Chapter 889: The Reason for Negotiation

"Yes."

Jier looked left and right, his gaze sweeping over the faces of every villager nearby who had heard these words. Observing the changes in their expressions, Jier intuitively understood the level of the people present.

"The Dwarves cannot hold on," he repeated his previous words.

The elders looked at each other, generally nodding in silence, looking relieved that their judgment had not been wrong. The situation with the middle-aged farmers was different; some immediately showed smiles on their faces and picked up the wine cups at hand to drink deeply. Others had expressions of shock that did not seem feigned, their facial muscles twitching, their eyes darting around, and their breathing gradually becoming rapid. Still others looked incredulous, feeling that what the young Knight said was as unbelievable as a fantasy.

It made sense. Before Jier came to the village, before he came to this hidden valley area, this place had been firmly ruled by Dwarves for several decades. Humans born locally had accepted Dwarf rule from birth; how could they imagine that the village's rule could one day be overthrown by an outsider Knight?

Not to mention that this young Knight, who was about to defeat the Dwarves, believed that even if he hadn't come, the Dwarves' rule in the village would not have been able to continue.

"What is going on? Knight Jier, can you tell us what this is all about?" someone asked hurriedly, as if they were in great need of the answer to this question.

Jier smiled, wiped the sparse wine foam from his mouth, and gestured with his palm toward the few village elders: "I see that these elders are not surprised at all by my words. Why not let them explain my judgment?"

Everyone's eyes focused on the calm-looking elders. A middle-aged farmer asked one of them: "Father?"

The elder, pointed out by his own son, coughed lightly and stated his judgment: "Among the Dwarf population, there are too few females."

Before the people present could understand, another elder took over and said: "From when I came here in my youth to now, as I grow old, do you know how many young Dwarves have been born in the Dwarf population?"

Without waiting for the crowd to answer, the elder said the answer to himself: "Only two! And only two at that."

At this moment, some of the middle-aged villagers in the surrounding circle had already understood.

Subsequently, an elder continued to add: "Although Dwarves are long-lived compared to us humans, many people never see a single Dwarf funeral in their entire lives. But in fact, they also grow old and also die."

"My parents were among the first batch of Empire migrants to accidentally enter this place. At that time, the main body of Dwarves here were all robust, but by now, as I was born here and am growing old, those originally sturdy Dwarves have also become aged," the last elder said.

Speaking of this, the middle-aged villagers present completely understood why the young Knight said the Dwarf group ruling the village could not hold on. It turned out that as time passed, those Dwarves were all aging, and because the number of female Dwarves in the group was insufficient, it led to an insufficient number of young ones being born.

Thinking about it this way, after a few decades passed, the Dwarves in the village would probably only have a dozen or twenty people left. But the human reproduction rate far exceeded that of the Dwarves; in a few decades, even without armed resistance, the villagers, who would be dozens of times more numerous than the Dwarves, could spontaneously occupy this place.

Many people could not help but show smiles on their faces when they thought of this, but the smiles quickly faded, because they suddenly realized that even if the Dwarves spontaneously lost their rule over the village in a few decades, it would have nothing to do with these guys who were already middle-aged.

After all, the village lacked medicine, and there was no human church stationed here to preach. It was very easy to die from illness and exhaustion after getting older.

As for things a few decades later, it was hard for these middle-aged people to live until then.

Consequently, many people looked with burning eyes at the young Knight who was still eating and drinking. Although they did not speak, their eyes sent everything they wanted to say over to Jier.

Jier put down the bread in his hand and laughed a few times.

He ignored these expectant gazes; after all, he was liberating this place regardless of their expectations. Liberating this place was a win-win situation, but there was no need to explain it to these people for the time being.

Jier looked at the few village elders and said: "What you all said is correct, but the scope of your vision is a bit small."

"Oh, does the Knight have any other insights?" an elder asked.

Jier nodded. He pushed his wine cup toward the middle of the table and said: "This is the village."

Then he picked up the charred bread and placed it next to the wine cup, putting a few scattered pieces around it: "These are other human settlements outside the village. Understand? You are not alone. The world outside the village is also developing. Ignoring some troubles, the land outside is larger, the power is stronger, and it does not restrict your military force like in the village. Not to mention anything else, outside the valley belongs to Sasi County. Just Sasi Baron alone could easily gather thousands of armed forces in his territory. To wipe out a group of dozens of Dwarves, even if it's not easy, it's as simple as breathing."

He looked at the others around him: "Not to mention that this Baron surely has several Knights under his command who are stronger than me."

"If we only consider the situation within the valley, those Dwarves could only hold on for a few more decades before being 'defeated' by us humans, who occupy the majority of the population. But if you look outside, not to mention anything else, as long as one person runs out of Huitou Forest, contacts the outside human society, and explains to the people outside what is happening here, these Dwarves would be finished immediately."

