.
Capable of forging artifacts... Even that group of Legends in the City of Alchemy hadn't managed to forge a single artifact, yet this Lich could?
If he could get this Lich to work for the Dwarves, could he also forge artifacts for the Dwarf Kingdom?
Maybe they could resist the Ryan Empire's invasion!
The desert Death Line wasn't 100% insurance. If the Ryan Empire didn't give up and broke through the Death Line to continue the invasion, the Dwarf Kingdom would have no retreat.
Thinking of this, Hoffman Ironfist felt tempted.
Perhaps, he could strengthen cooperation with this Lich.