Chapter 1249: Evereska, Internal Discord

These issues do not involve interests, and precisely because of this, there is no foundation for negotiation.

For example, the final signing location for the establishment of the Northland Alliance.

Most of the Elven Nations hoped it would be at the Elven Court, but only Illefarn, from beginning to end, disagreed with placing the final signing location at the Elven Court.

Illefarn had three proposals: one was the Illefarn capital Ailintar, one was the Netheril capital Seventon, and the last was the neutral elven city-state Evereska.

Danzo, however, had no requirements for the signing location; it only hoped to obtain aid from various countries as soon as possible.

Of course, there were also issues such as the common language of the Alliance, the location of permanent institutions, and so on. Although the Northland Alliance was only a loose alliance organization and these issues did not involve direct interests, their indirect influence was extremely profound.

With all parties unwilling to make concessions, the Northland Alliance negotiations had fallen into a stalemate.

In this, the attitude of Netheril played a very important role; among the Northland countries, besides Danzo, the four strongest were Cormanthyr, Yrluan, Illefarn, and Netheril.

And the relationships between these four countries were also very complex—

The hostility between Cormanthyr and Illefarn was the deepest, followed by Netheril; while Netheril had the closest relationship with Illefarn, followed by Yrluan.

As for the relationship between Yrluan and Cormanthyr, it was not very intimate either. The primary reason was that Yrluan was too far from Cormanthyr and too close to Illefarn; although it was gradually drifting away from Netheril, it was still full of ambiguity.

Trying to forcibly bind these four countries together was almost impossible.

And if these four countries did not participate in the Alliance, the Alliance itself would not have much meaning.

It was not a five-country alliance (including Danzo), but an alliance of the five countries!

……

In the Reception Room, Prince Baside requested again: "I hope Your Excellency Badijiaer can help persuade Illefarn; Danzo will certainly not forget the contributions of the Seven Towers."

"I will consider it."

Hearing this, Prince Baside's heart instantly went cold, but then he heard another sentence—"But I will definitely give you an answer today."

Prince Baside was instantly overjoyed; based on his understanding of the Seven Towers, if they hadn't made a decision, they would never have been so uncompromising.

At the same time, combined with Netheril's current situation, the possibility of agreement was extremely high.

"Thank you, Your Excellency Badijiaer!"

……

After Prince Baside left, Badijiaer could not spare time to rest and immediately notified the other six masters of the Seven Towers about the news that the Drow might be hoarding demons.

Before long, six projections appeared in this Reception Room. After the seven Great Arcanists discussed for a while, they urgently summoned the Illefarn Ambassador, Lucien.

Upon meeting, Badijiaer dropped a bombshell: "Danzo might not be able to hold on!"

"How is this possible?"

Lucien immediately showed an expression of surprise, "Ailintar has been transporting supplies to Danzo through the Ruiwen River; how could they not be able to hold on?"

Badijiaer repeated the intelligence just provided by Prince Baside, but Lucien still refused to believe it. He said: "This must be a conspiracy by Cormanthyr, wanting us to make concessions in the Northland Alliance negotiations."

Badijiaer and the others exchanged glances, and then Lander spoke to state the attitude of the Seven Towers: "The Northland Alliance negotiations cannot be delayed any longer. Our side has decided that as long as the Alliance venue is not placed within Cormanthyr territory, we can accept it."

The venue here actually also included the issue of the location for the subsequent permanent institutions of the Alliance.

When Lander said these words, Lucien immediately realized that Netheril had likely accepted Danzo's lobbying. He had anticipated this, but he hadn't expected it to come so quickly.

"Could it be that Netheril also leans toward Evereska?"

"It is not about where we lean, but right now, besides Evereska, is there any other location that can be accepted by multiple parties?" Badijiaer retorted.

In fact, by the end of the negotiations, the biggest difficulty lay in the fact that Cormanthyr was unwilling to give up the Elven Court, while the Elven Court was the venue most hoped for by the other Elven Nations besides Illefarn.

At this time, Lander also persuaded: "If the venue is placed in Evereska, Yrluan may not necessarily continue to support Cormanthyr. This is a situation of mutual benefit for multiple parties, excluding Cormanthyr."

"If Ambassador Lucien does not have the Permission Level to make a decision, I hope you can relay our opinion back to Ailintar as soon as possible."

"Let me consider it." Lucien lowered his head, thinking rapidly.

For Illefarn, placing the venue in Ailintar was undoubtedly the most favorable, but this was also undoubtedly the least acceptable to Cormanthyr.

Correspondingly, the Elven Court was also the most unacceptable to Illefarn.

As for the Seventon that Netheril had previously advocated, besides Illefarn, almost no other country would agree. Now it seemed that all parties taking half a step back, and Cormanthyr taking one step back, could be considered a decent outcome.

It was just that this way, his own achievements would be much less!

Lucien had originally been certain that Cormanthyr would make various concessions out of fear that the Drow would rush to the Surface, but this was only the ideal state. Now, no party wanted the Drow to rush to the Surface, including Illefarn.

After thinking carefully for a while, Lucien was still unwilling to gamble on whether Cormanthyr would make comprehensive concessions; after all, he could not bear the consequences of losing the gamble.

Although the achievements were fewer now, the risks were also lower, which might be acceptable, but the specific details still needed to be carefully considered.

"Everyone, since the situation underground has changed, Illefarn will naturally prioritize the big picture. However, I need to report this matter to my country before I can give you a formal answer. Additionally, regarding the specific negotiation table, it will require our two sides' personnel to discuss it further."

"Very well." Badijiaer exchanged opinions with the others, then nodded and looked toward the door, signaling that Lucien could leave.

Lucien understood immediately, bowed, and took his leave.

……

After Lucien left, the projections of Lander and the others did not disperse, but the Northland Alliance matter was temporarily settled. At this point, Badijiaer also thought to ask Sikumu about the follow-up situation regarding the investigation into the cause of Kelifu's death:

"Did Magna and the others go to Giles Tower for a re-examination?"

"Magna went; the others did not." Sikumu's expression was quite ugly.

Magna wanting to go for a re-examination was clearly a lack of trust in the Seven Towers. Thinking that there was still a Huo Ke who hadn't been dealt with, his mood became even worse.

"By the way, Huo Ke just mentioned the Northland Alliance negotiations at the meeting. Do you think he was entrusted by Prince Baside, or commanded by Cormanthyr?" Sikumu said pointedly.

"Who cares? Anyway, the big picture is set now. No matter what his purpose is, it doesn't matter. We should just do our own part. I'm tired, I'm leaving first."

Haruisi replied casually and then dismissed his projection. After him, the others also left one after another, including Badijiaer.

In the end, only Sikumu's projection was left hanging in the Reception Room. Sikumu's expression instantly became incomparably ugly.

He looked at the spot where Haruisi's projection had just been, a strange, gloomy light flickering in his eyes.

"Hmph!"

Subsequently, the projection disappeared.