Section XXI: Negotiations

Ashruphat looked around, and there were at least a dozen ogres staring at them (and with weapons). The tyrant had a leg in his hand, but his weapon was at his side, within reach.

"Master, you notice that his weapons are not there. In my mind, Carrie reminded.

Ashrufat looked at the tyrant's weapon—a giant sharpened hammer. Aside from its size, the weapon is really lackluster. However, it is indeed a weapon suitable for ogres. The weapons of this giant creature are largely a reflection of their personality – large, sturdy, and exceptionally blunt. In fact, most of the ogres staring around were holding similar sticks. While ogres don't turn down bladed weapons (as long as they're big enough for them), most ogres prefer sticks of all shapes. This weapon, which seemed too crude to the dwarves, was able to unleash super-destructive power under the brute force of ogres. Because on the one hand, the stick can deliver a really ferocious blow, and on the other hand, this weapon requires little maintenance. Bladed weapons are known to quickly become rusty, blunted, and easily damaged and broken if they are not maintained, while sticks rarely show this defect.

"What's wrong with this weapon?"

"Didn't you notice? This weapon seems to be the best weapon in their tribe. Carrie said.

Of course, the ogre's sticks are made of different materials. There are steel, wood, and even stone...... This generally depends on the ogre's personal preference. However, with the exception of a few instances with a particular inclination, the ogre's weapons ended up being made of steel. Just like all other races, after countless practical trials and tribulations, steel proved itself to be the ultimate weapon of choice. Under normal circumstances, most ogres should be holding a large iron rod.

The other ogre's weapons around you can't be seen to be all made of iron. Most of them are wooden handles with a shoddy iron head tied to them. Some even have a large stone tied to the top of the wood.

Ogres are not skilled in smelting, but they are able to trade in steel from other races. From this point of view, this tribe is really poor. As far as Ashrufat could see, only the Tyrant's weapon was made entirely of pure steel—and there were already some cracks on it.

It is only in the hands of ogres that this kind of problem occurs with a steel stick.

"Funny ......" After seeing this, Ashrufat immediately made an inference about this situation in his mind.

"It occurred to me that we in West Vania still seem to lack some of the strength to deter the small ones. Undead can easily cause unnecessary panic...... Ogre might be a good choice. In her mind's eye, Carrie suddenly suggested.

"Hmmm......"

"Kotoshin had left some information about the ogres. There are actually only two options for negotiating with them. The first is to provoke their desires. Ogres are opportunists, and the benchmark they choose is to see what the benefits of taking risks are. As long as they believe the benefits are enough, they will accept the hire. There is also a second way, as long as you show violence above them, you can easily make them obey their orders. ”

"But...... In case they play some tricks......"

"Rest assured, ogres are not treacherous, and this is not because they feel that the intrigues are wrong, but because they lack the sharpness of mind to plan them in the first place. If they agree to an agreement, they will say yes sincerely. You don't have to worry. ”

Ashrufa fixed his gaze and looked at the ogre tyrant in front of him. He brought two guards with him on this mission, but at this time both guards were left outside the ogre camp, so they couldn't see what was happening in the camp. The ogres were almost always loud, and the camp was filled with loud talking, so they couldn't hear clearly. In this way, Ashrufat can basically do whatever he wants, without worrying about showing some abilities that surpass the dwarves.

Even if the two Hammerhammer Warriors heard something, they couldn't understand it—Ashruphat was sure of it. On the way, he double-checked. It is important to know that although the dwarves have a tradition of learning the languages of other races, it does not mean that every dwarf is a master of the language. At least the two Hammer Warriors he brought with him couldn't understand the ogre's language.

"It's not a request, it's an order!" said Ashrufat in the ogre language.

"Do you want to fight?" the tyrant's expression became agitated.

"It's okay if you want me to fight you. Ashrufat replied. The tyrant reached for his rod, but Ashrufat was a little quicker, hooked the rod with his foot one step ahead, and picked it up and caught it with his hand. If he's still in normal size, it's a bit difficult to do that. But now that he's half shorter, there's no difficulty in doing so.

The iron rod was so big, thick, and heavy that even Ashrufat didn't find it easy to use. But this did not affect him to smash a stone on the side with his stick, smashing the stone directly.

These ogres may not have seen a dwarf wield a tyrant's rod with ease. Because all the ogres, including the tyrant, seemed hesitant and did not rush directly to fight. This also illustrates the self-interested nature of ogres - when they encounter a strong enemy, the ogre's first reaction is to unite to fight against foreign enemies, or to unite together to join the invaders.

Ashrufat raised the stick for the second time. This time the tyrant grabbed the stick and took it back from his hands. In return for Ashrufat's action, the tyrant raised his club and threw it at another stone, smashing it to pieces as well.

"I don't care what you want to do, but it's not your turn to give orders......" The tyrant waved his iron rod in an ostentatious way.

