Chapter 97
97. Summit Meeting
I wasn't the only one taken aback by Erwen's appearance.
Everyone who had naturally expected the queen, Eleanor, to take the seat began to murmur.
If there was one exception, it was the representative of the human kingdom army, Corps Commander Reinhardt, who didn't even know what Eleanor looked like.
“Are you the queen of the Dark Elves?”
“Oh my. The queen, you say? I'm just an old smith who bangs on iron.”
“I was told the representatives of each race would gather here. Is the queen not coming?”
He said that while watching Erwen take a seat. Erwen rummaged through a shabby pouch and pulled something out.
It was a small ring. Come to think of it, I vaguely remembered seeing Eleanor wearing something like that once.
The ring bore a pattern similar to the scouting corps insignia on my epaulette. It was probably the crest of the Dark Elf royal family.
“I made sure to properly take over that girl's role, so relax. Big human.”
The corps commander, being called a big human, frowned slightly. He looked displeased.
“So a mere blacksmith is going to represent an entire race? Seems you don't take this situation very seriously.”
Honestly, he's the one who knows the least about the situation, and yet he's the one mouthing off like that.
Well, looking at it, he simply didn't like Erwen sitting at the round table in those dirty work clothes.
I can understand that. After all, this was a place where the three great powers had gathered to discuss matters of grave importance.
But is this really the time to be nitpicking over that? Why was he picking a fight over something so trivial?
“Human, aren't you the one misunderstanding the situation? What do you think this place is for?”
“To negotiate over the future of each race...”
““Hmm. Does this really look like the kind of situation where you can even use the word 'negotiation'? Humans, you must not have seen that giant snake over there.”
As she said that, Erwen pointed far off in the distance at the black energy pouring out from the snake's body.
“The future left to us is one of two things. Either we all perish to that thing, or we all join forces and win.”
“Eleanor—our queen—said as much. If neither side has any real choice, then this isn't in the realm of diplomacy.”
“So rather than people trying to wring out a profit, it should be someone who doesn't have much bad blood with the other side who steps up.”
An alliance was a given; if it couldn't be formed, then extinction. In the end, all that was needed was the act of joining hands.
Then, so no one would have to raise their voices at each other, it was only natural for a broad-minded ordinary person to sit at the round table.
Not because they were taking the situation lightly, but because they understood how serious it was.
To be exact, it was a demonstration meant to make clear just how serious the situation was.
“What? I’m the oldest among the Dark Elves. I’m an old hand at settling feuds between squabbling kids.”
After saying what sounded almost like a provocation, Erwen's bright smile looked utterly refreshing.
**
Erwen may be a mere blacksmith, but in another sense, they were practically an elder among the Dark Elves.
Besides, since the kingdom side had sent a general instead of a king, there was no need for the Dark Elf side to insist on sending the queen.
The kingdom army side didn't press the matter any further, and soon discussion of an alliance among the three great powers got underway.
And honestly, I couldn't understand even half of what they were saying.
I could follow the early part, where they talked about the snake's danger and who was responsible for it.
But after Erwen mediated and the bickering over who was better and who was worse ended, the conversation naturally shifted to diplomacy.
How many soldiers the kingdom army could spare, whether mobilizing weapons would be too much of a financial burden, and so on.
Those parts were actually easier to understand. But once the discussion turned to politics in earnest, I couldn't follow it at all.
I didn't even know why they were bringing up that kind of talk in the first place. The kingdom army side had more issues than I expected.
Just like the high elves' human hatred, the humans in the kingdom army were also quite hostile toward elves.
From the way they talked, you'd think they were dealing with illegal immigrants.
Of course, I knew it had something to do with the history they'd been ranting about endlessly, and maybe it was also because they'd experienced those goddamn elves' vile behavior firsthand.
In the end, those bastards kept trying to pile on practical conditions while throwing out one excuse after another.
If regular-scale financial support wasn't possible, then at the very least they wanted part of the Great Forest ceded as territory, and so on.
Every time this kind of talk came up, Erwen would grow frustrated and say this wasn't the time for it—but in the end, the conversation kept circling back to it.
