The little wizard standing under the gaze of everyone spoke softly, trying to suppress his excitement and nervousness, and his eyes were raised slightly as he looked straight ahead, following Charlotte's appearance.

Be confident, Ain, be confident, you can do it.

There was an eerie dead silence in the silent chamber, and she seemed to be standing there and could hear everyone's heartbeat and breathing.

"It's great to have come for peace and friendship, but has His Majesty the Emperor of the Human Empire promised that he would grant us peace as long as the elves were willing to kneel down and bow to him as 'friendship'?"

An indignant voice sounded from the "staircase", and the yin and yang weird tone was even more undisguised hostility, as well as the icy cold.

Really... As soon as the words fell, the temperature in the entire hall seemed to drop by a few degrees, and a pair of eyes shot at it, becoming more and more unkind.

The panicked little wizard jerked his head up and looked around, but the light in the longhouse was too dim to see who had just spoken.

No, it can't just end like this... The clenched pink fist was behind him, and Ain forced his composure.

"In the Empire, kneeling and bowing one's head is a sacred thing, representing a pledge of eternal allegiance from one person to another, a promise never to be betrayed. ”

The little wizard spoke softly, and his calm appearance surprised the elven elders in the front row: "This word, which we call 'allegiance', is clearly different from 'peace' and 'friendship'. ”

"This means that the Empire will put all of you here on an equal footing with itself, and it means that the Empire has made an equal commitment to you to the elves of the Ancient Wood Forest - so I am bringing 'friendship' and 'peace' today, so we will not discuss the question of who 'allegiance' to whom today. ”

"How to build friendship and how to maintain peace is what we want to discuss today. Ain blinked, looked in the direction where the voice had just come from, and said with a smile:

"Although I don't know Your Excellency, are you satisfied with my 'explanation of words'?"

The situation turned in an instant.

The atmosphere in the hall was quiet for a moment, but the aggressive momentum before dissipated a lot—the voice hiding in the back row was also embarrassed not to continue talking.

The little wizard who finally mustered up his courage quietly turned his mind to not long ago......

“...... Don't underestimate language, Ain. When used properly, when the time comes, language is also a kind of weapon;" Two glasses of red blood wine entered, and Charlotte, whose eyes were misty, gently hugged the neck of the little wizard, like a relative-like intimacy:

"You are born with an approachable temperament, learn to use language, and you will become the best diplomat in the Empire... Well, second only to me. ”

"How do you learn?" felt the weight of half of his body, and the softness of the heat in his arms, and the little wizard with a red face shivered.

"Good question, this question I... A long time ago, well, once talked to that big liar. The drunken headache made Charlotte desperately hug Ain's delicate body, as if the other party's body fragrance and thin shoulders could greatly relieve her pain:

"He said a lot, but he was all open-mouthed, and there was nothing systematic and theoretical. ”

"In my eyes, there are only three points!"

"Three, three?" Feeling the other party rubbing his sideburns on his shoulder, Ain was so frightened that he was almost speechless.

"First, never answer other people's questions, avoid them or say that you have already thought about them; second, if someone uses your words to ask you back, or grabs you by the sore foot, don't try to confront or cover up, but throw the question back in turn; and be good at listening, you can avoid being asked. ”

"Finally, and most importantly, don't try to convince others, or anyone, people have a confrontational mentality;

"Once the main conflict is resolved, at least the other person's attitude can be changed from hostility to neutrality, they will really want to listen to you, and then you will be able to use your innate talent to influence them with your sincere sincerity. ”

"When necessary, some sacrifices can be made, even if... A costly sacrifice......" Charlotte, who seemed to remember the past, her drunken cheeks turned even redder: "This is what I'm proud of... Good offices. ”

"W-...... what is its name?" Ain asked cautiously, "called... Charlotte's mediation?"

"No, how can it be done—it's something you recorded, I dictated, and we summed it up together with the wine. Charlotte, who was drunk and hazy, had a leisurely and lazy smile hooked at the corner of her mouth:

"It should be a name that represents the results of our joint efforts... Well... Let me think about it, think about it, it's called... Charlotte Ain-style mediation... Well, it's just the name, and I'm really literate......"

“...... You are indeed very literate, Your Excellency Ain Rand, and you are worthy of being an emissary on behalf of the Emperor. ”

A Misty Moon Court Elf Elder sitting in the front row spoke, but a sneer hung on the corner of his mouth: "But a witty word or two can't bring peace and friendship. ”

"You say you're here for peace and friendship, so how can the Empire bestow these two on us, the elves of the remote forest?"

It's still an aggressive question.

"In the vocabulary of empires, 'giving' is associated with 'peace' and even 'friendship', which is the most standard mistake. A calm smile broke into the corners of Ain's mouth:

"Neither peace nor friendship can be given by one to the other. ”

"I said, Lord Ain Rand, playing with vocabulary and witticisms, you can't ......"

"Because both of these can only be obtained by working together!" "The eyes widened, and the little wizard's extremely serious attitude made the surrounding elves ignore even the interrupted elder:

"And on behalf of the Empire, His Majesty Eckhart II of the Heavenly Dome Palace, I am willing to exchange with all the elven partners of the Ancient Wood Forest with the most sincere friendship to build our common peace!"

"This is the promise that I, Ain Rand made to you, and I hope to exchange it for your promise, because I believe that the elves who love the forest, and the elves who fight the ogres in blood, know the value of peace!"

"Because I believed, I... And the empire behind me has just come here, and sent emissaries to communicate with you and reach a proper agreement, and finally achieve true peace!"

The elders of the Foggy Moon Court were speechless on the spot.

The silence and silence were broken, and whispers among the elven elders could be heard from the back of the stairs.

