Chapter 341: The Demon King's Condition

"There is a person in the city of Kallistia. I want you to visit him and extend a cordial invitation for him to come to my kingdom and trade with me. That person is neutral, so if you tell him, he surely will not object," Ryan said in a clear voice, establishing his only condition.

Ryan looked at William from the height of his throne. He hoped the human would accept this simple diplomatic job in exchange for even considering the dangerous request in the elves' territory.

"Huh, you want to use us as messengers?" Delia complained aloud immediately.

The heroine crossed her arms in front of the long red carpet, looking quite offended by the proposal.

She felt that running simple errands for a demon king was a very undignified and humiliating job for her famous adventurer party.

Upon hearing that clear complaint in the middle of the silent hall, Helen took a step forward with a lot of aggression and slid her gloved hand toward the hilt of her sword.

"Shh, shut up Delia, or do you want to fly through that broken door again." Alina warned immediately, panicking over her companion's terrible attitude.

The swordswoman from Varvylon grabbed Delia by the arm and pulled her back forcefully. Alina looked with great fear at the dangerous swordswoman of Kowarre, remembering the beating from a few minutes ago.

"Alina, did I say that out loud?" Delia asked with genuine confusion, realizing her own mistake upon seeing the deep anger in Helen's eyes.

"They are hopeless." Iris murmured, rubbing her forehead with great exhaustion.

The mercenary closed her eyes, completely disappointed by her allies' lack of care and prudence in front of such a lethal enemy.

William did not respond immediately to the demon king's order.

The blond hero analyzed the strange situation in complete silence. He completely ignored the girls' mess behind his back so as not to lose focus on the negotiation.

"Yes, I can do it without any problems, but who is it?" William asked very calmly, accepting the deal without putting up any resistance.

'Although I planned to contact merchants on my own in the future, I hadn't considered it would be this soon.' Ryan thought, resting his chin on his right hand.

He evaluated the timing of his original plans while observing the hero's cooperative and attentive attitude.

'But it will be very useful to have William and his annoying group completely out of Kowarre for at least a couple of weeks to resolve the delicate matter of Rohan's son.' The human analyzed in his mind.

Ryan knew very well that the presence of this particular hero in his own territory would only bring serious political problems. He needed to have his castle free of curious eyes to deal with the demon king Rohan's emissaries without annoying interruptions or misunderstandings.

"The person I want you to bring here is named Edwin. He is a..." Ryan began to say, ready to explain the man's position.

"The leader of the merchant guild. I didn't think you knew him, but why do you want someone so important?" William interrupted suddenly, joining his recognition and his great doubt in a single sentence.

The blond hero widened his eyes in genuine surprise. He knew perfectly well the enormous influence and immense economic power that man had in all the cities of the continent.

"Good, if you know him then it will be easier for you to convince him to come. You must already be aware from the rumors that the weapons humans currently use are influenced by the deity's power, so if anyone rebels they will lose their power and be left defenseless, isn't that right?"

William stared intently at Ryan with great attention. Then, the human moved his gaze toward each of the powerful women in the room and, finally, nodded his head, surrendering to the dark truth of the world.

"Yes, I know. Although it is something the church denied to the public, if you say it, then it must be true. But what would that have to do with Edwin? Do you want to kill him so he doesn't sell those weapons to the nations?" William questioned with a very calm and analytical tone.

The hero grouped all his grim suspicions into that sentence. He truly feared that the demon king was planning a grand economic assassination to completely destabilize human society.

"Kill him? Who do you take me for, I said I want to trade with him. We are currently capable of creating weapons without any kind of control from the deity, so what I plan is to manufacture weapons in massive quantities and export them to the nations, and I want Edwin to be the first to negotiate with me." Ryan clarified with a bored tone, revealing his true and ambitious intention in front of everyone present.

"Huh? Do you really plan to sell weapons to humans?" Alina asked, taking a step back due to the enormous surprise that answer caused her.

The heroine could not believe that the enemy nation was willing to voluntarily arm the very same people who had always hunted them in the name of light and justice.

"If you do that, the demon kings will surely execute you for treason." Delia warned with great certainty.

The shield heroine stared fixedly at Ophelia. She sought the demon queen's immediate confirmation regarding such an obvious rule about arming the opposing side.

Helen frowned at the human's bold threat. The swordswoman hated the simple idea of anyone in this world attempting to execute her beloved king, and she gritted her teeth in rage.

William remained in complete silence. He was slowly processing the scale of that dangerous export plan and how it would affect the balance of power in the war.

Iris did not say anything at all either. The young mercenary felt that the dark affairs of kings, deities, and weapon monopolies far exceeded her level of understanding.

"I believe they are very right on this point." The Dryad intervened, stepping a bit closer to the base of the stone dais.

"If a demon king provides weapons directly to humans, that would be considered... huh... how should I say it? I highly doubt the rest of the kings will stay calm upon seeing this," Nadira added with a soft voice, but one full of concern for Kowarre's political fate.

Ophelia became very thoughtful at Ryan's request. The white-haired woman tilted her head, evaluating her mysterious human ally's crazy proposal.

Beatrice also found it very strange and highly contradictory to arm the enemy side in such an open manner.

But the infernal girl argued absolutely nothing against Ryan's decision. She maintained her firm posture, displaying an absolute and blind loyalty to her lord's strategies, trusting that he knew what he was doing.

Karol and Mirian smiled, knowing perfectly well that their leader always had a twisted plan behind his apparent good intentions toward the weak humans.

"Yes, under normal circumstances you would be correct in thinking that." Ryan replied, crossing one leg over the other in his seat with total relaxation.

"But this will benefit the demons much more than the humans themselves in the long run." Ryan concluded, showing a clear and distinct cynical smile on his inscrutable face.

"Huh? What are you really trying to say by that?" Ophelia asked immediately, breaking her thoughtful silence.

The former demon queen looked directly at Ryan with a tone full of doubt and great intrigue, anxious to know the chaotic end to this strange trade plan.