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And, without even a shred of doubt, the empire was a country full of pride, for no empire could exist without it to begin with.

Still, this was all based on an assumption that I understood Etaria\'s words correctly and took them at face value. And hopefully, there was still some room for me to work around with.

"So you need war," I summed up Etaria\'s words in a much simpler, straightforward manner. "I\'m not going to ask why… because I can pretty much guess it. Just like with the topic of what I\'m doing in the forest, this information is of hardly any significance here."

\'So, I\'m not going to pry for answers,\' I added in my thoughts, just to find a drive for my expression to alter a little, hinting at what I just thought through the small hints in my expression.

Etaria\'s face twitched a little. Yet, besides that, there were no changes on her face.

"Are we done here, then?" the princess asked while locking her arms on her chest and staring me down with those golden, shiny eyes of hers.

I gave the princess a long look before shaking my shoulders and sighing out a little.

"That depends on you, Your Majesty," I replied while performing yet another light bow. "For now, all I know is that the empire is set on conquering the forest. And from how I see things, it\'s something I don\'t want to happen," I spoke as I rested my hands on my hips and leaned my head slightly to the side. "And that means, I have no other choice but to go and kill you all."

I turned around to the side and walked a few paces.

For the first time, I paced around to calm my thoughts rather than pass some cryptic message or set up some sort of elaborate, psychological ploy.

I simply had to move a little to promote a better flow of blood in my veins that would, in turn, help me clear my head a bit.

"Unless…"

I stopped pacing around and turned my head to steal a quick, meaningful glance at the princess\'s face. Yet, by the time I looked over, she was already watching, only waiting for my attention to lock down on it.

"Unless what?" the princess asked in a cold yet extremely polite voice.

"Unless you will give me some room to move around," I replied almost instantly. After all, Etaria\'s question was pretty simple. "If you continue to insist there\'s no room for negotiation, I might really need to kill you all. So, I\'m here to find out whether the empire has any legitimate interest over here, or is a meat grinder all you really want."

I could understand the idea of the empire seeking an enemy to funnel all the population\'s complains and hate on it instead of those responsible for whatever misery the locals suffer from. A state of constant conflict also meant there was someone out there who could shoulder all the blame for whatever misfortune befell the empire\'s citizens.

Still, this scenario didn\'t sit well with me for it was simply a waste of resources and manpower on a scale even a massive empire would find hard to handle. I could talk all I wanted, but the truth remained the same.

For whatever reason, the empire was willing to invest an ungodly amount of money and effort to establish dominance over the forest. And with how there could hardly be any monetary incentive for actually conquering the forest, there had to be some other benefit the imperials expected from doing so.

Otherwise, the cost of this entire campaign would be simply too great.

"If you are looking for other reasons why the empire desires this forest, then you should\'ve heard about the…"

"The herald weaver plant?" I finished the princess\' words before she could even complete her own sentence. Then, I shook my head while not even trying to hide my disappointment. "We both know that it\'s nothing more but an official reason for the masses, not an actual goal of yours."

The fact that Etaria tried to make me believe they were actually looking for that plant one of the mercenaries claimed to be a likely goal of the empire…

"What are you even talking about?" Etaria asked, squinting her eyes in an expression a bit more intense than any of the ones she showed me so far.

"Herald Weaver Flower is what your people believe you guys are searching for," I mentioned what I found out from that female mercenary we took captive and then interrogated a little. "And I\'m more than happy to offer you an entire box worth of those, as long as it means you guys would fuck off."

For a second, I delighted myself with the conflicted look that flashed on the princess\'s face. Yet, the opportunity for me to enjoy myself like that turned out to be extremely short.

"Listen, son," the princess changed how she referred to me, coming up with a title that had a fair dose of condescending air around it. "No matter how big of a bribe you will try to come up with, it will never amount to more than mere scraps when compared to the benefits we seek to obtain once this war concludes."

Etaria\'s response… provided me with much more information than I could\'ve asked for.

\'So they are indeed looking for something beyond the forest rather than the forest itself, huh? And that something would bring them some ungodly amount of gold, making all the massive cost of this campaign nothing more but a small, initial investment.\'

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my thoughts down and slowly digest what I\'d just found out.

There were only three things that I could think of that would possibly bring anywhere near as much as financing this military campaign on this scale would cost.

First came the looting, an absolute transfer of wealth from the conquered to the victors… And given the alternative it was both the simplest and the fastest way for the invading Imperials to make up for all their losses so far.

The other option was an imperial need for a trading partner.

According to what I\'ve heard so far, the empire has concluded its mission of unifying the entire continent, a process that came to an end with the fall of the famed Lunagar fortress.

What was Lunagar fortress? Why was it one topic I kept hearing different humans talk about or bring up? What was the significance of that place?

I didn\'t know the answer to any of those questions… And quite frankly, I couldn\'t care less about it.

What the fall of that fortress meant for me, was that the Golden Empire now had neither an enemy to push the blame on nor a trading partner to earn quick and easy money to pacify the unrest within the empire.

An enemy or a trading partner… or, in much simpler terms, what empire lacked and most likely hoped to find by pushing the greatest army ever gathered on the continent… was just that. Someone to make money off, be it by fighting for spoils or by carving open a path through the forest for the trade to flow.

But there was still the third option. A scenario where I simply failed to predict or understand the core of what the empire hoped to accomplish here with all those forces it gathered. But if such were the case…

I was pretty damn unlikely to find those reasons out within the time frame that would allow me to exploit this opportunity and push my advantage through its angle.

\'I don\'t know which scenario is the correct one… But is the fear from the third possibility a valid reason not to try to act on the other two?\'

"If you wish to find a trading partner, I might be of help. If you desire for someone to slaughter a huge number of your soldiers, I\'m more than happy to help with that too. Even if you are looking for some specific herbs…" for a second, my voice wavered.

"Even if you are looking for some specific herbs, then, as long as they actually exist and are not stuff from legends, I would be happy to scour the forest to provide you with them."

I really hoped it would be possible to avoid an all-out war with the empire. And I was more than interested in letting Etaria on this mindset of mine.

"If you are willing to cooperate, I will make sure the deal we make will be the best in the history of all the deals the empire ever made," I announced with confidence in the statement brimming in my voice. "And if you are not…"

I shook my head.

"If you are not, then I will have no other choice but to showcase why I don\'t consider all the military might the empire is gathering here to be any real danger. Sadly, once that happens…"

I pressed my lips together and averted my eyes.

"Once that happens, there will no longer be any path for reconciliation."

I raised my chin and looked directly into the princess\'s golden eyes.

"Once the fighting starts, it won\'t cease until you guys are all dead."