Serpina didn’t speak. It seemed like she was wary of getting swept up in Zich’s narrative if she spoke hastily like before. Yet, there was nothing she could do now.
“It seems like you really don’t have much.” Zich closed his mouth like he was pondering. Yet, even this was simply part of the theatrics he was showing Serpina to prepare for his next move, and he had already set up the next course of words and actions perfectly in his mind.
“Fine, Princess. I’ll give you an opportunity.”
“…What opportunity?”
“Well, tell us the exact reason why the World Tree got you out. If it were just to relay information, even that damn Zich Brave would’ve done a better job,” Zich said. Lyla thought there was a high possibility they wouldn’t have been able to learn any information from Zich Brave even if he came out because Zich would try to crush his skull, but she kept her mouth shut.
“…What would I gain from telling you that?”
“Hey, Princess. I’m not the one in a rush. It’s you. If you came out instead of Zich Brave, there must be something that only you can do. If that’s the case, then you should reveal what that is.” Zich then sighed blatantly. “Gosh, it really is a struggle talking to a sheltered princess who doesn’t know the way of the world.”
The edge of Serpina’s hands moved slightly. She was probably repressing herself from attacking Zich. Even Lyla was beginning to sympathize with Serpina’s position even though she disliked her. Then, Lyla felt a wave of relief that she was on the same side as Zich.
“…This is the waypoint where the World Tree’s original body gathers mana and sends it to its copies. It’s also a place where the World Tree manufactures its mana.”
“Hm, hm!” Zich showed his satisfaction with this response by nodding hard. Of course, even this gave a bad impression to Serpina as she slightly scowled. Yet, she didn’t stop speaking.
“Even if the Brushel System had been halted, the World Tree’s mana still contributes to the strength of the mastermind’s powers. However, if you cause distortions in this place, you will at least be able to cancel out the mana coming from the World Tree’s copies.”
“I see. So, the purpose is to take away some of the mastermind’s power source.” Since the one actively restricting the World Tree’s freedom was probably the mastermind, the World Tree would obviously want to weaken the mastermind’s powers.
“That’s also the reason why I came out instead of Zich Brave. Even if that guy has the knowledge, he can’t skillfully distort this place.”
“It would be much easier if we had the Princess’ help,” Zich said.
Serpina’s face loosened a bit now that her words seemed to have an effect on Zich finally.
“Why don’t you inform Lyla of this distorting method? Won’t it be a hassle to call you whenever we need to distort a ruin?”
“That is exactly the will of the World Tree.”
“As expected, that guy knows what’s up.” Zich seemed to be very satisfied. “Okay then, let’s start as soon as possible. However, since Lyla needs to also make preparations, why don’t we officially start teaching tomorrow?”
“What?”
“…What are you going on about?”
Both Lyla and Serpina expressed surprise at Zich’s sudden schedule plan. Not paying any attention to their reactions, Zich continued, “Yeah, that’ll be better. Since she kept studying in this basement for a while, Lyla also needs some rest. She needs to soak in the sunlight a bit and eat fresh food.”
“Wait! I didn’t even say that I will teach her!” Serpina refuted but closed her mouth again at Zich’s lowered, sharp gaze. What Zich would say next worried her, and like she expected, Zich’s tongue battered her down again.
“Hey, Princess. Even if the situation is not going in your favor, shouldn’t you at least be able to assess the situation a bit? If things go this way, you won’t be able to accomplish anything you want. Will you be really fine with that?”
Serpina’s expression clearly showed that she wouldn’t be fine with that.
“As I said before, all the things you said are of not much use to me if I decide to go through the trouble. Fortunately for you, Princess, I do not like bothersome things. Thus, the things you have to offer aren’t completely worthless.” Zich said rather hopeful things that did not befit him. However, Lyla could bet everything she had that Zich didn’t say these words in courtesy of his addressee, but to earn something.
“However, they aren’t at the level of taking on your requests. So, you need to revise your request conditions.”
“Besides Clowon’s revival, there’s nothing else I wish for.”
“No, no. That’s because you simply didn’t think of options besides that,” Zich said affirmatively.“If things go like this, Princess, you will disappear without accomplishing anything. And Clowon, which is everything to you, will be wiped from all memories except for the elves living in the forest who might mention it from time to time. Is that what you want?”
“That’s…”
“Obviously not. So, instead of such a huge condition like Clowon’s revival, think of something a bit more realistic.”
Serpina fell into contemplation, but Zich didn’t stop and continued, “Of course, I won’t tell you to make another request from the get-go. Deals have to be fair.”
Lyla clicked her tongue at how deceitful and cheap the word, ‘fair,’ could feel when Zich said it.
