Chapter 264 Is it necessary to pull? Is it bad to be sincere?
Seeing the face of the great elder that suddenly turned sunny due to the arrival of foreign guests, the atmosphere in Cintra suddenly relaxed.
After all, there will be negotiations later, and if the opponent gets angry before they start, it will be very disadvantageous for Lan.
Heileila took a step forward and showed the lead ring in her hand: "Your Majesty the Great Elder, I came here on the order of His Majesty Demavi, the King of Aedirn, hoping to continue our friendship..." Heileila's words were still there
. Before he finished speaking, he didn't expect the great elder's expression to change again.
The ruler who had ruled Mahakam for centuries showed a mocking look at this time: "Ha! Demavi! I understand, little girl, I gave the symbol of friendship to that guy, but he treated this treasure like You gave it to someone else like a little girl blowing a kiss, do you think this is friendship?"
Heileila suddenly stopped, and she wanted to get angry after hearing the great elder's offense to her king. But she was not someone who couldn't assess the situation, so she endured it in the end.
"But it seems that Demavi really values Duke Lannister very much. Are you worried that he will be rejected by you when you wear this ring? There is no need!"
The great elder began to change his face for the third time in a short period of time: "Lannister is ours. The one who came here by invitation does not need a ring. If he wants, I can make him a new one at any time!"
Brovar Hogg once again showed a smiling expression, which actually looked a bit awkward with his full head of white hair. Kind, but the atmosphere of the Sintra people could no longer relax at this time.
A moody opponent is more of a headache than an angry counterpart.
If the other party is really moody, it means the situation is out of control; if the other party is deliberately "moody", the situation will only get worse.
After saying that, the Great Elder no longer cared about Heileila, but turned to Lan: "Sorry Lannister, I didn't expect our first meeting to be in a place like this, but this is the characteristic of the dwarves!" The steel in the arsenal emitted
. Roaring, a weapon that has not yet been forged has a cold and sharp aura, but it is an aura that makes the soldiers intoxicated.
"No, this is the best place. It just so happens that what we are going to talk about later is probably related to this place." Lann nodded slightly, expressing his respect to the ruler of Mahakam.
"If you like steel, then I will start to like you!" The great elder expressed his affection without any scruples or cherishment.
But Lann no longer believed the expression of the great elder, because it was well known that the great elder of the dwarves did not like humans, so he adopted an almost closed-door policy.
...
Then Lann and his party saw the Great Elder change his face again, and he angrily reprimanded several dwarf officers in the arsenal again.
After venting his anger, the great elder asked these dwarf officers to serve as guides to lead everyone to a relatively secluded place - at least a place where the sound of conversation would not be drowned out by the sound of iron.
Two chairs were pulled open, Lan En and the Great Elder sat down, and the long-simmering conversation began.
The Great Elder has moved closer to the "scheming" direction in Lann's mind, but perhaps still affected by the traditional atmosphere of the dwarves, the Great Elder's way of talking is not very "human".
As soon as he sat down, he chose to go straight to the point.
"That little guy Carlo brought me some drawings, which are all the lost equipment skills of the dwarves in the past years and wars. He said you have more here?" "Yes." If the talks are in the
north During this period, Lann, who had dealt with the Kings a lot, might be a little slow to ask such direct questions. But having been baptized by Skellig at this time, Lan quickly made adjustments.
"I obtained the relevant drawings through some special channels. What 'Chopper' brings to you is a welcome gift. And I have more and more precious drawings here. Those are the focus of our discussion next." The great elder
said His face became serious: "I hope to see them with my own eyes."
"You can see part of it." The smile on Lan's face did not change.
Lann did not reach into his arms as a cover-up. It would be better to properly show the ancient blood to the dwarves.
He slapped his left hand directly on the table. When he lifted his palm, there was already a thin stack of drawings on the table.
The Great Elder's eyes suddenly shrank, and for a moment even the drawings couldn't attract him. The old but bright eyes looked at Lan En's left hand, and then looked at Lan En's lion eyes and the Lake Lady's Sword behind his back.
"Lei Anlun, Lei Anlun...I should have thought of it earlier. I should have thought of those poems about you."
The great elder muttered a few words. He knew that since Lann deliberately showed this ability, Obviously wanted to talk. But in order, the focus of the topic now is still on the equipment drawings that Lan brought out.
"The Mahakam Rune Piercing Sword... is an ancient style that has been lost for a long time. Although it has been restored to six or seven points through the deduction of craftsmen, the original rune transmission lines were carved like this... If combined with new technology, perhaps a brand new long sword can be created..."
