The stone prison's door opened, and beyond it was bright light. The Maya merchant Tikalo stood in the doorway of light, feeling the blade's edge against his neck, his body trembling slightly. As a merchant who moved among every faction, whose tongue was sharper than axes and spears, the thing he was most helpless against was this sort of unreasonable hardcase—shouting about fighting and killing, killing the moment they said they would...
"Uh... the Sky Snake God bear witness! Revered Priest Pap, you can put down the sacrificial dagger first... Between you and me! In truth, we are... we are potential allies!..."
"Hmm? What? Potential allies?"
At that, Priest Pap's brows twitched, obvious confusion showing on his face.
"The gods bear witness! You don't hate me for attacking you? And you still want to become my ally? What kind of logic is that?..."
"Ahem! Priest Pap, I am a Maya merchant. In all things, I have to look ahead. Those past encounters brought me losses. So I have to think about how to make them back in the future... And if you surrender to His Highness, the benefits you can bring me will actually far exceed letting you flee back to the Maya!..."
".Hmm... Explain it in detail! And swear by your ancestors again!"
"My ancestors bear witness! Everything I say is the truth! This time, I returned with the kingdom fleet and made some mistakes. I very much need to establish merit to make up for them..."
The Maya merchant Tikalo's eyes flickered as he organized the words he would use to persuade him. The matter of the Maya Prince could not be mentioned at all right now; otherwise, if the other party carried his head off to seek refuge with the Xiu Family, that would be too bloody