Negotiating with the Kidnappers - Part 2

Chapter 4

"Um, I will listen to whatever you have to say."

When Hilda said that, Zen became enthralled.

Her words meant that he had passed the basic hurdle and was now on the second and the final step, which was to convince his kidnappers.

Honestly, what he was thinking was absurd, but it was also the tactic that was most likely to succeed. While licking his dry lips, Zen opened his mouth with a confident tone.

"First of all, I want to ask you something. Why are you working as a kidnapper and thug with those skills?"

"I, I don't know what you mean."

"You know what I'm asking. You were able to easily overpower my father's guards and capture me. I saw your power with my own eyes. There's no need for someone like you to work as a mere thug."

In this world which resembled medieval Europe, power was money and the pink haired girl was surely not someone who would need to kidnap people for a living.

Zen became more confident of this when he saw the hesitation in Hilda's eyes.

He was observing her for a while and he had already concluded that she didn't know how to properly hide her emotions.

"Let me guess some stuff about you. You can call me out if I'm wrong. Originally, you aren't from this area, right? You don't even look like someone from the Beetle dukedom. Am I right?"

The pink haired girl's eyes shook more with that.

'Looks like I'm on the right path.'

Zen grinned inwardly.

The reason why he was able to say that Hilda wasn't from the Beetle dukedom was her peculiar hair colour which wasn't common in the dukedom. Her unusual sharp accent also forced him to make this conclusion.

Obviously, he was only able to guess that because of the memories he had received.

"I think I'm probably right. So, why is a capable person like you working so far away from your birthplace? It's safe to assume that you didn't come to the dukedom of your own will…"

"Stop it! How do you even know all that?!"

"I'm just good at guessing."

"That doesn't make sense."

Hilda looked at Zen like he was some sort of seer. She didn't know how he could guess so much about her in such a short time. Maybe he really was a seer?

She pondered in her mind, but she had never heard anything like that about Zen.

Everyone knew he was just a sick person with an unknown disease who sleeps more than he is awake. There was nothing about him other than that.

"Leader, don't listen to him. He's just trying to trick you.”

"Yeah, let's beat him up or he will keep spouting nonsense.”

The two lackeys became impatient as they saw Hilda's eyes wavering because of Zen's words. Both of them were sure that the noble in front of them was just trying to trick them.

And it seemed like their leader was getting trapped in his words.

"I'm not trying to trick you. You know what I said is not a lie. Anyway, I won't try to guess your past if you don't like it."

Zen quickly added when the lackeys started to speak.

He realized he won't be allowed to say too many words if he probed too much and quickly thought to come to the main topic.

"I don't know what you are trying to do, but say what you want to, swiftly. I'm listening just because you said that you have a way for all of us to get out of this safely. I don't have the patience to go with you for long."

Hilda said, taking her lackey's words into account.

She had already guessed that Zen wasn't so simple and she didn't want to get tricked by a noble. Not ever again.

"Let me say it clearly then. The only way for you all to not lose your neck is to come under me."

Zen said those words while knowing that he would get weird reactions and like he had thought, Hilda was making a face as if asking 'Have you lost your brain? or do you think that I don't have one myself?'.

"Leader, let me beat this annoying kid first. I don't care even if he died."

"Yeah, he's just making fun of us."

"Stop! Keep quiet until I tell you to speak. And you, what the fuck are you saying? Do you think I'm some kind of a pushover and you can say whatever you want?"

Hilda frowned and glared at her lackey's first, then she turned to look at Zen who was waiting for her to take in his words.

"I'm not trying to joke around. I know what I'm saying sounds absurd, but listen to my explanation first."

Zen said, trying to appease the anger of Hilda.

"It's your last chance to say anything. So, speak. Pick your words wisely!"

"First of all, even if I told my father to spare you all, do you think he will listen to me? He has his own pride as a noble and until I have good enough reason, he won't let go of the people who dared to kidnap his only son."

"Umm okay, continue."

"That's why, if I told him that you all would be working under me from now on, there's a possibility that he will let you all go. Especially because of the strength you have."

Zen said those words with immense confidence, but the truth was that he himself wasn't totally sure if his father would really accept his kidnappers as his subordinates.

After all, the first thing that noble houses look for when recruiting people wasn’t only strength, but loyalty and the background of the recruits.

His kidnappers obviously failed in that aspect.

'It would almost be like raising snakes in my sleeve. Well, I don't really care until I can get out of this situation without losing my neck.:

He thought in his mind and decided to push more.

