A bugbear was sitting in his office with a quill in his hand and a paper on the table.
He was the Tarrar's diplomat, and his task was to convince the town leader nearby to attack and create chaos.
His job required a sophisticated skill and creativity. Not just any bugbear can do his job, and that was why Tarrar trusted him so much.
First, he spends a few minutes meditating, and contemplating on the way of life.
That was a necessary step. After that, he pressed the quill on the paper. Each word must be meaningful, because the art of convincing is very delicate.
"You little piece of shit, pussy motherfucker. I heard you're scared of ghost stories and trembled in bed like a little girl. If you are really brave, bring your army to the west and attack the city. Bring me the head of some winged-men leaders, you little scared cat."
The diplomat cleared his throat and put the paper to the side. Then he wrote on another paper.
Each paper must a be a masterpiece, and every word must strike to the deepest emotion.
"You fooking weasel. I heard from my men that you're a coward afraid of battle. Go bring your ass to the west and attack or I might have to baby sit you little boy bitch."
He put that paper to the side and wrote another one.
He kept on doing this for a while, and when he was done, he gave the papers to his subordinates for them to send to the nearby town leaders.
…
After a few days, the papers arrived to their destination, and all the town leaders were enraged.
"Tarrar, that fucking bastard dare to mock me?! Men, grab your weapons! We're going to the west for battle! Let's cut some wings and send it to Tarrar afterwards."
In a matter of days, the diplomat successfuly convinced the town leaders to move their army.
It was a legendary feat that no diplomat in history could match.
The gears of war activated, and bugbears all over the continent took up arms and prepared for battle.
As they prepared their army, Aldred invited the winged-men for a banquet, and showed what the bugbear was doing through Stella's mirror.
"They're really planning for a large scale attack… We should do something."
The meeting room was in an uproar, and they all discussed what to do. None of them could return immediately, because they knew the fight would be futile if they do it alone.
They needed cooperation.
"No need to worry," Aldred said. "My undead army will reinforce you, and whittle the enemy down before they can reach your city."
"Can you really do that? Their army seems to be larger than usual."
"Of course, I can. With the right incentive of course."
"We can give you 20% of the natural resources in the cities."
"20%? Seems like the bugbear's offer is better."
"Eh!" They were all shocked by his statement.
"Why are you so shocked? Of course the bugbear offered me something to make me side with them. They offered me all the mining site."
They all looked at each other. All of them thought that Aldred would help them with only some small incentive. Only now did they remember that Aldred was not a winged-man.
He was a human who wanted profit.
"Alright, just like before. We will offer you our mining site of 4 cities for 10 years, but the cities you conquered will be on lease to you for 20 years."
Aldred was happy inside, but outside, he was frowning deep. "I think you guys should leave."
"Wait! Fine, we will give you Westle city."
The others gasped when they heard that. "Westle is a big mining city and it has funded our war against the bugbear. Giving it to him will make it hard for us to resist in the future."
"That's where you're wrong," Aldred said. "If you have me. You don't need to resist. I will take care of it."
They all whispered to each other.
"Can we trust him?"
"He conquered Nakatiharna in one day. We've been fighting for decades and the border had never moved until he came along."
"The Platinum Ranks won't have any problem if we give Westle anyway. It's one of the cities that we Gold Ranks have control of, and less valuable to the higher ups."
"Right, and he had reinforced us time and time again. Our walls haven't even been touched because his undead army defeated the bugbear before they could approach our cities."
After a few minutes of discussion, they looked at him.
"We agree to give you Westle City, 10 year of all our mining sites, and 20 year of the mining site you conquered."
Aldred laughed. "Now that's what I like about you guys. You are all easy to talk to unlike those barbaric bugbears. Now sign the deal, and let me take care of it all."
Aldred shook their hands one by one, but deep inside he was grinning wide.
What they gave Aldred wasn't simply some mining site and a mining town, but their ability to arm themselves with weapons.
With no weapons, they could not defend themselves from the enemy.
And because of that, they had to rely on Aldred for their security.
He can keep asking for incentives as long as he defends their territory, and Aldred would not take a lot of bugbear's territory to avoid angering them.
And with the deal done, the world continued in motion.
Three days later, 5,000 strong elite cavalry departed from Folineley and headed west to distract and confuse the winged-men.
But Aldred already knew about that plan.
He watched them through Stella's mirror, and noticed that there were some magicians and archers within the enemy's ranks.
"So some of them are smart enough to become magicians. That's surprising," Aldred said.
"No race is worth to be underestimated, Aldred," Stella said. "Doing so has proved to be detrimental for any race or kingdom."
Aldred smiled. "I never underestimate my enemy."
