Chapter 4

Hearing the man's answer, Hisashi sprung and ran away immediately. He doesn't know where he was running off to but he still decided to run around the village. Without any leads, he doesn't know where to go.

He stopped for a minute before analyzing the situation. 'The bracelet was in front of the door. It is impossible for Koyori to just leave it there. It is possible that someone saw it somewhere and put it there… Or the kidnappers put it there themselves!'

Even with the right deduction, Hisashi doesn't have any idea where to find her. 'If someone would have to wait for a ransom, they wouldn't be in the village or they may get caught. Therefore, they're in the mountains. Wait for me Koyori.'

As soon as he thought of that, he ran towards the highest point of the nearest mountain. Even with his stamina quickly depleting, his adrenaline supplied him with the strength to run more.

'If I can find a fire source, it is possible that it is the kidnapper.' Given the dark, no person would dare not light a fire to avert the dangers of the dark.

After running around the mountains for more than 30 minutes, his body is now on the verge of exhaustion. His body felt like passing out.

'Koyori, where are you?' His lungs made him think of giving up. Even without the strength for running, he continued to walk. If not for his diligent training with himself, his scrawny child legs would have had a permanent injury by now.

'Koyori, where are you?'

Walking for five minutes more, his hopes began to light up as he saw two silhouettes near a fire. Their conversations are incomprehensible to Hisashi given his fatigue and the distance but he has a gut feeling that he found Koyori.

'Koyori, are you there?'

He continues his walk toward the two without the care about them finding out. Luckily for him, their conversations are loud to cover Hisashi's slightly loud footsteps.

"We're going to score big bucks with this kid in our hands, man!" The first guy said. His build is thin and he looks slightly malnourished. If someone can see his face, they would see his jagged and broken teeth, big eye bags, and dry skin.

Opposite him is a bigger guy with the opposite build who is kind of overweight. His face is full of messy facial hair and messy hair.

"You know, we can have a taste of this kid. She looks pretty." The first guy suggested with a flashing grin on his face.

"Try to do that and you'll ruin the merchandise. We only have five days in this village. We'll just take the ransom money and then sell her. If you do that, she'll sell for less."

The fat man stated. He didn't even give the skinny guy a look.

"So we're only talking ransom money and not giving her back? damn. Then, how about deducting the loss on our next hit? We're now partners, right?" He asks after going silent for a couple of seconds.

Before the fat man can answer, he heard a groaning sound from the other man. Surprised, he looks in the man's direction only to see a wooden brush inserted through his right ear. Behind him is a kid around 7-8 years old.

Reacting quickly, the man pulls out his dagger and stab the child who barely dodged his stab.

…

As Hisashi walked toward the two men, he felt a stinging pain in his head. There he saw a vision of him getting stabbed.

However, he continues to walk and pulls out the wooden brush that he had been using all this time. As he sneaks on the man's back, he prepares to stab the man in the ear. As he stabs the man's ear, the muscles on his right arm bulge and enlarge slightly.

With a burst of strength, the brush continued to go inside stabbing the man's brain. With how fast everything is happening, he just suddenly saw the big man with his dagger lunge at him. The man slashes toward him but his instinct made him jump back to dodge it.

The man followed through with a stab but Hisashi suddenly felt his legs give up. Because of this, he cannot jump and dodge sideways. Remembering the vision he saw earlier, he decided to lean back and roll with his body.

Because of this move, he was able to dodge the man's stab. However, when he looked up to see the man, he was already near him and the knife slashes his neck.

…

As Hisashi walked toward the two men, he again, felt another stinging pain on his head. There he saw a vision of him fighting the man before getting killed.

…

By the time he was at his eleventh step, he felt his head was about to open. However, for one last time, he didn't die in his vision, rather, he was even able to successfully release Koyori.

As he plunge the wooden brush onto the man's ear, he quickly grabbed the dagger on his waist. Just as the other man rushes to him, he rolls forward toward the tent where he saw Koyori.

He cuts the tent open with the dagger and rolls again to dodge the man's slash and reach her simultaneously. Before the man can attack again, Hisashi screams at him.

"One more step and this girl is dead." With this, the man stopped. However, he isn't amused.

"Kid, do you know what you're talking about? Do you know what you're doing? No matter what you do, I'll kill you right here. Do you think that I don't know you? Stop the bluff." Hisashi then looks dead at him straight in the eyes. Realizing that the man knows it, he strengthens his resolve.

"Then I would just kill you! Even if I can't, I won't let you touch a single hair of hers anymore." He said as he grits his teeth. "Ungh!" Koyori twitches as she slowly starts to regain consciousness.

As the man watches him, the man thought for the slightest moment that he really would do it. "Again, do you know what you are talking about, kid? Do you really think… that you can kill me?

*Huff* *Huff* Noticing that his fatigue is catching up to him, Hisashi's resolve became more intense. He just needs to wait for Koyori to wake up and run while he prevents this man. However, he isn't the only one who knows that he is tired – the big man too.

"Do you even know who I am? Well, I'd be surprised if you knew. However, let me tell you who I am. I'm known as Taoru, and I serve many rich people from my country. What do you think will happen to you if I get killed here? I doubt you your country dares to fight a war with the Han Country."

Letting Koyori down, and helping her stand up, Hisashi replies. "You're a big idiot. If you serve many people, do you think that you are important to them? They'd rather find another man than let other countries and their citizens know that they are a bunch of sick people with mental illness by raping children."

Taoru just shrugs and pulls out another dagger from his back. This time, he became serious as he take his stance and release a massive amount of yoryoku which Hisashi felt.

Contrary to what the man was expecting, Hisashi wasn't a bit scared of his yoryoku. "Commendable. Not a bit of fear in your eyes. However, your courage won't keep you alive by the time the sun rises."

"I told you right? I won't let you take her anymore. Even if my life ends right here, right now, I will take you alongside me to the deepest pits of hell. As Hisashi says this, he doesn't notice the faint smile that appeared on his face.