Hearing Fyodor's words, even Lemuen, who had been spacing out to the side, perked up with interest. She seemed curious: what else was there that the Emperor of Ursus couldn't achieve on his own, to the point of needing cooperation with Reunion?
If he had said he wanted to cooperate with Jeanne or engage in the trade he mentioned, the four of them wouldn't have doubted it for a second. But cooperating with Reunion? What could that possibly bring him?
"I presume you all know that Kashchey was previously collaborating with a faction of the War Party nobles, and that partnership has not been officially dissolved. Those nobles have no idea that Kashchey has defected."
Talulah, of course, knew about the conspiracy Kashchey had planned. She was the most important pawn in his script, a plan he had spent over a decade preparing! Had she not met the variable that was Jeanne, an oblivious Talulah might have truly followed Kashchey's script to the letter—she didn't even dare imagine what that scene would have looked like.
"I hope your Reunion movement can coordinate with Kashchey's actions. Maintain the illusion for those nobles that everything is still proceeding according to plan, so they will expose their own flaws."
Fyodor laid out his strategy. He knew full well that with the evidence Talulah had handed over, he could make those nobles bleed a little, but actually dealing a crippling blow to their foundation was still a tall order. If he were to send his most trusted Emperor's Blades now to secretly investigate every noble for evidence, the progress would be painstakingly slow even with Kashchey acting as an inside man.
He couldn't act too ruthlessly yet. If he used a few scraps of paper to arrest the entirety of the War Party nobility, he would scare away the ministers and nobles who currently leaned toward his side. The loss would outweigh the gain.
They wanted Reunion to capture the city of Chernobog, didn't they? They wanted to manipulate the Infected to achieve their own ambitions? Then he would pretend everything was within their control... and when they finally exposed themselves, it wouldn't be up to them whether they were "hanged on the first or the fifteenth."
"I see... Please give us some time. We still need to consider this carefully. After all, this involves the survival of our compatriots; we cannot afford to be careless."
As Talulah responded to Fyodor, she secretly used her tail to poke Jeanne's waist. She hoped that Jeanne, as a high-ranking member of their organization, could offer some relevant advice.
Talulah herself was quite conflicted. She felt that cooperating with the Emperor to trap the nobles was a good thing, but she couldn't fully trust whether the Emperor would simply become the next "noble." Ultimately, the conflict between Fyodor and the War Party was a game of power. The reason he made so many concessions was simply that they were useful to him... and to leave a good impression on the "Living Ancestor" sitting beside her.
Seeing that Jeanne hadn't reacted, Talulah increased the force of her tail pokes. She didn't stop her little maneuvers until Jeanne suddenly reached out and grabbed Talulah's tail in a firm grip.
Jeanne was currently suffering in silence. Each of Talulah's pokes landed directly on the soft flesh of her waist. While it didn't exactly hurt, she couldn't stand how ticklish it was! Jeanne was using every ounce of her willpower to suppress her laughter. She was trying so hard that her toes were curled tight inside her shoes, fighting the urge to burst out laughing.
Yet this "dead dragon" beside her wouldn't quit, incessantly poking her ticklish spots with that tail. Jeanne had no choice but to seize the tail with her hand.
At that moment, Jeanne decided that as soon as the meeting was over, she would immediately go to a shop and buy the most stain-resistant, hardest-to-remove nail polish available, and paint this entire tail—the one that had been poking her for so long—completely pink as a punishment.
Jeanne gave Talulah a slight nod, signaling her approval of the plan. Only then did she release her grip, freeing the tail that had been struggling to escape her hand.
For them, this could be considered a beneficial arrangement. The potential gains far outweighed what they would have to put in. In fact, they didn't seem to have to sacrifice much at all.
"We agree to cooperate with you. However, if any problems arise during the process, or if we are asked to make meaningless sacrifices, we will terminate this cooperation immediately."
After seeing Jeanne's hint, Talulah naturally accepted the partnership. While she still needed to weigh her decisions carefully, she trusted that Jeanne wouldn't lead them into a pit.
But Jeanne's grip strength was truly immense! When her tail had been caught, that "Big Sister" had shown no mercy. The moment that pitiless hand of iron grabbed her tail, the pain was so sharp Talulah nearly jumped.
She secretly wagged her tail a few times, feeling the pain subside slightly. Good heavens, she hadn't felt that kind of pain since she was a child and accidentally caught her tail in a closing door.
"I am glad we could reach a consensus in such a short time. I am confident our cooperation will be very harmonious. Furthermore, you can gain some benefits from those nobles—for instance, the weapons and food they have embezzled."
Coming from an Emperor, hinting that others could misappropriate military supplies was something that wouldn't sound good if leaked. Fortunately, the people sitting here weren't about to broadcast the specifics of the meeting, so he could speak plainly.
As for the military rations or supplies he mentioned, even if Talulah and her group didn't find a way to get them, they would just end up being sold to others for profit anyway. It was better to use them to fund their own forces.
As for the specific logistics? That would depend on the "Almighty" Kashchey's operations. After this cooperation began, he would be the only undercover agent capable of freely contacting all three parties.
On the other end, the poor Kashchey had no idea that he was about to be assigned another "overtime" shift in the future. In addition to these two fronts, he would also need to conduct probes with the nobles. Currently, he was still watching the events unfold like an idle bystander, not worried about his future at all, enjoying the drama one day at a time.
"It is indeed a good method. Even if they didn't suggest it, you would still need to maintain the appearance of cooperating with the nobles on the surface. That way, no matter what happens in this city, your path into Chernobog will be very smooth."
Inside her mind, Kashchey also explained the cooperation to Talulah. This was the plan he had previously proposed to the Emperor—a method that allowed both sides to maximize their interests. As long as it proceeded smoothly, Reunion would get their due share regardless of the final outcome.
"I know that," Talulah replied internally. "But by selling out your teammates like this, can you really earn the Emperor's trust? A schemer who gains trust through betrayal will eventually be discarded for that same betrayal, won't they?"