Chapter 99: 99, Maple City, Duke Seifer, Negotiation 1
Translator: 549690339
Ten minutes later, Xi Fan descended from the clouds.
The chest part of his magic robe was almost shattered, and a half-meter long, heavily glowing hole was torn in his chest and abdomen.
Furthermore, his face turned purplish-black, clearly indicating he was severely injured.
“Master Xi Fan, are you seriously injured?” the princess asked with concern.
“I’m fine, just minor injuries,” Xi Fan answered, “As for Madeline, she was hit by my ‘Shadow Frenzy’. In less than a week, her soul will disintegrate and she will die.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
“Everything is for the Empire.”
Xi Fan turned into black smoke, flying back into the carriage.
The princess sighed slightly, looking towards Keerderon at her side: “Regroup, and continue towards Maple City.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Keerderon took the command and left.
Su Yu’s mission log was also updated.
“Ding! Your main questline has been updated! [Glory of the Goldfinch Empire (11/100)].”
“Mission requirement: Continue escorting [Princess Alyssa]’s convoy to Maple
City.”
“Mission reward: 300 Experience Points.”
After the battle ended, the players originally wanted to accompany Su Yu to Maple City.
But upon hearing that it would take three days of in-game time or six real-world hours to travel to Maple City, the players all decided to return to Goldfinch City.
However, they were able to teleport to Maple City using a player-exclusive magic circle, which wouldn’t disrupt participating in the next campaign.
In the end, only Su Yu followed the princess’s convoy, continuing towards their destination.
The rest of the journey was smooth sailing, without any attacks.
Six hours later, the convoy arrived at their destination—Maple City.
At the city gate of Maple City, Duke Anzu Seifer and his men had been waiting for them for a while.
Anzu Seifer was a middle-aged man in his forties with black hair and a beard, giving off an impression of mature seriousness.
He was currently wearing black armor and riding a tall and majestic black war horse, looking in the direction of the princess’s convoy.
Above the city gate, more than a hundred powerful figures hovered in the air.
In-game players and NPCs ranked fifth grade and above possess the ability to fly, and these more than one hundred fifth-grade strongmen were the direct subordinates of Duke Seifer.
The appearance of these strongmen in the sky above the city gate was not only to welcome the princess but also to show off their strength.
After the princess’s convoy arrived, Duke Seifer led his strongmen to greet them.
“Honorable Princess Alyssa, Master Xi Fan, we meet again!”
Duke Seifer dismounted from his horse, bowing slightly towards the princess and Xi Fan, a warm smile on his face.
Xi Fan did not respond, only nodding slightly.
He looked at the over one hundred powerhouses hovering in the sky, a trace of gravity flashing in his eyes.
The princess, holding Cat Morning Star, slowly walked down from the carriage, a smile on her face as well: “I’m very happy to see you again, Your Grace.” The two approached each other, shaking hands lightly.
Although they were mortal enemies on the battlefield, everyone maintained calm composure during negotiations.
“Let’s go into the city. I’ve prepared a top-tier welcome banquet for you. The city’s nobles and high-ranking powers will attend. I hope we all can have a delightful evening,” Duke Seifer said courteously.
“You are too kind.”
Princess Alyssa returned to the carriage while holding Cat Morning Star, and Duke Seifer mounted his horse once more.
Under the duke’s lead, the convoy entered Maple City.
Maple City was a large city in the northeastern part of the Empire, roughly the same size as Orleans City where Tina resided, with a population of about 400,000.
That night, Duke Seifer hosted a grand welcome banquet for the princess.
Su Yu was not qualified to attend the banquet.
Su Yu’s main storyline required him to report to the duke’s castle—Wolf Howl Castle—the next day, which would start two hours later.
In these two hours, Su Yu went to the leveling area outside the city to farm monsters, easily passing the time.
Two hours later, Su Yu came alone to Wolf Howl Castle located in the wealthy western district of Maple City.
Wolf Howl Castle was a giant castle nearly 20 meters high and four stories tall. There were arrow slits and watchtowers at the top of the castle, and a broad moat at the bottom of the castle. This was Duke Seifer’s lair.
Su Yu showed the badge given by the princess to the gatekeepers and smoothly entered the castle.
He made his way to the conference room on the second floor of the castle.
In the conference room, the princess’s side and Duke Seifer’s side each sat on opposite sides of the long table.
Su Yu arrived just in time, so when he got there, the negotiation had just started.
Of course, Su Yu didn’t qualify to sit at the table.
He stood behind the princess, serving as part of her entourage.
After some small talk, the negotiation between the two factions began.
The princess came this time ostensibly for peace and to call a halt to the war.
So, not long after the negotiation began, the minister in charge of negotiating, Xi’er, put forward their proposal:
“Your Grace, my suggestion is for the Goldfinch Royal Family and Kalet to rule separately along the Luminous River, with each side guaranteeing not to invade the other for 30 years.”
The Luminous River was a large river flowing through the central axis of the Goldfinch Empire from east to west. If both parties agreed to rule separately along the river, the division of the Goldfinch Empire into two was a foregone conclusion.
Duke Seifer put his hands together and held them to his mouth, his expression somewhat solemn: “I agree with your idea, but I have a requirement Goldfinch City must be ours.”
“That’s impossible, Your Grace,” Xi’er hurriedly replied, “Goldfinch City is a symbol of the Royal Family, we cannot…..”
“Wait a moment, Xi’er,” the princess interrupted her foreign minister, her gaze calm as she looked at Duke Seifer, “I can make a decision to concede Goldfinch
City to you.”
“Your Highness…” the foreign minister Xi’er was very unwilling.
“But I have one condition,” the princess continued, “Duke Landilus also needs to send a representative, and sign on the treaty.”
“Landilus…” Duke Seifer frowned.
Within Kalet, Duke Seifer has always argued for stopping and consolidating their gains.
They had already taken over half of the Goldfinch Empire, which was too large, and needed a long time to digest and absorb.
But Landilus didn’t agree.
Landilus is a pro-war faction. He advocates wiping out the Goldfinch Royal Family in one fell swoop, without leaving the royal family any chance to recuperate and rise again.
The viewpoints of the two have their reasons, yet they strongly disagree with each other. To make Landilus agree to the current negotiation conditions would be very difficult indeed.
“Your Grace, let’s be frank.” The princess spoke seriously, “If Duke Landilus does not agree with our agreement, then even if we come to an agreement, it won’t be of much use, don’t you agree?”
Duke Seifer nodded: “You’re right, Landilus is indeed an obstacle we cannot surmount…so be it, I will send a magical communication to Landilus right now. His envoy should be able to arrive by tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow we three parties will start the formal negotiation.”
“Alright, Your Grace. I hope we can reach an agreement soon.” The princess stood up and shook hands with Duke Seifer.
The princess’s first negotiation in Maple City had thus ended..