“Out . ” Not long after, our resident bandit chief lady came by again .

“You sure have a lot of free time, old lady . ” I said, trying to get a rise out of her . “Don’t tell me we’re getting the VIP treatment? Not to be rude, but this suite could use a little more room service, don’t you think?”

“Not bad . Laugh it up while you can, brat . ” She didn’t take the bait . ”You’ll be losing that privilege forever once I’m done with you . ”

And here I thought I could get her to use that mystery punch again . …What a pain . I could’ve given one of her underlings the slip and escaped with everyone, but it was too risky with her personally getting us .

Filly, Benny and I were taken out of the jail cell which the lackey man locked behind us . The kids from the other side of the iron bars looked on worried and scared . I gave them a small nod of rea.s.surance without letting the bandits notice .

Vicky walked up front, the three of us behind her with the lackey bringing up the tail . Now then, what’s the plan… I could escape with Filly at any time, but that would mean abandoning the other 10 children to their fates . I do have a few ideas however――

As I was trying to decide which plan I should go with, I noticed small pieces of paper stuck on the long hallway walls . … I was expecting these . We didn’t have much time to talk, but some of the kids who went through―― Refining, told me about these .

These parchments mark out a map of the interior . The ink on the paper was old and faded but not impossible to read . I memorized the markings with quick, stealthy glances .

I then began organizing the many markings in my mind . It looked a lot like… a fort? It seemed to be an old, abandoned fort .

The structure was all over the place… it almost felt like a maze . My guess is that they kept adding to the construction without making too many plans, leading to a state where one could find lots of random dead ends here and there . In addition to these untended to, dusty areas, I also saw a number of small courtyards just there for no apparent reason . Bizarre…

We walked for approximately 5 minutes . We went up some stairs somewhere along the way, pa.s.sed through many more dead s.p.a.ces, and finally arrived at our destination . At a glance, this too looked like another courtyard formed due to faulty construction, but this one was the size of a basketball court .

The ground was overgrown with weeds, upon which sat a band of rough and rowdy men in a rough circle . Each of them held liquor mugs and looked to be having a jolly old time .  Great place to be having a party, I thought sardonically .

“Rally up, boys!!” Vicky bellowed “I’ve brought along the main dish for tonight!!”

And upon seeing us three kids, the lot of them cheered, “OOHHHH!!!!!!”

I was honestly… dumbfounded at their abnormal level of fervor .

We were made to enter inside the circle of bandits and that’s when I noticed a certain object . At the center of the circle stood a bed, a canopy bed by the looks of it――

No . This was no bed . This was no bed at all . Beds don’t have those . Those shackles meant for the sole purpose of holding all four of a person’s limbs in place .

That thing was an operating table―― No . To be blunt, it was a bed made for torture .

“All right, my lovely scoundrels!” Vicky cried at the bandits, “We’ll be having a little rehearsal before the main event! Which one of you will be the lucky b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I wonder!?”

“Meeee!!” One of the men left the circle and came up to the torture bed .

The bed already had a live boar tethered to it . It’s four legs were spread wide―― all ready for chopping .

“There’s my lucky b.a.s.t.a.r.d! What’s yer name!!”

“Ave, Ma’am!!”

“Oh kay, Ave! See that big knife there? take it! Oi, someone get him a blindfold!!”

The man called Ave picked up the knife leaned against the torture bed while another man took out a napkin and tied it around his eyes . It was like a bizarre interpretation of breaking watermelons at the beach .

“I’m sure everyone here knows the rules!!” Vicky yelled, “Can’t see? No problem! Trust your gut and chop off the part I tell you! Get it right, and I’ll get you what you want! Liquor and wh.o.r.es! Even a tenth of the profits if you want!!”

The bandits cheered louder than ever .

“1 practice round! Then 3 tries! It’s so easy, eh! I’m just too sweet on ya louts!” Vicky riled them on even more, and the men sang her praises .

“You’re the best, boss!!” Said one .

“If only she was sweet in the bedroll, yeah!!” Said another .

“If you're into it, I can crush your nuts under my boots all ya like!” Vicky banted back .

Gyahahahaha!! their laughter boomed in the wide courtyard .

These people… were not sane .

Did they really do this, with humans… with those kids…!?

“Let’s get the show started! Sing, boys, sing!!” On Vicky’s command, the bandits began to stomp their feet in a folk tune, all together .

“♪ Bandits Ahoy, Bandits we Be! ♪”

“♪ We Stop the Cries of Children, We Swipe them Merrily! ♪”

“♪ An Arm, a Leg, an Eye, an Ear! ♪”

“♪ What’s the Pick? We can’t Wait to Hear! ♪”

“Right arm!!”

“Yeh! Git the right arm!!”

“One go, one go!!”

“♪ Bandits Ahoy, Bandit You be! ♪”

“♪ You’re Chopping off the Right Arm, for All of us to See! ♪”

Swaying along with the rhyme, the blindfolded man raised his arms high and swiftly brought it down on the helpless boar’s front right leg . There was a sickening sound of knife meeting flesh, followed by――

――Whiiiiiin!!! the hairy pig’s piercing cry .

