Chapter 129
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Translator: Prime Works
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: Opening the Negotiation Table (2)
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“If you don’t like it, go ahead and shoot.”
“……!”
Sizzle!
Sparks flickered.
The tip of the Elensia root began to sizzle and burn.
The elf woman Muira’s eyes widened in shock.
Lloyd’s lips curved into a grin.
“How well done would you like it? Medium? Well?”
“……S-Stop!”
“You should lower that menacingly drawn bow first.”
“…….”
Muira’s throat bobbed.
The tree mustn’t be hurt any more.
Even if her own body burned instead, not that.
In the end, she loosened the taut bowstring.
She let the bow drop.
“There, you’ve met my demand, so stop tormenting the tree.”
“Of course.”
Lloyd pulled the torch back slightly.
Peace returned to the root tip that had been twisting and sizzling.
‘Hostage situation success, for now.’
Lloyd glanced around the inside of the tunnel.
It was a narrow tunnel freshly dug.
Barely wide enough for one person to pass.
And at the end of that narrow tunnel, he was trapped.
Five armed elf women were glaring at him from the direction of the exit.
‘Trapped tight.’
A wry smile formed involuntarily.
He had anticipated getting caught by them from the start.
You couldn’t fool elven senses in an elven forest.
‘That’s why I planned around this scenario from the beginning.’
The novel *Iron-Blooded Knight*.
He had referenced the elves’ traits from there. Studied them. Dissected them, devised methods.
That led to several stages of strategy.
Stage 1: Use Haviel as bait.
Stage 2: Tunnel to the root.
Stage 3: Threaten with burning the Elensia root in a hostage standoff.
‘And Stage 4: Hostage swap.’
Lloyd’s hand moved to his pocket.
He pulled out what he had carefully kept there.
It was a wildflower he had dug up and preserved just before digging the tunnel, root and all.
“……!”
The elves’ expressions shook again the moment he produced the wildflower.
Seeing that, Lloyd held the torch close to it.
“Everyone, back off. Unless you want to watch this flower burn.”
“W-What cruelty!”
“Now.”
An earthquake hit the elves’ pupils.
To an outsider, it would seem baffling.
It was just one flower.
Nothing rare or precious-looking.
Just a common wildflower whose name no one knew.
‘But that’s the elves’ secret—they fall for it.’
Lloyd’s lips curved upward.
That was right.
The novel *Iron-Blooded Knight*.
The elves’ trait there.
They were ‘manic plant lovers.’
‘Not just lovers. Manic is the key.’
A race that loved plants obsessively.
Obsessed to a degree that made *Misery* look tame.
The kind who’d get depressed from accidentally stepping on an acorn. Who’d wail all day in despair from tearing a single leaf while climbing branches.
That was the elf race.
And now, he was threatening a wildflower execution in front of them.
Their reaction was predictable.
“…….”
They ground their teeth and backed away.
Lloyd glared harder.
“Keep going. Further.”
“…….”
The elves retreated slowly.
Lloyd advanced by the same amount.
The elf woman, Muira, glared at Lloyd with gritted teeth.
“You won’t escape this forest with threats like that.”
“That’s my concern.”
“…….”
“Back up more. Keep going. Shoo.”
“……And if we don’t?”
“Then this flower burns.”
“If that flower burns, you die by our hands too?”
“Then I live only until today, so what.”
“…….”
“Life’s short.”
He stared straight into the elf woman’s eyes.
This was a battle of wills.
The one who flinched loses.
So, implant the idea that he had nothing to lose.
Fortunately, the psychological warfare seemed to work.
The elf woman bit her lip and retreated again.
“Good thinking.”
No matter how you looked at it, he was the unmistakable villain here.
As he savored the self-loathing(?), the elf women reached the end of the tunnel.
Lloyd nodded toward the exit.
“Out. Outside.”
“…….”
He herded the elf women out of the tunnel.
But Lloyd didn’t go out.
‘Of course not. Why risk an arrow in the back?’
Outside was open space.
Sniper shots could come from anywhere.
Knowing that well, Lloyd hunkered down just inside the tunnel entrance.
And waited.
‘Haviel should be back soon.’
He had instructed him earlier.
Return in exactly 30 minutes.
When he did?
He’d counterattack with him. Escape the forest while the elves were in chaos.
He was confident he could pull that off.
‘Not here to fight elves or conquer the forest. Just to bolt. With a swordmaster like Haviel joining, it’s doable.’
Moonlit flight.
That was the final stage of his plan for today.
‘Man, elves really are elves.’
While waiting for Haviel, Lloyd kept a piercing watch on the elf women. Wary they might suddenly aim and shoot.
That let him observe them in detail.
‘Skin pale. Ears pointed. And the ones who came to catch an intruder? All women. Elves have men doing housework while women hunt—that’s real.’
Men handled domestic chores at home.
Women patrolled the forest.
That was the custom from *Iron-Blooded Knight*.
No grand reason.
‘Male elves are generally bigger and heavier than females. So they trample more grass walking the forest.’
Thus, elf women learned special footwork to protect plants. Only after mastering it were they recognized as adults and allowed outside the village.
