The Art of Negotiation

Behind was a narrow alley, in front an open space blocked on all sides.

The pressure constricting her entire body and the enemies’ war cries pounding in her ears.

There couldn’t be a better environment to experiment with the fighting style she had conceptualized in her mind.

“Magic sword.”

A momentary gray flash from her fingertips created the form of a sword.

A cool sensation traveled through her hand as she gripped the sword.

Then she uttered the next activation word.

“Body amplification.”

The enhancement magic she hadn’t used even once since Margrave Pelon’s territory.

She filled it with the amplification properties of the light attribute to maximize efficiency.

As a result, all her physical abilities were enhanced.

Suddenly the world looked different.

With her senses already sharpened from reaching 5-star grade, and body amplification added on top, her senses became much clearer.

The rough breathing of enemies, footsteps, the sound of arrows being fired, the swishing of hidden weapons.

All of it became vivid.

In this unfamiliar sensation, she cast her third spell.

“Planar cut.”

As if slicing through space itself with a razor, a very thin and clear white line was drawn from the left end to the right end,

ignoring everything and running in a straight line.

The target was not the man in front but the armed thugs rushing from behind and the sides.

Breaking their momentum was the priority.

“!!”

“What is this?”

The thugs’ charge momentarily faltered as they instinctively sensed the threat.

Soon, darkness like ink began to seep and spread from the line.

Ssss-.

Along with a strange sense of discomfort as if space was distorting.

Everything touched by the line was instantly severed.

“Aaaagh!”

“Kuhek.”

“My, my body..”

The war cries soon turned into desperate and terrible screams.

The upper and lower bodies of the charging thugs were cleanly separated and flew through the air,

and the swords they held, their hard armor, even their screams were cut in half.

Thud thud thud.

The severed body parts rained down and rolled on the ground.

The open space instantly turned into a living hell of tangled blood, flesh, and entrails.

The pungent smell of blood stung her nose.

A single spell.

With just that, a third of the charging armed thugs had turned into pieces of meat.

‘Let’s neutralize that man first. He might escape.’

Having broken the enemies’ momentum, Loen immediately charged toward the man in front of her.

Her original goal was to capture him.

She lifted herself with the flight artifact, exploded magical power at her feet to gain propulsion, and shot like an arrow toward him.

She swung her magic sword as she charged.

Swoosh!

He raised his sword vertically.

Surprisingly, he reflexively raised his sword to receive Loen’s strike.

It was a reaction speed only possible for someone who had honed their swordsmanship for a long time. But.

Screech.

His sword, coated with magical power, was sliced off like tofu by Loen’s magic sword.

“What the!”

Slash!

Following the severed sword, his right arm was also cut off.

Without pause, Loen landed on the ground, and with her foot pressed firmly, she rotated her body and delivered a low slash aimed at the opponent’s legs.

The magic sword cut through his calf tendon.

“Nnnnngh!”

After cutting his arm and leg tendon, Loen grabbed the back of his neck before he could even scream properly.

“Release.”

His body was thrown violently into the corner of the open space like a puppet with cut strings. Thud! He lost consciousness upon crashing into the wall.

“..”

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

The armed thugs watching this wore dazed expressions.

But some of them, those with more experience and toughness, came to their senses and yelled.

Either way, they would die if they just stood there bewildered. It was do or die.

“Fuck this! Don’t be scared, attack!!”

“The opponent is just one mage! Drag it into a melee!”

“We’re dead either way!”

The remaining thugs rushed toward Loen, shouting in one last desperate struggle.

Loen, with a smile on her lips, immediately initiated her action.

Infusing magical power into the magic beam generator and the seal of protection, Loen activated the flight artifact and charged into the midst of the enemy formation.

As Loen flew in a parabolic arc, the thugs widened their eyes.

To think a mage, and alone at that, would jump right into the center of the enemy formation!

While they were bewildered, Loen landed on the ground.

With senses and speed heightened to the extreme by body amplification, Loen carved her way through the enemies.

Slashing and stabbing, slashing and stabbing again.

The swordsmanship itself was extremely crude. There was no technique. But.

The speed that far transcended normality and the amplified magic sword of extinction that cut everything it touched compensated for these shortcomings.

“Crazy, guh.”

Swords and armor were torn like paper, and flesh and bones were mercilessly severed.

‘Since durability isn’t amplified, I can’t fight for long. So as quickly as possible.’

Body amplification wasn’t omnipotent.

Naturally, the faster the speed, the greater the strain on the body.

For Loen, with her frail human body, there was nothing good about prolonging the battle.

Meanwhile, even as Loen’s sword dance continued.

Two steel rods floating in the air continuously flashed, firing thin magic beams without rest.

Even this was threatening to those with mediocre skills.

Attacks flying from blind spots were blocked by the magic shield deployed by the seal of protection and bounced off helplessly.

It was practically impossible to penetrate this without a 5-star grade powerhouse.

The number of thugs rapidly decreased.

Of course, they didn’t just stand still.

“Don’t worry about our allies, just attack!”

The thugs positioned on the building roofs began to pour indiscriminate attacks downward.

Arrows, hidden weapons, and various attack spells rained down around Loen.

Kwang!

Right after avoiding an explosion spell that fell from above.

Loen’s red eyes turned toward the roof.

How annoying.

Paat.

She kicked off the air and jumped up.

Loen avoided the attacks with almost miraculous movements, repeatedly turning the flight artifact on and off instantaneously, and pushing her body with magic release.

Loen shot up to the roof in an instant, treading on the building wall as if ignoring gravity.

“W-what.”

Before the thugs on the roof could even react, krrrk. Starting with beheading the one closest to her in a single stroke, Loen’s massacre began.

