Chrysalis

Chapter 1215

[I really don’t think this is appropriate, Anthony.]

[What do you mean? You used to be a merchant, didn’t you? You’ve negotiated for us a ton of times and been fantastic at it. What’s the problem now?]

[I was negotiating with towns and cities that you’d conquered! It’s not exactly hard to force a fair agreement down their throats when there’s a set of mandibles locked around them!]

[I’m fairly sure there weren’t ants standing around with their jaws poised to behead your negotiating partners….]

[Not literally, you oversized ant! I’m just saying I had the upper hand in those talks. And I was only talking to other merchants and petty city lords, not brathians!]

[What’s the difference?]

[Brathians are… different! They’re just different!]

[I mean, how have you even met brathians? I thought you’d never been this deep in the Dungeon?]

[I haven’t. There’s brathians at every level and also on the surface.]

The old woman sighed and pinched her brow. How could she explain this to this obstinate insect?

[The brathians are famous for being skilled negotiators, even in Liria. They cut hard deals and would sell the scales off their own back for the right price.]

[So they’re ruthless when it comes to money. So’s just about everyone who doesn’t have six or more legs. The bruan’chii excepted.]

[It’s pretty much a religion to them! They don’t even live in kingdoms or empires. They form trading blocs, caravans and conglomerates instead. Their leaders are usually the best and most successful traders. I got fleeced by the brathians I met on the surface, what do you think is going to happen to me down here?!]

coming on. Then an enormous antenna attempted to rest comfortingly

[Too heavy,] she grumbled.

to an agreement, we don’t really care. It seems like they want to peacefully coexist with us, so that’s great, they just want to strike some sort of deal for our goods. If we can nab some cores in exchange for rugs

Enid frowned. [They want

ant shifted

We don’t wear clothes, don’t eat fine cuisine, are only interested in ant-themed artwork and besides that, we make all our own stuff already. Even if there was something they could do better, we’d just figure out how they did it and then

goods from you… and then onsell them to others at

Enid, the sum total of things I know

people your legs?

point is, nobody in the Colony has any idea what they’re doing with currency or trade. Alright? We depend on your wisdom and expertise once again. If you feel like you can’t succeed, then just stop, tell

sighed, having known from the start she would eventually give in. The Colony had done so much for her and her people, and asked so little in return. It was extremely difficult for her to ever say no to their requests, especially when they came from Anthony

are the brathian

here already. They’ve been waiting for us to finish

[WHAT!?]

minutes later, a bedraggled and flustered Enid shuffled into the meeting hall,

coming?] she demanded of the big ant sitting idly on one side of the

we were

DID just

have their own pace of doing things and that seemed to mollify them. That and the cakes and

pace, and it wasn’t slow…. Rather the opposite, the ants worked

managed

table and sat

gathered, Sloan and Advant, namely, with Anthony still slumped comfortably in the corner. Across the table sat an array of clearly high ranking brathians, bedecked in gossamer

didn’t tell me they were dressed so well! I would have tried to spruce

are? I can’t

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