Chapter 255 - 255 Deadly Meeting

Taking a seat on the couch facing the two men who were representing Permafrost, Marcus immediately recognized one of them as the man who had been harassing one of his maids and gotten in his way while demanding a meeting.

Rage began to build up in him upon seeing this man once again, since now he knew that it was this petty bastard that had been the one to have his maids kidnapped.

"I see so you were working for Permafrost. I am surprised that such an incompetent person seems to have a high rank in your organization." Marcus said with a sneer on his face.

Nearly frothing at the mouth Ryker, the man who Marcus had just insulted stood up and yelled in a fury, "You bitch, do you think you will get away with humiliating me again. You are lucky that I have not already had my men kill you and everyone you care about for the disrespect you have shown me."

Ryker was about to continue on his ranting, when the other man who was far cooler and more collected, and also most certainly the one in charge here said, "Ryker sit down and stop embarrassing yourself. She is obviously trying to goad you into causing a scene. We are here for a negotiation not to antagonize each other."

Hearing this from his boss, Ryker quickly calmed down but when he saw the smug smile on Marcus' face, he nearly lost his temper again. But feeling the cold gaze on his back from his boss sat back down.

The man in charge then turned his attention back towards Marcus and said, "I suppose that introductions are in order, you may call me Obadiah, and as you have surmised, we are part of Permafrost, though I am honestly surprised you knew of us."

Obadiah after giving a slight bow to Marcus began speaking again, leading the conversation.

"Now before we get down to business would you like some refreshments. We have tea and any number of pastries, though if you wished for wine and cheese that could also be provided." Obadiah said like a perfect gentleman.

Without any hesitation Marcus responded saying, "I certainly would not mind some tea and cookies if at possible, and whatever flavors you have would be fine."

Obadiah was actually surprised to hear how readily Marcus accepted his offer, since most people in his situation would be wary of being poisoned.

'She acts as if she is the one in control even though she has followed all of our demands and is now surrounded by people of the same or higher level. Has she already decided to give in to any demands we put forth?'

Understandably Obadiah was confused by Marcus' demeanor, by all rights he should be the one on the backfoot, yet he was acting as if he had already won.

Of course, Marcus had reasons to be confident since none of the people here actually knew how strong he was, and even without his equipment he was far stronger than they could handle.

Soon the refreshments that Marcus had asked for were put in front of him, and he immediately began to drink the tea and eat the cookies without fear.

Naturally even if the items had been poisoned, they would have no effect on Marcus anyway, so he was doing this more as a means to assert his dominance.

After taking a long sip Marcus put his tea down and looked at Obadiah and said, "I feel much better now, so how about we discuss my two maids that you have been taking care of. I would very much like to see that they are alive before we begin making any deals."

Shaking his head Obadiah said, "I am afraid we cannot do that. They are quite far from here and it would take too much time to go and see them. Now I believe we have beaten around the bush long enough. The reason we have wanted to get in contact with you is because we want you to make weapons for us."

Hearing this, it was what Marcus had been expecting. Making weapons was pretty much the only thing he was known for that would make him the target of an organization like Permafrost. His noble status was low, and he had almost no connections so that certainly could not be the reason, and if they knew how strong he was then their security would have been ten times higher.

"And why would you go through all of this trouble just to have me make weapons for you. There are certainly plenty of other talented foragemaster that are better than me." Marcus said fishing for the reason he had been targeted.

"You are selling yourself short Lady Irene. You are the apprentice of the greatest foragemaster in the kingdom, and have even made two swords that have received the system's approval, putting you as one of the top twenty in the capital no."

Obadiah then pulled out a mithril sword Marcus had made some time ago, before he had even been accepted as Thabon's apprentice and said, "This sword is of quite fine quality with enchantments that conduct mana well and a blade that is as sharp as they come. And this was something you made before becoming Thabon's apprentice so we know your skills must have increased even further."

Obadiah then swung the sword through a nearby lamp cutting straight through it with no resistance as if to show off how much he liked the sword Marcus had made.

