Miles couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. The bomber seemed to have let his nerves get the better of him, and messed up his threat in a rather hilarious manner, to say the least.
Controlling his urge to laugh, Miles maintained a stoic expression, remaining neutral and professional. He had a status to protect after all.
And most importantly, if the bomber was really that nervous, Miles felt he might be able to make it work. Without wasting the blood source assimilation on (Telekinesis-Inferior).
Suddenly hearing a muffled sound from the side, Miles turned towards Zhan Shen. It appeared that unlike him, the elderly butler didn't care about appearances and was snickering quite obviously. At least he had the decency to cover his mouth.
Ignoring the tactless old butler, Miles turned towards the straw-haired youth and answered his question, "There is no need to start over. Despite how it was presented, your message is quite clear. But…"
He began to walk towards the unconscious man on the floor.
The bomb-wielding youth shouted instantly, "H--Hey! W-What are you doing? I-I have a bomb!"
Miles ignored him. Instead, he raised an open hand, "Old Zhan. Knife. Now."
The old butler may have been laughing a second before, but his response was instantaneous.
Whoosh!
Once again, Miles could feel a change in the air. The skin on his hand could clearly feel a gust of air rushing towards him. But it didn't feel dangerous, not like that bullet.
Despite having his back turned towards Zhan Shen, he could almost see it. The knife shooting towards him, hilt first.
Thwip!
At the perfect moment, the hand closed, closing in on the hilt. Miles now wielded a combat knife.
"H-Hey! What are you going to do? Stop! I'll blow you up! I say, stop!" the straw-haired bomber shouted frantically. Perhaps spooked by how the mysterious boy had caught the knife as if he had eyes on the back of his head, the bomber did not rush forwards.
Miles ignored him once more and continued onwards, finally reaching the unconscious scarred man on the floor.
Lifting him up, Miles placed the knife at his throat.
His gaze fell back on the nervous youth, and continued from where he had stopped before, "But… we won't be raising any hands."
The straw-haired youth immediately began to argue, waving the bomb in the air, "What? No! I'll blow you up! Y-You hear me? Do what I say or I'll blow you up!"
Miles smirked. The knife moved dangerously close to the throat of the muscular man, almost drawing blood, "Then why didn't you do so already? Before I had this oaf's throat next to a knife?"
"T-That doesn't matter! I have a bomb! A Fae bomb! You only have a knife! L-Listen to me!"
Miles's smirk grew wider. He spoke slowly, emphasizing the words, "That is very true. You have a bomb. I only have a knife. It's obvious, isn't it? A bomb, especially a Fae bomb, is far more dangerous than some little poke stick. But did you know... when it comes to killing, a knife can be just as effective? Maybe even more efficient?"
His eyes glowed with a threatening light, "You see, if you blow us up, you kill all of us. And by all, I mean all of us. That's still a point to your advantage.
But if you can't, if you don't have the guts to kill us all, I'll still have my knife to do with as I will. And that, that's a point for me.
Tell me honestly, who do you think is leading on the scoreboard?"
The straw-haired youth gulped nervously, obviously not having expected such a reply.
But in the next instant, Miles's persona changed completely, his voice taking on a softer tone, "But, that doesn't mean we can't be amicable. I'm sure we can reach an agreement like civilized people. What do you say, friend?"
The youth still seemed nervous, but he seemed to relax a little, finally nodding.
Miles smiled, the knife moving a bit further from the throat, and spoke, "In any civilized negotiation, especially when trying to reach an agreement, people start with a name and they let the other party know what they want, so they can decide if it's something they can give or not."
Actually, nobody did that. Names maybe, but revealing what you wanted from the get-go was a sure-fire way to come out on the losing end. But this fellow didn't need to know that.
The youth nodded, and began to speak, still slightly nervous, "M-My name is Jimmy. I just want to g-get my friend out of here."
Miles's smile widened. He hadn't been too confident about taking this muscular guy as a hostage. These people were almost definitely robbers or looters, and there was often no honor among thieves.
But with Jimmy revealing what he wanted, it seemed Miles had made the right decision.
Instantly, Miles shifted the knife closer to the man's throat, and spat out in a harsh voice, "I would have had no problem with letting your friend go. Unfortunately, you trespassed on my property, attacked us, and now, even threaten me with a bomb!
So before I let go of anyone, who the hell are you!? And what the f*ck are you doing here?"
