Chapter 16: Save The Kids

After talking things out with Astrid, I was able to convince her to team up with me in the meantime in order to save her friends. After we shook hands, we immediately went back inside the kingdom to meet up with Komraad and the girls. Hopefully, her friends too.

We ran as fast as we can and thankfully, Komraad and the girls were still in the alley near the warehouse waiting for me.

"Hey, everyone! I'm back!" I shouted from afar and approached them.

Ms. Ina! Rein and Fae said in unison. They both ran towards me to hug me.

Komraad noticed Astrid was tagging along with me freely instead of being captured and tied up.

"Hey hey hey, why is that thief with you!?! I thought you were gonna capture her?!?" Komraad asked in confusion.

"About that, there's going to be a change of plan. For now, we're having a truce," I replied to him.

"Ehh??? What do you mean cat?" Komraad was even more confused.

"I'll explain later. For now, please trust me on this one," I begged them.

"You don't have to tell us, Ms. Ina, we trust you," Fae and Rein answered while smiling gently at me.

"Thank you, girls. Anyway, did you guys capture the other thieves that were with her earlier?"

"Yes, we did," Komraad boasted. He clearly wants me to praise him.

"Tell me where they are so I can untie them."

"They're not here anymore. The knights already took them."

"What?!? Why would you do that?"

"Huh? Wasn't that the plan all along?"

"Ugh, I can't argue with that. I mean he's not wrong but still... This is bad."

"About that Ms. Ina, we actually didn't want to give them away but the knights who came here insisted on taking over so we had no other choice but to hand them," Fae clarified.

"Do you guys know where they went?!?" Astrid asked worriedly. It was obvious on her face that she cares about them.

"Y-yes, the knights took them in a carriage and they were heading to the palace," Fae answered.

Without any hesitation, Astrid rushed towards the palace, hoping she'd make it on time. We followed her and I started explaining everything to Komraad and the girls about what happened earlier and how we got to this situation.

"I didn't know something like that existed outside this kingdom, I feel stupid about what we've done," Rein said with a guilty conscience.

Fae had the same thought as Rein. They felt sad and guilty.

"We can't do anything about our past mistakes but we can still make it right in the present," I said to motivate them and to lift their burden a little.

Astrid interrupted us in the middle of our conversation.

"I don't need anyone's pity. I just need to rescue my friends and get this over with. Once this is finished, forget everything you've seen and heard."

"Everyone look, it's the carriage! They still haven't entered the palace," Komraad said while pointing in that direction. He was ahead of us that's why he was able to spot the carriage first.

We caught up to komraad and saw the carriage ourselves. We were about to rush in, fight the knights and retrieve Astrid's friends when we, unfortunately, saw someone that might ruin it all.

"Ms. Ina, bad news, the head knight is with them," Rein whispered to me. Only Rein and I were able to witness the head knight's power, that's why we know how strong he is.

We stopped at a corner and told them that the head knight is powerful and should not be underestimated, that's why we have to come up with a plan if we want this mission to be successful. While trying to come up with a plan, we heard the knights talking with each other, discussing what they'll do with the captured kids.

"Head knight, these kids are the ones causing trouble for the nobles. what should we do about them?" One of the knights asked.

"Hmm... Lock them up for now, we'll ask them questions tomorrow morning," the head knight replied.

"Understood Sir."

After hearing their conversation, Astrid got impatient.

"I can't sit and wait here a little longer, please tell me your plan," Astrid begged us to help her and she promised full cooperation.

"We won't engage in combat unless necessary. We'll just buy enough time until we free your friends," I answered.

After finding an opportunity, we set our plan in motion.

Fae approached the knights and pretended to be lost.

"Uhm... Excuse me, Mr. Knights, can you please help me? I'm lost and can't find my home."

"What's a kid doing here in the middle of the night?" The head night asked. He was suspicious of Fae.

Fae started crying and throwing a tantrum.

"O-okay, we'll help you go home, just stop crying," one of the knights offered.

While they were being distracted by Fae, Komraad and Rein put the knights that were guarding the carriage to sleep while Astrid and I untied her friends.

Komraad accidentally dropped the knight he put to sleep and the armor it was wearing created a very loud noise. The knights heard and saw us freeing the thieves so they rushed in to stop us.

"A-Astrid, faster!" I shouted. We can feel the pressure weighing on us.

"I'm trying!" She answered while panicking.

"H-hey, you people! What do you think you are doing!?!" The knights brought out their weapons and were ready to apprehend us all.

After untying the last kid, all of us got off the carriage.

"Astrid, you came back for us!" The kids said in tears and snot.

"Of course! Now stop your yapping and run!"

We wanted to get out as soon as possible but we were already surrounded by the knights and had nowhere to run to.

"We don't have a choice but to fight," Komraad stated as he prepared himself for battle.

"Obviously," I answered.

"What do we have here, it's the same kid who was sneaking inside the palace and she brought out some friends. What is it now this time?" The head came toward us and took the lead in apprehending us.

"Kids, Komraad and I will distract the knights while you all run away."

After telling the kids to run, we started fighting and created an opening.