“Princess, you still have the mastermind and the information about the World Tree as part of your cards. Think carefully about what you can exchange with those cards. If the conditions are right, I may collaborate with you—this is the opportunity that I was talking about.” Then, Zich whispered to Serpina like a devil, “Don’t you have to do anything you can for Clowon?”
“…I got it. I’ll think more about it.”
Lyla felt as if electricity was passing through her body at these words. Was the woman in front of her really the Clowon princess who ignored all her words with a stubbornness honed from thousands of years? However, Zich was not done speaking.
“You made a good decision. Then, as I said before, let’s start with you teaching Lyla how to control that energy source.”
“Wait! I’ll do that after I think about my condition…!”
“Hey, Princess! I explained it so carefully to you, and you’re still being so stubborn? I’m giving you an opportunity right now, so you should at least give us this much. I’m not even telling you to reveal all your cards!” Zich’s voice, which had been soft as if he was consoling a child, became rough again. However, his words turned soft again to persuade her.
“Also, this isn’t a bad offer for you either. You need time to think about what to ask us for Clowon, right? Since you’re just a matter made out of mana, you need Windur to come out like this. So, this means that you need our help to even think. You should pay up in exchange for this, and if you think of it like this, I’m not asking too much at all.”
“…”
“There’s no need for you to even ponder more about this. Have you realized it? Perhaps if you keep coming out like this, you might even think of a good condition for us to restore Clowon. If that’s what you want, what you need to right now is to materialize into the real world and buy as much time as you can to think.”
“…Fine.” Serpina nodded in the end. Zich’s word moved her, especially to ‘buy more time to think.’
She said, “I’ll first explain how to operate this energy source.”
“That’s an excellent idea!” Zich laughed and clapped his hands. His laughter was extremely annoying to Serpina, but Zich joyously exclaimed, “Yeah, if people converse together like this, we can always find a way to join forces!”
“You of all people shouldn’t be saying that!” Serpina said coldly, but it was not enough to break Zich’s laughter.
A loser’s cries were not enough to even pierce Zich’s ears, nevertheless, his heart. “Well, I guess there are times when conversations don’t work,” Zich said this shamelessly and looked at Serpina as if he just recalled something. Serpina was now thoroughly sick of this gaze.
“Hmm, is there perhaps a way you can tell me more information about the upcoming war a bit earlier on? Now that I think about it, I’ll have to continuously let Lyla borrow Windur if she wants to keep calling you out. Therefore, I think it’s only fair if you give me something more to compensate for my decrease in fighting power.”
“…I’ll just say one last thing. You’re a fucking bastard that can’t even be compared to Zich Brave!”
* * *
“Haha, so easy.” Zich laughed brightly as they left the ruin. Lyla was next to him, but she couldn’t laugh along with him because she had clearly seen how Serpina, who had the same face as her, got thoroughly played by him.
Lyla said, “I had no idea that you'd be able to bully her into cooperating like that.”
“What do you mean, bully? How can you speak so harshly? All we did was reveal both of our cards, and we reached a fair agreement.”
“Why don’t you look up the definition of fair again?” Even though Lyla reproached him, his ability sincerely impressed her. “…Even so, that was amazing. You got a princess like that to do what you want so easily.”
“It’s nothing really amazing. She wasn’t a hard opponent.” Zich thought of Serpina. “Even though she’s a princess of an ancient empire and a Demon Lord that existed way before me, that doesn’t mean she has good negotiation abilities. In contrast, it’s reasonable that her negotiation abilities are greatly lacking.”
Zich raised one of his fingers at a time and began explaining each reason for his thoughts, “Since she was assigned to be a core when she was young and immediately became part of the system, she must have no negotiation experience. When she awakened as a Demon Lord, she must have gotten her way by pure strength, so she couldn’t have built her negotiation experience like that either. No, the problem doesn’t lie with her negotiation abilities. She just doesn’t have much life experience in general. It’s hardly any work to sway someone like that.”
“But she still has an extraordinary amount of knowledge.”
“Knowledge and experience are different. Isn’t that why the World Tree called forth the Princess and not Zich Brave?”
“Well, no wonder.” Lyla accepted Zich’s explanation.
“The most bothersome part about her is her pride as Clowon’s princess, but I can use that against her as well. So, in summary, I would say she’s like a shrimp in terms of capturing difficulty.”
“…Yet I wasn’t able to persuade such an easy opponent at all.”
“It’s not like you have a lot of life experience either, and you also have less knowledge than her. In more ways than one, I would say it was a disadvantageous situation for you.” Then, Zich unnecessarily added, “Most of all, you’re at the same level as a shrimp as well.”
Lyla hit Zich’s arms with her palms, and he cackled senselessly.