Ed really liked to talk to people he was meeting for the first time in a way that showed equality and respect, and to express his goodwill in this way.
Unfortunately, although he had spoken with many people and recruited many others, the opportunities to actually use this equipment were few and far between. It seems that only the village chief of Dragonborn Village had ever enjoyed this service.
Seraphina's true form was enormous; Duolin was bound like a dumpling; Xilǐ'er was a rigid knight unaccustomed to sitting on equal footing with the lord; and as for Gray, he'd need to have a butt to sit down first.
In short, although the number of his subordinates and allies was constantly increasing, only the village chief had ever enjoyed this service.
The newly awakened lich was a little unsure of what to say, but Ed finally spoke first:
"I already know your request; it's about those nomads, isn't it?"
Willow sighed and said:
"Yes, because of the Blood Corpse Tide horde, many nomads in the wilderness have been attacked. I hope they can find a place to temporarily survive. The vegetation in the northern part of your territory is very lush, and there are no signs of human habitation. They could stay there for a while."
Ed looked at the lich in front of him:
"They can stay in that area, but it won't be without cost."
"?"
Willow was stunned for a moment upon hearing this—how could such cold words come from such a mouth?
She retorted with some doubt:
"But the human who brought me here said you would accept outsiders..."
The remaining half of the sentence stuck in her throat. Willow suddenly realized that the person had said, " The Second Holy See will embrace all races with good intentions," but hadn't mentioned anything about the price.
The demon race has been out of order for too long. Driven purely by instinct, the Aberration demons don't need money, and they almost forgot that such things cost money.
Upon hearing Willow's first sentence, Ed's expression immediately turned serious:
"Are you trying to morally blackmail me, Lady Lich?"
Willow's momentum immediately weakened.
No, no.
Willow suddenly felt that not only had her understanding of order deteriorated, but her ability to communicate with people had also atrophied considerably during her long period of isolation and escape.
"Then tell me what you, or that tribe, can offer? You don't want to see nomads homeless, do you?"
Willow looked at Ed silently, and after thinking for a long time, finally used the same words he had just said:
Are you trying to morally blackmail me?
Unexpectedly, Ed nodded calmly, his tone matter-of-fact:
"Yeah, that's right, what else?"
"?"
Yes, what else can I do?
Even though she was a Middle Tier lich, Willow had a clear understanding of her own combat abilities. While the human before her appeared to be only Low Tier,...
Wait, perception?
Willow quietly released a small amount of Psionic Energy to cover a small area in front of her, while simultaneously entering a state of Psionic Energy vision. However, she did not expect that in the short time it took to switch her vision, that wisp of Psionic Energy had completely disappeared into the black hole.
The boy in front of them was the black hole itself.
The fear of being drained of her Psionic Energy and dying surged through her, Willow couldn't help but swallow.
"Lady Lich, this is the second time today."
Ed's tone was somewhat serious:
"Are you very interested in other people's privacy?"
"Ah, this..."
Willow was in an awkward situation, while Ed had roughly figured out the lich's personality.
The lich in front of me had a completely opposite personality to the dragon downstairs.
If Ed speaks to Seraphina like that, he'll most likely be met with a dragon's breath attack. Only by gently persuading her can he get the proud dragon to do what he wants her to do.
However, the lich in front of me has a somewhat soft personality. The tougher my attitude is, the greater the chance that the other party's programming will malfunction. The simplest way is to take control of the conversation.
Furthermore, the lich in front of her seemed to possess "morality," something Seraphina almost entirely lacked, making her even easier to subdue.
Although Ed considered himself to be moral, he couldn't show it.
Once you demonstrate that you have a high level of morality, bad people (like yourself) will exploit your weaknesses.
Is casting a detection spell upon meeting someone considered polite by a lich?
Seeing that Willow remained silent, Ed pressed on.
"No... it's just that in a place like the Demon Realm, liches who don't like to use Detection Spell are all dead."
Ed was speechless. The lich in front of him sounded like he had been hanging around in the Demon Realm realm not long ago, so he was no ordinary person.
Ed's manipulation of the other party should end here, he said, waving his hand from his moral high ground.
"Let's pretend nothing happened and get back to business. I can accept those nomads. What price are you or the chieftain willing to pay? Let's finalize the deal as soon as possible so you can settle down here."
After asking this question, he added:
It's not that I'm stingy, it's just...
He pointed to his eye socket:
"I'm in a vegetative state. The plants in my territory are my subjects, and those nomadic people's livestock eat plants. It's practically like they're gnawing on my head, can you understand?"
Whether Willow can understand or not, what Ed is saying at this moment is not true.
In the Baron's Domain and White Wax Town, only the plant-like people and Dragonborn are considered his subjects. The Aberration plants that can interact with each other are extensions of the Root Network. The vast fields of crops are the property of both the players and the natives, while the plants that might be eaten by the Vine Sheep are actually the weeds that Ed wants to clear...
The lich had been sold twice without even realizing it, and was even calculating whether it was worth it.
Is it... possible?
Willow felt a little numb. She realized she couldn't win the debate against the boy. Oh well, whatever you say.
"Then, name your price."
Ed was prepared for this:
"Simply put, I could even permanently allocate that area to the nomads for their pastoral lives, but they would need to integrate into our community, not exist as 'guests'."
What do you mean?
"Yes, I want to annex this tribe. What they were called before doesn't matter. What matters most is that they become my subjects and members of my rule."
Ed pulled out a copy of the "Yellow Book" of the natives of White Wax Town, which Dorin had delivered a couple of Duolin earlier, from the nearby bookshelf and showed it to the lich:
"The existence of each of them needs to be registered, and they need to pay taxes like normal citizens for certain special activities. When facing the Blood Corpse, militia need to be selected from among them. Moreover, this integration is permanent and irreversible. Even after the Blood Corpse Tide ends, they can no longer leave this area and return to freedom."