The youth seemed to be taken aback by the sudden shift in his tone. He began to answer frantically, "P-Please don't hurt Luther! L-Look, I'm really sorry! We didn't mean to hurt anyone! We thought this place would be a-abandoned! We were just going to take some items and sell them off to pay L-Luther's debt to the White Snake gang! They would've killed us otherwise!"
As Miles had hoped, Jimmy spilled the beans. He now knew quite a bit about their situation.
'So this Jimmy and Luther were robbers after all. Just that they were doing this to pay off some debt. But that gang, the White Snakes? Could it be…?'
Miles shifted a questioning glance towards Zhan Shen.
The old butler had been more than happy to let his ward take care of the situation. Negotiation was one of Miles's many strengths, after all.
Even so, he had been observing silently and listening in. And noticing Miles's glance, he slowly lowered his head in affirmation.
'So it's true. The White Snakes, the gang that was rumored to have a Faetality booster serum. But with everything that happened, I don't believe old Zhan got the opportunity to meet the informant.'
A discrete shake of Zhan Shen's head confirmed this.
'A Faetality booster, eh? Now if that was real, it would be more than sufficient to motivate Xavier, a Knight of the Capital City. But I was confident it was a false lead. Could it have been true?"
Turning to Jimmy, he asked directly, "Do you know about Xavier?"
The straw-haired youth was genuinely confused, "Huh?! Who?"
Zhan Shen immediately butted in, a wide grin on his face, "See Master Miles? I'm not the only one who doesn't know! Just because he can fly, doesn't mean everybody knows about him!"
Jimmy spoke out with a raised voice, "Wait, do you mean Sir Xavier? Sir Xavier Jones?! General of Capital City and Knight of the Sky? Of course, I know him! But what about him? And what does this have to do with letting Luther go?"
Miles could just barely hear old Zhan grumble under his breath, "Hmph. You didn't have to say the entire title like that. Are you proud about making fun of an old man?"
Ignoring the old butler's antics, Miles carefully observed Jimmy. For the first time, the straw-haired youth wasn't stuttering and was visibly less nervous. Unless his entire nervous persona was a lie, this fellow was probably speaking the truth about Xavier.
So he simply waved his hand, "Don't worry about it. I was simply making a point to my friend here," and pointed directly at Zhan Shen.
The old butler frowned as if preparing to say something, but in the end, decided to remain silent with a visible scowl.
Grinning inwardly, Miles was just about to ask another question, when he heard it or rather... felt it.
A small change.
A heartbeat, one that was beating faster and stronger than it had been.
He shouldn't have been able to hear any heartbeat, unless he focused on purpose. Which could only mean, this one was really really close.
Using the full force of 18 Strength points, Miles immediately tightened his grip on the unconscious man, or rather, Luther.
Wham!
The muscular man bashed out with his hands, in an obvious attempt to escape. But Miles was prepared and his strength stat gave him an edge.
He placed the knife at his throat again, this time drawing a hint of blood, "You shouldn't move again if you know what's good for you."
Unfortunately, Luther didn't seem to be easy to scare as Jimmy.
The threat only seemed to make him struggle harder, as he roared out, "Why the f*ck should I listen to you? Some rich c*nt who thinks he's better than us little folk? F*ck you, you son of a wh*re! I bet you don't even know how to use that knife! Just let me go and I'll let you live, you spineless c*nt!"
From an early age, Miles had stood unmoved against myriads of insults. His inadequacy in Faetality, being an orphan despite his wealth, the loss of his position at Lykaon Industries, were just a few of the things he had been ostracized for. And he had always remained unaffected.
But today, today was different. He felt an immense rage bubble up, anger almost on par with that of the Beast. Perhaps it was the faint smell of blood in the air, perhaps it was the insult to his mother, but something just made him snap.
*SCHLICK*
Luther screamed. He screamed in agony, as the knife penetrated his shoulder.
Leaving the knife stabbed in, Miles tightened his throat, and hissed out, "You enter my property, try to rob us, attack us, get knocked out like a little b*tch, and now try to insult me into letting you go? You dare insult my mother?! Who the f*ck do you think you are?"
His other hand twisted the knife in the shoulder, causing Luther to scream out in terror once more.
Miles's eyes glowed with a devilish light, "How's that for a spineless rich c*nt? HOW'S THAT?!"
~art~