An unknown man was standing in front of Dunha with a grin on his face. Through a quick look, the man in front of her appeared to be in his late 20s with blonde hair and a clean face. He looked fairly decent, however, Dunha had a strange feeling when looking at him.
"Where are your parents?" the man asked.
Dunha then noticed the two men who were staring at them earlier entering the alleyway which would prevent her and Lily from fleeing through the back. This meant that their only exit was through the front, much to Dunha's annoyance.
"Tch, who are these people?" she thought. "!"
At that moment, a particular incident popped up in her mind.
"Perhaps..." (Dunha)
During her first life, there was a sudden increase of reports of people going missing in the capital during the mid-1760s, they were mostly children under 10. There were attempts to locate these people but they were never found.
Eventually, through the king's personal investigations, it was revealed that a criminal organization operating in the Capital's underground was responsible for the disappearances of countless children. When the organization was discovered, the king ordered a citywide hunt for anyone who was even remotely related to the criminals and disappearances and managed to arrest a dozen people.
Through intense interrogations, some of the criminals claimed that their motives were for money, however, the king was not convinced and believed it was for a different purpose. Before the king could investigate the organization any further, he was assassinated along with many of his supporting lords. The captured criminals were also found dead in their cells through unknown circumstances and as a result, the true motives for the kidnappings were left in the dark.
With this in mind, Dunha began to wonder if they were part of this organization. She internally hoped that she was wrong.
"Maybe I'm overthinking this..." Dunha thought. "But if I'm right... Then me and Lily are in a dangerous situation..."
The man then lowered himself and offered his hands to her.
"Are you lost?" he asked with concerned eyes.
"No, we're not," said Dunha. "We were just about to go meet our parents at the market."
Something inside of Dunha was screaming at her to get out of that alleyway as soon as possible.
"Oh, is that so?" said the man. "Then we'll take you there."
The two men from behind were slowly approaching the two children which caused Lily to feel uneasy.
"Dunha..." Lily whispered as she grabbed Dunha's sleeve.
"It's dangerous for two children to be walking on these streets alone," said the man.
"!" (Lily)
The man then suddenly grabbed Dunha's arm and attempted to take her towards a street that had fewer people than the plaza and marketplace.
"You kids like candy?" he asked. "There's a popular candy store over there. I'll buy you some before taking you to your parents."
"No, we can go on our own," said Dunha as she attempted to shake the man's hand.
"This is for your own safety," the man said. "You can trust me."
Dunha then felt the grip of the man's hand getting stronger which caused her wrist to hurt. However, this action caused her to sigh in relief.
"Attempting to kidnap a child in broad daylight and next to a busy market?" Dunha thought. "There's no way someone this stupid can be part of such an organization..." she chuckled.
From a distance, Dunha noticed a man wearing bluish full plate armor as he walked around the marketplace. He was a city guard who was currently patrolling the marketplace. He was also close enough to hear Dunha if she were to scream at that moment.
"Perfect timing," she thought.
Just as she was about to scream, the man screamed instead, much to her shock and confusion. The city guard also looked in Dunha's direction after hearing the man's scream.
"Ahhh!!" the man shouted.
"?!" (Dunha)
When the man grabbed Dunha's wrist, the fear in Lily's eyes instantly disappeared as she glared at the man before biting his hand very hard. At that brief moment, the man's grip was loosened which allowed Dunha to free herself from his grasp. She then quickly grabbed Lily's wrist and pulled her ahead of her before letting go.
"Run!" Dunha shouted.
The two children began to run towards the marketplace leaving the bitten man to cringe in pain from the bite. The two thugs were surprised at what they just saw and did not run after the children. Lily paused for a second to turn around and hiss at the men before fleeing.
"Shit! Get them!" the man shouted. "Don't just stand there!"
The two men nodded and ran after the children.
"Ah shit..." the man murmured as he looked at his bleeding hand.
The man's calm smile disappeared as he glared at Lily with a murderous rage.
"I'm gonna pull those f*cking teeth out of her mouth," he thought.
Just before he was about to chase after the children as well, he noticed a brown cat staring at him from on top of the roof. He assumed it was just a stray cat and proceeded to run after the children.
"..."
The cat stared at the man running off to the marketplace.
"I must inform master..." the cat thought.
The cat then vanished into thin air.
🔸🔸🔸
Dunha and Lily ran towards the marketplace in an attempt to reach the city guard who was patrolling the area. When Dunha briefly looked back, she noticed the men running after them at a fast pace.
"Crazy bastards," Dunha thought. "Are they really trying to kidnap us in front of all of these people?!"
As Dunha and Lily ran, they ran by a woman who was wearing a cloak just like the man who bumped into Dunha earlier. It was not uncommon for travelers to wear cloaks in the city but for some reason, Dunha had an odd feeling when she briefly glanced at the woman.
