Chapter 413
Chapter 413
As soon as Edward and his bodyguards left, the tension in the air decreased significantly.
«Lady, are you planning to come to the meeting?» – Kyon asked anxiously.
«I’ll think about it later.» – Valeera replied coldly, secretly trying her best to calm down. That’s bad. She planned to use the proceeds to buy out her territory, which should have become a weighty argument at a meeting of the clans, but for forty-five million, minus the share of the rest, she would only be laughed at.
«What are we going to do, Lady Arpha?» – Bernard asked with feigned cheerfulness.
«I don’t know… Tell me, do we have any other options to sell the metal?»
The man thought for a long time, then said uncertainly: «I don’t have such connections as the black market, but I think I can sell a hundred kilograms of precious metal a month… However, this is quite risky, and the price at best will be seventy percent of the market price…»
«Too slow.» – the girl shook her head. She doesn’t have that much time left. She is already twenty, which means that the chances of becoming stronger than Lanatelle are getting less and less every day. In addition, Bernard has many other equally important duties. It is not so easy to find a replacement for such a valuable and, moreover, a trusted person.
«Then… Will you really sell the metal for fifty…?»
«We have no choice.» – Valeera said with a heavy sigh, giving the buyer a disgusted look.
An avid smile spread across Fufei’s face: «In that case…»
«Wait.» – Zosimos suddenly spoke up. – «I have an idea.»
«What is it?» – asked Valeera.
Kyon motioned everyone out the door and whispered: «Didn’t I tell you that even the dwarfs appreciated my engineering skills? They are happy to welcome me to their factory! How about trying to sell the metal to them directly?»
Valeera looked silently at Bernard, and the man cleared his throat…
However, Tymoshka was the first to speak, obviously deciding to once again put a spoke in Zosimos’ wheel: «Bullshit! The buyer said that you can work with dwarfs only through the government!»
«Dwarfs are very businesslike and independent guys. They don’t care about the government and everyone else except themselves.» – Kyon objected. – «If we offer them a good deal, they will gladly agree. Well, I will be the link.»
«You? The link?» – the guy grinned contemptuously. – «I will never believe in my life that natural-born racists will make an illegal deal with some unknown people, risking themselves! Your idea is disgusting…»
«If it doesn’t work out, we will have time to return to the market and hand over the metal.» – Kyon added.
«They’ll arrest us as soon as we get to the entrance! The dwarfs are protected by the Russells, and everyone knows about it! And we, in case you forgot, are members of an illegal organization! I close my eyes and see you come to the factory, shake hands with two familiar workers and offer a deal for half a billion! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha!» – Tymoshka laughed mockingly.
«My connections are not limited to a couple of workers. Many dwarfs respect me. In the worst case, they will get angry and kick us out, but they will definitely not incite the guards and accuse us of anything. I swear on my life, in the worst case, we will lose nothing but time.» – Zosimos confidently promised, saying all this first of all to Valeera.
«Let’s try.» – the girl agreed gloomily, forcing Tymoshka to shut the mouth that had opened, and headed for the exit. Her situation is already hopeless, so why not trust Zosimos? He had already pleased her once, maybe he would succeed this time too.
Kyon was very nervous. The fact is that any mention of firearms by dwarfs is like death. Valeera, like no one else, is familiar with a sniper rifle and a pistol, and she associates these weapons with the one she vowed to kill.
To increase the chances of success, Lovr, with the help of his subordinates, brought Gennady up to date, gave a brief instruction and explained what a risky situation he was in.
On the way to the factory, Kyon changed his torn jacket for a new one, defiantly called Gennady and asked him to be invited to visit, ostensibly to consider a major business proposal, to which he received consent.
To defuse the situation, the man told the clan members a fictional story about how he loved to be engaged in engineering since childhood, but because of his father’s insistence he was forced to become a merchant. However, the childhood pastime was not forgotten and turned into a hobby. And then one day he was lucky enough to get to the factory, where, having shown his work, he achieved recognition from an authoritative dwarf, with whom he had just called up.
The story of Zosimos was taken with skepticism. In particular, Tymoshka did not trust him, and Valeera looked darker than a cloud. They could hardly believe that the dwarfs, masters of all trades, appreciated the skills of the pot-bellied beardless bully so much that they began to consider him their brother. Dwarfs are famous for their derogatory attitude towards other races, and the powerful of this world let them get away with it, because they are the best in what they do. And now it turns out that dwarfs respect a man? It even sounds stupid! It doesn’t make any sense.
Lovr finished his story just at the entrance to the factory territory.
One gray-bearded dwarf-guard was enthusiastically telling something to a friend: «…And I pull out the pin with my teeth and push the grenade down his throat with the words: “I asked for a 9 mm wrench, not 7!” – and then boom! Bang! Brains, guts, blood all over the workshop! Eh?» – a sudden knock interrupted the narrator-dreamer.
