Chapter 236 - 235: Gathering Intelligence
Vilanser was unwilling to negotiate, but she trusted their General Eran’s judgment.
If Eran said they could fight, they fought—undoubtedly, they could. If Eran said negotiate, it meant they truly could not fight and must consider the bigger picture.
"If we had known this earlier, we should have just agreed to the Green Dragon’s terms from the start... But I just couldn’t stand the obnoxious look on that Green Dragon’s face." Vilanser paused, "And when the Red Dragon came, accepting his terms was also possible—his conditions weren’t actually that unreasonable."
"Now, saying these things is pointless anyway. If we don’t fight, everyone will be unsatisfied. And without fighting, no one would’ve realized how terrifyingly strong that Red Dragon is..." Eran sighed.
"Thankfully, this battle can be considered a victory, even if it’s a pyrrhic one." Eran stared at the empty sky where the Red Dragon had vanished. "Still, maybe we can use this victory to negotiate better terms."
"Exactly, we need to arrange the negotiations as soon as possible," Eran nodded slightly. "Strike while the Red Dragon is still injured and has not recovered; otherwise, once his injuries heal, we lose all leverage."
"But... even if we can cooperate now," Vilanser said, "Red Dragons are inherently chaotic, evil, and unpredictable; he could betray us at any moment."
"This Red Dragon is different; he’s not like other Red Dragons," Eran replied. "According to our intelligence, this one has ruled Watchtower Port without engaging in pillaging or slaughter. He’s actually implemented many laws there. Surprisingly, he belongs to the Order Camp... He seems to be quite fond of peace, spending most of his time in his lair."
"Is he a Blue Dragon or a Red Dragon?" Vilanser furrowed her brows. "If he’s a Blue Dragon, I might tolerate it, but a Red Dragon... are these reports even credible?"
"I don’t know," Eran admitted. "The arrow I shot wasn’t as simple as it looked; the Red Dragon definitely won’t recover his injuries anytime soon and won’t dare disturb Danalan for now. We can use this time to send people to Watchtower Port to gather information."
"Even if this leads to negotiations, there’ll be endless meetings to attend," Eran exhaled deeply. "At least we have time to gather intelligence and assess whether the Red Dragon can be reasoned with—otherwise, we’ll need to consider retreating or calling for more reinforcements."