CHAPTER 7
SOLLEL JUST watched Hakken face the bandits alone; even Cira was peeking outside the wagon to see Hakken fight. Since he boasted that he was an experienced hunter—an expert—and this was the first time they'd see Hakken's skills, Cira was excited, while Sollel was anticipating. And when the bandits saw that it was just one man fighting a dozen of them, they laughed at the absurdity.
"You better run, boy," the leader of the bandit sneered mockingly at Hakken. "What can one man do against a dozen of us? Just give us what we want, and we might spare your life."
Hakken's smile remained. "Sorry, lads, but not today. My lady is watching."
The claymore sword in the bandit's hand made a loud whoosh when he drew his sword from his back. "Be ready to die then," the leader of the bandits said as he grinned. "Men, chop him into pieces and paint the ground with his blood!"
"Don't play hero and just give us what we want, boy," said another bandit while walking toward Hakken. "Or we will show no mercy."
"I'm no hero," Hakken replied as he straightened his body. "But disappointing my lady is out of the question." After Hakken spoke those words, in a heartbeat, he stepped, lunging himself forward and slashing the nearest bandit from him, blood spewing from the bandit's neck.
All the bandits showed fear after witnessing the quick death of their companion by Hakken's hand, except for the leader who remained observant. And like a tide, the rest of the bandits attacked Hakken simultaneously, but no panic was seen in Hakken's eyes. He was calm, just observing the enemies as they neared him.
Sollel was impressed when no sword hit Hakken. His movements were fast and sharp. He wielded his war blades as if they were a part of him, arrogantly spinning his sword around his hand before slashing to get the right angle. His agile body easily evaded the swords coming at him, his swords repelling attacks like they were nothing. Blow after blow, the sound of swords clashing echoed in the forest, together with grunts and hisses from pain every time Hakken's sword would slash an enemy. And the longer Sollel watched, the more she realized that Hakken was not fighting seriously. He was like a master swordsman holding back while fighting novices.
"He's so fast," Cira commented.
Sollel had to agree with Cira: Hakken was indeed fast and agile. If they fought, even at full strength, Sollel was not sure if her sword skills could keep up with Hakken's. Even now that Hakken was just playing around, her eyes could barely keep up with his movements.
"J-just who are you?" the leader of the bandits asked with a shaky voice, gone the confidence he showed earlier after seeing his men sprawled on the ground, dead. It was too quick that the leader of the bandits didn't have time to run.
Swinging his bloody sword, Hakken turned to look at Sollel. To her, he seemed to be asking permission to give his name to the leader of the bandits, but she didn't know what to say, so she remained quiet.
"My lady, should I give him my name?" Hakken asked, stunning Sollel because her deduction of Hakken's expression earlier had been right.
Seeing how nonchalant Hakken was, the bandit leader's anger rose. He then quickly attacked Hakken. "Don't belittle me, boy!"
Hakken easily dodged the bandit leader's claymore and shrugged nonchalantly. "My lady owns me till we reach the capital of Treterra. Of course her permission is necessary."
Sollel just shook her head at Hakken's nonchalance. "Stop wasting time. We need to keep moving."
Hakken faced Sollel and slightly bowed his head, saying, "By your will, my lady."
Sollel just sighed, seeing how Hakken quickly took care of the leader of the bandits. He even cleaned up his own mess afterward, burning the corpses so it wouldn't rot and cause pestilence. And while Hakken was cleaning up, Cira gave some medicine to the halfling and brought him to their wagon for interrogation.
"What's your name?" Cira asked the halfling who kept glancing at Hakken, fear visible in his eyes.
"L-Len..."
"Where are you from, Len?" Cira continued her interrogation while the wagon was moving.
"I-I'm from a small village outside B-Belrac," Len replied, his voice shaking in fear. "I-I'm sorry! I s-swear I only did that f-for my family! They promised m-me money...p-please don't kill me. Please..."
Hakken turned his head to look at the halfling and frowned when he saw the fear in the halfling's eyes while glancing at him. Hakken turned to Sollel who as beside him and asked, "What did I do to scare him like that?"
Sollel looked at Hakken flatly. Of course, Hakken couldn't see it because of her hood, but he felt Sollel's dry stare.
"What?" Hakken asked.
"You killed a dozen bandits," said Sollel. "Of course he'll be scared."
"You told me to," Hakken defended himself. "Your wish is my command, my lady."
Sollel sighed. She really didn't know if Hakken was serious or if he was just pulling her leg. She might have been imprisoned half of her life, but she knew when a man was flirting, and Hakken had been doing that since they first met. She was not just taking him seriously. And she had a mission to do; she can't afford distractions.
"M-my sister has been taken as a slave by the Duves family." The halfling's voice was still shaking in fear as he explained, "I have to earn money to get her back. P-please, don't kill me. Please!"
"Who's the Duves family?" Cira asked.
It was Hakken who answered, "The Duves family is one of the families that secretly control the slave traders in Belrac...and also one of the nastiest."
Sollel grimaced. "How far are we to Belrac?"
"Few more weeks, my lady."
Cira sighed and looked at Sollel. "Your Highness, can Len stay with us until we reach Belrac? I want to give him money to save her sister."
Hakken cleared his throat, while Sollel nodded and said, "Do whatever you think is right for you, Cira."
Cira smiled at Sollel. "Thank you, Your Highness."
Hakken just sighed and just signaled the horse to run faster.
♕♕♕
TWO DAYS AFTER they entered the forest, they finally arrived at a small village. Passing on the village street in their wagon, Sollel couldn't help her heart from aching when she saw ghastly halflings being lashed and forced to work, their eyes hallowed like they had given up. Slave traders pulled demi-humans, from young to old, by their slave collars. It was too horrible that Sollel's body was trembling with rage.
