Instead of going to the Paradile Province from us, the Paradile Governor's family would go to the Imperial Capital to conduct the negotiations.

　I thought it would be from us, so I was not expecting it.
　It seemed to be an outrageous thing for the Paradile Viceroy's family to summon someone from the Emperor's family to come to the Imperial City.

　It seems that it is Governor Paradile himself who is coming to negotiate.
　It's an important negotiation and he would prefer to conduct it himself.

　A few days after hearing the reply that he would come, Governor Paradile entered the imperial capital and entered the castle.

　Instead of negotiating on the same day they meet, it seems that on the first day they will have a greeting and a party, and then negotiate at a later date.

　They want to conclude the negotiations as soon as possible, but it seems that the party is to be held first to deepen the friendship to some extent by holding a party once, and then negotiate to increase the probability of success.

　In the room where His Majesty the Emperor was, we met face to face with the Paradile Viceroy's family.

''We have responded to His Majesty's call. I am Makfa Circassia, Governor of Paradile.

　A middle-aged man with a serious look on his face greeted me as such.

　His face was well-groomed and he was probably quite handsome in his younger days, one could expect.
　He looks to be in his 40s or so.

　I'll give my appraisal.

　Macpha Circassia, 52 years old, male.
　Status
　Leadership 78/79
　Valor 88/88
　Knowledge 66/66
　Politics 70/71
　Ambition 33
　Aptitude
　Infantry A
　Cavalry A
　Archers C
　Magician D
　Fortress B
　Weapons C
　Navy D
　Air Force B
　Plan D

　It was of a certain status, but not outstanding.
　He was surprisingly old.

　He is accompanied by several vassals behind him.

　I'll check them all out.
　Many of them are of high military prowess. I wonder if Paradile is a system where the stronger ones can go to the top.

　But other than martial courage, many of them are honestly very subtle.

　There was one person among them who was quite amazing.

　There's a short man at the very end, a short man who looks plain, but his ability value is

　Bamba Fanama Muff, 22 years old, male.　
　Status
　Leadership 70/92
　Valor 52/69
　Knowledge 83/100
　Politics 84/98
　Ambition 11
　Aptitude
　Infantry C
　Cavalry B
　Archers B
　Magician B
　Castle D
　Weapons S
　Navy D
　Air Force D
　Plan S

　It was like this.
　This man, on the contrary, only had low martial prowess, and his other statuses were very high.

　He hasn't fully developed his talent yet, but when he does, his ability value will be enough to make him a hero.

　He's on the edge and looks plain, so probably no one is paying attention to him except me.

　I made a mental note to pay attention to this Bamba guy.

　After His Majesty the Emperor returned the Governor's greeting to Macpha, Leng now greets Macpha.

　They exchange a social greeting.
　The spoken language of the Paradile is almost identical to that of the Mythian.

　Ansel, Mythian, and Paradile seem to be relatively close in language. In the provinces of Schoutz and Saitz, the spoken language seems to be quite different.

　After the greetings, a standing dinner party began to build up friendships.

　The emperor seems to have been treated differently, not eating with his subordinates, and he left early.

　Around Leng, Shakma, Makfa, and Robinson are all taking their meals at the same table.

　I was curious to find Bamba, a competent person, so I looked for him.
　I wanted to see what he thought of this negotiation.

　He was in the corner of the room, taking his meal by himself.

'May I join you?'
"Child don't get too close to me for the dark mark on your right hand may be revealed.

　Bamba muttered.

　'The Dark Mark?
　I've never heard the word before.
　I was a little curious.

What is the dark mark?

　So he asked.

When I was born, the mark carved by the Devil's curse is the Dark Mark. If I run away, I will become a demon and run amok.

　What is that?
　I wonder what kind of demons exist in this world.
　Sure there's magic, and I've seen a lot of creatures I've never seen before, but I've never seen a demon.

　There's something fishy about it.

Can I see that engraving?

　That's what I asked.

"Are you interested, child...

　He said and showed me the back of his right hand.

　It's a pattern of a skull, but it's faint in places.
　I can only think that it is obviously written in ink or something else.

''Um........it's blurry, but........''
"...what?　Oh, shit!

　Bamba checks the back of his hand and gets impatient.

'Soooo, you don't have any ink?'
'I don't have one but are you writing it yourself?'
'What?　Oh, no, no! Be at ease, child. Today is a day of stability, a day that makes it difficult for the mark to run amok. That's why the mark is a little faint.

　He uttered a setting that was clearly improvised.

　Is this guy what you call a midlife crisis?
　It said he was 22 years old, but doesn't the otherworldly middle child develop at age 14? Or has he always been like this?

　But now his status is high........I measured it again just to make sure, but it's still high.
　I'm worried that the accuracy of the appraisal has gone down.

　Let's talk about it some more.

''Um, my name is Ars Rovent.
"I am Bamba Fanama Mahmud. So you are Ars Loebent.
'What?　Did you know me?

　Could it be that my appraisal is starting to gain some recognition?

No, I've never heard of it before.
''Well then why did you give off the air of knowing?''
It will give them a cooler feel.

　I think this guy is no good.

　I tried talking to him after that, but all I could figure out was that he was still a freak anyway.

　I'm already direct.

What does Master Bamba think about these negotiations?

　I asked him.

'Hmm, I don't trust what your boss says. The first thing he says is that he is loyal to His Majesty the Emperor.
What makes you think that?
'Aside from that Leng Salemakia, I've heard that Clan Salemakia is a master general and a grown man. It's hard to believe that such a thing would be sincerely loyal to His Majesty the Emperor now. Loyalty from a grown-up would be directed to a grown-up as well.

　Bamba made a statement that could be seen as a criticism of the Emperor.

'I understand that Master Macpha is loyal to His Majesty the Emperor.
He's a little different in some ways.

　What kind of person is unusual in this man's eyes?
　'You seem to be talking to Leng and the others in a normal way.

Well, it's a little shady, but I think there's merit in joining forces on both sides. There are a few things we need to pursue when negotiating.
What would you like to pursue?
I can't tell you that, Lord.

　I wondered if he was going to ask me anything in the negotiations.

　I wasn't sure if he was a competent man, but I knew I should be careful.