The negotiations began as the terms of the agreement was brought up but Alfred then counterattacked. "We did not really suffer that much from the attack but I do admit that we do hold some resentment against them. However I am still a businessman first and foremost so how about this? I heard that you wish to be recognised as a member of the World Government system and receive the protection of the Marines. This can only be achieved once most people on the island agree to it and you get rid of the lawless zone so you need us more than we need you. We could just as easily leave this island to settle somewhere else to avoid further problems. So.. in exchange for our cooperation and hard work, I want to make some changes."
Alfred had done his homework on the influences on Rica Island a long time ago and he knew some of their political goals so it was easy for him to turn things in his favour.
The man opposite looked a little angered but held it in. "Please… speak."
He had a large amount of pride which had been challenged by Alfred but he came on the order of the king and could not fail since it affected the islands long term plan.
Alfred then continued. "First is a contracted agreement to grant one or two noble titles of noble status upon the Island being recognised by the World Government."
Having a noble title was very important to Alfred since it helped to let him face other nobles without needing to be as careful as he had before while it also provided himself and the White Storm an extra layer of protection.
It was even better if the title came from a World Government affiliated country so that the noble title and status was recognised by the outside world, if it was not then it would only be able to be used within Rica Island which was useless to Alfred and many others unless they had plans to remain.
The man then replied. "I can only offer one title and it cannot be too high, anymore will be difficult to achieve."
Alfred smiled. "Second, the White Storm have rights to the percentage of the spoils of war depending on how much we have contributed. Third, we will take payment up front but since this is a personal matter too, we can consider bringing down the price a little. Forth, if there is a valid bounty within those killed by us then we have the rights to claim it."
The second condition was to state that while it was a business transaction, it was still a war.
In war there were casualties and while they were compensated with the payment for their work, there would still be the spoils of war to deal with afterwards which would cause further friction and cause the agreement to fall apart once greed gets the best of everyone.
Since the army of the royals and nobles were participating, they would want some of the spoils of war but they could only get the same percentage of it for how much they had actually done during the war.
The third condition was to avoid any future problems with the King or nobles backing out of paying the full amount after the spoils of war were split so that everyone who participated would be paid in full.
The forth condition was put in place so that extra berries could be made since many in the lawless zone may have a bounty on their heads which could be claimed.
The king and nobility may not care much about collecting the bounties but their subordinates may since it will help them gain a little more for their efforts so Alfred put that condition there to allow his own people to collect on the bounties they had found within the battlefield while protecting the ones his subordinates had killed from the other soldiers.
The man grit his teeth and said. "Are you trying to humiliate us? These conditions are unfair for our side."
Alfred shook his head. "You should know about the White Storms reputation after doing a little investigation so you should know that our price is not cheap these days and we have many mouths to feed just like you. With our power, we can change the final outcome should we decide to attack and I am sure that you are aware of that. If you wish to gain from our cooperation then those involved in the war will have to work harder to gain anything. After all, we do not want to do all of the work ourselves while everyone else sits on the back lines and then wishes to swallow up all the benefits afterwards."
Alfred spoke in a slightly cold tone as he warned the man opposite him and the people he served not to have any funny ideas of leaving the work to others and expecting to swallow up the spoils of war or to not have any thoughts of betrayal.
He was letting them know that it was both sides who were cooperating in the war and not the White Storm that was running into the front lines with the people at their backs but they should be acting together if both sides wished to cooperate and gain some benefits at the end of the battle.
Without putting themselves or their forces at risk how could they ever hope to achieve their dream unless they planned on using more shady methods, Alfred spotted the weakness of the position of the White Storm where they could be betrayed or taken advantage of if they had spent a long time fighting and were weakened so he had to make it safe for the others as much as possible.
As the man and his escorts returned to the capital to pass on the message and agreement that had been drawn up, many nobles started to voice their dissatisfaction but were silenced by the king who saw it as another opportunity.
Many nobles were becoming too greedy as they were starting to become a thorn in his side so he found that the conditions set could be used to provoke those with too much greed and possibly let them self destruct because of it.
The chances of them succeeding was not that high so the king saw it as a chance to remove any noble families with too big of an ambition and regain his power within the island.
Once they and the lawless king were removed, he only had to worry about the citizens petitions to make his plan move forward while the White Storm were people he hoped to build further relations with since they were an outside force that could open up his country and improve the trade situation of the island.
After further investigation, he had rethought over everything and realised that the White Storm are better as allies and not enemies, it would be beneficial to see the deal through to the end and build up a relationship between them.
In the long term, Rica Island could not build up its forces or wealth to last long on its own while donating the heavenly gold tribute to the Celestial Dragons so they had to find a way to open up their lands to trade before they were forced to consider other options like warring with other islands like many others.
However that was always a final option to be taken as a last resort so the king did not wish to discard the relationship with the White Storm who would gain a noble status from within Rica Island.
He also hoped that he could make connections from using his relationship with the White Storm since they would receive their noble status from him but he did not know that certain plans were already being put in place to put aside any kind of connection to Rica Island as the White Storm was preparing to move after staying for some time.
The closer that people were ready to go to the New World, the less likely they would remain within Rica Island or rely on the noble title unless it was used outside of Rica Island.