The shock was so great it left me in a daze. By the time I returned to my senses, they finished tying me up.
"Looks like you're back, how is it? Did you think playing dumb would work on us? Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!" The man said, carrying on on his shoulders like a bag.
I know I already resolved myself to being captured. But still, there is a part of me that wants to fight back. Unconsciously, my body started to move around, flailing myself to get out of his grasp. And when I did so, I felt myself falling. But he quickly took a hold of me, readjusting my position on his shoulder.
"Oh- oh, that was a close one! Damaging high quality goods will lower its value significantly!" He looked at me sternly, "I advise you to stop moving around, little missy. Otherwise, I'll be forced to do something." He ordered, tightening his grip on my sides.
"Why? Why would I even listen to you? Are you crazy?" I told him. "Release me this instant and I will forget any of this happened. I've already seen all of your face, you're screwed!" I flail my body once again. "Somebody help!"
I feel lightheaded all of a sudden. And my left cheek also started heating up, then something warm slid between the crevice of my lips. While wondering about what just happened, my eyes wandered a bit and realized he raised his hand on me.
It was then that it came to me, he wasn't joking.
"I told you, didn't I? You'll get hurt if you don't behave. Did you think I was joking? Did you get your hopes up? Too bad." he readjusted my position on his shoulders and continued walking.
I could hear the subtle chuckle from his subordinates behind me. I can't blame them, I underestimated him, after all.
"....W-What are you going to do to me?" I turned to look at him, frightened.
"Oho~ you have a good look on your face. If only you're that docile earlier, I wouldn't have hit you." he grinned, "What are we going to do to you, huh? That's a good question. There are plenty of things we can do. We can sell you as a sex slave or make you our plaything. It's been a while since we got to release our pent up energy, you see."
Even though it was dark, I could feel his eyes checking me out. His hand that's keeping me from falling off his shoulder started feeling me side, slowly moving it's way to my chest. I struggled to keep his hands away and flailed around like earlier. Though there is a risk of getting hit the second time, I'd rather have that than getting molested.
"Here you go again. Do you really want to get hit- wait, don't tell me you're that kind of woman?"
I don't know what he just thinks of me but somehow, I feel pissed.
"Let go of me!" I yelled, continuing to flail my body around.
It was odd. There should have been soldiers around here at this time and yet I don't see a single soldier on patrol.
I felt like he knew what I was thinking and brought it up.
"You're wondering why there's not a single soldier on patrol, right? I figured you'd be betting on that so we made some arrangements earlier. He he he he."
He is quite perceptive for mere a criminal. No. If you really think about it, criminals should be at least this capable. But why does someone like him become a criminal?
While wondering about it, I noticed that we came to a stop. I turned my head around and since I can't look ahead of me, I turned to look at his expression. To my surprise, the cocky and perverted look in his face disappeared. Something must have come up, so I forced my head up front and saw a rather familiar figure standing just a few meters away from us.
"What do you think you're doing?" the person blocking the road up ahead asked.
"Just fetching our young miss who sneaked out of the estate. There's no need to concern yourself with us and be on your way, mister."
His tone suddenly changed. He must have never expected something like this to happen, screwing up the flow of their plans.
"Is that true, Lady Aira?"
"No-"
Before I could ask for help, the man holding me covered my mouth.
"Our young miss seems to be tired, so please excuse us."
I can feel his body starting to tremble while talking. It's not surprising since the one he's facing is the fabled individual who made a great contribution in the recent incident, after all. But why isn't he picking up on the situation?
We started moving again. There were no signs of Jakob stopping them. Perhaps, he failed to realize the situation since he can't see? Especially now that it's too dark, the chances of him seeing the truth of the situation is low.
From the corner of my eyes, I could see his silhouette. He was just standing there without even turning to my direction. I couldn't call for his help since the man carrying me made sure I can't let out even a yelp. As my last desperate attempt, I wriggled and flailed myself once more, in hopes to attract his attention.
But to my dismay, he remained idle. My heart sank at the sight as the realization of fate slowly started to sink into my mind. I was sure there was no one who would save me. That's when something unexpected happened.
"I may have to ask you to stop and release Lady Aira." he called out.
"I told you this is none of your concern, mister." the man carrying me stopped, "Don't make this difficult for us." He continued to walk.
"Someone from her family wouldn't be bold enough to say 'We can sell you as a sex slave or make you our plaything', right? Unless you've gone rogue, that's not something a servant would say."