Two dwarfs came out of the security booth. The senior guard, recognizing in the pot-bellied man the very person about whom Gennady had warned, began to carry out the instructions. With a slight bow, he said respectfully: «Hello, Mr. Zosimos and his comrades. Follow me, I’ll take you to Gennady.»
Kyon nodded briefly and followed the dwarf. Bernard and Alexander exchanged glances, Valeera bowed her head in intrigue, and Tymoshka frowned. It’s amazing who Zosimos was talking to, since the most inveterate racists in the world had organized such a polite reception for them?
The dwarves know, respect, honor, praise and even idolize Kyon, the one who opened their eyes to the wonderful highly scientific world through his students. For them, he is the hope for the great future of the dwarfs, almost a saint. However, only a few dwarfs know that Kyon is Zosimos. Therefore, the dwarf guards did not react in any way when they saw the pot-bellied man.
Five people, following their guide, went inside the factory, overcoming many layers of various security, got into the elevator, which took them to the top floor, and, walking along a long deserted corridor, found a single door to the office.
Bernard coughed a couple of times and asked uncertainly: «Zosimos, who is this Gennady? He’s not an ordinary foreman or something like that…»
«The head of the factory.» – Kyon answered with an indifferent look.
«What?! But the head of the factory is Lenny! Everyone knows this!» – the man did not believe it.
«Dwarves measure seniority not in age, but in skills. Recently, my good friend Gennady has headed the factory.» – Kyon explained in the same indifferent tone, without showing a drop of pride, although anyone in his place would brag about such connections.
Seeing on the door the sign “Head of the factory Gennady ZonZon”, the members of the Silent Horror clan lost all doubts. They opened their mouths in shock. Even Valeera widened her eyes in disbelief, frozen like a stone statue.
Who is the head of the Dantes factory? Judging only by authority, he is approximately at the level of the patriarch of the family of the 10th rank (this is without taking into account all those grandiose changes over the past year), and it turns out that an ordinary merchant is in such friendly relations with the head of the factory that he knows his frequency and can easily ask for an audience without an appointment and for a good reason?! This sounds even more absurd than the friendship of a field mouse with a royal elephant!
The guests entered the office and found a black-bearded old man sitting at the table. His proud appearance alone proved that he was in charge here – the king of the whole factory.
Noticing the guest, Gennady with a wide smile energetically trotted to the pot-bellied man and firmly shook his hand: «Oh, K… Kind of you to come, my best friend Zosimos!»
«Glad to see you, old fellow! How are things going at the factory? How is your health?»
«Everything is perfect as never before! And I am safe and sound! And are these your comrades?» – a sturdy old man asked, as if he had just noticed the others.
«Hello, Gennady!»… «My bow to the head of the factory.»… «Hello.»
«Hello, sir.» – Valeera bowed slightly.
«Heh-heh, Zosimos’ friends are my friends! Make yourself at home, guys!» – Gennady waved his hands in greeting, took out a sound transmitter and shouted into it. – «Zinochka, bring a keg of elite ale to the office! Quickly!» – then, with a conspiratorial grin, he nudged Zosimos in the side and whispered. – «What, paradoxically, a hot piece of ice this girl is! My insides are trembling! Have you found a new wife? She’s a beauty! Congratulations!»
«She’s his boss! And he is her subordinate!» – Tymoshka yelled indignantly.
Bernard also suddenly coughed awkwardly.
Valeera only crossed her arms, keeping her sharp eyes on Zosimos.
«Boss? Ah… I see, I see. So did you want to sell us metal?» – the dwarf asked, clapping his hands, he was clearly in high spirits.
Valeera frowned thoughtfully: did Zosimos mention anything about metal during the conversation over the sound transmitter? No… But then how did Gennady guess?
Kyon’s chest went cold. He hastily exclaimed in surprise: «How did you guess?!»
Gennady realized that he had made a mistake – he said too much. And how to get out of this situation? Smiling, the dwarf tapped a finger on his temple and said: «I guessed it! I’m not just anyone, but the head of the factory! I’m supposed to be smart.»
Kyon raised his eyebrows in mock amazement: «Yes, but you must be a genius to be able to connect my words three days ago that I decided to take up a black job and soon get rich, with the robbery of the Stalbers’ warehouse?!»
«Ha… Yes… Well, in my opinion, any fool will understand that this is interconnected! Well, seriously, what other offer can interest the head of the factory, except for the sale of a particularly large batch of metal? Hehe… Actually, I wasn’t completely sure, but you reassured me, you fool! A-ha-ha!» – Gena burst out with an extremely unnatural laugh, not realizing what he was talking about.
«So now you know who we are?» – Valeera summed up with deceptive calmness.
Bernard and Alexander tensed. Tymoshka took a step back.
Everyone was strained to the limit. People were in a desperate situation: one movement of Gennady, and the mighty warriors of the Russells would come here, and they were also in the center of a huge steel box-trap.