Gun Girl from Another World

Tribe

The interior of the longhouse was … rustic. In another world, it would be called open concept, but it was more like they hadn't bothered building walls at all.

No, that wasn't entirely true. I can see doors in the back that must lead to the personal home areas of the chief and his family. It's only this area of business that is open wide like this.

There's a long, low table here, surrounded by long cushions I suspect are stuffed with straw. It stretches nearly the width of the longhouse, and half a dozen seats are already taken on the far side.

In the middle is a man that reminds me of Guildmaster Kobi. A large, gray man who still looks like he could rip me in two if I ticked him off. To either side are older men, neither nearly as large, followed further out by a pair of women.

To our far right is a child in fancier robes than those of the children outside. I'd guess her to be about eight or so if I was pressed to do so. Unlike the normal ruddy color of the oni, however, her skin is porcelain white, making her black eyes and hair pop all the more by comparison. In fact, the big man in the middle is the only one that remotely shares her skin tone, and even it has a tan to it.

Between the black and white, the only real color on her entire face is in her lips and the tips of her horns, which I hope are merely painted matching blood red. It's a very striking difference to the rest of her palette, and I have to pull my attention away to keep from staring.

The girl keeps her head down, but none of the adults look pleased to see us. Still, the big man in the middle motions to our side of the table.

"Lord Mayor Oshu," he greets his counterpart. "What a delight to have you. Please, have a seat. When we come to an agreement, we shall celebrate with fire water and roasts!"

"You promise that every time," Lord Oshu replies as we approach.

"Only because we have not yet succeeded! Surely, today will be the day! After all, you've brought your Hero with you!"

The man whom I now am certain is the chieftain stands and begins stretching his shoulder. Boy, is he tall … He might even be taller than Kobi.

"Miss Hero," he addresses, or even recognizes my presence for the first time, "it's been a long while since I've had to settle something with brute force, but if that's the option you choose, I promise to give it my all!"

Oh, brother … I thought the mayor's little newspaper stunt was going to be bad news, but I didn't know the chieftain was a musclehead. And way too eager, from the sounds of it. Maybe it would have been better if Leuke had come along, the two lunkheads would hit it off grand.

"I apologize," I start with a dip of my head, "but I'll have to disappoint you. I'm not here to fight, not if that's not necessary."

"Eh?" The old musclehead pauses in his stretches with a look of confusion. Then he bends over to get to my eye level. "Isn't the whole reason he brought you along to be a representative of his power?"

"My endorsement of the Lord Mayor's full desires has unfortunately been grossly overstated," I try. And then I do the bold thing and step ahead of the mayor to sit directly across from the chief. "In fact, he's been discharged from negotiating with you on the matter. It is now my job to find a resolution in this dispute amenable to both parties."

Now I have the full attention of everyone at the table. Even the girl has broken her good manners to gaze at me directly. I can practically feel Lord Oshu seething behind me, too.

"Oh," the chief says after a long moment of blinking, and he does look disappointed as he returns to his seat. "That's … not what I was expecting when you came through the door with weapons strapped to your back."

"I promise you, they're not for you." Then I glance over my shoulder, deliberately choosing that moment to turn my attention back to the mayor, and pat the cushion to my left side. "Have a seat, Lord Mayor. You are holding things up."

My unspoken threat wasn't missed, I'm sure, especially not with the way his two guards grit their teeth, but I ignore them and watch the mayor do his best to bury his fury and do as he was bidden.

The other elders watch the scene with stunned expressions, but after a moment, the chieftain just throws his head back and laughs. "You're a unique one, aren't you, Miss Hero?"

More than anyone else in this room but Ayre could imagine, but I don't say that. "Fairly so, yes," I agree instead, then smile to Ayre and motion him to sit on my right. The guards remain standing behind us.

With the seating complete, I turn back to the chieftain. "I hope that offer of fire water and roast extends to me, as well. It sounds delicious."

That got another laugh out of him and he slaps his own chest for emphasis. "Of course! Chief Elder Ronolo would never leave someone out of a celebration!"

I chuckle, and since he has now introduced himself, I motion to myself in turn. "I'm glad to hear it. By the way, I am Hero Remmi Lee. It's an honor to make your acquaintance, Chief Elder." I motion to my right. "This is Ayre, my companion and Silver-rank Adventurer."

"Silver, eh?" he asks, then chuckles. "Well, I suppose you're not that much older than my granddaughter, after all." He motions to the girl at the end. "Korrigan, say hello."

The girl bows her head properly with her hands clasped before her. "I am Korrigan, daughter of Maus. Pleased to meet you."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Your granddaughter is adorable," I praise the both of them, "and strong, if I am to understand you are comparing her to a Silver-rank."

He gives a big belly laugh at that. "I hope to have her at Gold-rank by the time she is old enough to apply! She's got that much potential! I tell you, nothing is more precious to an old man than the promise of a new generation!"

Lord Oshu tenses at that, no doubt stupidly sensing a weakness, but I reach over and squeeze his arm, intentionally doing it hard. The action doesn't reach my face, however, which is smiling.

