[I really don’t think this is appropriate, Anthony.]

[What do you mean? You used to be a merchant, didn’t you? You’ve negotiated for us a ton of times and been fantastic at it. What’s the problem now?]

[I was negotiating with towns and cities that you’d conquered! It’s not exactly hard to force a fair agreement down their throats when there’s a set of mandibles locked around them!]

[I’m fairly sure there weren’t ants standing around with their jaws poised to behead your negotiating partners….]

[Not literally, you oversized ant! I’m just saying I had the upper hand in those talks. And I was only talking to other merchants and petty city lords, not brathians!]

[What’s the difference?]

[Brathians are… different! They’re just different!]

[I mean, how have you even met brathians? I thought you’d never been this deep in the Dungeon?]

[I haven’t. There’s brathians at every level and also on the surface.]

The old woman sighed and pinched her brow. How could she explain this to this obstinate insect?

[The brathians are famous for being skilled negotiators, even in Liria. They cut hard deals and would sell the scales off their own back for the right price.]

[So they’re ruthless when it comes to money. So’s just about everyone who doesn’t have six or more legs. The bruan’chii excepted.]

[It’s pretty much a religion to them! They don’t even live in kingdoms or empires. They form trading blocs, caravans and conglomerates instead. Their leaders are usually the best and most successful traders. I got fleeced by the brathians I met on the surface, what do you think is going to happen to me down here?!]

She felt a headache coming on. Then an enormous antenna attempted to rest comfortingly around her shoulders.

[Too heavy,] she grumbled.

[Sorry. Look. Ultimately, if you fail to come to an agreement, we don’t really care. It seems like they want to peacefully coexist with us, so that’s great, they just want to strike some sort of deal for our goods. If we can nab some cores in exchange for rugs and furniture, that’s great! If not, they can get stuffed! Alright?]

[Wait,] Enid frowned. [They want your goods?]

The giant ant shifted a little.

[Well… it’s not like they make anything that we’re all that interested in. We don’t wear clothes, don’t eat fine cuisine, are only interested in ant-themed artwork and besides that, we make all our own stuff already. Even if there was something they could do better, we’d just figure out how they did it and then improve it from there.]

[So, they want to buy goods from you… and then onsell them to others at a markup?]

[Probably? I have to level with you, Enid, the sum total of things I know about business and money mainly involve loans and legs.]

[You lent people your legs? Can ants do that?]

[Let’s go with yes. My point is, nobody in the Colony has any idea what they’re doing with currency or trade. Alright? We depend on your wisdom and expertise once again. If you feel like you can’t succeed, then just stop, tell us you can’t do it, and we’ll all move on with our lives.]

The old woman sighed, having known from the start she would eventually give in. The Colony had done so much for her and her people, and asked so little in return. It was extremely difficult for her to ever say no to their requests, especially when they came from Anthony himself.

[Fine. When are the brathian arriving?]

[Oh, they’re here already. They’ve been waiting for us to finish this conversation.]

[WHAT!?]

Ten minutes later, a bedraggled and flustered Enid shuffled into the meeting hall, her back aching and her face flushed from the sudden attention.

[How did you even keep them occupied while I was coming?] she demanded of the big ant sitting idly on one side of the chamber.

[We just told them we were waiting for our negotiator to arrive.]

[So you DID just keep them sitting here?!]

[We told them ants have their own pace of doing things and that seemed to mollify them. That and the cakes and teas.]

The Colony certainly did have its own pace, and it wasn’t slow…. Rather the opposite, the ants worked at breakneck pace at all times.

If the guests were mollified at all, it was probably the confectioneries that did the trick. How the ants managed to bake so well when they couldn’t possibly have high ranks in the Baking or Cooking Skills was beyond her.

Trying to give at least some semblance of professionalism to her side of the negotiations, Enid approached the table and sat as gracefully as she could. She even managed to stifle her little groan as the weight came off her knees.

To her left and right, several members of the Council had gathered, Sloan and Advant, namely, with Anthony still slumped comfortably in the corner. Across the table sat an array of clearly high ranking brathians, bedecked in gossamer silks that seemed to float in the air and adorned with tasteful, jaw-dropping jewellery.

[You didn’t tell me they were dressed so well! I would have tried to spruce up a little!]

[They are? I can’t really tell.]

The people of the water, as they were sometimes called, the brathians were mostly human in their appearance, except for those elements of their physiology that adapted them to their aquatic environment. They were covered head to toe in scales, which varied in colour between families. There were several hues represented at the table, including a deep, shimmering lilac which was incredibly eye-catching. They didn’t have fins, as such, but possessed webbed hands and feet, along with membranes on their forearms and calves they could use to propel themselves through the water at tremendous speeds.

“Greetings to you,” she bowed in her seat, “I am Enid Ruther, a human, formerly of the surface kingdom of Liria. I was once a merchant and trader, so the Colony has called on me several times in the past to negotiate on their behalf.”

The lilac-scaled woman seated directly across from her returned her bow and smiled. To any other race on Pangera, introducing oneself as a lowly merchant would have you dismissed in an instant, but not to a brathian. Merchants were the folk they respected the most.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Enid. I was beginning to fear there would be no haggling at all on this venture, since the ants are so disinterested in profits.”

She sounded scandalised by the very concept. As if she’d met humans who didn’t believe in breathing. Enid chuckled in sympathy.

“It isn’t that they aren’t interested in profits; there are things that they want, but in general, they are incredibly insular, in the sense that they don’t believe anyone can make anything better than they can. Why would they bother to negotiate a long-term deal with you, when they believe they can purchase samples of your goods and replicate them in a year or less?”

The brathian gave a polite smile, clearly dismissing the ants’ ability to produce works of the same quality as her own people, despite all that she had seen.

“I am Eran Thouris, wife of Satrap Umizan and the leader of this delegation. I have already gathered that the Colony does not wish to purchase goods, though I hope to change their minds. Instead, I wonder if we would be able to purchase from them. There is much they produce, but as I understand it, they don’t have a market to sell to?”

Already, Enid could feel Eran’s Skills reaching out to ensnare her from across the table. Doubtless, she was an incredibly powerful negotiator, able to twist deals to her favour no matter the context. It would be madness for Enid to try and go head to head with her. The only way to extricate herself from the talks with a satisfactory result was to be as direct as she could be.

“The only thing the Colony wants from you is cores. No currency, no goods, only cores. If you draw up a list of the goods you want, we will attach prices we think are reasonable, and we can use that as the basis of our agreement.”

Eran Thouris, of course, knew what she was trying to do. Her eyes sparkled across the table.

“So straightforward. I’m sure there’s room for discussion as to the goods, the volume of trade, and price. After all, the prices will dictate what we want and how much of it we are prepared to purchase.”

So much for the easy way out. Enid felt the old fire in her chest begin to burn once again. It had been a long time since she’d had her back to the wall in a trade. Her gaze heated up.

“Very well. Let’s talk.”