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In the end, it was decided that Bloed and Regina would accompany Eve to the conference.

Although Bloed tried to convince Liu Ying to go too, the ex-demon princess was not interested in the slightest in this kind of gathering. No matter what Bloed said, he did not manage to convince her.

Regina, on the other hand, told Bloed that she could go in his stead. But this time it was Eve who refused. According to her, going together with an ice block like Regina was not different than going with the old men of Moonlight Glow.

Plus, Bloed did not feel good making Regina go to such a boring place alone.

In the end, the master and the servant decided to go together.

So, the next morning, they were riding a carriage together with Eve towards the pyramid-like palace of The Great Savannah.

The three of them arrived at the palace without a problem, and after Eve showed her identification to the guards, they were allowed to enter.

The atmosphere in the palace today was completely different than the atmosphere during the ball one night ago. Instead of the festive mood of last night, only a tense air could be felt.

The guards in the palace were tensed up, as though prepared to start a fight at the slightest sign that something was wrong.

"… They look like they are prepared for war." Bloed sighed.

Eve nodded silently. Same as Bloed, she did not like the atmosphere in the place.

When Bloed's group arrived at the hall of the conference, they realized they were the last group to arrive.

Apart from them, the three other groups were already seated around a table, looking at each other with wary expressions.

On one side was the King of The Great Savannah, Arlen Firstmane, together with the first prince and a catkin Bloed recognized as Javelin's father.

On the side of the elves was Elwha Aerin, Priestess and Princess of the Boerner Forest, followed by the two elves that accompanied her yesterday to the ball.

And on the side of the Sun Kingdom General Edward Stell was being followed by two young men.

Bloed found one of the young men familiar.

After staring at him for a few seconds, Bloed finally recognized him.

"… He was the one that fought against Liu Ying in the arena."

Regina was startled. "Are you sure, Master?"

"… Their figures and aura match. I'm pretty sure it's him."

Now, Bloed knew where the human that fought Liu Ying came from.

As soon as Eve, Bloed, and Regina entered the hall, the other three groups fixed their gazes on them.

"Miss Eve, you are late." The king said.

Eve did not reply and just sat in her chair before gesturing them to start.

The king frowned, but after a few seconds, he sighed and stopped paying attention to the fox girl.

He was long aware of the personality of Moonlight Glow's saintess. Moreover, Moonlight Glow was here to support his kingdom, so he wanted to avoid going against Eve.

"Very well, now that everybody is here, let's start." General Edward said.

Princess Elwha nodded. "Then, what are your proposals? How are we going to divide the mine?"

"Divide? Why should we divide it?" King Arlen snorted. "That territory has always belonged to the Great Savannah, the mine is ours!"

"… Is it so? But your majesty, I remember that it was our Sun Kingdom who discovered the mine. In that sense, it should belong to us, right?"

"Heh." King Arlen sneered. "Your group of clowns will only receive that mine over my dead body!"

Bloed raised an eyebrow in surprise. It seemed like today's negotiation did not have a future.

He was not the only one that seemed to think like that. Looking beside him, he could see that Regina and Eve had similar expressions.

"I don't understand, can they just divide the mine into three parts and be done with this?" Regina asked confused.

Bloed shook his head. "They can, but none of the three groups will accept it."

"Master?"

"If the information about the mine is right, it means whatever country gets it will gain a boom in all its industries. Perhaps in just ten or twenty years, that country will completely surpa.s.s the others. The other two parties will definitively not allow it."

"Then…"

"I already thought about it yesterday, but now that I'm seeing the situation here, I'm even surer. At this rate, war will surely erupt."

The discussion continued for several hours. During the entire time, the three parties did not manage to reach an accord.

Quite the opposite, the discussion had turned more and more heated. In fact, the three groups were close to starting a fight on several occasions.

The biggest problem was between the Sun Kingdom and The Great Savannah. Bloed realized that the bad blood between both countries was much worse than he thought. They hated each other to the bone.

But when Bloed thought the discussion was not going to reach anywhere, Princess Elwha slammed the table.

*Bam!*

"Gentlemen, we can't continue like this!"

King Arlen and General Edward fell silent, none of them ready to take a step back.

Suddenly, though, one of the young men behind the general spoke up.

"What do you suggest then, Princess?"

Elwha furrowed her brows and tapped the table twice. Then, she opened her mouth.

"What about this? Let's decide the owner of the mine with a compet.i.tion."

"A compet.i.tion?"

"Yes. As you know, we elves dislike bloodshed. Thus, how about this? Each party will send three people to the territory where the mine appeared. They will partic.i.p.ate in a test we will discuss later, and the winner will receive the mine. I propose to go with the young generation. n.o.body older than thirty and beyond the B-Rank should partic.i.p.ate to avoid escalating the conflict."

Both parties fell deep in thought. This suggestion seemed not bad.

"… How are we going to guarantee that the other party doesn't go back in their words?" The catkin behind The Great Savannah's king asked.

"We will make an oath witnessed by the higher-ups of several churches and our three countries. If any of the countries goes against the agreement, the other parties will cooperate to force them to do as promised."

The Sun Kingdom and The Great Savannah's people fell deep in thought.

Bloed thought this was a good way to solve the situation. Although there were still some rough corners in Elwha's proposal, they could be resolved.

At the very least, it was much better than starting a full-blown war.

The King of the Great Savannah wrinkled his brows for several seconds before staring at the elves and humans across the table.

"I can agree at that, but under two conditions."

"Do speak." Princess Elwha said.

"First, the compet.i.tion will decide the ownership for the next ten years. After ten years, the ownership of the mine will be disputed again."

The elves and humans looked at each other. This condition was not bad. That way, each country could accept defeat more easily.

After all, they still had another opportunity even if they failed.

"We don't mind." General Edward nodded. "What is the second condition?"

"Make it six people! Nothing less than that."

" Six people?" The general furrowed his brows in confusion. "Why do you insist on six people?"

"Just tell me if you are going to agree or not!"

The general was silent. Something was definitively wrong.

He stared at the two young men behind him to see if they could understand the beastmen king's intentions. But they shook their heads.

Even so, he was sure there was a trap behind the beastmen king's condition.

But at that moment–

"We don't mind." The Elven Princess spoke up. "Six people it is."

The general of the Sun Kingdom was startled. He then stared at the princess as though trying to read her thoughts.

Elwha did not look at him. Instead, she stared at the beastmen king. "We can accept that arrangement, your majesty. Anyway, I don't think the elves will lose."

"We agree too." This time, it was one of the young men behind the general who spoke. "But only this time. The number of partic.i.p.ants will be negotiated again for the next compet.i.tion."

"Your highness!"

"Calm down, General. My father gave me the authority to make decisions in today's negotiations, and this is my decision."

The general fell silent for a moment and finally nodded.

"Only this time, huh. Okay, I agree." King Arlen agreed easily.

In fact, he was already satisfied with this result.

Although he would have an advantage only this time, that was more than enough.

If he was too greedy, the other parties surely would realize that something was wrong.

"It's decided then. The details of the compet.i.tion will be negotiated later."

Just like that, the three parties reached an agreement for the ownership of the mine.