Sister Rescue Operation (1)
I pulled out the golden orb to track the fleeing slave trader’s location, then headed straight for the wagon and snatched up a rope fitted with a hook. The fake trader was already moving somewhere aboard his carriage. I slipped out of the slave district and sprinted after the scenery I had glimpsed through the orb, running as if my life depended on it. Before long I spotted the carriage halted amid a crowd crossing the street. I rushed forward before it could pull away again.
I spun the hook in a fast circle and hurled it at the carriage. Whoosh— Clang! The iron hook caught perfectly on a ring at the rear. I yanked the rope taut and wrapped it around the thick trunk of a roadside tree, tying a rock-solid knot. Only then did I look back at the carriage. The two horses strained forward but couldn’t budge an inch.
The fake slave trader must have sensed something was wrong; he poked his head out the window and peered behind him. “Where do you think you’re going?” I stepped in front of him and flashed a wide grin. He recoiled as if he’d seen a ghost. “H-how?!”
“Get out.” I grabbed him by the collar, dragged him from the carriage, and glanced inside. Two money bags sat on the seat—thank goodness. As I reached for them, the driver came charging with a drawn knife.
“Who the hell are you!”
I was about to throw a shuriken when yesterday’s missed throw at Chen’s subordinate flashed through my mind. Would I fail again? A flicker of hesitation passed, but I remembered yesterday’s lesson and hurled the weapon with swift confidence.
“Argh!” I’d aimed for the thigh. The shuriken sank deep into the driver’s leg and dropped him. Perfect. I allowed myself a satisfied inner smile, snatched one money bag in my free hand, and kept the fake trader’s collar firmly in the other as I dragged him into the nearest alley.
Disturbances like this were apparently routine here; the pedestrians only glanced over before continuing on their way, showing no real interest. Once inside the alley I paused to think. How should I scare this bastard? Any self-respecting thief would have pondered the same question while intimidating people. The simplest and most surprisingly effective method was to be utterly merciless.
“Swindling customers? That’s low.” I slammed him hard onto the ground. The fake trader screamed as he tumbled, then tried to scramble up. I stepped forward and stomped down on his ankle with every ounce of strength I possessed.
“Aaaargh!” He clutched his ankle and rolled in agony. I crouched beside him, seized his collar again, and hauled his upper body upright. Then, with ice-cold eyes, I drew my dagger and pressed the blade lightly against his throat. His eyes widened in terror.
“I-I was wrong! I only did it to survive! P-please, spare my life at least!”
“Shut your mouth. Where are the kids?”
“K-kids?”
“Memory failing you?” I scraped the blade gently under his chin like a razor. His face drained of all color. “I-I remember! I remember!”
“Where did you stash them?”
“B-but you already found the money, so the kids don’t matter any—”
That money I found through my own hard work, not because you returned it. I’m taking payment for my trouble, you idiot. Since he was still spouting nonsense, I drove the dagger into his right buttock.
“Aaaargh!”
“Talk before I do something worse.”
“It hurts! My ass hurts so much!” The fake trader’s face twisted in agony until it looked positively rotten. I slapped him hard to snap him out of it. Only then did his eyes fly open wide.
“Speak before I stab you again.”
“Th-there! Over there! That’s where I took them!” His trembling finger pointed toward the most luxurious mansion visible beyond the alley in the distance.
“Why there?”
“W-we pretend to sell slaves while secretly diverting them! After we’re done using the ones we list as fake merchandise, we send them back to the original prison. That’s the prison right there!”
“So that’s how you’ve been running your scam all this time? If you’re lying, I’ll be back.”
“It’s the truth! Would I lie when my life is on the line?!” He was sobbing now, so I gave a small chuckle, released his collar, and stood. I stared silently at the distant mansion.
“Hmm…”
Adelia had been stripped of her weapons and bound tightly with ropes before being dragged into Elchapo’s office.
“Oh ho! And who might this beautiful lady be? Could it possibly be the renowned commander of the Lion Heart Unit, Lady Adelia herself? What brings someone of your stature to my humble abode in such an… embarrassing state?”
Elchapo could barely contain his excitement and prattled on by himself. Adelia glared at him with pure fury. “Release these ropes at once! If you don’t, my unit will not let you live!”
“My, my, how frightening. Truly terrifying.” Elchapo snorted. “It seems the wench still doesn’t understand her position.” He flicked his fingers, and a subordinate kicked the back of her knee, forcing her to the floor.
