In truth, if there were a choice, the Confessarius leader truly did not want to cooperate with these Emperor's Blades, because they were genuinely quite unreliable. In his eyes, these people simply had no concept of a so-called "cooperation contract"; they were entirely beasts that acted for their own self-interest. If anything he did failed to align with their interests in the slightest, they would tear up the agreement of cooperation with extreme violence. With this kind of fellow, let alone cooperation, even when they visited you while they had nothing better to do, you would still need to maintain a certain level of vigilance.
These fellows simply had no such thing as a "lower limit," but it seemed now that these people were indeed the best choice, as there were no other optional partners for cooperation besides them. After all, his operation needed to be guaranteed as foolproof, and currently, his only partner, the Sanguinarch, acted as if he were not particularly willing to cooperate. Toward such a figure who was not under his own control, despite the other possessing incredibly formidable power, he felt as if his head were swelling.
Therefore, even though he clearly knew the fellows before his eyes harbored ill intentions, because the current situation was not very optimistic, he went along with it and agreed. At most, it was only a single verbal agreement anyway; when the time truly came that a retreat was necessary, he would not care at all about throwing these partners aside to flee for his life. Ultimately, he and the Emperor's Blades were actually the same kind of person: the type who, for the sake of completing their own goals, could sacrifice everything else.
"We can help you infiltrate that village, and what you must do is hold back Patriot as much as possible; you absolutely must not let him return to the village," the Emperor's Blade said.
The cooperation mentioned by the Emperor's Blade did not seem harsh at all to this Confessarius; it simply fit his thoughts perfectly! He knew that when it came to dealing with Patriot, it was impossible for this Emperor's Blade to help. In fact, even if they wanted to intervene in this operation, they would be rejected by the Confessarius. Because that Sanguinarch would definitely not agree to such a plan, and if it were truly done that way, that Great Lord wouldn't mind killing an Emperor's Blade.
As for the Emperor's Blades, they had also sensed some things that were not quite right about this village. Combined with the fact that the village had managed to thwart the noble's soldiers several times, they also had to be cautious in their own actions this time. If Patriot, for some reason, were unable to participate in this battle, it would simply be a piece of wonderful news for them!
According to their deductions, if they wanted to stop the current Patriot, it would require at least three Emperor's Blades acting together to manage it. They didn't know what was wrong with this old fellow; how was it that the older he got, the more formidable his skills became? Their side had only brought five people in total, and dealing with him would require deploying at least three! If it weren't for the fact that they were truly unclear about what kind of secrets this successor of the Black Snake (Kashchey) was hiding, they wouldn't have gone as far as seeking cooperation with the Sarkaz for the sake of caution. Because this had already insulted the reputation of the Emperor's Blades, though these fellows perhaps no longer knew how to write the words "reputation" in the Ursus language.
As for why the Emperor's Blades[1], who had already agreed to cooperate with Kashchey, were coming today to strike and destroy the organization of the other party's successor? It was because they believed the strength of this organization had already exceeded the scope that a puppet ought to have, and thus it needed to be suppressed slightly. Incidentally, they also wanted to see if this successor of the Black Snake had grown to a level that satisfied them.
"If it is only like this, I am very willing to conduct this transaction with your Excellency. Then, I wish that the cooperation between our two sides can proceed pleasantly!".
This Confessarius displayed an extraordinary level of joy toward the cooperation; he even generously promised the other party that he would send several Vampires to act together with them. This cooperation went so smoothly that even that Emperor's Blade began to doubt his life a bit; since when had his eloquence become so good? Just a single set of words had made this Confessarius so cooperative. She knew very well that she was not the type of person who was good at eloquence; otherwise, back then, she wouldn't have come to be an Emperor's Blade, but would have entered politics to be a civil official.
"It seems that even for a pack of jackals who have been pushed to the point where they cannot survive, these fellows still do not know how to write the word 'unity'!".
Perhaps because of these fellows' attitude this time, this Emperor's Blade, upon leaving and putting a good distance between them, couldn't help but evaluate those fellows in a mocking tone. In his eyes, this group of fellows who did not know how to integrate their own ethnic group into one could all be called a disorganized mob; there was simply no need to pay them any special attention. Because even if a war were to break out with them, these disunited fellows could not stir up any great waves. At most, they were just a collective acting together for the sake of common interests. It only required a little bit of interference, or even just bribing some key figures, to make the other party's collective collapse; they were just that fragile.
Hearing his slightly smug words, the companion beside him shook his head, expressing a completely different view of his statement.
"Don't be careless, don't forget they are Sarkaz! If you think of the other party that way, you have already walked into the trap they have set for you," the companion said.
He was very dissatisfied with his companion's brainless remarks and also understood why this fellow, in order to stand out, could only choose to join the Emperor's Blades. With this brain, if he went into politics, not even a month would pass before those big figures would use him as a tool, and he would even foolishly count the money for them. But speaking of which, back then, that superior of his truly took care of him! If he were his superior, he would definitely keep this fellow by his side. For no other reason than the fact that this fellow was simply too easy to fool! This brain was perfectly suited to be the best "tool-man" for a one-stop service from charging into battle to taking the blame and dying in someone else's place.
If one were to ask why he understood this so well, it was because he himself had been played this way by his own former superior, even falling to the point of joining the Emperor's Blades and becoming this state that was neither human nor ghost. But now he didn't hate his former superior so much anymore; that fellow had long since been killed by him using some excuse, and even his family had not been spared.
"But have you noticed that our operation this time seems to have been a bit too smooth? We have been out for such a long time, yet we have not received any tasks!".
As the two were chatting, one Emperor's Blade seemed to remember something and shared the problem he had discovered with the colleague beside him with a bit of unease. Right now, he was indeed a bit uneasy because this was truly somewhat abnormal. And abnormal things, in his eyes, appeared so suspicious.
Because of the current problems in the internal environment of Ursus, they, as Emperor's Blades, were already in a "007" working state; every day they were either receiving a task or on the way to completing one. And this business had already lasted for a while, yet at this time, several days had passed without receiving a task... this was not normal! He even worried that the matter of their cooperation with the nobles had already been exposed.
As for why he told this to his companion with low intelligence, it wasn't for the ridiculous reason of getting this fellow's agreement, but simply to let the unease in his heart weaken a bit. After all, talking to a person whose IQ wasn't so high could allow his own mood to get a great deal of relaxation, couldn't it?
Sure enough, after hearing his suspicion, this fellow also showed an expression of surprise, then thought for quite a while before saying:
"It should be that you are being too suspicious, right? It might be because you went a bit too far last time that the leader hasn't assigned you any tasks! The Captain received a task of no small difficulty just yesterday".
As expected, talking to this fellow helped in the recovery of his mood. Hearing him explain it this way, his originally somewhat tense mood suddenly became untensed. Moreover, what he said was not without reason; perhaps this matter was indeed a case of him overthinking. After all, he always tended to think about things that may or may not be.
"Since it's this kind of situation, then I am relieved. Let's hurry back and convey the news of our successful cooperation negotiation to the Captain".
After those words fell, the two people increased their speed and hurried toward their camp, wanting to claim credit from their Captain. Thinking about it, since they had successfully negotiated cooperation with the Sarkaz and even brought back several Vampires as soldiers, the Captain's mood should be able to improve a bit, right? That person had already had a headache alone for quite a long time because of the ambiguous intelligence given by those nobles and Kashchey.
[1] Theee Emperor's Blades are sort of working for the nobles. I guess "working with" would be more fitting. This is the younger generation of Emperor's Blades that want glory. This was teased in the first Arc, with the Emperor crashing out because he's losing control of his Blades.