Chereads / The Cursed Child’s Rise / Chapter 27 - Inside The Alley

Chapter 27 - Inside The Alley

"What was that?!"

We instinctively turned around, with concern written on our faces, we slowly walked deeper into the alley, making sure to check our steps so as to not make too much noise. 

I have a bad feeling about this…

About 25 meters deeper, we got to a point where a few paths intertwined, but we heard another noise which confirmed the direction we needed to look at being to our left. Turning towards the path at our left, we then finally grasped the situation. There were 5 men, with 1 standing behind the other 4, most likely their leader, and 2 children at the very dead end of the path. One of them was a younger girl, while the other was a slightly older boy, who clearly had already sustained injuries. Seeing the scene unfold, my heartbeat accelerated once again. My feet started trembling, and my throat started drying. Something about simply looking at it, was stirring me up inside in the worst ways possible. 

"How sad. You still refuse to give up even after all of this?"

I looked at Luna who was by my side, and with a nod we agreed to watch for now as one of the men spoke to the boy.

"W-why would I? I haven't done anything wrong."

His breathing was heavy, and he was visibly exhausted already, but he stood up.

"You didn't do anything wrong? Didn't your parents teach you that stealing is wrong?- oh, that's right… you don't have any parents anymore, do you?"

The other 3 started laughing, while their leader simply stood there silently. The girl behind him was holding what seemed to be a piece of bread. One glance with that context was enough for anyone to determine what was going on there, and that was more than enough for me. I turned towards Luna once again.

"Lun-"

"Wait, Cael."

Her eyes were serious, and full of concern as she stopped me before I could even speak. Perhaps she had already guessed what I was about to say. 

"You have no reason to play the hero. You're way more tired than you even realize, and in no shape to even try to save them. I know that it's cruel… but we have to go and find Maia.."

Her reasoning made total sense, in fact so much that it annoyed me to some extent, but even those feelings were quickly melted away by the insane warmth enveloping my heart. She was worried about me, even more than those kids. As cruel as it sounds, her logic was simple. We find Maia to take care of them, and we save 2 kids even if they might get further injured in the process. But if she lets me interfere, then there would be 3 injured kids on the spot once Maia arrives. It was obvious which one made more sense to choose, especially since we'd have double the chance of finding her if we both searched. But I was already too far into my thoughts to ignore them.

"Yeah… you're right. That would be the best outcome. But there's simply no way I can just turn my back now."

I smiled with gratitude and resolve as I looked her straight into her eyes. What met them was an instance of a few feelings. It was only for a short moment, perhaps even just a single second, but I saw all of them. Sadness: probably because of my unreasonable choice; concern: it was clear that I wouldn't get out of this unharmed; acceptance: she took in all of my stupid resolve, and accepted it. 

"Alright. I'll go find Maia myself. You better not get hurt too much, or even Maia's healing might not be enough, you know?"

"Haha, I doubt that's a problem. She healed me while most of my bones were fractured last time, so I'd say that we're fine now… as long as they don't go further than that?"

"You really have a bad personality, you know? This isn't a joking matter."

She let out a sigh, and after a final reassured look she spoke.

"I'll definitely get Maia to come here in time."

"Thanks."

She then turned around, and sprinted her way out of the valley, and started looking for Maia. Now it was my turn to get into action… although it really was starting to look painfully obvious that it was a terrible choice, as my knees were shaking so bad I could barely stand. But I didn't have time to complain. I glanced over at them once again, and with a final heavy breath, I decided to shoot my shot, and walk towards them slowly. 

Seriously… What am I even doing?

The first to notice me, understandably so was the one furthest behind the rest, and closest to me. His expression went from indifference to curiosity almost instantly, and the reason was simple. My hair. The others had also taken notice of me, but they probably hadn't paid attention to it, since the moment they saw me, attacking was the only thing they tried to do, however. 

"Stand aside, and let him pass."

As expected. He seems to be more reasonable.

Giving him a look of defiance at first at the clearly unreasonable order, they eventually complied and allowed me to pass through. The young boy behind me seemed to be around my age, but he was barely able to stand anymore.

"You can sit back and rest now. It's going you're okay. You did a great job."

"H-huh? Who.. are you?"

"I'm just someone who happened to be napping nearby. No more questions now though, alright?"

He was clearly confused, and above all he was visibly scared. But for some reason I am not sure about, he seemed to have trusted me enough to actually do as I told him, and he sat down next to his sister. I stood in front of both of them, facing the men, as their leader momentarily seemed to have stepped in front of them.

"The rumors of the gate incident are already spreading fairly fast, you know? "The damn Ashford heirs are here, and they've already harassed 2 guards." Is all I'm hearing, so I was wondering who those heirs were. For that matter, I didn't even know if you'd still be here, but would you look at that? I guess luck is on my side, isn't it?"

