Beating Up the Capturers

When the carriage driven by Eid neared the group of men, he could hear them being jubilant. These men were not in uniform. They wore different clothing but all of them had some sort of leather armor in them. Swords, arrows, and even axes could be seen hanging from their body.

"Making another extra cenny doesn't hurt." one thin man with his face full of piercings said while playing with a hunter knife in his hands.

The others laughed with him.

Smiling at the others, the thin man got down from his horse and said to Eid with a polite face.

"This a checkpoint where you'll have to pay the toll fee before continuing on your travels, sir. Where are you headed to?"

Eid smiled back and replied, "Ah, I see, I didn't know there was such a thing. I thought there are only an entrance fee at the city gates."

The thin man clasped his hands, but he held a frown. Everyone knew he was just playing, but he didn't expect this youth to play into it either.

'For him to be confident...'

"Ah, but it depends. Who are you with today, sir? We may know their great name and let them pass."

Hearing the thin man, the group of men stiffened. They may be greedy, but they know their limits. There are too many powerful people in the world to mess with strangers. Thus, they go with this kind of act first.

Seeing the 'lowly' young coachman not be scared of them, or the circumstances at least, he must've someone powerful with him.

"Master is sleeping right now. It would be good not to disturb him."

Eid was new to this and was a bit confused with the act. Usually, when he meets one of these kinds of people, there was less talking and more burying a knife on their face or neck. However, he soon picked up their increased vigilance after he spoke. Eventually, his line of thinking met theirs.

"My master is in a hurry to meet someone important in the White Steel City."

"White Steel City..." The thin man's face tightened. White Steel City is one of the four major cities in the Iron Kingdom and could be considered the wealthiest city before the capital.

Wealth means power and power means wealth is especially true in this world. It doesn't look like the young coachman is lying either since the carriage he has with him looks pretty exquisite for a simple traveler.

In a moment, the thin man changed his attitude from arrogant playfulness to true politeness.

"I see, then we shouldn't take any of your time then."

Eid raised his brows, 'Well, that was easy.' and nodded to them before continuing when they made a path. He now understood deeper the importance of images, ornaments, and symbols of power. It sure does save him a lot of trouble.

This made Eid internally sigh. Once he got down from this carriage, he would act low. Meaning, he would've to remove the image of power or nobility from him. Just as he appreciated those things, he had to strip them off. Such a shame.

When Eid and their carriage passed through the men that made a path, he couldn't help but notice the people within iron cages. They were of different gender and ages but they all had something in common: those lifeless eyes.

But Eid wasn't affected by their pitiful appearances.

Not all victims are good people. Their suffering doesn't make them kind. With a glance, Eid instantly knew that. It would be better to ignore them.

Yet, when his carriage passed by these iron cages, it stopped. Eid had pulled the handle to the horses.

'If Father had ignored us, I wouldn't be out here like this.'

Eid thought to himself.

A nerve popped out of Eid's forehead. It's irritating to have an internal conflict even though he already knew the most logical course of action.

However, thinking about his foster father's reaction if he, Duke Rholes, learned of Eid's actions, Eid became troubled.

"Are these slaves?"

He asked as he turned the horses to the side to look at the thin man.

"Uh... yes, sir."

The thin man seemed annoyed. Certainly, there are some good-natured people out there who don't like the idea of slavery even though it's not illegal. There are Human Rights, instituted by the Great Sanctuary, but slaves are not considered humans by the laws. They are more like properties. However, this youth is just a coachman. Did their politeness inflate his head and now he's going to scold them?

"Are you selling them right now? My Master has been interested in having slaves recently."

When they heard his next words, the men's faces lit up. They looked at each other with excited expressions.

"Looks like we struck luck this time!"

"We'll get the full price!"

"Yeah, those slavers are scams! They make so much money from the slave auction but only give us pocket money!"

The thin man immediately jumped into action as if he had turned into a merchant, he marketed the 'goods'.

"Your Master will be proud of you, sir! You are in luck, other than these ordinary villagers we got from a recently colonized village in the Palion Kingdom, you will be more interested in a young beautiful lady we just caught. As a professional trader, I'd say that this is the biggest fish we caught, and this lady might reach a million cennies if put on a slave auction." the thin man then directed Eid's attention to a light-skinned slender woman at the very back of an iron cage.

Eid didn't notice before, but she is different from the rest. There are young girls aside from her, but she looked like she came from royalty with her silky white skin. However, he couldn't see her face because of a bag that covered her head, and her hands were tied to her back, only making her long slender legs subject to judgment.

The thin man didn't think his words would reach the lady since there is some distance between them. But contrary to that assumption, she noticed that they were talking about her and turned her head in their direction.

"Let me tell you what's exceptional about this catch! Not only is she an exceptional beauty from head to toe but she is easily manipulated like a little child. You are not going to believe this story, but she is a lone traveler, searching for her home. We said we'd bring her home and that's it- that's how we caught her! Her naivety knows no bound as she willingly lets us tie her arms, bag her head, and put her into a cage! We said it was for her own good and she agreed! Imagine the endless possibility you could've had with this naive beauty. We all hate those slaves who resist but this one right here, I tell you, the most submissive slave you will ever have, and we can start the negotiation at just eight-hundred thousand! How about it?"

Eid frowned. There are so many things wrong with that description. First of all, he was disgusted by the fact that this man is so proud of his story about catching an innocent girl to sell as a slave while calling himself a trader. That rather made his blood boil. Secondly, when he looked at the girl, he saw no aura of either good or evil...