Speaking of this, Jier smiled and gestured with his hand: "You are lucky. You don't have to find a way to let some lucky young person escape Huitou Forest. Heh, because, I have come."

Most of the middle-aged villagers were shocked by the young Knight's words, while the elders understood them. One of the elders curled his lips and said in a relaxed tone: "Perhaps when you, Knight, rode your warhorse through Huitou Forest during the day and caught sight of Torito Cunzi in the valley, we had already been saved?"

Jier picked up his wine cup, took a sip, and muttered: "Perhaps."

He then muttered in a low voice: "If it were a normal year, or even just last year, or next year, it would be very easy for you to defeat the Dwarves. But this year, well, I still have to put in some personal effort."

Jier drank the fruit-flavored ale in his cup in one gulp.

The villagers sitting around the long table discussed and rejoiced for quite a while. After everyone was full of confidence and felt that this act of resisting the Dwarves would definitely win, someone finally asked the initial question.

What use were those captured Dwarf Soldiers?

Although Jier was not yet full, he could not eat any more bread, so he stopped and explained: "Those Dwarf Soldier prisoners are for negotiation."

"Negotiation?"

Many villagers, who were almost overwhelmed by the news and inferences that the resistance against the Dwarves would soon win and was bound to win, were very puzzled by this. They did not understand why, since they could defeat the Dwarves regardless, they still needed to negotiate with them. To the point that they even needed to use the captured Dwarf Soldiers as bargaining chips.

Moreover, although many villagers in the village understood the meaning of the term 'negotiation' in Human Common Language, they were limited by the meager knowledge of someone confined to the valley for their entire life. In their past lives, it was difficult to use negotiation as a tool or means, so they did not understand why Jier, this young Knight, chose to negotiate.

"Yes, negotiation."

Jier tapped the table and asked: "Is there anyone who was not born here?"

Two of the elders raised their hands, and one or two of the middle-aged villagers around also raised their hands, one of whom was the Herbalist.

"Since you were not born and raised here, surely you can understand why I want to negotiate, right?"

The two elders nodded, and among the middle-aged people, the Herbalist also hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"Since someone can understand, then it's easy to talk." Jier breathed a sigh of relief. He saw that the atmosphere among the villagers just now was enthusiastic, and everyone felt that victory would come easily, so he did not dare to shatter these people's childish illusions of victory.

You must know that although his arrival here meant that the Dwarf rule in Torito Cunzi would definitely end, there were many ways to realize this end.

If Jier had five hundred Militia from Kendall County under his command, then needless to say, there would be no need to negotiate with the Dwarves; he would just send troops to wipe out these aliens remaining on the territory of the human Kingdom. And the Dwarves would only have the result of fleeing immediately.

But he had no army; he had only come here by himself.

Therefore, in terms of the strength of both sides, the strength of the Dwarf side remained unchanged, while the actual strength of the human side was only him, an Apprentice Knight, and these villagers around him who dared to resist the Dwarves.

If a direct conflict occurred, it was hard to say who would win and who would lose.

Jier might kill all the Dwarves in a full day of guerrilla fighting, but it would be very difficult for the villagers to survive in large numbers against the Dwarves' desperate counterattack.

Therefore, the method of doing a thing is very important. Especially after weighing the strength of both sides, one must choose the correct method.

After arriving at Torito Cunzi, Jier discovered that although the Dwarves ruling here had their own troubles, they managed the place quite well. To be honest, Jier felt that these Dwarves were doing much better than most of the human Nobles in the outside world.

In a limited environment and with limited resources, everyone here had a house to live in, enough land to grow food, and there were fruits and vegetables to eat, and even to brew wine. At the same time, every household here had poultry and livestock, and also possessed sufficient iron tools.

Except for the fact that because there were no suitable textile raw materials, most people here had to wear Linen Cloth clothing, life here was actually not bad.

What does this show? It shows that the Dwarf group here was managing the place well. The Dwarves were rational and could calmly handle most things.

They would not easily pick up weapons to kill, nor would they turn and run, abandoning everything the Torito Cunzi had managed for decades or a hundred years, and shrink into their underground mines or deep into the mountains.

Thus, negotiation and communication were Jier's best means and methods today.

Jier could not explain all these analyses to the surrounding villagers, but he still explained part of it, letting the surrounding villagers understand that although humans would eventually win, at this very moment, if they wanted to take back the management of the village with the minimum sacrifice and cost, they had to achieve it through a negotiation.

As it happens, in terms of negotiations, they have a chip that the Dwarves cannot ignore—those captured Dwarven Soldier.

"And besides."

Jier drank his liquor, muttering softly to himself.

"Besides, I have also roughly understood what those Dwarves want, what they need, and what they crave. Heh, and this key point might just become a much-needed help for me." A calculating glint flashed in Jier's eyes.

Since those Dwarves can no longer stay here and are forced to retreat and leave, why can't they leave here with him? He wouldn't mind having a team of dozens of Dwarves under his command.

