Nevertheless, whatever happen to the Queen should not be of my concern since one Queen is as good as another, and I can always do business with the next Queen, assuming that I have not wiped out the Hive by then.
My concern right now is my mother, and the quickest way to save her is to deal with the Queen herself, and there is more than one way to deal with the Queen. Violent is one way but killing the Queen does not really solve my problem, as another will just take her place to prevent the Hive turning feral.
And destroying the Hive completely will take way too much time for my liking.
"It is not a request, your highness," I correct. "Please think of it as a token of our friendship, and friends help out each other in time of needs. I believe that you are in need of my services even though you do not know it yourself."
I hope that the Queen is smart enough to understand, and from the silence, she does, at least a little.
"You overestimated yourself," the Queen responses. ���However, there is some merits in your words. I will take half. It is compensation for the death of my general."
The Queen is referring to the women, and there are more than a couple of dozen here. While I like to barter with her, it is better if she takes more off my hands because I only wanted to save my mother, but I cannot show that, as it would put me at a disadvantage.
"I will take a quarter, but I reserve the right to choose," I barter. Even a quarter is too much, as anyone aside my mother is just baggage. I already have way too much baggage. Need to convert them to asset.
"That is acceptable," the Queen responses. "Choose."
I nod and select a few women younger than my mother and then my mother and then those who are older than her, and every time a woman is chosen, she collapses onto the ground unconscious, as the Hive Mind relinquishes control over her mind. Despite that, she will be knocked out for a while.
In the end, I select a total of 7 women, including my mother. Way too many, but there is nothing I can do about that, as the deal is done. At least, it seems to be. I am sure at least one of them is still under the control of the Hive Mind.
But I will allow that for now, as I cannot prove it without revealing more of my abilities.
"Thank you for your business, your highness," I state. "I have not properly introduced myself, but they call me Merchant. If you wish to do actual business in the future, feel free to call me."
I pass my Calling Cards to one of the mind-controlled women, and she accepts them. The moment that she does, several monsters approach, and from their appearance alone, they are as strong as Kazak if not more.
"My soldiers will take it from here. You have free passage out of my territory," the Queen informs me through one of the women before the unconscious women. "Do you require transportation?"
I do, but I am not going to accept her help. "No. My own slaves will take care of it."
"Very well," the Queen responses and walks towards her soldiers along with the rest of women. "You can continue to address me as you were, Merchant. Individuality is unnecessary within the Hive."
And once Queen and her entourage are gone, I summon my 14 slaves, and they are not very happy.