When the group arrived at the communal house, Atasha was the first to speak. "Mercenaries, how unsurprising," she said.
In the center of the house, a group of unconscious mercenaries lay, while several other groups gathered in different corners, discussing in hushed voices. Alex could sense their intention to help, but something was holding them back.
That something was a certain elf standing against a pillar, displaying confidence but with a slightly annoyed expression. In the room, Alex spotted an old Resh seated at the table, along with others preparing to serve a meal.
"Just in time, my dear guest," said the old Resh.
"You're mistaken, old man. It's the Gnoll matriarch who leads them. We should..." the large and burly Resh officer intervened but was silenced by the elder.
"Silence. I don't recall raising you to be like this," scolded the old Resh. Disregarding the interference, he addressed the rest, "Please, have a seat at our table. We are about to serve food."
Once the invitation was extended, the old man sat in his position, scrutinizing the opposing group.
He wasn't sure who the leader was or if there was unified leadership. From his perspective, the younger matriarch had arrived with a large number of Gnolls. However, the later arrivals, though fewer in number, had all their members capable of fighting. The balance of power was uncertain, and the old Resh leaned towards thinking the second group was more influential.
On the other hand, there was a human in the second group, and though he didn't look as imposing, the rarity of this occurrence immediately made him think there was more behind the scenes. After all, Gnolls were not known for being a particularly cohesive group.
Alex accepted the offer to sit at the table without fully considering what the old Resh was pondering. However, both matriarchs had experience in diplomatic games. They knew he was evaluating the other party and were willing to support the human for now. Therefore, neither of them sat at the table, nor did the elf, who had moved from his position to a pillar next to Alex.
The old man made a face of understanding and with a gesture of his hand called one of the servants. "Food for two," he said and then shifted his attention to Alex.
"My name is Lark. In the current situation, I could be considered the leader of the settlement until a new chief is named, if we manage to name one," said the old Resh with regret.
Pessimism was evident among all present. "My name is Alex. Though I'm a human, I am in command of this group of Gnolls," Alex said briefly.
The old man looked at Alex, then at the matriarchs, and finally at the elf before asking, "I understand. What about him?" pointing to the elf.
"Thorel merely follows us while he figures out what he wants to do. He is not really part of the group, though he is welcome among us," clarified the human.
This response didn't ease the old man, but from what he had heard from the others, it seemed that everyone was under control and at least listened to the boy.
At this point, the food was served on the table, consisting of a portion of seasoned meat and some wild fruits. "We apologize for being poor hosts. In the current situation, it's challenging to send our hunters to find a beast worthy of our saviors," expressed the old man, who continued to carefully observe the physical and verbal reactions of Alex's group.
"Don't worry; we understand the complexity of the situation," said Alex.
The human had managed to adhere to his own guidelines, even though he was unaware of the game being played by the other side. He had his own game, his own conditions for victory. In his case, he needed to be as vague as possible in his explanations so that others wouldn't know his true background and thus have an upper hand in negotiations. He still didn't know what he needed to negotiate with them, but that didn't stop him from preparing in advance.
"Thank you for your understanding," said the old man, not showing his frustration.
Both began to eat, although due to his smaller size, Alex ate much more slowly and with greater effort. Fortunately for him, the meat was cooked and seasoned. There were many times when the Resh served raw or lightly cooked meat since their bodies could handle that kind of food.
"So, Mr. Lark, I would like to discuss our compensation," said Alex after finishing his meal. Grateful as he was, he couldn't let the opportunity pass.
"I didn't know the sir led a band of mercenaries," said the old man in a bad mood while looking at the other mercenary groups.
"We are not. We help willingly, and I don't intend to force you to pay anything. However, I find myself in need, as my people have paid the price for yours," replied Alex.
The old man weighed Alex's words for a few seconds and responded, "And what would be the payment you mention?"
"My people are new here and need a place to stay, temporarily. Additionally, we need information about the surroundings. If you have any maps, we would be more than grateful," said Alex.
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The old lizard brought his hand to his chin. Although it might not seem like much, a map was an extremely valuable possession in many respects. The more accurate the map, the more jealously it was protected from foreigners.
"We have a map, but I can't hand it over," said the old man.
"Alright, if it's not a problem for you, we would like to copy its contents," said Alex, who didn't want to leave without such knowledge or make a copy behind their hosts' backs.
"Fine," said the reluctant old man.
The old man received the map from a young girl and spread it on the table. The map showed several large points marked in red, corresponding to the major Resh settlements, as well as an equal number of black points, indicating dangerous areas before the invasion. There were some green points that Alex presumed were resource areas, but he received no explanation from the old man.
Although old Lark was grateful for the help, he knew he couldn't give away everything he had. He needed to show the other party that they needed him, and he needed to see what they would do with this knowledge.