My shoulders jerked, and I felt Filly tightly gripping my arm . She was shaking in shock . I pulled her into a side embrace .

… Filly’s Art,【Perfect Lexicon】, let her hear the voices of any animal . In other words, she could feel the sheer pain that the boar was suffering through almost as if it was her own .

“There it iiiiiiissss!!!”

“Gihahahahahahahaha!!”

“Atta lad, Ave!!”

The bandits seemed to crank it up even more after seeing the red blood profusely gus.h.i.+ng from the severed appendage .

… This is nuts . This is just f.u.c.ked up…!

But I… I’m no stranger to this sort of madness . People like them exist . I know that all too well . She destroyed every person I knew, everyone I held dear, right in front of my eyes―― She, my little sister, was exactly this sort of person .

“Now that’s the face I like to see . ” Vicky grinned, seeing the pitch dark expression on my face .

“Be it a missing arm or an empty eye socket,” Vicky began with her broad grin, “there’s this n.o.ble who collects broken brats like that . And since this generous n.o.ble buys them off us, I figure we refine our products to their needs .

“The problem see, it’s that if we don’t put some heart into it, they’ll look ordinary, and the customer don’t like that . Do it like this, make it a game with hits and misses, and we can make ourselves some real art . ”

She continued while approaching us: “Let me have a guess, you think we’ve gone looney? Well, you’re totally not wrong about that . But we do follow some rules in our own way .

“We’re not deranged, and we’re not monsters either . We’re humans, just like you, but only with a slight bit of taint .

“World’s a big place, eh? You don’t have to go very deep to find people like us, loads of them really . That’s just how it works, brat . You won’t learn this from your teachers .

“Not like knowing it now changes the fact that you’re getting on that bed! Heh, hahahaha…!!”

It was like she was telling me: You can’t understand this darkness . Just give up .  That in spite of that, this darkness will persist in society, that it will naturally fester and grow .

Yeah, f.u.c.k that . Bulls.h.i.+t rhetoric like that doesn’t justify anything .

―― It only makes it all the more unforgivable .

“Leeet’s start the real deal . ”

The boar had gone limp by now, and a few men carried it away .

―― Meaning, the bed was ready for a new sacrifice .

“Whoo, should I, pick?” Vicky looked over Filly, Benny and me, one by one .

Her eyes soon stopped at one of us: “ . . . You . You’re going first . ”

“Eh . ” Benny went stiff . Vicky had raised a hand and was pointing right at him .

“We’ll take our time enjoying the aristocrats later . You’ll be our hors d'oeuvre . ” All the bandits raised a cheer at their chief’s decision . Voices jeering to make him wail and suffer . Shouts promising that there would be no escape…

“ . . . No… NO…!” Benny’s legs took him backwards . “No…! Please, anything but that…!!”

He didn’t turn back and run away . Doing even that was too scary . Vicky’s eyes were like a snake eyeing a fat rodent . And having that gaze directed straight at him, Benny felt despair, hopelessness .

I was the same . I couldn’t afford to look away . Who knows what she’d do the moment I did――

Vicky slowly closed in on the terrified boy . It was like she was putting blocks around a line of ants, sealing them in .

“(Jacky . Aren’t we going to save him?)” Filly whispered .

“(Can’t right now . There are too many of them . . . )”

I counted out roughly 30 bandits in this courtyard . I might’ve been able to handle it if I were alone, but protecting Filly and Benny at the same time was not going to be easy…

“(I know the basic layout of this fort . Finding and escape route won’t be an issue…)”

No, the issue was getting to that stage . Filly and I may have powerful Arts, but even I’m not naive enough to believe I can take on this many battle hardened men all at once .

I looked around, for something, for anything that might help…

“No… don’t… you can’t…!” Benny picked up stones from the ground and started throwing them at Vicky . They didn’t even faze the musclebound bandit chief, who instead raised an arm towards the boy .

“Here―― let’s see how we’ll raise your price . ”

A dull sound of impact, and Benny was knocked down . He fell into the overgrown weeds, and I couldn’t see him anymore .

At the same moment, I heard a sound of something cras.h.i.+ng from a completely different direction . Turing behind to the noise, I was shocked, “ . . . What . . . ”

The torture bed .  Benny was lying on it now .  He was writhing in pain, unable to move, while nearby men quickly bound him in place using the iron shackles .

What the f.u.c.k…!?

There was easily 6 to 7 meters of distance between Benny’s previous position and the bed . How did Vicky manage to move him all the way over there, and instantly? I had an idea . I knew only one Spirit Art that could create this sort of phenomenon .

There was easily 6 to 7 meters of distance between Benny’s previous position and the bed . How did Vicky manage to move him all the way over there, and instantly? I had an idea . I knew only one Spirit Art that could create this sort of phenomenon .