The Great Elder was not born as a Great Elder. He also worked as a blacksmith when he was young and was a blacksmith several centuries ago. Needless to say, he has good eyesight.
His eyes became brighter and brighter, and he quickly continued to read: "Next is the Armor of Carbon Mountain... Uh, why are there only gauntlets?" Not only the Armor
of Carbon Mountain, but also the stack of Lan En's drawings Basically, there is only a part of a certain set. A senior craftsman can see the value at a glance, but if you don't get the full set, it won't have much value.
The top one [Ancient Mahakam Rune Piercing Sword] is actually the only complete equipment blueprint.
The great elder calmed down and switched his thinking mode from blacksmith to politician.
He snorted coldly: "I have heard many rumors about you, Lannister, and they all say that you are a true knight. But I didn't expect that you still got into the bad habits of those kings, and you started to act like a girl when doing things."
Lan En smiled: "When you sit in this position, you always need some changes. I believe that the Great Elder must have a lot to teach me about this." The Great Elder snorted noncommittally and stared at
Lan En's left hand with unfinished meaning. It seems that he wants to squeeze out a few more drawings with his eyes.
"Make a price, Lannister. In addition to what I have, you must have more. How can you return them to Mahakam?" The
Sintra man behind him frowned slightly. brow.
"What did the Great Elder say? These drawings are the property of Cintra. How can we say 'return to Mahakam'?" Lann showed a helpless expression, seeming very sad, "And we Cintra don't want it either. Money, what we need is 'help'."
Lann looked into the Great Elder's eyes: "We want raw ores of iron, tin, copper, and antimony, as well as forged alloy steel plates. In addition, we also need A large number of armors - I know that Mahakam is not completely closed and will trade with humans on a regular basis. So there must be armor and weapons that fit the human body here." The great elder also looked at
Lann's lion eyes and blew. Blowing his beard: "These are war consumables. If you provide them to anyone during the war, it is equivalent to taking sides. The dwarves do not participate in human struggles, and Mahakam is an absolutely neutral country."
"I heard that there is only a small town left in Cintra, and you have formed an alliance with those green-skinned crazy women? Is that right?" "Yes,
I and the tree spirit family advance and retreat together, watching each other. And in There are more non-human races in my country, and we all live together as equals."
"There is something in your words, Lannister. You expect much more than mineral deposits and armor, right?"
Lann chuckled, lowered his head, and raised his head again First: "I can't hide it from you, Great Elder."
If Mahakam is a completely closed country that excludes humans like the forest of dryads before, then there is really no chance that Lan will not come. After all, the initial establishment of diplomatic relations with the Dryad Forest was a mistake that was difficult to replicate—Lan didn’t really want to replicate it with the dwarves.
But in the future that Lan knew, the dwarves would indeed send out volunteers when Nilfgaard swept across the north.
However, the current thinking of the Great Elder and the thinking of the Great Elder in the future cannot be equated, so Lann plans to artificially build a bridge of thinking for them.
Lan said sincerely: "I also hope to get the help of a Mahakam heavy infantry regiment to resist Nilfgaard's invasion of the north." The
great elder seemed to have heard something funny, and he laughed and hammered the table , causing the drawings on the desktop to scatter like snowflakes.
"Invading the North? You might as well just say that it would be better to destroy Cintra. Lannister, do you regard us dwarves as mercenaries?" "
Lion, don't think that just showing a few lost ancient blueprints will suffice. The lion opens his mouth! These equipment drawings are more of a symbol and collection for Mahakam. The new technologies we have developed over centuries will only be stronger than them! You humans are the only ones who blindly pursue and admire ancient technologies. It's over!"
Listening to the great elder's words, Lan sighed inwardly. Sure enough, even the dwarf still pulled a few times. Politics is politics.
"No, it's to resist Nilfgaard's 'invasion of the North'."
"This process will help Cintra, but it will also help you, Mahakam - the great elder!"
Lan put his hands on the table , the whole body leaned forward slightly. He was tall, especially for a dwarf.
So the great elder jumped directly onto the table.
"Mahakam is the only country established by a non-human race, Great Elder." Lan En said quietly, "And the reason why it has been able to exist for such a long time is because the four major countries in the north happened to surround it from the four directions of southeast, northwest and northwest. Live in this mountain range."
"Because of the unique terrain, you don't have to worry about any country being able to attack you alone. Instead, you can take advantage of this to sell weapons to various countries, use the natural dangers here to recuperate, and even do more Things."
"But what if a unified regime appears in the north? And it still has a complete warlock army, a military regime that is enough to weaken the Mahakam natural barrier to the extreme. How will you, Great Elder, deal with it then?"
The Great Elder stood on the table, even so he was half a head shorter than Lan.
