From Witcher to Lord of the Empire.

Chapter 264 Must Pull?Is it bad to be sincere?
Seeing the face of the Great Elder who suddenly changed from rain to sunshine due to the arrival of foreign guests, the atmosphere of everyone in Cintra suddenly eased.

After all, there will be negotiations for a while, and if the other party gets angry before they start, it will be very unfavorable to Lan En.

Herilera took a step forward and showed the lead ring in her hand: "Your Excellency, Great Elder, I have come here under the order of His Majesty Demavi, the King of Aedirn, hoping to continue our friendship..."

Heleila hadn't finished speaking, but she didn't expect the face of the elder to change again.

The ruler who has ruled Mahakam for centuries showed a mocking look at this time: "Ha! Demavi! I understand the little girl, I gave the symbol of friendship to that guy, but he took this treasure as if The little girl gave it to someone else like a blown kiss, do you think this is friendship?"

Herilera stopped abruptly, wanting to explode after hearing the elder's offense against her king.But she is not someone who doesn't know how to judge the situation, so she endured it after all.

"But it seems that Demavi really values ​​the Duke of Lannister very much. Is he wearing this ring because he is worried that he will be rejected? There is no need!"

The Great Elder began to change his face for the third time in a short period of time: "We invited Lannister, he doesn't need a ring. If he wants, I can make him a new one at any time!"

Brovar Hogg once again showed a smiling expression, and with his full head of white hair, he actually looked a little kind, but the atmosphere of the Sintra people could not relax at this time.

A moody opponent can be more of a headache than an angry negotiator.

If the other party is really moody, it means that the situation is out of control; if the other party is deliberately "moody", then the situation will only get worse.

After finishing speaking, the Great Elder no longer cared about Herilera, but turned to Lann: "I'm sorry Lannister, I didn't expect us to meet for the first time in this kind of place, but this is a characteristic of dwarves!"

The steel in the arsenal roared, and the weapons that had not been forged had a cold aura, but it was an aura that made the soldiers intoxicated.

"No, this is the best place, and it just so happens that what we're going to talk about later is probably related to this place." Lan nodded slightly, expressing his respect to the ruler of Mahakam.

"If you like steel, then I will start to like you!" The Great Elder expressed his affection without any scruples or cherishment.

But Lan no longer believed in the expression of the Great Elder, because it was well known that the Great Elder of the dwarves didn't like humans, so he adopted a policy that was close to closing the country.

……

Afterwards, Lan En and his party saw that the Great Elder changed his face again, and he angrily reprimanded several dwarven officers in the arsenal again.

After venting his anger, the Great Elder asked these dwarf officers as guides to lead everyone to a relatively secluded place—at least a place where the conversation would not be drowned out by the sound of iron strikes.

The two chairs were pulled away, Lan En and the First Elder sat down, and this long-awaited conversation began.

In Lan En's heart, the Great Elder has moved closer to "wild and calculating", but perhaps still influenced by the traditional atmosphere of the dwarves, the way the Great Elder talks is not very "human".

As soon as he sat down, he chose to go straight to the point.

"That little guy Carlo brought me a few blueprints, all of which are equipment skills lost by the dwarves in the past years and in the flames of war. He said you have more here?"

"Yes." Lane, who had dealt with the kings a lot, might be a bit slow to ask this kind of straight ball during the talks in the northern border.But after being baptized by Skellige at this time, Lan quickly made adjustments.

"I obtained relevant blueprints through some special channels, and what 'Machete' brought to you is a welcome gift. And I have more precious blueprints here, and those are the focus of our next discussion."

The Great Elder's face became serious: "I hope to see them with my own eyes."

"You can see part of it." The smile on Lane's face remained unchanged.

Lane didn't put his hands in his arms as a cover, it would have been better to show the Old Blood properly to the dwarves.

He patted the table with his left hand, and when he lifted his palm, there was already a stack of thin drawings on the table.

The Great Elder's eyes shrank suddenly, and even the blueprints couldn't attract him for a while.The aged but bright eyes looked at Lan En's left hand, and then at Lan En's lion pupil and the Lake Lady's sword behind him.

"Lei Anlun, Lei Anlun... I should have thought of it a long time ago. I should have thought of those poems about you a long time ago."

The Great Elder muttered a few words, he knew that since Lan En deliberately showed this ability, he obviously wanted to talk about it.But in order, the focus of the current topic is still on the equipment blueprints Lann took out.

"The Mahakam rune piercing sword... is an ancient style, which has been lost for a long time. Although it has been restored by the artisans to six or seven points, it turns out that these rune transmission lines are described in this way... If it is combined with new technology, it may be possible to create a brand new long sword..."

