Lord Duran crossed his arms, his ears standing on end. “What is your demands?”
“I only have three demands,” I admitted. “First, someone close to me has entered your lands. I need her to be located.”
“Someone?”
I was fearing for the worst. If they had brought Miki into this because they thought she could deal with this threat, then was it possible that her soul was lost as well? No, there was no way she’d be defeated on a spiritual level. Miki would survive. Of course, there was a lingering suspicion in the back of my mind, but I wasn’t willing to entertain the possibility without any evidence. The idea that my sweet Miki was the one responsible for these deaths was outrageous.
“Her name is Miki. She is a nine-tailed foxkin who was recently summoned back to Dioshin.”
One of the reasons I was asking this way was exactly because I wanted to check and see what the lord knew. As I gave Miki’s name, I watched the Lord’s face extremely carefully, looking for any sign of recognition or surprise. Regrettably, or perhaps, fortunately, he showed no signs. His face was only mildly inquisitive.
“Miki? A nine-tailed foxkin? Don’t those breeds all die?”
“She did not.”
“I’m sorry, I do not know of her. However, I will use my contacts and see if I can ascertain where she might be in Dioshin, and who came to get her.”
“That is all that I ask.” I nodded.
Since he didn’t show any indication that he recognized the girl beyond her variant form, I didn’t press things any longer. I was regretful that I didn’t have any lead, but things could be worse.
“What about the second thing?”
“I would like a detailed map of Dioshin.”
“That…” Lord Duran made a face.
“Is that so unreasonable?”
Dioshin certainly liked to remain secretive.
“It’s not so much that I don’t want to, as I am unable. Each tribe is responsible for its own territory, and there is no cross between them. The traveling guilds have tried to map out Dioshin several times, but the lords don’t like to have their lands seen by people that are not their kind. As a result, all maps are incomplete. I can get you a complete map of the wolfkin tribe, but as for the rest of Dioshin, it will be dependent on each tribe.”
That sounded complicated. I didn’t want to get into it though, so I only nodded in acquiescence.
“In that case, I wonder if my final request can be met.”
“What request?” Lord Duran narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“A travel route through Dioshin to Jespain.”
Lord Duran hadn’t reacted much to the first two requests, but this final request caused his ears to perk up, and his mouth to drop.
“You…”
“This condition is non-negotiable.” I declared.
He stared at me for a moment, and then looked away. “What you ask… is something even the Esmore do not have. We do not allow others to cross our lands. To many tribes, allowing merchants to pass through us would feel like we’re being walked over. You might as well ask that I kneel and allow you to step on my head.
“Alright, then, how about I just go over your head.”
“What?”
I cleared my throat. “I mean, allow me to just once see the western side of Dioshin. I’d just like to see into Jespain once. That is all.”
I had started with the former so I could pull back with this request. It wasn’t important to me that I could pass across Dioshin. If anything, that path would always be wrought with difficulty maintaining, both physically and politically. However, once I had Jespain in my map, I could create portals, bring over others, and then they could create portals. Just like getting into Dioshin, once I was there, I could come and leave all I wanted.
With such a compromise, Lord Duran had no choice but to nod his head. Then, we had an agreement. I just had to take down death itself. Well, I had faced plenty of challenges before.
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