I never thought I’d be sitting on the other end from the president of Ukraine this quickly, but that’s what I was doing right now. It turned out that Ukraine already had a plan in case one of the guilds contacted it. We were escorted by an army of what I assumed to be strong adventurers, and they still remained beside us as we sat down to negotiate with the president. They were the first and last line of defence between us and the president, and they weren’t going to let us have personal space just because we told them that we came in peace.
“So… your names?” Said the president. I could see every wiped trickle of sweat on his forehead. He must’ve really thought we were here to kill him.
“Don’t play dumb Mr.President, you know what our names are. Let’s just cut straight to the point. We’re trying to be a lot more peaceful since it’s our last mission. We want our last mission with the Scarlet Emporium to be a lot less damaging so we won’t be seen as international criminals, and that’s where you can help.” I made up the reason, but the president didn’t know that. If I told him the real reason, he would have leverage over us. We couldn’t betray Anna, so he would’ve had full control over the conditions of the deal.
“In this partnership, you will peacefully join the Scarlet Emporium’s sphere of influence, and receive the many bonuses they offer without the cost of… being entirely dependent on them for defence. You will still have your army of adventurers, so you’ll be able to stand up if they try to impose harsher terms on you.” Christian continued in a formal tone. I could still hear the twang in his voice as he pretended to be fully english, but he was doing a great job overall. If I didn’t already know he had an accent, I’d never doubt that he talked without one.
“Are you sure you’re allowed to make that type of deal?” I wondered if the president had info we didn’t. It would make sense. We barely knew the Scarlet Emporium and what it did to conquered territories, but the president of Ukraine would likely have entire agencies tell him everything the emporium did.
“Yes. Even if we weren’t, our contract is over after this, so we could fight them until they accepted the terms. They’re a business. Fighting the strongest people on earth isn’t profitable.” I said. There would be no point in fighting us just so they could impose higher taxes on Ukraine or whatever they’d want to do.
“And you think we’ll just hand over our sovereignty like that?” And there it was, the argument I was dreading, and that I hoped Christian had prepared for.
“It isn’t about sovereignty. You’ll keep all the power you have” Said Christian. He eased my worries as I saw that he had this all planned out. “It’ll just be a pact where you get defended from other guilds just by the fact that independent states are easier to conquer.” I liked where he was going with the rephrasing of ‘you get security’, but I could add something to his argument.
“And you need the trade. Right now, you got enough food to feed your country tenfold, but think of how much money you could bring in by selling to the Scarlet Emporium countries. Kyiv could become the capital of the world if you invest in the right things. You could be ruling over the most prosperous country in the world, all at no cost to yourself.” The president took a moderately long breath while his eyes were closed in displayed, thoughtful silence.
“You expect me to believe you’d do this for nothing? Out of the kindness of your heart?” A lot of stuff was probably lost in translation, but I thought that he referred to the Scarlet Emporium, and not us directly.
“Kindness has rewards. They’ll gain money just from setting shop here. There’s no reason not to sign the contract. It’s not like you have a real choice.” Said Christian, much to everyone's surprise, including my own.
“Excuse me?” Said the president in response after bringing both of his palms together and setting them on his nose to give off an image of somebody who was pondering deeply.
“If you won’t accept our generous offer.” Christian pointed to the adventurers around us. “They won’t last for more than a minute.” And then he pointed to the president. “And you won’t run away fast enough to get away.” Christian certainly knew how to intimidate someone. His immense size, muscular body, and baldness certainly amplified his masculinity, and therefore, his innate intimidation.
“What he’s saying is that if you don’t accept our generous deal, we’ll strong arm you into accepting a far, far worse one.” I said, making it perfectly clear that we were still peaceful. The president repeatedly tapped the pointer finger of his right hand on the index finger of his left one.
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“It’s not like you benefit from opposing us. Imagine your image if you presented this meeting as a hard fought negotiation where you stopped us from destroying Ukraine’s relevancy on the global stage. You’d be a national hero, and remembered for generations to come.” He had no defence for our constant arguments. Me and Christian had managed to overcome this negotiation in no time at all.
