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?!]

an enormous antenna attempted to rest comfortingly around

[Too heavy,] she grumbled.

with us, so that’s great, they just want to strike some sort

frowned. [They want

giant ant

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

they want to buy goods from you… and then onsell

you, Enid, the sum total of things I

lent people your legs?

and expertise once again. If you feel like you can’t succeed, then just

much for her and her people, and asked so little in return.

When are the

waiting for us to

[WHAT!?]

minutes later, a bedraggled and flustered Enid shuffled into the meeting hall, her back aching and her face

did you even keep them occupied while I was coming?] she demanded of the big ant sitting idly on one side of the

told them we were waiting for our negotiator to

just keep them

doing things and that seemed to mollify them. That

certainly did have its own pace, and it wasn’t slow…. Rather the opposite, the ants worked

mollified at all, it was probably the confectioneries that did the trick. How the ants managed to bake so well when they couldn’t possibly have high ranks in the Baking or Cooking

some semblance of professionalism to her side of the negotiations, Enid approached the table and sat as gracefully as she

slumped comfortably in the corner. Across the table sat an array of clearly high ranking

well!

I can’t

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