, you will get her as easy as ABC…."

Kubei ignored it.

He prepared to find a way to escape from Mich.e.l.le, but it would not be the idiotic plan suggested by the System. Even if he did plan to use his physique to charm his way out of this, there was no guarantee that Mich.e.l.le would even look at him seriously. From the first minute he came into this universe, it was painfully clear that he did not have the blessings of a main character in a harem, where females would come running into his arms.

Instead, he planned to talk with Mich.e.l.le.

Another way of phrasing it would be him trying to negotiate with Mich.e.l.le. Just like when he just arrived here, he wanted to use whatever chips he still had in his grasp to convince Mich.e.l.le into a deal. Then, he could survive.

It sounded absurd, but he was willing to take whatever chances under these circ.u.mstances. Although this was a bad idea, but could it be worse than the predicament he was in?

He would not give up this easily.

Thus, he adjusted his stature and said, "Lady Mich.e.l.le, you are in grave danger."

The first fundamental point in negotiation is to boost your stance, make an empty show of strength, and to raise alarm with threatening speech. This had the same reasoning as fortune tellers going about telling people that their ophryon looked black, and that they would experience b.l.o.o.d.y tragedies in the future. In short, it had to do with just creating fear.

Of course, he knew that this sentence alone was not enough to scare Mich.e.l.le. That was why he had a backup. Below are the conversations Kubei constructed in his mind:

"Lady Mich.e.l.le, you are in grave danger."

Mich.e.l.le scoffed, "What rubbish are you saying?"

Kubei chuckled without warmth, "You thought you could delay the progress of the troops behind us by sacrificing Annie. However, unfortunately, the family knew your end goal will be the treasure vault. They are there waiting for you to fall right into their ambus.h.!.+"

Shocked, the blood drained from Mich.e.l.le's face, "Impossible! How could they know?"

Kubei arched his face towards the sky and laughed, "Hahaha, I left secret signals on the way, and left messages to the troops. You never expected that, did you? Hahaha! Give up and admit defeat, Mich.e.l.le, your wits are miles away from mine!"

Mich.e.l.le's lost her cool and turned pale, as if she was struck by lightning, "Oh no, what should I do? Am I going to die soon? You must know the way to save me, please tell me, quick, I'll do whatever you want."

Then, Kubei could make a deal with Mich.e.l.le for her to release him, and in exchange, he would try and give her the treasure once he arrived safely to the family. Mich.e.l.le would cry in appreciation, and escort him back to the family. Whether he would want to help Mich.e.l.le would be another matter entirely, it would be unnecessary to fulfil the empty promise once he was safe and sound!

With that, he could escape safely, and Mich.e.l.le would lose her hostage and her treasure.

Perfect!

Kubei caressed his chin as he admired himself.

However, just like how every sane person would think, the reality would rarely follow the wishes of a man.

Mich.e.l.le ignored him.

Kubei did not lose his cool. He knew that it would not be as smooth as he imagined, but despite the windy road, the future would remain bright. There was no way this small mishap could stop him.

Thus, he continued, "I am not bluffing you, you are indeed in imminent danger. Mich.e.l.le, do you not believe me?"

Finally, Mich.e.l.le answered him, "You are right, I believe in you."

Kubei was speechless. Something must have gone wrong somewhere.

Mich.e.l.le was as calm as a eunuch in a wh.o.r.ehouse, "You left secret signals on your way here, and thus left a message to the troops behind us. It is unfortunate to say that they would already know that my final goal is the treasury, thus they will be there in ambush, waiting for me to fall."

"…."

Kubei was lost.

The System spoke in his mind, its voice full of hatred, "I hate these people the most! They never follow the script, and they even stole lines from others. How do they expect the people acting alongside them to respond?"

Although this metaphor would be considered bad, but Kubei still felt like digging a hole and hiding underneath it.

Even though he could not see Mich.e.l.le's face under the cape, he could still feel the ridicule and overwhelming intelligence. Originally, he was grateful that the signals went unnoticed by Mich.e.l.le, but….

There was no turning back now. He said it, and now he could only grit his teeth and continued, "Uh, although you saw my signal, but you might not have cleared all of them."

Mich.e.l.le said, "No, I did not clean them, all of them are still there."

Hearing this, Kubei was shocked.

If there was no clean up, that meant the troops from the Lithur family would see them. Thus, Kubei would have the leverage he wanted in the negotiation. This was exactly the same as what he planned!