Back when Yther was still a prominent country, halflings, demi-humans, monsters, and every creature in Azitera were harmoniously living together. Ytherian respected every race, and they would open their country's gate to every creature of the land. It was a peaceful time.
So seeing what the halflings and demi-humans had become, Sollel was about to combust in rage when Hakken spoke, snapping Sollel out of her anger.
"Calm down, my lady," said Hakken while guiding the horse to pull the wagon to a decent inn. "Your anger can't help them escape this life. Even if we kill every slave trader in this village, another one will come and take their place. These halflings and demi-humans have nowhere else to go. Sooner or later, they will be captured again, and the cycle continues."
Len, who heard Hakken, even voiced out his agreement. "Our lands had been stolen by humans, and no human territory would accept us. Even if we did make our own settlement deep in the forest, bandits and slave traders will still attack us and catch us. We have nowhere else to go."
A tear fell from Sollel's eyes as she clenched her fists. "We just want to live in peace..." Sollel gritted her teeth in anger and said, "How could they be so cruel?"
"Greed, my lady."
Greed. Sollel knew that word too well. She was imprisoned—her blood stolen and drained—because of greed. Yther was destroyed because of human avarice. She suddenly remembered why she swore in her prison that would never forgive them.
I will burn them all! she thought. They will all pay for what they did.
"We're here," Hakken announced after they arrived in front of an inn. "Come on, let's rest here for the night. Then we'll leave early tomorrow."
Sollel quietly jumped down from the wagon; she was still boiling with rage. She understood Hakken's words earlier, but she just wouldn't accept that she couldn't do anything to save them. She once protected them, and now that she's back, she would protect them again. Even if it's futile.
When Sollel and Cira entered the inn, Hakken put his arm on Len's shoulder and whispered in his ear. Hearing this request of Hakken, the scariest man Len had ever met, Len immediately nodded and left to do Hakken's bidding.
When Hakken entered alone, Cira frowned. "Where's Len?" He was barely a teen; Cira was worried.
"Just doing some errands. He'll be back," Hakken said as he positioned himself behind El, like he was protecting her back.
"But it's dangerous out there."
"He'll be fine," Hakken said reassuringly. "Don't worry about it."
Cira sighed and faced the woman managing the inn. "Two rooms with two beds please."
The woman nodded and handed them a key. "That would be two silver coins."
"That's expensive," Cira complained, the same elf who agreed to pay Hakken one hundred gold coins. But it was indeed expensive since ten silver coins were worth one gold coin. Usually in inns like these, their rent ranged from forty to eighty coppers only.
One hundred copper coins were equal to one silver coin, and ten silver coins were equal to one gold coin.
Cira gave one of the two keys to Hakken. "It's yours and Len's room."
Hakken accepted it while his eyes were still on his lady. She was silent since they arrived at the inn. Hakken couldn't help but be alert.
Even Cira noticed Sollel's silence. So when the two entered their room, Cira asked Sollel, "Are you still feeling bad because of what we saw, Your Highness?"
Sollel took off her hood and smiled at Cira. "I'm fine, Cira. Don't worry. You should rest. We have to leave early tomorrow."
Cira did not buy that, but she didn't press for more and went to rest on the bed. Sollel, on the other hand, lay until she was sure that Cira was already deep in her sleep. That's when she left her bed and the room through the window, her hood on.
When Sollel's feet touched the ground, she was surprised to see Hakken lazily leaning against the inn's wall, below her room's window. He seemed to be waiting for someone.
Sollel straightened her body and glanced at Hakken. "What are you doing outside?"
Hakken looked at her and smiled. "Well, I can't leave my lady to fight by herself."
Sollel's lips thinned when she realized Hakken had anticipated her action. "You said saving them is futile."
"Yes, it is." Hakken pushed himself away from the inn's wall and walked toward Sollel. "But...if that's what you want, I'll help."
"Why?"
A small smile once again played on Hakken's lips. "Why? Because you're my lady, of course. You hired me to fight for you." Then his expression turned serious. "If you want them dead, just say the word, and by your will, I will kill them all."
That actually made Sollel smile. "How sweet."
Hakken grinned wryly. "You are the only woman I know who finds that sweet."
Sollel shrugged and started walking. Hakken immediately followed behind her.
Sollel frowned when, after walking for a few meters, she realized that Hakken was purposely walking behind her. "You can walk beside me, Hakken."
"That's the first time you called me by my name," Hakken replied as he picked up the pace and walked beside Sollel. "My name sounded different when you say it, my lady."
"Stop flirting and focus," Sollel demanded, dismissing Hakken's flirtatious attitude and words.
That made Hakken chuckle, but he became serious as per his lady's request. "I sent Len to talk to other halflings and demi-humans earlier to gather some information for us."
Sollel halted and glanced at Hakken. "You really know what I was planning to do?"
"I felt your rage, and it's the kind of rage that is not easy to put out." Hakken faced Sollel. "According to Len, there are two major slave traders in this village—the Nollane family who controls the slave trading for halflings and the Canson family who controls the slave trading for demi-humans. The Nollane's base is in the south, and the Canson's is in the north of the village. Both families have an army patrolling around, and they are all bandits. Expect a large number of enemies."
"We have to destroy their base at the same time, but before that, we have to free those slaves," said Sollel, "I'll take the Nollane's family."
Hakken nodded. "Then I'll take the Canson's."
Without hesitation, the two parted on the street.
CECELIB | C.C.