On an island covered by snow, if you were to somehow go past the shores, upon walking for some time, you'd find a forest with large trees as far as the eye could see. Even in this harsh environment, if you just keep walking forward, eventually you'd find a collection of villages and even a fortress standing tall in the center.
Any invading forces would be troubled by this.
Firstly you'd need to somehow disembark on this island, which by itself would be problematic. After setting camp, you would need to walk through the snow only to find yourself standing before a forest, a highly defensible terrain all around, even more so if you have to fight against the natives who know this forest as if it was their backyard.
Upon dealing with all of this, you would find the last obstacle the people of the island have to offer. A fortress in the middle of the snow-covered forest.
Well... with all that being said, somehow I find myself inside said fortress, taken here by the residents of the island themselves. To be more precise, the place I'm in right now is a cold and damp prison cell on the lowest floor. Even if the light could somehow reach all the way here, I doubt it would be able to illuminate this room with the lack of windows. Right now I'm the only occupant of this prison, which when I think about it, added to the fact that this prison is quite small, without much space for more inmates, probably means that my captors don't usually take prisoners in the first place.
Miwen: "... Although if I wanted to leave, I could do so at any time..."
Melissa: "Is that so? I bet you wouldn't be able to even escape the cell, much less this fortress."
Across the bars of this cell, there's a woman I've become familiar with during my stay in this place. She's Melissa, the woman who captured me in the first place. She has long white hair and a mature look to her, if not for her wolf ears and tail, I wouldn't have figured out she was a beastman at all. Although when talking like this in close distance, I can't help but notice that her fangs are quite the giveaway.
It doesn't matter too much to me what race she's from though. If anything, I'm quite excited to meet someone who's not human. A genuine beastwoman who's not a human that transforms thanks to a gift or something like that. That's a first for humanity, at least, humanity from where I come from.
It also seems like I unintentionally hit the jackpot. Melissa is the chieftess of this tribe, while coming back from patrol she found me about to cross the sea of trees, and after guaranteeing my safety up until this cell, began to interrogate me.
Miwen: "Well, I can show you if you want me to?"
Melissa: "Boy, you can say goodbye to your heart if you so much as touch these bars."
Miwen: "Harsh. If you are planning such cruelties, why are you keeping me alive then?"
Melissa: "You're the very first to infiltrate this deeply to the point of reaching the woods. I want to know how you did it, and if anyone else managed to do the same."
Miwen: "Well, if I give you the answer to your questions, I believe my worth as a prisoner will come to an end, will it not?"
Melissa: "It will decrease by a lot, but I'm hoping I can at least ransom you. If not for money or weapons, maybe for a ceasefire?"
Miwen: "And therein lies the problem. I assure you, you won't be able to ransom me to anyone. My kingdom has no one capable of paying for my rescue, so for now, the only thing I can give you is information."
I'm being a bit bold and defiant here, but as long as there's a card I can play, I should be good. I'm also counting on my ability to escape inside my Kingdom, so I keep the screen open at all times while talking with Melissa.
Melissa: "I was hoping for the easy way, but I don't really have time if anyone managed to infiltrate us. So I guess torture is in order, as much as it saddens me to see a young boy go through it, I hope you understand the safety of my people comes first."
And suddenly the conversation takes a turn for the worse. Of course, this was bound to happen sooner rather than later. And I can understand her position, to be frank, it was quite merciful of her to not resort to it immediately. And so, since she showed me mercifulness and sincerity, I guess I could do something to compensate her.
Miwen: "Wait, I'll talk! But you need to fulfill one condition for me first."
Melissa: "I won't make any promises, but state it, and I'll see what can be done."
Miwen: "Then, let me show you what I can do for you guys."
Melissa: "Huh?"
As I say that, I claim the daily tickets from the Gacha and spend them in both the [Armor Banner] and the [Weapons Banner]. As usual, a blank state overcomes my mind for a moment, but I'm hoping the shock of what happened before Melissas's eyes last longer.
Melissa: "What are these?"
