To the Rescue

"Ooh, I like where this is going," Astra says, "If you are asking in terms of religion, it depends on the situation, and I can tell you this is one of those times I will allow. If you are asking in terms of the law, then it doesn't matter as long as nobody finds out."

"Pretty lenient, huh? Take the reins for me," I say and hand Astra the reins. The carriage has become bumpy from the speed.

"I don't know how to drive," she says.

"Just hold them still. It will take only a second."

When the slave trader's carriage is about ten meters in front of ours, I raise my pistol and point it at the driver. He looks behind him and shows a puzzled expression as he stares down the barrel.

I have him in my iron sight now. Without a second thought, I squeeze the trigger.

PEW!

Right between the eyes. The slave trader goes limp and rocks his head backward as a mist of blood blows up behind him. He releases his reins and whip and falls down from the seat, getting caught under the wheels.

"Damn!" Astra exclaims.

As the carriage runs over the slave trader's dead body, the cage shakes, and I hear girls' screams coming from within.

Now, the slave trader's horse is running without a driver. The reins are dangling in the air.

"What now?" Astra asks.

"Nothing I can't handle."

I stand up on the seat and lean over to smack the horse on the back.

"Faster!" I yell as I do it.

The horse picks up even more speed. I stumble a little and regain my balance. The two carriages are running right beside each other now.

My mind hasn't gone through the exact process of what I am going to do, but I have a good idea. I holster my pistol and climb onto the top of the cabin. The wood is sturdy enough to support my weight. Carefully, I get onto my feet.

There is a five-meter gap between the two carriages.

"Bring us closer to the right!" I shout at Astra.

"How do I do that?!" She asks.

"Slightly tug the right rein!"

"Um, alright!"

She does what I say, and the gap becomes smaller. Here goes nothing.

I leap into the air between the two moving carriages, one with an incompetent driver, one with none at all.

DOOK!

The lower gravity has really helped. I went a little farther than I expected, but I managed to land on the top of the cage regardless. I hear screams from below the tarp under my feet.

I tread across the cage and jump down onto the driver's seat.

"Pull on the reins, Astra!" I call out across the road.

"Like this?!"

She pulls, and her horse begins to slow down. It's my turn. I grab the reins left by the slave trader and give them a tug. Our carriages quickly decelerate and come to a stop.

I jump down the driver's seat and call out to my carriage.

"Lohikaarmi! Astra! Come down! I am going to need your help!"

Astra, whose body was halfway through the window from the sudden stop, is having a hard time pulling herself out, Lohikaarmi, on the other hand, steps out of the cabin with no problem. Her hair is a little messy, that's all.

I walk over behind the cage.

FOOM! I pull the tarp off the carriage.

The girls are in there, on their sides from all the shaking and huddled together. They are squinting their eyes from the sunlight.

There is a barred door to the cage. It's locked by a small metal hatch with a keyhole. I take out the multi-tools and flip up the ax. With a swing followed by a clank, the lock breaks off and the door opens.

"Mister, please, take me with you and leave my friends here," Faye pleads while looking up with squinting eyes.

"I am not going to take anyone. I am here to help," I say and climb into the cage.

Once Faye gets used to the sunlight, she opens her eyes and sees me clearly. Her face lights up, bringing out a wave of merriment.

"It's you! The soldier from yesterday!" Faye exclaims. She turns to the other girls and says, "Guys! I told you! Look, we are saved!"

One by one, the girls come to the realization of what is going on, and they all show a surprised smile, some of them break down sobbing, except for one, who still has a pained expression on her face. She is sitting in a small pool of blood.

"Sir," Faye says, "can you free me first? I need to help Nasha. She is bleeding."

How exactly is she going to help?

"Uh, yeah, sure."

I switch the multi-tool to the knife and lean over to Faye. Even though she is all dirtied and disheveled, a pleasant smell comes off her. I cut the ropes tying her hands behind her back. Without waiting for me to undo the shackles around her feet, Faye pushes herself up and crawls over to the bleeding girl.

"It's alright, Nasha," she says softly, "We are safe now."

Faye puts her hands together and closes her eyes. A glow comes out from her palms. I couldn't see the wound on Nasha before, so I can't tell how effective it is, but the pain has disappeared from the injured elf's face.

As Faye checks on Nasha further, I go around and undo the bindings on the other girls.

"W-What happened to the slave trader man?" Nasha asks.

"Um…"

"Is that him?" Faye points down the road behind us.

I look to where she is pointing, and there he is, misshaped and lying under the sun on the side of the road in his own blood.

"Yep."

"Thank the Goddess," Nasha says, "he was such a scary man."

The shackles locking their feet have keyholes, as well. There was nothing in the driver's seat, so the keys are probably still on the driver. I turn around to Lohikaarmi, who is standing outside of the cage.

"Lohikaarmi, come here for a second."

"Yes, Master."

There is some murmuring behind me.

Lohikaarmi walks up to the cage, and I lean in beside her to whisper into her ear.

"Go check the driver for keys and bring them back to me. After that, incinerate the body somewhere the girls can't see."

"Yes, Master," she says and walks to the dead body.

I turn back to the caged girls.

"So, what happened?" I ask.

"The slave trader trapped us last night when we were hunting," Faye says.

"That's terrible."

"Yeah, and I am sure even more terrible things were going to happen to us if you Sir didn't show up."

"Yeah, I bet."

Looking at these elf girls, especially Faye, there is no question in my mind what kind of slaves they were going to be.

"Master, here," Lohikaarmi says from behind me.

I turn around, and she is standing outside the cage with a chain of two keys. Wow, that was fast.

"Thanks," I say and take the keys from her hands.

One of them is probably for the door. I bend down to Faye's shackles and insert the other key in. With a turn and a click, it unlocks.