"I'm about to laugh, Lannister. As the Lion of Sintra who is sung in poetry, do you actually have such high regard for Nilfgaard? Just now, do you think Emhyr can unify the North?" Lan shook his head
. Shaking his head: "I despise the enemy strategically, but I can never attach too much importance to the enemy tactically. Especially as someone who has fought head-on with Nilfgaard, I understand them." "I believe that you, Great Elder, have a clear understanding of the outside world
. You will not miss the important news, so you who have kept the fire of the dwarves for centuries must have enough foresight to see this fact: If the North continues to develop like this, it will be completely destroyed by Nilfgaard The invasion is only a matter of time."
The Great Elder grinned. He did not refute Lan's words, but just said: "If Foltest hears what you say, I am afraid that the North will fall apart now." Lan did not answer
. This sentence brought the topic back: "I heard that His Majesty Foltest once wanted to attack Mahakam, but was dissuaded by His Majesty Demavi. One reason was because there were not enough troops, and the other reason was that There are three major kingdoms eyeing him, leaving him unable to spare his hands." "
But if Nilfgaard unites the Northern Territory - even just the half of the Northern Territory close to Mahakam, what will happen then?" "
Nilfgaard. What this kind of army is best at is fighting to support war. Do you think they will let Mahakam store up hundreds of centuries of wealth and miss you, the largest equipment supplier in the north?" "Lower Soden is gone
. If there are no more Cintra and Upper Soden, then Nilfgaard can really try to climb Mahakam..." "
I don't know if you have heard that Nilfgaard has a slavery system. "
The great elder fell silent.
After Lan finished speaking, he fell silent.
He looked at the old eyes opposite and suddenly felt something was wrong.
Although the Great Elder was silent, his expression was very calm. There is neither the sudden enlightenment of being enlightened nor the rejection of opposing opinions.
It was a kind of peace.
Nothing Lan said was unexpected. He had already thought about these issues. It’s just that he thinks more and has more things to weigh.
"Your tongue is more clever than a spring, and your tone is more powerful than a bellows. Lannister, you are nothing like Calanthe." The Great
Elder stopped changing his expression and just shook his head: "But you made a mistake. It's a matter, Lannister. We dwarves have been able to survive today not only because of Mahakam's natural danger."
Lann showed a listening posture, willing to hear the details.
"We dwarves are an ancient race. Long before those long-eared elves came to the mainland in white ships, we lived on this land - and the celestial convergence that brought you humans to this world was later than the elves. For more than two thousand years."
"Many ancient races of our time have disappeared, and our dwarves and dwarfs have been living hand in hand in Mahakam to this day." "I don't know
what happened thousands of years ago, but I know that the dwarves How did people survive the past few hundred years?"
"Those long-eared elves have been fighting with you for hundreds of years, and since that time, the last great elder ordered the abandonment of all lands outside Mahakam. City walls, blocked mountain roads - now you look at it, do the elves have any decent gathering place that can be called a 'town'? Let alone a 'country!'" "The elves make a last desperate attempt to drive you humans away
. When we left our own continent, we sent a messenger to Mahakam. He made a passionate speech, saying that the ancient races must be united as one. But we then drove him out and the door was closed for a full hundred years. Year."
"By the time I ordered the gate to Carbon Mountain to be opened again, the elves had been completely overthrown by you. The elves were completely defeated, the country was in ruins, and the battlefields from the Feilong Mountains to Anglin were covered with dead soldiers. body. If I had ordered to join the war at that time, the dwarves would not be much better off than the elves today." The
great elder shook his head and sighed. His eyes seemed to have a little guilt for the elves, but his language showed that He has no regrets.
"And now it seems to me that the same thing is still happening today. But from 'humans' and 'elves' to 'southerns' and 'northerns'. If broken down, they can be regarded as two races. .”
The Great Elder, who abides by traditions and laws, stared into Lan's eyes and said: "So Lannister, do you think today's Nilfgaardian invasion will be more tragic than the previous racial wars? There is no need for the dwarves to help you. What?"
The history of dwarves is much longer than that of humans. According to the calendar, it is now 1265, but the recorded history of the dwarves can be calculated to almost 3,000 years before the human era.
The Great Elder brought out the war between elves and humans. Lann really couldn't refute it from this perspective. After all, he had not personally experienced the original war.
But Lann still has not been refuted, he still has cards in his hand.
Lan said calmly: "But the dwarves of today are different from the dwarves of the past, right? The dwarves of the past did not have the same penetration into all aspects of human society today, such as those huge numbers of dwarf bankers.
" As soon as he came out, the dwarf elder in front of Lan suddenly became fierce.
(End of chapter)