The bald person although he seems to greet the Takagi couple cordially, a bit of sarcasm could be distinguished very subtly in his voice. Soichiro nods in courtesy, but Yuriko-san simply ignores him.
Since I had met the colonel and also the father of Rei who was two of the three leaders of the Kinato camp, then adding that this person seemed to have some relationship with the Takagi couple who interacted with people with important positions, I must assume that this was the third leader that was a politician.
Besides, this one has totally the appearance of one by the way he speaks. His words expressed agreement with my previous comment and they proved what I say, while at the same time they condemned the colonel as if he were totally on my side despite being in different camps.
Probably apart from wanting to gain my trust, he would not miss an opportunity to affect one competitor for the leadership of the Kinato camp.
"Then, bald... I mean, Ishido-san. Should I assume that you will be more reasonable to speak?"
"B-bald?... well, Alexander-san. I only have two requests with which I would like you to help us. Although the colonel's words were rude, it is true that the citizens of Kinato are starving ... there are children who are not have nothing to eat for several days and also women who have to sell their bodies for a bowl of rice that is more water than anything else "
His words seemed a desperate plea, although not for him, but the residents of his camp. But after all, it was not much different than the colonel who wanted to get things for free.
I wanted to tell him that if there were so many hungry people, then he could run out of food for a month and that would probably help him and as a result, many of those children and women would also have some more food.
Unfortunately, I had already strongly antagonized with the colonel and that is why I could not be so rude in rejecting his offer, so for this reason I try to refuse him without being so tough.
"I'm sorry Ishido-san, but that's like you're asking me to remove the food to people of MLDW and delivers this to your camp. It 's hard to say this, but as one of its leaders is my duty to see for them that instead of other people "
When he hears me, he frowns for a second but quickly makes a bitter smile as if he was very affected by this.
"... You really can't help Alexander-san?"
"... I can't give that to you just like that, I have to justify providing you with food so as not to generate disagreement in the people of MLDW. So if you could provide some things that your camp has more than us, then I think we could help each other.
If they see it as an exchange between us, then they will gladly accept it and the residents of my camp would have nothing to say to complain "
"... what things do you want?"
"I will give you thousand tons of food in exchange for 10 thousand people. It is not a bad deal, you get food and I take a little of the weight you have on your shoulders because of the large population you have in your camp"
"...I don't think that this's right, it would be like I was selling people and my conscience doesn't allow me to do it... if you have that amount of food to make the deal, why you don't just help us with that amount, I think the people in your camp will be glad to help other people that are in need "
"I don't like to repeat myself Ishido-san, there are only two options, whether you accept the deal and you get the thousand tons of food or you all return to Kinato empty-handed"
"... well, if I'm going to dirty my conscience, then I can't do it for that amount, I need it to obtain more food to be able to feed more people for longer, so at least I can help more people even though I have to dirty my hands.
500 kilograms per person, 5 thousand tons of food per 10 thousand people. If you can offer that amount, then we can make the deal "
Geh, this guy really knows how to talk, damn! He has an aura of the blackest I've ever seen, so I'm sure he has done things that would embarrass and make shake a bastard. What is it about being dirty by other people? Curse! He should be covered in mud up to his neck, what happens is that he is a damn greedy man.
Thinking about another aspect, I must say that people's lives have become very cheap... well, if they don't have food to support their population, then things would become like that.
I am sure that he does not care much to lose these people since still has 40 or 50 thousand and he just looking to get the most out of it. If his words were true, then maybe he would n't even make an offer... well, it's something positive that he at least wants to negotiate...
"You ask too much, 1.5 thousand tons and I also think you should thank me for helping another 10 thousand people for being able to eat"
"Well, Alexander-san. If you take those people then as you said before, it is logical that you take responsibility for them. On the other hand, I have to worry about another large number of people, so at least I would need 4 thousand tons for them "
"Then why I don't help you with that more and I help you reduce that number even more, 2,000 tons of food for 15,000 people, this would reduce your worries a little, don't you think? "
Hearing me say that, the bald guy is silent for a few seconds, then after having analyzed and calculate some things in his head, he speaks again.
"3 thousand tons for the 15 thousand people"
"...well, I'll give you 3 thousand tons as long as 70% of those people are between 20 and 35 years old"
"No! That's too much! You will take the majority of the population in their best years ... if we do that, the future of my camp will be very precarious."