"Now!" I shouted to signal them.

"Not on my watch!" The head knight brought out his sword. As soon as he removed his sword from its sheath, Ice appeared and created a wall to block our exit.

"Oh no, this is bad, I don't think we can fight back while protecting everyone," I thought to myself.

"Everyone, get ready to fight back!" Astrid commanded her friends and they responded by taking out their weapons.

"W-wait everyone, please calm down."

"I'm giving you a chance to surrender, if not then I can't guarantee that no one would get hurt, even if some of you are kids." The head knight warned us indicating that there was room for negotiation.

I wanted to find a way to resolve this peacefully but Astrid and her friends had already started to fight back against the knights. We had no choice but to join.

Komraad and I faced off against the head knight. With our combined strength, we were able to stand toe to toe with him but due to his magic sword, we were having a hard time defeating him.

*Huff* *Huff*

"K-Komraad, go buy me some time, I'll cast a powerful spell just enough to hurt him and stop him from pursuing us, after that take the kids by force and get them out of here."

"A talking cat and a man from the beast tribe, what a rear sight to see. It's been a challenge but we'll have to say goodbye soon, I'll have to end this now." The head knight and Komraad were clashing while I was preparing an attack when something unexpected happened.

"Ms. Ina! Something's wrong with my friends!" Astrid shouted to get our attention.

Our fight with the head knight was interrupted because we felt something ominous around us. Our instincts told us to back off. We felt an intense aura coming from Astrid's friends. They're emitting something similar from the demon we fought back in the village.

"A-Astrid help us, something's wrong with our bodies!" The kids were crying in agony and their weapons were glowing ominously.

"What is happening to you guys? This has never happened before!" Astrid was scared and confused, utterly clueless about what was currently happening to her friends.

The kids were changing, their eyes started glowing and their mouths started foaming as if they were wild creatures. After fully transforming into something that resembles a demon, their aura changed permanently and it felt horrifying. they turned into something similar to a demon. The weapons they were holding might be the cause of it all.

The kids started attacking everyone randomly with no idea of who the enemies and allies are.

"I suggest a truce." The head knight demanded that we stop our fight for now and focus on the current problem.

"Yeah, I think that's the best option but what the hell is happening to them anyway? Can we even stop them from rampaging?" Komraad asked.

"Yeah, we've had the same problem before. The demon controlled everyone in Fae's village and it only stopped when we killed it," I added.

"Kids, stay close to us," I told everyone to be on defense while we think of a solution.

"Do you know what's happening to them, Astrid?" I asked her directly. She might have an idea where all of this is coming from.

"I don't know either but I think it has something to do with their weapons," she answered.

The head knight suddenly joined in our conversation and started explaining everything.

"Those are cursed weapons. It's a forbidden tool that eats away the user's lifespan by making them go berserk. I don't know why they have them but if we don't do something soon, they'll end up killing themselves."

"Curse weapon? I should've known. That merchant was suspicious from the start!" Astrid said angrily.

"What do you mean, Astrid?" I asked.

"We received those weapons from a wandering merchant, he said that it'll help us. If only I knew this would happen, I would have never accepted that merchant's proposal."

"Why aren't you affected? Isn't your sword a cursed weapon too?" I asked.

"I receive my sword from my deceased sister, not from the merchant I mentioned so this is different."

"I see, then let's not dwell on the past anymore. Let's do everything we can to save the kids without hurting them," I suggested.

"So, how do we stop them?" Komraad asked.

"Maybe if we destroy their weapons then they might stop rampaging," I answered.

"You might be right, but I'm afraid destroying their weapon physically is impossible, touch and you'll get your life drained," the head night explained.

"Here comes their attack!" Komraad shouted.

"Rein protect Fae!"

"On it Ms. Ina."

The rampaging kids attacked us and we responded by defending against their attacks and dodging them. There was a total of ten kids we were currently fighting. It means each of us has to break two weapons to stop all of them.

All of us simultaneously attacked them by targeting their weapons.

The head knight created ice spears out of thin air and directed his attack to two of the curse weapons destroying them in the process.

Astrid extended her sword with extreme precision and shattered another two.

Rein created two droplets of water that have the speed of a bullet and destroyed another two weapons. Lastly, I produced energy beams and tear down two of the cursed weapons like a homing missile.

Komraad on the other hand was struggling, he couldn't touch the curse weapons with his bare hands so all he could do was dodge. The only kids left with a cursed weapon were the kids Komraad is currently fighting so I decided to help him out but something drastically happened before I could even lend a hand.

The kids suddenly stopped moving and started screaming in agony. Just looking at them in so much pain makes our hearts heavy, especially Astrid. They were releasing so much energy that it started affecting the surroundings so we had no other choice but to gain some distance. We didn't know what was happening, thankfully the head knight was knowledgeable so he started explaining the current situation.

"This is bad. Their life essence is being drained significantly faster. If we don't do something then those two will die."

"I won't let that happen!" Astrid shouted. She started getting closer to try and destroy the remaining cursed weapons but the closer she got, the weaker she felt. Just getting near them makes her lose consciousness.

