kidnapping part 2

The silence continued as we walked through the night.

After everything we'd been through, this girl was still sassy. It wasn't an exaggeration to say I already hated her, but I had a job to do.

"I understand what you're saying," she raised an eyebrow at that.

"The truth is, you probably don't need to know how to read. I'm sure someone can do it for you."

"That's what I was telling my father. I don't need a stupid tutor or anything. I just need the sword..."

"I'm sure you'll become a great swordswoman, but even Ghislaine struggled in her adventuring days because she couldn't do math or read."

"Even Ghislaine?" Did he really think a Brolic woman could do anything?

"Yes, even Ghislaine. In fact, that's another reason I'm here. I'm also supposed to teach her how to read and write and... Magic, of course." Eris's attention perked up a bit.

"Magic? What would I need it for?"

"Well, it never hurts to be able to light a fire or make water for drinking whenever you want." She didn't seem too interested in that aspect.

"You want to be an adventurer or something when you grow up, right?"

Her eyes widened. "Yeah, I do, but it's not like Mom or Dad would let me..."

"I'm sure Philip would let you if you convinced him." For starters, it's not proper for a noblewoman to practice swordsmanship, so maybe that's what she's after.

I knew it was true, but from the look on Eris's face, I could tell it wasn't. Instead, she seemed almost to be arranging things for her.

"You're going to make a good adventurer. But I'm sure there'll come a time when you need to know how to read or do some math. Otherwise, you'll be eating monster dung in the middle of nowhere."

You'd think that after hearing that, the girl would be stunned, but instead, I seemed to only pique her interest.

"By the way, Ghislaine told me that story." The girl smiled even more excitedly...

Shit.

We remained silent for a while until she spoke again.

"Thanks for before." She didn't meet my eyes when I looked at her.

"Before?" What? When I was blocking her blows or something? It was just my attempt to avoid brain damage at eight years old.

"That whole being an adventurer thing." She was unusually quiet.

"No one's said anything like that. Not even Ghislaine." She shifted nervously, almost as if she were uncomfortable standing there.

"Th-that, thanks."

I nodded with a dignified look; this was progress, or so I hoped.

"Stop looking at me like that... I'm going to hit you!" And she was back to her usual self. Goodbye to the pleasant moment, and I was even planning to relax with her.

"...Let's go find a place to stay. I'll take care of the money."

"Hmm, sure." With a look of surprise, Eris followed me.

Finding accommodations wasn't that difficult.

The difficult part, however, was the beds. Or, I suppose, the makeshift straw mats they casually called beds.

By the time I woke up, Eris was still sitting up, fidgeting.

She didn't seem to have slept much, but neither had I.

My body couldn't handle little sleep. I was a growing child, so any sleep I could get was more than welcome, and I liked sleeping, so now I probably look like a raccoon.

We set off without delay, shortly after I woke up.

At one point, a pair of hooded riders rode past our carriage. Otherwise, a couple of hours passed without incident.

When we arrived in Roa early in the morning,

Apparently, my calculation of the travel time was wrong.

My calculation of a couple of hours literally meant two.

So we arrived in Roa just before dawn.

That's when he appeared before us.

He was carrying a flashlight and looked particularly suspicious.

It was Thomas, the mansion's butler.

In retrospect, it was so painfully obvious that I slapped myself in the face for how stupid I was.

"They're from the mansion! I knew they were there!"

They were watching us from the shadows of the alleys adjacent to the street we were standing on, waiting for their chance to attack.

They were terrible at hiding, if I do say so myself.

Eris started running toward the man with a sigh of relief, and I followed her as I began to gather mana in my hands.

Eris followed me, but before I could say anything, she was picked up and whisked away in a split second.

I looked back just in time to see her red hair fly off into an alley.

Needless to say, I chased her.

When I reached her, I could see the backs of the two men clearly.

Eris was perched on one of her shoulders as they fled.

This was the part I'd been waiting for. Everything depended on this. They turned a corner, and I followed them. By the time I reached the corner, they were closer than before.

It seemed like Eris wasn't making their job any easier than necessary.

That's Good. It made my task much easier.

I shot magic through my legs as I forced the formation of an earth wall in front of them.

The two of them stopped abruptly.

They looked around for a moment. An angry tone permeated their voices as they turned to face me.

"What's wrong, brat?! You could have gone home if you'd stayed here!" The long-haired man glared at me as he drew his sword.

"Let me go..." She covered her mouth before she could finish yelling. It seemed she intended to keep her promise even now. Though, honestly, I wouldn't mind if she yelled in this situation.

Ghislaine would come running if she did, and I wouldn't have to get my hands dirty, but it was a good sign that she decided to trust me.

The man holding her drew his sword and shoved it in her face.

An open threat I had no intention of carrying out.

"Let go of the girl." With my open hand, I formed a ball of fire. One I fully intended to throw into the air as soon as I thought the time was right.

"I can't do that," said a voice behind him. It was Thomas, the butler.

"Who would have guessed the guy was working for the bad guys all along?" I said mockingly.

"Little Lady Eris needs to go somewhere for me," the man said. The look in his eyes was definitely sinister.

He had a cocky grin, like he had it all figured out. Something about it made me want to punch him.

