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Chapter 31
Brave Children (2)
“No, just hit me. Spare the young master. If you harm the young master, there will definitely be revenge, but I’m not a member of Arcades yet, more like a small fry under them. So it should be fine.”
I declared just as solemnly as Jake.
The gang leader shot me an even more murderous glare.
“Kids fighting over who gets to die first, huh.”
He seemed genuinely baffled by me. Tilting his head in confusion as he stared, he soon approached and pressed down firmly on my shoulder with the hand not holding a dagger.
“You’re one strange little brat. I’ll kill you first.”
The gang leader seemed resolute as he raised the dagger. Countless thoughts raced through my mind at that moment.
‘Is this really the end?’
‘Even after being reincarnated, is this how my life ends?’
I stared directly at the dagger pointed at my neck, trying to suppress the fear. I could faintly hear Jake screaming, “No!” and struggling beside me.
‘Jake, this isn’t the time to scream like that.’
What were the chances I could kick the boss’s center of gravity and run before the dagger struck?
If I also kicked the guy holding Jake and grabbed his leg after I escaped, maybe Jake could at least get away…
The problem was, he didn’t seem ready to run off alone either.
In a flash, the dagger started to come down.
They were clearly underestimating me because I was just a child. I had to take advantage of that.
Just as I was mustering the strength to kick the boss’s center, I heard a sharp, metallic whooshing sound—like wind slicing through steel.
At the same time, the dagger he was holding clattered to the floor.
“Argh! Who’s there?!”
The startled boss shouted and looked around wildly. Blood was dripping from the back of his hand.
We heard the slicing of wind again, but there was nothing visible to our eyes. And then…
Blood gushed from one of the boss’s eyes.
Something invisible was definitely attacking him.
His subordinates panicked at the sight.
Soon, Rekto’s eye exploded, and then the guy next to him started bleeding from one eye too.
Whatever it was, it seemed to be targeting their eyes specifically.
‘Wow. Whatever it is, it’s totally my style.’
I admired it for a moment, but then I noticed another guy, a huge one, bleeding from his neck.
The attack seemed to have shifted targets. Impressed again, I realized this wasn’t the time to just watch in awe.
The boss was reaching for the dagger again with one hand, despite everything.
Gripping the hem of my dress tightly with both hands, I kicked him hard in the gut.
Unable to withstand the pain, the boss folded in half and collapsed.
I grabbed the dagger he had dropped and looked toward Jake. He seemed completely dazed by what had just happened.
“Jake! Let’s go!”
I shouted to snap him out of it, grabbed his hand, and ran without looking back.
“Catch those brats!”
The boss’s furious voice echoed behind us. We could hear footsteps chasing us, then screams.
I glanced back while running.
One of the pursuers was rolling on the ground, clutching his shin.
Whatever was helping us, it seemed smart. It knew to target the legs to stop them from chasing us.
Of course.
The Duke wouldn’t have just thrown money at this without a backup plan. Jake and I ran with all we had.
Fortunately, the guys chasing us were all on the ground clutching some part of their body, so we managed to escape far.
We didn’t know where we were heading, but we just kept running through grass taller than I was.
We had to find a house. A light source would have been ideal, but there was no sign of anything nearby.
Soon, darkness began to fall.
Jake, panting, let go of my hand and stopped.
“Ludia, let’s rest for a bit.”
“Yeah… I’m out of breath too…”
Breathing hurt so much it made a gulping sound every time I inhaled. Gasping, I turned back in the direction we had come from.
No one was following us anymore.
We weren’t safe, but we had a moment to rest.
“Jake, do you know what that thing poking out eyes is?”
“I… kind of do, but not really.”
“What’s that mean?”
“I think it’s the eagle my father sent, but I don’t know why we can’t see it.”
“Whoa! There’s a stealth eagle that only pecks eyes?!”
‘This is exactly why fantasy worlds are so fun.’
I looked around the dark sky, hoping to catch a glimpse.
But I couldn’t see anything.
“Rael, are you next to us?”
Jake asked the empty air. But it was quiet.
“Not here?”
“No, even if it is, it won’t answer.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not my father.”
Jake answered with a pout. So only the Duke could communicate with the eagle?
I felt genuinely disappointed. If we survived, I wanted to get friendly with it—maybe even try some charms.
Which meant… I couldn’t die here.
“Jake, are you rested? Let’s go. The bad guys might come after us again.”
“Yeah, let’s move.”
We started running again. I could faintly hear the sound of wind being sliced, so it seemed the eagle Jake mentioned was running with us.
I didn’t know why it was invisible, but it was clear the Duke had pulled some serious strings for us.
Eventually, we burst through the tall grass and found ourselves on a wide-open plain.
Something seemed to be growing there, but I couldn’t tell what.
“A wheat field. There must be a village past it.”
Even Jake didn’t seem to know the area well, but if there was wheat, someone had to be farming, so there had to be houses nearby.
The wheat rustled in the wind and cool air swept past us.
“Jake, hurry.”
The wheat wasn’t tall enough to hide us, but it was dark now, and visibility was low. Our best bet was to run quickly.
We ran, then walked when we got tired, repeating the cycle.
Finally, we saw a small hill or mound in the distance.
“Ludia, I think I see a village!”
Jake pointed ahead, where there seemed to be structures that looked like houses.
There were no lights, which made me nervous, but we didn’t have time to be picky.
We ran as fast as we could and finally arrived.
As feared, it was basically a ghost town.
We checked a few houses, but they were all empty—no signs of life anywhere.
We were exhausted and had no strength left to keep moving.
“Jake, maybe we should just hide somewhere. Anywhere.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
We entered the nearest house. It wasn’t wealthy-looking, but there were enough spaces to hide.
Since it was abandoned, the doors were falling off and the windows were boarded up with loose planks.
It wasn’t perfect cover, but we had no choice.
Jake inspected the place and led me to a spacious area with a chimney. It must’ve been the living room.
“This is probably the best spot.”
I followed him in and checked the front and back exits. After confirming our escape routes, I finally sat down against a wall, letting my tired body rest.
Surely they wouldn’t chase us all the way here.
They had their eyes gouged out, unless they were total monsters, they would’ve given up by now.
Even though we couldn’t see it, knowing the eagle was still with us made me feel safer.
The Duke was searching for us, and we had escaped, so if we could just survive this night, we could return.
‘Right. After all I’ve been through, even reincarnation, I couldn’t die like this.’
“Rael, are you listening?”
Jake asked the empty air again. No response.
“We’re here, so please go tell my father where we are.”
Just as Jake finished speaking, the metallic wind noise came again.
It must’ve been the eagle taking off.
Then we just had to wait for it to return.
Until then—I prayed nothing would go wrong.