"It could be. At the very least, it's definitely on yours more than mine. But I'll have to ask, you know? Why are you talking to me, instead of killing all 3 of us on the spot? An Ashford's head could probably sell for a lifetime's worth of fortune. I'm sure you're aware."

His calm expression broke into a sly grin, before turning into a short laughing outbreak. 

"Hahaha, well, aren't you quite the smart kid? I guess it runs in your guys' blood, huh? The Ashford Household, former Duke's lineage, and known to only give birth to prodigies, although even if in different fields. I guess it wasn't just mindless praise?"

"You seem like quite a fan of ours. Though I'm aware that there's probably no adult who doesn't know about us, you seem to be more passionate about it, aren't you? Want me to give you an autograph?"

He analyzed my words and body language with an intrigued humming sound, clearly enjoying the conversation.

"I'm afraid that won't be necessary. The autograph of a traitor doesn't really hold value, you know? I appreciate the offer though."

"Traitor, huh? Even though I'm as innocent as any other child?"

"That might be true. But in my eyes just like everyone else's, as long as there's the blood of those disgusting traitors in your veins, you're just as bad to us. Don't take it personally, that's just how the world works, kiddo."

"You don't look as if you'd want to kill me right now though?"

"That's right. Right now, I have no intention of touching you, but that's only temporary."

"And the reason is?"

"My curiosity as to why you're in my way right now, is far greater than my desire to slit your throat. Would you mind enlightening me?"

"I'd rather not, if it means you'll slit my throat the moment your curiosity is fed up though."

"Haha, well, you do have a point. How about this, I'll hear you out, then perhaps even let you and those dirty thieves go depending on your answer?"

This doesn't really seem like a deal though…

"So there's a slight chance I might be able to get out of this situation unharmed, but only if my answer amuses you enough. Is that correct?"

"I guess you could put it that way. So? What is it going to be?"

I took a few moments to genuinely consider my words, since even though his words weren't one bit believable, there could've been a chance in them being truthful, and if that was the case, I had to make sure our chances of getting out unharmed would increase as much as possible. However, the more I thought about it, the more it boiled down to a simple conclusion. It just wasn't happening.

"Haha, I guess fighting won't be optional. I'm really sorry to disappoint you, old man. But I don't think my answer will please you one bit, you know?"

"Hoo? Maybe I overestimated your intelligence?"

"No, that's not it. I know I could just lie and say something that would probably please you, or at least make you laugh enough to let us go. But I won't do that. I have no intention of lying, because this is my motivation for putting my own life at risk. Lying about it would be disrespectful to myself."

I don't know whether my reasoning resonated with him or he just got tired of taking the spotlight, but it didn't matter to me. The fact that he walked once again behind his men, was more than enough to tell me how things were standing.

"I see. But nonetheless, my curiosity does still stand atop of my will to kill you. So I'll listen to it till the very end, so still, do tell."

I glanced at the 2 behind me. The older brother was holding his sister in his arms, both of them on the ground. Even in the single glance I took, I immediately noticed how scared they were. Both were trembling, and their eyes were wide open and fixed on the scene unfolding in front of them. Seeing them like that broke something inside me. Kids shouldn't have to be in a position of this nature. That's why, for their sake, I made up my mind to give my best and buy as much time as possible for Maia to arrive.

"Don't tell me that I didn't warn you though, alright? It's not some mighty reason after all."

He remained silent, looking at me with an expecting look, and after a last sigh, I finally decided that I couldn't stretch this scene any longer, and gave him my reply.

"I'm not doing this to be a hero, or anything else of that nature, if that's what you're thinking. "Why's the kid from Ashford getting in my way? Even though he's from a lineage of traitors?!" Or something along those lines must be what you're thinking, no?"

"Not quite, but it's also not that far from it. It's more like "he seems pretty smart for his age, and I'm sure he already got an idea of what the situation is. So then why is he protecting the thieves? Shouldn't a young Ashford try to save their image for themselves, and try to easen up the burden put on them by their ancestors?" Is more like it."

I see, so that's how it looks to him, huh?

"No wonder you're curious then. The answer is a lot simpler than you'd think though. Of course, I don't support stealing, and it shouldn't be done. But I do believe in exceptions. I couldn't care less about saving my image as an Ashford if it means ignoring an older brother who's trying to feed his little sister. If in your eyes, what he did was so unacceptable that you'd beat a kid to that extent, then perhaps you're even worse than how my ancestors are in the propaganda against them."

His expression stiffened and contorted in a matter of a second or two at most, and it was obvious where this was going next. I was scared. Extremely scared. I know that I'm simply just not going to get out of this unharmed. But it's fine. At the very least, it'll be me who gets beaten up next, and not either one of the 2 behind me. So as he ordered 2 of his 4 men to go forward towards me, I didn't try to run. Not just because frankly speaking, it wouldn't have been possible. But because I was the only line of protection left for those 2.