"Let's resolve it through dialogue."
Bikir. No, Garm said.
Everyone who heard that opened their mouths.
Not only the guards who were building a siege network, but even Sikkeok, who was leading the hostage-taking, and Kirko, who was taken hostage.
… … .
silence. There was silence throughout the labor yard where the hostage situation had just been taking place.
The first person to speak was Sisuk.
"what's this. You're an idiot, right? Are you crazy?"
Vikir is a veteran who has lived through the Age of Destruction, and is adept at hiding his mana and presence.
It was so bad that not even Hugo, the head of the Baskerville family, noticed it at all.
Naturally, Sikyot did not recognize Garum's identity.
Vikir shrugged his shoulders in a stern manner.
"I am of a clean and sober mind."
"No, you weren't killed by me in the first place… … ."
"I almost did that once."
If a person escapes a crisis that could lead to death, he or she will achieve great internal growth.
Shikkeot narrowed his eyes at Garum's momentum, which had changed from before.
"You look the same, but it's like you've become a different person. "Your eyes have become a little more usable?"
"If you know, please explain my motivation. "So that we can continue to work on both our jobs."
"Krrrrr… … Fuck you, kid. "It was amazing how his eyes changed, so I mixed it up a bit and he was trying to match me to a certain extent."
Sikyot snorted as if there was no need to talk to people like Garum.
But Garum did not back down and continued to stand there.
I heard some guards shouting from behind me.
"hey! Junior guard! "Where are you going?"
"Can't you come back right away!? "The number of hostages will only increase!"
"Tsk, tsk, it will clear up soon. "I need to know my subject."
It was as he said. He loosened her throat and pulled her spit up into her mouth.
… Wow!
A spit with a terrible odor flew towards Garum's face like a sling.
It was an obvious attack that would spread the plague if hit.
But?
Sze-
Garum dodged Shikkeot's attack by simply tilting his head to the side.
Even though it was not possible for a low-ranking guard to react quickly.
"… … !?"
Shikkeot's expression changed.
Taking advantage of that opportunity, Garum spoke so quietly that the guards could not hear.
"There is something quite interesting to talk about. "Aren't you curious?"
"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! "It's absurd."
Shikkeot laughed as if it was absurd.
"What on earth are we talking about? "You and me."
It worked.
What high-ranking guards just say cannot be trusted in the first place.
That was the fact that Shikkeok, who was carrying out the hostage situation, knew best.
However, in a situation where even the high-ranking guards were struggling, one low-ranking guard walked out on his own.
What kind of conversation is this minnow trying to have?
Seems like he was a little curious about that.
However, the curiosity that arose spontaneously disappeared just as easily as it had arisen on its own.
"Hey, let's quit. There's no way this body can match yours, so how can we have a conversation... … ."
"Queen."
"… … !"
"It's about the person who sent you here."
However, Shikkeot's expression soon hardened.
In an already sensitive situation, a keyword that scratched my lungs came out.
The reason why he is so reckless is because he was 'abandoned by the queen.'
Soon, a terrifying malevolence emanated from Sikkeok's entire body.
It was such a life-threatening feeling that just being next to him made me suffocate and felt like my whole body was being weighed down.
"… … You have a lot of guts, sweetie. "Are you suddenly craving something?"
Shikkeot began to show enthusiasm for conversation.
The enthusiasm was so great that all the guards who were forming a siege network from afar took half a step back.
But Garum still remained calm. If it were him in the past, he wouldn't have dared to imagine it.
Shikkeot held Kirko's neck tightly and spoke as if chewing it and spitting it out.
"Now that I think about it, you had a crush on this bitch, right? Okay, let's have a conversation that catches my interest. If it were fishing, I would break this bitch's neck, kill her, and eat all her internal organs... … ."
"for a moment. "Before we talk, I have something to do first."
Instead of being intimidated by the sudden death, Garum even raised his palm to cut off his words.
"This conversation contains a lot of important information. "It's top secret."
"What kind of top secret is this from you, who is only a low-ranking guard?"
"You will know when you listen. "My class is not the problem."
"I don't have to be confident from before. So what do you have to do before we talk?"
The control of the conversation has shifted to this side, even if only slightly.
Garum continued calmly.
"Hand over Kirko here."
"Are you crazy? "You want to come to the guy who's taking hostages, give him the hostage, and talk to him?"
"I'll let you keep holding the hostage."
"What kind of bullshit are you talking about from a while ago? "Who is going to be the hostage instead of this bitch?"
"grow."
Garm was trying to get Cirko to return instead of using himself as a hostage.
"Without this, dialogue cannot take place."
"… … "Are you even aware of your current situation?"
"know. I am a weak, low-level guard. "You're making unreasonable demands on the guy who's holding you hostage."
