“Right, then. Who is the person that Iris must treat with the greatest respect?”
“The princess.”
“We said we came here to make a deal with the elf kingdom, but what exactly does that mean?”
“We would like to offer our valuable jewels and weapons in exchange for borrowing some of the talented people in this kingdom.”
“—My, that’s perfect, Iris. Big sister is proud of you.”
“Hehehe.”
The three of them were at the entrance of the giant tree castle and in the process of making some final preparations before meeting with the elf princess.
The girl named Iris, who was by far the biggest potential source of problems, was given an impromptu crash course on the minimum necessary etiquette for greeting royalty by her two companions.
Licht thought that with this, Iris should at least avoid angering the princess with any rude behavior.
“Miss Lyrica, we’re all good now. Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“Oh, it’s not a problem at all! The meeting was arranged on short notice so it’s only natural that there would be some holdups!”
As she spoke, Lyrica turned the doorknob of the elf princess’ palace.
Past this doorway stood the exalted chambers within which resided a nation’s sovereign.
Licht noticed he was experiencing a new kind of nervousness which he had ever felt before.
“Onee-sama, what do we do if it turns out the princess doesn’t like us?”
“Hmm… Her Malice might be sulky for a bit.”
“That’s really bad… we won’t be able to leave our dungeon area for a while.”
Each considering the risk of failure in their own way, the three of the Demon King’s retainers convinced themselves that succeeding here was paramount.
Taking a deep breath and clearing their mind for the battle ahead of them, the three crossed the entrance into the princess’ palace.
The negotiations with the ruler of the elf kingdom were about to begin, and every second would be important.
***
“Welcome, travellers to my humble domain. I am the one called Arche.”
“W-we are honored to be in your presence, Your Highness.”
The princess of the elves, Arche, was sitting on her knees and bowed toward the visitors with her hands on the ground.
It was an act of utmost respect which was also practiced in the human world.
This sort of welcome was far beyond Licht’s expectations.
“I have already heard about what happened. You saved one of my people, Lyrica, from the giant spider and in the process also defeated it. I apologize for not having the opportunity to express my gratitude until now.”
“Y-your Highness should not humble herself so much merely before the likes of us!”
Arche once again bowed deeply.
The idea of having a princess of a country acting like this in front of himself was about to make Licht’s head explode.
“I really do not know how I should thank you… The truth is, the giant spider had been troubling us for quite some time. We were deliberating over how to get rid of it, when suddenly you showed up and defeated it for us.”
Arche confessed as such and finally took a more relaxed posture.
For some reason Licht found the princess’ mesmerizingly beautiful eyes staring directly at his face.
Now that he got a better look at her, she definitely seemed to have the image of a kind and mighty ruler.
Furthermore, her appearance was such that even unintelligent beasts and monsters would be instantly captivated. Licht was of course no exception.
Yes, the more he looked into her eyes, the more Licht started to feel a deep attraction towards Arche.
“Master Licht… was it?”
“Yes!”
“It is all well and good that I have thanked you and your companions for helping us, but I was also told that you had something important to discuss with me…”
“Ah, yes, we do.”
Upon Arche’s prompt, Licht suddenly remembered the mission Aria had sent them on.
He had planned on bringing it up himself, but he somehow got distracted by Arche’s beauty.
“The organization we represent is in the process of reorganizing its affairs. As such, we are in possession of surplus capital in the form of precious jewels and weapons. We would like to establish a relationship wherein we pay with the aforementioned valuables in exchange for hiring the services of talented individuals from this kingdom.”
Licht had not yet opened his mouth.
Instead, Iris was one step ahead and recited the line they had prepared earlier.
It was perfectly regurgitated word-for-word and spoken in a well-practiced manner. However, the timing was a little off.
For an instant Arche went wide-eyed with surprise. But she must have figured something out, as she quickly returned to her usual gentle expression.
Still bearing a gentle expression, she laughed softly like a mother watching her child.
“We would be very happy to receive the jewels. You see, our people have a weakness for such things.”
“Ahaha.”
“Is there something wrong with what I said?”
“Ahaha.”
She was teasing them.
Licht’s judgment faltered as his mind momentarily shut down. He never expected something like that to come out of Arche, who positively exuded the aura of dignity and grace.
“In all honesty, there are many of my people who long to see the outside world. I think they would eagerly jump at the opportunity to be sent to your place.”
“Your Highness, you are certain about this?”
Arche jumped straight to the facts and did not seem to be concerned with bargaining.
If it was Licht, he would have tried to take advantage of information that the other party did not know and try to manipulate more favorable terms for himself.
That aura of a dignified and noble ruler had returned completely.
“However, Master Licht, at this rate it would be a deal where you are the only party benefiting. I don’t believe such a relationship is sustainable. Do you?”
“It is as Your Highness says…”
“In that case, we would be happy if you and your organization could continue to help eradicate threats to my kingdom, such as in the case of the giant spider. As you may know, our people are not fond of violence. I assume from the way you handled the spider, and the mention of possessing many weapons, that such a service is within your line of work?”
Arche’s proposal was simple and straightforward.
Back in Dystopia, there was a certain Demon King who was practically squirming from not having any opportunities to fight.
There was no need to deliberate on this decision.
“Onee-sama, isn’t this perfect?”
“I think so too, Iris. Licht, do you think it will be fine to leave it at that?”
“Of course, this is a great deal.”
The deal with the elf kingdom was secured without a hitch.
However, even long after the meeting had ended, Arche’s mesmerizing smile remained etched into Licht’s mind.
TL Note: I rewrote some of the dialogue in this chapter to fix some of the plot holes. If you want to know how bad the original was, Licht talks to the princess casually the whole time despite the entire previous chapter being about how Iris needed to learn proper manners before speaking to royalty.
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