“A mercenary?”

“Yes, mercenaries,” Zich answered, “If a war breaks out, the more fighting forces you have, the better it is.”

“Um.” Dronian swallowed back his low hum. Like Zich said, the more forces they had, the better it was for them. However, he couldn’t accept Zich’s offer right away. 

“I see that you are hesitating. I assume it’s for two reasons,” Zich raised two fingers. “First, you don’t know the level of skills we have.” Zich placed one finger down. “And second, you wonder if it’s right to bring humans into a war between elves.”

Dronian was surprised that Zich had exactly pinpointed his feelings.

“…You are right.” There was nothing for Dronian to gain here by lying, and he admitted Zich’s words willingly, “A mercenary has to have a certain amount of skill, but I don’t know how strong you all are. Like you said, I am certainly reluctant to get humans involved in this conflict between elves.”

“…You must not be desperate.”

“Sorry?” Dronian was a bit taken aback by Zich’s unexpected question.

“Even if the war didn’t officially break out yet, you can guess the strength of your opponent,”...