Rescuing Hiraka part 2

Around a large, old wood house deep in the woods a few kilometers from the Nanpo village, several men were patrolling. Some in normal pirate-like clothes, and others in marines clothes.

Some men brought crates back and forth from inside the house, and they were being instructed by a sinister-looking man.

All of them seemed armed to the teeth with sabers, swords, pistols, and rifles.

Everything there screamed 'suspicious'.

A marine approaches the place but is stopped by two men, one dressed as a marine and the other as a pirate.

''Identify yourself.'' The man dressed as a pirate ordered.

''It's me, Cane. I brought the list the boss asked for.'' The marine replied. The two guards nodded, and let him pass.

After gaining passage, the marine immediately heads towards the sinister-looking man who was commanding the rest of the men.

''Boss! I brought the list you asked for!'' The marine said as he approached.

The sinister-looking man raises his eyebrows, ''So give me the list at once. What are you waiting for?'' He said with an impatient growl.

Afraid of making his boss angry, the marine quickly strips the scroll from his robes and hands it to him.

The man opens the scroll and reads the contents. After reading it, he rolls it up again and looks at the marine who brought the scroll. ''Good job. Did you check the list before bringing it in?''

''Yes sir!'' The marine readily nodded.

''Very good. You are dismissed.'' The boss replied. The marine, happy he's done a good job, turns to leave, but the moment he does, the chief quickly pulls out a pistol and shoots him in the head.

Bang!

The marine falls to the ground with a hole in his head, he died without even knowing what happened.

''Dismissed from this life, I mean. Unfortunately for you, this scroll is too important to let you out alive knowing the content.'' The boss said with a sigh and a sad expression, but the sadistic little smile on his face made it clear that he liked what he did.

The others looked at the scene as if it was something normal. All of them were pirates, including the ones who dressed as marines. They were used to having to deal with this kind of inhumane stuff almost every day. However, as much as they were used to, they still feared death deep down in their souls; no one would want to be the next scapegoat, and no one wanted to die before tasting the greatness the world has to offer.

''You two, dispose of the body in some forest ditch. We still have a lot of work to do.'' The boss ordered the two men who were closest to the body. The two quickly picked up the body and carried it into the forest.

''All right, back to work! I want to leave this place by nightfall! And watch out for the goods! They are worth more than your miserable life!'' The chief yells.

\\

In the forest, the two men carried the dead body. One took him by the legs, the other by the arms.

''Dude, did the boss really needed to kill him? He killed him just because he wanted to, I'm sure of it!'' One of them said with a sigh.

''Shut up and keep moving the damn corpse if you don't want to be the next to die, Cliff. The boss will kill for any little thing, no wonder his nickname is Devil Killer.'' The other answered him in rebuke.

Cliff shrugged, ''I'm just saying, Bob. I only got into this business because it was easy money. But being constantly at risk of death just for a few Berry? No thank you.''

The two carried the body through the forest for some time, always looking at their feet, so as not to be in danger of tripping over some root or stone.

''It's not that I didn't know about the danger, it's just that...'' As he was about to continue talking, he hears a strange noise, followed by a painful groan from his colleague.

''Hey, is everything alright man?'' He looks up, confused as to why his mate had stopped moving, only to be faced with the sight of his friend's neck having been pierced by a sharp wooden branch. Bob's eyes looked at him with a pleading cry for help as a river of blood ran down his throat.

Cliff lets go of the hands of the corpse he was carrying and falls back in fright. ''What the fuck?!''

Bob, who was choking on his blood, tried to speak. He seemed to be trying to warn his friend of something, but couldn't take it any longer, and he fell dead to the ground.

Before Cliff could get up to run in desperation, he feels an object being placed against his throat from behind and he starts to sweat cold.

From the cold, sharp feeling of the object, he knew it was a blade that was in contact with his neck. He didn't dare move a single muscle.

''One move, you die. Speak, you die. I'll ask you questions, and you'll just answer with a small nod if the answer is yes. If I have to repeat myself, you will die. Was I clear?''

Cliff hears his captor's voice who was behind him, and he couldn't help but be surprised to hear such a young, female voice. For a moment he considered fighting back, but after taking a quick look at his friend Bob, who was dead on the ground with a stake in his throat, he quickly discarded the idea and nodded.

''Good. At least you're not dumb. Those men dressed in marine clothes, are they real marines?''

Cliff didn't nod.

''I see. So they are infiltrated in the marine troops. The officer who arrived today in the marine ship, is he also involved?''

Cliff didn't nod.

''The last question, are the kids being kept in the wooden house you came from?''

Cliff noded.

''Right. thank you for your collaboration. Now you can accompany your friend to hell.''

Realizing that she wouldn't let him live, Cliff tried to escape, but in the blink of an eye, his throat is slashed by the blade.

Blood gushed from his throat and, in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding, he brought his hands to his neck and squeezed, but it was in vain. The blood didn't stop flowing and quickly his vision began to darken.

The last thing he saw after death was the image of a little blonde-haired girl with a bloodied Wakizashi in her hands slowly walking away.

\\

'Looks like I was right. It was a slave trade organization. And Hiraka is definitely inside the house. Fortunately, the marine officer is not involved. This will make things a lot easier.' Marina thought as she recapped the information she'd gotten from the pirate.

Running with silent steps, she quickly arrives at the pirate's settlement where the kidnapped children were being held captive.

Staying hidden, she begins to analyze the situation within the settlement.

'There are at least fifteen men. All heavily armed. One of them is different from the others. He's strong, but not as strong as the marine officer I saw, and he's probably the leader. I can handle the small fries, but if the strong one enters the fight, I don't stand a chance. I will have to do this silently.' She thought with a frown.

It wasn't her style to do things quietly. She preferred a head-to-head battle to the death. But with a child's body and Hiraka's life on the line, she couldn't risk it.

''All right, let's get started.'' She muttered to herself.

She runs through the vegetation and positions herself near the rear of the cabin, which was less guarded.

Of the fifteen, there were only four men in the back of the cabin. Two were doing manual labor carrying crates, and two were on guard duty.

Marina waited until the two men with crates had left, leaving only the guards. When they left, she acted.

There was a guard on the left and one on the right. Running towards the guard on the right, Marina remained in his blind spot, and by the time the man noticed her, it was too late.

With one swift movement, Marina jumps up and with a quick, clean swipe of her Wakizashi she cuts off his head.

The other guard quickly reacted to the attack, but before he could do anything, Marina grabs a knife that the decapitated pirate had at his waist and hurls it at him. The knife hits the guard in the eyeball, and the force with which Marina threw her was such that the knife penetrated his brain, causing him to drop dead instantly.

Finishing with the guards, she drags the decapitated guard along with her head and hides him in the bush. The other body, however, she decided to use to make a small trap.

She didn't have much time as the pirates who left would be back at any time, so she quickly positioned the guard's body in a lying sleeping position, covering well the bloodied face of the dead body.

That being done, with her Wakazashi in one hand, and the knife she took from the pirate in the other, she climbs the log cabin and hides on the roof, waiting for her prey to appear to take the bait.

'Before entering the house, I need to lower their numbers as much as possible. It's going to be hard to save Hiraka while I fight them.' She thought, planning her steps.

'How long have I not felt the sensation of blood on my hands and face? This makes me feel so nostalgic....' Marina smiled excitedly.