“I thought we would be going to the Selesia territory when Firana-oneesama invited me out.”
“I did plan to do so but after thinking about it again, we should wait until El is also free. Time-wise, we will also be cutting it too close to comfort if we go to my territory so you won’t have the chance to look around much. Besides, I want to see both of your reactions together.”
Firana-oneesama let out a playful wink.
I wonder what she meant by that.
Firana-oneesama is strict in a lot of situations, but she also often shows her playful side like this.
Today we’re going to a neighboring town just right next to Ridona.
As Firana-oneesama said, we couldn’t go too far since the expedition is a few days away but she said that we can reach the neighboring town in just a couple of hours.
It’s only the two of us inside the carriage, with not much people escorting the carriage.
“Hmmm, I wonder if I should have hired more escorts……”
Firana-oneesama started contemplating while we were on the way.
I also thought that there were too little people escorting us.
“Would we be fine?”
“Ahhh no, I doubt we will be in any danger. The main problem is…..”
“B-BANDITS SIGHTED!!!”
Before Firana-oneesama could even finish her sentence, the coachman’s shouting cut her off.
“See? If there is not much escort around a carriage, then bandits would usually rear their ugly heads.”
Firana-oneesama said, still in a very calm state.
“E-Ehhh!? W-What do we do!?”
“You are panicking too much. It is just mere bandits, even the escort we brought should…..”
“R-RUN AWAAYYYY!!!”
The sound of our escort could be heard, cutting off Firana-oneesama again before she could finish her sentence.
Firana-oneesama let out a long sigh.
“Haaahhhh…..This is why I cannot rely on commoners.”
While my panic level was raising more and more, Firana-oneesama still looked as calm and composed as usual.
“A-Ahhhh!! What do we do Firana-oneesama!!?”
“It is a good opportunity. Just follow my lead and do not fight back. I will tell you what to do when the time comes.”
The clammoring that could be heard from the distance got closer and closer before stopping near us, and after a few moments of silence the door opened.
“Gehehe, looks like we’ve hit the jackpot!”
One of the bandit pointed his blade at us.
“Now ladies, obediently get out and we will kindly escort you, Gahahaha!!”
Firana-oneesama didn’t say a word and simply did as told, getting up and walking out with both of her hands behind her head.
What is Firana-oneesama thinking!!?
I couldn’t imagine what Firana-oneesama had in mind but at this point acting recklessly will only result in more harm than good so I followed along and complied like Firana-oneesama.
Once we got out, they immediately tied both of us with a long coil of rope, tying our bodies together as our back was against each other.
They forced us to awkwardly walked towards the wagon a few steps away before tying both of our ankles together, making it impossible for either of us to move.
Not just that, they even pushed a piece of dirty cloth inside my mouth and Firana-oneesama too, before tying another cloth around our mouth to keep us from spitting it out.
Finally, they put us in a big sack, covering our whole body down to our feet.
Just from moving my feet a bit it was easy to tell that they tied the end of it, making it basically impossible for us to get out of our own.
“There we go, nice and cozy. You ladies never had a first-class travel experience like this right? HAHAHAHA.”
There was nothing I could do other than wait for them to bring us to wherever their base was.
Firana-oneesama didn’t seem like she’s doing anything either.
I didn’t even know how long it had been, but it should already be more than an hour since we got kidnapped.
The trip was really rocky compared to when we were on the carriage, and paired with my vision being completely blocked by the sack it was a really unpleasant experience.
No, unpleasant was not the right word…..i-it was scary.
I do trust Firana-oneesama but what can we do in this situation?
There’s most likely not going to be any help coming for us either.
My imagination started thinking worse and worse situation with each passing minute.
After what felt like forever, we finally stopped.
I could feel our bodies being lifted up by someone, though we’re still not let out of the sack.
After a while the guy that carried us finally let us down and out of the sack, while also taking off the gag on us.
The first thing that came to my sight was the iron bars in front of me, followed by the guy who carried us here.
“Now, let’s get both of you settled in.”
There was another person standing next to him, pointing his sword at us as the other guy untied us.
Our wrists and ankles were shackled to the wall, though the chain gave enough freedom for us to move around this small room.
After letting out one final chuckle, both of them got out and locked the door.
“Quite meticulous, were they not?”
The first thing Firana-oneesama said after they left was that, in her usual calm tone.
“F-Firana-oneesama, w-what are we going to do now!!?”
“Calm down Misa. Let us look around first.”
Firana-oneesama walked to the iron bars and peeked her head out, looking around outside the room.
Shouldn’t we be looking for things inside the room to help break free instead?
