Mia

As the days went by the chances of Melissa winning this war were diminishing. New recruits didn't measure up to the soldiers they were replacing and with that, it was clear that her army quality was decreasing by the day.

The only way to deal with it was to kill the generals responsible for the casualties on her side, but the plan I developed to deal with them would require Melissa's trust, and even then, it would still be a bet if it was going to work out. What's more, Melissa would have to allow me to potentially put someone from her tribe in danger, which wasn't something easy to convince her about.

I could talk and agree with her on many things, but this detail was usually a deal breaker, and sadly, the items coming from the Gacha weren't opening up any new strategies...

My best bet would be to let things play out for now until she became desperate enough to rely on what I proposed, but at the same time, the more desperate she became, the harder would be for us to turn this war in her favor...

Melissa: "Boy, I see you're back again today. Did you bring me any goods?"

Miwen: "Yeah, but it's more of the same to be honest, don't expect too much out of it."

Melissa: "It's already more than enough, we'd be lucky to find a blacksmith capable of producing your high-end items."

Miwen: "If only they were that reliable huh? Even though I bring a bunch every day, the quality is completely random, and most of the time there's nothing that useful."

Melissa: "You don't need to downplay it like that you know? It's not like I was expecting you to bring me a single item that could instantly win me this war."

Miwen: "Is that so? But it raises the question, how exactly do you expect to win then?"

Melissa: "Oh... Is about that again huh?"

Miwen: "You bet. It's clear that what I'm offering you has a minimal impact, but if you went along with my plan we could-"

Melissa: "Thankfully I came prepared for it then..."

The sudden shift in direction, from someone who was resisting the idea, came to me as a surprise, but what's more surprising was the presence of another person in this room.

A girl with long silver hair and a slim body, it's a bit of a contrast with Melissa's well-defined curves, but with her face, there's no one who wouldn't call her cute. Even when she glares at you menacingly without talking at all, like what she's doing to me right now.

This is Melissa's daughter, Mia. She's been bringing the items I provide to the tribe in place of Melissa when she cannot do it. This girl keeps minimal contact with me and it was a bit hard to deal with her in general.

It's clear she isn't fond of the idea of getting assistance from someone outside her tribe like me, but she also shows great respect and obedience towards her mother, and thus, never once did she fail her task, even when it seemed like she couldn't stand to look at me.

I must note that nowadays it's a bit better, like her mother, she's a tough nut to crack, but slowly I feel like she's becoming more comfortable in my presence.

Her being in this room has become a bit of a common occurrence, but since Melissa is already here, I don't think there's any reason for her presence.

Miwen: "So, what exactly is this all about?"

Melissa: "For what you had in mind, you'd need both myself and another subject of mine at the very least, isn't that right? Well, here you go, you can use Mia as you'd like."

Upon hearing her mother's words, Mia glares surprised at her, and although she clearly doesn't want to be subjected to it, the blush on her face indicates to me that if it was her mother's order, she would actually consider going along with it.

I won't deny that Melissa's words also gave me some ideas of my own, but of course, I won't be doing anything along those lines, I didn't come here for that anyway.

Miwen: "I believe I told you that whoever you chose to accompany me would be the one in most danger. My allies and I can quickly escape if things turn out bad, but your subject would have to face one of the generals alone..."

Melissa: "Can't you see I'm warning you here? If things turn out badly, I'll obviously focus on rescuing my daughter before following your plan or saving you. What's more, you need someone who you can trust your back to, right? In the tribe right now, aside from myself, I believe Mia is the only one who wouldn't kill you on sight..."

What she's saying makes sense, but something feels wrong about this. First of all, yeah, I can trust Mia to an extent, even more so when it's an order from her mother. It's also true that Mia somewhat trusts me at least to not bring active harm to her tribe. But that's only because of the time she spent in this jail, seeing how I meant to help her tribe out and how I didn't have any kind of negative feelings towards her.

I believe that anyone Melissa sent to do this task in the first place would end up coming to the same conclusions about me. Hell, someone else might've even befriended me at this point. So the crux of her argument, the fact that I can trust Mia and Mia trusts me, is only really true because she decided to make the situation like this.

So, since when did she plan to arrange things this way? And with what intent? This woman is really cunning, getting a good read on her actions takes all my brain power, but discerning her intentions is even more troublesome.

For now, I believe that she doesn't mean any harm to me, so the arrangement of this situation either results in a positive for me, Melissa herself, or Mia.

I think I can let things go like this, it seems like Mia is also quite capable herself, so there shouldn't be any problems about that...

Melissa: "I also believe coming face to face with one of the enemy generals would be a good experience for her."

I showed too much concern and lost myself in thought trying to figure her out. I doubt that's her hidden intention, but it's smart of her to hide the truth behind another truth, even more so while being reasonable.

Miwen: "Well, it's your daughter that you will be putting in danger, so I won't object. But if you agree to it, I believe we can do it tomorrow night."

Melissa: "Fair, we need to discuss the finer details, like the locations and timing. Come here Mia, you will need to pay attention to this."

Throughout this whole discussion, Mia had no input of her own, although her expressions didn't hide her concern, everything her mother told her to do she instantly agreed. It seems to me like they care about each other a lot, but Mia still greatly respects her mother as a leader.

Melissa's decision still bothers me a bit, but this is the best I could come up with the limited time and resources we have at our disposal. So while I believe it's still a bet if it's gonna work out, if it does, then it will bring a big upset to this whole war.