Keith felt his body tense up when he heard the kidnapper's words. He had not realized that the kidnappers could discover him and Shinzou even when they were following from far away.
Now he felt lucky that he had managed to bug Clair. He could hear everything that was being talked about between the kidnappers.
Suddenly, the man handed Clair over to his partner and dashed back toward Keith and Shinzou's location. It was too sudden but Shinzou still reacted in time and dashed away from Keith's hidden location.
The male kidnapper followed after Shinzou, not even aware of Keith's presence was hidden in the bush just adjacent to where he had passed from.
'Phew, so I did not get discovered. Was it because I do not have any mana in my body? Even people sensitive to mana cannot discover me.'
Keith was suddenly thankful for the lack of mana he possessed. He began to follow the kidnappers as soon as he could and he got close.
The female kidnapper kept on walking until she was in front of the cave. But the door was covered by a giant stone without any opening.
Suddenly, the female flared her aura and her hand disappeared into the cave. Keith approached the door as well, wondering if he should try to enter or not. But he did not get a choice when someone caught his hand the very next second and dragged into inside.
Keith was ready to fight against his would-be kidnapper when he stopped short. He was so thankful that his body did not show any reaction when he was dragged inside.
The hand that had dragged him was small and fragile-looking. Its size hid its actual strength and Clair's clear eyes looked back at Keith.
"Grandmaster, our plan was a success. Looks like we managed to find the only entrance to our suspect's home."
Clair was awake now and she rubbed her wrists to loosen her muscles. Shimi had woken up as well and she held her kidnapper down with her body. The female kidnapper had been knocked out with a single punch.
"Ahh, this feels great. Grandmaster, look. I managed to take her down in one shot. I did good, right?"
Shimi looked up at Keith with her huge eyes. Her expression and body language were begging to be praised and Keith felt his hand twitch.
eαglesnovel`c,om He did his best to control his hand and his expression. But he still decided to reward Shimi with a few words.
"You did well. Now, let us take care of the matter in front of us."
Keith quickly brushed off Shimi's expecting expression but it did not drop. Instead, she looked even happier than before at being acknowledged.
"This place looks so gloomy but bright at the same time. Do you think something fishy is going on here? Where do we even go from here?"
Shimi asked these questions in quick succession. Her mouth moved a thousand miles per minute and it made her difficult to be understood.
But Keith understood what she wanted to ask anyway.
"Let us look around for options. Inform me if you find anything of value. We shall also wait for Master Shinzou to catch up to us before we enter."
There was no need for Keith to wait for Shinzou to catch up if he had the power necessary to take care of this base. But he was currently lacking in attack power and Master Shinzou's help would be appreciated.
That was why Keith decided to pretend to look around and waste time for Shinzou to catch up to them.
Hopefully, it will not take too long.
.......
As soon as Shinzou realized what was happening, he separated himself from the group and ran away.
The kidnapper followed him, missing the place where Grandmaster was hiding. It was a testimony to how well the grandmaster had managed to hide.
'As if I would expect anything else from the Grandmaster. He proves every day why he is the greatest man alive with his wits and his power. Now, it is my turn to pull my weight.'
Shinzou led the person following him until they were both outside the village. There was no need for them to fight in a crowded place.
"Hump, you think you can run away from me? Well, think again because I have you in my grasp now."
Master Shinzou ignored the obvious taunt and turned his body. He threw an experimental punch toward the male kidnapper but the man dodged it quite easily.
Once the kidnapper stabilized himself, he looked quite full of himself. His arrogant eyes asked Shinzou if this was all he had to face.
"You have a solid foundation and a good grasp of basics. You will be a worthy student if you ever decide to join the guild."
Shinzou could not help but comment on what he saw. Whenever he saw someone worth training, he wanted to take them up and add them to his student team. It was all to make this guild grow.
Many people thought that Shinzou was a one-tracked-minded person who was most loyal to the Grandmaster but that loyalty was divided between the Grandmaster and his guild.
"As if I want to join any no-names fancy guild. I am way above your level man so give up. Even the best guild cannot handle my awesomeness."
The male kidnapper was too full of himself and Shinzou cut a lot of points for that reason.
His students needed to be humble and accept that there was more to learn in life. They could not be this arrogant and Shinzou knew he had to train this attitude out of this man as well.
It was not because this kid had insulted his guild and wounded his pride as a result. That had nothing to do with Shinzou's 'personal' feelings. It was all rather tactful.
"What is wrong? Did you suddenly realize how great I am and you decided to bow to me-"
The kidnapper had to suddenly duck and defend his life. Shinzou had not given him time to relax when he started attacking.
But the kidnapper was not inexperienced in dealing with attacks so he was able to defend himself. But despite that, it did not feel as if his life was in danger.
A jab to his ribs caused the kidnapper to lose his balance but he was able to recover, only to get punched in the face.
"You should be careful about what you say to someone. Who knows if they would turn out to be your next master or not."
Shinzou spoke calmly but his eyes flashed dangerously. And for the first time, the kidnapper felt like he was prey and the person in front of him was the predator. He did not know what he should do anymore.
"Tsk, it is not over for me yet. Let me show you why you should not underestimate me and my power."
The kidnapper yelled suddenly as he flared his aura. His mana was surging and he suddenly got ready to fire his mana shot. It was a technique he had made all on his own and it often took him off guard.
He prepared to fire it off at the arrogant man in front of him when he felt his wrist being grabbed and his mana fizzling out of existence.
Cold golden eyes looked back at him from a cold and impassive face. Heat and fire flashed across the kidnapper's vision and he was unable to breathe. It felt as if he had smoke in his lungs and the pressure around him suddenly increased as well.
"W-What do you think you are doing? Let me go right now. Hey, I said to let me go right now."
The man tried to struggle and get free but it was difficult for him to be able to pull his hand out. Especially not with how tightly the red-haired man was holding his arm.
"It looks like you still have not learned your lesson about being polite while asking for something you want. Now look at me and ask politely to let you go. Otherwise, I will be happy to snap your arm off."
"Now hurry up and call me 'Master Shinzou' and become my disciple."
The kidnapper was flustered and he tried to pull his arm back again. But no matter what he did, it seemed to be of no use.
There was only one option left for him - to do as this madman asked him to do. And although it wounded the kidnapper's pride, he decided to lower his head for the sake of his life.
"I-I am sorry, Master Shinzou. Please let me go and spare my life."
"And-"
"I will become your student and treat you with respect. I vow it on my life and my mana."
A vow was the best way to ensure someone's words were kept. If not, the person making the vow would lose their life and precious things.
The kidnapper had just surrendered his life.