Chwak! Chwak!

After beheading the person next to her, slicing the belly of the one standing behind, she stretched her hand backward and shouted.

“Magic beam.”

Kwa-aang!

The thugs lined up at the edge of the roof were swept away without a trace by the thick gray beam.

“…”

“..”

Loen’s gaze now turned toward the opposite roof.

The thugs, frozen by the overwhelming difference in skill, were similarly lined up in a row.

Their eyes were already colored with despair.

“We’re fucked..”

Loen very kindly offered a final greeting to them.

“Chain beam.”

They departed to join their comrades without even being able to scream.

Phew.

After taking a brief breath.

Glancing down, Loen stretched her hand into the air and shouted.

“Dark light sphere.”

A sphere of light, as dazzling as the sun, rose from her fingertips.

At that sacred-like light, the thugs below reflexively looked up.

As they swallowed hard, someone muttered.

“If I had known this would happen, I would have rejected that woman’s proposal..”

Right after Loen crushed the sphere as if crumbling it in her hand.

A storm of black fragments that devoured everything swept through the slum alleys.

 

Now only an eerie silence hung over the alley and open space covered in blood and flesh.

Only two things were moving.

Loen standing with the sun at her back, and the man leaning against the wall, trembling while catching his breath.

Thud, thud.

Loen slowly approached the man.

The chilling sound of her shoes stepping in pools of blood came like a death sentence.

Overwhelming fear pressed down on his entire body.

The cruel rumors surrounding Loen Franz.

Stories of her mercilessly executing traitors and conducting massacres without blinking an eye.

The man realized to the bone that it was no exaggeration.

It felt like the blood in his entire body was turning cold.

He urgently fumbled with his only intact left arm, searching inside his clothes.

“W-wait.”

The moment the sound of footsteps came right up to his face.

With trembling hands, barely managing to pull something out, he screamed desperately as if clutching at straws.

“H-here’s an identification token that guarantees my identity. Actually, I’m not just an informant, I’m—”

Tap.

Before his words were finished, the cold tip of the magic sword touched his chin. At that, the man stopped speaking.

His trembling pupils met the red eyes looking down at him without emotion.

A cold and empty gaze as if not seeing a person as a person, as if looking down at an insect.

Loen, picking up the identification token he had presented, said.

“Don’t worry.”

For just a moment, a glimmer of hope seemed to flash in the man’s eyes.

“I won’t kill you.”

Loen’s right foot extended like lightning and struck his chin.

“Kuhek.”

With a short scream, the man’s consciousness faded to black.

Loen levitated his body as it fell limply.

And then, as if nothing had happened, she put her hood back on and leisurely walked out of the slum alley.

 

A conference room in a large mansion where sunlight streamed through wide windows.

Johan Franz sat across from southern nobles leading minor factions.

“Ho ho, it’s truly an honor to see the heir of the renowned Franz family in person, young lord.”

“I would like to express my sincere apologies for not having been able to attend the Franz family’s receptions due to scheduling conflicts.”

Of course, on the surface, they only displayed warm smiles and flattery.

Everyone present was nobles who had shown uncooperative attitudes toward the Franz family.

They each had firm influence in their own domains.

Also, as ancient families with deep roots, it was awkward to treat them carelessly.

So ultimately, negotiation and persuasion to draw out voluntary cooperation was the best option.

Soon, the negotiation began.

“If you could reduce the guild’s transport fees a little more…”

“If you could reduce the port taxes in the port cities…”

The content of the negotiations was predictable.

It mainly consisted of requests for more benefits for the businesses and guilds they operated.

“How about this proposal?”

To which Johan skillfully adjusted the details.

“That’s quite good. Hmm, but..”

“I think I need to think about it a bit more.”

However, even though Johan had taken a step back, the atmosphere became strangely prolonged.

Somehow, a current of avoiding decisive agreement circled the negotiation table.

At this rate, it seemed like no conclusion would be reached even by sunset.

Johan inwardly clicked his tongue.

‘Even though they would suffer considerable losses if negotiations break down?’

This was actually puzzling.

The ruler of the south had clearly become the Franz family.

Rebelling against this would only result in severe losses that they themselves would have to bear.

Yet they still showed this attitude?

Certainly, as his sister’s letter had indicated, they must have something they were relying on.

In any case, they were annoyingly peculiar individuals.

While the negotiations were dragging on.

Bang!

The door to the conference room was roughly opened.

All eyes turned toward the door.

And the next moment, everyone in the conference room gasped.

Blood.

Blood everywhere.

A woman in a blood-soaked robe appeared in the conference room.

The face of the woman who pushed back her hood was a face everyone knew.

“S-sister? What brings you here?”

Johan widened his eyes at his sister’s unexpected appearance.

He had heard she was too busy with the corps reorganization to even look up.

And what about the blood covering her entire body?

The nobles were absolutely terrified.

It would be shocking even if an ordinary person appeared covered in blood,

but the inspector Loen Franz, who had dyed the south in blood, entered the negotiation venue covered in blood,

it was certainly a situation worth being surprised about.

“Ah.. no.”

“There was no mention that Loen Franz would come here.. was there..”

Some with pale faces, some frozen with trailing words, some with heads bowed holding their trembling fingertips.

Amid various reactions appearing here and there.

Loen walked silently to Johan’s side.

And calmly pulled an empty chair and sat down right next to Johan.

Crossing one leg and folding her arms, she briefly looked around the room with her face marked with clear bloodstains and quietly said.

“Please don’t mind me and continue what you were doing.”

The air in the conference room completely chilled at her very calm voice.

And so, the negotiations resumed.