Negotiation

The gale carried the chill of late December, bearing the particular desolation and grim slaughter of autumn and winter.

In tropical northern Mexico, there was no white snow to conceal every cruelty—only bean stalks gleaming gold in the fields during another season of harvest.

Year's end had arrived, and in the blink of an eye, it was already an ominous day.

Perhaps pressured by provisions, the two detached forces quickly assembled and promptly brought along more than a month's worth of food supplies.

Twenty thousand troops marched north for two days, then split toward the northwest and due north. The vast Mexica Legion left behind thirty thousand warriors, nearly twenty thousand Militia, and the sacred, merciless King Tizoc, who held command beneath Otopan City.

Kasal remained in the royal camp, leading a thousand Jaguar Regiment warriors and five hundred Shorn Guards, sleeping with weapons at hand as they awaited dawn. King Tizoc hoped that the Otopan city-state would seize the chance to leave the city and break the siege—then welcome this "surprise."

Commander-in-Chief Totek led eight thousand direct-command warriors and two thousand direct-command Village Militia, advancing without pause toward Guamare in the northwest.

He had a wooden map. Whenever scouts discovered an Otomi village, he marked its location with a circle in bright red dye.

Xolotl had not wanted to join this campaign. He wanted to stay in his tent and quietly teach Chinese Characters to his followers. But Avet smiled, firmly seized his arm, and dragged him out of the hut.

All he managed to leave behind was, "Study hard!" before he was mercilessly hauled away.

Bertad selected sixty outstanding follower-warriors to accompany Xolotl. Ever since Xolotl had created the "Giant Beast" Catapult, lower-ranking warriors had steadily come to pledge themselves to him. By now, he had over three hundred warrior followers.

Fortunately, the current king had no mind to concern himself with such trifles.

To sustain these followers, Xolotl could only go begging to his father from time to time for food and supplies. Xoloc agreed with a gratified expression and sent over some Holy City Warriors as the backbone of the followers.

The army marched for half a month through rolling mountains and hills. At first, the forests were dense, but the farther north they went, the fewer the woods became, and the mountains gradually flattened.

Before Xolotl's eyes, he could clearly see the hills and fields, faint curls of cooking smoke rising among them, and barren mountain villages at the distant edge.

Half a month later, the legion finally arrived beneath Guamare City. By then, Totek's wooden board was covered in bright-red marks, like bloody seals.

Guamare City was a typical hilltop city, built upon a hill whose base stood more than ten meters above the surrounding ground. Xolotl estimated that the city covered roughly four square kilometers, while its walls stood about four meters tall. The low hill still effectively strengthened the city's defenses and greatly reduced the effectiveness of human-powered Catapults.

"Mountains, forests, mountain cities, hilltop cities. The Otomi may be weak, but they occupy favorable terrain. They will not be easy to conquer."

Xolotl looked at the city-state before him and sank into distant thought.

"If the Alliance wished to wage a war of territorial conquest and expand the empire's borders, who should be the first target?"

Soon, figures moved atop Guamare's walls, revealing the stationed warriors and Militia. According to the intelligence in Avet's hands, apart from the troops sent to aid Otopan, the city still held roughly five thousand warriors and twenty thousand Militia. On paper, that was enough to fight the Mexica Legion that had come from afar.

The Mexica Legion advanced with grim killing intent, stopping two li from the city. Eight thousand main-force warriors took up their Shields and War Clubs, casually staring down the defenders atop the walls. The two thousand auxiliary Militia remained behind, setting up a simple camp and guarding the legion's provisions.

Commander-in-Chief Totek sent out an envoy, who raised a flag to signal his demand for talks with the city. Half an hour later, the gates opposite opened halfway, and a dozen or so nobles and Priests hurried out. They wore feathered crowns and splendid garments, clearly having made careful preparations.

At their head was an Otomi nobleman dressed in an exquisite black-and-white cotton robe, smiling pleasantly. Beside him stood an elderly man wearing an Obsidian headdress. The old man was not tall, draped in a black-and-white striped Priest robe, his face stern.

Commander-in-Chief Totek stood before the legion and gestured for Avet to negotiate. Avet brought his attendants, then caught hold of the young Priest in the Tengu Priest Robe and smilingly pulled him forward as well.

The moment both sides had taken their positions one li from the city, Xolotl felt a chill run through him. Looking up, he saw the old Priest opposite glaring at him with an expression that wished to carve him into a thousand pieces—no, at the sacrificial robe he wore.

The Guamare noble smiled and offered a faintly respectful greeting.

"Honored leader of the Mexica People, descendant of the Sun God."

Then everyone heard the old Priest cough in displeasure, interrupting the superficial pleasantries.

The Otomi nobleman's smile froze. His expression turned solemn as he continued.

"I am a God-descendant noble of Guamare. May I ask what business the Mexica warband has in coming to Guamare City? The tribes of Guamare have always been on good terms with the Mexica City-State Alliance! Our response to Otopan City this time was merely out of obligation to our alliance, not the wish of the Guamare tribes. If your regiment requires food or wine, the city-state can provide them in full."

Avet smiled slightly as well and calmly declared, "Greetings, descendant of the God of Day and Night! The army has come for two purposes. First, we hope that the Guamare city-state will submit to the great Alliance and offer merely symbolic tribute. Second, we require the Guamare tribes to withdraw their aid to Otopan City and sever their alliance with Otopan."

"Ah? This—"

Before the Otomi nobleman could reply, the old Priest let out an enraged roar.

