“Will you take them as slaves?”
Ainz sighed with exaggerated loudness at the Forgemaster.
“I will do nothing of the sort. Did you not hear me speak? I said I wanted to open international ties and begin trade, did I not? Do you actually think I would take the people of such a partner nation as slaves?…Frankly speaking, I’m a little disappointed. All I had in mind was recruiting runesmiths and having them make runic equipment in my country.”
“In that case, what if we gave you top priority on the sales of runecrafted gear?”
“…No. It would not be worth the investment. If you wish to use my strength, then you must let the runesmiths work in the Sorcerous Kingdom and allow us to form a monopoly on the sale of their products. That is what my nation wants and it is the price of taking back your former capital. When can you give me an answer?”
The Dwarves looked at each other.
“I see. Perhaps tomorrow—”
“That might be a little troublesome,” interjected the commander-in-chief. “Don’t forget this city is still in danger of being attacked by the Quagoa. Even if His Majesty accepts the task of defeating the Quagoa, it will take time for him to gather his troops. With that point in mind, we cannot wait until tomorrow. We should give him an answer right away.”
Ainz looked over the Dwarves.
“It is not my place to speak here. However, if you are truly in such dire straits, then having me fulfil my earlier promises will also be quite troublesome. If the situation becomes very bad, then I will have to add several more conditions. After all, one must expect to pay more for last-minute work.”
“Mm. The commander-in-chief is right, and Your Majesty’s words are also very sensible. Then, Your Majesty, while we apologize for the imposition, can you wait for us in the room from just now? We would like to reach a conclusion as quickly as possible.”
“I have no objections to that. I shall wait there, then.”
With that, Ainz rose, and left the room in the company of his subordinates.
The room was still veiled in silence even after the departure of the Sorcerer King. Shortly after, somebody exhaled, and that dispersed the tension that hung in the air.
“What, what the hell was that?!”
“That was an unbelievable monster! Commander-in-chief, that monster made my hair stand on end. There’s no doubt about the fear he commands.”
“I almost thought I was going to piss myself!”
The Dwarves all began shouting. They poured out all the things their strained nerves had been holding in check.
“What should we do? He’s evil incarnate. If even a single thing of what he said is true, it would scare the hell out of me.”
“How could anyone radiating such an evil light be benevolent? Look at him, how many of the living do you think he’s murdered up till now?”
“Mmm. He must have taken so many lives he can’t even remember them all. And to think that spine-chilling face could actually utter such normal-sounding words.”
“He must be gathering equipment for some great invasion. For his army of darkness!”
“Also, I hate how he’s so easy to understand and agree with. He feels just like those devils who steal souls with contracts.”
They were unanimous in rejecting the Sorcerer King’s proposal. Many of them agreed that the words of the undead could not be trusted.
“However, His Majesty’s proposal is very attractive to our country. In the first place, our country will be destroyed if we don’t do something about the Quagoa. In addition, the Sorcerer King is the only person who can save us.”
The commander-in-chief was the sole voice of opposition.
His words made the other Dwarves look like they had chewed a bitter worm.
“Let me make sure again. Is there no way we can deal with the Quagoa with our strength alone?”
“There’s no way. With the help of the Sorcerer King we might be able to take the fortress back, but there are far too many things we need to do. Right now, all we can hope for is to take the fortress back. Had His Majesty not come here, the Quagoa might be flooding into the city by now.”
“If the Sorcerer King spoke the truth, then there were sightings of Quagoa in Feoh Raiđō as well.”
The Dwarves clutched their heads.
“…What if we just borrowed the Sorcerer King’s power and then pretended that we knew nothing about it?”
“That would only aggravate that monster. Even I would be unhappy in his position. After all, we’d be the people who only cared about borrowing military power for our own gain and whatnot.”
“Still, the timing for this is just too much of a coincidence. Could the Sorcerer King be pulling the strings behind the scenes?”
“It’s quite likely, but we have no proof. All we can do is guess.”
“The important thing here is that the Sorcerer King chose us and not the Quagoa. If we displease him, we’ll be putting a noose around our own necks. Trying to investigate him would also be very dangerous.”
“…Does the Sorcerer King drink?”
“Do you think he can?…I guess you can’t trust a guy who doesn’t drink, after all.”
“Still…”
Here the hitherto silent Merchant’s Guildmaster spoke up.
“I believe we can all accept what the Sorcerer King is saying. It makes perfect sense. I’d do the same in his position, picking the Dwarves over the Quagoa.”
If he commanded an army which could easily annihilate the Quagoa, then helping the Quagoa kill the Dwarves would not offer him a lot of benefits.
“He said he wanted to lend undead workers to us. Wouldn’t taking the mines for his own be more profitable?”
“Well, there would be no point in taking us as slaves…Besides, we know the mountain, don’t we?”
“I see. That’s very likely. He feels that exploring the mines by himself would be very troublesome, so he’ll let us excavate the ores. So he’ll give us a pretty collar to please us, then?”
“…Still, after talking to the Sorcerer King, I get the feeling that everything will be alright as long as we trade with him. In other words, he doesn’t intend to exploit us with uneven trade deals?”
“In that case, I can understand why he’s offering such generous terms. Still, wouldn’t it be alright to agree to his proposal?”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because we can help each other. As long as the Sorcerer King wants ores, he will protect us. We can think of the Sorcerer King as a mercenary with a huge appetite for wine, in that sense.”
The general opinion had shifted from “dealing with him is dangerous” to “we’ll be safe as long as we have value”. However, during the course of this change, one Dwarf spoke coldly.
“…Do you all intend to be the minions of that undead creature?”
All eyes turned to the man who had been staunchly opposed to Ainz since the beginning — the Forgemaster.
“It’s not a question of good or evil. Right now, our country is in a crisis of survival. If we don’t do something about the Quagoa, we’ll be destroyed for sure.”
“…And our strength alone cannot defeat the Quagoa.”
“Then, how about asking the Empire for help? We’ve had dealings with them for many years. Wouldn’t that be safer? We don’t know anything about the Sorcerous Kingdom, you know.”
“Even if we ask the Empire for help, they’d have no chance against the Quagoa. They’re very tough foes for anyone who uses a weapon. The most important thing is that humans can’t see in the dark and they’re not suitable for underground combat. While they might have a chance if we could lure them to the surface, we have no way of doing so.”
“Then it seems dealing with the Sorcerous Kingdom is our only option. In any case, we’ll start by asking for help, and leave the trade deals for after we’ve seen the Sorcerous Kingdom. What do you think?”