“Hmmm, looks like we have hit our jackpot.”
Firana-oneesama beckoned me to get closer, and as I got closer to the bars I could see several other rooms like us, some empty and some filled with girls in rags.
Most of the girls looked like they already lost hope and broken, as they gaze ahead blankly.
A-Are we going to be like that too…..?
While I was still observing the other cells, I could hear footsteps approaching us.
“Hoh? Now this is a fine pair you guys just got.”
A grizzly man full of muscles with a really intimidating face came in front of our cell.
Judging from how he looked and talked, he’s most likely the boss of this place.
“Heh, both of you will definitely fetch a high price.”
“N-No, please…..!”
I looked to my side, surprised at the voice Firana-oneesama just let out.
She was still so calm and collected just a minute ago, and now her voice was full of fear as she trembled in front of the boss.
It was a voice I’ve never heard Firana-oneesama made.
The boss smirked as he looked at Firana-oneesama’s reaction.
“Hah! Maybe I should indulge myself and keep you as a pet instead. HAHAHAHA!!!”
“EEKKKK!!!”
He redirected Firana-oneesama’s gaze to look at him directly, which in response brought out a shriek from Firana-oneesama.
I started panicking more and more.
S-Should I call Rosa and force our way out of here now!?
……
No, Firana-oneesama told me not to fight back.
B-But still, in this situation……
“Boss, our valued guest has arrived.”
Before I could come to a conclusion on what to do, another bandit in the distance called out to the boss.
Behind him was a man wearing really gaudy clothes.
At a glance I could tell that the person is most likely a noble.
“Ohhhhh! Nice nice, I got some really valuable merchandise for you today.”
The boss gave the man a warm welcome as he brought him in front of our cell.
The man looked at us with lecherous eyes before nodding to himself.
“It’s a really fine merchandise you got here, I’ll pay you good money for both of them.”
“Haha, I knew you would like them, baron Torlea.”
While I was still panicking on what to do, Firana-oneesama suddenly let out a sigh.
The fearful face she had was gone and was replaced by a chilling gaze directed to the man.
The boss noticed Firana-oneesama’s sudden change and looked at her, but in exchange Firana-oneesama only gave out a smile.
“Alright, I have heard enough. Haahhhh, I was hoping to catch a bigger fish when I saw their work ethics and base of operation, but I suppose luck is not on my side today.”
Without having the time to process what Firana-oneesama was saying, the baron suddenly punched the bandit next to him.
Is he our rescue…..no, even the baron had a face of confusion.
“So kind of you to be wearing one of my clothes. It makes things a lot easier.”
Suddenly I could hear a click from both of our shackles as they unlocked themselves mysteriously.
No, when I squint my eyes I can see thin threads moving back to Firana-oneesama.
“Misa, I will leave it to you to protect the others in here. You can do that right?”
“….! Y-Yess!”
“Good. In the meantime, I will go clean up the trash.”
I was still in a daze but Firana-oneesama’s request brought me back to reality.
So this was all part of Firana-oneesama’s plan all along!
While we were having our exchange, the boss already sent another bandit to call the others.
I could hear a lot of footsteps heading our way.
Firana-oneesama was unperturbed by it as she extended her left hand to the side, summoning the giant pair of scissors I saw before at the training ground.
She then split the scissors into two before slashing horizontally, cutting the iron bars clean.
“Hiiiiii!!!!”
A shriek came out from the baron, who even now still stood there unmoving.
Ahhhh no good, I shouldn’t get distracted!
I have my own task that Firana-oneesama gave me after all!
I called upon Rosa, and instead of having to explain the whole things to her, she came just from me calling her name.
She let out a sigh as soon as she arrived.
“I was wondering when you would call me.”
“T-That, well, Firana-oneesama told me to…..”
“It’s fine, though I did plan to step in in case it got dangerous. It wouldn’t be funny if my contractor died from a simple kidnapping.”
Rosa summoned a wall of thorny vines using my mana, protecting all the other girls that’re in this place.
It took a decent amount of my mana but I still had more than enough to spare.
“This much should be enough.”
I couldn’t see all the cells since I was still inside but I trusted that Rosa already covered everyone.
I turned my attention back to Firana-oneesama with the intention of helping her but……
“Y-YOU MONSTER!!!”
One of the bandit screamed out as he swung his sword to Firana-oneesama from behind.
It looked like it was going to hit Firana-oneesama but her body suddenly moved in a really unnatural way and dodged the slash, before delivering a slash of her own from an unbelievable angle.