"Now of course you are not the only foragemaster we have approached but you are the one with the best skills that is not already apart of some organization or the other, the only free agent so to speak. Having someone like you in our ranks would be a great boon so we have had to be a bit forceful and hasty since the current opportunity to use your skills is coming to its peak. Let me ask you how much do you know about the situation happening in the kingdom to the south?"

During their conversation Marcus had kept his cool the entire time, but his expression reflexively changed at Obadiah's last question, since he had no idea why he was bringing up the kingdom to the south of Borealia.

"No, I barely keep tabs on what is going on in this kingdom, so I have no idea what is going on in the one south of here." Marcus said with a curious expression.

"I see so you do not know. Currently there are rising tensions in the Kingdom Tralenstein, and it seems that civil war is likely to break out any day now. So of course, as the leader of Permafrost in charge of weapons, armor, munitions, and the like, I cannot waste this chance. That is where you come in. The current rulers of Tralenstein are paying quite a bit more than normal market price for high quality mithril weapons and armor and having someone to make specific items for us to sell at a high price would be optimal. I can promise you it is a good deal, and you will make a considerable profit as well. We will supply all of the raw materials and all you have to do is to make the items requested."

After giving his pitch to Marcus, Obadiah gave him a look that was saying "not a bad deal right", but Marcus never had any plans to join them no matter what.

However, before Marcus started voicing his complaints to antagonize Obadiah, Ryker spoke up and said, "Sir you forgot about to mention my retribution for the way she humiliated me."

Ryker then gave a hateful look over to Marcus who had nearly forgotten that he was there.

"Yes, I guess I did promise you something like that." Obadiah said while recalling his earlier conversation with Ryker.

Sighing Obadiah looked towards Marcus and said, "You see I personally raised Ryker here up to the station of an executive, so you having shamed him in front of his subordinates, also makes me look poorly. We cannot have those at a lower rank looking down on Ryker here, so for your recompense you will be tied up and lashed by Ryker while his subordinates watch."

At this point Marcus was pretty much done. They wanted to tie him up and whip him as a show of dominance, like hell that was ever going to happen.

Even just thinking about how ridiculous this sounded Marcus started laughing before saying, "And what if I refuse. Certainly, you have taken two of my maids hostage, but do you think that I care enough about them to humiliate myself like that and be under your heel. I have no real reason to work with you."

Nodding his head Obadiah seemed to agree with what Marcus was saying before responding and saying, "Yes, it is a stretch to expect you to acquiesce to all of our demands simply because we took a couple of your maids hostage, and really we are surprised you even agreed to this meeting. Of course, that is why we currently have someone extending an invitation to your little sister."

Hearing this Marcus' aura changed from playful to dead serious in an instant, and the room's temperature began to drop rapidly, and it seemed as if all of the light was being drained from the room.

Ice crystals soon began to form on the couch Marcus was sitting on and many of the guards pulled out their weapons to attack, but Obadiah raised his hand to stop them and then said, "Lady Irene there is no need for any hostilities. As long as you agree to our proposal and sign a binding contract, your little sisters stay with us will be brief and pleasant."

Calming himself down Marcus knew that losing control of himself would not help anyone, and he was now getting the information he wanted by having this conversation at all.

He had made himself seem weak and vulnerable so that they would reveal their plans to him, and Obadiah had just tipped his hand, so it was time to fish for more answers.

"Do you honestly think I would believe such an obvious bluff. My sister is attending the kingdom's royal academy and I doubt you will be able to get by their security."

Shaking his head Obadiah said, "Even though that is true, do you honestly think that we do not have agents inside the academy already. Your sister is likely already on her way to the same location as your maids at this point."

Seeing the confident expression on Obadiah's face Marcus could tell he was not bluffing, they really had sent someone after Lilia.

However, thinking about it rationally Marcus knew that Lilia was not so easy to capture and that they were likely to underestimate her because she was a young girl.

'I need to have faith in the strength Lilia has obtained. However, I cannot waste any more time probing these guys, time to finish the job.'

Now that he was sure about why they wanted him to join them, as well as that the person sitting across from him was actually an important member of Permafrost, Marcus stood up and said, "Well as much as I have enjoyed your hospitality is time for you all to die."