Chapter 79 - The Negotiation

"So, you wanted me to aid your cities in order to defend against the monster hordes?" Morgan asked while sitting in the conference room, opposite of Sergiad with the Round Table representatives on her right while Eastal lords on her left.

"Indeed." One of the desperate lords with a forced smile on his face stood up and turned to Morgan. "With the state of the battle right now, it's impossible for us to defend our land without the help of the Adventurers. That's why we wanted to ask for your majesty to aid us."

The representatives immediately start whispering with one another through their telepathy communication. They were barely aware of this when last night, Princess Reynesia went to Krusty to ask for his help. But it's not that they are unwilling to help. But they cannot force other players to help. Which is the issue here and they fear Morgan would accept the request for aid without consulting the people if they are willing to participate or not.

The situation in the room is tense as all eyes set on Morgan who hid her face behind a black veil.

"It is possible. However, what about the reparations? According to the ancient treaty, the People of the Land must compensate the Adventurers for their labor." Morgan said which caused the lords to turn stiff. "If you can provide a satisfactory reward, I doubt there is even a need to consult with me as the Adventure will accept the request willingly." She gestured her hand to the Round Table representatives who looked shocked but nodded at her explanation as any player will willingly accept a quest if the rewards are proportionate to the difficulty. "Unless, there is a reason you cannot recruit the Adventurers and instead have to rely on me to conscript their aid." Morgan added which is the final straw on the camel's back.

The remaining lords in this conference room are mostly lords with territories away from the frontline of the monster hordes. They aren't the real desperate ones as the real desperate ones had already long left to defend their territories. They only have one representative left in this room which is the desperate looking lord who is neither far or close from the frontline. If the frontline collapses, his territory is next. Hence his desperation unlike the other lords that still didn't think they were in danger and still focusing on their benefits instead of being concerned about the safety of Eastal as a whole.

Sergiad had enough of the lords embarrassing him and the face of Eastal stood up and admitted.

"While I am the Coordinator of the Eastal League, I am by no means the ruler of the Eastal cities. I couldn't force the other lords to chip in to pay for the Adventurers and as a result, we are nowhere capable of affording to hire them to defend against the monster hordes. Even if we did pool all the wealth within Eastal, we cannot afford to offer bounty for all the monsters."

The haughty lords look shocked that Sergiad would lower his pride and admit their situation. That is the same as admitting to their enemies they have no capability to defend their own land if they are here to take it. But what they didn't know is that their secret had long been revealed by the spies Tanya planted inside their circle of influence.

"I see. That is a predicament indeed." Morgan stated instead of mocking them for being poor. "Then there is nothing I can do about this situation. Unless…"

"Unless what, your highness?" Duke Sergiad wonders although he already expected it to be a reparation in one way or another.

"Unless Eastal is willing to be my vassal. I will assure you, Duke Sergiad, that I will be willing to spend my resources to defend your land in exchange for your loyalty." Morgan said her offer before she noticed the facial expressions of the other lords is not agreeing with this offer. So, she has to dangle a bait. "Not to mention, you are not losing anything after all, my kingdom is blessed by god and joining it is your blessing."

Duke Sergiad immediately narrowed his eyes and inquired. "What do you mean by that statement, your highness?"

"Exactly as I stated." Morgan smirked behind the veil as she could already smell the agitation from the duke. "I am not very open about this secret. However, as you may know. My husband, the king of my kingdom, is a God."

As soon as he is mentioned. Ray made his appearance as he promised Morgan and bathed the room with a fake divine radiance that evoked the sense of holiness and divine. Of course, if he used his real radiance, he would be spreading madness left and right.

Everyone in the room had the urge to kneel down and bow their head to the black cat except Morgan. This alone is enough proof of her claim and convinced the people.

"So, is this enough proof?" Morgan asked, knowing that she had already won.

The lords stared at each other before they all coughed awkwardly and nodded. Duke Sergiad saw the unanimous agreement and immediately nodded his head with a small reluctance and accepted the offer.

Well, it's time to get the party started.

———

On Akiba, all players who settled in Akiba were forcibly teleported to the plaza in front of the Akiba Station as a grand stage had magically appeared and the Round Table council members arrived while numerous fireworks illuminated the evening sky.

Shiroe took the stage to address the people of Akiba.

"I am sure most players here know about the Goblin King Return event, right?" Shiroe said and received a lot of yes and nods from the crowd.

"Then let me tell you that this event is now taking place and the monster horde has already marched towards us and soon will reach Akiba. Thus, the Fairy Queen, Morgan, had initiated a quest for every player!"

Cheers immediately erupted.

"Uoohh! Finally! A quest!"

"I had been waiting for this!"

"Where can we join?"

The crowd continues to get even more rowdy as everyone is eager to sign up and participate.

"Calm down everyone. There will be conditions for joining. This event is only eligible for players above Lv 50 for combat group and Lv 30 for logistic group. Those that wanted to sign up just need to wait for the quest window to appear." Shiroe said and then a few seconds later, the quest notification did appear thanks to Ray and it made the quest look more legit.

In less than a few minutes, nearly 10,000 of the 15,000 Adventurers already signed up and are participating in the quest.

But in the 10,000 players. Only 60% of them are combat players while another 40% are logistic players that help mostly in repairing equipment and crafting consumables.

With just 6,000 players against possibly over 50 millions angry monsters is definitely not enough…

"Did I increase the difficulty too high?" Ray mutters to himself in wonder. "Maybe I did… anyway."

He is sure they can handle this. After all, only the normal monsters inflate in number. The raid bosses only inflate in strength. So, it shouldn't be impossibly difficult right?

—————

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