"You seem to be better with magic than I thought. How about you join us? We'll give you a cut. Surely a clever kid like you knows what money is. If you're a kid, that is, and not a halfling pretending to be one. People always look down on you, so a little money never hurts, right?" He looked desperate. I guess I could understand why.

They were on their way to a big payday, and they weren't running away right now because a kid pointed a fireball at them.

They were getting nervous. It wasn't long before sunrise.

"A tempting offer." There was only one option for me.

"That girl has only given me trouble since I started working at the mansion. She'll only give you trouble after you become her guardian." Thomas clearly had some sort of revenge he wanted to settle. I honestly couldn't blame him. This girl would probably make me go bald, but I wouldn't be with her forever.

"If you understand, you should slowly raise your hand." The man in front of me kept waving his sword around. He was trying to defuse the situation so he could take me down. I'd seen that look in his eyes a hundred times.

"Yes..." I slowly raised my hand.

"I understand there are things money can't fix."

"Stop this nonsense!"

"It's not nonsense." I looked him in the eye.

"What?!" He was already furious. It wouldn't be long before he was pouncing on me.

"No amount of money will stop me from killing all of you bastards!"

"Huh?!"

Without another word, I launched the fireball I was holding into the sky.

I catapulted it over the rooftops, and it exploded in a burst of color.

It served as a distraction and a warning to Ghislaine.

Still, the main objective was to blind everyone in the area.

I, however, was ready. I started running toward the two swordsmen.

I shouldn't hold back. I had a hostage I had to save, no matter what.

One I wouldn't mind killing to escape danger.

"Not so fast!" I exclaimed. The man who had been speaking to me was the first to react. He was still too slow.

I only used two Earth Spears… That was all it took. I placed them right under the two men, and a second later, earth erupted from the ground like spears.

The next moment, the two men were impaled while I kept Eris from falling to the ground. I looked back and saw them.

They were dead...this was the first time I'd done it, but I'd always believed in killing those who deserved it, even in my old world. Maybe that's why I isolated myself so much...

"Are you okay?" I looked at Eris. Her face was still fascinated by the sky, and then she looked into my eyes and blushed slightly.

"I-I'm okay," she pulled away from me. We were safe now, so I guess it was to be expected.

"W-what?" Thomas, however, seemed speechless as he stumbled back, falling to the ground behind him.

A moment later, I heard a loud thud behind us.

It was Ghislaine. She arrived faster than I expected.

"Ghislaine! Ghislaine!" Eris ran toward her as fast as she could. All the energy she had yesterday returned as soon as she saw her sword instructor. I understood why.

Just looking at Ghislaine gave me a sense of bravery.

"Is that all of them?" She nodded at the bodies. I didn't bother looking at them. I didn't much like seeing bodies.

"Yeah, those two kidnapped us." I turned my attention to Thomas.

"But it seems he's behind it all," I said.

She nodded.

"You know, I came to see you after I saw that explosion, but I guess you had it under control." She looked at me and offered her hand.

"A handshake?" I guess I wasn't in a position to refuse.

"Paul was right about you. Well done!" Eris looked at both of us. A puzzled look in her eyes. Perhaps this would improve her opinion of me a little. As long as she listened, nothing else mattered to me.

"You can tell Philip the details at the mansion." The woman looked indifferently at the bodies and then at Thomas, who was still paralyzed, her eyes uninterested.

With that, the night of the kidnapping came to an end.

...

"Eris!" Philip ran out when we returned to the mansion.

"You're back so late..." He ran to Eris as she collapsed on the floor. Her legs were giving out. She hadn't slept the night before, so she was probably exhausted.

Philip took in his daughter's tired expression and then looked back at Ghislaine and me.

"What happened?" His tone sounded threatening. The kind of threat you wouldn't want to imagine.

Without a word, Ghislaine threw the bound Thomas in front of Philip. "Lord Philip, he's not what he seems! It's just a misunderstanding!" She must have known he sounded desperate.

Philip looked at him for a moment. Then he looked back at Eris, and after a moment, he said, "Take him away." With a nod toward Ghislaine, the woman moved and grabbed him again.

"Lord Philip! Lord Philip!" Thomas shouted as he was led away. I had no doubt some kind of torture awaited him. Probably execution, too, but I wouldn't interfere in such matters.

"Eris, are you all right?" Philip reached for his daughter as Ghislaine walked away, but she slapped him away.

"Our promise was only until we returned, wasn't it? So can I talk now?" She seemed completely fed up with everything that had happened.

"Sure." She didn't look at me as she walked away. She was definitely angry with me, but I could tell she was a little grateful for what I did. Or maybe it was just me wanting everything to end well.

Without hesitation, Eris turned around and struck her defiant pose.

"I give you special permission to call me 'Eris'! Special permission, do you understand?" She was overly dramatic for something so insignificant.

At one point, I even called her by her name, but maybe I'd forgotten. It was better if I did. I didn't want to put her in her place.

I looked back at Philip, who shrugged.

"So you mean it's fine? Can I work here?"

"Hmph!" She backed away from me.

"Thank you, Lady Eris."

"No 'Lady'! Just 'Eris!!" It was the same thing, right?

I'd rather use formalities to keep my distance, but I knew she'd hit me if I didn't, so I guess I had no choice.

That day, I began working for the Boreas family in Roa and officially became the guardian of Eris Boreas Greyrat, the person who would be my tormentor for the next five years.