Sind lay on the moldy haystack, never dreaming that he would return to Donic as a prisoner.
Sind closed his eyes slightly, with some high-ranking generals or barons and viscounts who were also imprisoned beside him.
If it weren't for this environment and this moment, Sind would genuinely want to have a good chat with the imprisoned men. But at this moment, neither Sind nor anyone else was in the mood.
Their troops were overwhelmed, routed, and annihilated. And all of this happened so quickly and suddenly.
Sind frowned slightly, recalling the strange moment from the afternoon before yesterday.
The cavalry returned to report that they had spotted a large elven force gathering not far ahead, indicating that the elves had also discovered the main human army. Duke Sald, who was personally leading the expedition, disregarded his advanced age and, upon receiving the news, abruptly dropped his chopsticks and demanded that his servants help him don his armor and mount his horse. He had just received detailed news of the royal army's crushing defeat that day, and while he scoffed at the royal army's idiots, the old general Sald was also stirred by a competitive spirit, determined to put on a good show and recapture his former battlefield prowess.
Just as the sun's rays brushed against the treetops, the two sides, who had been lining up their positions, finally met.
Like Duke Sald, Sind was astonished by the elven troops' superior equipment and orderly formation. He was even more surprised that the enemy was so few in number, almost half the size of his own forces—no, a third would be more accurate.
This boosted Duke Salder's confidence, and he planned a simple tactic of infantry charging forward in the center while cavalry flanked them, using their numerical advantage to wipe out the elven forces in one fell swoop.
Besides these visible troops, at least twenty mages are hidden within the attacking torrent, ready to bring the elves a special surprise.
No one doubted Duke Salder's judgment; even the cautious Sind thought this prudent approach was sound. Moreover, Duke Salder had left behind a 500-man infantry unit and a 500-man cavalry unit to prevent a surprise attack from behind.
With both offense and defense, both overt and covert operations, it's practically foolproof, unless each elf can fight ten against one. Otherwise, victory in this war will undoubtedly belong to humanity.
Sind took a deep breath; the air in the dungeon was damp and cool, causing him to cough uncontrollably. He was somewhat frustrated; even now, he still couldn't understand how they had lost.
An orange-red light appeared in the dungeon, causing a commotion. Everyone tensed up, looking at the torch slowly moving with suspicion and uncertainty.
An elf carrying a torch came to the center of the dungeon.
"Which of you has ever served under Earl Donic?" the elf asked, scanning the dungeon. His eyes were cold, and his voice was deep.
Negotiation is hard work, especially this kind of negotiation that involves a wide range of people and huge interests.
However, Yun Zhe finally discovered the advantage of being a vampire: as long as they are at the negotiating table, he can know what humans are thinking. In this way, the negotiation becomes one-way and transparent, and there is no difficulty.
After this negotiation, Yun Zhe fully realized what it means to have insatiable desires.
Putting aside humans and elves, even the initially clueless Aruru people, who were simply providing mercenaries and receiving payment from humans or elves, began to have a change as they listened to the negotiations. Even the poet proposed the "ingenious idea" of increasing the compensation for fallen Aruru people and allowing Aruru people to trade here like elves.
Moreover, as the negotiations progressed smoothly, everyone's "outlandish ideas" became increasingly abundant and absurd.
For example, Blake, who initially thought that as long as the elves agreed to support them as the rightful owners of this land, would be fine, redefined the land and wondered if Lunlang's land could also be included in the scope of the elves' support. His reasoning was based on a written rule of the Empire: if the original owner of occupied land fails to expel the invaders, the ownership of the land belongs to any person of barony or rank who expels the invaders.
The elf said it didn't matter, but Yun Zhe was immediately in a bind. His plan didn't include even a hint of swallowing up the Lunlang family's land. What was even more infuriating was that the two sides were actually seriously discussing it.
The most difficult part is not these troublesome "ingenious ideas," but how to build trust between the two parties.
For humans, this is a greater challenge. How can they convince the elves that Count Donic—this young girl Serena—though commanding fewer than a thousand soldiers and ten generals, is acting legitimately and righteously, with unwavering resolve? Moreover, how can they convince the elves that she is of one mind with them, shares their stance on the issue of dark magic, and is willing to submit to them, rather than that she merely fabricated these false tales to deceive the elves in order to reclaim her land?
The elves also needed to let humans know that they genuinely supported Count Serena of Donic, and that this support wasn't the kind of support sought by colonies to find proxies, nor was it support aimed at squeezing every last drop of profit from the land. Rather, it was support based on their own interests, for reasons they couldn't reveal to humans. How to express this support without showing their eagerness or their true self-interest was a major headache for the elves.
However, amidst the complex expressions of both sides, Yun Zhe still managed to grasp one point of consensus: both sides wanted to maintain a regime here. The elves didn't truly intend to wage a protracted war against humanity for this land. And Blake and his people did indeed want to restore their rule over this land, without any qualms about siding with the elves.
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