Otherworldly Liberty

Chapter 4: War Never Changes

"First of all, let's talk trade and commerce." Began Alexandra with great interest.

Asriel immediately spoke up, "I believe it is appropriate if I begin by telling you what type of products the Kingdom of Krosnia offers to the market, correct?" A strange, unreadable glint in his eyes demonstrated what could only be described as 'hunger'.

The Americans signaled their approval, prompting the man to continue, "We specialize in selling a lot of high quality raw materials and concentrated ore, there is nowhere else in Cybelia where one can find such strong, durable alloys. Although we lack the infrastructure to properly extract it all, the use of heavy manpower have been enough so far and perhaps we can meet your needs in this regard."

The Americans were already impressed by this remark, if his claims are true, that would be a highly beneficial deal for an America that wanted to rebuild its Army, Navy and Airforce, not only they would be able to do that, they would also acquire stronger, more resilient tanks, planes and ships from it, then they could use the resources gained from the — at this point in time only planned — Gaia Colonies, to rebuild the home turf and at the same time develop the new continent itself.

Overall, that was a incredibly good deal already, however impressed they were though, they didn't show it and just nodded, showing interest but not overly so, a good diplomat must be a good negotiator after all.

Asriel then smirked, "We also sell miscellaneous materials, aside from our incredible variety of mineral resources, things like hardened lumber for construction and other materials that we honestly don't know what they could be applied for, but perhaps you could find some use in researching them." He finished his explanation, with pride in his land's wealth.

Nolan rubbed his chin in thought for a second, before making his response known, "That's something we can make a deal on, when it comes to what kind of products we offer, we have a great variety of manufactured goods and luxury items that your people may find interesting. Things like clothing, jewelry, watches, casual and formal attire, toys, that kind of stuff. When it comes to consumables, we can offer the finest wines, alcohol beverages, coffee, silk, cotto-", he didn't get to finish as Mina's eyes widened like plates before she screamed out.

"Did you just say coffee?! And silk! Those things are incredibly rare to find, nobody but the highest state figures have had the opportunity to even see those items, and yet you claim to produce them in enough capacity to export them! That's amazing!" She blurted out without thinking, and her professional mask crumbled just like that.

Alexandra had a smug expression on her face, it could pass off as mere amusement, but the reality was much different than that, 'I knew it! She is the perfect fountain of intel we have been looking for! Too easy to manipulate... now she just gave up the fact that the things we are gonna sell are incredibly rare and highly valuable on this world, with this, if we make sure to establish trade agreements regarding these goods across multiple countries, we should be able to recover a semblance of stability and avoid a complete collapse of the economy!'

Externally — The Americans and Asriel just deadpanned, the former individuals barely containing their laughter and the latter wishing that the ground would eat him up right now, to save him from this embarrassment.

Mina herself looked down, not wanting to face the uncomfortable situation she had just created.

The older man sighted in exasperation, "I apologize for her behavior... let's just continue with the talks, I will have a word with her later." He promised with a tone that promised pain.

Nolan just dismissed it and said it was nothing to worry about.

Asriel just cleared his throat and continued with the subject at hand, "While those products are certainly interesting, there is the matter of currency, do you use precious coins, or do you use paper money like the Andeldians?" He questioned neutrally.