“Ugh!”
Elchapo stuck a cigarette between his lips and cackled. “A knight kneeling before me—what an honor.” He took a long drag, exhaled a plume of smoke, and continued. “Tell me, Lion Heart commander. Are you aware how much the bounty on your head—and those of the other unit commanders from the Wittensbach Knight Order—is among the major players in the southern underworld? A full forty thousand veni. Forty thousand. And it’s likely to climb even higher.”
Elchapo’s cheeks twitched with glee. “Did you really think we’d tremble because you came to crush our criminal syndicates? It’s the opposite. Of course, we were initially overwhelmed and swept away like fallen leaves, but things are different now. Everyone is obsessed with capturing you. Before you arrived we spent our days cursing one another and fighting over whose organization was superior. But those fools have changed. They’ve banded together to survive. Unity. True unity.”
He kept talking. “Did you think I planned this capture operation alone? If it had been only me, kidnapping a marquis’s daughter would have been far too heavy a burden. I wouldn’t have even attempted it. I know my limits; my guts aren’t swollen enough for that. But when every organization in Nobern pools its strength, the story changes. Do you understand? They all worked together to lure you here. The plan was simple on the surface, yet it required the cooperation of countless groups—a truly grand scheme.”
His smile grew even wider as he faced Adelia’s contemptuous gaze. “Shall I tell you something truly shocking?” The corners of his mouth curled upward. “Wonderful news arrived yesterday. The criminal organizations operating in Kenburk territory annihilated the Wittensbach Knight Order’s Kingsguard unit that had been dispatched there—and they took the head of their commander, Angelina Schwalichi.”
Adelia’s eyes flew wide, then she screamed in anguish. “Lies! Stop lying!”
Angelina, commander of the Kingsguard, had been both her senior and a close friend she treated like a sister. The idea that such an upright, powerful woman could fall to these thieves was impossible to accept. If it were true, the shock was enough to drain every ounce of strength from her body.
“You’ll soon follow that bitch. Whether she’s truly dead or not, you can confirm it for yourself once you reach heaven. Right? Hahaha. Did you think the ancient trees that have stood in this land for generations would tremble from a mere breeze blowing in from the capital? Don’t make me laugh. Uhuhuhahaha.”
Adelia ground her teeth at the miserable reality and lowered her head.
How… how did I end up like this with these bastards…!
It seemed the resentment she felt after losing to that foreign youth had kept her from watching her surroundings carefully—the fatal mistake. She regretted it, but it was already too late.
After laughing his fill, Elchapo gave orders to his subordinates. “The leaders of every organization will visit this evening to decide the wench’s fate. Lock her in the prison until then.”
“Yes, sir!”
“…Do I really have to go in?” I stood with Marcus beside the largest and most luxurious mansion in the entire Albirose Refugee Camp, our wagon parked nearby, hesitating.
“The security looks extremely tight…”
“Scared?” Marcus asked.
“It’s not that I’m scared, it’s just…”
“Earlier you were talking so heroically about getting the kids back. Where did all that bravado disappear to? Did you leave it at home?”
Marcus’s sarcastic jab stung. But there were things a person could do and things they couldn’t. The mansion before us looked exactly like the lavish estates mafia bosses lived in within movies. How was a novice like me supposed to infiltrate a place where armed subordinates might burst out shooting at any moment?
“Now that I think about it, I only met the kids today, and I already recovered the lost money, so… haha…”
“Shut up and get ready, you idiot. This isn’t for the sake of rescuing those children. I feel no affection for them and have no duty to save them. I’m doing this solely for you.”
Marcus clasped his hands behind his back as he surveyed the mansion. “Where else could you find such an excellent practical training tool? To rise from a mere thief to a true assassin, you must be able to slip in and out of a heavily guarded mansion like this as if it were your own home—without a soul noticing. That’s why I’m making you do this. To develop that ability.”
“But starting with a place like this from the very first lesson feels like the difficulty level is completely insane. We should progress step by step, yet this is like facing the final boss right away.”
“The hourglass given to this old man is steadily running out. If I take my time teaching you one thing at a time, will I even be alive long enough for you to learn everything?”
In other words, his age meant his health could fail at any moment. Hearing that, I couldn’t stay still any longer.
“Fine, fine. I’m going.”
Grumbling, I walked to the back of the wagon and began equipping the infiltration tools and hidden weapons I had bought earlier, one piece at a time.