"...Ok, that they have an age range of 15 and 45 years old"
"...fine, although I think the percentage is still too high"
"Then you can pick up the food once you transport people to MLDW"
"I think it's better if you help us do that too"
"Well, I have to move 3 thousand tons of food, it's not a small amount"
Honestly, things went better than I expected, I didn't have many complaints about paying 5,000 tons for 10,000 people, but I wanted to see if I could get a little more and it seems like it was a success.
Our camp does not have any problems with food, with what we receive from the coast and more what the soldiers bring from the explorations in the small nearby towns, with all this we can stock up well and even continue accumulating food, much of the food that we got in the ports and the city is still stored, so it would be a shame if it stopped being edible and we didn't get anything from it.
"... You really just now negotiated for people? These are not merchandise, you know?! They are individuals just like you and with the same rights!"
"C- calm down dad, A-Alexander will not treat them badly... you just have to see it as if we will help your camp to take care of them"
"...Rei is right, they will probably live better in this brat's camp, than they have to go hungry in ours"
"..."
"Damn Idiot! What are you doing selling to the population of our camp !!"
"You are wrong Colonel Omura, I was getting food for our camp and moving some persons to this camp so that those who stay in ours have more food"
"Don't misrepresent things, we'll see what Kinato people say when they hear about this !!"
"Hmnp! At least they will know that I got some food for them, not like you who are still just as useless without being able to end the rodent plague and get food.
Also, don't think that you'll get some food from the things I got. These will be totally for the civilians of the camp, so if you want food to feed your men then they will have to hunt rats. "
During the heated negotiation we had, everyone had kept quiet so I thought they would be entertaining watching to see who between us will earn more, but it seems that he was wrong... they probably weren't expected to we start marketing people here.
Then after we finish, the Rei´s dad complains about this but she immediately gets up and coming to his side to try to calm him down, after with her Mom joining later they two managed to appease him.
On the other hand, the colonel who had already lost all tranquility from before begins to shout at his opponent about the things that had just happened. This does not remain silent and also counterattacks with his own words against him.
The last two sentences of the politician leave the colonel in silence making him think some things and then again directs his vision towards me and speak.
"Boy, it seems that you and I had a bad start... but we are 3 leaders in Kinato and only helping two are destabilizing things there. You can't let my group be the only one that looks bad for not getting anything, so, why don't we discuss the things with calm? "
"Old soldier... no, colonel. You're wrong about that again, I haven't helped either of you or at least not for free.
In the case of Officer Miyamoto, what he obtained more than a month ago was by another group that was in this city and joined him. In the case of Ishido-san, as you have witnessed we both had a negotiation in which both exchanged something between camps.
... It's not that I don't want to help you too, colonel, but in order to do it I have to see some sincerity on your part, otherwise it's impossible that I can do something for you.
"…what do you want?"
Without a doubt, if he is the only one who returns without something from MLDW, the opinion about him in his camp will fall a lot, in addition to what I have heard from Kiriko-san before, the disaffection of citizens towards their group for losing food is not little.
There is also the fact that the bald man mentions, he and Rei's father can now have some food, but that does not mean that they will share it with another group, surely they only give it to civilians to gain greater support from them or simply as something humanitarian.
Knowing all that, I had to take advantage of this and get the most of his group as well. No doubt his attitude and his stupid son made him a more unpleasant person to treat than the bald one, but I needed to soften me a little so that we could do business between us.
"I think we can make an exchange between the two of us and is convenient for both of us, I will also provide you with 1 thousand tons of food and also 2 thousand antidotes that can prevent a person from becoming a zombie after being bitten.
For there are no future misunderstandings I must tell you that these only work if it is applied in the first ten seconds that happens.
What I want in exchange for this is- "
"So it's true that you could make an antidote? !!"
Before I could make my requests, Rei's father interrupts us, but probably having the same question in his head the colonel does not bother about this waits for me to answer, also the politician very interested about this put his attention back on me.
Apparently Kiriko-san had told her husband about this when she returned to Kinato, having spent a few days here she had ended up discovering this matter.
Having become a fairly large group with enough weapons to protect us, it was no longer a problem for other people to discover this, so I didn't have to hide this information from Kiriko-san and instead even give her some when she left previously... I could not be stingy with her group as they were the parents of Rei, one of the girls with whom I have a relationship closer.
