Chapter 99: Fat Lamb to the Slaughter

“Sir Yang, if you become a town leader under our empire, the empire can give you a large amount of support in terms of finance and military. You can purchase the Rossi Empire’s Gaul Warhorses that are famous all over the world at an extremely low price, and you can build a private army of up to three thousand people. In fact, if there is a need, the empire could even send an army to defend your territory. You wouldn’t need to worry about a Banto attack!”

After tossing out his lure, Renaya took a gentle sip of the refreshing jasmine tea. Terras Forest was rich with resources and Wissen Town had unique conditions. He believed that Yang Ling wouldn’t pass up this rare opportunity. After all, if Steve established a solid control over Wissen Town, it would severely limit Yang Ling’s development. The dwarf weapon shop and Shangri-La would also be wasted efforts.

Renaya was confident, but he soon realized that he had made a mistake. Yang Ling was completely uninterested in Renaya’s offer!

My private army would have to be smaller than three thousand people?

Yang Ling let out a cold smile. He would truly be an incurable idiot if he fell for Renaya’s trap while he had such an advantageous position. Renaya was right. He had to establish firm control over Wissen Town and chase away the forces of the Banto Empire. But that did not mean that he had to bend his knees and become the Rossi Empire’s puppet.

“Prince, to tell you the truth, I’m merely a merchant. I do not have much of an interest in being a town leader!” Yang Ling retreated as a means of advancement. He calmly said, “I am accustomed to freedom. I might live in Wissen Town today, but I might decide to roam the Livenza Alliance someday. Being free like that is comfortable!”

Renaya was very surprised. He had thought that Yang Ling would try to negotiate for more benefits, like expanding the scale of the army to ten thousand men or requesting that the empire supply him a large number of warhorses for free. But he had never expected Yang Ling to directly say that he wasn’t interested in being a local ruler.

Just what family does Yang Ling belong to?

As Renaya watched Yang Ling lazily reclining in his large chair, Renaya could not understand what the young man was thinking. He wasn’t sure if this was simply a negotiating tactic, or if Yang Ling was truly uninterested in being the Leader of Wissen. After all, a noble from a rich family would definitely control a sizeable area of land. It was possible that Yang Ling truly wasn’t interested in the faraway Wissen Town.

Harribell was observing from the side, and she quickly understood Renaya’s plans and Yang Ling’s intentions. After deliberating for a moment, she came up with a smart idea. “Prince, I propose that we do business. As long as you are willing to pay an adequate price, we would help you foil the battle strategies of the Banto Empire. We would all get what we want. How’s that?”

“Interesting. What requests do you have? Feel free to voice them!” Renaya quickly calmed himself down after the surprise.

Any price was negotiable. He wasn’t afraid of their request; he was only worried that they would have no interest in dealing with Steve. If that was the case, there was no way that he could succeed in foiling the Banto Empire’s plans with his abilities alone.

“Simple. Twenty thousand Gaul Warhorses, three crystal mines near the borders of Livenza, and a million Purple Crystal Coins. We’ll deploy our troops right away!”

Harribell had come prepared. The Boulade Merchant’s Association under her control had long set their sights on the three premium crystal mines under Rossi control near the borders of the Livenza Alliance. Unfortunately, the large merchant associations in the Rossi Empire had also set their sights on them, so the competition was intense. How could she miss this opportunity today, now that she had encountered Prince Renaya?

Crystal mines?

Renaya was shocked, looking at the veiled Harribell. The three premium crystal mines near the borders of Livenza had only recently been discovered, and even he had just received the news. He did not expect Yang Ling to have made preparations so quickly.

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He sure lives up to his reputation as a noble from a rich family. His sources of information are impressive, and he has many exceptional followers, Renaya thought.

After exchanging opinions with the tactician behind him, Renaya clenched his teeth and said, “The warhorses and crystal coins are no problem, but I can only promise one crystal mine for the time being. I’ll try fighting for the other two mines when I return to the empire after the mission is successfully completed.”

With his authority in the military, trading twenty thousand warhorses wouldn’t be a problem. And even though a million Purple Crystal Coins was not a small sum, he believed that the finance minister wouldn’t give him too much trouble over it. The only issue was the three premium crystal mines. He had heard that the nobles within the country had already begun fighting over them due to the number of crystals they contained. Even his father was feeling the heat from the fights. Renaya was not confident that he could obtain all three of the crystal mines.

Even though twenty thousand warhorses, one crystal mine, and a million Purple Crystal Coins was not a small sum, Renaya was willing to pay any price to foil the plans of the Banto Empire, for the long term interests of his own nation.

Seeing Renaya readily promise one crystal mine, Harribell was incredibly excited despite her unchanging expression. According to reliable information, the three crystal mines contained a large number of crystals. One of those crystal mines contained more crystals than a dozen ordinary crystal mines. They were also easy to harvest. Gaining control of even one crystal mine was a windfall. They would definitely turn a huge profit.

“Thank you for your large gift, prince!” Harribell smiled then continued, “If you could continue supporting us as you have been, we will not mind gathering a large number of warriors to exhaust the energies of the Banto soldiers over a long period of time. I would think that your empire would be glad to see another independent territory opposing the Banto Empire!”

Independent territory?

When Harribell said this, Renaya looked at Yang Ling, who was still lazily reclining in his chair. Renaya understood that Yang Ling had finally voiced his true request. Yang Ling had played him, and he felt as though he was trying to swallow something bitter.

A wily merchant, a wily merchant even more cunning than a fox!

Renaya’s face turned a steel green as he looked at the smiling Yang Ling. As the Twelfth Prince of the Rossi Empire, he had bullied others ever since he was young. All his life, be it leading armies to battle or dealing with the internal politics of his kingdom, he had never once faced such a loss.

“Sir Yang, supporting you as an independent leader is not an issue, but there would be no warhorses, crystal mines, or crystal coins in that case!” Seeing the fuming Renaya, the tactician behind him quickly stepped out and cast a secret Soul Spell to help Renaya calm down quickly.

Goode smiled as he spoke from behind Yang Ling. “Hehe, with our abilities, we will be able to establish control over Wissen Town even without your support. Somehow I doubt that you will want the independent Wissen Town to side with the Banto Empire, selling them large amounts of various resources at a cheap price!”

Goode’s words struck right at Renaya’s weakness!

It didn’t matter if the Banto Empire directly controlled the resources in Terras Forest or received strategic resources indirectly through Yang Ling; it would be disadvantageous to the Rossi Empire either way.

Renaya understood that after receiving a large amount of resources, the Banto Empire would not only avert their financial crisis, but they could also strengthen their military significantly, obtaining the upper hand in their border skirmishes with the Rossi Empire. This outcome would be unacceptable to Renaya’s father, who hoped to expand their territory.

Also, the Rossi Empire was now conducting a large scale invasion of the Apennine Plains to the north. If they were to enter a large scale conflict with the Banto Empire in the south, they would be stuck in a battle on both sides. That could be disastrous.

With time being tight and the worsening situation, Renaya had no choice but to accept once again. With the negotiations of his tactician, he finally got Yang Ling’s promise to mobilize his troops immediately for the price of ten thousand Gaul Warhorses, one crystal mine near the Livenza border, five hundred thousand Purple Crystal Coins, and the Rossi Empire’s support of Yang Ling as an independent leader.