Chapter 192. Between kidnapping and fishing (2)
‘Is that fishing?’
An endless feast of two-much talk.
A group of abductees stunned in front of them.
Looking at the scene inside the warehouse, Xaviel frowned slightly.
‘Did Lloyd-nim predict this situation?’
It seemed like that.
I suddenly remembered.
Was it the afternoon?
Lloyd said to himself with a rare serious face.
that he will be kidnapped this evening.
So, wait near the accommodation.
Never act until you are in danger.
Follow the kidnappers and wait while watching the situation.
Did you make that request?
So I asked again.
Who are the kidnappers?
How do you predict that?
Then Lloyd said with a grin.
It’s called touch.
“….”
Xaviel’s eyes deepened as he recalled Lloyd’s words.
Occasionally, often, he felt strange about the young master he served.
It’s too accurate to be tactile.
Do I have a good feeling?
Do you have a good head?
‘No, it’s too great to dismiss it as something like that.’
He didn’t believe Lloyd was a genius.
It was because I was watching you.
Of course, I did a little bit better than others.
However, there was no particular flash of genius intellect.
So it was.
‘Maybe there’s something I don’t know about.’
Looking back, it was.
It was like this when Lloyd figured out that he had been terrified of not being able to complete the dark mental method a long time ago.
Or, it was like that when they predicted the assassination of the king in the royal capital.
It was also the case when he was suspicious of the warlock Cannavaro in Namaran.
‘Sometimes…I feel like someone who has glimpsed or experienced the future of this world.’
Of course I know that is impossible.
But I still felt that way.
It was as if he had borrowed some of the memories of an omnipotent being.
As such, Lloyd often showed predictive abilities beyond his senses and intellect.
It was similar today.
‘Then let’s watch more.’
Because I can’t be sure yet.
Because it’s just a feeling.
Xaviel peered into the warehouse with deeper eyes.
I observed Lloyd, who was taking control of the kidnappers with a single flick of his tongue.
Fortunately (?) Lloyd’s endless talk was now running towards the finish.
“…So it was. The countless burdens imposed on the people of this place, the heavy responsibility I felt while looking at them, the fact that I have been drawing water every day according to the teachings of my heart. It was to share the water with the people here. Whoa, but I don’t regret it. Even if I turn back time to a few days ago, even if I knew in advance that a situation like today would come, I would still make the same choice.”
“…In order to win the trust of the locals, get their cooperation, finish the project, and put the Sultan at the negotiating table?”
“Ah, do you understand everything?”
“of course. I had to go through his extremely detailed confession for almost an hour.”
Lloyd smiled and shook his head.
Looking down at him, the head of the abductors, the blond man, sighed heavily.
I really let out a sigh.
‘What kind of people are there?’
The blond man’s eyes stared at Lloyd, a look of bewilderment.
I thought it was just a trick sent by the Sultan.
To serve as the Sultan’s pawn.
To monitor this region under the pretext of construction work.
I only knew that he was the one who was dispatched like that.
So it was.
The more Lee Ja did the good thing of distributing water to people every day, the more he became concerned.
I became more suspicious and wary.
He’s obviously plotting something.
There must be something to aim for.
At the end of such suspicion, I kidnapped Lee.
Even by threatening and interrogating.
I vowed to stop revealing Lee Ja’s intentions.
I was determined to find out the sultan’s intentions and intentions.
but….
“Tell me honestly. This is the first confession I’ve ever heard in my life. Should I praise it as sincerity or dismiss it as excessive? Anyway, I think I know who you are.”
“What kind of person do you think I am?”
“The one who wants to use us.”
The blond man’s eyes hardened at Lloyd.
“You must already know who we are, right?”
“Yes, of course.”
“So you guess who I am too?”
“sure. The rebel leader, Mr. Termez.”
“also.”
Thermes, a blonde man, smiled.
“Distributing water to the people here was also an act to meet us. Am I right?”
“yes. It came later than expected, so I had to wait a bit.”
A smile formed on Lloyd’s lips.
What he said was true.
Waited for the rebels to appear.
I tried to meet them.
To do that, this was the best way.
Just asking the residents was unlikely to tell them where the rebels were hiding out and how to contact them.
Even so, there was no way that an answer would come out even if they threatened the residents.
So he did an excessive amount of good deeds to the people.
At all, they carried out a preemptive bombing with a tipak.
He calculated that doing so would surely attract the attention of the rebels.
He expected that he would become more suspicious and vigilant as he saw himself doing good deeds every day.
That expectation came true.
