14 1st Lifetime: The Village

Mai looked at the men who were walking towards her in surprise. She remembered Teacher Claire telling her about some of the towns in the Kingdom of Ymir having bad security, but Mai had never guessed that that would be the case in this town.

Before the men could come near her, Heith stood before her, his hands removing his white gloves. "Stay behind me, m'lady," Heith said, a casual look upon his face.

Gabriel and Nicholas stood behind Mai, and Nicholas grabbed her hand. "Come on, Maria! Let's go inside!" Following behind him, Mai turned her head when she heard a sickening crack. She thought that it might have been Heith; however, it turned out to be one of the other men that was a whole head taller than the slim and dainty young attendant.

Heith noticed Mai's hesitation to leave and he quietly shook his head, smiling. "Go, m'lady. It's been a long time since I've had this much exercise."

Nodding, Mai followed behind the boys, leaving the situation in Heath's capable hands.

However, they walked into a situation that was almost as bad as outside- the other children were unconscious, being tied up by other rough-looking men.

"What are you doing!" Gabriel yelled when he saw one of the men tying up Elizabeth.

Nicholas stopped him from furiously charging the man, but Gabriel's yell caught their attention.

"There are three others here," one of the men yelled out towards the back. Mai's face darkened. This was a planned attack, but she didn't know who was it planned for.

Turning her head, she glanced at the decorative fan that graced the inn's walls. It wasn't reinforced with metal like the other fan that Teacher Claire had given her, but it would have to do. Mai snatched the fan from the wall and quickly began to retaliate against the men.

The boys looked on in amazement as Mai dealt with men that were two times her height and three times heer body weight.

"Don't just stand there!" Mai yelled at them, hitting one of the men on their groin, "Go ahead and untie the others!"

Jolting out of their reverie, Gabriel and Nicholas rushed over to the other children. Gabriel untied Elizabeth first, while Nicholas started off with the children nearest to him: Fredrich.

It took a long twenty minutes for Mai to defeat the four men, and she was drenched in sweat. Her dress' hem had torn when she was fighting the second man, and one of her sleeves was cleanly ripped off.

It was at this time that Heith walked in, a refreshing look on his face. He glanced around the room, but stopped when he saw the four big, burly men on the floor. "There were more inside?" He said, in disbelief and shock. He then anxiously looked for Mai, but he relaxed when he noticed that she was fine. "Who took them down?" Heith admiringly said, asking the two boys.

Gabriel and Nicholas looked at each other and simultaneously pointed at Mai. "Maria," they both said.

"Maria?" Heith was confused. Maria had never taken fighting lessons in her life.

"Yes," Mai replied, "I, um, saw a girl who used a fan to fight and uh, I memorized her moves. I used it just now."

Heith stared at Mai in amazement. If that were true, then she was a genius! He secretly vowed to teach her his skills in the future.

Victoria groaned from the floor, and Heith quickly snapped back to business. "Let's tie up these men before we contact your households. We can't have you kids out and about when there is clearly malicious men out there, even if we aren't sure if they're specifically out for any one of you children."

Gabriel, Nicholas, and Mai agreed, and all three of them helped Heith to tie up the four burly men. Victoria woke up when they were half-way finished with their task. She had a large bump on her forehead.

"What happened?" She asked, her eyes unfocused.

Nicholas glanced at her and answered, "You were assaulted."

Victoria looked at the man on the ground with a face filled with confusion. "Why did they attack me?" She looked at the others that were as unconscious as she was a while ago, "And the others?"

Mai shook her head, "We don't know. We just know that they tied you guys up, presumably to take you somewhere else."

Victoria's face darkened, "Then they may be slave traders."

Gabriel spoke up from his position on the floor, tying the feet of the last man, "I don't think so. I think they may be part of a large syndicate. They didn't seem to be like most of the other slave traders who only work in small groups."

Victoria nodded, but she looked at the four unconscious men on the ground with confusion.

"There were more men outside," Nicholas clarified. Finished with tying up the men, Heith signaled for the children to walk towards him.

"We need to bring the ones that aren't awake yet to a separate room. Someone needs to stay with them."

Mai raised her hand, "I can do it."

Heith nodded his head and continued, "The rest of you will come with me. We need to contact your households."

