Special Story 4

“I’m Aiden. I’m 8 years old… and you?”

Aiden seemed to have been captured earlier than me, as he was covered in more dust. Despite being dirty, his clothes were quite nice. He didn’t seem to be a noble, but rather a well-off commoner. He also introduced himself simply with a name and no surname.

After assessing the other party, I answered slowly.

“Sasha. I’m 7.”

“O-Oh, I see.”

Aiden, who was already wearing a determined expression, looked even more solemn after hearing my words. Seeing him vigorously wipe his sweaty hands on his trousers, he seemed to feel a sense of responsibility due to the mere one-year age difference. This was obvious even though his trembling eyes and tightly closed lips clearly showed he was already very nervous and scared.

‘How cute.’

The way he was trembling yet gathering his courage was quite funny and endearing.

“Ugh.”

As I tried to suppress the laugh that was about to burst out, my head suddenly throbbed. I let out a low groan, and Aiden flinched in surprise, flailing his arms in panic.

“Sa-Sasha. Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. It’ll be okay soon.”

Whatever drug they used, it must have been cheap, as it was now making my stomach churn. I straightened my reeling mind and surveyed the situation. The one fortunate thing was that, perhaps underestimating us because we were children, neither Aiden nor I was restrained.

I stood up and scanned the surroundings, and Aiden followed, looking around with me. I had to press my lips shut at his cute appearance. The small space had no windows, and the only light came from a tiny fixture above. There was only one door, and no one was guarding it, either out of carelessness or confidence.

Looking around a little more, I saw boxes piled up in one corner. I took a deliberate step toward them, opened a lid, and checked the contents.

‘Potatoes, cheese…’

There was firewood, but most of it was long-lasting food. Following that, an irregular vibration was felt from the ceiling. When I strained my ears, I could faintly hear people’s voices from above.

“Is this a basement storage room?”

A food storage room, at that. With no windows and only one door, escaping wouldn’t be easy, but it didn’t look like a space specifically constructed for a crime. It looked flimsy, so I lightly tested the doorknob, but it was, of course, locked.

“M-Maybe it’s better to just stay put…?”

As I was contemplating how to get out, Aiden, who had been following me, muttered hesitantly. Seeing his anxiety, it seemed he had been following me not to explore together, but because he wanted to stop me. I thought he was following my lead. But the fact that he followed me around the room without being able to speak was also cute.

“Why?”

Cute is cute, but I couldn’t agree with the suggestion to stay put. Still, since dismissing someone’s opinion is not good conduct, I first asked for Aiden’s reason. Aiden’s eyes widened as he replied.

“W-Why? Because it would be dangerous if we were caught trying to leave…”

“And is it not dangerous now?”

“Uh…”

“Let’s say we stayed quiet. Will we be safe when the person who kidnapped us comes?”

“…”

Aiden tightly closed his mouth and lowered his gaze. I almost sighed at his crestfallen look but held it back.

“Aiden, I know what you’re worried about. But I think if we’re going to be in danger anyway, we should look for a way out while we have a chance.”

“…But there are no windows, and no way out. We could be in big trouble if we get caught.”

“We can find an exit if we look. I have no intention of just letting myself stay captured.”

Saying that, I picked up a stick that was lying by the door. I didn’t know what it was used for, but its size was roughly similar to the length of my practice sword.

“See, if we just sat down, we wouldn’t have found something like this, would we?”

“Are you going to use it as a weapon?”

“Yes. I learned swordsmanship.”

While it would be difficult to defeat an adult, surely I could manage to escape? I didn’t say the last part aloud and swung the practice sword a few times.

“I see. Then I just now…”

Just then, heavy footsteps approached the entrance. While I was frozen for a moment by the sudden noise, Aiden grabbed me with his trembling hand and pulled me away from the door.

Click. The lock was released. Aiden was already standing in front of me, firmly holding a small knife that I didn’t know when he had grabbed. It was surprising that he acted immediately, despite being so scared and trembling. His promise to protect me wasn’t empty words. His body was still shaking, but the back that bravely stood in front of me… was cute.

“D-Don’t worry. I’ll protect you…”

Creak. With the sound of the old door, bright light slowly filled the dark storage room.

“What is this, are you trying to stab me?”

A man with a rough face spotted us as soon as he entered and frowned. The man, unfortunately, was quite large. I quickly glanced to see if he was carrying anything. Whether out of carelessness or confidence, he was empty-handed.

On the other hand, Aiden showed clear signs that he hadn’t learned martial arts. His shoulders continued to tremble, and his stance was unstable due to his narrow foot spacing, but he didn’t seem to have the presence of mind to assess that.

‘It would be better if I did it.’

Although Aiden was one year older, there didn’t seem to be much difference in physique or strength, so it was much better for me, who had learned the sword, to take the lead. I calculated the possibilities in my head and immediately tried to pull Aiden back.

“Aiden.”

“Uwaaaah!”

However, perhaps not hearing my voice, Aiden rushed at the criminal with a courage that seemed scraped together. Predictably, the attack, which was merely running forward with the small knife outstretched, did not work.

“You little brats!”

The man easily dodged the knife and kicked Aiden hard with his leg. Aiden flew back with the kick and landed, letting out choked gasps for breath.

“What about you? Put that down! How dare you!”

The criminal’s gaze immediately turned to me. I urgently held up the stick and assumed the sword stance I had been practicing. But I only knew that I intended to assume the stance; I had no room to check if I was even doing it correctly.

‘Move, I have to move. Vital point. If I aim for a vital point…!’

The criminal’s large shadow grew closer, swallowing me up from my toes. I ultimately failed to take any action until he was completely upon me and the stick was snatched away. My mind went blank in the face of my first real-life encounter.

His eyes were completely different from the warm yet sharp eyes of the knights or my father. The eyes, burning with madness and anger, were terrifying.

“Ugh… Ugh.”

“I was trying to take you nicely since you’re a high-quality product!”

The stick I was holding was instantly snatched away. My body trembled so badly that I couldn’t even think about holding onto it. Through my tear-filled vision, I saw the stick being swung towards me. It was just a downward strike, an attack that I would have easily dodged in normal circumstances, but…

“…Huk!”

I could do nothing but squeeze my eyes shut in fear and curl up my body. Tears streamed down my cheeks from the dread of the approaching pain. Regret and self-reflection about running away flashed through my mind, and a small sound escaped me without realizing it.

“Papa, Mama…”

That I, the daughter of the Empire’s strongest father and the smartest, wisest mother, would be such a coward.

“Argh!”

However, contrary to my expectation, the dull sound was not followed by pain.

Aiden was covering me, curled up over my body.

“Aiden!”

“I-It’s okay. My older sisters said you should protect ladies… Ugh!”

“Let go, you idiot!”

I immediately tried to break free from his embrace, but I couldn’t budge Aiden’s arm, which had seemed so weak.

Plop. A drop of blood fell onto the floor.

Startled, I looked up and saw that blood was trickling down Aiden’s forehead, apparently having been hit. But the criminal felt no remorse for hurting a child and raised the stick again.

‘No, if he gets hurt more, it will be dangerous!’

Just as I was about to somehow escape and cover his head—

CRASH!

“Sasha!”

The wall where the door was located crumbled into pieces, raising a cloud of dust.

I looked at the person standing in the middle of the dust cloud and started to cry.

“Papa!”