"I don't hate keen people, - Mr. Natsuki, I am now in a critical situation of life and death. The price of the goods on my dragon cart has plummeted because I missed the sales opportunity! I have missed a money-making opportunity that can reverse the situation and I am in a desperate situation! Even if I say
My saving my life is an unexpected reward. To be honest, I can’t even laugh.”
Just hearing what happened to Otto makes me feel tragic, more like a comedy than a tragedy, but I don’t have time to laugh now.
Subaru nodded and urged Otto to continue.
Subaru's attitude made Otto close his eyes and then open them to propose
"Let's make a deal. If you can agree to my conditions, then I promise you that I will go all out to take you to your destination - catch up with the dragon car in question."
"Can we catch up? It's too late to start now!?"
"Before I say it, I want you to give me a guarantee: agree to my conditions and the way to do it is my trump card. I will not say it easily, even if I am threatened."
"No matter what the conditions are, just ask! As long as I can do it, I will do anything!"
Subaru grabbed the cautious Otto by his shoulders and demanded a condition from him.
He has repeated his reincarnation four times. The conditions for defeating the White Whale and defeating the Witch Cult have almost been met. They have come this far. If everything goes to waste, Subaru cannot accept it.
——With almost no courage and perseverance, he completed the final condition
“I don’t hate people who make decisions quickly either.”
Faced with Subaru's decisive decision, Otto broke into a cold sweat and forced a smile.
The negotiation at that moment was the biggest key to Alto's life. Seeing Subaru make a decision immediately, he was only surprised for a moment, and then immediately gave up the dispute, and then——
"——Please create an opportunity for me to meet with Border Count Metzas. In addition to this, the reward this time is to buy the oil I have hoarded... I will pay the price, how about that?"
Otto narrowed his eyes and tested Subaru with his true nature as a businessman.
Offer the maximum demands at the beginning, and then slowly give in. This is a basic negotiation technique. Taking advantage of the urgency of the matter to kill the fat sheep is the only rule for businessmen.
Next, a fierce negotiation battle between Subaru and Otto will begin——
"It's that casual thing again! Okay, I'll buy it whether it's oil or whatever you want. If you meet that perverted clown, I'll help you arrange whatever you want! The negotiation is over!"
"Hey! What's this? It's so scary!"
Since the start of the negotiation is the same as before, the solution is exactly the same - a deal that puts Otto's fate on the line, and once again everything goes through as he wishes.
——Victory unexpectedly without a fight. Whether or not you feel honored is another matter.
…
"I asked Iya to accompany you. She should be able to find the magic stone hidden in the dragon cart."
After saying that, Julius once again let the red quasi-elf next to him possess Subaru.
The faintly glowing quasi-elf disappeared in sync with Subaru's door just like before.
"Although it is very helpful, wouldn't this girl be angry if I lend it out so easily?"
"Iya is very caring and appreciates you. Moreover, I don't want you to regret it when you go without any preparation. In fact, I also want to go with you..."
The words were interrupted at this point, and Julius's upright face showed a look of regret, but Felice, who continued to cast healing magic beside him, pouted her cheeks in disgust.
"You can hold on but don't say stupid things. If Maye is empty, how can she help?"
"After using the power of the flower buds, this ugly appearance made me feel bitterly disgusted with my lack of talent and knowledge."
Subaru, who had borrowed the quasi-elf, pointed at Julius, who in the end could only focus on treatment.
"When everything is cleared up, there will be a celebration party for defeating the White Whale and the Witch Cult. You are a guest, so don't die."
"If I were murdered here, the culprit would be either you or Phyllis. It's a simple and easy-to-understand situation."
"Don't bite each other in a friendly mood, okay, hurry up and chase after Emilia-sama!"
Staring at the bickering two, Phyllis pointed to the entrance of the village. After receiving encouragement from the interaction, Subaru gave a thumbs up and ran over.
"Looking forward to your best effort"
"Try to be careful. If you're not dead, you can be treated. If you're dead, you can't be saved."
"Don't worry, I'm going with you after all." Yuexing scratched his head
Waving to their encouragement, Subaru and Tsukisei met Otto who was waiting at the entrance of the village.
Otto picked up Eragon and Patrasio on his dragon cart and prepared to catch up. The two dragons pulled a medium-sized dragon cart with a carriage attached. Next, he was about to chase Emily, who was the first to attack.
Ya them
"You haven't forgotten anything, have you? Time is precious, let's go"
"Well, leading the way and other things are all troublesome for you, Otto."
After looking at each other and nodding, the two of them sat on the driver's seat of the dragon car, while Yuexing sat in the cargo box.
The physical difference between the two earth dragons pulling the dragon cart in front is quite large, which makes people worry about the slender Patrasius.
"Because the earth dragon has "wind protection protection", although there is a slight physical difference, it does not hinder running. Both ends are female. From what I heard, it shouldn't be too bad to get along with each other."
Seeing Subaru's worry from the side, Otto holding the reins explained this.
"Did you hear that?" Yuexing looked at Otto in front of him.
"What's wrong?"