The Great Elder was not born to be a Great Elder. He also worked as a blacksmith when he was young, and he was a blacksmith centuries ago. Naturally, there is no need to say more about his eyesight.

His eyes became brighter and brighter, and he quickly continued to read: "Next is the Armor of Carbon Mountain... Uh, why is there only gauntlets?"

Not only the Armor of Carbon Mountain, but Lann's next stack of blueprints is basically only a part of a certain set, which belongs to a senior craftsman who can see the value at a glance, but it is not worth much if you don't get the full set. kind.

The top [Ancient Mahakam Rune Piercing Sword] is actually the only complete equipment blueprint.

The Great Elder calmed down, and switched his thinking mode from blacksmith to politician.

He snorted coldly: "I've heard many rumors about you, Lannister. They all say that you are a real knight. But I didn't expect you to still be contaminated with the bad habits of those kings, and you started to whine when you did things."

Lan En smiled: "Sitting in this position, some changes are always needed. I believe that the Great Elder must have a lot to teach me about this."

The Great Elder snorted noncommittally, and stared at Lan En's left hand, as if he wanted to squeeze out a few more drawings with his eyes.

"Make an offer, Lannister. You must have more than what I have. How can you return them to Mahakam?"

The Cintra people behind frowned imperceptibly.

"Where did the Great Elder say that these blueprints are the property of Sintra, how can you say 'return to Mahakam'?" Lann showed a helpless expression, seeming very sad, "And we Sintra don't want Money, what we need is 'help'."

Lan looked into the eyes of the Great Elder: "We want iron, tin, copper, and antimony raw ore, as well as alloy steel plates that have been forged. Besides, we also need a lot of armor—I know Mahakam It’s not completely closed, and it trades with humans on a regular basis. So there must be armor and weapons that fit human stature.”

The Great Elder also looked at Lann's lion pupils and blew on his beard: "These are all war consumables. To whomever you provide them during a war is equivalent to standing in line. And dwarves do not participate in human struggles, and Mahakam is absolutely neutral s country."

"I heard that there is only a small town left in Sintra, and you are allied with those green-skinned crazy women? Is that right?"

"Yes, I advance and retreat with the dryads and watch each other. And there are more non-human races in my country, and everyone gets along equally."

"There is something in your words, Lannister. You expected more than mines and armour, did you?"

Lan En lowered his head with a chuckle, then raised his head again: "I can't hide it from you, Great Elder."

If Mahakam is a completely closed country that excludes humans like the forest of dryads before, then it is really not certain that Lan will not come here.After all, the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Forest of Dryads was really a mistake, and it was difficult to replicate—and Lan didn't really want to replicate it here with the dwarves.

But in the future Lane knew, the dwarves would indeed send volunteers when Nilfgaard swept across the North.

However, the current thinking of the Great Elder and the thinking of the future Great Elder must not be equated, so Lane intends to artificially build a bridge of thinking for them.

Lane said sincerely: "I also hope to get the help of a Mahakam heavy infantry regiment to resist Nilfgaard's invasion of the northern border."

The Great Elder seemed to have heard something funny, he laughed and hammered on the table, causing the drawings on the table to scatter like snowflakes.

"Invasion of the Northern Territory? You might as well just say destroy Sintra. Lannister, do you regard us dwarves as mercenaries?"

"Lion, don't think that taking out a few lost ancient blueprints will make the lion open! These equipment blueprints are more of a symbolic and collection significance for Mahakam. The new technologies we have developed over the centuries are only You will be stronger than them! You humans are the only ones who blindly pursue and admire ancient technology!"

Listening to the elder's words, Lan sighed in his heart, and sure enough, even the dwarves still pulled a few times.Politics is politics.

"No, to resist Nilfgaard's 'Invasion of the North'."

"This process will help Cintra, but in the same way, it will also help you Mahakam—Grand Elder!"

Lan propped his hands on the table and leaned forward slightly.He's tall, especially for a dwarf.

So the Great Elder jumped directly onto the table.

"Mahakan is the only country established by a non-human race, Great Elder." Lan said quietly, "and the reason why it can exist for such a long time is because the four northern kingdoms happened to surround it from four directions: southeast, north and south. live in the mountains."

"Because of the unique terrain, you don't have to worry about any country being able to attack you alone. Instead, you can take advantage of this to sell weapons to various countries, use the natural dangers here to recuperate, and even do more things."

"However, what if a unified regime emerges in the northern border? And it is still a military regime with a complete army of warlocks and enough to weaken the natural danger of Mahakam to the extreme. How will you, Grand Elder, deal with it?"

The Great Elder stood on the table, even so he was half a head shorter than Lan En.

