Chapter 676 Negotiation
Chapter 676 Negotiation
The Demon King’s face was serene as he looked at the two human envoys, both of which Wolfe noted were newly advanced Saints, making him the lowest ranked person at the table.
The Cardinal cleared his throat and continued. “As I was saying, there are accusations that a Saint from the Demon Castle joined the battle against a Rank Four Phalanx formation. What do you have to say to these allegations.”
The Demon King looked to Wolfe, as he was the one who caused the problem to begin with, and Wolfe sighed in acceptance.
“As you can see, I am no Saint, in either the literal or the figurative sense of the word. I was studying Earth Magic in the sitting room of the suite that I have borrowed for the duration of my visit, and the attack interrupted my work.
I do apologize for taking my frustrations out on your army, but I am sure you can understand my position here. Enlightenment comes before the petty squabbles of politicians and their armies.” Wolfe explained.
For a moment, everyone just stared at him, dumbfounded. The lie detector was glowing a faint green, showing that his words were true, but not the whole truth, but none of them knew what to say to Wolfe’s casual disregard for human life.
They had all heard that the Magi were pacifists, isolated in their towers and living for magical research and knowledge, but they had never considered what might happen if one of them abandoned that stance of pacifism and simply became an antisocial hermit.
“So you’re saying that you do not regret your actions?” The General asked.
“Of course I do. I had things planned for the day. Research, snacks, cuddling with a succubus. But instead I am here with you and that most marvellous hat.”
The Cardinal made a short gesture like he wanted to protect his headwear from Wolfe’s attention, but the General smiled in amusement.
“It is a most marvellous hat, isn’t it? It is the mark of his office, given to him by the Divine One himself. Is it true that Magi can see the weaves of magic in an enchanted item?”
Wolfe nodded. “When there are too many of them, it becomes impossible to pick them all out, but even then, I can usually get a general idea of what they’re intended to do.”
“Is that why you targeted him at the end of the battle?” The General asked.
“I wasn’t actually targeting him, I just unleashed attacks into the barrier so that everyone would understand that the first time wasn’t a fluke.”
Again, the truth spell glowed green, and the two human officials glanced at each other in concern.
“What would you have done if the barrier hadn’t held? You are just as human as we are.” The Cardinal asked harshly.
The man truly believed that. Though the words could be taken two ways, implying that he didn’t believe they were fully human either, the spell was still showing truth.
“If a single volley from me was enough to break the defences of your Command Group, you didn’t have any business launching a Crusade into the Demon Realms in the first place.” Wolfe shrugged.
“Well, now that we’ve determined that you’re not part of the Demon Kingdom, and you’re not at the Saint Rank or higher, we must deal with the matter of you attacking our armies.” The Cardinal announced.
Wolfe feigned ignorance. “I was under the impression that yesterday’s incident was dealt with when you chose to get the message and leave.”
The General’s face remained impassive, used to the trash talk and banter of a battlefield, but the Cardinal looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel in his head.
Eventually, the man took pity on the cleric and placed a calming hand on his shoulder.
“Relax, the Magi is testing us to see if we are truly here to learn or if we are just here for a fight.” He whispered.
That seemed to calm the Cardinal down for a moment. But then he launched back into his tirade again.
“As I was saying, reparations must be made for the loss of human lives during your intervention in the battle.” The Cardinal demanded.
Wolfe took a pen from the table and carefully dipped it in the inkwell, wondering if he could even write with one of these things. He had done it a few times in the past, but just for personal amusement, as calligraphy was a lost art, and fountain pens were not well suited for writing parcel addresses.
They had lost a Phalanx of men, but most of the gear had survived. The real question was if they had done any damage beforehand.
“Your Majesty, did the earlier attacks cause any lasting damage to the Palace?” Wolfe asked.
“Nothing that a few days with an Earth Magic adept crew can’t fix.” The King shrugged.
Wolfe nodded, and wrote a number down on the paper.
“Does that look suitable to you?” He asked the Cardinal directly.
The Cardinal stared at the number for a while, and then looked back up at Wolfe.
“What is this?”
“An equivalent replacement for the damage my strike caused. Man-hours of training for the soldiers, minus the man-hours to repair the damage to the palace, multiplied by the exponent of the Rank of the workers needed. Then converted to the equivalent in magical gear at fair market value. As you can see, my calculation is two hundred sets of magical weapons and robes, enchanted to the Rank Four level, as you issue to your soldiers.” Wolfe explained.
“This is ludicrous.” The Cardinal shouted.
“I can enchant them to a higher standard if that is the problem. Perhaps you would like a multi-elemental array on the clothing? They’re quite popular among the ladies of my hometown.” Wolfe offered.
The Cardinal suddenly got up and stormed away, fuming mad, while the General was looking at the numbers on the page.
“Did you really come up with that math in your head?” He asked.
“Yeah, I’m quite skilled with simple arithmetic, especially when I can multiply by even hundreds. I also knew all the variables to start with, so there was no need for too much calculation. It’s a pity that they came here to throw their lives away, though. Even if I hadn’t intervened, an attack on the castle would have led to massive casualties.”
“The Archbishop should be on his way here now. He will make the final decision on whether the price is reasonable. I am here as the expert on military law, and as you are not a Saint, that matter was solved more easily than expected.” The General explained.
The Demon King smiled at him. “It seems that we have both become redundant during the aftermath of the battle, General.”
“Indeed we have, but sometimes it is better that way. If the clerics decide that the price isn’t reasonable, they might want to go back to war again, and then we can have our time in the sun.”
The General paused after that. “And I don’t mean because the Magi created a second one in the sky so that he could watch more comfortably at night. No offence, Patriarch, but your people’s reputation for unreasonably esoteric usage of magic precedes you.”
“None taken. I’m not particularly skilled with Light Magic anyhow. I am the Noxus Family Patriarch.”