D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

Chapter 2039: Chapter 2039 Arguing Over Nothing

— Kat —

Issues were brought up and dismissed. For all that they’d called Kat in to help ensure that both sides were fairly representing things… that wasn’t the real problem. The issue was that two barely compatible economies desperately wanted to train because they both had things the other desired to an extreme degree. The problem came from how they were ever meant to pay for these things.

Pol and the rest of the town used the Orb standard. They needed orbs to power things. Orbs were common but hard to safely gather. They encouraged people to go out and explore the area, not just for orbs but also for monster parts and important herbs. It kept their economy moving without inflating their currency to an extreme degree. Plus, once a flood came, so much of that work would be reset. Orbs would be needed even more, and those able to save some would benefit. Of course, so would people with skills so it was a fair trade in everyone’s eyes.

Then here comes Gravel, King of a foreign power that simply has an infinite supply or orbs. Sure technically they could run out but the fact they were rechargeable was a massive issue. Every orb handed over was not a one time payment, not really. It was in some ways a subscription fee. It was an orb that would NEVER reform in their territory, and orb lost to them. It, in theory made those orbs worth far more…

But to Gravel the orbs were worth nothing. They had a massive stockpile already and they could be recharged. For Pol, the recharge stations a potentially constant drain on their resources. For Gravel, an infinite supply of them same. Gravel could justify dumping extreme amounts of orbs, powered or unpowered into Pol’s economy because they weren’t worth much to him. They could simply find some more and keep them refreshed.

So perhaps the technology should be shared? But Gravel didn’t know how to enchant them, and didn’t have any way to force the old elf who invented the things to make more. In fact, Gravel strongly suspected the elf would refuse all offers. That was before even getting into if it was possible or not. The dome above them helped with ensuring the stations worked fine. Adapting them to work outside was a pain. Sure orbs could recharge outside, but it just wasn’t reliable in a place filled with rain and lacking in sunlight. Something the dome helped you get around.

Then there was the currency that Gravel issued. Its value was completely up in the air. The main cost for those outside of the city was to simply live. Housing, food, water sometimes. These were important things that usually took up a good chunk of any earnings made outside the city. Here, all of those things were given away for free. It was all the extras that cost ’money’ and it wasn’t as though the currency itself was worth all that much if you were just considering the metal it was made from.

Kat ended up trying to suggest a few solutions, but the best one was just to go with the barter system. A certain amount of one thing for an equivalent amount of something else. Which is where the arguing started right back up. They didn’t seem willing to agree at all on what anything was worth. Then they’d glide back towards the currencies they liked to use for exchanges which would of course, lead nowhere because of how different the economies were.

Kat had seen the same talking points circle back around FOUR times now and she decided it was time to say something. “Alright, I get that things are really hard to agree on… but is there any reason for repeating yourselves so much?”

Pol glanced at Kat, then at Gravel then back at Kat before turning back to Gravel. Gravel matched this energy while Stad sighed. “You’re not supposed to point that part out.” Kat shrugged at Stad. “It’s a standard negotiating tactic, even if it’s currently being used to stall. We’d be quite willing to make a decision now.”

Kat raised an eyebrow at the slight lie. She got the sense that reaching a decision today was possible, and technically what they were attempting but it wasn’t something that Stad was expecting at this point. *Do I point out that lie? No, they’ve called on me a few times to deliberately fact check certain things but the few times I’ve looked ready to point something else I’d be glared at.* Kat noticed Stad now glaring. *Yeah like that. Fine I won’t comment on anything.*

“While the city here may be ready to rush into things, I on the other hand would be quite happy to bring this news to my community and see what deals they’d be interested in,” said Pol. “If you could provide a general list of products you’d be willing to sell I can gauge more accurate interest.”

“And why should we give such detailed accounting of our products?” asked Gravel. “Right now there’s no agreement with us, and you haven’t offered anything other than orbs which we don’t need more of.”

“I do believe we agreed, tentatively, to an exchange of plant based resources. You wish for cultivars and we wished for a food stockpile,” Pol countered.

“Yet not true numbers on either were raised,” added Gravel.

“Because we have no understanding of your capabilities. Could you grow mushrooms? What about the trees that rely on the constant rain? Without knowing what plants you seek most, how can we offer to look for them on your behalf?” asked Pol.

Then off they went. It was an information problem. Pol wasn’t willing to give away too many specifics and neither was Gravel and Stad. They had to share some information to get things going but it really didn’t seem like they wanted to do that at all. Each wanted a better deal then the other, or at least, as close to the best deal as they could manage for their people. It was probably why they were holding the meeting here. Sure Pol learnt some things about the city, but getting escorted to real castle, passed dozens of enchanted wonders? That was a pressure all on its own.

As they started to argue in circles again, Kat poked at Lily a bit mentally. *Are you awake? I can sort of tell you’re dozing. Doesn’t seem like you’re quite asleep but maybe not quite awake either?*

Lily’s mind sharpened at the comment. [Oh, yeah I got some rest in earlier. They’re still going? It’s been a few hours hasn’t it?]

*Yeah it has and I don’t see them making any properly finalised decisions for ages. I don’t know how annoyed I should be with them. Sure I don’t mind acting as a neutral third party to an agreement but there is no agreement. I don’t think there will be. They keep refusing to talk about the specifics.

Now, I sort of blame Pol for this, but it’s clear that at the start he was nervous, not entirely sure what to say and not giving away too much to hide that fact. He probably failed but he was trying. The issue is Stad and Gravel weren’t really telling him anything either, so he started to follow their lead… and now we’re at a standoff where nobody is telling anybody anything.*

[Oh, I can see how that’s annoying. You can’t even help fact check things because they’re just saying stuff like ’we have a bunch of different mushrooms’ or ’we can supply dozens of different food options in bulk’ but neither of them want to explain what those options area yet. At the same time… they do need to do something sooner rather then later, or at least, Gravel probably does.]

*Maybe? He could always send the Diggers and whatnot to other places and keep working on the trade deal. I really don’t see anything getting done today. I think it’s been more about trying to guess what each other really wants, and how pleasant they’ll be to work with.*

[Oh, so are you planning to stick around for that then?]

*No. Absolutely not. We’ve got a criminal to catch and I have no desire to help with this after today. I’ve confirmed at the very least that they’re both important players in their communities. If they want a neutral third party they can ask Weaver to do it next time.*

[Huh… why do you think they didn’t just ask her in the first place?]

*Not sure… could be that they don’t expect her to really know or understand? She’s pretty… separate from a normal person. Could also be the fact that they might be hesitant to give her more power in things, even if she’s just the third party.*

[That seems… shortsighted considering this all has to travel through her tunnels anyway.]

*I agree but Gravel at least seems somewhat warry of her. Or maybe it’s just his advisors. After going over their heads to place it he might be making concessions now?*

[Maybe…]