How to Raise Your Regressor

｢Ahem,｣ before Tristan could take me away, a voice echoed out from the ring.

"Samur?"

Thank God! Someone is finally here to save me!

I wanted it to be Azell, but beggars can't be choosers, right?

Now, since Samur knows that I'm in danger, all he has to do is to keep these guys occupied until the reinforcements arrive to rescue me.

It shouldn't be that hard, and I don't think that even this maniac would try pulling a joke in this situation.

"Someone you know?" Tristan asked.

｢Good afternoon, Mr. Kidnapper. I'm the R&D Head of the New Dawn Guild. Pleased to make your acquaintance.｣

What? Why is he greeting…

Ah, this must be his strategy to buy time. Now that I think about it, he did something similar with that man.

"Oh, looks like I'm talking to a big shot, hmm?" Tristan grinned.

Good, Samur has garnered his attention.

It took me 20 minutes to walk here from the Guild. Azell could probably cover this distance within a minute.

So that's how long Samur has to stall.

｢Not exactly. It hasn't been long since I took this position.｣

"That aside, how exactly are we talking?"

Seems like Tristan is interested in this ring. Good.

｢Hmm, do you know anything about the 'phone'?｣

"Of course, I do."

｢This ring is something similar to that.｣

"Really?" Tristan finally let go of my arm. "How does it work?"

｢It uses communication magic to set up a channel while simultaneously broadcasting the wearer's location. This way, both sides can talk with each other with absolutely zero latency.｣

Eh?

"Broadcast the wearer's location, eh?" Tristan grinned.

｢Oops. Haha, let's pretend you didn't hear that.｣

"Sure," Tristan said as he gripped my arm again.

With his other hand, he signalled to his companions, and together, they started to move.

Samur, you stupid fucking piece of shit! You had one job!

"N-no…" I tried to resist, but Tristan's grip tightened and he pulled me even harder.

｢And I thought we were supposed to pretend I never said that.｣

"Samur, you idiot!"

｢Glad to know you're still alive and kicking, Lecia.｣

He had one role; to keep him busy until Azell arrived! But not only did he fail at that, he also let Tristan know that reinforcements were coming for me.

This is not good. If this continues, then Tristan will…

No, all is not lost yet.

Right, maybe Samur has a plan.

"Pretending something hasn't happened is a luxury I cannot afford in my business," Tristan replied.

｢Fair enough. But the damage is done; you won't be able to get away.｣

"That's what everyone says."

｢Well, not everyone is the New Dawn Guild, is it?｣

"…"

｢Lecia is, for a lack of better term, our comrade. She has signed the contract and joined our Guild. One could even say that she's family.｣

Family…

"Your point?"

｢My point is that if you kidnap Lecia today, you will force us to make a move. We will have no choice but to track you down, retrieve Lecia and destroy you with our full might.｣

"By the time you'll get here, we will be long gone. You will never find us."

｢Funnily enough, hehehehe, that's what everyone before you said. And let's just say, we have yet to lose a single companion.｣

"Is that so?"

｢That is so. We are specialists at tracking down people like you. It'll take a day at tops to find you and everything about you. From there on, it'll be more than easy to raid your hideout, recover Lecia and bury you 60 feet under. Unless…｣

Unless?

"Unless?"

｢Unless, of course, we are the ones who give up on Lecia.｣

Huh? Give up? On me?

"Hooh… and why would you do that?"

｢Well, this is a classic hostage situation, isn't it? You kidnap someone, then you contact their family and ask for a ransom. We're willing to pay you in return for Lecia's safety, assuming that amount you as for is not ludicrous.｣

Wait, no, what is he doing?

"H-hey, Samur, what… what are you doing?"

｢Me? I'm negotiating for your release.｣

"T-then what about-"

｢Ah, don't worry about that. It's just a hypothetical situation.｣

"No-"

"I have decided," Tristan cut me off. "I want 100,000 Gold coins in exchange for her."

｢Isn't that a bit too much? I mean, I have been quite polite to you till now. I even walked you through the process of asking for ransom, so can't you give me a discount?｣

…

"Sorry, politeness doesn't pay you."

｢Hey, come on, what about just 1%?｣

"No means no."

What the hell is even happening?

Is Samur seriously haggling for my price?

｢Alright, fine. 100,000 Gold coins. Where should I send the money?｣

Wait, isn't this situation just like back then?

"You know what? I have changed my mind. I want 100,001 Gold Coins now."

What does it even matter-

｢Ah, sorry, that seriously won't be possible.｣

What?

"What?"

｢100,001 Gold Coins is just too much for us right now.｣

"It's only one Gold coin more, though?"

｢100,000 Gold Coins is all we have in our treasury. Anything more will go out my pocket and, you know, I don't like that.｣

"Okay… I guess I'll settle with 100,000 Gold coins."

｢Uh, looks like that won't be possible either.｣

"What now?"

｢We just paid out salaries and bonuses to our employees, so…｣

Is this really the time to be paying out salaries?!

"And how much do you have left?"

｢Just about 40,000.｣

"No way, that's too low. Lecia would earn way more than that."

｢How much do you think she can earn for you?｣

"About 95,000."

｢Um, yea, that's a bit too much for us. What if we pay in instalments?｣

"No, I want 100,000 Gold Coins right now. Otherwise, I'll take Lecia with me and you'll never see her again."

｢I'm truly sorry, but that amount is impossible.｣

"Then forget about it."

｢I guess we have no choice but to give up on her. Sed.｣

"You don't sound very sad."

｢I have never been good at expressing my emotions.｣

"Oi, oi, oi."

｢Hmm? Is something the matter, Lecia?｣

IS SOMETHING THE MATTER?!

"You! You are the matter! Just what the hell are you even doing?!"

｢Trying to save you, obviously.｣

"Oh yeah?! Then all you had to do was stall for time until Azell got here! Yet, you!"

｢Ah, Azell's not coming.｣

"Eh?"

Azell is not coming? He won't be here to save me?

Ahhh… don't tell me… Azell has abandoned me?

｢He's incredibly busy so I didn't notify him about your situation. That goes for everyone else as well, so right now, I'm the only one who knows that you are being kidnapped.｣

"Oof."

"No… no one knows?"

｢No one except me.｣

What the hell?