Savior - 603

Hearing this, Skymender indeed felt a bit less worried.

The Fatty spoke again. "So. How can I assist you, Young Lord Skymender."

Hearing his words, Skymender remembered why he had come. 

"I wish to offer you to join me."

The Fatty was confused. 

"As you can see, I am quite young and undermanned. What I need is someone willing to do anything to reach the top to join me and do as I say. As long as they can do that, I can assure them that they will reach far greater heights than they could have ever imagined."

The Fatty was clearly confused. "So why choose someone like me?"

The Fatty's question was valid. He was lazy, fat, and unathletic. He had no ambition at all, it seemed.

"I was unsure before coming here, but now I've made up my mind. How would you like to see your father proud of you?"

The Fatty's face was filled with astonishment at the mere thought. He had never even thought of such a thing.

He seemed to make up his mind rather quickly.

"I would love to join you, Young Lord Skymender."

Skymender nodded. "First, you must do something for me. Then, you will have officially joined me."

The Fatty nodded. 

Skymender began to explain. As he did so, the Fatty's face began to warp from excitement to surprise, to shock, to dread, to reluctance, and finally to acceptance.

The day passed and night took over. It was a normal night, and as always, a beautiful girl took a stroll.

Sneaking out had become something she loved doing. The feeling of freedom was something she could never possibly experience at home.

The expectations of constantly being a perfect daughter, as well as a perfect noble, constantly pressured her every action.

Here, walking in these streets, which were still relatively safe, she felt truly free.

Suddenly, from behind, a knife appeared. She stopped moving as she felt it press against her throat. 

A drop of blood fell down her neck from a cut.

"Stay quiet and come with me. If you resist, you will only be killed."

The girl's eyes widened in horror. She froze, not daring to resist as she was dragged away and knocked out.

When she came to, she was surrounded by three men wearing black. Two were normal, but one was rather fat. 

In order to disguise himself, the Fatty had worn extremely tight clothes. He seemed to be more than half as skinny as he actually was.

The girl, now awake, looked up in horror at the three men. 

They simply stood there, staring, for what felt like an eternity.

As some time had passed, one of the two non-fat men started circling her.

"What a pretty face. It sure would be a shame if it got hurt."

Tears poured from the girl's face. She was completely overwhelmed with fear and regret.

Suddenly, he stopped in front of her. 

"Hold still. I might as well carve that pretty face of yours up."

The girl watched as the knife slowly closed in on her. Suddenly, a loud bang, as if glass was cracking, sounded out.

A flash appeared in her vision as the man holding the knife fell to the ground.

A sword pierced his stomach, and standing on top of it was a young boy.

He turned around and looked at the girl with a charming smile. "Do not worry. I am here."

The girl stared into his green eyes with shock, feeling an overwhelming sense of relief and happiness.

Suddenly, one of the two non-fat men in black shouted. 

"You never mentioned that we…" 

His sentence was destined to never be finished as Skymender accurately threw a knife into his neck.

Skymender was just a nine year old child, but he was a nine year old child whose sister just so happened to be a potential Sword Master.

With this entire thing being a set up in the first place, there was no chance of failure.

The Fatty took out a sword from behind him. 

"You dare intrude and kill my men! Die!"

He stepped forward and swung his sword.

Skymender redirected it, kicking the Fatty back. The Fatty took a few extra steps backward, adding to the show. 

From then on, what played out was about as real as a play. However, to the girl, it was an honorable battle in her honor, one that would decide her fate.

As the Fatty tired out and gave a signal, Skymender slashed, spilling out blood, and with a pierce the Fatty was felled.

The girl's eyes widened with joy. Skymender came over and cut the ropes binding her, helping her up.

"I apologize for not coming sooner, my lady."

The girl blushed and could not look Skymender in the eye.

"You- You're Skymender. I saw you at my mothers tea party."

Skymender nodded. "I followed some suspicious men and heard noises, so I broke through a window and came in. I'm glad I was impulsive."

The girl shyly looked away as Skymender took her outside.

He walked her to her mother, Duchess Vass's, house. They were greeted with great commotion. 

Duchess Vass came down stairs with a pale face. Looking at her daughter, she nearly cried.

She hugged her daughter and repeatedly thanked Skymender.

Duchess Vass's husband had died in war, someone near the level of a Sword Master. Her oldest son had been killed in a freak accident. 

This left only her daughter. If she had been lost tonight, who knows what Duchess Vass would have done.

After her daughter cried herself to sleep, they instantly traveled to the crime scene with countless guards, from both her own house and the Imperial Guard.

They investigated, but they only found two bodies. The third seemed to have somehow escaped.

Duchess Vass thanked Skymender more times than he could count.

She sent him home, and told him to come to her house first thing in the morning.

Skymender bowed and began to walk home.

As the hustle and bustle of the guards faded behind him and he was left alone on the dark streets, his gaze turned vacant and distant.

He looked at the night sky without a word.