One must know that after going deep into the mountains to rescue the Nongshen Believer of Changmai Cunzi, and leaving Sasi County after the matter is finished, he estimates there will still be two tough battles to fight.

The night was deep; after one moon had crossed the firmament, the pitch-black sky welcomed another moon in the latter half of the night.

This moon goddess was far less bright than her sister from before, so in the latter half of the night, the darkness was even more widespread.

But in the southern part of Torito Cunzi, the darkness here had to retreat, because bonfires had been raised and torches for illumination were stuck everywhere. And the people were not sleeping early as they usually did; instead, they gathered together, some discussing, some preparing food, and more people, under the guidance of the village elders, were arming themselves with various farming tools, preparing for the resistance against the Dwarves after dawn.

The pitchforks from every household were gathered together and distributed uniformly to a group of farmers acting as the backbone. There was no time to make defensive equipment, so various things that looked like they could be worn on the body were collected and stuffed onto the Human Warrior as much as possible.

Since the Dwarves generally possessed Armor equipment that exceeded that of ordinary Human armies, the villagers' preparations for resistance could not be weak in terms of protection.

Iron pots and wooden buckets were put on the warriors, and thin door panels from their homes were also dismantled to be used as Shield. Grease was collected, put into jars, tied with ropes, and used as a simple throwable item for starting fires.

Although everything looked so crude, as long as the quantity was there, it was also a force not to be underestimated.

At least that was what Jier thought; whether it was powerful or not was another matter, but it certainly looked intimidating enough.

After counting, including some teenagers and the sturdy farm women in the village, there were over 170 villagers in the village who dared to resist the Dwarves; this was not a small number.

Considering the captured Dwarven Soldier and Dwarven Warrior on the Dwarves' side, as well as the Dwarven Warrior he had injured during the day's battle, the number of people the Dwarves could bring out to fight would not exceed 30, or even 25.

One side had about 25, and the other side had over 170. Even if the weapons, equipment, and training of the two sides were vastly different, it didn't matter; after all, the Human side, which was large in number but poor in quality, had Jier.

His existence was both a guarantee of a bottom line and a factor that would prevent the Dwarves from easily starting a war.

After quickly instructing a group of villagers who would be responsible for the front-line fighting after dawn, Jier came to the place where the captured Dwarves were held. It was actually the tool room of the farmer next door. To prevent these people from escaping, not only was a young and sturdy villager arranged one-on-one to guard the Dwarven captives, but also, under Jier's reminder, all the farm tools in the tool room had been moved to the room above in advance.

In the empty room, there were only eight Dwarves tied into a bundle, and eight villagers standing opposite them, monitoring and guarding them.

"How is it? Any incidents?" Jier pushed open the wooden door of the tool room and walked in.

The opening and closing of the wooden door let the noise from outside into the room. The Dwarven Soldier Captain, who had already woken up, said viciously to the Human Knight who had defeated them: "It's all because of you! Your arrival will make this peaceful village bleed everywhere."

Jier was holding a piece of fine cloth, rare in the village, carefully wiping his Steel Helmet, meticulously cleaning off the bloodstains that had splattered onto it during the previous battle.

While wiping, he said to the Dwarven Soldier Captain: "Don't talk nonsense. Until now, haven't you Dwarves been the ones bleeding? Hmph, you have ruled here for so many years, and the people in the village have accumulated quite a bit of resentment. My arrival causing you to bleed a little is only normal."

The young villager responsible for guarding finally had time to reply to the question Jier asked when he walked in: "Knight, we have no problems, it's just that these Dwarves don't have anything good to say, making everyone feel annoyed and scared. Also, some of them have broken arms, should we not take care of them?"

Jier gave a light snort: "No need to take care of them. Anyway, aren't these guys quite energetic? They still have the strength to curse. As for the cursing and intimidation, find something to plug their mouths. Don't give them food, and don't provide them with drinking water either. Anyway, no matter what, tomorrow during the day, there will be a result."

Following Jier's instructions, someone immediately went out to find something to stuff the mouths of the Dwarven captives. Hearing Jier's words, the eight Dwarves in the room looked at each other and began to communicate in the Dwarven Language that Humans could not understand.

Jier ignored the communication of these Dwarves; no matter what they said, it would not affect tomorrow's events. He put away the fine cloth in his hand and hung the Steel Helmet on the belt at his waist.

Then he looked at the eight captives present and turned his gaze to one of the ordinary Dwarven Warrior.

Seeing that he was being stared at by the Human Knight, this Dwarven Warrior immediately closed his mouth. His eyes were a bit timid at first, but then he braced himself, opened them wide, and glared at the young Human Knight.

Come to think of it, these Dwarves only now discovered that the one who defeated them was actually such a young Human. Considering the age of Humans, it was estimated that this Human Knight was only about twenty years old; for a Dwarf, this age was truly too young.

Would a twenty or thirty-year-old Human be defeated by a two-year-old toddler?