I was worried that she might collapse and that we were running out of time so instead, I decided to approach them myself.

"Back off Astrid, let me handle this."

"B-but...:"

"Your body can't take any more pressure. Just trust me on this one, I don't know why but my instinct is telling me that everything's gonna be alright. Don't worry, it's faster if I go myself 'cause I can fly. Just wait right here with the others and all of these would be over soon," I said to cheer her up. I was only putting up a tough front but I know for a fact that what I'm doing is dangerous. I just couldn't risk everyone's safety anymore.

"Ms. Ina! Please be careful!" Fae and Rein shouted from behind. Even in the direst situation, those two would never stop trusting me.

I approach the kids as fast as I could, I was afraid I'd lose consciousness before I could even get near them but thankfully I didn't. I wanted to destroy the weapons that were causing all of this as soon as possible but the aura they were emitting was so strong that it was messing with my ability to use magic.

"I-I can't cast a spell, the pressure is too much, it's like gravity is crashing me. The only option I have is to touch the curse weapons and remove them from their hands myself. I don't care if some of my life essence is drained, I just can't watch these kids suffer anymore!" I thought to myself.

As soon as I touch the curse weapons, I was shocked by what happened. I was expecting the worst-case scenario but instead of my life essence getting drained, I was the one draining the demonic energy the cursed swords were emitting. I couldn't figure it out myself. It's like the energy is being drawn inside of me. It took a while but I finally absorbed all the energy from the weapons leaving them empty and useless. It can't hurt the kids anymore.

Everything's over. All the weapons were finally destroyed and all the kids were unconscious on the ground, same with the other knights that were present on the scene. Everyone who was conscious was as shocked as I am.

"W-what just happened cat? How did you do that?" Komraad asked and was amazed by what he witnessed.

"I-I don't know either," I answered.

"A-amazing," the head knight muttered.

Rein and Fae on the other hand were just happy I was safe while Astrid tend to her unconscious friends.

"Ms. Ina, do you feel anything weird?" Fae and Rein asked worriedly.

"No, on the contrary, I feel like my energy just came back," I answered.

"Thank goodness." They both sighed in relief.

"Finally! I'm glad everything worked out in the end," I said to everyone.

We were about to get up when we saw the head knight approaching us with unknown intentions.

"Oh, I completely forgot. We still have to deal with the head knight, what a hassle," I thought to myself.

"If it comes to it then we won't go down without a fight," I added.

we were preparing to face the head knight this time but were shocked by the turn of events.

"You people prevented a catastrophe and for that, I thank you all. No one got hurt so I'll just pretend that none of this ever happened. Now go, before I change my mind," the head knight said as he walked away to tend to his subordinates.

We left as soon as the head knight said those things. We carried the unconscious kids all the way back to the other side of the wall.

Astrid bowed her head down and thanked us with all of her heart.

"Thank you for helping me save my friends, I will forever be in your debt."

"It's nothing, I'm just glad that the misunderstanding is finally over," I answered.

"Ms. Ina's right. It was also our fault, to begin with. We came up with the wrong conclusion," Fae added. Rein and Komraad agreed.

"I see. Then like promised, we're gonna stop stealing," Astrid reminded us. She remembered our deal before.

"I'm glad to hear that," I replied.

We were having a great conversation when we noticed that the sun was already rising.

"Oh, it's already morning and everyone looks tired. Let's go back and rest," I suggested.

*Yawn*

"Yes, Ms. Ina," Fae and Rein answered.

"So this is goodbye, like promised we won't be bothering you anymore," I said to remind her that I also didn't forget my part of the deal.

We were about to go back to the orphanage when I came up with something.

"Before we go back, I want to stop somewhere for a while."

"Sure, Ms. Ina," Rein agreed.

I told the three where we were going and explained everything to them.

We went to Amor's mansion. If you can't remember him then he's the noble we encountered on the witch's isle. We explained everything to him, about the people that were outside the walls. He was shocked to hear that there are poor people living outside the kingdom. He said it was the first time he was hearing this. Thankfully, with his newfound heart, he promised he'd do everything he can to help Astrid's people.

"Now that's out of the way, I wouldn't have to worry about them in the meantime but I promise I'll do something about the discrimination that is happening in this kingdom. For now, we gotta rest and re-evaluate our plans for the near future."

We went back to the orphanage and rested for days. Amalia and Miguel welcomed us back without asking any questions. It seems they trust whatever were doing.

Two days later and we managed to regain our strengths. I was about to ask Rein to accompany me again back into the kingdom to look for a clairvoyant again when someone suddenly knocked on the door.

"It's so early in the morning and everyone's still sleeping, who would be knocking around this hour?" I asked myself.

I opened the door and was shocked by who I saw. It's the head knight!

"Oh, if it isn't the talking cat," the head knight said with a poker face. He wasn't wearing any armor and was only wearing a civilian outfit.

"Ehhhhhhhh??????? W-what are you doing here? I thought we were out of your radar already," I asked while stuttering.

"What do you mean? I live here."

"Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh???????????"

Just like that, A twist no one ever expected happened.