Chapter 3:

Negotiating with the Kidnappers - Part 1

Crown Of Zethor


Chapter 3

"Why don't we teach a lesson to this kid? His eyes earlier were irritating me a lot."

"Yeah, let's give some special training to this guy."

"Oh yeah, let's do that, don't these nobles have many kinds of training? Let's teach this young master a good lesson."

"Yep, I'm sure he'll like it. Kekeke"

Zen wanted to curse as he saw these two giving out sarcastic and provocative remarks.

Like he had thought earlier, these two weren't professionals and were not using their brains at all.

If anything, they were just having fun in this situation and had already forgotten that they were dealing with the Viscount's only son.

If anything were to be happened to him, they'll surely have to pay by their lives.

'Looks like only she has some brain.'

Zen thought while observing the pink haired girl.

He had been observing his kidnappers for a while now and he had already noticed that the tomboyish girl was different than the two idiots.

It was quite apparent as even her strength was something that was abnormal for her age.

He had seen her fighting before. She easily overpowered his guards that were protecting him. So he judged that the girl was a dangerous individual.

If he was given a choice, he'd avoid being involved with her or try to act smart in front of her.

But the situation didn't seem with these two muscle heads. She was the only person who wasn't acting irrational.

'If I want to get out, I've to somehow trick myself out. I'm already feeling a little dull..'

Zen was sure that he wouldn't be able to hold on for a long time. His body was kicked several times and he had lost too much blood. He even felt like one of his legs was broken, so even running away wasn't an option.

His current body was weak to start with and he felt like he could faint by any moment because of exhaustion.

And, if in such a situation, he got hit. Then, he would surely meet his end and this time for real. He was already feeling suffocated from the prison and environment and his weak body didn't help much either.

"Hahaha, Hey kid, I've decided to grace you with my special beating classes. Be sure to remember my name, The great warrior herb."

"Hey, Herb, let me in, for the fun too. You don't want to enjoy it all alone, do you?"

Saying so, the two thugs started to approach Zen.

Zen instantly panicked as he knew that he won't survive if they even kicked him jokingly. He didn't want to die twice in a row, so the cogs in his mind quickly started to turn as he looked for a solution.

On the other hand, Hilda also frowned seeing this behavior of her lackeys.

She let them do whatever they wanted till now, but now, they were getting out of their limits. If she didn't stop them, there could be a situation which even she wouldn't be able to handle.

But before she could open her mouth, Zen opened it.

"Wait!! I have something to say!"

His shout made the two lackeys stop in their tracks. Even Hilda looked at him suspiciously, wondering what he was going to do now.

For a while, she was feeling a weird aura from Zen, something which she hadn't seen when she had kidnapped him.

It was like he was a completely different person now.

"What's with this kid now?"

The lackey named Herb said with a sneer. He was the one who was the most looking forward to hit Zen. He had an inferiority complex from the start.

Now, he was getting a chance to beat up a noble, who was like a higher existence. How can he miss this chance?

"Do... Do you really think you can get away unscathed after kidnapping me?"

Zen managed to squeeze out some words out of his mouth. His throat was hurting, so it was difficult to even speak for him, but he still persisted.

And like he had thought, his words angered the lackeys. Even Hilda frowned hearing it.

"I'm not trying to mock you or something. I'm just trying to talk rationally. My father is a Viscount and he even has connections to the Beetle Duke Jared. Even if you managed to run away, do you think you will really be able to not get captured?"

Zen continued despite the cold looks he was getting and like he had thought, the expression of the lackeys changed a little. Hilda also focused on what he was talking about.

He continued, forming his next set of words in his mind.

"Let me tell you one thing, my body is always weak from childhood. If you try to do something, I can die. I have already lost too much blood and if that scenario happened, I'm pretty sure you all won't be able to keep your lives intact."

The expressions shook once more as Zen finished. It was not only because of his words, but also because of the confident aura that he was oozing out.

The kidnappers were probably thinking along the lines of 'His eyes don't look like he's lying'. And Zen also wanted that, especially to get the attention of the pink haired girl.

He decided to continue pushing.

"Even if you all managed to get away, how much time do you think will the ransom work for? It will end one day and after that, what will you do? Kidnap a noble again?"

The reason why kidnappers keep doing bad things was because the ransom they got used to come to an end. They had to go back to keep doing bad things and repeat it until they get caught or killed.

At least that's what mostly happens in this world.

Zen was emphasizing that and the lackeys also understood that. Their faces were really easy to read and even the pink haired girl looked like she was thinking something.

'It's only working because these guys just kidnapped me for money.'

He thought in his mind and waited for all of them to clear away their thoughts. If the kidnapping was due to revenge, Zen wouldn't be able to do anything, but as it was for money, there were many ways to make the kidnappers hesitant.

He was just using the easiest method.

"Fuck, I don't want to listen to you! If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna kill you first!"

Brody said as he stomped his legs in anger. Zen's words had worked the way he wanted and now his kidnapper was in doubt.

The enraged lackey even moved towards Zen in anger, but a hand stopped him from moving.

"Brody, stop!"

"Leader, what are you–!?"

"Don't move until I tell you to. You have already crossed many limits. So, just stand there until I tell you to move!"

Hilda said in a threatening manner and Brody didn't dare to take another step because of the scary aura she was emitting.

He felt like it was even hard for him to breath and even Herb who was standing at the back was affected by this.

After that, Hilda looked down on Zen and opened her mouth.

"What type of nonsense are you spouting? I'm warning you to not play any tricks on us."

"Tricks? I think you have at least more than enough brain to understand that what I'm saying is not a trick, but just the absolute truth."

Zen said, not giving up under the pressure that Hilda was exerting.

He needed to sound as confident as possible to make his words go through the pink haired girl.

"I'm saying all this for a reason. If you listen to me, I would be able to help you out and even save you all from my father's guards that would have already searched everywhere for me. Sooner or later, they will be here and are you really confident enough to fight against them?"

Zen said in a simple tone, but Hilda understood the hidden threat in his words.

But she was not the kind to back off.

"Won't it be better for me to just kill you here then?"

"Hahaha, you can try, but that won't benefit any of us. Sooner or later, we will all be at the boundary of heaven and hell. That's why, why don't we find a scenario where all of us can come out alive?"

Although his words sounded confident, Zen's heart was beating loudly inside.

He didn't know if the pink haired girl would be willing to listen to him or not. After all, even Zen would have doubted these words if he was in the pink haired girl's position.

But, it seemed like his luck wasn't that bad.

"Umm, I will listen to what you have to say."