Chapter 46
In an instant, I was trapped in complete darkness.
Startled, I reached out with my hands and felt around.
What my fingertips touched felt like thin cloth.
And whenever I moved my body, the surface around me sank inward.
From that, it was clear that the thing wrapping around me and the child was a sack or a large bag.
The moment I realized that—
“Ahhh!”
“Uah!”
Suddenly, our bodies were lifted into the air.
The sudden movement made me lose my balance, and I fell right on top of the child.
While I struggled to regain my senses in the darkness and tried to get up, I heard heavy footsteps and rough breathing.
It sounded like someone was carrying us and running.
My heart pounded wildly, and my breathing grew fast.
I wanted to shout for help, but the child and I were pressed together like a sandwich, and the pressure on my stomach prevented any sound from coming out.
“Mmgh…”
It seemed the child was in the same situation.
Inside the sack, we both struggled and squirmed, trying somehow to regain our balance.
Just then—
“Hey! What happened?”
A rough male voice shouted from somewhere a little far away.
“I lost that kid from before. But instead, I caught two girls…”
Another voice cut through the darkness.
“Girls? The people over there wanted boys!”
“What could I do? The kids didn’t fall for the trick you came up with. I barely managed to catch these two when no one was looking!”
“Did you at least put them to sleep?”
“There wasn’t time for that.”
“Damn it!”
With the man’s curse, the sack shook violently.
“Ugh…!”
“Ah!”
Our bodies crashed together again, and painful groans escaped from both of us.
“They’re really awake! Hey, hurry and untie the sack. We need to knock them out before taking them.”
“O-Okay, wait.”
Soon, something hard touched my hips and legs.
It seemed they had placed the sack on the ground.
And I realized this was my chance.
I couldn’t use my ability right now.
I still couldn’t control it properly, and with the child pressed against me, it would be too dangerous.
So there was only one thing I could do.
“Help! These people kidnapped two children!”
I had to shout for help.
If I screamed as loudly as I could, maybe someone would hear and come to help.
And if I managed to escape from this sack… with my ability…!
I might not be able to handle both of them, but at least I could deal with one.
“Damn it! Shut them up!”
“H-How?!”
“Just do something!”
“Fine…!”
The kidnappers’ voices became hurried, and suddenly something heavy pressed down on our bodies.
“Ugh…!”
“Ahh!”
Just then, a small gap opened above my head, and a faint light slipped inside.
And then—
“Ugh…!”
A sharp, choking smell I had never experienced before pierced my nose.
It was so strong that tears instantly filled my eyes.
My eyelids slowly began to close, and my mind grew foggy.
Even continuing my thoughts became difficult.
Even as strength slowly left my body, I forced my lips to move.
“H-help…”
“…You should have done it properly… how are we supposed to handle this now… I can’t take responsibility…”
“No, you told me to do it… I can’t do this alone… first…”
“That won’t work… you need to handle it first, and later…”
“You bastard!”
Bang!
A loud crashing noise and a man’s shout made my eyes snap open.
My vision was still blurry as I looked around.
Where… is this?
The place around me was bleak and gray on all sides.
Ah… right. I was kidnapped.
Only after my vision cleared little by little could I understand the situation.
It seemed I had been brought here and locked up after being kidnapped.
“Ugh…”
My hands were tied behind my back, and lying on the hard floor for so long made my waist and shoulders ache.
Wait… where is the child who was taken with me?
I wriggled my body to check.
But with both my hands and feet tied, even turning over was difficult.
“Ghh…”
Trying to keep my voice quiet, I gathered strength throughout my body.
After several attempts, I finally managed to roll over.
Thankfully, the child I was looking for was lying on the other side, sleeping deeply.
“Haa…”
A sigh of relief escaped from my lips when I confirmed the child was safe.
Now I needed to figure out where we were and why we had been kidnapped.
I rolled my eyes around, carefully examining the place where we were locked.
There were no iron bars, so it didn’t seem like a prison.
The door was made of half-rotten wood, and the window was tightly shut.
If I weren’t in a child’s body, I might have been able to break that door down…
I moved my fingers and felt the thing binding my hands.
It was a rough, thick rope.
I might be able to burn this with my ability…
The problem was whether I could control it precisely enough to burn only the rope.
Let’s try.
I lightly grabbed the end of the rope with my fingers and carefully focused my ability.
Very small. Very weak.
Crackle.
But maybe I used more power than I intended.
A fairly loud sound came out.
Startled, I accidentally dropped the rope.
As I twisted my wrists and wriggled my body to grab it again—
Thud!
The door suddenly opened with a heavy sound, and voices erupted outside.
I immediately froze and closed my eyes.
“So you caught girls instead?”
“Yes, boss. This idiot panicked and just…”
“We didn’t have a choice. The kids were too fast…”
“Sigh… I told you girls are useless.”
With the woman’s voice, the old wooden door creaked open.
The sound of the rusty hinges was eerie.
Several footsteps entered the room.
Then the sharp clicking of high heels stopped right in front of me.
“These kids are all too young… wait, isn’t this one a noble?”
“Huh?”
They’re talking about me.
As soon as the woman spoke in surprise, several footsteps gathered around me.
“Look at her clothes and what she’s wearing! None of this looks ordinary. My goodness… how much are these jewels worth?”
The woman exclaimed again and began touching the dress I was wearing.
Her touch was so unpleasant that I almost frowned.
“S-She didn’t look like a noble child. There were no servants around, and we caught her while she was playing with that kid.”
It sounded like the kidnapper who had been carrying me in the sack.
Just from his voice he seemed slow-witted… and apparently he really was.
“Really? Maybe she’s the daughter of some newly rich family?”
“Probably. If she were a noble, they wouldn’t let their child run around outside alone.”
You’re completely wrong, idiot.
I never ran around the streets with other kids. I was only alone for a moment when Elly went into the workshop—
Ah, Elly!
She must be extremely worried because I suddenly disappeared.
What if she gets punished because of me?
“Boss, what should we do with these girls?”
“First, ask those guys if girls are acceptable. If not, we’ll squeeze some money from this kid’s parents.”
“B-But how are we supposed to find her parents…”
“That’s your problem, you idiot!”
The sudden shout made my shoulders tremble slightly.
But since they kept talking among themselves, they probably didn’t notice.
“Percy, tomorrow morning go back to that street and see if anyone recognizes this girl. Jason, check the wealthy families around here and see if anyone has a child that looks like her.”
“Yes, boss.”
“Understood.”
“Alright, let’s go. If we stay any longer, these brats might wake up.”
After talking for a long time in front of us, the kidnappers finally left.
First the wooden door of the room we were locked in closed.
Then another heavy door outside slammed shut with a loud thud.
Only then could I relax my tense shoulders.
“Haa…”
“Hic… sniff…”
And when I heard a faint sobbing sound, my eyes flew open.
