Chapter 129: The Negotiation Table Is Now Open (2)
“Or you can always shoot me if you want.”
“…!”
Crackle! A spark flared at the end of the Elensia Tree’s root. Moira’s eyes widened in surprise while Lloyd curved the corners of his lips.
“How much should I burn? Do you prefer medium? Well-done?” growled Lloyd.
“S-stop…!” shouted Moira.
“First, I think you should put down that bow in your hands,” stated Lloyd.
“…”
Moira’s Adam’s apple bobbed. The tree couldn’t be harmed at all costs. She would rather burn herself instead. This was wrong. At last, she let go of the bowstring, and it hung down in her hand.
“Now, I did what you asked. Don’t hurt the tree,” said Moira.
“Of course.”
Lloyd pulled the torch slightly, and the end of the root stopped warping.
Okay, I succeeded in taking a hostage.
Lloyd looked around the narrow cave which he had just dug. It was so narrow that it would be hard for even one person to pass through. And Lloyd was trapped in such a cave with five elf ladies glaring at him at the entrance.
I’m helplessly trapped in here.
Lloyd smiled wryly at his predicament. But actually, he had expected this to happen early on, for there was no way he could hide from the acute senses of the elves in these woods.
That was why I created my plan with this situation in mind from the very beginning.
The Knight of Blood and Iron. Lloyd referred to the features of the elves from the novel. He studied and delved into the details, deliberating over several different solutions. The operation was finally established with several steps. First, use Javier as bait. Second, get to the root by digging a cave. Third, threaten the elves by taking hostage of the Elensia Tree and setting fire to its root.
And fourth, exchange hostages.
Lloyd moved one hand into his inner pocket and fished out something he took great care not to break. It was a wildflower he had picked before he started digging this cave.
“…!”
When he held up the flower, the faces of the elves trembled once again. Lloyd closely brought the torch to the flower.
“Everybody back off. Unless you wish to see this flower burn.”
“H-how evil!”
“Come on now,” growled Lloyd.
Their eyes shook like an earthquake. It was trembling so heavily that one would have wondered why they were acting that way. It was just a flower, nothing precious or extraordinary. It was just a common, nameless flower found in a field.
But the thing is, this kind of threat works on elves.
Corners of Lloyd’s lip rose. Yes. The Knight of Blood and Iron. The novel spoke of this secret characteristic of the elves. They were maniacal plant lovers.
Their love isn’t ordinary. It’s obsessive.
The elves held an extreme love for plants, and it was worse than the obsession some movie characters showed over certain objects or people. Even a simple act of stepping on an acorn by mistake caused them overwhelming sadness. They sobbed all day if they tore a leaf as they hopped over tree branches. And now, here was Lloyd, threatening to set a wildflower on fire. Their reaction was obvious.
“…”
They stepped back as they gritted their teeth. To this, Lloyd opened his eyes wider and said, “Farther. Keep going.”
“…”
The elves slowly stepped back, and Lloyd moved forward just as much. Moira looked daggers at Lloyd as she gritted her teeth.
“Your threat won’t be able to get you out of this forest,” she said, trying to knock some sense into this human.
“That’s not something for you to worry about,” huffed Lloyd.
“…”
“Keep moving back. Farther. Go on. Faster.”
“What if I say no…?” Moira asked.
“This flower burns.”
“But you will perish in our hands if the flower burns,” threatened Moira.
“Then,” Lloyd said,” today will be my last day.”
“…”
“Oh, well. That’s life.”
Lloyd stared straight into Moira’s eyes. He knew that in this kind of confrontation, the first to cower lost. He had to plant in their heads that there was nothing for him to lose. The psychological warfare must have worked, thankfully. For Moira bit her lips and took one more step back.
“Good choice.”
Lloyd realized that he had become the villain in this situation. While a sense of shame washed over him, the elf ladies moved to the far end of the cave. Lloyd motioned them with his chin and spoke.
“Go out. Outside.”
“…”
He forced the elf women back out of the cave. But Lloyd remained inside.
Obviously. I don’t want my head to be pierced with an arrow.
The area outside the cave was open, so Lloyd could be shot from any direction. Knowing this very well, Lloyd persisted at the entrance of the cave and waited.
Javier should be here soon.
He had told Javier to return here within 30 minutes, no matter what. Once he got here, the ladies would fight back. And when chaos broke out, Lloyd would try to sneak out of the woods. Lloyd was confident that he would succeed.
My goal isn’t to fight the elves and take over this forest. The goal is just to run away. And since Javier is a sword master, I say it’s possible enough.
The nighttime getaway. This was the last stage of the operation he had devised for tonight.
Anyway, the elves were just as I expected.
As Lloyd waited for Javier, he never tore his gaze away from the elves. He was afraid that they would immediately shoot an arrow the moment they caught him lowering his guard. And so, he was able to observe even the smallest details of their appearance.
White complexion. Sharp ears. And these are all ladies who came to capture the intruder. It was true what had been written about them. Elf men do house chores while women shoot arrows.
The men were in charge of cleaning their houses. Women were in charge of inspecting the woods for any suspicious activities. This custom was mentioned in the novel. But there wasn’t any particular or grand reason behind this.
Since men are larger and heavier than women, they’re more harmful to the grass when they move around the forest.
And so, Lloyd read that the elf ladies learn a special step technique to protect the grass. Only when they perfect the technique can they be acknowledged as adults and go outside the village. This tradition was comical from a human perspective. But it was reasonable enough when you considered their obsessive love for plants.
But anyway, that’s that. Why are they so gaunt?
The dragging engagement with the elves taught Lloyd one thing more about them. It was that they were seriously all skins and bones.
I’m not mistaken.