Another two approached her, swinging at her together seemingly from a blindspot created by the awkward positioning but Firana-oneesama once again bent her body in a really unnatural way and dodged them without an issue.
That exchange continued with every bandit that approached her as her body kept on moving like it was controlled by something, and soon enough the only ones left was Firana-oneesama and the bandit boss.
The bandit boss was holding a really huge axe leaned on his shoulder, he looked at Firana-oneesama with cautious eyes.
“Hmmmm, since I am feeling generous today, will you give up? I promise I will not take your life if you do.”
“HAH, as if. You’re already out of breath from fighting those other guys, you’re probably at your limit right? I should be the one asking you, if you go back to your cell now I might just turn a blind eye from this and let you live. Of course after ravaging your body and turning you into my loyal pet HAHAHAHA.”
He swung his axe to the ground as if to prove a point, as the ground shattered from his simple swing.
Firana-oneesama only let out a sigh and didn’t even look at him, as she walked back to me without a concern in the world, turning her back against him.
Ehhh? Is Firana-oneesama really going to…..
“Misa, what are you dawdling around for? It is time for us to go.”
She casually said that as if the bandit boss wasn’t even there, her breath still quite unstable.
Whether it was her plan or not, the bandit boss got angry and stepped forward, quickly closing the gap before delivering an overhead swing.
Just like before, without even looking at him Firana-oneesama’s hand swung in an unnatural speed, the blade of the scissor aiming for his heart.
The bandit boss was more skilled than the other bandits, as he managed to step to the side and changed the momentum to deliver a horizontal swing instead.
Still, Firana-oneesama’s other hand casually aimed at his heart again even when her body looked like it completely lost balance from the first swing.
Probably from surprise of the really unnatural movement, the bandit boss reacted late and Firana-oneesama’s scissor managed to dig into his chest, and though the wound was not deep cause he backstepped at the last moment Firana-oneesama’s hand that delivered the first swing quickly followed with another horizontal swing, this time cutting him through all those muscles cleanly in two.
After the bandit boss went down, Firana-oneesama got back standing like normal with her breathing completely calm as if the previous ragged breathing was a lie.
“Firana-oneesama…..”
“You should learn from this Misa. Carelessness is the deadliest killer. He could have put up more of a fight if he had been wary of me from the start, but since he saw me breathing heavily like that, he underestimated me quite a lot, thinking he could get away with only incapacitating me. Well, even if he was serious from the start, I doubt he could even put a scratch on my clothes.”
So it was indeed a lie.
But more importantly…..
“Firana-oneesama, so cool……”
“This much is nothing. Besides, the opponents this time were a good pair for me.”
She then glanced back at the baron, who was still standing where he was before.
He let out another shriek as his gaze met Firana-oneesama’s.
“Now baron Torlea, was it? I hope you do not mind but your knights got caught up in the mix. Well, they ran swinging their weapons at me so it was not my fault that they got killed.”
“HIIIEEEE!!!?”
True enough, as I looked at the pile of bodies where most of the bandits fell, there were some in metal armors mixed in it.
“Now, I am still feeling quite generous since the previous guy rejected my offer. Will you tell me if there were any other nobles involved in this slave trafficking? Trading slaves is quite a common courtesy to scummy nobles like you after all.”
“T-That…..”
“Ohhh dear, from your reaction it seems that there are indeed. Will you tell me their names?”
“I-I cannot……”
“My, then I suppose you are of no use to me anymore. Please greet the other bandits I had killed for me, it was quite rude of me but I did not give them proper greeting after all, even after they went out of their way to provide a first-class travel experience like that.”
“HIIIIII!! P-P-PLEASE DON’T KILL ME, I’LL TALK I’LL TALLKKK!!!!!!”
It seemed like that was enough to break him, as he started spilling out names left and right, all of it was a blur to me since I didn’t know any of those names.
Firana-oneesama stopped him midsentence and gave him a piece of paper and a pen without saying anything else, though it was obvious enough what she wanted him to do.
He started shakily writing names one after another, It turned out quite messy from all the shakings but it was still plenty readable enough.
“Good. Like I promised I will not kill you, though I still have to turn you over to the authorities. Ahhh, but rather than that, you should turn yourself in instead. It would save me a lot of trouble if you do so.”
His body got lifted into the air by the arms from seemingly nothing.
“And do not even think about running away, I can control you after all. Ahhhh, do not speak of my name either when you turn yourself in.”
He let out another shriek and started nodding as if his life was depended on it.
“Good. You can have a nice long rest at this cell.”
She pointed at the cell we were on, which bars had been cut by Firana-oneesama before.