It had been something I'd planned to bring up during the raid briefing, but now it couldn't be helped. Time to settle this once and for all.
“Hey, hey, shut up. Enough already.”
I jumped to my feet and hurled an insult at the scheming bastard babbling beside the grand general.
“What the fuck do you mean, asking for this and refusing that with every damn sentence? Are you begging to die or something?”
The people from the kingdom army immediately bristled and started shouting back, but I ignored them and opened my inventory.
Of course, I wasn't about to pull out a weapon and butcher these guys to force the conversation forward.
“I was deliberately keeping this hidden because of bastards like you.”
I tapped the gold tab in my inventory and dumped a massive pile of gold coins onto the floor, just like I'd shown Erwen.
-Clink-clink-clink-clink-clink!
The humans in the kingdom army camp, who'd been watching to see what I was going to do, gradually started looking dumbfounded.
If money and profit are the issue, then I'll settle it for you, you money-grubbing bastards.
I dumped out every bit of gold I'd gathered while climbing from the 1st floor to the 9th, then took out items as well.
Just the armor and weapons the soldiers could use numbered well over a few hundred.
Even excluding the ones smashed to pieces in my duel with Mercedes, there were mountains of them. It's not like I'd miss them.
“If you survive fighting that snake bastard, you can take whatever's left. I only have one condition.”
After dumping out every item and every coin, I finally pulled out my beloved sword and threw it at the schemer.
-Thunk!
The sword slammed into the wall without even hitting his head. I’d meant to miss, but it wouldn't have mattered if I hadn't.
“Starting now, anyone who'd just been talking about 'profit' and 'money' gets cut from the operation.”
If I let people like that handle the supplies, they'd definitely try to skim something off the top.
**
After a few twists and turns, the summit meeting among the three great powers had ended successfully.
What remained was to get as much preparation done as possible before the raid began. Thankfully, there was still some time left.
After the summit ended, I laid out everything I'd learned about the snake.
Elemental weaknesses, the effects of stacked blessings, how long remained until the snake reactivated, and the weapons each faction could use in synergy.
Some asked how on earth I'd learned about those things, but once I brushed it off casually, they didn't press the issue.
Since they were NPCs in the end, they couldn't probe too deeply into questions that might touch on the system's existence.
After wrapping up the first strategy meeting, I went over to Erwen and asked:
“Hey, where is Eleanor right now, and what is she doing?”
It made sense enough that Erwen had come out as the representative, but why wouldn't Eleanor show up at all?
The fact that they'd sent Erwen instead also seemed like it had been decided in quite a hurry, so it bothered me for several reasons.
At my question, Erwen seemed to think for a moment—stroking their chin before speaking.
“She seems to have a few things she needs to prepare on her own. She's busy, so she said not to look for her for the time being.”
Her expression was somehow bitter. She looked like she really didn't want to say it.
“And, um... she seems to be really conflicted. Human, did you perhaps say something hurtful to her?”
“I can't think of anything.”
“It definitely seems connected to you, but no matter how I ask, she absolutely won't say anything—anyway, love is quite difficult, isn't it?”
Erwen said that, then thumped me on the back several times. Love? What the hell was that supposed to mean all of a sudden?
Soon Erwen left, saying blacksmithing work was about to get busy, and I was left alone.
I also knew that Eleanor's condition had gotten much worse lately.
She'd said herself that she was sleeping well, but she seemed to be growing more exhausted by the day, which had been bothering me.
Still, why should I worry or pay attention to someone who'd be turning back into a tin-can NPC before long?
But when I looked at those eyes, growing dimmer by the day, I couldn't help feeling a dull ache somewhere inside me.
“It has something to do with me?”
I touched my forehead, recalling what Erwen had said. What on earth did Eleanor's worsening condition have to do with me?
Erwen had decided on their own that this was something tangled up with love, but from the start our relationship had been paper-thin.
“Ah, whatever.”
I sighed and stopped thinking about it. Right now I had far too many other things to worry about.
No matter what state Eleanor was in, what could I do about it? If we failed to take down that world boss, it would all be over anyway.
For now, let's forget about it and think about it later. Later.