The conversation continued, mostly with Alex asking about the political situation in the area and the relationship between the different settlements. Both managed to juggle and keep the conversation on track. There was a point they both wanted to reach, but neither had mentioned it yet: what would happen with Alex's troops.
The main problem for old Lark was that his settlement was severely weakened. Although there were troops outside that he hoped would return at some point, for now, he needed foreign assistance to continue sustaining the settlement.
From Alex's perspective, he needed a place to stay, and he was in a position to temporarily take control of the settlement and use the surrounding resources for his people. The longer he stayed, the more confident he felt about settling in.
Finally, when Alex began giving orders to prepare their belongings, he understood that the human was not a pushover, and he would have to bite this bullet. The human could exert the authority conferred by the situation, which, although it affected him directly, sparked admiration in the old man—a young leadership that understood the complexities of diplomacy was promising.
"Young Alex, it would be really helpful for our settlement if you stayed longer," said old Lark.
"I really wouldn't want to inconvenience you, Mr. Lark. Besides, my Gnolls are not willing to be under the command of any other force. As you can see, we would like to maintain our autonomy," said Alex lightly, although Lark could feel that he was right where Alex wanted him and was beginning to exert the influence he had over him.
"It won't be necessary. We can make arrangements to avoid problems in logistics," replied Lark.
"And what about decision-making and command? If the enemies come knocking on our doors again, it would be a problem to have divided leadership," Alex quickly responded.
The old man's face turned ugly. He knew where the conversation was heading. Indeed, the Gnoll faction had much greater power than his, even without considering that the elf had shown great power, which, although it was supposed to be neutral, could easily be considered to come from the human.
"In that case, there won't be a problem granting you the ability to command," the old man made a partial concession with an unpleasant face.
Alex was about to seal the deal to get him to be granted command right away. Still, after quickly observing the old man's face and those around him, he knew he was moving forward too quickly. Even though he had a significant advantage, it might be advantageous to show magnanimity to smooth over any future problems or resentment.
"I think it's a fair deal. We will be delighted to stay here and provide our protection when the time comes," said Alex, extending a hand to close the deal.
The large and elderly lizard, however, didn't understand the gesture. Nevertheless, he brought his hand forward to match Alex's and bumped the backs of their palms, leaving both feeling awkward.
Once this matter was settled, Alex finally addressed the elephant in the room.
"Well, what's the deal with them?" he said, pointing to the mercenaries who remained unconscious in the center of the hall, as well as the others grouped in various clusters.
"These bastards tried to take advantage of the chaos to rob us, both us and you. They hurt several of my servants and guards. Only with the elf's help could I manage to stop them," replied the old lizard.
Alex cast a glance at Thorel, and he simply nodded in his direction, corroborating the old man's story.
"And what do you plan to do with them?" Alex asked.
"The laws of our people are clear, and treason is punished by death," said the old man. "However, it was your companions who stopped them, so you can exercise your judgment," the lizard finished.
Although Alex might not be adept at diplomacy to notice the subtleties at the beginning of the conversation, he was capable enough to know that they were testing him this time.
The young human knew that his authority came from being recognized by both matriarchs, as well as Thorel, and now also by the old lizard. In this situation, he could judge anyone present as he saw fit for the same reason.
"What about the rest?" Alex asked.
The old man let out a low growl; his hostility was evident, and he despised all those who had tried to take advantage of his people in their moment of weakness.
"Since they came together, they might as well share the punishment," said the old man.
The hall immediately tensed up, with all mercenaries drawing their weapons, leading all the guards, both Resh and Gnoll, to draw theirs.
The mercenaries, although surrounded and outnumbered, could still cause a significant number of unnecessary casualties. So, Alex decided to appease both sides.
"It won't be necessary. Those who didn't attack your people will pay an appropriate price for being protected from the invasion. Those who wronged you will receive their punishment from your hand," declared Alex.
The room fell silent; everyone had something to say about it.
The large lizards felt aggrieved by foreigners who had come to abuse them in their own home. It was more than justified that they be punished for such audacity.
Although there were some mercenary groups that had no problem paying to get out of this mess, the problem was with the word "fair," which at this moment could mean anything.
For Matriarch Atarra, letting them go was equivalent to releasing an enemy who could bite them in the back in the future.
Atasha, on the other hand, looked at the band of dwarves and was eager to replace the word "fair" with "all their damn belongings and even their clothes."
Although there were some small attempts from each party to mediate their interests, Alex showed himself imperturbable and uncompromising, calling for the processes to be carried out as quickly as possible so that the mercenaries who needed to be executed were, and the rest paid their way out of the city.
Gradually, everything fell into place, and although it was bitter for the mercenaries as a whole to see another group executed, they were never a very cohesive group to begin with. Many didn't even know each other until they arrived here, and their pragmatic attitude led them to worry more about bargaining the next step to keep the most of their belongings.
Alex allowed the others to carry out this process. Mainly both matriarchs and Lark were in charge of negotiating the "fair price" in their place.