Eid's original plan was to buy the 'good' slaves with his thirty thousand cennies as much as he could. Although money is crucial, he could always get it back. If he just walked away from these men and ignored the innocent soon-to-be slaves, that will plague his mind until death. It is still true that he didn't want to risk being revealed so early so he compromised.

The problem is that this girl is too expensive!

Eid looked around and saw some 'good' children, maybe they are cheaper. Thus, he made up his mind to ignore the expensive lady and ask for the others. But when he was about to speak, the lady suddenly stood up. Her cloak dropped, covering her legs, and pumpkin pants, but further revealed her dark-blue buttoned top.

"Did you just say you tricked me?"

Her voice echoed from meters away.

"Hey, now! Stand down, lady. It's your fault for being a dumb bitch." a man said and laughed.

"Thats-!" the woman growled, realizing her mistake, "Grr, you'll pay for this!"

The thin man and the others smirked at this.

Eid was baffled to see that what the thin man had said was true. She really believed those lies?

"What can you do?" another man said, "We don't want to hurt the goods so be a good girl and we'll bring you home- a new home!"

A good portion of men laughed at this joke when suddenly the lady stretched her hands outward, snapping the rope like it was nothing.

Pop!*

Everyone suddenly stopped whatever they were doing.

From how loud the rope snapped, it's clear that it was a tough rope that was snapped with sheer strength and couldn't be blamed on how poorly tied it was.

However, the show of strength didn't stop there. The other captives within the same cage moved to the side when the lady walked towards the rows of iron bars. She held a pair of iron bars. With a burst of strength, a sudden screech resounded as the iron bars bent outwards.

The men who were speechless flinched back. The more the iron bars bent to the lady's strength, the paler their faces went.

When the gap between the iron bars was wide enough, the lady stepped out and continued walking towards the thin man.

Nobody stopped her. Nobody knows how to stop her.

Even a Tier 2 Fighter didn't have that strength, and there was no one at that tier among the men!

The thin man stood there frozen, not knowing how to react. He just knew that they fucked up big time.

When the lady had stepped in front of him, with the bag still over her head, the thin man shrunk.

"Uh...."

With how things are suddenly progressing, his thoughts desperately searched for the things he can do. That's when he remembered the girl's weakness.

"I'm... I'm just joking... hehehe..."

"Joking... are you sure?"

The thin man nodded quickly and tried to appease the lady, "Yes! Of course, what else would it be if not a joke? You are a very smart lady so you should understand a joke, right?"

"Uhhh..."

'Wow, don't tell me she just believed that?' Eid was more dumbfounded now than when he saw the sudden strength of the lady. He looked at her like she was some mythical creature. How could someone be so naive?

While Eid was pondering the possibility, the lady turned her head at him and asked, "Was that a joke?"

Eid figured she asked him since he is a third party.

Seeing that his fate now depends on the young coachman, the thin man turned to Eid with pleading eyes. He blinked as if saying 'Please, say it's a joke! I'll pay you!' or something along that line.

Eid smiled, nodded, and reassuredly patted the thin man on the shoulders.

The thin man looked at him with grateful eyes.

Then, Eid replied, "How can that be a joke? You were tied up and caged, they definitely tricked you."

"You-!"

Pak!*

Before the thin man could complete his raging shout, a hand slapped his head. The slap was so hard that his body was lifted from the ground and his body twisted in the air, led by his slapped cheek.

"You are a bad man!" the lady said before turning to the other men.

"Wait, we were just joking as well!"

They defended themselves before looking at Eid. The lady turned her bagged head to Eid as if asking the same question.

Of course, Eid replied with the same answer. He doesn't have a sliver of pity toward these capturers.

"They really plan to sell you, that was not a joke. You almost got sold as a slave!"

"I don't know what that means but they tricked me, right!?" the lady growled.

"That's correct, they tricked you!"

Realizing the young coachman wouldn't turn to their side, the one who said "dumb bitch" pointed at Eid.

"But he tried to buy you! He wants to make you a slave! We are just doing our jobs! The buyers are the ones at fault! Do you know what happens when you become his slave!? You'll feel a lot of pain! They are going to trick you every day!" the man decisively used simple words to persuade the naive lady.

"What!? Is that true? You're a bad man as well!?"

What these men don't realize is that Eid can act better than them. Acting like he was offended; he showed a sad and betrayed expression.

"What?" he said with a shaky voice as if he was about to cry at any moment, "How can you say that to me?" he whimpered, "I was just trying to help."

'Heh, emotions trick children better than words, you fool!'

"Ah, how can you hurt other people's feelings? I'm right, you are the bad people here!" the lady said before she walked towards them.

"No, he's just tricking you! He's faking his cry!" while some still defended themselves, others have already tried to run away.

They knew that they would be placed in the same position as the thin man!

However, strength is not the only thing the lady is prominent with. She has explosive speed, agility, dexterity, and flexibility as well.

Eid watched and evaluated the lady as she beat up the guy who called her 'dumb bitch' before easily throwing him onto the others who tried to run away. She then chased those who got far, jumping on them as she slammed their heads on the ground.

The captives' watched the brutal scene with both hope and awe in their eyes. Seeing their despicable capturers stomped onto the ground was also pure satisfaction.

In a matter of minutes, the lady placed all men on the ground while her head was still covered with a dirt bag which baffles Eid why she hadn't removed it yet. Was she showing off or...

'Don't tell me she forgot to remove it?'