Everyone agreed. Then, Heith bent down to pick up Fredrich and Ivan, placing the both of them on his two shoulders. However, Ivan stirred and woke up.

"What are you doing!" He yelled, struggling on Heith's shoulder. Setting him down, Heith sighed and continued to carry Fredrich like a sack.

On the other hand, Nicholas glanced at Gabriel and made a sweeping motion with his hand, gesturing for him to carry Elizabeth. A faint blush graced Gabriel's face when he bent down to princess-carry Elizabeth. Victoria looked on and scoffed. Mai smiled.

The seven of them (and the two unconscious companions) walked to the nearest room of the hotel. Ensuring that there was no one inside with a knock, Heith then lock-picked the door.

"I never knew that a mere chaperone would be able to lockpick and fight," Nicholas commented, his gaze suspicious.

"I've had a few side jobs," Heith breezily answered. He entered the room first while everyone else followed.

Setting down Fredrich onto one of the beds, Heith gestured for Gabriel to do the same for Elizabeth to which Gabriel complied, but placed her on a separate bed.

Heith glanced at Mai before he spoke, "M'lady, we will be right back after we contact the households. Do not let anybody in unless it is us." After confirming that Mai understood, Heith left with Victoria, Gabriel, Ivan, and Nicholas in tow.

Mai stood in the middle of the room for quite a while before she went to the door and locked it, placing a chair securely underneath the door handle. She remembered Claire off-handedly telling her that after she had drank a lot of the villager's wine.

Looking at the unconscious children before her, Mai thought of a way that she could be useful. She looked at the large bumps on their heads and then to the other bed. She grabbed the bedsheets of the last bed of the room. Mai tore it into long sheets. She then wet the long strips with the water that was placed in a bowl before a mirror vanity.

She placed a wet cloth on the forehead of each of the children, thinking that it might help with their swelling.

The only thing she had to do now was wait.

....

It was a little over ten minutes when Mai heard knocking. She crept close to the door and leaned in, hoping for some clue that it was truly Heith and the others.

There was no sound after the knock. Mai waited a few seconds. Nothing. She leaned her ear onto the door. It was then that a fist burst through the door.

Mai shrieked.

The hand moved towards the doorknob. Panicking, Mai looked around the room. There was no weapon other than the decorative fan. Having no better option, Mai used it to stab the hand.

"F*ck!" The hand recoiled, and Mai followed. She was scared. Bending down, she looked through the hole at the same time as the people on the other side.

Mai made eye contact with a buff-looking man.

"Hey, you're right, man!" The man told his companions, "There is a kid here!" He proceeded to kick the door open.

The door creaked under the weight of the man, and a cracking sound could be heard. Mai panicked. Looking around, she pushed the mirror vanity towards the door, but she knew that that wouldn't be enough to stop the men.

"Maria?" Fredrich asked, having woken up from his 'nap'. "What happened?" He rubbed the back of his head. "I don't remember anything after that hit."

A thump was heard and the door groaned once more. Mai looked at Fredrich and the door before she made her decision. "No time. We need to jump out the window."

"What?!" Fredrich asked, incredulously. Mai ignored him. She walked towards Elizabeth and tried to pick her up. But Mai knew that her body right now was really weak.

"Help me with her!" Mai yelled. She glanced towards the door right as the man destroyed it. "Hurry!"

Fredrich jumped from his bed, stumbling as he grew dizzy. He paused for a moment before he picked up Elizabeth. Mai saw that Fredrich could handle Elizabeth, so she ran to the window and opened it.

"D*mn it!" The sound of a mirror breaking could be heard.

Mai jumped out of the window. She was grateful that the room was on the first floor. She held her hands out to assist Fredrich with Elizabeth.

Fredrich was halfway out of the window when the men came into the room. "Jump!" Mai screamed. Fredrich looked behind him and got scared. He fell, his back hitting the ground and knocking the wind out of him.

"Catch them!" the man furiously said, stomping towards the window.

Mai panicked and grabbed Fredrich's arm. "Hurry!"

Standing up, Fredrich picked up Elizabeth and the three of them ran as fast as they could to the nearest shop.