He desperately rushed inside and even shackled himself without even being told to.
I guess Firana-oneesama etched the fear into him that deeply……
“Now Misa, please get rid of the thorny vines that are covering the others. We need to gather everyone here after all.”
Rosa who had been next to me this whole time looked at me, and as I gave her a nod she nodded back and got rid of all the vines she summoned.
Still, it seemed like nothing escaped her eyes.
“Ohhh dear, is Rosa-sama there? My apologies in getting Misa caught up in this, but I figured it was a good opportunity to clean up some trashes while we had the chance.”
“There is nothing to apologize for. In the end you both were never in any danger and I even got to see something interesting.”
Rosa who I presumed had been hiding her presence from Firana-oneesama replied back to her.
“It is my pleasure.”
“I cannot watch over Misa all the time without staying next to her, but with someone like you around her then I can rest a bit more easily.”
“Ohhh my, it is an honor to be trusted with a great high rank spirit like yourself.”
Just as we were talking, the other girls who I had been protecting started to peek over at us from their cells.
“It seems you have everything under control now so I will take my leave again.”
“Yes Rosa-sama. Thank you kindly for granting your presence for such a small scuffle.”
“You sure have ways with words. Misa, call upon me again anytime.”
Rosa then disappeared into thin air as usual, leaving only the two of us.
Well, the two of us and all the other prisoners, plus the captured baron.
Firana-oneesama simply stood still without saying anything after, and just as I was about to call out to her I could hear clicks all over the room.
“There, all the occupied rooms should be unlocked now, both the shackles and the door. Can you please check them for me Misa? I will see our food situation and check out the area.”
“Y-Yess!”
We split up and I started checking every cells in the corridor.
As I opened the doors and checked on all the girls, a lot of them were thanking me vigorously, and some even broke down in tears probably from a mix of joy and relief.
Still, there were 3 girls who only looked at me lifelessly, not giving any reaction.
They’re definitely alive, but it seemed like their will was completely broken by the bandits way before we arrived here.
It’s too bad but there’s nothing I can do for them, hopefully they can gain back their will to live once we get back to town.
I told everyone to follow me, of course the 3 girls included, a task that was easier than I thought as they listened to my words and did what I told.
After climbing the set of stairs, I could see Firana-oneesama sitting on a rock that’s been smoothed out like a chair.
“…..12, 13, so there are 15 of them huh? All of you, eat up and rest well. We will escort all of you back to Ridona tomorrow.”
Firana-oneesama pointed to a door before leaving us and going outside.
I immediately chased after her.
As I stepped outside, I realized it was already night.
I didn’t know how far into the night but it was really dark outside.
I guess that trip was longer than I thought, the sun was basically right above us when we were taken by the bandits.
Firana-oneesama noticed I was getting close to her.
“Misa? You should go and rest too.”
“N-No, I am still fine. M-More importantly, are you okay Firana-oneesama?”
She did deal with all the bandits on her own, I was worried that she was hiding her fatigue.
“Ohhh my, are you worried about me? This much is still nothing, though I suppose my muscles are feeling quite sore. Thank you for worrying about me Misa.”
“N-Noo, if there’s anything else I can do to help…..”
“Hmmmm, do you still have enough mana to build those wall of thorny vines at the entrance?”
I thought she was about to decline my offer but after looking at me for a few seconds, she asked me so.
“Y-Yes! I still have some mana to spare!”
“Good, then let us get back inside.”
We got back inside and I summoned walls of vines at the entrance, with the ones facing outside being full of thorns while the ones inside weren’t as to not hurt anyone in case some of the girls got curious.
Rosa also did this when she summoned those vines to protect the girls, and it didn’t seem like any of them were harm by the thorns so it should be all good.
“Thank you Misa, you have done well.”
Firana-oneesama patted my head gently.
I was really glad to not be a burden and actually be of use to Firana-oneesama.
It brought me more joy than I thought, to the point where tears started falling from my eyes.
Firana-oneesama didn’t say anything further and simply hugged me, with one of her hand gently brushing my head.
Maybe it was because I was feeling more tense than I thought but Firana-oneesama’s warm embrace and gentle brushing brought me to such an ease that before I realized, I fell asleep under that warm embrace.
YAY
Mhhhm mmm.
Idc if I dont remember the characters anymore lol
But wb mate
A new years miracle!
Ty for the chapter
Good to have you back ~
welcome back
glad to be back~~
Finally, after a long wait
ahaha, very glad to know there are people still sticking around and looking forward to CWP after this long~
Welcome back
thank you~ having someone welcoming me back feels nicer than i thought