‘Because he must have regarded me as the Sultan’s pawn.’
It must have been even more strange to see such a sultan’s nephew openly doing good deeds.
Lloyd rather actively used those doubts and vigilance.
I used it as bait for fishing.
Thanks to (?), I was able to be kidnapped by a group of rebels like this.
contact was successful.
“I was expecting you to come see me yesterday or today. Well, the method was a little rougher than I thought, but still.”
Lloyd smiled and furrowed his brow.
One side of his forehead was slightly swollen.
It was a trace of being beaten with a club when he was kidnapped earlier.
The look in the eyes of the rebel leader, Termez, became more severe.
“I am not afraid. Then it might be better.”
“If you are against a bandit or a robber without morals, this will happen enough. Usually such people beat innocent people, intimidate them and kidnap them.”
“…Do you want to criticize us?”
“It is not. It hurt a little bit earlier, but I can understand that much.”
“Then what do you want from us?”
Thermes’ eyes deepened.
In fact, he still didn’t trust Lloyd.
Even if Lloyd had revealed all of his life’s journey(?), that was the case.
You can make up any number of stories like that.
It’s not particularly difficult to lie that much if you’re determined.
That’s why he hadn’t stopped Lloyd’s chatter before.
The longer the horse, the more likely it is to reveal its tail.
It will be easy to find loopholes in it.
But he couldn’t catch his tail or find loopholes in Lloyd’s chatter.
It was unexpected.
‘I have to find out the purpose of interest.’
What if the Sultan’s nephew is really right?
What if you had a plan to wipe out the rebels?
It might be best to cut Lee’s head right now.
‘But first, the story of interest.’
Listen and judge.
Thermes waited for Lloyd’s answer.
Lloyd smiled faintly.
“It is what you want. what a simple Give away all of your hideouts.”
“…what?”
Termez doubted his ears.
on the subject of kidnapping.
On the subject of tied hands and feet.
I never thought I’d make such a crazy request.
However, Lloyd’s voice pierced everyone’s eardrums even more brazenly.
“It is literally. Perhaps they are using tunnels all over the province as hideouts, but no matter how hard I try, it’s difficult to find them. Please yield all the tunnels.”
“what…Are you crazy?”
“I’m not crazy. You have to give me the tunnel so that we can defeat the drought that plagues this region forever.”
“what?”
Thermes, who was about to get angry, hesitated.
He told me to dig a hole in the ground.
Is that how you can solve the drought?
what is that again
“…I guess I need an explanation.”
“Of course it is.”
Lloyd grinned.
“As I said earlier, I came here to make a contract with the Sultan to build a waterway facility called Qanat in this province. An underground aqueduct that will bring water from the base of the mountain range some 36 kilometers away to this place.”
“But why do we need our tunnels?”
“It’s because I’m thinking of connecting the tunnels and making them into waterways.”
“….”
“Really. This will shorten the construction period. Of course, as much as the construction period is shortened, the time people in this region suffer from drought will also be reduced. There will be no unreasonable wars by sultans trying to improve public opinion over the drought, no more your neighbors and friends being dragged into battle, and no more engulfing my hometown of Frontera. It makes everyone happy. As long as they kindly yield the tunnel.”
“….”
Everyone is at a loss for answers.
I couldn’t answer or react quickly.
A story that Lloyd brought out so calmly and soberly.
It was because the scale of the story was far beyond their common sense and expectations.
I thought he was crazy when he asked me to give him a tunnel.
After hearing the reason, the story felt plausible again.
“Whoa wait a minute. Then, I want you to organize it a little.”
The rebel leader, Thermes, suppressed his bewilderment and asked back.
“So you’re saying you’re going to use our hideout, the tunnel, for construction to solve the drought?”
“yes.”
“You’re going to connect the tunnels to create an underground aqueduct to bring water from the mountains?”
“Yes, that is it.”
“under. Then what about us? How is it going?”
Thermes put a sneer on his lips.
“Since you already know all of our identities, we won’t hide it. okay. We are rebelling against the Sultan. I hate the Sultan for taking no action even though our homeland is engulfed in drought and everyone is suffering. We are so determined to bring the wealth of the capital Ahinsha and drive away the drought that afflicts us, even with blood.”
Thermes continued.
“So that’s right. we are rebels It’s a rebel force. But you want us to give you a hideout, a tunnel? Then everyone can get out of the drought and be happy? good. Let’s say things really go as they say. Let’s say the waterway is complete. It’s a welcome thing for us too. The drought, the cause of the pain that made us rise, will be gone. But after that? After we give them the tunnel for construction? What will happen to us who lost our hideout?”