It was dark at night, and the only sources of light were the moonlight and flickering torch. And yet, they were still overwhelmingly visible.
They’re not slim. They’re gaunt.
Lloyd’s gaze moved toward their faces. Every single one of them had protruding cheekbones. And their eyes were sunken and hollow. Not to mention, their faces had an odd shade to them, and their grips that held the bows trembled faintly. It was weird.
Hold on. Something’s off.
Lloyd’s gut feeling tingled, and from then on, he avidly moved his gaze. He studied the full length of the elves and the woods around him. Things he had missed in his nervousness started to come into view.
These woods… I don’t see any animals.
The forest. This was a forest that hadn’t been touched by any humans, and it was spring all year long. Despite that, there were barely any animals. The squirrels that should be jumping from one branch to another were nowhere in sight, as well as the birds. There weren’t any chirping noises that should have come naturally. In its stead, this forest was filled with dead silence.
How is this possible?
Lloyd was curious. He then gazed at the elf ladies once again. The plant-loving elves. Their emaciated faces from prolonged hunger. This forest is without any animals.
Wait a second. Is this…
He processed this in his head fast, making an intelligent guess based on the visible facts and speculations. The puzzle was pieced together, and a possibility popped into his head. Lloyd developed a theory at last, with which he came up with a new plan. And he uttered the plan out loud.
“Do you… by any chance like meat?” asked Lloyd.
“…!”
The elves’ eyes trembled. Lloyd was right. A mischievous smile formed on his face.
I’m right. They are starved of meat.
These elves loved plants. They cherished and regarded them on an obsessive level. They never ever damaged any of them, and so, they never ate one. Not a single fruit, seed, leaf, stem, or root. Nothing.
They’re meat lovers. Hardcover meat eaters.
Meat. Their diet consisted of nothing but meat, and nothing else. Their gaunt and frail appearance then suggested only one thing.
They haven’t been able to eat meat for quite a long time.
Lloyd wondered why. The answer was found easily.
Monster domino. The phenomenon affected even this place.
The Everglow Woods sat in the eastern range, so it could not be completely free from the monster domino phenomenon. What was the result?
It’s obvious. Some monsters would have caused a ruckus here, but of course, the elves would have repelled them. The problem would be what came next. The ecosystem would have been disrupted by the sudden appearance of the monsters.
Lloyd could instantly infer from the dead silence and absence of animals in this place. A large number of small animals have likely migrated out, and as a result, their predators left this place in search of another place to inhabit.
That’s why the number of animals dropped. And from the elves’ perspective, this means a drastic decrease in hunts.
Hunting would probably be unsatisfactory for a certain period of time now. Even though they sprinted around and shot arrows, they would have acquired only a small volume of meat. Lloyd’s postulation was on point. In actuality, these elves were considerably starved, and they could not pinpoint the last date they hunted successfully and enjoyed a nice meat jerky. They couldn’t even remember it well. They were hungry and weak.
But not just these ladies here. Everyone in the tribe was starved. All the men, women, and children. The situation was grave and desperate. But there wasn’t any solution since the number of animals was reduced to a great level in these woods and the ones around it. Their hunts grew scarce. Of course, the situation would improve over the years, for nature didn’t like vacancies. In the far future, the animals that left this place would come back to restore the lost vivacity. But the elves didn’t know when that would happen and whether they could hold up starving until that happened.
The food shortage was already giving them a headache, and now, a human had dared to enter the woods! Moira thought to herself.
And this person ventured to damage the Elensia Tree root and threatened to burn a beautiful flower. The elves in the place felt their heads throb.
“You… What are you really up to?” blurted Moira. Her plan was to distract him until he let his guard down for a split second. She would use that moment to bore a hole in his head.
“Nothing,” said Lloyd, acting thick-skinned. “But…”
“But?”
“I want to negotiate.”
“Negotiate with us?”
“Yes,” said Lloyd.
“We don’t strike deals with humans. I am sure you know that very well,” said Moira.
“But you are doing so at this very moment.”
“…”
“And you even took heed of my threat. Isn’t a threat technically a form of negotiation,” said Lloyd.
“Don’t push your logic here. And I don’t intend to make a deal with you.”
“So what, you are going to kill me after the fire is out?”
“Are you afraid of dying?” Moira asked.
“Obviously.” Lloyd grinned at her before nonchalantly blurting out a suggestion too sweet to deny. “I can cook you some grilled pork, you know.”
“What…?”
“Sizzle. Sizzle. Oh, how tasty and savory grilled pork is. When it’s burned crisp, turn it the other way. And after it’s perfectly grilled, just cut it up with scissors. And dip it in some sauce… Whew!”
“…”
The eyes of the elf ladies grew slightly dazed. Lloyd continued to talk.
“Well, tell me if you prefer chicken to pork. Why? Chicken is just a way of life. Wash the chicken in water and spice it up with salt. Put it in milk for a day, and fry it for seven minutes in 330 in the fire. Then, three more minutes at 350. Just imagine. Imagine the juicy meat that would erupt in your mouth after you take a bite of the drumstick. Imagine the aroma that wafts out when you rip its juicy breast.”
“…”
“Oops,” continued Lloyd, “maybe your refined tongues prefer beef. Beef is best cooked as a steak. Remove the blood from the feather blade. And salt it up. Next? Simple. Throw the steak in a searingly hot pan. And turn it every minute. Oh, how the oil sizzles! Turn to medium heat, and grill it up to your preference. Woo, everyone would be drooling as they wait for it to rest!”
“…”
“Now, what do you say?” said Lloyd.
Gulp. Instead of giving an answer, the elves swallowed as their mouths salivated. The negotiation table, which Lloyd wanted, was now open.