Furina and Cecily were waiting for everyone to arrive; let us first rewind time to when they were fighting the Hilichurls.
Rina perspective.
'Mmm... Fu Fu... hehehe…' The weak Rina lay on the sofa, perhaps dreaming of something, as she occasionally mumbled in her sleep.
'Hmm? Something's wrong?' Rina sensed something amiss and snapped her eyes open.
Due to the exhaustion of her strength, her perception of the outside world had diminished significantly and she could only vaguely sense danger approaching.
She dragged her weary body, struggled to push off the blanket, and barely managed to climb up from the sofa. Her jade-like feet stood on the floor—her legs trembling from time to time. She reached out a hand, trying to release the power of Hydro, but only a few water droplets appeared on her hand before vanishing in the blink of an eye.
'It's still too short a time to recover…' Rina sighed. 'If it really comes down to that, I will seize control of the body. At least I still have some combat skills and experience to handle this kind of opponent and she won't have to endure the pain when injured…'
Both Furina and Rina tacitly forgot about Cecily, who possessed a Vision, being by their side.
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Time slowly passed, and the members who had dispersed returned in groups of three. After counting the members, Cecily reported to Furina. "Reporting to Lady Furina, all members have arrived. There are no injuries or deaths."
"Mmm, not bad. Cecily, select one member skilled in negotiation and one secretary from the team to accompany me to the negotiations shortly." Furina ordered Cecily.
"Yes, Lady Furina!"
Cecily accepted the order and went to select the members.
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Meanwhile, at the Fire Land organization headquarters.
A man and a woman were sitting opposite each other at a table.
The middle-aged man was the public leader of the Fire Land—Liego; sitting opposite him was an older sister with long gray hair, dressed in shades of gray and black, wearing a cloak that appeared black on the outside and purplish-red on the inside, looking very cold.
This woman was named—Yadou, or she could be called by her other name—Shartana, the first founder of the 'Fire Land' organization in Gray River and the true leader of the Fire Land.
Liego said. "Yadou, what is your opinion on the actions of the Fontaine authorities, especially the Hydro Archon's actions just now?"
Everyone who had been tracking Furina's team had returned and reported the intelligence to Oleg.
Yadou replied. "It cannot be denied that the Fontaine authorities have indeed helped our Gray River a lot this time, especially the Hydro Archon's actions just now, which cured several of our critically ill patients and even our own bodies feel much better."
"Mmm, that is correct, but I am still somewhat worried about whether The Court of Fontaine has some ulterior motive for doing this." Oleg replied with some concern.
Yadou chuckled softly. "It is normal to be wary. Even I still harbor some grudges against The Court of Fontaine in my heart."
Back then, Yadou and Liego did not participate in Eduardo's resistance movement and thus managed to survive safely.
But that incident left a deep mark on the hearts of these two people.
"However, Fontaine authorities have already taken such actions. If we do not make concessions in the negotiations, it will be unreasonable. Moreover, their strength is far superior to ours. If they wanted to annihilate us, they wouldn't need to go to such great lengths. Now that they have shown such sincerity, in all reason and fairness, we should be the ones to take the initiative to step back." Yadou added.
Liego closed his eyes, his expression not looking good. After struggling internally for 2 minutes, he could only helplessly let out a long sigh. "Sigh, alright."
"Then, I will still be the one to come forward for the negotiations and probe their true intentions." Liego continued.
"Mmm, thank you for your hard work, Liego." Yadou said in a gentle voice.
"Thank you."
"I hope everything goes smoothly."
Yadou and Liego looked up at the sky and prayed silently.
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Liego and a few attendants walked out of the stronghold and happened to run into Furina and her party of four, who were walking inside.
Furina looked listless, walking very slowly, looking very much like someone who had fallen ill.
Furina had learned to be clever—deliberately feigning the weak appearance of having overused her strength just now to arouse the other party's sympathy.
Sure enough, Liego was immediately startled by Furina's appearance and hurriedly asked with concern. "Lady Furina, are you alright?"
"Cough, cough, cough... It is nothing," Furina said while coughing. "I just couldn't stand seeing my people living in misery, so I lent a helping hand. Now, I have just over-exhausted my strength. Therefore, for this negotiation, I will only control the general direction, while the specific details will be handled by Ms. Cecily and Mr. Fan Shang here." Furina pointed to the two.
There is no need to say much about Cecily, while Fan Shang was a member of the Fontaine diplomatic agency whom Cecily had specifically selected for this trip, making him very suitable for handling such occasions.
"Alright, Lady Furina, please proceed."
Facing the Hydro Archon, especially the Hydro Archon who had just displayed heaven-defying power, Liego still felt somewhat nervous.
The group walked forward, gradually heading deep into the stronghold, and finally arrived at a large round table and sat down.
This negotiation, which would determine the future of Gray River, began.
The Court of Fontaine Representatives:
Hydro Archon: Furina
Fontaine Task Force Team Captain: Cecily
Fontaine Diplomatic Ambassador: Fan Shang
One Secretary
Fire Land Organization Representatives:
Fire Land "Leader": Liego
2 Core Members of Fire Land
[T/L: Disclaimer, text style is going to change for a bit.]
Liego: First, on behalf of the Fire Land organization in Gray River, I sincerely welcome the arrival of Lady Furina, the Hydro Archon and her team. As the host party, we invite your side to express your thoughts and opinions first.
Liego had fulfilled his etiquette, actively handing the initiative over to the other party to demonstrate his sincerity and could also probe The Court of Fontaine purpose—three birds with one stone.
Fan Shang: First, thank you, Mr. Liego, for giving us the priority to speak. Our idea is very simple; to return the entire Gray River Area under the jurisdiction of The Court of Fontaine authorities, disband all personal armed forces in Gray River, arrest those in Gray River with criminal records, and improve the living conditions of the people.
Liego: This is impossible. You know, the people of Gray River are basically deeply poisoned by the former nobility. Even with the Hydro Archon in office, we cannot guarantee absolute trust in you.
Liego's words were direct but also very true. Even if they accepted this condition, many people in the Gray River would not and the possibility of conflict breaking out would be very high.
Moreover, the Fire Land did not have absolute control over Gray River.
The negotiation fell into a stalemate for a moment.