T/N: Accidentally mistook the day yesterday and forgot to post the newest chapter, so here it is now.
The First Elder had a terrible expression on his face.
"No matter what!"
"Giving up Giantree City is completely impossible!"
"Having us kneel to a Demon King is also utterly impossible!"
How could they hand Giantree City over to a Demon King? Ever since the elves left Giantree Forest, they've been living in this City for the past 300 years!
How are the elves supposed to live without Giantree City?
And as for having the elves of Giantree City pledge their loyalty to the Demon KIng?
Elves are a prideful race. Other than the natural born Elf King, there's no way they could possibly swear loyalty to anyone else, never mind a Demon King from who knows where!
The draconian priest sneered, "Very well then. Since we cannot reach an agreement, there's no point in talking anymore."
With that, he transformed into a sky drake and moved to leave.
The elven elders here never imagined that the messenger of the Demon King would act so uncompromisingly, willing to cease all talks at the slightest disagreement.
"Wait!"
"Just a moment!"
The First Elder called the draconian priest to stop.
Li Si leaned his head down, "What more do you want to say?"
The First Elder knew that he was in a tough spot. They lacked preparation this time, so they were unable to get the talks to continue. Thus, they had to carefully research and prepare more and try again later.
"Royalty must not be shamed!"
"A future queen should not be locked up in a dungeon like that."
"We request that the Demon King release our lady, the city lord, from the prison cell!"
The draconian priest burst out in a laugh, "She's just a mere prisoner, what dignity of a queen is there to speak of? What say do you have in how our lord wishes to deal with or even play with her?"
The elven elders looked like they were about to spit fire from their eyes at that!
The First Elder spoke, "This is something that we cannot accept no matter what. If the Demon King were to continue this treatment, then Giantree City would have no choice but to go to war for the sake of the dignity of the elven race!"
From the looks of those elves' expressions, they may actually be serious about this.
They'd throw away their lives for something as minor as this?
Elves really are a race with a high degree of pride.
If the elven king were to be slighted, or worse, humiliated, then for the elves, it's unquestionably a major incident.
The draconian priest spoke, "Very well then, if you want us to improve our treatment of our prisoner, then that's not impossible. However, you need to first show a proper sign of your sincerity. For example, paying a fee for the improvement in treatment."
"How much do you want?"
"5 million gold!"
In this world, gold is a universal currency. No matter where you go, no matter which country you're in, gold would always be accepted as a valid currency.
Players can convert any raw gold they get into the Game Gold.
Back when Zhang Nu took the village ruins in the Darkness Valley, he had gained some gold from the treasure chest left behind by the village chief, which he had converted into usable Game Gold.
Of course, the gold on the continent isn't necessarily one to one equivalent with the game currency.
The 5 million gold that the draconian demanded, converted to the Game Gold, would only be worth around 500k or so. Even then, that's still an enormous amount of money.
The elves looked at one another.
This minion of the Demon King really is far too much a bully.
Although Giantree City is extremely wealthy, 5 million gold is still not a small number. Even with the full power of Giantree City, it would still be quite difficult.
If the 5 million gold was the ransom cost, then the elves wouldn't have anything to say.
However, the problem is that this price is only to improve Nancilia's living conditions. This is clear and outright extortion!
The First Elder spoke, "We don't have that much gold. At most, we can give you 1 million gold!"
The draconian priest just taunted, "You just said that royalty must not be shamed. Yet, for the dignity of the elf queen to be worth only 1 million gold. That really is far too cheap no matter how you look at it."
The First Elder was so mad that he was nearly coughing up blood.
Just what does the Demon King even need all that gold for?
Oh right, he's a dragon. Dragons are naturally predisposed toward collecting gold and gems.
The elves solemnly discussed the matter among themselves.
One of the elders spoke, "We don't actually have that much gold, but we can substitute part of the cost with elven jewelry. The total value would definitely not be any less!"
The draconian priest refused, "No! My lord only wants gold!"
Several of the elven elders started having thoughts of contempt.
Hmpth, this dragon Demon King really doesn't have any taste.
For him to not understand the true worth of jewelry and arts and instead just like sleeping on top of gold like those money grubbing dragons of low character.
That's way too barbaric!
In the end, the First Elder grinded his teeth while saying, "Fine, 5 million gold. We'll give it to you, but right now, we only have 2 million to give right away. We'll need a bit of time to assemble the remaining 3 million."
Li Si considered it for a moment.
Although Giantree City is prosperous, in the end, it's not a real trade city.
It would indeed be very difficult for them to pull 5 million out right away.
"Very well then. You must pay in full within 10 days though. Otherwise, I won't be able to guarantee whether or not your city lord will be able to continue enjoying any good accommodations."
This first discussion thus ended like so.
The elves could be said to not have gotten the slightest advantage.
Instead, they were even extorted a huge amount of money by the Demon King's subordinate.
Money isn't even the biggest issue here!
The Demon King had already realized the full importance of the city lord to the elven race!
Given that, how could he possibly let her go? It'd be strange if he didn't completely drain Giantree City dry to the very marrow!
The elven leadership were extremely angry, but what else could they do?
They could only obediently pay the gold to placate the Demon King first and guarantee their city lord's safety.
When Du Mingfeng learned that the elven leadership was actually planning on giving gold to the Demon King, he was naturally beside himself with rage.
To not attack the Demon and instead invest in him like mad?
Do those elven leaders have shit in their rotten heads?
Du Mingfeng immediately went up to the elf First Elder, "First Elder, your actions won't help at all. Instead, it would just make the Demon King even more arrogant!"
The First Elder shot him an unkindly look back, "You've already been fired. You have no right to raise any objections at me. Leave!"
When it comes to the major crisis that has befallen Giantree City this time, Du Mingfeng is unquestionably responsible for a great deal of it.
The First Elder had already removed him from his position as a Guardian Elf.
Currently, Du Mingfeng is merely a normal elf, so he naturally lacked the right to judge the First Elder.
Du Mingfeng forced down his anger and spoke, "First Elder, trying to talk to a Demon King or appeasing him is the most idiotic action!"
The First Elder got mad too.
What other choice did they have here?
Speaking of, it's all this guy's fault. Why else would Gaintree City be in such a state? Why else would the city lord have been kidnapped!
Du MIngfeng gave a suggestion, "Why don't we instead hire a team of top quality Heroes from some other city, have them infiltrate Darkness Valley and secretly rescue the city lord!"
The First Elder hesitated, "Secretly rescue her? Is that really doable?"
Du MIngfeng spoke, "There are many powerhouses hidden among the Heroes. So long as Giantree City is willing to pay, there would definitely be those who would be willing to take the quest! I'm contacting some top class powerhouses from afar as we speak!"
"That is indeed a possibility."
The First Elder muttered to himself, "That said, we absolutely cannot allow the Demon King to know that this team of Heroes has anything to do with Giantree City. Otherwise, we would only be in a worse position."
Du Mingfeng volunteered, "Leave this to me! Whether it succeeds or fails, I'll make sure that it's done completely secretly and that it wouldn't betray any connection to Giantree City no matter what!"
"Very well!"
"I'll give you another chance!"
The First Elder grit his teeth, "If you really do manage to find someone and rescue the city lord, then I'll restore your previous position and even raise you to the position of deputy city lord!"
"Don't worry!"
A cold light flashed through Du Mingfeng's eyes.
He spoke adamantly, "I won't allow any mistake this time!"