In that instant, his men immediately jumped on Jakob at his order.
"Kill him!" he started running away.
I fixed my gaze on what's happening behind us. I could faintly see what's happening since it was dark out. And with only a few lamps illuminating the street, it will only be a matter of time until we disappear into the night.
Now that there is someone willing to help me, it was high time for me to act. As long as I stall enough, Jakob will be able to catch up to us. And to achieve that, I shook my head violently to remove his hand from covering my mouth.
"Do you want me to hit you again!? Behave yourself!"
I managed to keep his hand off my mouth for a moment. Since he is busy running away, it was an opportunity for me. Right before he could cover my mouth again, despite it being too dark for me to see a thing as we are entering a dark alley, I put all of my trust on my gut feeling and shut my mouth as hard as I could.
The moment I felt my teeth bite onto his hands, I clenched my jaw, digging my teeth into his flesh. It was an opportunity I shouldn't waste, and so I focused all my strength into my mouth and violently pulled my head away, taking a small chunk of his flesh in the process.
"Ah- fuck!"
As expected, he tossed me away while writhing in pain after having a part of his hand ripped off. Even without looking, I can tell that he's bleeding out through his hand. I momentarily forgot about what I did and realized that I have his flesh inside my mouth. As soon as the taste of iron spread throughout my entire mouth, I spat out his flesh.
"You bitch! I will make sure to teach you a lesson later!" he marched angrily towards me.
His silhouette slowly starts to grow closer. Despite being in the dark, he must have realized that I wasn't able to get away since both of my arms and legs are tied up. Not long after, he was standing in front of me with eyes filled with rage. I could see his blood staining the pavement and some of it fell on my face.
"I was trying to be gentle with you and now, I don't think I will be able to. Since you started this, you better prepare yourself. Before selling you as a sex slave, I will make sure to enjoy violating you later, you fucking bitch-!"
Before he could grab me, a sword stained with blood landed and embedded itself on the pavement. He immediately created a distance between us, retreating a few steps away.
"To think that a single blind man was able to deal with my men that fast, you must really be strong."
"It's not that I'm strong. Your subordinates are just too weak to handle me. That problem might have stemmed from my blindness. Confidence can sometimes bring one's downfall." Jakob walked closer to me and pulled out the sword from the pavement, "I don't know what made you criminals but if your physical abilities are this low, I suggest you take a different path." said Jakob, cutting my restraints. "Are you okay?" he asked, turning his attention to me.
Now that my eyes have adjusted to the darkness of the area, I can now see things a little well. Perhaps I was so busy thinking about my situation that I failed to realize the overwhelming smell of blood coming from Jakob. He was basically covered in blood, most likely from the kidnapper's subordinates.
"I'm fine. Thank you very much," I told him.
"That's good to hear," he nodded his head and turned to the leader, who was already making his exit.
"He is running away!" I yelled.
I thought for sure that the leader had already created a great distance between us and would be able to escape. All of a sudden, Jakob held the sword on its hilt and got into a stance as if he's trying to throw a spear.
It was a crazy idea. The sword is a weapon created for the purpose of being held during battle and not thrown, a completely different concept from how a spear should be used.
"I don't think you'll be able to hit him with a sword from this distance," I told him, grabbing his clothes.
And right after I expressed my opinion, he threw the sword like a spear and the unimaginable happened. The sword flew directly and hit the criminal's leg, instantly rendering him immobile in an instant. I was left speechless.
How can a blind person have that kind of precision?
"How did you do that? That's not something a blind person could pull off," I asked, turning my head toward Jakob's direction.
"I perceive the world around me by sound. It's hard to explain it in detail but just know that it was all thanks to you that I was able to pinpoint the criminal's position." Jakob bows his head slightly and walks towards the criminal, who's trying to crawl away from the scene.
I followed behind Jakob, who dragged the criminal out of the dark alley and into the dimly lit street. The commotion must have caught the attention of the people around us that some windows were opened, with their heads sticking out, maybe trying to peek at the situation.
"I've already informed my senior's men before coming to your rescue. They will be here shortly." Jakob started to wipe the blood off his face.
Jakob offered me his jacket and shortly after, Master Valter's men arrived and took the criminal away.
"Is he the only surviving member of their group, Sir Jakob?"
"Yes. The others over there were swinging their weapons so I had no choice but to fight back. Although I wasn't able to spare them, I hope the last survivor can offer some information."