From a human view, it was a bit silly.
But considering their manic plant love?
It seemed a reasonable custom.
‘Anyway, that aside. Why are they all so gaunt?’
In the prolonged standoff with the elf women.
He noticed another oddity.
The elf women were alarmingly emaciated.
‘Not seeing things.’
It was dark night.
Only moonlight and flickering torchlight.
Yet it was starkly clear.
‘Not just slim. Gaunt.’
Lloyd’s gaze shifted to their faces.
Cheekbones protruded sharply on every one.
Eyes sunken beneath.
Complexions dull, hands trembling faintly on their bows.
Something was off.
‘Hold on. Something’s up?’
Intuition sparked.
From then on.
Lloyd’s eyes darted busily.
Scanning the elves’ faces. Observing the surrounding forest.
Tensions from the near-theft had blinded him before, but now details emerged.
‘No animals in this forest.’
A forest.
Untouched by human hands.
An ideal one, eternally springlike.
Yet scarcely any animals.
No squirrels or chipmunks darting branches. No birdsong even if you listened.
The forest was wrapped in eerie, empty silence.
‘Is this possible?’
Bewilderment.
Then his eyes returned to the elf women.
Plant-loving elves.
Worn as if starved for ages.
Empty forest devoid of animals.
‘Could it be.’
Lloyd’s mind raced.
Visible info.
Rising guesses and deductions.
Puzzle pieces meshing.
A hypothesis gleaming.
Finally, one solid theory formed.
Based on it, a new plan flashed instantly.
He fired the starting shot with his mouth.
“By any chance…… do you like meat?”
“……!”
The elf women’s pupils shook.
Hypothesis confirmed.
A triumphant smile graced Lloyd’s lips.
‘Nailed it. Starved for meat big time.’
Plant-loving elves.
Manically doting elves.
So they’d never harm plants to eat.
No fruits, seeds, leaves, stems, roots.
‘Thus, they’re all hardcore carnivores.’
Meat.
Only meat.
Their dried, haggard state?
‘Means no meat. For quite a while.’
Why?
The answer came easily.
‘Monster domino. It’s hit here too.’
This Everglow Forest was in the Eastern Mountains.
No escaping the monster domino fully.
Result?
‘Obvious. Some monster packs wandered here, caused chaos. Elves repelled them, sure. But afterward? Sudden new monsters disrupted habitats—local animals scattered.’
Silent birdsong.
Missing small critters.
Plain as day.
Small animals fled in panic, en masse. Larger predators followed.
‘Forest population crashed. For elves? Prey vanished.’
Hunting grew tough for a stretch.
Even diligent archery yielded too little meat for all.
Lloyd’s guesses were spot-on.
Muira and the elf women were indeed starving badly.
When was the last successful hunt?
Last chewy dried meat?
Memories blurred.
Stomachs empty.
Bodies weak.
Not just her.
The whole tribe.
Women, men, children.
Graver and more hopeless than thought.
No solutions.
Animals plummeted in Everglow Forest and nearby woods. Prey scarce.
Time would heal it—nature abhors vacuums. Animals would return eventually, forest revive.
But how long?
Could they endure starving till then?
That was the issue.
‘And now, headache on top of headache.’
A human barges into the forest.
Damages an Elensia root.
Takes a beautiful flower hostage, threatens brazenly.
Head throbbed.
“What’s your game, human?”
She’d put an arrow through his forehead at the first opening.
Vowing that, elf woman Muira demanded answers.
Lloyd steeled his face.
“No game. Just—”
“Just?”
“I want to negotiate.”
“Negotiate?”
“Yes.”
“We don’t negotiate with humans. You know that.”
“Aren’t we negotiating now?”
“…….”
“Plus, you just heeded my threat. Isn’t a threat just negotiation by another name?”
“Such nonsense won’t work. And we have no intent to negotiate.”
“Then kill me if I drop this torch?”
“Afraid to die?”
“Naturally.”
Words aside, Lloyd grinned.
Then casually dropped the devilish word.
“I could grill you some pork belly.”
“……What?”
“Sizzle sizzle. Juicy, savory fat rendering on the hot plate, golden brown. Flip when one side’s crisp. Slice with scissors when done. Dip in sauce…… Ahh.”
“…….”
The elf women’s eyes glazed slightly.
Lloyd’s tongue kept rolling.
“If pork’s not your taste, there’s chicken. Chicken’s truth and light, after all. Salt-rub a clean chicken. Soak in milk overnight. Fry at 165°C for 7 minutes sizzle. Second fry 175°C for 3 minutes crisp. Imagine: biting into that drumstick, juices elegantly flooding your tongue. Succulent breast bursting with aroma.”
“…….”
“Prefer upscale beef? Steak it is. Bleed skirt steak first. Salt-cure. Then? Simple. Sear on blazing iron: sizzle! One minute per side, fat popping crackle! Medium heat, grill to taste, juices bursting squirt! Resting time, your salivary glands drool drip!”
“…….”
“Well?”
Gulp.
The elf women answered with swallows.
The moment Lloyd wanted: negotiation table open.