"Think about it. Working for a noble is a prestigious thing and the salary you will get is more than what you can dream of. Moreover, you won't have to worry about food and living expenses. The best thing is that you will have a dignified job and stable income."

His words didn't affect Hilda much, but the eyes of her lackey's wavered a lot. As they have lived their entire life doing odd jobs that aren't respected by anyone, the thought of a job that they can be proud of was a nice one.

They would also be able to finally get out of poverty, but both Herb and Brody knew that the final say was with Hilda.

After a while, Hilda, who seemed to be thinking of something, suddenly moved. A sharp glint shone in front of Zen's eyes as Hilda brought a dagger to his neck.

Her eyes stabbed right into Zen's as she asked.

"How can I trust you? Why should I trust you, a noble who I have kidnapped? Do you think I don't know that you will just throw us away to die after ensuring your life?"

'This crazy bitch!'

Zen gulped and cursed in his mind as the coldness of the dagger touched his neck lightly.

He hadn't expected her to move like this suddenly and it happened so soon that he wasn't able to follow anything. But he didn't have much time to worry about the dagger on his neck because Hilda's eyes were looking sharper than any dagger.

'I need to hurry up with a reasonable answer or she won't hesitate to cut off my neck.'

Zen slowly started to open his lips that were trembling slightly.

* * *

A convoy of knights, guards and soldiers were galloping swiftly along a dusty path within the fiefdom of Viscount Ferox. On top of the formation was a middle-aged man with a moustache and a kind looking face.

But currently, there was desperation well evident on the face of the man.

He was no one else, but Viscount Bland vol Ferox, the master of the fiefdom and the current head of the Ferox clan.

Blonde short hair and a proud moustache, a kind looking face and a fancy armour with a serpent ingrained on it.

At the appearance of the Viscount and the knights, the commoners stopped in their tracks. They looked at the insignia of the serpent on the chest of Viscount Ferox and opened a path for him to pass through.

Rumours had already spread far and wide in the fiefdom and all the commoners knew that getting in the path of the Viscount at this moment would amount to nothing, but death.

Leaving the whispers of the commoners in his trail, Viscount Ferox held the reins tightly in his hands and gritted his teeth in frustration.

The cause of his frustration and desperation was the kidnapping of his only son, Zen vol Ferox.

'I will kill anyone who tries to harm my son.'

He thought as the events that his guards had narrated to him echoed in his mind.

When his son was giving out food and clothes to the poor at the occasion of his birthday, he was kidnapped by some people who managed to flee by taking out the knights that were protecting him.

It was absurd to think that someone would try to kidnap his son in broad daylight, so he hadn't prepared many knights.

The kidnappers took advantage of this fact and kidnapped his son.

When he heard this news, he wasn't able to stop his emotions and wanted to kill off the heads of the insolent fools that had dared to touch his son.

But he knew that he needed to be careful because his son's life was on the line.

He has announced that he would fulfil all the wishes of the kidnappers if they return his son in a good state, but until now, there was no news from the kidnappers.

With time, he and his wife became more desperate. His wife even started bawling her eyes out in worry for their only child.

As he realized that he couldn't wait any longer, Viscount Ferox called up all his knights and marched through the roads to search for the kidnappers himself.

But until now, there was no news of them.

'I really hope my son is alive. Wait! Is that Gerald?'

He thought and suddenly pulled the reins to stop the horse.

The convoy behind him also stopped in their tracks as they looked at the person that was coming towards them on a demonic beast.

He was a red-haired man with a bushy beard and he was excluding the aura of a 'real man' with his muscular body. The beast he was using as a steed was a demonic beast called the Black wolf.

He was Gerald, the head of the knight’s order of Viscount Ferox.

"Lord Ferox."

"Gerald, have you found any clues about Zen?"

Gerald tried to greet the Viscount, but he wasn't in a mood for greetings. The head of the knight order also understood that and reported his findings.

"Yes, Dian managed to find the scent of the young lord and I have already tracked the location of the kidnappers. They are hiding in the Valvar Forest and it doesn’t seem like their numbers are much."

"That's great. Let's quickly go there then."

Viscount Ferox became elated hearing that the location of the kidnappers had been discovered and he quickly ordered the convoy behind him.

"We have found the location of the kidnappers. Our priority would be to protect my son and kill the kidnappers as soon as you see them. Let's show those fools what happens when they try to touch my son!!"

"We will listen to your orders!"

The convoy shouted at the same time and all of them started marching towards the Valvar Forest.