Why then? Why did Mich.e.l.le trip herself over with the stones she laid down?

Kubei was curious now, "Why? You knew that this would only harm you, right?"

A cold chuckle arose from the cloak.

However, just when Kubei thought she would explain, everything changed. Mich.e.l.le grabbed a dagger out of nowhere and pushed it towards Kubei's throat.

"Keep quiet if you still value your life!"

The blade lied closely on Kubei's skin, the chill sending s.h.i.+vers down his spine.

What the f.u.c.k was this woman doing?

If the dagger was closer by even a millimeter, there would be a bloodbath within this forest.

Kubei felt that he broke into a cold sweat in these few seconds. Although he was startled and death's cloak was near him, he forced himself to calm down.

No matter how crazy Mich.e.l.le was, she would still need him. Thus, she would never kill him off without reason. Since she told him to be quiet, something must have happened. He should stay silent and observe for now….

Suddenly, at the forest far away, there was a commotion.

Kubei instinctively withheld his breath.

A troop of strict-looking knights walked towards them slowly from the dark.

The troop consisted of approximately more than ten people, and although they were all riding horses, their formation was as neat as geometrical shapes from a mathematical equation. Every single one of them was covered with armor, their breastplate engraved with intricate designs. They looked magnificent, but also dignified.

The most amazing part was that even though the forest was dark, the armor was emitting a muted gold light. Under the holy light, these knights look like G.o.ds that descended from the heavens, compelling people to wors.h.i.+p them.

They marched with the momentum of a thousand troops with only around 10 people.

Kubei felt Mich.e.l.le's obvious tension when these knights appeared.

He could not help but be interested.

Who were these knights? Did their appearance have anything to do with Mich.e.l.le? Why was Mich.e.l.le so nervous? Unless…. they were the troops from the Lithur family?

Of course, Kubei was not stupid enough to call for help. The dagger was still under his throat, and calling for help would only hasten his death.

The knights did not notice Kubei and Mich.e.l.le, who were hiding on a tree. They looked like they were just pa.s.sing by, and as their march was quite fast, they disappeared from Kubei's view moments later. Once the knights left the vicinity, Kubei felt that Mich.e.l.le very obviously became relaxed.

After a few more minutes, Mich.e.l.le kept her dagger away.

Kubei touched his throat. The chill of the steel still lingered, and he was shaken from the encounter.

What exactly was Mich.e.l.le trying to do? Who were the knights? Also…. the question from before, why did Mich.e.l.le not erase the signals he left behind?

He had too many questions.

Before he managed to ask, Mich.e.l.le spoke, "Sir Lithur, please forgive the disrespect I've shown. I was only acting for our safety. Please relax, and I could answer your questions now."

Mich.e.l.le wiped the dagger with her sleeve and kept it safely. Then, she gazed at the direction the knight left and continued, "About your signals, it was unfortunate to say that I have no need to clean them up."

Kubei was surprised and baffled, "What do you mean?"

Mich.e.l.le was momentarily silent, and as if she remembered something, she sarcastically said, "You really thought there would be troops wanting to save you? Shame, you and Annie were cheated. There were no troops from the Lithur family. The only ones that were after us were the troop that just left."

No troops?

Kubei was stunned.

How could it be? Did the family give up on him? It was Mich.e.l.le who said again and again that there were troops from the Lithur family. Even Annie believed in her without doubt! Was everything a lie?

f.u.c.k this s.h.i.+t!

This woman planned to cheat everyone from the start. She did not even spare her accomplices! Kubei, a teleportation newbie, would of course be cheated. He wasted a whole night pondering on escape plans on these 'troops' that never existed! Uttering 'f.u.c.k' would not be sufficient to express his feelings.

Without the troops, he would be left with no choice but death!

"Wait, who are they?"

Kubei asked, as he forced himself to remain level-headed despite being in shock and fear for his life. He thought and pointed towards the direction where the knights left. The knights had left quite an impression on him.

His instincts told him that they would be his last hope.

However, Mich.e.l.le's tone of answer was strange, "They…. They are the 'Cleaners' from the church."

Kubei asked again, "Cleaners? What do they clean?"

Mich.e.l.le heard him and was silent. She then laughed shortly without reason, her voice scratchy like rusted blades rubbing against each other. She stared at the direction where the knights came, and spoke with disdain and self-deprecation.

This was her answer, "Today, they are here to cleanse Annie."