“Great Spirit Bathin… it’s 【Fathomless Pit】 . . . !!”

The Art that can move things, requiring no time, and ignoring all obstacles . Meaning, this lady can teleport…!!

“Wohoh! There it is! 【Fathomless Pit】!!”

“That’s our boss ma’am, the b.l.o.o.d.y Tigress! Strongest spirit master in the world!”

Vicky’s men showered her in praise . Rakel did tell me this red haired b.i.t.c.h was first rate, but I would’ve never expected this . ―― 【Fathomless Pit】 .

Even at the Capital’s Academy, where they gather every Art user that shows talent, you’d only find 1 or 2 people with a rare Spirit like Bathin . And I have to fight that? A bandit chief spirit master…!?

“So… Someone…! Help, help meeeeeee!!” Benny yelled as he struggled in his bindings . The chains rattled, but didn’t budge… the boy’s efforts were in vain .

“(Jacky!)”

“(I know!!)”

My training, my effort, my strength, it was all for this, all to prevent the suffering happening in front of me . No more . I won’t let myself taste that helplessness, that defeat . Not anymore――!!

Something . I needed to find something, some way to escape, but what…!!

“ ―――― Ah . ” I know .

“It’s showtime, boys, sing, sing your lungs out!!”

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! The bandits stomped .

“♪ Bandits Ahoy, Bandits we Be! ♪”

“♪ We Stop the Cries of Children, We Swipe them Merrily! ♪”

“♪ An Arm, a Leg, an Eye, an Ear! ♪”

“♪ What’s the Pick? We can’t Wait to Hear! ♪”

“An eye!!”

“Eyeeee!!”

“Stab it in good!!”

“♪ Bandits Ahoy, Bandit You be! ♪”

“♪ You’re Stabbing in an Eyeball, for All of us to See! ♪”

The blindfolded bandit flipped his knife so that it pointed downwards .

Just then ―― Whiiiiiin!!! cried the boar as it bashed into the man .

Even while missing one of its 4 legs . Even while trailing in its own blood . The boar―― the same boar that have been mutilated in their ‘rehearsal’ had done it .

When I noticed that the animal, which had been hastily hoisted to the side, was still conscious, I had quickly told Filly to make it move .

“What in the h.e.l.l!?”

“What in the h.e.l.l!?”

“It’s still alive!?”

The closest bandits immediately backed off, alarmed by the sudden occurrence . The one with the knife had already been mowed down .

“Filly! Have it tackle anyone nearby!” I commanded .

“Gotcha!” Filly replied, then turned her attention back to the boar under her control, “Sorry, please do a bit more for me…!”

The 3-legged boar followed its instructions and dispersed the men, while Filly and I made our way to the torture bed to rescue Benny .

“Y . . . you guys…!” Benny mumbled, surprised .

We tried our best to quickly remove the thick cuffs on his hands and feet, but no luck, they were too tough . So instead: “Ok, fine . We’ll just take this whole thing (the bed)! Grab on, Filly!”

“Yah!!” Filly yelled in agreement .

“ ―――― Fucckkkking braaaaaaatttttssss!!!!” Vicky roared, palpable rage on her face .

Charging at us, the woman threw her fist . With the gap between us and her, it was physically impossible for this attack to reach us . ―― But something like distance, mattered not for her .

I picked up Filly under one arm, and lifted Benny, bed and all, with the other, and then ―― jumped straight up .

Turning off my gravity with 【Veiled Wings of Freedom】, I instantly ascended very high .

Dark, starlit sky filled my surroundings . The criminals were all far below―― surely unable to reach me no matter what weapon they throw . Now, the question was, do I keep going up, or descend .

“Filly!” I signalled, and she understood perfectly, “Got it! Big birdy!”

A large falcon swooped in through the night sky as soon as Filly called out . It latched on to my shoulders and began carrying us away . I still hadn’t mastered flying with my Art yet, but I could achieve the same effect like this .

“What’s the plan, Jacky? We’ll go back for the others right?”

“You can bet on it . But for now, head towards town . We’ll make it look like we’re running away . Try to land on a random roof and so we can get Benny out of this bed first . Then we’ll go back for them . ”

“Gotcha!”

So we did just that, and not long after, the bandits were searching for us all over town in a rush . Once we confirmed that they were busy, we touched down on an inconspicuous rooftop, using the force of the drop to break the torture bed and free Benny .

“Um… thank you…” The boy said, still kind of out of it .

“Don’t thank me yet, we still have to save the others . Also, you should come with us since they might capture you again if you’re alone . ”

“Oh, okay . Sure . . . ” Benny agreed to the arrangement while rubbing his left wrist .

I glanced back at the destroyed canopy bed . …Actually, it sort of looked like a bunk bed now . Maybe I hadn’t gotten a good look at it before, but it really did look like the sort where one person could sleep on top with the other person on the bottom .

“ . . . Doesn’t matter . Let’s go . ” I mean, I broke it already, who cares .

I prompted Filly and Benny to climb down from the roof so we can be on our way .