Chapter 426: Act 131 My Friend (2) (2nd Update)
The strategy guide does not mention this plot at all, likely because they ended too early back then. Unexpectedly, the Silver Elves had already appeared on the continent long before the first Black Rose War.
Brand was thinking about this as he listlessly rifled through the body of the Earth Envoy next to him. The residual magic power in the corpse was condensing, forming highly pure magic crystals. These were drops from a level 65 boss and carried the attribute of Divine Blood, making them some of the best forging and alchemy materials of the same level, second only to treasures from dragons.
As he thought about this, he couldn’t help but glance at Alorz next to him—though of course, he could only see the air.
“Your gaze is a bit peculiar, Mr. Brand?”
“But Alorz already has a partner, and besides, I’m not interested in humans—though if it’s Mr. Brand, I wouldn’t mind trying it once.”
Brand choked and coughed, causing both sides to glance at him. Then Count Bali turned back, his icy gaze fixed on the Silver Elves opposite, and broke the silence first:
“Let’s negotiate—” ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ NoveI-Fire.ɴet
The Silver Elves nodded.
In fact, the long and tedious negotiations lasted until dusk. The true participants were only Bali, Liwu, and the Knight Commander of the Silver Elves. Meanwhile, under Brand’s instructions, Macaro and Bujia dragged the bloodied Ecco from the bushes, begrudgingly thanking him—the Silver Elves had made it clear they intended to protect Brand, citing the reason that he had guarded their King’s Grave. Thus, they had to lower their stance—but in reality, the gains from this act were far greater, as Brand felt he had almost earned the highest courtesy from the Silver Elves.
Not only were the warriors friendly to him, but the Elf Commander also privately and solemnly gifted him a gingko leaf. Brand certainly didn’t think it was a token of affection—though it looked like a bookmark, he knew it was far more than just a bookmark. In fact, it was a token of goodwill. In other words, if he were to face any political persecution in the future in Erune, he could use this gingko leaf to seek political asylum.
Of course, this was just a joke.
This gingko leaf symbolized that the Silver Elves owed him a favor. As long as he or his descendants held this leaf, they could get one chance for assistance from the Silver Elves. As for the content of the help, Brand hadn’t tried it, but he knew that in the past life, someone had used it to borrow more than a hundred heavy armored elf infantry from the Silver Elves.
The borrowing period was a hundred years—
Although those were not as rare as the Phoenix Guard, they were still one of the top armies on the continent. Nevertheless, although Brand was itching to try now, reason told him that showing an eager attitude immediately was unwise, as this was the real world, not a game. It’s better to forge good relations with the Silver Elves first; benefits would surely come later.
Showing such impatience from the start would only diminish how this noble and aloof race perceived him, wouldn’t that be counterproductive?
Although Count Violet watched all this unfold with a stern expression, he also knew it was impossible for his subordinates to engage the Silver Elves in battle here. The reputation of the Holy Song Corps had reverberated across the continent, and even after seven centuries, no one dared to challenge it. This shrewd middle-aged noble had weighed the strengths of both sides and made the wise choice:
After both parties left the neutral zone where the negotiations took place, they returned to their respective camps, then ordered their armies to turn around and retreat three hundred meters each. The tense atmosphere in the forest finally eased.
Sitting by the Earth Envoy’s body, Brand watched the scene unfold, unable to help feeling slightly surprised. Although he hadn’t participated in the negotiations, he knew the negotiation’s core must have revolved around why the Silver Elves had reappeared after disappearing for hundreds of years. Although this area had once been territory of the Elf Empire, one side had ultimately surrendered it, giving Erune the right to claim sovereignty. Hundreds of years later, this area had long become an integral part of the Kingdom’s territory. Even past allies couldn’t interfere here so casually.