"It's admirable that you're willing to trade sincerity for sincerity and promise for promise... Because we're the same. ”

An elder of the Western Barren Tomb Forest, with a naked upper body, gray beard, hair, and eyebrows, stood up, as calm as a wind-eroded brass bell:

"So in your opinion, which side is causing the current contradictions between us and your emperor and his empire?"

This... The little wizard's brow furrowed, and there was a hint of panic in his eyes.

He didn't say this to express hostility, but he was already clearly going to kick himself out!

On the one hand, the little wizard certainly can't say "it's all the elves' fault", then the meeting is just beginning, and the talks are about to collapse;

On the other hand, she can't say "it's the Empire's fault", that is, she fell into a trap, and then the other party has a way to orchestrate "crimes", so that this meeting will become a clarion call for elves to declare war on the Empire.

In that case, as the all-enniable envoy of the Empire, Loren Turin gave the Celestial Dome a reason to punish and rebuke him, the best reason.

"It's... We should not only see the contradictions of the past, but look at the ...... future"

"I don't care what the future is!" the elder of the barren mound forest broke off the pale-faced little wizard and asked condescendingly:

"I just want you to tell me if it's all our fault in your and the Emperor's hearts?!"

"I ......"

"Answer me, yes or no?!"

His eyes were wide open like brass bells.

The terrifying sense of oppression, the sudden silence of the hall, made Al Yin feel suffocated - this is a horror that has never been seen on the battlefield of Boi.

No... There have been times, but they have been blocked out by some bad guy.

And this time, there will be no one in front of you, this time, you will have to face it alone.

No longer obediently hiding in a safe place, no longer silently doing something for him behind his back, no longer carefully hiding... This time, Ayn Rand, it's up to you to defeat your enemies with your own hands!

Raising his head, the little wizard and the Elder of the Barren Mound Forest looked at each other without flinching: "Since you want to know the answer so much, then I'll tell you." ”

In front of everyone's eyes, Elder Arazuka Forest, who was staring at Ai Yin, felt very uncomfortable.

This feeling made him very angry, and his expression became more and more terrifying.

"Yes——!"

The audience was in an uproar.

Hearing this, the elven elders in the longhouse all showed angry and resentful expressions, either glaring angrily or sighing on their backs.

"Look, this is the sincerity of your imperial people! This is the sincerity of what you say!" Elder Arazuka Lin said indignantly: "You really admit it, all the mistakes are on us, you are innocent!"

"Yes, isn't that what you want me to say, isn't this what you, and some of you here, want to see?"

"Your Excellency, you don't know how to listen at all, you just want to listen to what you want to hear, and then manipulate this meeting!"

"You ......" Elder Arazuka Forest was startled, his face angry.

"I come with a heart, for friendship and peace on both sides. For the first time, Ain stole his words: "And you have questioned me again and again in such a righteous and awe-inspiring tone, desperately asking me who is right and who is wrong - is this a question that two people who want to make friends will ask?!"

"The Empire's treatment of you as equals is the expression of the most sincere sincerity, and you want to know again and again who is right and who is wrong, but you keep creating rifts and frictions in this sincerity, trying to deliberately separate the upper and lower levels, so that the relationship between equals becomes unequal. ”

"Let's ask—there is unequal friendship in this world, is it possible that the friendship between the elven settlements is also to be divided into high and low, three, six, nine, and so on?!"

The excited little wizard exerted all his strength, blushed, and almost shouted the words with a roar.

The high-pitched voice echoes in the longhouse in the shape of a concert hall for a long time.

Whispers, discussions, noises, shouting... It was all covered by the voice of a small wizard.

"Friendship and peace are premised on mutual respect and understanding. After a moment of silence, the red-faced Ain choked in his throat: "Of course, there is also the most sincere sincerity." ”

"Well said, so nice to say - what about sincerity?!"

Before Elder Arazuka Lin could sit down, another elder next to him stood up, "How can we believe that your empire is really willing to make peace with us, and not a false lie?"

"It's too whimsical for you to convince them that what you say is true without real evidence!"

"Your Excellency doesn't have to do this at all——!"

All eyes turned to each other in unison, and it was the Elder of the Morning Star Forest who stood up to speak, and his impassioned expression was simply the opposite of the Elder of the Barren Tomb Forest.

"If you talk about sincerity... The Morning Star Forest, and indeed all the settlements in the entire Eastern Forest, were willing to believe in Ain Rand's sincerity - because Ain Rand had already answered with practical actions. ”

"During the ogre invasion, Ain Rand and thousands of war dancers fought side by side under the walls of the great trees, and with sweat, sincerity and wisdom, he saved countless young elves;"

"In our dealings with the Deepwood, with the rulers of the human world, it was Ain Rand who mediated and did everything in his power to maintain the peace that was initially fragile, and that both sides did not trust each other;"

"Ain Rand... It has been proved to us that it is possible to live in peace with the human world, and all the elves who have fought bloody battles in the Great Tree Wall are obliged to die for Ain Rand once!"

"So today, we in Morningstar Forest will be Ain Rand's guarantor - if you want to die, let me fulfill my vow today!"

Elder Morning Star Lin used this oath that was not "exaggerated" to draw an end to his speech.

The atmosphere in the hall became calm.

No elf dared to speak.

The corners of Ain's mouth finally showed a triumphant smile - she knew that these elders had been persuaded by themselves to believe in the sincerity of the Empire's trip.

The next step is to go further, find the biggest contradiction and "point of difference" between the two sides, lower the posture, and make some harmless compromises and concessions......

"Well said and brilliantly said. ”

An abrupt voice came from a corner of the longhouse:

"Unfortunately, none of this is possible. ”