The Negotiation (1)

In a shed full of goods, a muscular, bearded man was standing in the middle with his eyes closed. At first glance you could see that he was praying, but if you came closer, you would realize that he was just with his eyes closed, apparently sleeping.

Suddenly a door was opened and a maid spoke in a loud and clear tone:

"Good evening sir, Your wife has arrived along with a man named jacob."

"Hm... Bring jacob over here, please."

"Yes sir." The maid said these words as she bent down and left the shed.

The man continued with his eyes closed as he waited for jacob to arrive....

After a few minutes, the door was opened again and jacob appeared accompanied by the same maid.

The maid signaled for jacob to follow her and the two together walked to where the man was and when they reached a reasonable distance, the maid bent down again and said:

"I am back sir, along with the man named jacob."

"Okay... You, you can leave now."

The maid nodded and walked to the door and left the shed, leaving Jacob alone with his master.

Seeing that the maid had left, Jacob looked at the man who still had his eyes closed and said:

"So, shall we negotiate?"

"Shhh! I'm not fully awake yet. When I am fully awake, we can negotiate."

"And when will you wake up?"

"Hm, I don't know... Maybe in a few seconds, minutes, hours or days. But whatever, right? It's not me who wants to negotiate, it's you, jacob voss. So to wake me up, I want to hear the offer you want to make me and if it's interesting, I'll wake up, but if it's not interesting... Well, whatever, right? So just spit it out, you heathen piece of shit."

Even with all the offenses, Jacob kept his cool, because he knew that Kant was trying to make his mind unstable.

"I want top-notch weaponry and valuable resources. Some seeds and..." As jacob was about to finish his sentence, kant interrupted him and said:

"Ah, for God's sake! What's going on? Don't tell me you've come all the way to this end of the world for seeds, some swords and food."

"No, immanuel kant, I came all this way after an ally."

"Pfffff, ally? Friend, a man's best ally is his dog, and I'm not in the mood to become anyone's dog. So the door is still open, isn't it? So bye and on your way out, tell my wife I want to fuck her tonight."

"Hm... You're at war with the Holmes family, aren't you? But it's funny to know that this war started after you had sex with the wife of the head of the Holmes family. But you know what's funnier? It's that you're losing this political war, aren't you?"

"Have you ever fought in any wars?"

"Only internal wars."

"Then you must know that for a war to end..."

"War must come to an end." Jacob completed kant's sentence for him and the same smiled and said:

"One time my comrades and I were alone against an army of demons and do you know what they did? They did what any rational man would do, they dropped their swords and started to run away. But you know what I did, I followed them and ran away with them like a good man would."

"That was pretty cowardly, don't you think?"

"Oh, please! That's called strategy and wisdom. But let me continue my story.... I ran away with them and we stopped near a pond. At that point, everyone was tired so like a good man, I drew my sword and cut everyone's head off, for the crime of treason. Soon the reinforcements arrived and found the traitors dead and me standing... I was blessed with a bravery medal that I wear to scratch my back, but you know what I learned from that?"

"That self-preservation can earn you a medal?"

"Well, that too, but I learned that a person can benefit in a war, even if they are losing.... And here we are, me talking to jacob voss, a man who will benefit me in this humble war, right?"

After he finished speaking, Kant opened his eyes and looked into jacob's eyes and spoke:

"My goodness... I had imagined you to be older, but my goodness me... I can see that even though you are young, you are someone with a lot of wisdom and a lot of coolness."

Jacob sighed tiredly because of all that talk played out and asked:

"Shall we negotiate?"

"What exactly, do you want to negotiate, jacob voss?"

"Didn't I say before?"

"I was asleep, so I didn't listen. Now tell me, what do you want from this humble man."

"Sigh..." Jacob sighed to clear his mind and began to speak:

"I want top-notch weaponry and valuable resources, such as ores and especially food."

"Hm... I'll give you that, but I want your wolf in return, how about it? Your beautiful white wolf."

"No, ask for something else."

"Okay... So I want your damn wolf or you can get the hell out of here, do you understand me?"

"Intelligence and wisdom... You seem to be lacking that in you."

