When the party ended for our small and select group, we moved to the room designated for the negotiations. The rest of the guests stayed behind celebrating; this celebration was also meant to thank them for their service to this territory.
The negotiations began with my grandmother introducing everything that had happened. She also talked about the territories involved and finally began explaining the plan we had prepared for the future.
My grandmother, mother, and Ritmo had stayed awake almost the entire night so they could put together a perfect plan without flaws. They also understood just how tedious it was to debate during these kinds of meetings in order to reach an agreement.
The three of them took every weak and strong point into account; they looked at the benefits for each territory depending on their contribution and reached a fairly reasonable conclusion, although with a slight advantage for our territory.
No matter how good the proposal was, the other side would always want to obtain more; that was why they had proposed this agreement, so there would be room to reduce certain benefits whenever one of the other territories complained.
In the middle of my grandmother's speech, she handed things over and gave the final part of the explanation to Ritmo. My older brother had studied public speaking for many years and was extremely well prepared to answer any question and argue back against any complaint.
I found out about all this because very early in the morning they contacted Brendu to ask for her opinion. The princess had taken courses on territorial treaties since she was a child. That had been part of her education. Sol and Marga's opinions would have also been useful, too bad they were at school.
Arisa... I don't know how much she could've helped. She has some explosively good ideas, but she doesn't put much effort into learning more than necessary when it comes to these kinds of subjects. She's much more focused on becoming stronger, she's always been like that.
What we were giving up seemed quite fair to me. Each territory would receive a massive plot of land in the center of the city, enough to build a huge castle, and they would still have plenty of room to build smaller castles for other lower-ranking nobles.
It would be like a small village in the middle of the city. Yes, a city. It would no longer be a small town. My family had now set the goal of building a proper city. The project had grown exponentially, something that was probably inevitable. Ritmo and my grandmother had surely already taken the profits and costs into account.
At the same time, both foreign territories would receive a percentage of the profits accumulated through taxes. I had studied this point at some time in my life. It was more beneficial to give up a little money in order to guarantee that the other parties would give their all to the project.
The territories wouldn't be able to neglect the city because it would also become part of their total yearly income.
The percentages they would receive were extremely low compared to what our territory would take, but still tempting enough that they couldn't afford to ignore them. There were no complaints because this city was in our territory. We were already doing plenty just by giving them a percentage.
Another reason we were doing this was our lack of manpower and purchasing power. The territory had grown by leaps and bounds over the last few years, but it was still insufficient when it came to a project this large.
In exchange for receiving that percentage, the foreign territories would have to guarantee the city's maintenance and also keep the roads connecting the city to their territories in the best possible condition.
Within this massive project, huge plots of land had also been reserved for more important people. The emperor's family, the marquis, other important nobles, and possible partners, with Viscount Camux's name being mentioned repeatedly.
Neither territory had any complaints about bringing Uncle Camux into the equation. The purchasing power of his territory was enormous, his products were useful as medicine, food, and much more. On top of that, our family already had a very deep relationship with the Solar family.
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That was how ambitious they wanted this city project to become, enough to compete with the most powerful cities in the counties. Obviously, if they wanted to finish it faster, all three territories would have to contribute significantly to the project. If we handled everything ourselves, it would take far too long.
The city would also be located almost at the edge of our new territory, as close to Lepak Territory as possible. In the middle there would be a large city, around the size of Mancor or Talara, so the journey wouldn't be too long.
That caused the bald man representing Sullan to express his dissatisfaction. The direct road from Sullan Territory wasn't that long compared to the one from Lepak, but the difference was that it was infested with monsters and difficult areas to cross.
What Sullan Territory had to do was take a detour until they connected with the road that would link the great city to Lepak, which significantly increased the travel time. It was normal to see Grox's displeasure. Their products would arrive much later and the costs would be higher.
There was a way to shorten the journey considerably. It would still be longer, but it would reduce the trip by almost an entire day. The solution was to conquer a territory in the middle. The problem was that the monster living there was supposedly as strong as a Grade 6 according to the reports.
Several people had tried to face it, only to never return or come back with their tails between their legs. We weren't even sure we could defeat it if we combined the military power of all three territories and added Uncle Camux's forces, which was why it wasn't a viable option.
The proposal was to build a small stopover town right at the point where the road from Sullan Territory met the one leading toward Lepak Territory. That project would be left entirely between those two territories. We wouldn't participate; we'd only asked for a space where we could build a mansion and a little more.
Well, that "small" space was large enough to build four small castles, perfect for four low-ranking nobles, while still leaving plenty of room in the middle. Almost the same size as our estates in our villages.
The meeting kept dragging on and on, much longer than I'd expected. The surprising part wasn't that I didn't get bored or fall asleep, but the almost complete support Lully gave our territory.
She gave in easily or accepted conditions after thinking about them only long enough to make it seem reasonable. Kensein was similar, although he did show a firmer hand whenever he thought it was necessary.
That made me very happy. Having almost total support from another territory meant Grox didn't have many options to complain or go too far asking for exorbitant things. It had been a huge help to our family.
What I didn't understand was... why was I the only one suffering? Almost every time Lully supported our territory in some decision or vote, something happened. She would discreetly look at me and give me a gentle smile.
Only two people had noticed. She was extremely discreet with her actions, and I could see the results of all her hard training. Kensein noticed because he was always paying close attention to her. He also served as her bodyguard and had known her for a long time, so he knew her personality well.
The other person happened to be right beside me and was pinching my back so hard that at some point I was going to start bleeding. Brendu hadn't stopped wearing a serious and professional expression, and even her Imra was calm, but she kept hitting me every time Lully smiled.
Sometimes I wished someone would come running through the door and announce that we were under attack. That way, I could say I'd handle it and run out of this place.
Samo was currently in Talar. He had stayed behind to guard it, while Demu was in Puntsal, with the other old man also keeping watch. Both of them had volunteered when they learned about the party. That was the reason all the big fish had been able to attend.
My family was seriously considering giving them some kind of official title within our territory, something without much "importance." Some kind of achievement or title without any real weight. They didn't want to tie themselves down to anything important at their age, but they were happy to feel like part of us.
Lully smiled again when no one was paying attention to her. This woman knew I could somehow see her. Had Kensein told her about my great sensory ability? I was sure he'd noticed it when we faced that bastard Diamond Rank. It wouldn't surprise me if all of them knew.
This time Brendu kicked me under the table. My expression remained calm while I watched Ritmo give more and more reasons and explanations.
I looked toward the door expectantly again, but nothing happened. I knew I wasn't that lucky, so I'd have to endure this until the meeting ended. My hopes of some kind of interruption kept shrinking with every second that passed.
After several hours, we took a short break to drink something and eat a little. Everyone would also use this time to think clearly about all the points that had been discussed so far.
Through my Personal World, I could see Lully pouting. She had been looking at me, clearly wanting to eat together with Brendu and me. In the end, she didn't give up. She stood from her seat and walked toward our separate table.
"May I join you? I think I'll feel more comfortable and relaxed with you since we're almost the same age." She politely asked Brendu.
"Yes, you're welcome." Brendu was genuinely happy that she was joining us. Her Imra said so. I just froze.