Living in another world as an Oni!

Chapter 102 - 99: The Seven Sins of Negotiation

Chapter 102: Chapter 99: The Seven Sins of Negotiation

Is...what I said but nope.

While the duke's daughter may be important, Serena said that her sister only comes home at this time of the year because of a family situation that she won't tell me about.

Fair. It's her family not mine. I don't wanna know either.

So! We decided to use my clones instead!

And now I'm negotiating with them while Titan and the others watched as we rested for a bit.

"One month. And no calling us back for no reason." Dos said as she and the other 6 look at me.

We're negotiating about the duration of their rest day after they find the duke's daughter.

"No. We can't stay in the kingdom for a month, 5 days." I replied.

"We? No, just us. You can call us back after a month, it doesn't matter where we are anyway so long as you're alive we won't really die. We'll go back to you after that month is up." Seis added.

"What?! That's unfair!"

"What's unfair is us being ordered to go to a ruin that might clearly get us killed AND might have zombies like before!" Quatro replied.

...Yeah, fair enough. BUT!

"ONE WEEK! And I'll give you money as well." I said, gritting my teeth at the thought of my money being used by them.

I planned on using the money Leah gave me to buy food. I forgot that Leah was the adviser for Fen and the others before, so when I asked Fen for money since I gave it to her because we needed emergency funds, she told me to go to Leah instead.

After I went to Leah, I had to do chores around her house just for her to give me 20 gold coins. Leah was acting weird back then though, like she was trying to do something but then she'd turn red and then start flipping me off. Weird.

Anyway, while 20 gold coins would've been a lot, but with the clones here and Mika as well, that's gonna disappear in no more than a day!@@@@

I only planned that money for Mika and I not these guys too!

The standoff between me and my clones continued, a battle of wits and stubbornness.

"One week is too short," Dos argued, arms crossed like she was the leader of this mutiny. "We need to scout, search, and maybe... I don't know, not die? The least you could do was give us a month of break after we find this─ duke's daughter─ woman."

"You're not going to die! You're clones! You're me! If you think you'll die, then I should be panicking way more than I already am!" I shot back, pacing like an irritated cat.

"Exactly." Uno replied flatly.

I groaned, clutching my head. Negotiating with them was worse than haggling with merchants. At least merchants didn't know all my weaknesses.

"Fine!" I finally snapped. "I'll give you fifteen coins total. And I'll throw in some rations. But only because I don't want to hear you whining about moss sandwiches later."

The clones exchanged glances, and after a moment of silent deliberation, Dos stepped forward. "Deal."

"Finally!" I threw my hands up in triumph. "Now, get going before I change my mind!"

As the clones prepared to leave, Leah leaned toward Serena and whispered loud enough for me to hear, "You think they'll actually do their job, or are they just going to find a nice spot to nap until finally going back to Aria and telling her they couldn't find her?"

Rea, who heard it grinned. "My money's on the napping."

"I HEARD THAT!" I shouted, pointing an accusing finger at them. "You guys are supposed to be my allies!"

"We are your allies," Leah said with a sweet smile. "We're just also realists."

Traitors! ( ́・□・`)/

Before I could respond, Quatro chimed in, "By the way, don't forget to summon us back if something actually urgent happens. Otherwise, we're going to stick with looking for her. "

I waved her off. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. Just don't purposely die or something."

With that, the clones set off, leaving me to deal with the aftermath of the negotiation. Serena, who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke up.

"You do realize they're probably going to spend half that week arguing among themselves, right?" she said in a playful voice.

I sighed, collapsing onto the nearest log. "I don't even care anymore. As long as they don't come back asking for more money, I'll consider it a win."

Leah chuckled, handing me a piece of jerky. "You're surprisingly bad at dealing with yourself."

"Gee, thanks," I muttered, taking the jerky and chewing on it begrudgingly.

Levy leaned over, her grin as wide as ever. "So, what's the plan if they actually find her or something important?"

"Simple," I said, shrugging. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, I just want to sit here and pretend I don't have seven versions of me running around causing chaos."

The group burst into laughter, and despite my irritation, I found myself smiling. Maybe sending the clones was a good idea after all. At the very least, it gave me a break from their constant sarcasm. Well, mostly.