Lord Of Puppets-Chapter 195 – Peace talk – Second attempt – Part 2.
"I really don’t want to be disrespectful to you, but unfortunately for you and me, there is limited amount of time we have for this conversation." – said the distorted voice that came out from the weird magical device which was stored inside of the suit case. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮
"In short, I will get right to the point."
"The adventurer guild wants to destroy you at all cost."
"They see you as something beyond dangerous, something that cannot be left alone."
"However, the empire has other idea about you."
"We want YOU."
"The adventurers works for us, but we have no total control over them."
"But if you were to go under our protection, we would not only provide you with protection, but also make sure that these adventures."
"..."
{"What do you want in exchange? What is that you want from me?"} – written the golem while Arthur spoke out loud what the golem has written.
"Hm... That is what we need to address." – said the distorted voice.
"Truth to be told."
"The material and items does sound good."
"However, what we want is you specifically, dungeon master."
"We want your knowledge."
"We want your talent as the golem maker."
"Simply put, we want you to work for us."
"We want your research, your talent and some of your golems."
"In return, you will be perfectly protected for the rest of your life."
"..."
{"How can I trust you?"}
{"Do I have any way of confirming that you will keep your word?"}
"That is the problem. You don’t."
"But at the same time, you don’t really have an option here, do you?"
"We can help you, but only if you are willing to do it."
"However, to do that you need to surrender yourself to us."
"If you don’t?"
"Well... The adventurers will kill you."
"It will be lose for us as well, but oh well."
"So, with all that said."
"Please choose wisely, since this will be your last and only chance."
"Do you want to survive? Or do you want to die?"
(Ultimatum.) – thought Arthur.
("Die right here or serve".)
(This is pretty much the situation.)
(Honestly speaking, that dungeon master already shown itself to more than smart enough.)
(Even if it may not want to be "enslaved", it want to survive above everything else.)
(So there is good chance it will chose "enslavement" in order to survive.)
(But even if it were to say no, it would still end up enslaved.)
(We want that dungeon and its secrets no matter what.)
(The golems will be wiped out and the dungeon master will be captured.)
(No matter the answer this thing choses, it will end up enslaved no matter what.)
(The question is: Will we will do it peacefully? Or forcefully?)
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
The golem did not moved.
It didn’t reacted to anything.
It just stood in place.
The owner of the voice and Arthur understood what was going on, the golem was considering its options.
The duo however wasn’t bothered one bit the dungeon master thinking about their answer.
Since in their minds, they knew that they had already won no matter what.
However, at the same time, they wouldn’t want to waste resources and time if possible, so they are hoping for the dungeon to just surrender willingly.
"..."
"..."
"..."
(Dammit... This guy has been thinking for long time already.) – thought annoyed Arthur.
"Em... Excuse me? Is everything alright?" – asked Arthur.
"..."
{"Yes."}
{"I’m currently thinking."}
(Still!? How much time has passed? 10? 20 minutes?) – thought annoyed Arthur as he then spotted the golem writing once again.
{"Before I even think about saying yes or no. I want to confirm a single detail."}
{"If the adventurers are truly working for you, but are not in total control, then why not eliminate them?"}
"..."
"It isn’t that easy." – replied the distorted voice.
"We need them to deal with rampaging monsters."
{"Like me?"}
{"You said that you had killed the guild master."}
{"Why? Was it because she disagreed with you?"}
{"She was working for you yet you killed her."}
{"You may had disagreed with her, but if she really worked for you, then why not just tell her to stand down?"}
{"You may not have full control over them, but I know about ’dungeon taming’."}
{"Things are not adding up."}
{"You are lying to me."}
{"Therefore, no deal."}
"..."
"You do realize what you are doing right now, yes?" – asked the distorted voice.
{"Yes. But at the same time, no."}
{"However, the same applies to you."}
{"If my guess is correct, you were aiming to enslave me no matter what."}
{"And you even confirmed it yourself."}
"!?"
(Well... Well... Well... Look at this bastard.) – thought the owner of the distorted voice.