Also, being honest, that they knew could benefit me. There were no more groups to which I could sell the antidotes and our soldiers did not use them so much either, but as Shisuka's group continued to do so, then it was inevitable that enough antidotes would accumulate.
So, if I can exchange the surplus of these for other things that are more useful to me, that would be pretty good. They should know that although they get some resources from me now, they cannot depend on this forever.
They have to have the way to stock up on their own hands, but the impediment that they have or what prevents them from doing it carelessly is that places with resources are sure to be protected by a large number of zombies.
Our group may have lost much of the fear to the zombies, but the main reason for this is that our soldiers do not have to worry much if they are bitten and infected.
So for Kinato's soldiers, these antidotes were something that injected more courage into them to fight with the zombies.
"Our group created this antidote a few months ago and perhaps it is one of the main reasons why we were able to eliminate zombies from the city. These also saved the lives of many people during that time, so I can assure you that it is effective and that the percentage of those who survived by being bitten and used the antidote is 100%.
Of course, this is as long as they can administer it before the indicated time and that the place where the person was bitten or injured is not vital, otherwise the possibility of survival will depend on the medical ability of the person who treats him later "
"Then tell me, what do you want for those things?"
"You don't have to worry too much, colonel. What I want are things I think you have in surplus, so it shouldn't affect you much...
I want the following things from your military group:
5x Helicopters with their pilots included
9x Type 10 Tanks
15x LAV
20x Military Jeep
10x MLRS
20x FH-70
7x FIM-92A Stinger
1 Million 9mm bullets
.
.
. "
"Wait! How the hell do you know the equipment of our army? You are practically asking for half of all our equipment!! ... Kiriko it was you who sold our information, right? !!"
"... I did not sell any information, please Colonel do not speak without evidence"
This time it is the colonel himself who interrupts me by raising his voice and immediately after puts the eyes on Kiriko-san with great anger. She is right and did not sell me this information… she gave it to me when I asked her the last time she was at MLDW.
Since this colonel was her husband's opponent, it was natural for her to investigate information related to this group. Also, as a former policewoman, she had the experience to do this without much trouble.
Seeing the colonel looking for some proof for this, I quickly put the sheet on which most of the Kinato military equip was written under the table and sent it to my interdimensional inventory. This was written for Kiriko-san's hand and could cause misunderstandings if he sees it.
"It's impossible for me to give all of that to you! You're asking too much, you have to lower your requests !!"
"I have already negotiated enough for today, take it or leave it. What you need now is food and although bullets and weapons are very useful, they cannot fill your stomach.
Well, you can also go and try to get food with those weapons, but I don't know how many of your men will be infected by this... "
"...Then maybe I should do that, surely I can get much more if I come to this place with those weapons"
"Colonel! You can't attack the civilians that we should protect!"
"Hahaha, geezer, your menace will not get you anything. If you want our groups to kill each other, then I have no qualms about doing it... it's not as if we were unprotected and unarmed, so if you decide to do that I'll gladly take you to the gates of hell personally.
I'd rather die than see someone take things that belong to me, so you have the choice to turn this into a peaceful negotiation or turn it into a war. "
With a somewhat frustrated and exasperated face the old colonel tries to threaten me with a strong look, he should have reached the limit because things were not as he wanted.
No doubt having to face his entire group was a great risk and if that really happened, then it could only be a disaster spoiling all the time I spent creating this camp.
In fact, if he had command of all of Kinato's army, I might have to give in to my requests a little, sometimes it is better to sacrifice the outcome of a battle than to lose the whole war.
But even if he was in control of a group twice as big, if he tried to step on my head, I would keep me firm with the words I said.
Unfortunately for him and fortunately for me, Kiriko-san said this is not so and he does not have total control of Kinato's army.
This is verified by the fact that a female soldier who was in that group intervenes after his words and opposes what he says.
Therefore, knowing that if he decides to attack me, is sure that he can only do so with his closest followers, so I didn't feel too much pressure from his threat.
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Status Alexander:
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Hello everyone, I want to announce that now there is 3 month of chapters advance in p-a-t-r-e-o-n, so remember to visit it, I will be very grateful and motivated if you could do it, thanks a lot!!
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Is seems that WN is baned the word (p-a-t-r-e-o-n), so "*******" is (p-a-t-r-e-o-n) without "-"
Also if you can go to the page of the novel and give a like there, I appreciated it.
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Thanks for reading SES, see you in the next chapter.