Mai picked up the hem of her cumbersome dress. Their running speed was slow. Fredrich was slow due to him carrying Elizabeth, but Mai was slow because of her fight earlier. Even after resting, she was dead tired.

There was a feeling of wind behind her, and Mai looked back. The man was a few seconds away from grabbing her. Desperate, Mai made a decision. She stopped.

It took Fredrich a few seconds to notice. He turned his head and yelled at Mai, "What are you doing! Come on!" Panic shown on his face.

"I'm going to fight," Mai said. "You go! Don't look back!"

Fredrich looked at Mai and then at the store. He quickly made his mind and dashed.

"Heh, little girl thinks she can hurt us," one of the men said. He cracked his knuckles. "This man thinks she can't."

Mai looked at the men and at the broken fan in her hands. Ten seconds. If she lasts ten seconds, then Fredrich would be able to reach the store, and she would be able to run.

She hooked her finger, gesturing for the men to come at her. She was not going down without a fight. In fact, she was not going down at all.

A fist came hurtling towards her face. Narrowing her eyes, Mai opened her fan, using it to redirect the man's attack. Quick on her feet, Mai immediately turned her body, twirling towards the man. She jabbed her elbow onto the man's nose and blood dribbled all over his face.

"F*ck!" the man had enough time to say before Mai rebounded from her elbow to his nose to an elbow to his chin. The man went down with a loud 'thump'.

The other three men were surprised and stood in their tracks. Mai took a shuddering breath before she smoothed her dress. "Who's next?" She calmly said, hiding her racing heart.

The men looked at each other, anger clearly reflected in their eyes. They barreled to Mai.

Mai used their heavy bodies to her advantage- she ducked down when they had first arrived, using her fan to stab a man's toe. He immediately lifted his foot up. Taking advantage of this moment, Mai sweeped her foot, causing the man to fall on his back.

She then used her fan once again to hit the privates of the other two men before her. They went down with a groan, and Mai was able to roll away from their reach. She quickly got on her feet and kicked the faces of both men, knocking them unconcious.

The last man- the one she had stabbed in the foot- was hobbling towards her. Mai smirked. She consciously hid her heavy breathing as she called out to the man. "You can give up if you want. I won't judge you."

Hearing this, the man furiously roared and ran to Mai. Dodging swiftly, Mai hit the middle of the man's spine hard enough so that he lost all feelings in his legs. He fell to the ground. Knocking him out with a hard hit to the head, Mai stood before her massacre.

Slow clapping snapped her from her reverie. Fredrich stood before her. He whistled in appreciation as he kicked one of the men on the ground. "Wow," he said, "I never knew a girl could be so... tough."

Mai glared at him, "Where's Elizabeth."

"What..." Fredrich extended the a, conveying the harmlessness of leaving Elizabeth alone. "There were no men there."

Her breathe slowly recovering, Mai straightened up. "You can't just leave her there. There may be more men."

"Psh," Fredrich said, "Poppycock. Why would they go to an inconspicuous Mom and Pop shop?"

Mai pointedly stared at the hotel they were earlier. It was one of those 'Mom and Pop shops'.

"You have a point," Fredrich acceded, "But I still think that she's perfectly fine."

Sighing, Mai pushed past him to go towards the shop. Fredrich followed her after a few seconds, still amazed at her prowess.

They arrived at the shop in less than a minute, their walking speed a bit fast. Mai looked around the room, unable to see Elizabeth. "Where is she?" She asked, suspicion on her features.

Fredrich locked the door behind him, placing the key back around his neck. "Oh," Fredrich smiled, "I'm afraid that I didn't put her here."

Mai turned to look at the slight smirk on Fredrich's face. "Where is she," she forcefully said.

"Now, now, Maria. You wouldn't want to make me angry, dear. I wouldn't want to accidentally do something that neither of us wants."

Mai tensed. She turned her head just as a throwing knife pierced the air right where her head had just been.

"D*mn it," a voice languidly said, "I missed."

"She's a lot more adept than we thought, Kaleb," Fredrich said.

"Yeah," Kaleb looked at Mai with slight respect, "too bad she'll be dead."

Mai stared at the boys before her in disbelief. She couldn't believe it-

"Believe it," Fredrich laughed, "I'm afraid that you've been betrayed, dear."