Miwen: "Check for yourself."
The usage of appraisal costs mana, at 7 items it's not gonna spend even a single full point, but still, when in comparison with hers, my mana pool is definitely smaller. So I'll use whatever I can to get even a tiny bit of an advantage. It's also good mentally that she's the one to verify them, look at the pile of weapons and armor pieces scattered around, I can see and feel some that are probably more powerful than what I have ever gotten given their looks and aura. It's a necessity to give them away, but it still hurts.
Melissa: "..."
From the look in her eyes, I can tell that Melissa is analyzing one by one the items in front of her. The quality of them also varies a lot, since for some items she shows genuine surprise and for others, she seems indifferent.
Melissa: "This is... quite good, actually. Congratulations, your value has gone up a lot in my eyes."
Miwen: "So, do you want to negotiate an alliance now?"
Melissa: "That would be hard, boy."
Miwen: " Why is that? I was hoping that by giving you weapons you would believe I'm not on the side of the enemy and also that an alliance would be beneficial to both of us."
Melissa: "Quite logical of you. Yet, you've forgotten one thing. You are my prisoner right now, with no hopes of escaping, I can force you to keep producing these to me without giving anything in return. After you provide me with all I want to know, I'll let you live as long as you produce more of these, so how does that sound?"
She has a point. It's quite hard to negotiate with this lady. But she's wrong about one thing. I didn't forget that I'm in captivity, it's just that it means nothing to me.
Miwen: "No deal, you are being too unreasonable. If you agree to ally yourself with me, I'll tell you all I know and provide you with weapons."
Melissa: "Boy, if I really wanted to, I could torture you until you gave me both, you know? I believe I'm being quite generous right now-"
Miwen: "I think you need more time to think about my offer. I'll come back tomorrow so that we can discuss things further. You can have these as a gift and a token of my sincerity."
Melissa: "...? Boy, I-"
I couldn't quite catch what Melissa said at the end. To be honest, I have no resentment towards her. Given her position, in a time of war, with a suspicious person who suddenly infiltrated your territory, if anything, she was being quite merciful.
It's also almost impossible to trust someone who appears like that and starts talking about alliances and whatnot. But I hope that by showing her what I'm capable of, she understands that I mean no harm, that I'm only there to help her cause.
I can understand her. I can agree with her. And I would probably do the same as her, given the same situation. One cannot let outsiders disturb their house and bring potential harm to their family after all. But even under these circumstances, she chose mercifulness, I could see honesty when she said that she didn't want to torture me. I have no doubt she would do so if needed, but I can comprehend her. Yet, through it all, I saw someone who didn't want to kill without reason, who thought about reasons to keep me alive, be it ransom or information. I can't help but feel these were a guise to her true thoughts on the matter.
It makes me think that, if not for this war, she would be someone warm and welcoming, who respects life and has a good heart. Though, even I can comprehend, that during a war, be it king or chief, a leader has to steel themselves and do things he normally wouldn't, for the good of those who depend on him. So, I'll not hold grudges, on the contrary, I'll respect her for who she is, and for her determination to live as the chief of her tribe, even when it means going against what she really wants to do.
That being said, I also have an objective there, so I'll play my part to the best of my ability. For now, just showing her that I can go whenever I want to should even the playing field a bit. Even more so since there are still things she wants from me and I also showed her that I'd be useful on her side. In one fell swoop I managed to increase my value and decrease the cards she had to play, quite a good move if I say so myself.
The only problem right now is that she'll be on the lookout for me and other people that might have infiltrated. No doubt this will hinder her war effort a bit. But there's nothing to be done about that, I only hope what I gave her is enough to compensate for it. I also know that if I win her trust, I'll be able to help her war effort without hindering it at the same time, so in the future, it'll all be worth it.
Well, now that the easy battle has been won. Let us face the hardest and most stressful one.
Two girls who've been trying to re-enter the event for quite some time now, without my permission and with no news from me. To simply say that they are worried and angry would be the understatement of the year.