"What do you mean? What about that?" Charles was also clueless about it.
"This is something we bought when we were out for a stroll in the city, your Majesty. Zeke told me he wanted one for both of us. Apparently, when you insert a bit of mana inside it and push the small button here, it would notify the other one who had it. I guess it's a couple's bracelet of some sort." Esteban pointed to a small button beside the gem.
The other three fathers' expressions lit up when they heard Esteban's words.
"So Ezekiel would just need to insert mana and click it and it'll alert you of him?"
"Yes. However, the downside is the range of the device. It will only work if both individuals are a kilometer apart from each other or less. Any more than that and it will not work. I'll go to the town square now. Hopefully, it could at least cover the middle part of the city." Esteban stood and left.
"Now that we have one sure means of locating them, we can only wait for news from the guards or from Esteban. *sigh*, I feel powerless." Alcazar sighed and said.
"Same. I fucking hate this feeling. But what can we do? Even I didn't expect someone to be ballsy enough to fuck with us." Fritz added.
"All we can do right now is wait, brothers. Let's just pray for their safety right now." Charles said.
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Hours passed by, and it was now exactly 2 o clock in the morning. Zeke tried to hear sounds from outside the door but he didn't; it was deathly silent.
He turned around and looked at all of the children. There were fifteen of them, with ten boy and five girls, all at the age of 3 to 5. The ugly young man was foaming at the mouth at the corner of the room after receiving no less than fifty kicks in the balls and more than a hundred or so punches on the whole body including the face. He couldn't even be recognized anymore due to the blood and froth on his face, but the children didn't mind. In fact, they were smiling happily as they look at the young man's disfigured face. Zeke also tied the man and threw him inside on of the unoccupied cells and locked it. He feared that the man might fight back when he left so he made sure to slash the other leg of the guy to prevent him from walking or even standing up anymore. Before he did, however, he tried to get information from the guy first.
It turns out that they were inside a slave trade building dressed up as an ordinary inn. When one went inside, he would be greeted by rooms and a clerk, and it looked like your average inn. There were no costumers however, as this part of town is usually deserted, or what looks like it. All the people who lived and slept here were actually all the 'workers', or people who do the kidnapping. They offer children as some sort of payment to their stay as well as extra income. The one who caught them was someone called Bram, and he was actually one of the big shot 'worker' in here as his disguising skill is one if not their best. This was also what people from the dark side of the town called the slave street, where they could get slaves once every two weeks. It was like an open secret to the townspeople, but they couldn't do anything as when they reported it to the local law enforcement, they would just get ignored. They didn't know if the law enforcers were really just ignoring them or if they're part of this business too. Zeke promised to get to the bottom of this so that this won't continue any longer.
"Alright. It looks like most of them are asleep. Time for me to move out. Gaia, Rosaline, Aura, I need you three to steel your resolve, alright?" Zeke seriously looked at the three.
Out of the three, Gaia was the most composed while Aura still can't adapt to the situation. She was still scared and out of her comfort zone, so Rosaline had to console her a lot and is even doing so until now.
"I'm ready, Zeke. What will we do?" Gaia was the first one to reply.
"I-I'm ready, Zeke. Don't worry about Aura, I'll somehow calm her down." Rosaline smiled at Zeke. She was no longer that cold towards Zeke as she warmed up to him after seeing him brave through this just to save them.
"I-I can do this!" Aura replied while still slightly shivering.
"Good. Wait for me here, alright? Don't open the doors, and I'll knock four times. That's when you'll know it's me, got it?"
"Got it." The one who replied was the boy who was Anna's friend. He's one year younger than the oldest boy in the room but he was the most mature for Zeke. It seemed like Anna's death accelerated his maturity enough to handle situations like this with slight ease.
Zeke carefully opened the door and proceeded to check other doors. Each door he opened, he could see from the faint crack of the door several other children that were also imprisoned. He didn't have the time to rescue all of them so he just left them for now. He went up the stairs and looked out. There, he saw a door across the hallway along with a table and a man sleeping. Zeke assumed that it was the exit to the building as the man who is currently sleeping had a suit on, looking like a waiter or shopkeeper.
He crept up behind the man and carefully slit his throat with a dagger. The man couldn't even react when he woke up sprawled on the floor lying in his own pool of blood.
He then went back to the room and knocked four times, allowing him in.
"Alright, the guard is dead. You, it's time to fulfill your promise. Are you ready?" Zeke faced the boy.
"Yes. I have no more relatives now, so I don't place much importance in my life. I will do as you say even if it costs me my life. I just want to at least do some good before I pass away." The boy solemnly declared. Zeke admired his willpower.