"I'm about to laugh, Lannister. As the lion of Cintra, who is praised in poetry, do you actually admire Nilfgaard so much? Just now, do you think Emhyr can unify the North?"

Lan shook his head: "I despise the enemy strategically, but I can't overemphasize the enemy tactically. Especially since I have fought against Nilfgaard head-on, I understand them."

"I believe that you, Great Elder, will not miss important news from the outside world. Then you who have kept the dwarves' fire alive for centuries must have enough foresight to see this fact: If the northern border continues to develop like this Go on, it is only a matter of time before Nilfgaard is fully invaded."

The Great Elder grinned. He didn't refute Lane's words, but said, "If Fultestay hears your words, I'm afraid the northern border will fall apart by now."

Lane didn't answer this sentence, but withdrew the topic: "I heard that His Majesty Fuertestad once wanted to attack Mahakam, but was dissuaded by His Majesty Demavi. One reason was because of insufficient troops, and the other The reason is that there are still three major powers watching, so he can't spare his hands."

"But what will happen if Nilfgaard unifies the North—even if it's just the half of the North near Mahakam?"

"An army like Nilfgaard is best at supporting wars with battles. Do you think they will let Mahakam store up hundreds of centuries of wealth and miss you, the largest equipment supplier in the North?"

"Lower Soden is gone. If there is no more Sintra and Upper Soden, then Nilfgaard can really try to climb Mahakam..."

"I don't know if you have heard that Nilfgaard has slavery."

The elder fell silent.

After Lan finished speaking, he also fell silent.

He looked at the pair of old eyes on the opposite side, and suddenly felt something was wrong.

Although the Great Elder was silent, his expression was calm.There is neither the kind of sudden surprise of being pointed out by others, nor the kind of rejection of encountering opposing opinions.

It was a calm.

Everything Lane said did not surprise him, and he had thought about these issues a long time ago.It's just that he thinks more and has more things to weigh.

"Your tongue is smarter than a spring, and your voice is stronger than a bellows. You are nothing like Calanthor, Lannister."

The Great Elder didn't change his expression anymore, but just shook his head: "But you said one thing wrong, Lannister. The reason why our dwarves can survive until now is not only because of Mahakam's natural danger."

Lan showed a posture of listening, wishing to hear more about it.

"We dwarves are an ancient race. We lived in this land long before those long-eared elves came to the land in white ships - and the confluence of the celestial spheres that brought you humans to this world was later than the elves. for more than 2000 years."

"Many ancient races at the same time as us have disappeared, and our dwarves and dwarves have lived hand in hand in Mahakam."

"I don't know what happened thousands of years ago, but I know how the dwarves survived in the last few hundred years."

"Those long-eared elves have been fighting with you for hundreds of years, and since then the last elder has ordered to abandon all the land outside Mahakam, build high walls, and block mountain roads—now look again, elves But what decent agglomeration could be called a 'town'? Let alone a 'country!'"

"The elves, in their last desperate attempt to drive you humans from your lands, sent a messenger to Mahakam, who spoke impassionedly that there must be unity among the ancient races. But we will then He kicked it out and the gates were closed for 100 years."

"By the time I ordered to open the gate of Carbon Mountain again, the elves have been completely overthrown by you. The elves have been completely defeated, the country has been reduced to ruins, and the battlefields from Feilong Mountain to Anglin are covered with dead soldiers. If I had ordered to join the battle at that time, the dwarves would not have ended up any better than the elves."

The Great Elder shook his head and sighed, his eyes seemed to have a bit of guilt for the elves, but his words showed that he had no regrets.

"But now I see that the same thing is still happening. But from 'human' and 'elf', it has become 'southerner' and 'northern'. If it is subdivided, it can also be regarded as two races." .”

The Great Elder, who abides by the tradition and the law, stared into Lann's eyes and said, "So Lannister, do you think that the current Nilfgaardian invasion will be more tragic than the previous racial wars? Why do the dwarves have to help you?" Woolen cloth?"

The history of dwarves is unknown how much longer than humans.According to the calendar, it is now 1265, but the recorded history of the dwarves can be counted as nearly 3000 years before the human epoch.

The Great Elder brought up the battle between the elves and humans, and it was really hard for Lan to refute anything from this perspective, after all, he had not personally experienced the original war.

But Lan was still not refuted, and he still had cards in his hand.

Lann said calmly: "But the dwarves now are different from the dwarves back then, aren't they? The dwarves back then didn't have all the aspects that infiltrate human society today, such as those huge numbers—dwarf bankers."

As soon as these words came out, the dwarf elder in front of Lan suddenly became fierce.

(End of this chapter)