Just Rob Them

After a quick meal, our group heads toward the Shining Arena... or what's left of it after I ran through the ground floor. We are once again the last group to arrive and one of the first things I see is the nasty glare from the Elves and that they seem to be missing a few people. I wonder why... hehe. I've yet to share any of the details of what happened last night with Milla and the others, but it's not terribly important to they don't need to know.

As we take our seats, the first thing Milla does is interrogate me. "Alright, what the hell did you do to make all the Elves to angry at the mere sight of you. I know you wondered off last night, what happened?"

"Nothing important, I had a drink at a tavern and met Skorsug and we drank together. Then I went back to the hotel." I'm not lying, that is what happened, I'm just not saying everything that happened. "Maybe it's because I stood out so much the other day when the monsters attacked and messed with their plans or something. Those pointy-eared little shits have plenty of beef with me, who knows what it is today."

Before Milla can interrogate me further, Thrasin does his thing and signals the start of the conference.

"Now then, first I shall commend the Elves as well as our Dragon ally in their efforts in putting an end to the monster's siege. Word of yours deeds have spread throughout the city, both of you can hold your head proud. But we received a troubling report last night. Even though the city was celebrating its victory last night, there was a report of a large fight breaking out in an alleyway. When the guards arrived the combatants were gone but the area in which they fought was scarred. There were burn marks in a few areas and some places that were cold. We have reason to believe whoever fought here had used magic, most likely the defendant. And evidence suggests that the attacker was a stray monster that flew under our nose as there were signs of the stone ground melting under some kind of strong acid, one that is often found in some monsters."

At the mention of the fight that took place last night, the Elves once again glared at me, this, of course, doesn't go unnoticed by the more attentive people in the room. And Milla leans over to whisper, "We're going to have a chat about this later." But I really wasn't my fault, but next time it will be, I don't let people slight me and just walk away after all.

The conference continues on to topics that I don't really care about and as the conversation dies down, Skorsug looks over at me and nods. Seems like it about time I bring it up. I lean over and motion for Milla to kickstart the topic, "I want to bring attention back to Doge Olsen's proposal from yesterday. At our guardian, Cordelia's, suggestion I've reconsidered it and if you can provide some more details on how it this endeavour is to be carried and what exactly the benefits are then I will join in."

As the party involved, Doge Olsen stands to address the topic. "The benefits of joining are simple, we will provide all goods obtained from the expedition to everyone who joins at a reduced price, nor will we stop you from setting up your own trade deals that can be done through our ships, for a small price of course. Should you choose not to join, you can still obtain the goods, but I will be frank in saying that the price will be higher. Nor will I allow anyone onboard our ships to make their own deals. As for the process, I can't say unless you join. I wouldn't want it to leak out after all."

"I see. I am not too well versed on this topic, but Cordelia knows quite a bit about these weapons you are seeking. So I'll let her do the talking for me."

Milla takes her seat as I stand to continue where she left off. "The weapons you seek to obtain are the matchlock rifles of the Lausiel Empire. You claim they are new, yet these were in production over five years ago. Your information is a little outdated unless you purposely withheld this information from us."

"No, I haven't withheld that information. Information on military technology travels very slow as it is usually guarded more than others and this is on top of the great distance between the two continents which will further slow the rate that information travels. Just how did you know this information that not even my network couldn't find?"

"Simple, I've personally seen the weapons. They were certainly new back then, but now there are probably better and more sophisticated ones. But even if we settle for matchlocks and nothing else, they are still weapons that are more than likely currently unavailable to the public. So how are you even going to obtain them? Could it be an illegal arms trader?"

"It seems you people really want to learn about what it is we plan on doing. Unfortunately, you are correct. Since you know already, I might as well share it. I have been in contact with an illegal arms trader based within the Lausiel Empire, and it was with them that we came to an agreement that for a large sum of money we could ship some weapons here. Unless the expedition is funded by the alliance, even with aid from the other factions the amount of money we will need to spend will be hard to recuperate, this is why we would sell the products at a high price."

"Will need to spend? So you haven't spent anything yet?"

"Correct. The agreement was that the trade will be conducted after sending the one thousand platinum coins. Then we may start the trade, twenty gold coins per matchlock."

"How about my idea, while there isn't much profit to be made we can obtain the latest weapon technology from the Lausiel Empire and then recreate it here." I make sure to shoot Skorsug a glance as I finish to let him know its time.

Although he doesn't get up, Skorsug speaks up, "This is where we come in, isn't it. Using the Metal Root we can probably recreate all the materials needed for the weapon's construction, that is so long as it doesn't contain alloys. The Root can't extract the base material from alloys, so if it does contain them then there isn't anything we can do. This is mostly due to the difference in metals that can be found on each of our continents. There are a few unique metals to the Lausiel Continent and if they were used to make an alloy, then there isn't anything to be done on our end. To make things worse, the quality of these unique metals are far batter than what we have here, so even if we recreate the weapon with our own materials the effectiveness will be reduced by a lot. Regardless just what is your plan?"

If accommodating the Elemental Essence of Metal will allow me to do what I think it does, then the problem Skorsug brought up may not actually be a problem. But since I don't know for certain I'll keep quiet about that for now.

"My plan is simple, I just go over and rob the Lausiel Empire and drag the weapons back with me. See no cost of shipping, no need to pay outrages prices, perfect right?"

Eh? This wasn't the response I was expecting. Lia is trying real hard to stifle her laughter and Milla looks like someone who's given up hope for someone else. The Giants all have a similar reaction to Lia but they aren't doing anything to hide their laughter. The Dwarves and the Humans seem to be bewildered, while the Elves and Thrasin don't show much of a reaction at all.

With his laughter dying down, the Giant Chieftain Draul speaks up, "Khatun, I believe you should retire your title as a Bandit Leader, she is clearly a superior bandit compared to you."

"Trust me, I know she is. You have no idea how many times I've blatantly said to her face that she is a better bandit than me."

"The Giants will respect anyone willing to do something as dangerous as straight robbery of the Lausiel Empire. As such out of respect for the Dragon Cordelia, the Giants will agree to her proposal to rob the Lausiel Empire of their weapons."

"The Dwarves will agree as well. Since we don't have to worry about investing any resources there is pretty much no downside, just come and deal with our Elemental problem before setting out."

"As the repressive of the Republic, we too shall agree. For the same reason as the Dwarves, with no need to invest anything and only benefits if it works we have no reason to not agree."

"The Elves will be abstaining from this matter."

I should have expected that one since we probably won't ever agree with each other. As the last leader in the room to make a decision, everyone looks over towards Thrasin.

"Is this a decision being held as one made by the Khanate as a representative of the Alliance or one made in the capacity of the Dragon Bandits?"

Although Thrasin doesn'T explicitly say it, his words remind everyone that engaging in acts like this can have an effect on the relation between the superpower that is the Lausiel Empire and the Central Alliance.

"How about neither, instead this is being done in the capacity as an individual. The Alliance can't possibly take responsibility for a monster attacking another nation, right?"

Thrasin simply nods before saying, "It seems you do indeed have a decent head on your shoulders. Considering this, I'll take it that the fault of last nights matter does not lay with you. Anyway, I will not oppose your decision. There are still things that need to be done around the city, as such the annual conference shall end here."