Around the time Olivia was contemplating whether something was wrong that day, three girls were scouring the entire campus, searching for her with growing desperation.
"Where is she!?" A girl with a high ponytail muttered anxiously, her eyes darting around as if the answer might appear magically out of thin air.
"M-Maybe she already left?! If we don't hurry, Stephanie will kill us!" A shorter girl with cropped hair responded, her voice too fearful for just a mere jest.
"Shut up!... Just shut up!" The tallest of the three, with long, dark hair snapped, her muscles taut with tension as if trying to mask her own trembling terror.
Stephanie had instructed—no, coerced—them to wait for Olivia and drag her out of the academy.
They had been running around the school for almost thirty minutes, though to them it felt like an eternity.
The minutes dragged on painfully, still they ran, neglecting even their exhaustion.
The fear of failing Stephanie's orders was palpable; the thought of her wrath was far worse than the drudgery of exhaustion.
They remembered too well how Stephanie had overheard them gossiping about the Offrey family, their bloodline, dismissing their noble claims and reducing them to mere merchants.
Stephanie had approach them with a saintly smile, yet her rage was clear and swift, furious, Stephanie had forced them into doing her bidding.
As they were about to head to the girls' dormitory, they spotted a girl, thin from lack of food and with slumped shoulders, heading toward the back of the school.
"There!" The ponytailed pointed, her anxiety sharpening into a frantic urgency, "Stop!"
But Olivia, lost in her thoughts, didn't hear them. Mistaking her silence for defiance, their frustration mounted.
"I said stop!" The ponytailed girl yanked Olivia's shoulder forcefully.
Olivia, startled and unprepared, fell back onto her butt, flailing her hands helplessly as she fell.
Looking up at the unfamiliar trio, she stammered, "W-what?!"
"Huh!…" The long haired snorted disdainfully, her derision cutting through the air.
The sneer was a cue; the other two girls exchanged glances and smirked.
Their objective suddenly felt easier, their confidence bolstered by Olivia's evident fear.
The corners of their mouths turned up, and they laughed in unison. "Follow us. We're taking you to a fun place," the long-haired girl said, her tone dripping with false sweetness.
"mmm…" Olivia recoiled, a soft gasp escaping her lips.
She glanced around, her fear palpable, but with three against one, she saw no way out. Resigned, she nodded, her steps heavy as she trailed behind the trio.
****
In the royal capital's warehouse district, the air hung heavy with the scent of aged moisture and disuse.
The place is used to kept the supply from the floating island near the royal capital, but some of them were crumbling due to old age.
A new warehouse district is already being built, closed to completion and thus there are suggestion to utilize the area for other purposes in the future.
Because the area was old and the new district was developed and used already, there are many abandoned warehouses that still stood, undamaged.
One of such was this old warehouse, half abandoned with its brick walls barely holding up, now just a place where people dump their junk.
This dump had turned into the hideout for the Winged Shark Sky Pirates, currently staying at the royal capital.
All of the member sported black cringy bandanas with winged sharks, proudly wrapped around their heads to show where they belonged.
Inside, the warehouse was a total mess of junk and loot.
In the middle of all that chaos, three huge humanoid power suits—each standing at least four meters tall—were lined up like they were on guard duty, their cockpit doors wide open.
These suits were the pirates' armor, the badges you could say, of their wild adventures.
On the side, a flag of the pirates depicting a shark with wings hung arrogantly on the wall.
"I've brought her!"
Unfitting of such a place, four girls in the uniform of the academy showed themselves at such a place.
When they knocked the door, one of the Men there, who had been gambling at the back of the warehouse with his colleague leaves his seat and approach them, Walking like worm with half cut off.
The Guy is both the senior member and captain of the sky pirates currently stationed in the royal capital.
The tall, slender man, with long blond hair tied back behind his neck, displayed cheeks that appeared gaunt and a dark circles under his eyes, possibly hinting at the toll of his unhealthy lifestyle.
Dudley, dressed in a shirt and pants, sported a pistol and knife strapped securely to his waist, adding a hint of menace to his creepy demeanor.
"He leisurely drew his gun, pointing it at the three girls who had brought Olivia, then waved the muzzle to the side.
"There," he instructed with a casual yet commanding tone.
Following his instruction, the girls went to the corner with a weary demeanor.
"Excellent, Good girls." He teased with a bit of sarcasm, although annoyed they didn't show their emotion.
"Now, Pick up the rope over there and tie her up to the pillar." He gestured with his pistol, one hand on his pocket.
Dudley wasn't particularly stern; you might even describe his demeanor as lazy. Yet, his eerie aura already unsettled the three girls.
They obediently followed his order, tying Olivia to a pillar as instructed.
While the girls were busy tying Olivia up, Dudley signaled his men with a glance, and with a slight nod of affirmation, the men began to quietly move on.
By the time Dudley's men had positioned themselves at all the doorways, the girls had finished tying up Olivia.
Noticing the ominous atmisphere, the dark haired girl, likely the leader of the group, was visibly frightened as she addressed Dudley.
"W-Well then, please take care of the rest. We'll be going back to the academy."
Finally, upon noticing the men, the other two girls also became flustered with fright and huddled together.
"A-Ano."
Dudley, seemingly relishing their fearful reactions, kept the muzzle of his pistol pointed at them.
With a deliberate pull of the firing pin on his revolver, the tension in the room heightened.
"You see, I was born and raised on a floating island in the countryside. The lord who ruled it was a different kind of bastard, taxing us heavily to fund his indulgences with women. I was fed up, and ran away to the city, but all the good jobs were taken by the nobles, either second or third child you see. That's when I found my way into the life of a sky pirate."
Hearing the story they didn't ask, the three of them were tilting their heads.
"It isn't our fault, right?" He spoke again, "Is that what you're thinking ladies? Kuku"
Dudley curve the corner of his mouth and laugh like a hyena.
"So I did some research. Who was that lord paying tribute to? I discovered it was his own wife. I was surprised; after all, our suffering was due to her filthy extravagance."
The girls' faces turn pale after being told this much.
The lord of Dudley's hometown imposed heavy taxes so that his wife could live a luxurious life.
It was caused by the current distorted state of the kingdom, they were not stupid and understand what the man in front of them implied by telling his story.
Bang! The bullet fell just 5 centimeter away from their feet. Suprised, the three of them fell into a sitting position.
"Ha ha ha ha ha." The man laugh hysterically.
"I fucking hate the women of this kingdom. Ha ha ha." He shout with a bloodshot eyes.
"Y-You guys... We're ordered by Lady Stephanie!" The short hair shout.
"This is an order from the young lady. She wants me to get rid of the three of you."
"""——Eh?""" The other sky pirates grinned as the three girls gave a look of disbelief.
"She was worried that you guys might betray her, so she said I could do whatever I wanted while I'm at it. So what should we do?" He asked, looking back to his men, not really a question, just to make them even more fearful.
"Sell them off?" One of the man shout.
"Let's toyed with their body first." Another suggested.
"I like that pony tailed."
"Me, the small one."
"What about the one tied up?"
Hearing the conversation, the three of them trembled and hugged each other.
While laughing Dudley look back at them, pointing the muzzle at one of the three —— the girl dark haired.
"No, I'd like to play with them first. I wanted to see a noblewoman cry once at least."
The men behind him laughed maliciously with amusement when they heard him talk.
Author's Note: Finally back Guys!!!
Also, I planned to write a fantasy novel, look at the previous chapter and give suggestion.