"My grandfather often says much the same thing. I'm very grateful for the wisdom he shared with me growing up."

Ronolo nods sagely, but then grins again as he slaps his knees. "Well! That's enough fawning from the both of us! What do you say we get down to business proper?"

"I'd love nothing more," I agree, clasping my hands eagerly as I lean in over the table, as well. "Let's start with hearing what you want out of the agreement."

You are attempting to use a general skill that you

are not proficient in. Using a skill without

proficiency has a high risk of failure or

inferior result.

Continuing without proficiency has a low chance of

granting proficiency.

It is recommended to find a trainer for the desired

skill to ensure you acquire proficiency.

As a [Hero], you may spend points directly to

acquire a general proficiency and/or any

requisite proficiencies immediately.

Wow, it'd been quite a long while since I'd seen that notice. Who'd have thought it'd pop up for diplomacy? For the time being, however, it's an annoyance. It may be less effective to try diplomacy without a skill for it, but I know enough to know it's worse to start darting your eyes around distractedly while doing it.

Instead, I dismiss the window and nod along as Chief Ronolo outlines what I find to be entirely reasonable terms. The Oni want their land preserved, their homes left alone, and their way of life undisturbed.

Of course, while these are reasonable desires, they obviously conflict with the desires of Giri Village for a new mine, especially the extensive series of mines that Lord Oshu and his backers want. It would be nearly impossible to honor any of the tribe's concerns under the absolute confiscation they want, and the entitled mayor has been wholly unwilling to bend at all, expecting the tribe to simply agree that the economic benefits outweigh such "petty quibbles."

Obviously, to get any bend out of the Huohi, Giri's demands have to be willing to bend first, so I take the first step in infuriating the Lord Mayor.

"A single mine needn't be disruptive," I put forth. "Aside from the entrance to the mine, itself, and the road for transit of materials, the land would be unaltered. Giri Village isn't so far away that processing can't be set up there."

The notice pops up again, but I'm sure it's in relation to my lack of a dedicated Diplomacy skill, not my description of the mine. I didn't come into this completely unprepared, and spent the points on the way over for knowledge of mining infrastructure and construction. Combined with my knowledge of environmental stewardship I had to pick up as a prerequisite for slime farming, I'm reasonably confident in my description.

I just wish I'd known there was an actual Diplomacy skill, too … I'd have to get it later and continue to wing it for now. It's fortunate Yorin isn't here, or she'd be letting me hear it for getting skills with no combat application again. But then, maybe she'd consider diplomacy something Heroes might be expected to do, anyway?

Meanwhile, the chieftain frowns. "That wasn't how the Lord Mayor described it," he counters. "According to him, the process involves digging out the hills from the top down to make sure they get everything the land has to give."

"That's called stripmining," I explain, "and while it's a lot more thorough, you're right to suspect it's a huge alteration to the land. It's basically digging out a whole quarry by that point."

"And what you're suggesting is a different kind of mining?"

I nod. "It's a more traditional sort of mine. We dig into the hill itself from basically a large doorway, and cart stone and ore out to be moved elsewhere."

Ronolo nods along with the explanation. "Like an artificial cave," he reasons. "And this stone and ore, this elsewhere will be somewhere not on Huohi land?"

"That can be arranged," I nod, and am empowered by the awareness of Lord Oshu trying not to writhe beside me. "Of course, if you have use for any of the stone, the Huohi will have first call on how it will be used, since it comes from your land."

At that, Lord Oshu can remain silent no longer. "The ore, however, must belong to Giri Village! The Huohi don't even have the knowledge of how to process it, anyway! It's useless to you!"

The chieftain scowls over at the mayor, his good mood souring almost as soon as the human noble opens his mouth. "We are not blind to the utility of good steel," he replied, his voice gravelly with his irritation at the interruption. "If we are agreeing to share the fruits of the land, then share seems like an important part of that."

He turns back to me again and motions with one large hand. "In fact, that seems like as good an opening as any. You have addressed our basic concerns well enough, but what benefit does this bring to my people?"

Again, the mayor interrupts. "Bah, I've gone over that with you countless times, Ronolo! The growth of Giri Village, the influx of goods, the expansion of the wealth and infrastructure of the region! The benefits are endless!"

"And consist of things we largely don't care about," the big man counters flatly. "We consider the people of Giri our brothers and sisters, only not a part of the tribe by circumstance. Their happiness is our happiness. It's been my honor to preside over three marriage ceremonies between our two people this past year alone.

"Ignoring the manners of their chieftain, the well-being of the village, itself, is important to me. However, an influx of strangers does not necessarily benefit either of us to my senses, and while I'm always impressed how much humans can make by trading in useless baubles, an increase in them does not fill bellies or stockpile for the winter. How does this mine improve the lives of the Oni in ways we value?"

Lord Oshu opens his mouth indignantly, but I give his arm another squeeze, and this time, he cringes from the force. Superhuman strength for the win.

"I get the impression this is an old argument that you two have had over and over," I say instead, "so let's talk about what we can do about it. Chief Ronolo, your people are strong of body and resistant to extreme temperatures, is that right?"