Suddenly, kant started laughing and walked over to where a chair was and sat down. Just then he took a sheet of paper, pen and began to write as he spoke:

"-"I want jacob voss, to kill the head of the holmes family - In return I will give him an ally. -"I want jacob voss, kill the holmes family, including women and children - In return I will give him the armaments. -"I want jacob voss, to destroy the town where the holmes family operates - In return I will give him food and the valuable minerals."

Kant finished writing everything down on the sheet of paper and said:

"Here is your to-do list. When you finish everything, come to me so I can finish our business." He held out the sheet to jacob, signaling for him to take it.

Calmly, Jacob took the sheet and read everything that was written. After reading all the contents, jacob said coldly:

"You want me to wipe the Holmes family off the map and you want me to take all the blame, don't you?"

"Intelligence and wisdom... That's all I a man needs to survive, right?"

Hearing those words, Jacob became angry and drew his sword and pointed it at kant's throat and said:

"Intelligence and wisdom, can kill a man, did you know that?"

Kant looked coldly at the tip of the sword at his neck and replied:

"Friend, tell me, why do you want to kill me?"

"Why? It's just business... I have the power right now, so I am the one who dictates the rules and the tasks. You will give me everything I am asking for, otherwise I will kill you and destroy this city completely, do you understand me? Immanuel Kant."

"Hm, so it's just business, is it? Friend."

"Yes, it's just business."

"In that case you can kill me. Come on and kill me! That's how you do business, isn't it? But that's not how I do business. But when you kill me, please don't drag my humble body. I want it to stay still and be absorbed by mother nature."

Jacob and kant stood staring coldly into each other's eyes. It seemed that the two were in a deadly standoff. And jacob, who was getting fed up with that feeling, took the sword from kant's throat and said:

"I will kill the head of the Holmes family and you will give me everything I am asking for, do you understand me?"

"No, thank you. You can leave now, the door is still open, so you won't need to expend your energy to open it." Kant spoke as he pointed to the door.

"Sigh... You really are asking to die..." Jacob pointed the sword again at his throat, but this time he made a small puncture, hinting that he would kill kant if he didn't agree. But to jacob's misfortune, kant didn't give a damn and spoke:

"It seems that the stories about you are false.... A man who destroyed an entire city is afraid to destroy another? Come on, how many fathers have you killed? How many mothers? Children, in? And after a huge killing spree for all these months you're telling me you want to stop?!"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I want you to recognize that he who lives by the sword will die by the sword! You come to my house and you want to play the hero? Don't you want to get your hands dirty? You want to negotiate like a child? Learn Jacob Voss, THIS IS BUSINESS! You said yourself you would kill me for business, didn't you, so kill them for business! And stop being a fucking hypocrite! Friend."

Jacob listened to everything quietly and was surprised by those words.... After a few moments of staring at Kant, he took the sword from his throat and said:

"You talk just like her..."

"What?"

"Never mind... I will kill the Holmes family, but I will spare the town, because I have jobs to do and I need to sleep, are you okay with that?"

"Hm... Well, whatever, I'm okay with it."

"Great, but I need the resources and the food first."

"Buddy... I give you the arm and you're already thinking about taking the leg? That's not how business works."

Jacob was listening to everything and just as he was about to respond, he felt an extremely powerful presence behind him, along with a female voice behind him:

"Yes, big boy! That's not how business works."

Suddenly, Lucifer appeared behind Jacob just inches from his body. Sensing that presence so close, Jacob was confused that he couldn't feel his presence before, but before he could do anything, Lucifer sweetly embraced Jacob from behind and spoke into his ear:

"Jacob voss, jacob voss... I heard about you and I have to admit I'm surprised. I almost mistook you for an object, maybe because you don't have mana, right? But I like this... The smell, taste and aura of mana is disgusting to me."

Jacob began to break into a cold sweat as he heard those words. All his senses were warning that he was going to die, his body was trying to move and run away, but the fear left jacob completely paralyzed.

"How about I negotiate with you? Following your logic... Since I possess the power, you will now be mine for all eternity, otherwise I will kill you, understand? Jacob voss."

[...]

Author's note:

"Live by the sword, die by the sword" is a phrase said by Jesus during his arrest when he admonished his disciples not to resist the guards who came to arrest him.

Jacob's line, "I have jobs to do and I need to sleep" means that he could not sleep with the weight of guilt on his shoulders.