"The Otomi People will never submit to the Mexica People! Otopan City is the ancestral land of the Otomi People. It must never fall into the hands of the savage Mexica Heretics!"

At those words, Avet's face turned cold, and he warned sharply.

"The great King Tizoc leads us. Mighty Xilotepec City has already surrendered! And now Otopan is on the brink of falling. A hundred thousand warriors have surrounded the Mountain City on all sides. Once the city falls, God-descendants, Priests, and nobles alike will bleed dry and be sacrificed to the Sun God!"

"The Alliance army brings thunderous Giant Beasts. Wherever it goes, no Otomi army has ever been able to stand against it! Guamare City now has only five thousand warriors. Before the attack of this army, they are even more incapable of withstanding a single blow!"

After the warning, Avet paused, then resumed his smile and gently persuaded them.

"However, Guamare City lies too far from the Lake Capital, and it is truly poor. The merciful king has little interest in this land. The Main God bears witness! The Mexica army's conquest will end at Otopan City."

"So long as you show obedience, offer symbolic tribute, and withdraw Otopan's reinforcements, you may receive the Alliance's protection and live peacefully and safely upon this land!"

"So long as you submit to the Alliance, the nobles' status will not change in the slightest. The Tarasco People of the south will no longer dare invade the Alliance's merchant caravans. And we will bring cotton cloth, Cacao, Feathers, gems, gold and silver ornaments, even Maya Divine Smoke! Your lives will become more sacred and more prosperous than ever before—"

Avet patiently guided them, his tone mild as he painted a bright future. The negotiating noble's gaze flickered, and he was clearly moved. He opened his mouth, about to say something, when another roar rang out beside his ear.

"Treacherous Mexica coyotes! Do not use a false future to deceive the people of the Primal God!"

The old Priest threw back his head and roared. He looked like an enraged groundhog from Xolotl's memories.

"More than a hundred years ago, it was the savage Mexica People who drove us from the fertile, prosperous valleys and forced us back into the barren north! You cruelly seized the sacred Sacrificial Disk of Xilotepec City, and you even seek to make the Otomi People betray their ancient faith. You Heretics! Now, you will not even spare our ancestral land. The Primal God will surely send down divine punishment upon you!"

"It seems there is no proper way to communicate with a religious fanatic of a Priest."

Xolotl lowered his head in thought. The negotiations had reached an impasse.

Avet's expression chilled, but he ignored the Priest. He merely stared at the nobleman, attempting to continue his persuasion.

"The strong Otopan Mountain City is the foundation of us Otomi People in the north. It is the home of every city-state!"

Seeing that Avet had ignored him, the old Priest instead calmed down. He turned to admonish the city-state's God-descendant noble.

"The Chichimec, the Tarasco People, the Mexica People, the Teske People—how many times have foreign tribes invaded in overwhelming force? Each time, we endured only by relying on Otopan's Mountain City! Then, after the foreigners withdrew, we could restore our lands."

"Once the ancestral land of Otopan falls, the Mexica People will surely sacrifice the God-descendants, nobles, and warriors of the Otomi People within the city. They will move Mexica People there, move their own God-descendant nobles there, and occupy it completely! Decades from now, when the Mexica People's Otopan City stands in the north, where will there be any path left for us Otomi nobles and Priests to survive? By then, cruel conquest will inevitably come again, yet we will no longer have Otopan City to retreat to!"

The old Priest's words came from the depths of his heart and clearly moved the leading God-descendant noble. The negotiating nobleman's face grew solemn. He nodded slightly and bowed to the Priest.

Seeing this, Avet's face finally turned cold. He raised his voice and delivered an icy threat.

"God-descendants of Guamare City! If the tribes of Guamare insist on continuing down this wrong path, the army will show no mercy! Throughout the city-state, every village under your rule will be reduced to ash in flames. Your wealth will be seized, your lands will become barren, and the Otomi People will fall wailing, until every person in the city has been sacrificed!"

At this, the old Priest grew agitated and waved the Divine Staff in his hand. Xolotl's heart tightened; he felt that the man might explode at any moment. The warriors on both sides drew their War Clubs and raised their Shields to protect their leaders. A chaotic battle was on the verge of erupting.

Only after a moment did the old Priest calm down and speak coldly.

"The Primal God protects us! Mexica People, with your forces, you cannot take Guamare City!"

"As for the villages outside the city, destroy them if you wish! Ordinary commoners are but grass upon the open field. Even if a great fire burns them to ash, when spring arrives, they will grow again. So long as we retain the city, one day this land will again be covered with commoners."

"And great Otopan City is a Cacao Tree planted by the Primal God. The God-descendants and nobles are the Cacao bestowed by the gods. Once the Cacao Tree is cut down, the Otomi People will be abandoned by the gods and then march toward extinction."

"So even if all the grass across the fields is burned away, it is still better to preserve one sacred Cacao!"

The groundhog-like old Priest gave one final roar, then left with the nobles amid the killing intent in Avet's eyes.

Hearing this, Xolotl fell silent and sank into thought.

"It seemed that in this age, the ruling classes all viewed commoners as insignificant consumables... The reason for it should be determined by the difference in power between warriors and commoners. How should I change that?"

The negotiations ended. Avet helplessly shook his head, turned, and reported back to Totek. The hard, stern commander-in-chief was not surprised in the least. He merely took out the wooden board covered in red circles.

The peaceful negotiations had failed. All that remained was blood and fire, flowing and burning across the Earth.