Game of the World Tree

If only we didn’t have to compensate the dead…

Such thought flashed through Brein’s mind.

Of course, this was just a fleeting thought.

The contract was already signed, and their Patron Deity’s oracle had specifically chosen these elves as their allies.

Moreover, the elves were far from reaching their limit, so betraying them was not an option he could consider.

Besides, given the elves’ contributions in the war so far, Brein wouldn’t stoop so low as to betray them merely just to cut costs.

He wasn’t like those deceitful humans!

The reason why the City of Blades could become one of the renowned commercial hubs within the world underground was built upon the integrity and honesty of the dark dwarves and subterranean gnomes living within it.

Furthermore, despite sustaining heavy casualties, the elves also inflicted significant damage upon the Dark Alliance.

From atop the city walls, Brein observed that the undead army had dwindled by almost half.

In this siege, the Dark Alliance deployed nearly 300,000 undead troops, of which 100,000 had strength above Iron-rank, not to mention the thousands of goblins that were resurrected into fallen undead after their initial assault.

These reanimated corpses stood apart from shadow monsters and the most notable differences between the two was that they are controllable, unlike the latter.

In the past, the Dark Alliance have always invested substantial time and effort into preparing these fallen undead as a key military force for each war.

As such, directly destroying the undead is far more effective than depleting the enemy’s magical reserves used to control them because it means the enemy won’t be able to deploy the undead army again soon after this war.

Moreover, the purpose of the Dark Alliance’s attack on Blade City is to occupy it, not to destroy the city.

Hence, they were unlikely to try summoning the shadow legion, as no one could predict what kind of horrific being they might accidentally unleash in the end.

Therefore, once the undead army is vanquished, victory in this war front will be halfway accomplished.

Winning such a high-stakes battle could set the entire tone for the entirerity of the war.

Taking a deep breath, Brein forced a smile and asked:

“Tuck, how much do we have left in our treasury?”

Tuck, the gnome whose responsible for calculating the elves’ remuneration and the city’s finances, wiped his sweat and responded, “Chief, to be precise, we have only ten million remaining, but we can only use a maximum of five million. Otherwise, it will start to impact our city’s normal operations and commerce.”

Hearing his financial adviser’s opinion, Brein fell silent.

Only five million…

At this rate, such an amount will only last for just one more day.

Although they could always earn it back in the future, this amount couldn’t be squandered so carelessly.

In hindsight, hiring local underground mercenaries to help defend the city might have been the wiser choice, as employing a large, experienced mercenary group of over 50,000 iron-rank soldiers would have cost them at most only 50,000 gold coins a day.

Even considering the fact that hiring mercenaries typically involved a monthly contract, it would only amount to 1.5 million gold coins per month…

However, by this point, this thought had become pretty much redundant.

The Dark Alliance had already severed Blade’s City’s access to underground mercenaries, and even if they could hire them, could these mercenaries perform better than the elves?

Even the best mercenary groups would collapse if they suffered 30-40% casualties.

Yet these elves continued to fight fiercely despite losing over 80% of their troops.

Without their relentless efforts, the undead army’s losses wouldn’t have been so severe.

Replacing them with ordinary mercenaries would likely turn the war into a prolonged conflict, potentially lasting years or even decades, resulting in astronomical costs and losses in the long run.

Ultimately…war is an endeavor that greatly burns money.

In fact, at the beginning, Brein was able to easily agree to provide equipment for the support of the elves because he considered that this war that the Dark Alliance had been preparing for a long time was likely to become a protracted war.

And the prospect of hiring these elves to fight for years or even decades for just a set of equipment was a bargain he couldn’t pass up.

Alas, the initial idea was perfect, but the reality proved to be so much harsh instead.

Who could have known…the elves would suffer such high casualties!

They would easily perish in no time once they received their set of equipment.

Although they did kill their fair share of enemies, their death rate turnover was far too quick!

They were all caught off guard seeing such a rapid passing of elven lives.

Of course, their sacrifice wasn’t without benefits.

Based on Brein’s own experience, with the undead army nearly losing half of its troops in such a short period of time, it’s likely that the Dark Alliance would retreat if this situation continued as it is for a few more days.

Although the Dark Alliance still had other armies composed of fallen dwarves and illithids, the significant losses incurred by its undead army made Brein certain that the enemy, by now, had realized that Blade City had become a tough nut to crack, so to speak.

Under these circumstances, the enemy might even abandon their siege of Blade City.

Brein took a deep breath and formulated a plan.

He turned to his diplomatic chief responsible for negotiations with the elves and said,

“Inform the other city-states that this war is a conflict involving the entirety of the Hermetic Alliance! Everyone has agreed, as per the oracle of our Patron Deity, to hire these elves as reinforcements…”

“And so, if they desire victory and still respect the will of our Goddess, then the other city-states must also adhere to and share the burden of compensating our elven allies!”

“Our City of Blades has already sacrificed enough, being the primary battlefield of this war, and I understand their hesitation to send substantial reinforcements due to their own safety concerns, but this is no longer just Blade City’s war!”

Alas…

If Blade City cannot bear the weight alone, then the other city-states must also help carry the burden.

As long as this war can be ended as soon as possible, it will be worthwhile in the long run to spend more money.

After giving his instructions to his diplomatic chief advisor, Brein cast a somber gaze upon the city wall, wherein the battle still raged on unabated.

Sigh…

Clearly, they were in a favorable position…

But the price to secure such an advantage was far too agonizing for his liking.

Perhaps, he should advise these elves to be less aggressive in their attacks and value their lives more?

At that moment, Brein noticed his financial chief advisor, Tuck, sporting a look of hesitation, as if he had something he wanted to say.

Sensing this, Brein asked, “Tuck, is there something you want to tell me?”

Tuck hesitated for a moment before cautiously saying, “Chief, I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but I’ve often felt like I’ve seen some of these newer batch of elves before. H-How should I put it…some of them look very familiar to me. I think I’ve seen them multiple times in the past.”

“In fact, I once asked them specifically about it, and most of them claimed that they were simply relatives like brothers or sometimes sisters. Some even claimed they were twins, but…”

Tuck paused with a slight, bitter smile before continuing,

“It’s not just one or two instances but rather, there are far too many of such similar cases for it to be mere coincidence.”

Tuck had kept this suspicion to himself for a long time, but finally, he couldn’t hold it in any longer and brought it up with their chieftain.

Brein’s brow furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

“You mean to say… some elves who participated in the battle beforehand have come back around once again to collect additional compensation?”

Tuck hesitated, then nodded.

Brein’s frown deepened.

He gazed at the city walls, then at the teleportation array, and after a moment of contemplation, gently shook his head with an apprehensive look.

“It shouldn’t be possible.”

“The elves who came to participate in the battle all arrived through the teleportation array, which directly connected to Blackrock City. Very few of them ever returned once they began fighting on the city wall, and most were killed in action.”

“But if what you’re saying is true, then how could they possibly transfer themselves hundreds of kilometers back to Blackrock City and then teleport back here again?”

— 362 —

【 WAR IS EXPENSIVE! 】

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