(He was gathering information off me?)
(I guess I got played a bit and screwed up... Yeb. I should had let Arthur do negotiations.)
(By having to do the "talk" myself, I just exposed myself, eh?)
"I see. Too bad." – said the distorted voice.
"But I guess we will be cooperating sooner or later." – said the owner of the voice as the device instantly shut off.
"..."
Arthur began packing up the suit case... However, as he did, he suddenly noticed the golem writing again.
{"Leave the device here."}
"..."
"And why I should I do that?" – asked Arthur with annoyed expression.
*CAW* *CAW*
"!"
(Warning signal?!) – thought Arthur as he tried reaching for his pocket for something.
What he reached out for was a flintlock gun.
However, just as the man was about to aim with the gun, the golem suddenly pressed a hidden trigger from its side, which opened up a hidden compartment underneath the table surface, revealing a hole which then a crossbow bolt came flying out from, which hit and pierced the man’s stomach.
"!?"
Before Arthur realized, his stomach was already pierced by a giant crossbow bolt and not only that, but the impact caused the man to fire off his gun accidently, causing the bullet to fly in completely random and hit one of the trees, which ended up destroying a chunk of them, while Arthur himself ended up falling right on the ground.
(W-weapon!? But... Wait! No magic?!) – thought Arthur as he realized why the guild master or nobody else noticed the weapon.
It was a fully mechanical weapon and not magical based on.
And what confirmed it further was the golem taking out the hidden massive crossbow, which the golem was already reloading.
"S-shit!"
"A-Agur! AGUR! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" – shouted Arthur as the golem aimed at the bleeding man.... However, the man then quickly realized something.
The sound of fighting was coming all around him and he saw giant figures fighting.
"..."
(What is going on?!) – thought panicking Arthur.
(Did he sent golems after us?!)
(But that is impossible!)
"!"
The man noticed the golem raising its weapon at the man, causing Arthur to panic as he tried reaching for his other pocket.
However, it was too late, the golem fired the crossbow, unleashing massive crossbow bolt that smashed and pierced the man’s entire head, which resulted in the obvious instant death.
The golem then just turned away from the man and instantly began walking towards the suitcase.
But as it did, the leader of the Silver Talons suddenly appeared from the side and slashed the golem with his dagger, which somewhat stopped the creature in its tracks.
"!"
(Shit!) – thought the leader of the masked adventurers as he spotted Arthur’s dead corpse.
"..."
The man instantly began rushing towards the suitcase, but the golem didn’t allowed that as it shot its crossbow bolt between the man and the suitcase, causing the masked adventurer to be stopped in tracks.
The man tried going for the suitcase once again... However, he then realized that the shadows amongst the trees started getting closer.
"Tch!"
The man ran away, leaving the device behind.
(Fuck! The hell is going on here?!) – thought the man as he took out his whistle and began making sparrow noises with it, while continuing running away.
As the man continue running away, he regrouped with the remaining members of the Silver Talons, before then leaving the forest all together.
"..."
(Well, I’ve tried getting all of them... But I guess it will be impossible now.) – thought the golem.
(They are too fast... Honestly, I’ve thought if I stalled long enough and entrap them, they wouldn’t be able to get away... But I guess my assumption wasn’t correct.)
(Still, I did consider possibility of them leaving... But at least I’ve hoped I would at least get one of them.)
(However, there is also the camp. It was left completely abandoned, so there maybe chance that they had left something behind... Or if there are some people there.)
(Let’s have golems check it.)
(And as for this?) – thought the golem as it then approached the suitcase device and then grabbed it.
(This seems quiet important... Maybe it will give me some info about my enemies.)
"..."
(Still... Peace was really never an option?)
(I really wanted it to be possible.... But I guess I was hoping for too much.)
(They either see me as monster to be exterminated.)
(Or a useful tool to be enslaved.)
(I guess no matter the option I would chose, I would end up as either dead or as slave.)
"..."
(So I guess fighting is the only way forward.)
