Chapter 116: Negotiating Interests

Chapter 116: Chapter 116: Negotiating Interests

"Ceding a coastal village?"

As soon as these words were spoken, even Vili couldn’t hide a flicker of shock in his eyes.

Ceding a coastal village was more than just a large-scale land transfer; it gave Baron Kels access to marine resources. Abundant marine fish resources, as well as precious items from the sea, could provide Baron Kels with enormous wealth.

Hearing this, Baron Kels didn’t respond immediately.

Offering such massive benefits naturally meant the underlying risks would be even greater. He knew very well that Baron Enton was by no means a generous and benevolent figure. To make such a decision, he must have encountered huge trouble.

"COUGH, COUGH..."

Condas coughed lightly, seemingly disapproving of Jarvis’s wording.

According to Baron Enton’s exact words, it was supposed to be an indefinite lease of a coastal village’s usage rights at a discounted rate—that was the official phrasing. Outright saying they were ceding a village sounded much harder to swallow.

However, Jarvis didn’t care. Given his personality, he wouldn’t bother sugarcoating such matters; doing so would only make him feel more humiliated. His conceited nature sometimes left even Baron Enton feeling helpless.

"Let’s be frank. What kind of trouble are you in? Be specific, or it will be impossible for us to accept your request."

Even with such massive benefits laid out before him, Baron Kels kept a remarkably clear head. He had very strict standards when it came to weighing gains and losses.

"Hmm..." Jarvis paused for a moment and nodded. "Then I’ll just lay it all out."

"Viscount Babila of Oyster City shared a very deep friendship with Baron Enton’s father. Just before the turn of the year, he brought us some news."

Oyster City was a large coastal city to the east of Blue Whale Town. It was rich in resources, densely populated, and had its own port. Its commercial trade and maritime shipping industries were highly developed, and Viscount Babila was the Lord of Oyster City.

"According to Viscount Babila’s information, the roaming Pirates overseas began showing a trend of gradual consolidation several years ago. This year, due to the exceptionally freezing winter, the Pirate factions on the overseas archipelago suffered heavy losses from resource shortages, which forced them to accelerate their integration.

"Some of the original large factions swallowed up smaller ones. To speed up their internal consolidation and resolve the conflict between internal resource supply and demand, they had no choice but to make raiding coastal cities and towns their most urgent priority. Once spring arrives and the coastal ice thaws, they will launch the most vicious raids on our coastal towns with unprecedented greed.

"For those large cities, this might not mean much. They have sturdy walls and ample troop reserves. Even if they are raided, they’ll only suffer manageable losses, not structural damage. But for small towns like ours, a single large-scale assault could bring total annihilation to Blue Whale Town."

Jarvis frankly explained everything.

Beside him, Condas’s eyes darted around erratically, clearly speechless at Jarvis’s honesty. Behaving like this during a negotiation obviously gave the other side the opportunity to drive up the price at will.

Although Jarvis possessed exceptional talent, his accompanying arrogance was a headache-inducing problem.

"I see..." Baron Kels’s eyelids drooped. His expression made it impossible to tell what he was thinking. "Bamos, what do you think?"

Baron Kels suddenly turned to look at his heir beside him.

Bamos fell silent for a moment before directly voicing his thoughts without hiding anything. "I don’t recommend getting involved. This matter has nothing to do with us in the first place. Although the benefits are very tempting, we would also be taking on too much risk."

Listening from the sidelines, Vili naturally couldn’t state his own position. However, he felt that what Bamos said probably didn’t align with Baron Kels’s line of thought.

Although Baron Kels usually took a steady approach, he was inherently a radical and ambitious man. He weighed interests with considerable accuracy and was extremely decisive at critical moments. For instance, before the war, he hadn’t hesitated to part with his beloved Snow Pattern Deer, providing Diamond Town with the most powerful safeguard at the earliest opportunity.

This time, the coastal village ceded by Blue Whale Town represented an opportunity to participate in the distribution of marine resources. Although the share wasn’t large, it was an opening to a new domain. In an era of sluggish class mobility, such opportunities were exceedingly rare.

Unless the entire Lanton Duchy fell into chaos and domestic factions were reshuffled, Baron Kels would be confined to Diamond Town for the rest of his life. Now that such an opportunity had presented itself, how could Baron Kels remain indifferent?

"Bamos, you make a fair point, but..." Baron Kels changed the subject, "...at critical moments, we still need to choose to look out for our neighbors."

Hearing Baron Kels’s stance, Jarvis and Condas’s eyes lit up simultaneously.

"However, before that, we need to clarify three questions." Baron Kels had already taken control of the situation.

"Please speak, Lord Kels." Jarvis made an inviting gesture.

"The first question: which village are you ceding?"

Different villages would certainly yield different benefits. A village with a larger area and a longer coastline would naturally bring greater profits.

Jarvis gestured to the Knight’s Squire behind him, and a map showing the border between Blue Whale Town and Diamond Town was presented.

"The village we are ceding is Pearl Village." Jarvis pointed vaguely at the map.

Vili also took a look, a hint of surprise appearing on his face.

Pearl Village was located on the far western edge of Blue Whale Town. To the north, it was very close to his own Fandou Village, separated only by a stretch of wilderness. On the map, it appeared as a slender triangle extending directly from the south of Fandou Village to the ocean, covering almost the entire vertical length of Blue Whale Town. Its coastline wasn’t very long, but its geographical location was exceptionally well-chosen.

Bordering Diamond Town meant that after acquiring Pearl Village, Baron Kels would be able to control it much more easily. The ceding of marine resources was limited, but it played right into Baron Kels’s hands. Baron Enton’s choice of Pearl Village was indeed a brilliant move.

"Baron Enton truly understands me..." Baron Kels chuckled softly. "Very well, I accept. Then for the second question: what do you require from us?"

Jarvis didn’t respond immediately, and Baron Kels didn’t press him. This question was the very core of today’s negotiation. Compared to the profits, the cost was of far greater concern.

"We would like to borrow three hundred Guards and two Knights."

Jarvis opened with an exorbitant demand.