Chapter 704 (Patreon)

“They want me to be at the negotiations?” Ajax asked, surprised. “I thought I had already given up the rights to the prisoner. This also sounds a lot like it could be a trap.” 

“You did, but nobody else knows that so it’s a perfect reason to have you and Aurexion join me.” The prince said. “As for it being a trap that is exactly why I want to bring you and Aurexion with me. Each side can only bring three people and I am going in my father’s stead. With you, Aurexion and Evelyn. We will be meeting the king and whoever he brings with him to finalize the trade.” 

Of all of Gryndor’s champions Evelyn was the only other one to have mostly recovered, as a mage her body wasn’t that durable so while it was easier to hurt her it was also easier for her to be healed and with her Mana recovered she was almost back to full strength. 

“So we’ll be there just to make sure they don’t try anything underhanded.” Aurexion pointed out.

“One thing I can tell you ahead of time is that there is no way they’ll be letting you delve into their dungeons.” The prince said as he looked towards Ajax, experience told him what Ajax would focus on. “With how strong you’ve gotten they have nobody that could go in there with you to ensure you don’t unleash a dungeon break.” 

Ajax already suspected it but being told that point blank still left him a little upset, Aurexion’s next words however brought a lot of interest. “Who says we can’t delve into their dungeons anyway? As long as the peace terms are not too restrictive we can just fly over and fly back out.”

It was easy to forget after they stuck with the army for so long but with Aurexion’s flying speed he and Ajax could cover the entire distance from one end of the humanoid lands to the other in under a week if they had nobody else to worry about being left behind.

“Whatever peace agreement we are about to make will certainly count that as an infraction.” The prince pointed out. “Not to mention that while they might not be able to stop you from entering they can surely have an army ready and waiting when you are about to exit.” 

“Just as well, there were plenty of things I could be doing back in my own duchy.” Ajax said as he thought about all the plans he had made for his return that were thrown off course when the war started. His schools were starting to show some results and the infrastructure for his port town was also just about done.

“When is this trade supposed to happen?” Aurexion asks.

“Tomorrow morning,” The prince answered. “They needed time to bring the prisoners close and so did we.” 

“So should we be showing that Ajax could heal his leg or should we try to make the wound seem more permanent?” Aurexion’s question caught them all by surprise. With Ajax’s new Skill they could bluff that being damaged while in that form was much worse than it originally seemed. 

“No point in that.” The prince said. “They will have plenty of time for spies to find out the truth if he is using his leg once he gets back.” 

With the meeting taking place in just a few hours Ajax got to work patching up his armor, or what was left of it and replacing any parts that weren’t salvageable. The battle had taken its toll and with it being crushed while being torched by Aurexion’s flame a lot of it was deformed as well. 

While Ajax was focused on patching up his gear the prince had other matters to sort out with the Republic’s generals. The prisoner exchange wouldn’t be something they were trying to hide and he didn’t want them getting any ideas about Gryndor turning on them at the last moment. To say that the beastkin weren’t happy about them having a prisoner exchange at that moment was an understatement. 

“You couldn’t wait until they offered us a ceasefire?” Shadow growled, he could feel that he was getting old. He had only fought off two champions and despite not being heavily injured the fight had taken a lot out of him and his Stamina still hadn’t fully recovered. “If you accept a ceasefire first you’ll be weakening our position, they have some of our people captured too.” 

“No need to get your tail in a knot.” The prince tried to calm the deadly assassin. “Considering Ajax’s last performance we have the advantage in negotiations, any ceasefire with Gryndor will be tied to them reaching one with the Republic as well. You’ll have more leverage rather than less, it's not like we want them for neighbors.” 

That answer had taken Shadow by surprise, it had been king Gryndor’s plan to do it this way as a way of making the Republic feel more indebted to Gryndor without it costing them anything. 

“Where will the exchange take place?” Ajax asks as they get ready to leave. 

“On that hill over there.” The prince points to a large hill that is roughly halfway between the armies.

“It’s that a little exposed?” Ajax asked.

“We’re not trying to hide that the exchange is taking place.” The prince answered. “This way at least we’ll have more time to react if it's a trap, I doubt they can actually threaten us with you and Aurexion there if they match the number of people we have.” 