"No. I'm not sending you to a suicide mission, idiot. You're going to rescue all of the children in here and you'll live through, alright? Think about your friend, Anna. Do you think she'll want you to kill yourself? No, she'll want you to live through this and live a life you both wanted. Now make sure you do this right and I'll try to give you a good life, okay?"
"I'm not sure what you mean by your last sentence, but I'll do what I can. Nevertheless, I'm going to treasure my life and live through all of this, as Anna would've wanted me to." The boy's mind suddenly got cleared. Earlier, he was clouded with despair and sadness that he didn't even want to live, but after hearing Zeke, he realized that this was not what Anna wanted for him. He felt grateful for Zeke's lecture so he sword to try his very best in accomplishing what he wants him to do.
"Good. That's what I wanted to hear." Zeke pulled out a bracelet out of thin air. It was the bracelet that has the same appearance as the one Esteban had. Zeke then inserted little bit of mana and handed it over to the boy.
"What's your name?"
"Marcus. What's yours?"
"Ezekiel. Call me Zeke. Now, I want you to sneak out and try to go to the square or near the Palace in the middle of the city. You know the big Palace in the middle? Dragonsoar Palace? If it's too far, just go to the square and press this button. When you see the gem light up, just hold your position, alright? Wait for someone to approach you. If he asks, tell him I sent you. Lead them to this place stealthily, you hear me? Don't let them alert the other slave traders. Remember what I said and tell that to them word by word. I have some plans for these pieces of shit." Zeke smiled evilly, an idea forming in his mind.
"Huh? I thought you want me to distract the others while you guys escape, but okay. I'll do it. I can make it there for 5 minutes at most. Expect some help after 15 minutes to half an hour tops. Until then, please take care of yourselves." the boy stood up, hugged some of the children whom he made friends with, and followed along with Zeke outside. The children looked at both of them with hope-filled eyes, while also praying inwardly that they succeed with their plan.
Before Zeke fully went out, he gazed back to his three friends.
"Wait for help here, alright? Don't worry, I got this." Zeke smiled. This smile imprinted itself to the three girls' minds as they somehow found this smile mesmerizing and attractive.
"Be careful, Zeke." Gaia mouthed off as Zeke and the boy closed the door behind him.
Zeke guided the boy outside and gestured him good luck, while he continued on to a room near the clerk. When he opened it, he saw two men sleeping on their double deck bed. He crept near the one under and, like the clerk, slit his throat, while also doing it to the one up above. He went to the three other rooms on that floor and killed another 5 sleeping men. Zeke confirmed it with the young man that all these people were 'workers' for this slave-trading business, so he didn't have any guilt nor remorse while killing them. Zeke even wondered if his state of mind is really right as he really didn't feel much sadness or guilt in killing them.
When he went to the second floor, Zeke found another four rooms. Unfortunately, after finishing the third room, someone suddenly screamed. When Zeke went out, he saw one of the men opening the room and presumably seeing the victims inside. The man looked back and saw Zeke looking at him. After seeing Zeke, he suddenly laughed.
"HAHAHAHA! To think they'd be killed by some kid who's still wet in the ears. What a pathetic bunch." The man didn't have any weapon in his possession as he left it in his room upstairs. Still, he didn't back down seeing as his opponent is just a handsome little boy.
Zeke sighed in relief knowing that the opponent underestimated him. He then lunged towards the man as the man also threw a punch.
Zeke evaded the punch with his small build as he landed a palm on the man's chest. It caved in for a bit before the man slammed on the wall, cracking it. The loud sound foiled Zeke's plans, as it definitely woke off some if not all the remaining men. He felt the need to finish it quickly as he drew a sword from his inventory and immediately executed Formless Style. His sudden action startled the man as he didn't expect the boy to have a weapon. Nevertheless, he still didn't back down as he thought the boy wouldn't handle the sword proficiently. Unfortunately for him, reality isn't as good as he thought.
The sword, instead of hitting both of the man's arms who held it in a defensive position, suddenly changed trajectory and slashed the man's knees. This reflexively made his hands touch his knees, and Zeke didn't pass off the opportunity. While his opponent's hands were still out on reflex, he quickly applied Firebreath Sword Style and coated his sword with the faint aura of fire, fully cutting off the man's head clean.
Before Zeke could even take a breather, the door to the fourth room opened as two men went outside, presumably startled by the loud bang of the wall.
"What's that loud sound?! Wha-" Before the first man could even finish speaking, Zeke threw a dagger on his chest. Because of his half-awake state, he couldn't react properly as the dagger plunged itself to the man's heart, killing him. The other man was alarmed and rushed to get the weapon from the room when Zeke suddenly charged forward in full speed. The other man managed to block Zeke's thrusting sword by his shield, and he retaliated and bashed Zeke with his shield. Zeke tumbled down due to the force of a full-grown adult hitting him. He couldn't lay around and complain as he struggled to get up and tried to attack again. Seeing this, the man smiled and put up his shield again, thinking Zeke's going to do the same damn move again. However, to his surprise, there was no collision, but when he tried to push Zeke back, he saw a hand hitting him in the stomach just under the shield he put up.
