Bright day. High noon.
The near-stagnant winds were warm thanks to the blazing sun. Sunrays tried to find their way through the greenery of the trees on either side of the lonely road.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Two colt riders were on their way from White Raven to New Beginnings. It was barely an hour since they had been asked to leave the city of White Raven.
One of the riders was an old man with white hair and a long white beard. He was short and had scholarly vibes around him due to him wearing a light-colored shawl covering his back and his shoulders.
The other rider was a young man who looked to be in his mid-20s. He had golden brown hair and green eyes. He was wearing light runic armor that protected his vital organs.
"That brat is infuriating."
Old man Rey couldn't help cursing Eren when he recalled the conversation he had with him just before leaving the White Raven city.
He had visited the city to meet with Eren. The old man wanted to make Eren understand that the gold mine he was sitting on was actually a landmine for him. He had even made Gilhause contact the brat to pressure him into accepting his deal.
However, it was Eren who convinced the old man that the White Raven city was even more precious than he had first estimated. Eren basically kicked the guy out in the most polite way possible. And yet, Rey thought that Eren had messed up his head with the way the whole conversation was being led by him.
"My Lord, what should we do now?"
The Expert ranker that was with Rey asked him curiously. He was only there to accompany Rey. Even though his name was Remus, he had no right to speak about family matters.
"Hmph! Youngsters these days don't understand the gravity of the serious situation they are currently in, Janos. This Eren brat won't listen to anyone. And talking with him will only make me madder and more confused than ever regarding my own capabilities as a negotiator.
That brat is a manipulative prick who won't even budge an inch from his stance. Guys like him would rather throw the whole pie away instead of sharing it with anybody."
'You are describing yourself.'
Janos thought to himself as he looked at old man Rey with a serious face. He had been with the old man for a long time now. He had seen the way Rey worked.
Janos could say with confidence that Eren was Rey's younger and more sophisticated version. Both the guys were equally devious and quick with their tongues. Their moves were highly influenced by the current politics and their economic situations.
Ability to play with the set rules legally. Corruption through money. Coercion through planting strategic risks or benefits for a particular party. And finally, create a crack in the united front of your opponents.
These were the four pillars on which a successful negotiation or manipulation was based.
Janos hadn't seen Rey ever lose in a negotiation because the old man would make sure his foundation of negotiation was based on those four pillars. He would use all sorts of tricks at his disposal to get what he wanted.
Rey was running one of the most lucrative auction houses in the kingdom. Acquisition of goods and selling them at a higher cost was basically what he had been doing all his life. As such, Rey's negotiation skills were always on point and thoroughly effective.
However, despite doing what he had been doing for so long, Rey failed to get Eren to fit in his bag. Janos had to acknowledge that Eren was equally aware of the four pillars of negotiation.
To Janos, the talk between Eren and Rey was akin to two old men trying to best each other through decades of experience they had gained by doing shady deals. As such, Janos was thoroughly impressed with Eren even when he was supposed to be his enemy.
Janos's train of thought was stopped when he heard Rey's words.
"We didn't want to move on with creating problems for this brat in the army. It seems that he has some connections with the House Argas. Altair Argas can't be reasoned with. It's better to stay away from such dangerous men.
Gilhause was only supposed to threaten Eren into following through with the deal. But it seems that we'd have to prove that our threat was real."
Eren had reduced his army restrictions in the binding contract using Altashia and her connections. As such, the army couldn't retain him even though it wanted to.
Gilhause discovered on his own that Eren had some relations with the House Argas. As such, most decision-makers in House Remus were totally against messing with Eren and with House Argas by proxy.
Nobody would willingly want to even slightly offend someone with the kingdom-bonafide title of Crimson Ghost.
"But my lord, the Crimson Ghost…"
"We have Demonmir by our side. Ottoman is no match for Altair in the frontal clash. But I don't believe Altair would personally intervene for this brat. Things should be alright as long as we use Ottoman's name to pull some strings into the army."
Janos slowly clapped at Rey for even screwing his allies just to get what he wanted. It was as if he didn't care about Ottoman's retaliation at all.
Rey understood what Janos was thinking and chuckled. He caressed his long white beard in amusement before commenting.
"Hehe. We haven't told Ottoman's faction about the connection we found Eren has with the House Argas. I told Gilhause to hide the news as soon as he found the trail.
We would just watch from the sidelines if House Argas decides to do something to House Montmorency for a single brat, which is highly unlikely if you ask me. Still, that conflict could arise only when we take care of Eren anyway. By then, we will all be having different equations.
Because…."
"Because the city of White Raven would have fallen by then, right?"
A cold and callous voice completed what old Rey wanted to say. The two riders stopped their colts and looked back at the same time to find Eren had come to greet them.
With his weapons drawn.
