Chapter 1088
Count Trink of the Batan Kingdom was sweating cold bullets.
Typically, watching a child act like an adult would be a laughable sight. To some, the pressure she exerted might’ve been overwhelming, but for those with a bit of guts, it felt more like watching a pitiful little creature desperately trying to protect itself. Count Trink expected the negotiations to be the same.
Nonetheless, she seemed annoyingly skilled at things like negotiations and distinguishing necessary policies, which had been a bit of a thorn in his side. Even so, because she was still immature, he had been confident she’d never notice what he was trying to do during the negotiations.
Marquis Barogo’s plan had been simple: the moment the imported dried white mushroom flowers arrived, they’d be processed into narcotics and distributed, making sure that all the blame and associated fallout landed squarely on Tsuna’s shoulders.
Reasonably speaking, there was no way she’d be able to maintain her position as Chancellor if a massive amount of narcotics was spread within the kingdom because of her blunder, especially considering her reputation as someone whose capabilities had already been called into question. Once that was accomplished, he could easily add on other excuses to remove her entirely from her position.
Yet, astonishingly enough, she had seen through it. If their trade was called off right then and there, it’d lead to exchanges full of resentment and cause major damage on both sides instead of just hers. Knowing this, Trink had tried to pressure her into continuing the trade no matter what, but all he received in return was mockery—as well as a crushing pressure he had never experienced before. It felt like trying to scam someone who already knew every detail of the ploy.
Overwhelmed by a chilling sensation that made the hair on his body stand on end, he even momentarily forgot that he was being figuratively raked across the negotiating table.
“If this trade deal falls through, the Vatan Kingdom will end up clashing with us again. After all, this negotiation was prepared for the sake of fostering friendship between our two nations,” Tsuna remarked.
“Y-Yes, of course.”
“But if you really think about it, paying full price for goods riddled with problems doesn’t make any sense.”
The subpar production processes they hadn’t bothered to hide, having expected her to overlook them, proved to be brutal shackles restricting their options.
“I’ll buy everything you want to sell. However, we’ll be adjusting the conditions and the price.”