Balmore Kingdom’s Army Arrives

One day quickly passed and the Balmore Kingdom's forty-thousand-strong army finally arrived in front of Samara City's walls.

Blanc knew that he had to be careful in the negotiations this time around because he didn't know what intentions the Balmore Kingdom had.

He instructed his messenger to talk to the Balmore Kingdom's messenger with utmost respect but if they turned hostile then there was no need for him to be respectful anymore.

Samara City's gates opened allowing the Rougenfort Kingdom's messenger to exit and slowly walk towards the Balmore Kingdom's messenger who was already waiting.

"Greetings, my name is Rozzi and I am Rougenfort Kingdom's messenger, may I know why your army is marching towards our city?"

Rougenfort Kingdom's messenger, Rozzi, spoke respectfully but he immediately went straight to the point and asked the most important question.

On the other hand, the Balmore Kingdom's messenger frowned after hearing Rozzi's words because Rozzi decisively claimed that Samara City was THEIRS leaving almost no chance for the Balmore Kingdom's messenger to have the moral high ground.

It seems that this negotiation would be harder than he thought.

"Hmmph! What a bold claim, Samara Kingdom is under our protection, and attacking Samara Kingdom is the same as disrespecting Balmore Kingdom!"

Rozzi's eyes narrowed into slits after hearing the words of the Balmore Kingdom's messenger.

"Unfortunately, your alliance was established way too late and it isn't appropriate for your kingdom to intervene for the sake of Samara Kingdom because they were the ones who started the war."

"In addition to this, we have proof that they were still in the Kairuku-Samara Alliance when they were defeated by us in the Battle of Fort Shadowsong."

After determining that Balmore Kingdom was still trying to get the moral high ground to possibly try and get them to give up Samara City, Rozzi immediately showed Rougenfort Kingdom's stance in this matter.

There was no way that the Rougenfort Kingdom would give up any piece of land for free. 

If the Balmore Kingdom wanted to take the Samara Kingdom from them, then they would have no choice but to admit that they were invaders from another region trying to conquer another kingdom due to their greed.

"Tch!"

The Balmore Kingdom's messenger knew that there was no way for them to get Samara City through intimidation so he resorted to his next strategy which was to challenge the military leaders to a duel.

"Hmmph! We are just concerned that the king of a tier 5 kingdom might have difficulties in managing multiple huge territories which would just cause suffering to the citizens."

"How about this, your strongest fighter against ours? If we win, we will not demand much, just half of Samara Kingdom's territory, and if your warrior wins, then we shall leave. We didn't damage anything on the way so I believe these conditions are just fair no?"

The Balmore Kingdom's messenger said with a shadow of a smirk on his face.

In his opinion, there was no way their strongest warrior, General Walter Bach, would lose to the strongest warrior of a mere tier 5 kingdom.

On the other hand, Rozzi's ears almost clapped in glee after hearing what the Balmore Kingdom's messenger said.

Their Grand Marshal, Helena Laurelei, had never lost a duel before and her battles weren't even close. It was always her on the winning side while her opponent was always getting overwhelmed.

However, Rozzi didn't agree immediately, instead, he "frowned" upon hearing the conditions set by the Balmore Kingdom's messenger.

Sure enough, after seeing Rozzi's frown, the Balmore Kingdom's messenger grew more confident.

"Now, if you agree, please sign this treaty. Otherwise, we shall continue with the war. We shall reluctantly go to war with the Rougenfort Kingdom for the sake of the citizens."

"Because if you don't even have the guts to accept a simple duel against military leaders, then how do you expect to lead a nation properly?!"

Rozzi inwardly sneered after finally hearing the main goal of the Balmore Kingdom. 

It seems that they already threw away their thoughts of having the entire Samara Kingdom for themselves and instead, they chose to be content with half of the Samara Kingdom for now.

He thought that the Balmore Kingdom would probably use the land to establish a foothold in their region.

Rozzi "reluctantly" signed the treaty on behalf of Blanc and immediately after the deal was finalized, the messenger of the Balmore Kingdom gave them a copy of the treaty before returning to the Balmore Army with a smile on his face.

"Hahaha! Great job as always, Messenger Mason! General Walter will take over from here"

On the other hand, Rozzi also returned with a wide smile on his face.

In his opinion, as long as they could prevent more blood from being spilled for nonsense reasons, then it was a victory.

Not to mention, he was very confident in Grand Marshal Helena's capabilities.

Blanc smiled widely after hearing Rozzi's report.

Their finances and military might were battered right now so if they were forced to fight another hard battle right off the bat, it would take a long time for them to recover.

Fortunately, it all came down to a single one-on-one duel.

Not long after the messengers finished their jobs, a huge man holding an enchanted Greatsword slowly walked in front with a menacing look on his face.

Unfortunately for them, their intimidation tactics wouldn't work on a battle maniac like Helena.

The more formidable her adversary appeared, the more excited she was.

*BANG*

Helena kicked the Samara City's gates open with a huge smile before slowly walking towards her opponent, General Walter Bach.

"Oh? You look strong! I wonder if you're as formidable as you look or are you just another paper tiger? It's been a long time since I've been in a neck-and-neck fight, I hope you won't disappoint me."

Walter Bach's scary face looked even scarier after being insulted right off the bat by a young woman way smaller than him.