There was a faint resentment in Thermes’s eyes as he looked at Lloyd.
“Can we who lost our hideout be safe? You’re not naive to think that we can be forgiven by the Sultan for cooperating with the project. Isn’t it?”
“of course.”
Lloyd nodded.
“Of course, that is. After all, the sultan is the ruler.”
It was true.
It was a very natural story.
Because you cooperated with the Qanat project.
Because he gave up the tunnel that was his hideout.
There is no possibility that the Sultan will pardon the rebels.
Such a fairy tale happy ending will never exist.
Lloyd could affirm and be sure of that.
‘Because literally the sultan is the ruler. But forgiving those who plotted a rebellion for a little cooperating with you? There’s no way the Sultan would set a precedent for that. never.’
The world doesn’t just run beautifully.
Cooperation is not guaranteed to come back in return.
That was exactly the case in this case.
So it was.
‘Mr. Termez, you are reacting exactly as I expected.’
What will happen to us after giving up the tunnel?
I had already expected that such a counterquestion would return.
Of course, the answer was ready.
“Everyone can leave here.”
“…what?”
“Will there be any stars? You’re going to be subjugated by the Sultan anyway, so you have to stand out.”
“What is that…Are you kidding us now?”
thump
Thermes reached out his hand.
I grabbed this by the collar.
It was a look that looked like it was about to hit me right away.
But Lloyd responded calmly.
“I’m not kidding. I am serious now.”
“Then why are you talking nonsense like that? Turani. run away Do you think that would be possible?”
“yes.”
“why?”
“You can come to our manor.”
“….”
“I want you to go into exile. safety. I will accept everything.”
“what.”
Thermes glared at me with an eye that seemed even more incomprehensible.
“Are you talking sanely?”
“of course.”
These are the people who will have nowhere to go.
Even if you don’t yield the tunnel.
In the end, these are the people who will fail the rebellion here and die miserably.
‘Because it was like that in the novel Iron Blooded Knight. Both Mr. Termez and the people next to him failed in rebellion. Subjugated by the Sultan, he disappeared into the dew of the gallows. That incident became a trigger for the empresses of this region to rise up. A second rebellion broke out and the Sultan was finally dethroned.’
That’s what happened in the novel Iron Blooded Knight.
In other words, the rebel men, including Termez, were the ones who would disappear as the kindling of the rebellion.
‘I’m trying to save them. Add it as a bonus to solve the drought. By having the Sultan sit at the negotiating table, we prevent the possibility of the Frontera territory being swept away in a war.’
In other words, this was the way to make everyone happy.
It was a way to get everyone involved to laugh.
Did you even vaguely understand their intentions?
Did they realize that as long as they yield the tunnel, the drought will be resolved and everyone will be happy?
“How can you believe that?”
Thermes asked with burning eyes.
I gripped the collar even tighter.
“Are you trying to fool us? Or have you gone mad? Do you want us to believe in such a crazy proposal?”
“Do you need some reason to trust?”
“of course.”
Termez’s eyes flashed.
“Prove that lunatic proposition we can believe. Give me reason to believe. If you can’t do that, I’ll cut your head right now and bury you in a pit of sand where no one will know.”
“What is good?”
Lloyd shrugged his shoulders as he was grabbed by the collar.
Thermes growled in front of his eyes.
His reaction made sense.
I’m sure you’re still suspicious of this one.
Even the proposal I just made might be considered a trick by the Sultan.
So how do you get the other side to accept the offer? You will need a strong and sure shot that will give you trust at once.
Fortunately, Lloyd had prepared for that in advance.
“Then let me ask you something.”
Lloyd raised his head.
I looked straight into Termez’s burning eyes.
“Do you have time for 11 nights and 12 days from now?”
“…what?”
“I want Mr. Termez to fly somewhere with me.”
“I? with you?”
“yes.”
“Do you have to fly somewhere for twelve days?”
“Yes. Then you will trust me completely and completely.”
“Where is that?”
Thermes asked.
Absolutely no way.
There can be no such thing.
He cast suspicious glances at Lloyd.
Receiving those eyes, Lloyd grinned.
It’s like saying let’s go to the local convenience store.
Or, as they say, let’s get fresh air from the bank’s air conditioner.
He responded so casually.
“Meet our king on the royal road Magenta.”
So, this is a very simple problem.
Where in the world could there be more reliable proof than an asylum permit issued directly by the king’s sister?