Ashruphat instantly drew the withering sword he was carrying (he had to carry it with him instead of summoning it with magic to avoid arousing suspicion among the dwarves) and charged towards the tyrant. Instinctively, the tyrant slammed into him with a stick, but Ashrufat dodged the blow with a lightness that a dwarf simply couldn't do. And close to each other's bodies. The Tyrant also showed almost superior skill to the ogre, retracting his stick in time with astonishing force and clever maneuvers and delivering a condescending second blow.

The distance was too close, and Ashrufat had no way to avoid it, so he could only block it with a horizontal sword on his head. The two weapons intersected, and almost all of the onlookers thought that the dwarf would just turn into a lump of meatloaf - or at least lose some arms and legs.

But the result was unexpected, and the huge iron rod was slashed by the far more fragile looking sword. The dwarf stepped forward and slashed a gaping hole in the tyrant's stomach shield with his sword.

With the exception of the Master Slaughterer, all ogres have stomach shields on their big bellies - this is the most important protection of ogres. An ogre can do without other armor, but he can't do without a stomach shield. This is not only a religious factor, but also an objective need. Because almost all the vital organs of ogres are concentrated in their big bellies. Injuries in other locations can make ogres dismiss, but stomach injuries can have a quickly lethal effect. Only the slaughter masters do not equip such things, supposedly because they believe that their bellies are protected by the gods.

Although the Stomach Shield helped the tyrant avoid this fate, Ashruphat continued to advance, swinging his sword and attacking. The tyrant's massive body made it impossible for him to dodge attacks, and each sword left a small wound on his body. As he staggered back and tried to get his hands on a second weapon, Ashrufat had already leaned in and cornered him into a pile of rubble.

The other ogres watched from afar, and did not besiege them. This is partly because the tyrants don't have a chance to call them for help, and the other half is because ogres also have a tradition of heads-up. For the ogre, watching a solo duel is an incomparable entertainment in itself. Besides, they still have a chance to get a little bit to eat.

The tyrant was caught off guard and tripped over a large rock in his leg and fell to the ground with his butt. He grabbed a stone in his hand and wanted to use it as a weapon to attack. But it was too late, and the tyrant's hand holding the stone froze in the air, for Ashrufat was already standing on top of him, aiming his sword at his nose. As soon as he sent his sword forward, the ogre tribe had to choose the next tyrant.

"What's your name?" asked Ashrufat. "The last time I saw you, I forgot to ask your name. ”

"Mal Bob. "The normal ogre tyrant's name is followed by a long list of nicknames, such as "Skull Crusher", "Mountain Eater", "Fat Stomach", etc., but this time, the tyrant named Malbob was clever enough to ignore all the superfluous titles.

"Mar Bob, well, Mar Bob," Ashrufat replied. "My name is Ashrufat, and I may not have seen you last time, but you must remember the name. ”

"Ashrufat?" the tyrant hesitated for a long time. He wasn't to blame for that, years had passed, and it was too hard for an ogre to remember a name he had only heard once a few years ago. So Ashruphat made a gesture, and in an instant, his body changed rapidly, from a dwarf to a nezumi, a tall nezumi covered in fiery red fur. Of course, this change lasted only a few seconds, and soon Ashrufat regained his dwarven appearance.

It wasn't a real change just now, it was a magical illusion caused by Carrie. But for ogres, this short time was enough. Even if their IQ is not high, they recognize the big boss of this nezumi. Because the fiery red fur of Ashruphat when he was a rat man was really eye-catching, it was hard not to notice.

"Is that you?" asked Malbob in surprise. Ashrufat shook his sword slightly, causing him to shut his mouth immediately.

"From now on, I'll ask questions," Ashrufat said. "Do you understand?"

Malbob nodded vigorously.

"Do you have nowhere to go?" asked Ashrufat. "So you're wandering in the realm of the dwarves?"

"We...... We can't go back. Malbob honestly admitted. "We offended the big fat overlord! ”

Because ogres are not an uncommunicable race, there are quite a few records about them. Ashrufat knew the term "big fat overlord". According to the records in the book, the big fat overlord is equivalent to the supreme king of the dwarves or the phoenix king of the elves among the ogres, and is the one with the highest power. All ogre tyrants, although they have great autonomy within their respective tribes, must bow to the Big Fat Overlord and obey his orders.

"Very well, in that case, Malbob, I have a proposal! As long as you start listening to me all now, then I will give you a very good condition...... A stable place to live, and plenty of fresh meat to feed you on! If you want to fight, there are plenty of battles to fight. Ashrufat said. It must be said that although the specific content of his words seems to be the type that can be discussed, the movements of his hands and the tone of his words are obviously not allowed to be rejected by the other party.

......

Watching Ashrufat calmly walk out of the ogre's camp, the two Hammer Warriors breathed a sigh of relief. It takes a little bit of courage to go into the ogre camp alone and negotiate with these villains. Success requires excellent diplomatic skills.

"Master, what's the situation?"

"It's all done. Ashrufat replied. "Negotiations with these ogres are going well. As I said, it's not too difficult to do, you just need to negotiate in a way that they understand. ”