Book 2: Chapter 171
Book 2: Chapter 171
Just as Igaru suspected, no reinforcements would arrive from the other cities near the Samis Great Forest. It was highly probable that Sshiris had deployed troops all around the forest in order to prevent anyone else from interfering.
There were two reasons why such tyrannical actions were possible.
One was that the Great Forest technically fell under Hirup’s jurisdiction and could be considered its territory. This meant that even if he didn’t try to think up some grand excuse, Sshiris had the right to prevent the intervention of other cities.
The other was the difference in strength between the cities.
To put it bluntly, Herui was only a small city on the edge of Combat Island while Hirup could be considered a mid-sized city.
So if he was determined to restrict access to the Samis Great Forest, then there was nothing Herui could do.
‘He’s being so shameless.’
Like Igaru, Ashstar’s expression was also bitingly cold.
She was glaring at Sshiris with her fists clenched.
She couldn’t believe that the City Lord was displaying such a low-class, shameful appearance in front of the hero she greatly admired.
Sshiris smiled and looked at Lukas.
Since he was not a fool, he should have already understood his point by now.
There would be no reinforcements from other cities.
In other words, Sshiris had reduced his options to one.
Nevertheless, although he had lost his right to choose, it couldn’t be considered a bad deal for either of them.
After all, he really couldn’t do anything else in this situation. If he didn’t choose to cooperate, then the value of the Ancient Dragon’s corpse would plunge.
Sshiris didn’t openly say this because he wanted to see if this man could understand his situation. The same was true for the Dragonman, who had an appearance similar to a monk, standing beside him.
Lukas might have been desperately thinking at that moment, but that didn’t mean that other options would suddenly appear.
‘Now, then.’
Since he’d shown him the stick, it was time to show him the carrot.
Sshiris smiled at Lukas and said.
“It seems that you froze it with some kind of sorcery trick, but something on such a large scale can’t be used often, right?”
Then he added in a soft voice.
“Hirup is the city closest to the Samis Great Forest. In other words, these parts could be transported to it much faster than to any other city, so you wouldn’t have to worry about the ice melting.”
“…hoo.”
Lukas let out a soft sigh.
Sshiris took that as a sign of resignation, but that wasn’t the case.
When he looked up, he found that Lukas’ eyes were brimming with irritation.
In all honesty, this short meeting was beginning to get on his nerves.
He had a lot that he wanted to do, and from the start, he didn’t really care about how he disposed of the Ancient Dragon’s body.
He didn’t even care about selling it at a price higher than its original value. In fact, he didn’t care even if it was sold at a lower price.
As long as it wasn’t too cheap.
He’d heard that even if he got the lowest price possible, it would still be something that most people couldn’t afford.
That’s why Lukas wasn’t very pleased with ‘Bargan’s plan’.
Nevertheless, he decided not to say anything. After all, only a Dragonman would know Dragonmen best.
But when he saw them arrive, Lukas had intended to trade with Sshiris since he came first, but it seemed that the feeling wasn’t reciprocated.
Instead, Sshiris was clearly trying to take advantage of him.
Lukas became very displeased.
“Firstly.”
So he decided to clear up the illusion that this man in front of him seemed to be under.
“This ice will never melt.”
After everything he’d seen, he’d come to realise that Sshiris wasn’t a polite person at all, so there was no need to continue being polite.
“Haha. Can you still make jokes like that?”
Sshiris burst out laughing. He didn’t even care that Lukas was no longer being polite to him. In his opinion, Lukas had already lost his cool, which proved that everything was going just like he planned.
He pointed to the black dragon’s corpse with his fat fingers.
The half-melted ice had already caused the ground in the area to become damp and muddy.
However, Lukas spread his fingers and pointed his hand towards the pieces of ice. Showing it one time would be much more effective than explaining it one hundred times.
Crack crack crack!
From his open palm came a burst of icy wind that was so cold it felt like it was biting into their skin. This icy wind was so terrifyingly cold even though it had been blown away from them.
In an instant, the melting ice-covered parts of the Ancient Dragon’s corpse froze once again.
“O-, oh my God!”
“I-, impossible…!”
The mouths of not only Sshiris but also the Fighters from Hirup who accompanied him fell open.
In the blink of an eye, the Ancient Dragon’s corpse had become frozen once again.
“Secondly.”
Lukas looked up at the sky.
“You’re not the only one I can trade with.”
“Mm? What are you talking…?”
Suddenly, a huge shadow covered the area.
It was as though an enormous object had blocked the sun.
It couldn’t be a cloud. The Heavenly Realm was a world that existed above the clouds, so there were only two things in this world that could block the sun.
Flying dragons soaring across the sky,
And Sky Carriages.
But with this size… This was not a normal Sky Carriage.
Sshiris’ expression became stiff as he stared up at the sky.
“Th-, that…!”
Just as he let out a cry of shock, it appeared.
It was huge.
Extremely huge.
This was natural. After all, it had been able to cast a shadow so large it covered up the entire area for a moment.
Nevertheless, from its shape, it was obviously a Sky Carriage.
However, it was much larger than the ones Sshiris had brought with him. In fact, it was so large that it was still not certain whether all thirty or so of Sshiris’ carriages would be larger than it even if they were all combined.
And pulling this carriage was an enormous flying dragon. From a single glance, one could tell that this flying dragon was an Ancient Dragon.
“T-, the Sun Carriage…”
“It’s the Sun Carriage.”
“Did the Lord of a major city come in person?”
—Sun Carriage.
An extremely large means of transportation that only existed in eight major cities. And yet, five of these Sun Carriages appeared in the sky at the same time.
That wasn’t all. Each of the carriages carried a flag with different patterns engraved on them.
“Wh-, what the hell is this…? How did they…?”
This time, Bargan was the one who looked at Sshiris with the corners of his mouth raised.
It was very similar to the smile he had just shown at him.
Of the Eight Major City Lords, five of them had come to the Samis Great Forest at the same time.
This result far exceeded his expectations.
“…then, my Lord.”
Bargan bowed towards Lukas before continuing.
“Shall we prepare the negotiation table?”