"I'll go negotiate."
Iris stood up from the corner of the tent.
Everyone looked at Iris in shock.
The king of Belzerg was the first to oppose. "No! You are our last ace. You absolutely cannot do something so dangerous! And if something happens to you, who will inherit this old man's position?"
Claire also stepped forward. "Your Majesty, let me go. I will lead the envoy delegation to Axel and negotiate with Nishikawa Makoto."
Claire knelt on the ground, her left hand resting on her knee. Then she looked up, her gaze falling on Iris's face.
"Princess, I may not return from this journey."
Claire's eyes reddened. "If I am gone, please take good care of yourself. Don't get married, please! At least wait until I've been dead for ten years before even thinking about it."
The more Claire spoke, the more excited she became. She looked like she was about to cry.
This didn't look like the appropriate sentiment a guard should have for their charge.
Claire wasn't a lolicon. She wasn't a lesbian. She didn't feel this way toward other women, including Darkness, whom she was close with. She only felt this way about Iris.
Iris looked at Claire expressionlessly. "Oh. Then go."
Claire's tears fell, big drops hitting the carpet.
She felt like she couldn't breathe.
'What was going on? The princess didn't worry about me at all?'
In the end, Claire stood up from the ground in a daze and, supported by the others in the envoy delegation, walked out of the tent.
Iris watched Claire's retreating back. The corner of her mouth twitched, but she didn't make a sound.
She wasn't without worry. She just thought it was unnecessary.
Although she had only spent one day with Makoto's group, she could also see that they weren't the type to casually slaughter people.
Someone who would give their enemies three days to run away wouldn't be difficult on an envoy.
On the contrary, compared to Makoto, she was more concerned about these 'allies' from the Kingdom of Melromarc.
If she were in the Kingdom of Melromarc's position, she would never help Belzerg... since your enemy is that powerful, you should keep your head down and behave, not come and die.
Unless you had another purpose.
Although Iris was only twelve years old, because she had grown up in the palace, although she didn't understand things among common people, she was very familiar with the crooked ways of the upper class.
She suspected that Mirellia and her people had ulterior motives.
But she didn't dare to tell her father.
Last night, she had broken the holy sword and hadn't yet figured out how to confess it.
This was like an elementary school student who got a low score and was afraid to show the test paper to their parents.
But that was also normal. After all, Iris's age was that of an elementary school student.
Claire led the envoy delegation to the gates of Axel City.
Yu stood at the city gate, radiating an aura of being able to hold off ten thousand enemies alone.
Claire, who had led the delegation to the city gate, dismounted from her horse, walked up to Yu, and gave a slight bow.
"I am Claire, the representative of the Belzerg Kingdom's envoy delegation. I wish to have a face-to-face meeting with Nishikawa Makoto-sama."
Yu raised his eyelids. "Just tell me whatever it is. I'll report it to Senpai."
Claire hesitated, thinking about how to phrase it to get the other party to agree to a direct meeting.
"I said, Senpai is busy. Just tell me."
Yu's voice wasn't loud, but its aura, like an invisible hand, squeezed the necks of Claire and her group.
Claire and the other members of the envoy delegation behind her had already begun to tremble.
"Could you... extend the battle deadline... from three days to one week?"
Claire's voice was fragmented, each word seeming to be squeezed from her throat.
"Okay."
Claire was stunned.
"Is there anything else?" Yu was as calm as ever.
Claire and the members of the envoy delegation behind her stared at each other with wide eyes.
They had all come with a 'prepared to die' attitude, thinking they would at least lose some skin, but he just agreed like that?
"No, nothing else." Claire finally managed to squeeze out the words.
Yu turned and walked toward the city. After two steps, he stopped, tilted his head, and glanced at Claire. "You can leave now."
When Claire returned to the military camp, the king of Belzerg and the ministers were all shocked.
They had thought that Claire's trip would at least take half a day of haggling with Makoto, and she might even be detained as a hostage. But she was back in less than an hour.
"They agreed." Claire stood in the center of the tent, her voice still a bit weak.
The tent was quiet for a moment, then erupted.
Both civil and military officials could not understand why Makoto would do this.
'Didn't he raise any conditions at all?'
Kyouya crossed his arms, his brow slightly furrowed, and speculated, "Could it be that Nishikawa Makoto consumed too much energy using tenth-tier magic in Melromarc, and he also needs time to recover?"
Kyouya continued his speculation. "Everyone knows that the more powerful the magic, the more excessive the preparation time and consumption. For example, high-level magic like Explosion Magic, even a great mage can only use it once a day. Since Nishikawa Makoto used such powerful magic in Melromarc, it's very normal that he needs time to recover, right?"
The ministers nodded one after another. Their expressions relaxed considerably. They realized that Makoto wasn't so invincible after all.
Iris still sat in the corner, thinking that these people were taking things far too simply.
But the matter of breaking the holy sword made her very insecure. To avoid drawing her father's attention at this moment, Iris ultimately decided to lower her head and play ostrich.
Yu had already returned to the city.
The reason he agreed to Belzerg's request was naturally reasonable.
In Yu's view, Makoto had also acquired new women. He would certainly want to play with them for a few days.
In that case, giving the Belzerg Kingdom a bit more time to live was fine.
Thus, this negotiation concluded satisfactorily in an atmosphere pleasing to both sides.