Ajax had to admit that the prince had a point so with the prisoner firmly secured in Aurexion’s claw they made their way towards the hill. Halfway there Ajax could already see the small procession heading to meet them, for a second he thought the beastkin were being really obvious about bringing more people but then he remembered that they were trading back almost two full squads so the number of people coming to meet them made sense even though most of them were chained up just like the champion they were bringing. 

“You brought the dragon?” The high general eyed Aurexion wearily. Out of all of them Aurexion was the only one the high general genuinely was stumped by, sure Ajax could be much more disruptive and valuable in a fight but there were ways to handle him like waiting til he ran out of Mana and Stamina if he used [Absolute Body Enhancement] or overwhelming him with numbers if he didn’t, he also figured out how to best deal with his fire form. Aurexion on the other hand could only be slowed down and delayed, the dragon had the stamina and strength to keep going with his [Dragon’s Breath] on standby if they tried to swarm him.

“I only brought two people and a bond where I could have brought three.” the prince bit back. “Aurexion here is just a bond.” 

The high general hadn’t come alone, both the beastkin king and his son were with him along with a reptilian beastkin mage. The king looked a lot worse than he had during the battle, his mane and hair were styled but the short length gave away that it had been hard work to tidy up the mess from his injuries, that wasn’t even mentioning the pale complexion from the excessive blood loss that almost claimed his life. 

“You stand a lot taller than the last time I saw you.” The younger of the two lion beastkin tried to bait the prince. “Who else did you bring besides the little mage?” 

“You already forgot me?” Ajax walked out from behind Aurexion’s form, they had been able to tell there was someone there but it hadn’t been obvious who it was. 

“You dare…” While the high general’s gaze was fixed on Ajax’s healed leg the king’s sole remaining eye was trained on the large hammer Ajax was resting on his shoulder, a hammer he recognized as it had been the one he wielded in their battle a few days ago. 

“Well if it was so important maybe you shouldn’t have left it lying around.” The prince couldn’t help the smile that formed on his face as he watched Ajax be more disruptive during a prisoner exchange than he had ever been in his over five hundred years of living. 

While both lion beastkin had to fight to maintain their composure the high general was panicking internally. The reason he had agreed for such an open meeting was because he expected Ajax to be laid out for a month similar to how he had been the last time he went all out in a battle. His presence here along with Aurexion and especially wielding the king’s hammer meant they could actually kill the four of them before the rest of their champions could reinforce them. 

“Shall we get on with it.” The prince said. “I’ve had enough of seeing my people in chains, the way you got my brother to agree to this little meeting was by ensuring the trade would be done regardless of any other deals so give me back my people.” 

With that the prince prodded their prisoner to advance while looking towards the reptilian mage with the expectation of their people being sent over to them. “Do it.” The king growled and the mage let go of the chains as the captives quickly made their way to Evelyn who started undoing their bindings.

“Well what else would you like to discuss?” Now that his people were being free the prince was a lot more relaxed, he knew he had the upper hand here and would uphold his brother’s word of dealing with the beastkin. 

“I want that hammer returned.” The beastkin prince said. “It was meant to be my inheritance.” 

The dealings had already started, the prince knew this was probably the opening topic they had decided on beforehand since it was clearly a topic they were expecting Gryndor to decline, declining to return an heirloom weapon when its wielder or heir survived the battle went against established customs though it did happen. Like all moves in a negotiation however it would have its cost. 

“I’m sorry to say but my bond had taken a liking to your hammer.” Ajax said with a shake of his head.

“Hiding behind your bond.” The high general frowned. “You clearly don’t know how these talks work if you open with such an obvious lie.” 

“I’m not lying.” Ajax’s smirk turned a little malevolent. “Aurexion here might not be able to wield the hammer but he plans to use it to learn how to use Space Mana himself. I suppose we could see about trading it back to you after he’s done with it.” 

Ajax had no intention of giving back the hammer even after that but the entirety of Gryndor’s side, especially the former prisoners, took extreme pleasure in watching the flash of fear cover the beastkin’s faces as they thought about Aurexion wielding Space Mana. That simple comment made an extended peace with Gryndor so much more valuable, their truth telling Skill’s showed Ajax was telling the truth about Aurexion gaining Space Mana so they needed time to come up with an answer to that before they face Gryndor in battle again.

The prince was a little surprised by what Ajax revealed but since it clearly strengthened his position he decided he wouldn’t give Ajax too much of a hard time about not mentioning it to him before the meeting took place.