"Did I see her before?" Dunha wondered.
However, due to the thugs chasing after Dunha and Lily, they did not have time to wonder and quickly ran past the woman.
"We're almost there Lily!" Dunha shouted.
"Alright!" Lily shouted back.
*Crash*
From behind, Dunha heard people screaming and items breaking.
"Out of the way!" one of the men shouted as he shoved a woman to the side.
"Kya!"
Just as he pushed a woman to the side, he did not see the large table in front of him and crashed into it hard. Many of the vases on the table fell to the ground and shattered into numerous pieces, much to the potter's shock and anger.
"The hell are you doing?!" the potter angrily shouted.
Despite Dunha and Lily getting a headstart, the men were much faster than them, and one of them was nearly upon them.
"Crap, they're almost here!" Dunha thought. "Where is that guard?!"
"Heh, I got you now," one of the men murmured.
Just before the man could grab Lily or Dunha, a tall man in bluish full plate armor suddenly walked in front of him and bumped into him hard.
"Arg!"
After colliding with the armored man, the man fell backward on his rear end which caused him to groan in pain.
"Watch where you're--!"
The man shouted in anger, however, he instantly shut his mouth close as his face turned pale.
"What's going on?" the armored man asked.
In front of them was one of the members of the city guards. The other two men halted right behind the man who fell and were shocked as well.
"It's a Blue Plate!" the bitten man thought.
"Not only were you causing property damage but it appears you lots were also chasing after these two children as well," the city guard noted. "Would you care to explain what's happening?"
"Uh... Uh..." the man mumbled.
Before he could think of an excuse, Dunha approached the city guard who then noticed her. Just then, tears began to come out of her eyes as she internally smirked.
"Uu... Those scary misters suddenly grabbed us and tried to take us somewhere..." Dunha cried.
After hearing those words, the city guard glared at the thugs while the bystanders looked at them with disgust and contempt.
"Any excuses?" the city guard asked.
The city guard then threateningly walked towards the man on the ground while several more city guards began to appear after hearing the commotion. More and more people began to gather around as well out of curiosity.
"Well?"
"..."
Unable to think of any excuses, the two men who were standing nodded at each other and turned around before fleeing and leaving their comrade behind.
"I'll remember this..." the bitten man thought as he ran.
"Oi!" one of the city guards shouted.
The city guards that just arrived at the scene immediately chased after the fleeing men. The man on the ground attempted to flee as well, however, the city guard in front of him did not allow it and grabbed him. At the same time, Dunha chuckled at the scene as she watches the first city guard tying the man's wrists.
"Fufu... They aren't going to be happy when they get tried," Dunha thought.
She then felt some minor pain in her arm and when she rolled up her sleeves, she saw her arm beginning to bruise.
"Ow... The new healer should be able to fix this later," Dunha thought.
After hiding her bruise under her sleeve, she tapped Lily's shoulder.
"Lily, let's ask the blue man for help," said Dunha.
"Ok!" Lily answered enthusiastically.
When the children were about to approach the city guard who was arresting one of the men, a hand suddenly covered Dunha's mouth.
"!" (Lily)
Just as Lily noticed a hand covering Dunha's mouth, another hand covered her mouth as well. The children then heard a woman's voice.
"Shh, don't scream," the woman whispered.
Dunha attempted to break free from the woman's grasp, however, the woman was stronger than she expected.
"Let's take you girls somewhere else where there's fewer people around," the woman smiled.
Some bystanders noticed the woman grabbing the children while most of them were busy watching the city guards arrest one of the kidnappers.
"Damn it! They had another accomplice?!" Dunha wondered. "Oh no!"
"Uh, miss. What are you doing?" a nearby woman asked.
Before any of the bystanders could confront the woman, she whispered some words.
"Dehinc, ut alibi..." the woman whispered.
The woman and the children then instantly vanished, leaving behind a dark stain on the ground. The bystanders were surprised at what they just witnessed and were in a state of confusion.
"Am I going crazy or did those three just disappeared?" a bystander wondered.
"What did I just see?"
"Do not worry little ones," said the city guard. "These knaves won't harm you any..."
When the city guard turned around, the children were nowhere to be seen.
"Where did they run off to?" he wondered.
"Ser Knight! Those children just disappeared out of thin air after a hooded woman grabbed them!" someone shouted.
"She might be one of those scoundrels!" another man shouted.
The city guard noticed a dark stain on the floor and realized the woman used a magic item. He then approached another fellow city guard who just arrived at the scene.
"Alert all of the nearby stations. We have two children that just got kidnapped."
(To Be Continued...)
2021/06/29