Conquer That Demoness

"The mana crystals in this mine are a valuable resource for the Lamia Clan, and besides wouldn't I be raising an enemy right under my nose if I grant you lordship over the people in the mine?" Rena argued with frowned eyebrows.

"You can consider the mine as a tributary state where I will pay a tribute to you annually. Besides, it is impossible that I will ever become your enemy with the size and the population of the mine being so small. Compared to the Lamia kingdom, the mine looks like a black dot on the map. I just want to experience the life of a king, thus my request." Venn rebutted her. 

Of course, he could simply threaten to take his own life to force Rena to accept his terms, but to grow his own land, he needed peace and time. Having a sour relationship would restrict his kingdom building plan greatly.

Furthermore, as the mine is located at the halfway point between the Lamia and the beast factions, the mine is in need of the Lamia's protection as well.

"1 tonnes, which is the average output of the mine in a year, payable every month." After contemplating Venn's proposal for a while, Rena gestured with her index finger.

"This bitch!" Hearing her rebuttal, Venn cursed under his breath. He needed to think on his feet immediately to counter her lowballing.

In a negotiation, only the results matter. At the end of the day, what both parties want are the maximum benefits for themselves. Thus, he needed to act like Rena had gained a huge benefit at the expense of him.

"This is daylight robbery! The only valuable resource in the mine is the mana crystals. You are practically killing me if you expect 1 tonnes of mana crystals every month as tribute! 0.1 tonnes, payable every month. This is my offer. You can trade for the additional output with other resources like food and raw materials." Venn violently protested, huffing and puffing on the surface, but deep inside, his calmness remained unchanged.

"What? The ownership of this mine is under the Lamia Clan in the first place. 0.8 tonnes!"

"0.1 tonnes. No more and no less!"

"0.5 tonnes!"

"0.1 tonnes! Accept it, or else, I'm canceling this whole thing!" 

"Fine! Fine! Fine! It's a deal, what's your next request?" Rena reluctantly agreed on the surface, but it was an act as well. 

The mine in Cion wasn't all that valuable to her anyway and the mine's output was terribly little as compared to the other mines scattered across the Lamia territory. The reason she acted reluctantly was the same as Venn. In a way, her way of thinking was the same as Venn.

"Then, my third request will be the method of controlling the culling collar." Venn replied.

"The culling collars are created by Miranda. I can help you unlock your culling collar and the culling collars for the humans in the mine, but I cannot tell you the way to unlock them. All culling collars used by the Lamia clan are imbued with the same magic circles. Telling you the way would be like giving you the master key to all the kingdom's culling collars."

Hearing Rena's reasonable explanation made Venn nod his head. There was nothing he could do about it. He didn't need the collars to control the mine's population anyway.

"In that case, my last request is for you to invoke the Ancient Devil's Contract to protect all parties' interest in this transaction. After which, I will fulfill my duty and you will fulfill yours and we will go our separate ways. You will never step foot within the mine's territory and we will always be allies in arms." Venn spoke of his last request but he had little confidence on whether Rena would agree.

And as expected, Rena's eyes squinted into a slim line upon hearing Venn's last request and a murderous aura was emitted from within her to the surroundings. 

Within seconds, Venn could feel the air had turned ice cold with a layer of frost forming on his body, slowly freezing the blood that was flowing through his veins.

"Don't you trust my words? Do my words not suffice?" Rena said in a harsh tone, but Venn completely ignored her words, staring at her directly, biting his teeth hard to endure the icy cold air in the tent.

After his encounters with Erza, Rin and Rena, he knew that a Devil's promise cannot be trusted. Hence, the only way the deal with Rena could be achieved was by invoking the Ancient contract that he had learnt from the lores that the system had left behind.

There was no other way. No matter how much of a genius Rena was in magic, she could never defy the terms of the Ancient contract for it is a universal law that governs the world of Fiore.

"Since you knew about the ancient contract from the inheritance of the God Conqueror, I reckon that you should know about the detrimental harm for the user of this magic as well. For at least a month, I won't be able to use any magic and my body will be as weak as a little human girl with no form of defense. It is especially deadly to me and the Lamia clan when a full scale war with the beast clan is right around the corner."

"Furthermore, our fates will be intertwined with one another. If one of us dies from an unnatural cause, the other party will receive unimaginable and agonizing pain enough to cripple them. In the first place, the ancient contract was used in the past as a marriage contract between the Gods. The demons simply took it and modified it, using it for other applications. It could be said that we will be bound for our remaining life as… life partners if I evoked the ancient law.. Unless… fufufu~ that is what you are aiming for right from the start. But did you really expect me, one of the seven Great Devils of this world, to bind my fate with a mere human?"