It was not the end however as Zeke muttered an incantation as soon as the palm attack landed.
"... Fireball!" A small ball of fire conjured in front of Zeke's palm and he thrust his hands to the man's chest. The man screamed as the fireball along with Zeke's palm landed on his chest. It was too painful, having a burning chest as well as slight difficulties in breathing from Zeke's palm and the fire. Zeke immediately followed up with Wind Blade as he gestured a chopping motion in the wind in front as waves of air launched itself to the man, hitting his shoulders. The man was still screaming while Zeke finished him off with a Dark Slash to his neck.
Zeke was panting heavily due to the intense battle he did. Although his mana and endurance didn't decrease by a major amount, he exhausted himself mentally while fighting. He struggled to think of what to do while battling so he used a lot of mental strength. He sat there for a while before going out of the house. Sure enough, the sound woke some of the men on the third floor. Zeke didn't plan on taking all of them directly as he retrieved his dagger and waited on their blind spot when they were going down the stairs.
"What the fuck is that noise? It's 2 in the fucking morning!" An enraged voice was heard coming down.
Zeke could see two shadows going down as he readied himself for an ambush.
"What's with all the-" The man paused, horrified by what he was currently seeing. There was a body on the right side of his view that didn't have a head, swimming on what seems to be his own blood. On the left, he could see a man holding his chest with both of his hands, with his expression of confusion, shock, and hate as he died. The man didn't know what the hell happened, so he went down the stairs slowly with his sword in front, ready to attack if anyone dares to attack him.
When he reached the end of the stairs, he suddenly slipped and fell to the ground. Not knowing what happened, his pal tried to get him up but it was too late. His pal saw a silhouette emerge from the right and stabbed the man lying down on his chest. Blood oozed out as the other one didn't even know why the man in front of him slipped. He reacted quickly and smashed his flail down towards Zeke.
"Water Barrier! Wind Step!" Zeke cast two spells in succession. He applied Grease to the stairs earlier causing the first one to slip, while the Water Barrier blocked the man's attack and made it swerve off to the right. Zeke then cast Wind Step to suddenly explode his leaping strength. He took out a spear while mid-air as he impaled it to the man's head. It was an overkill as the man didn't expect a big-ass spear suddenly in front of his face. His head exploded and blood and what seems to be brain matter splurged outwards towards the third floor. The headless body fell down with a low thud.
Zeke was getting a bit tired mentally while he also exhausted half of his mana from all the spells he cast. Thankfully, his mana regeneration was very fast as his 50% mana already shot up back to 60% after just a few seconds.
After waiting for a minute, his mana regenerated back to full as he went up the third floor. Seeing as there was no one from the third-floor rooms, Zeke inferred that the two he killed and the first one must've been the only ones living on this floor. He checked all his weapons and his status as he prepared for the fourth floor.
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Meanwhile, the boy Zeke ordered to go out arrived at the town square. It was nighttime so there was almost no one in sight except for the boy. He then took out the bracelet and clicked the small button. The gem quickly glowed as he hid near an alley to hide. He was still afraid that some slave trader might see him and he wouldn't be seen by the one he was supposed to meet here.
Not even a minute has passed when the boy suddenly felt a blade pressed on his neck from behind him. He didn't even see anyone yet someone was already behind him, which scared the crap out of him!
"Why is that thing in your possession?!" An angry and cold voice said. Marcus was scared out of his wits, but he managed to compose himself and said with a deadpan face as if he didn't get scared shitless earlier.
"Ezekiel or Zeke sent me here. I assume you're the one I was supposed to meet?"
"He sent you here? Then where is he?"
"He is still back there. I don't know what he's doing, but he tasked me to go here and tell you word by word what he said." Marcuse then repeated what Zeke said.
Hearing this, Esteban immediately understood that his Young Master wanted this sorted out in a clean and low profile way.
"I understand. Thank you for doing what Young Master had told you to. I will escort you to Dragonsoar Palace for a bit and you can continue your explanation there. Rest assured that I nor the inhabitants there will harm you. Can you guide me first on where the building is? After that, I'll have someone transport you back to the Palace quick."
"No. I'll guide you all myself! You should bring more people! It's a street full of slavers!"
Esteban frowned after hearing the last word.
"Slavers? Oh... I see now. They really had the balls, huh!" Esteban failed conceal his wrath.