"I could even take you hostage."
"Then we won't be able to talk anymore. Too bad. "It's something you would really enjoy hearing."
Sikyot was becoming more and more confused by Garum's calm demeanor, without changing the color of his face.
"Really, what kind of guts do you have?"
"As you know, I've never been the gutsy type. "I don't even have the courage to risk my life and brag."
"… … ."
"Aren't you curious about how I can say this with such confidence? "What do you believe in and do this?"
Garm continued speaking.
And Shikkeok seemed to agree with those words to some extent.
but.
"good night. "Then, before exchanging hostages, show me proof that you are someone worthy of being my hostage."
"Do you need proof to become a hostage?"
"of course."
With a grumpy look on his face, he grabbed the trembling body of Kirko by the neck and lifted it up.
"This woman is not begging for her life even though she is on the verge of collapse. "She has courage and guts."
"… … ."
"But aren't you a dirty dog and an idiot? The moment you are taken hostage by me, you might urinate and have a heart attack, right? Then the value of the hostage disappears."
"You're being unreasonable."
"Isn't it the same for you too?"
"Then how do you prove it?"
When Garum was asked, Sikyot tilted his head to the side.
He then stretched out his hand towards the nearest major-level guard.
"Hey, you. "Give me a cigarette."
"… … ?"
The major happened to have a cigarette in his mouth.
He took a cigarette out of his pocket and threw it at Sikkyuk.
Whoop-
He put a clean cigarette in his mouth and took a swig.
At the same time, the red blood flowing from his torn mouth and lips was soaked into the cigarette.
Blood with a foul, fishy smell, and a cigarette soaked in that blood.
He took the cigarette from his mouth and held it out to Garum.
"Smoke this. "Then I recognize your guts."
At those words, all the guards fell silent.
Even Kirko thought with his eyes tightly closed.
'… … There's no way you would say something like that.'
Sikkeot's blood is a class 1 hazardous substance.
It is a terrible poison that, even if just one drop falls on the ground, a radius of several tens of meters must be disinfected with alcohol, fire, or gunpowder.
Who would be crazy enough to touch a cigarette that could cause a terrible plague just by touching it?
It goes without saying that biting it in one's mouth is something that cannot be said.
Lieutenant Colonel Bastille, who was standing at the forefront of the siege, also gritted his teeth.
'For a low-ranking guard, he took the time well... … Is this where it ends?'
He planned to advance towards his subordinates in the rear, little by little, extremely slowly, and attack their rear.
But there wasn't enough time for that.
As expected, Shikyuk was not letting his guard down at all.
… … at that time.
Something happened that shocked everyone.
Sze-
He calmly accepted the cigarette that Garum gave him.
He put a cigarette in his mouth without anyone having time to stop him.
"fire."
And even calmly asking for a cigarette.
Shikkeot stood still with a somewhat dazed expression.
An expression that said he never thought he would actually say it.
But Garum nodded his head like nothing happened.
"Shouldn't you give us fire too?"
At those words, he turned his head towards the guards with a blank expression on his face.
yet.
chuck-
A guard with the rank of major hurriedly rummaged through his bag and threw a match, which fell into Shikkeok's hand.
Chiik- roar!
Although he couldn't hide his embarrassment, he struck a match and lit the cigarette in Garum's mouth.
The sight of a huge poisoner imprisoned on the 8th floor bending down and setting fire to a low-ranking guard who was less than half his height was truly strange.
Whoop-
Garum took a deep drag on his cigarette and soon exhaled a long puff of smoke.
"… … ."
While everyone watching was with their mouths open with blank expressions.
"How did you know?"
I asked with a straight face.
"There is actually no plague poison in my blood."
It was truly a shocking coming out.
All the guards who were watching realized that they had been deceived by Sikkeot for the past two years.
In fact, there was no such thing as a plague on Sikkeok's body.
He used several types of mold and mushroom powder, which were easily available even in the Nouvelle Vague, and the antidotes and decontamination agents injected by doctors to cause a seemingly serious skin disease, mimicking the plague, and bluffed with it.
His image as a former Leviathan, an extremely poisonous hermit, and as the creator of the plague known as the 'Red Death', supported his bravado.
But all of this was just bravado full of twists and turns.
What remains, then, is how Garum, who was only a low-ranking guard, knew this fact in advance.
"That guy also had something to believe in!"
"Well, how did you know it was a bluff? "Even the doctors couldn't figure it out."
"I know? "Is there a law to distinguish them separately?"
Sikkeok, Cirko, who was holding his neck in his hands, and all the other guards noticed how Garum had seen through Sikkeot's bravado.
… … and.
Garum opened his mouth and answered everyone's questions in a slow and dry tone.
"I didn't know?"