Crimson Qi, Exiled Beautiful Lady Falls in Love with a Shy Demon

The Bargain

~YU~

There is no shortage of basalt in the Demon-land, Yu thought, craning his neck to see the top rows of the black stone seats rising in a semicircle above the arena's floor. The grandiose scale of the amphitheatre was emphasized by the many empty seats way above him. Despite that, he had more audience crowding the lower tiers than he had wanted. Yu had never been good at talking, let alone making public addresses to the demons. He wished Shan Jiang was here. He'd known what to say.

But Yu did not have Jiang's glib tongue at his service. His assets consisted of Deji's dubious support, his blood, and a few words he picked up from the demons so far.

He found the familiar scowling face in the first row to address himself to. "Blood-leaders!" he cried out and cringed. His voice carried far more than he expected thanks to the master-builders of this place, and he sounded childishly high.

Celestials! After today I will leave speaking to others, I swear. Just favour me today, please.

"I am Yu, descended from Daji, and I owe a blood debt for my birth-qi!"

The amphitheatre amplified the demons' howling laughter threefold.

Yu suppressed a shudder and pulled in a lung full of air. He was screaming to drown out both their mockery and his own fear. "I bring you the way to crush your ancient enemies as my payment."

They stopped laughing, but the demons in the first row exchanged glances that spoke volumes. They judged him a lunatic.

He did not expect anything else. "For my debt and Daji's, I offer you the dominion over the Laughing Men Islands."

He gave Daji a sideways glance. His mother looked like she wanted the rock to open up and swallow her whole already. He smiled despite his precarious position.

"It is not yours to give, O Youngest," said the Blood-leader with a polite smile that made his skin crawl.

Yu hurried to explain. "I am invested to treat with you by those who can give it. Lord Zha Yao offers you an alliance. Between us, we can crush the Laughing Men."

The grand words did not sound right coming from a skinny youth like him, but a human, even a great hero, would have never made it this far. Yu straightened his shoulders until his shoulder blades creaked.

"And how does that pay down your debt?" The demon mocked.

"Thank you for asking!" for a moment he felt like he was a merchant crying his wares in the market

When he took a slender scroll-case off his shoulder, he was copying Jiang's mannerisms.

Finally, he paused the way Zha Yao did. "Without me, these scrolls will fall into dust."

Their undivided attention weighed on him, making him shy. He emptied the container with shaking hands, before unrolling the scrolls one by one in front of the Blood. "The treaty. The strategy. The designs for the castle ships."

The demons leaned forward. He steeled himself for more talking. "I am also authorized to arrange a rendezvous with an ally who can melt off armour from the castle ships."

He was done now, and they no longer laughed. His old acquaintance, the Blood-leader, left the bench and picked up the scrolls, skimming through their content. Yu felt a momentary pang of sheer terror. For all he knew, they said 'consume the messenger upon receipt'. Or they'd been spoiled by water despite Finch's assurances that they would not.

"The Mage in black wrote those?" the Blood-leader asked.

"Yes," lying felt easy in this company, and what was the point of clarifying that Finch was a mere Senior Apprentice? If it mattered to him, he could have tagged along.