"It's okay, I'm just curious about seeing such protection for the first time."
"Mine is the "Word Spirit Blessing". I couldn't control it well when I was a child. People who have the blessing also have the hardships of being blessed," Otto said with a wry smile.
His "Word Spirit Blessing" has the effect of "being able to talk to all living things". Thanks to this blessing, he can chase Omelia and the others.
"At the beginning, I wanted to talk about how to catch up with that protection..." Subaru said
"You can know the shortest distance by asking birds or insects on the road. Although it will make my earth dragon... Hulf force himself, it can cross not only animal trails, but also cliffs and swamps."
By walking on a road that was not roadworthy, Otto could be one step ahead of other traveling merchants and be the first to arrive at the Mesa territory. However, he ended up becoming a prisoner of the Witch Cult, so he was really the ultimate unlucky man.
"It's just a piece of cake to catch up with Emilia and the others who set off first."
"No, it's too trivial to say... I can only say that I can catch up. In fact, whether I can catch up depends on whether I have joined the conditions just now..."
"It's just a piece of cake to catch up with Emilia and the others who set off first——!"
"You insist on saying so with such a happy expression, it makes me very troubled!?"
The weight of trust made Otto scream, but if you are timid here, there is no need to do anything.
——————
"Please, Otto, only you can help me."
"...It turned out to be a drug addict, damn it."
Subaru's sudden honest attitude made Otto say this aggrievedly, and then he sighed as if he was looking away. Then he tightened his grip on the reins and confidently gave instructions to the two earth dragons. The earth dragons that accepted the instructions accelerated.
"Ah, that's enough, leave it to me! I will sell my favors desperately, even to the bone marrow, and make a huge profit——!"
The dragon chariot obeyed the self-destructive Otto and ran at an unusual speed.
Feeling powerful from the speed, Subaru seemed to see Emilia and the others right in front, so he ran with all his strength in order to catch up with them.
only--
"oops--!?"
The dragon chariot suddenly veered off the road at the beginning, rushed into the forest, and ran on the animal path.
The violent rush was so violent that even the "wind protection" could not fully protect it. The dragon chariot had already left the road that Subaru was staring at and began to take shortcuts.
——After that, I kept running on difficult roads and thought I was going to die several times.
Rushing down an almost vertical cliff is tantamount to active suicide, crossing a dilapidated suspension bridge that looks like it will break (in fact, it does break as soon as you cross it), and being attacked by hordes of alien beasts while crossing a Warcraft colony.
There are countless times when we have to chase and risk our lives.
"I will die...I will definitely die this time...there will be no next time...!"
"Why, a great wind is blowing now. To be honest, even I didn't expect to reach this point... This is the potential that only those who have no retreat can use...!"
Subaru's face turned pale and he clutched the driver's seat. Otto beside him was a completely different person, and his speech became dangerous. However, it would be terrible if his concentration was interrupted in order to answer unnecessary questions, so Subaru said nothing.
explain
“And regardless of the process, the situation is also excellent in terms of time.”
Through the forest, I ran on what looked like a road for the first time in a long time. The signboard just passing by the corner of my field of vision marked the boundary between the Mesa territory and the street. It only took half the time to reach the street - the added hard work was enough.
It has value and comes with results. But if you have to do the same thing twice, it’s respectable and thank you.
"Street... it's faster to rush into the trees on the left! That's the shortest way!"
"What kind of bush? It's a forest, right? There doesn't even seem to be any animal trails, right!? Does it really not matter!?"
"————"
"answer me!!"
Ignoring Subaru's screams, Otto let the dragon carriage crash into the entrance of the forest.
Subaru could only let nature take its course. He crossed his hands and prayed that there wouldn't be a car accident while entering the forest with him and his car.
The reaction force of running over the tree roots caused the dragon cart to bounce up
The whole side of the field of vision was buried by thick trees, and if he made a wrong step, he would be completely hit. But in contrast to Subaru, whose face was pale, Otto looked very happy, and Subaru's view of traveling merchants was almost changed.
"Is it so hard for a traveling businessman!? It would be easier to start from scratch in the city..."
"——Mr. Natsuki!"
Subaru, who was hiding his nervousness with jokes, was suddenly interrupted by Otto's shout.
The urgency in the voice made Subaru ask him what happened with his eyes. As a result, Otto put his hand to his ear and looked around with a stiff expression.
"The forest is very noisy... No, the birds and insects screamed, and then suddenly there was no sound! And Wolf was also very nervous... Something, something is coming!"
Otto's voice was full of warning, and Subaru held his breath and looked around. However, sitting on the shaking dragon carriage in the forest passing through at high speed, he could not detect anything strange at all.
That's right, if there's something a little strange——
"Hmm! Time is precious, but your safety is the first priority. Mr. Natsuki, please be alert to the rear——"
"...No, that's not necessary."
Yuexing, who was sitting in the back, said quietly
Subaru's eyes were fixed on the forest scenery that was continuously retreating behind the dragon carriage. The forest disappeared from his sight after it went away, as if it was swallowed up by a black tentacle.