"A half-grown kid ca, I don't recognize him," Lieutenant Orsper said helplessly, "He says he brought a ssage for you and wants to see the Commander."
"He wants to see just like that?" Major Thomas Hair's voice was stern, "Whatever he has to say, let him say it to you!"
"That's what I told him too," Lieutenant Orsper said, feeling utterly wronged, "But that kid is stubborn, nothing I said made sense to him."
"Then what was the point of sending you?" Major Hair berated.
Orsper lowered his gaze and said nothing more.
Thomas Hair looked at the Commander with an inquisitive expression.
Hearing that the visitor was a kid not recognized by the lieutenant, Alda felt reassured.
Because the selection and training of children with magical aptitude within the Alliance are strictly controlled by the Magic Combat Bureau, he did not believe the Rebels had the capability to unearth a high-level mage from the wild.
On the other hand, he reasoned that since the other side also ca from a school founded by the old Marshal, they wouldn't stoop so low as to use negotiation as a front for an assassination.
Even he had not realized, deep down, he was actually hoping the visitor would be an assassin—his death might just be a release for everyone.
"Bring him over," Alda ordered, "I'm curious about what he wants to say."
The envoy from the Rebels was brought before Alda.
Lieutenant Orsper wasn't wrong; the visitor truly was just a half-grown kid, looking about sixteen or seventeen, with delicate skin, still full of innocence.
Although he was trying hard to appear fearless, surrounded by thousands of hostile individuals, he couldn't help but tremble and cower.
Alda scrutinized him from head to toe, frowning all the while.
"For a negotiation, shouldn't a proper officer be sent?" he said with a grim tone, raising his voice, "Who are you?"
"?" The envoy pointed at himself dumbfoundedly, scratching the back of his head, "I suppose... I am also an officer, a reserve officer... uh, does that count..."
"You're a reserve officer?" Alda felt he might be bullying a child, "From which class?"
"The first one!" The envoy said shyly, yet with pride.
Unexpectedly, the United Provinces officers present had strange expressions, as if they were looking at a lunatic spewing nonsense.
After a mont, Alda raised an eyebrow and asked, "Kid, what's your na?"
"Majia Lauer," the envoy answered honestly.
"You said from the first class?"
"Yes," the envoy replied confidently.
"Then should all of us..." Alda gestured to the uniford officers with swords around him, "call you our senior?"
"Oh! No, you misunderstand," the envoy explained kindly, "you're from the 'First Academy', and I'm from the 'Second Academy', first class."
The room fell silent.
"Second Academy?" Alda erupted in anger, "Those damn rebels! They even dare to set up their own military academy? Second Academy? Do you even deserve it? Do you deserve it!"
The envoy shrank his neck in.
"And who is the principal of this academy?" Alda pressed on, "Gessa Adonis? Skur klen? Magash Colvin or that damned Venetian kid?"
The envoy answered honestly to every question, "His Excellency Montaigne is only the vice principal."
"Vice principal, huh, what a show," Alda sneered, "Who is the principal then?"
"Brigadier General John Jeska."
Alda searched his mory but found no impression.
"Where is this person from?" Alda asked angrily.
The commander of the Seventh Battalion, Major Bodana, blushed and coughed lightly, "He's my junior, one class below ."
Alda glared at Major Bodana for a while and then looked at the bewildered envoy, feeling both exasperated and amused, he clapped his hands, "Good job, promoting oneself, just magnificent. This... John Jeska, how many years after graduation already flaunting a general's star?"
Alda's voice involuntarily turned sharp, "So Gessa Adonis, Skur klen, and Magash Colvin all got their general stars too? And that Venetian kid, if the other three big shots are all generals, wouldn't he get one for himself too?"
"General Gessa and General Skur are both generals now," the envoy replied timidly, "but Colonel Magash is still a colonel, and His Excellency Montaigne is just a major."
"It's all self-bestowed anyway, why be humble?" Alda mocked sarcastically, "Why not learn from Alpad Duyo on the other side? Just go all out and give everyone a marshal's baton!"
The sudden outburst from the commander left the United Provinces officers awkward and embarrassed.
The envoy did not know how to respond.
After venting, Alda felt a bit disinterested and didn't feel like giving the kid in front of him a hard ti anymore, so he nodded lightly, "Speak, what ssage did that Venetian kid send you with?"
The envoy finally rembered his serious task, quickly cleared his throat, and solemnly said, "His Excellency wants to make a deal with you."
"A deal?" Alda was first stunned, then puzzled, eventually feeling underestimated anger, "What's your 'Excellency' going mad about? Doing business on the battlefield? Why? Can't the Venetian innkeeper nature stay hidden?"
With those words, the envoy clearly beca a little displeased.
"What kind of deal?" Alda asked.
"His Excellency said," the envoy answered with a snort, "as long as you hand over the four warships and leave the weapons and equipnt behind, he will let you go and temporarily not hold you accountable for war cris."
Reviews
All reviews (0)