“I need concrete terms.” He still hadn’t given us any of his terms, but we’d oblige him with a list of ours.
“Ukraine will be a protectorate of the Scarlet Emporium, meaning that they will pay tribute in the form of allowing free trade only between Scarlet Emporium nations and Ukraine. The nation will receive the innate security that comes from the fact that they are technically owned by a guild. Businesses associated with the Scarlet Emporium will be allowed to set up shop in Ukraine, and Ukraine will not be able to put any tariffs or restrictions on them. Ukraine also cannot leave the Scarlet Emporium’s sphere of influence. State your terms” I said before the president sighed and stayed silent for a couple of seconds.
“The Scarlet Emporium has to call this an alliance. No term that is a synonym or that has the same meaning as subject or protectorate will be used in describing what Ukraine is to the Scarlet Emporium. We’ll be able to leave only if the Scarlet Emporium changes their terms.” There was no way we could allow Ukraine to leave at all. Revolting against the Scarlet Emporium would spell the end of Ukraine’s independence, as there was no way they could resist the true might of the emporium, even if they kept their adventurer army.
“The second condition goes against your interest. The emporium is strong enough to roll over Ukraine. If they’re weak enough that you can rebel from them and win, you wouldn’t need to fabricate a casus-belli, since it would just be you leaving the alliance.” Christian couldn’t contribute right now since he didn’t know exactly what I was thinking. I was hoping that we’d get some time to strategise before negotiating, but we didn’t. I had thought that it would take far longer to get in contact with the president, and that we could strategise during that time.
“We will not stand down just because of an outside force that is perceived as invincible. You either accept my exit option, or come up with one I can accept.” He was getting awfully daring for someone who knew he had no real leverage, but it was understandable. They had just resisted Russia, who was seen as an invincible force, and rebound far faster than anyone expected.
“So you don’t want war while we’re on their side? You really can’t hide your motives well, can you?” Said Christian, immediately finding out the real reason behind why the president wanted a way to leave the sphere of influence of the Scarlet Emporium. We were the strongest people on earth, and working for the Scarlet Emporium, so fighting the emporium right now meant fighting us. Our contract with the emporium would expire after this mission, which would make Ukraine stand a chance against the Scarlet Emporium.
“Yes, I’m not hiding my intentions. Everybody knows we’d stand no chance while your party is on their side. Ukraine will be free, but it won’t be destroyed in order to earn that freedom. Once you’re gone, the emporium will try to alter the deal. They want to control a country fully, and your deal is just far too freeing than what they want. Once they change it, you can act like the reasonable ones who tried to make peace, and your reputation will improve drastically thanks to that. The emporium can’t oppose you right now, so they aren’t going to refuse the deal. You have all the power in this negotiation, so do the right thing. Be the heroes you deserve to be.” He was right. What was the Scarlet Emporium going to do if we opposed it? We literally had a demon princess on our side. Me and Christian stayed silent for a while, thinking about the whole deal, and how we’d explain it to the Scarlet Emporium. Or at least that’s what I thought was happening, because I couldn’t read Christian’s face at all. A poker face more perfect had never been shown before.
“Fine.” Said Christian before looking at me. He had likely decided that agreeing with the president led to a much better outcome, but couldn’t continue thanks to him not being all that good at setting terms and conditions.
“Ukraine will be allowed to leave if the contract is altered in any way by the Scarlet Emporium.” I said before the nano-chatte made my armour slightly slimmer to gather matter, which would be turned into the contract. It looked like the parchment of paper came out of my palm. I rolled it towards the president, who opened it and snapped his fingers to get the attention of a nearby employee who handed the president a pen.
“You sure do know how to fluff out a piece of legislation.” Said the president before signing it. The nano-chatte was the one who wrote the actual contract, so I didn’t know how long or short it was.
“Yea… I sure do.”