Diplomatic Tactics

Amber Xiu didn't really want to get involved in other people's domestic affairs, but Headless Bro was a guest, and Amber Xiu felt he ought to offer him a few words of warning. Once the guests had happily settled in with their free drinks, Amber Xiu squeezed through the crowd and went over to Headless Bro.

"Hey, little brother Diga, you're here for a drink too?" Headless Bro warmly slung an arm around Amber Xiu's shoulder and introduced him to the lionlike female orc beside him. "This is my brother."

The female orc blushed shyly and said to Amber Xiu, "Master Tiga Ultraman, I've heard of you. Last time you swindled the Paladin of the Lyne Empire out of several thousand gold coins with just three sentences. I admire your skill. I'm Aona Hellfire, the owner of this bar."

Hellfire. Amber Xiu had heard that surname somewhere. It was probably the name of a rather famous orc clan.

As expected, another rich woman.

Amber Xiu politely greeted the bar's owner, then led Headless Bro aside and asked in a low voice, "Gareth, what have you been up to these past few days? You're a married man!"

Headless Bro burped and said nonchalantly, "So what? I haven't done anything. I'm just here for a drink. Are married men not allowed to go out drinking? God of Undead above, I've already lost my head. Don't I even have the right to enjoy a drink?"

"You're just having a drink? You've got that female orc practically swooning over you!"

Amber Xiu didn't believe that they were merely drinking. Anyone with eyes could see that Aona Hellfire was practically ready to devour Headless Bro.

"Aona... She's a good woman, but I only think of her as a little sister."

What a classic line from a scumbag. Before Amber Xiu had transmigrated, people who said things like that were liable to get stabbed with a kitchen knife.

"Gareth, I have no opinion on your love life, but think about it. If your wife finds out, it could start a war."

The Bone Dragon heiress's wrath would force Alchemy City to throw everything it had into responding. One wrong move, and half the city could become a ruin. Amber Xiu's territory might even be reduced to ashes.

At the mention of his wife, Headless Bro poured himself another drink and sighed. "I'm starting to think this marriage might have been a mistake."

Amber Xiu didn't respond. This wasn't a subject he could discuss.

After turning into a lich, Amber Xiu's heart had stopped beating, and his body no longer produced hormones that could cloud his thoughts. The feelings he'd once experienced had faded over hundreds of years, leaving only faint impressions. He'd traded away joy and sorrow for a lonely eternity. The bargain might not have been a bad one, but Amber Xiu was gradually feeling its side effects. Just like now, he could only look at things as an outsider and analyze them with pure logic.

Amber Xiu couldn't even understand what was going on between Headless Bro and his Bone Dragon wife. They were both undead, but even their species and body sizes were vastly different. The fact they could marry at all just showed how mysterious love really was.

Perhaps there was a story between them that no one else knew.

But before Headless Bro could complain about his marriage, someone suddenly pushed open the tavern door. A man in a gold-and-red robe walked in, followed by two all-metal constructs. They were Alchemy City's Magic Puppets.

At the sight of his clothes, everyone in the bar set down their drinks and watched him nervously.

That gold-and-red robe marked him as an administrator of Alchemy City.

Thanks to the Alchemist Council's focus on academics, Alchemy City had a simple administrative structure. From top to bottom, it had just two ranks: council members and administrators. Both were alchemists.

The administrators handled everything practical, including people's livelihoods, administration, the military, and the law. Probably only their own people could tell who was in charge of which department. To outsiders, they all looked the same, and it was impossible to tell them apart.

But everyone in Alchemy City agreed on one thing about administrators: their arrival never meant anything good.

Alchemists preferred to hide in their labs and tinker with bottles and jars. Whenever they had to go out to work, they wore scowls as if everyone owed them millions of gold coins. Unless absolutely necessary, administrators would rather control Magic Puppets remotely than show themselves in public.

Now, this administrator had walked into the bar with a dark look on his face. Clearly, something serious had happened and required his attention.

Nine out of ten of the patrons were adventurers, and nine out of ten adventurers had broken the law at some point. So everyone grew tense at the sight of the administrator, afraid he'd come after them. Two drow elves had already edged toward a window and were preparing to climb out.

The administrator held his head high and paid no attention to the patrons' stares. He walked straight to the bar, took out two bottles of Magic Potion, and said to the orc bartender, "I'm here to investigate a missing-person case. The bottle on the left contains a powerful truth serum. It could damage your brain and turn you into an idiot. The bottle on the right contains a lie detector potion. If you drink it and lie, your internal organs will be corroded. Choose one and drink it."

The orc bartender looked at the two strangely colored potions and glanced at his boss for help.

Aona Hellfire stood and went over to the administrator. "Sir, we've always operated legally. Whatever you need to investigate, you can simply ask us. We'll cooperate. There's no need for such harsh interrogation methods."

The administrator was only as tall as Aona's shoulder, but he remained cold and composed before the lionlike female orc.

"This is a diplomatic matter officially raised by the Lyne Empire. It concerns relations between our two countries, so there's no room for leniency. Choose a bottle and drink it. Otherwise, I'll send all of you to prison for obstructing an administrator's investigation."

The administrator delivered his ultimatum with such finality that even Aona's fearsome face scrunched up.

Headless Bro set down his drink and asked the bar's owner, "Aona, do you need my help?"

Aona gave Headless Bro a gentle smile. "It's fine, Gareth. I can handle it."

Headless Bro shrugged helplessly, while Amber Xiu breathed a sigh of relief.

The administrator was lucky. He'd nearly been pounded into a pulp.

Aona told the orc bartender, "Tell the truth. Don't hide anything." In other words, she wanted him to choose the lie detector potion. As long as he didn't lie, he should be fine.

The bartender looked miserable, but he had no choice. Gritting his teeth, he drank the lie detector potion.

After he'd finished it, the administrator asked, "A few days ago, did a Paladin named Allen Watson come here?"

At that question, Amber Xiu set down his own drink.

Diplomatic tactics? So that's how you want to play?