Rescuing Hiraka part 1

Arriving at the Weapons store, Marina opens the door, and to her surprise, she sees Ruri, and not Asuchi. Ruri had pieces of armor on her arms and legs, and was using a big iron helmet that was too big for her little head. She also had a knife on her hands, holding it like a sword.

''I am the Kanterbury's guardian! It is my duty to protect the kingdom, and my beloved princess!'' Ruri proclaimed heroically. As her back was to the door, she didn't see Marina entering.

''What are you doing here, Ruri?'' Hearing Marina's voice, Ruri turns around in surprise.

''Maririn! You're back!'' Ruri run to her, jumps into Marina's arms, and Marina catches her. ''Hm? What's this thing on your dress? Red paint? Were you playing without me, Maririn?!'' Ruri said with a horrified expression as if it was the end of the world.

Marina didn't answer her. Instead, she puted Ruri on the floor, and crouched down to be at Ruri's eye level.

''Ruri, answer me. What are you doing here?'' Marina asked again.

Realizing that Marina was quite serious, Ruri put the jokes aside. ''The bald old man brought me here, since he didn't know where the orphanage was! Then he went after you, since he was worried!''

Marina clicked her tongue annoyed.

That was a big problem for Marina. Since he wasn't here, she could easily get a weapon. But he went looking for her, and that is the source of the problem. Asuchi saw her entering the alley, he will start looking for her there; he sure will find the dead marine's body. It was only a matter of time before he informed other marines of the murder. She didn't know how many of marines were in the scheme, and if the marine officer is also together with them, she doubts that she could beat him. In the worst case, she would have to fight with her life on the line.

She had to be quick now.

Marina softens her expression, takes the iron helmet off Ruri's head and pats her head, ''I see. In that case, I want you to stay here until I come get you. And put the knife back where it was. If I come back here and see you holding a weapon again, we're going to have a little 'chat', understood?''

''Ehh? How boring...'' Ruri replied with a pout. But she still returned the knife to to the shelf. ''Where is Babu? Haven't you found him yet?'' She asked as she noticed the red-haired boy's absence.

Marina shook her head, ''I haven't found him yet. But don't worry, I know where he is. I'm going to go bring him back.''

She then gets up and goes towards the shelf where the Katanas were. On the shelf, there were several Katanas, Wakizashis and Tantos. Without thinking twice, she grabs a Wakizashi.

She had quite a bit of strength because of her daily training, but as Marina was still a child, using a Katana to fight with such a small body would only slow her down. That's why she chose a Wakizashi, which is basically a smaller Katana.

She briefly takes the Wakizashi out of its sheath, inspects the blade, and sheathes it again. Satisfied with the Wakizashi she took, she heads towards the door with the sword in her hands.

Opening the door to leave, she turned to Ruri, ''I'll be back in a few hours.''

''Okay! Have a safe trip!'' Ruri replied while waving excitedly with a smile.

Leaving the shop, Marina kicks the ground and runs at full speed towards the neighboring village.

Fortunately for her, there were only two villages on the island where she lived, as the island was not really that big, despite being rich in many natural resources.

The neighbor village where she was going was called Nanpo Village. She had never visit that village because she never needed to. Now, however, that has changed.

While running, she looks up to the sky.

'Hm. I should arrive there a little after noon.' She thought.

\\

Arriving at the Nanpo village, Marina did not enter and remained hidden among the surrounding vegetation.

Looking around, she realized that Nanpo village is quite different from her village. In her village, people always have sincere smiles on their faces, the atmosphere is bright and cheerful, and the city is full of wealth. This village, however, it had a rather dark atmosphere, and the people she saw passing through the streets had a gloomy expressions.

Not to mention the buildings looked desperately in need of renovation. It wasn't a poor village, but compared to her village, it was like comparing gold to copper.

'There's something wrong with this place. Where are the children?' She thought.

On the streets, there were only adults. There was no sign of children anywhere, and that disturbed her.

The sun was still high in the sky, how could there not be any children playing in the village streets? It didn't make sense.

Growing more cautious, she began to move among the vegetation silently.

As she moved through the vegetation and peered into the village, Marina saw a marine patrolling the streets, and she smiled.

That marine shouldn't be in that village, and people who passed him unconsciously avoided him. Everything about him screamed suspicious. She found her guide to where Hiraka was.

Following him, the marine walked down the street toward a wooden house. Knocking on the door of the house, a hooded man comes out and the two exchange words.

The hooded man seemed extremely vigilant as he talked to the marine, he looked around almost every second to see if anyona was watching them. The marine on the other hand, looked very relaxed.

Marina was too far away to hear the conversation between the two, but she can presume that the conversation was about the possible slave traffic they were doing.

The hooded man hands a scroll to the marine, and he keeps it in his uniform. Ending the conversation, the hooded man goes back inside, closes the door, and the marine leaves.

At that moment, Marina had a decision to make. She could break into the house and interrogate the hooded man, or she could continue to follow the marine.

Both decisions had pros and cons.

By breaking into the house and interrogating the hooded man, she could get a lot of information about the possible slave traffic, as the hooded man seemed to be ordering the marine. But the risk was too great. She didn't know if there was only one person inside, and she also didn't know the strength of the hooded man. There were too many variables, and she had to be quick because the clock was against her.

If she followed the marine, he could lead her to where Hiraka was, not to mention the scroll's contents seemed to be of great importance. But on the other hand, the marine might simply just patrol the village, and there might not be anything really important on the scroll.

Quickly thinking through her options, she makes up her mind. His goal was not to stop their schemes, but to save Hiraka. With that in mind, there was only one option for her.

Follow the marine.

\\

A few hours earlier, on Asuchi's side.

Asuchi had just dropped Ruri off at his shop, and made her promise not to touch any weapons, a promise to which Ruri readily agreed.

She was a good girl, Asuchi thought.

Before leaving, he got food and water from the back of the store for her, just in case he get back late.

As he walked through the streets heading towards the alley where he last saw Marina, he couldn't help but sigh.

'What the hell is wrong with that blond little girl? Not only did she leave me alone taking care of a child that is her responsibility, but she also walked into a dark alley for no apparent reason! Not to mention one of them got lost. Are there no responsible adults in the orphanage? I'll complain about it to the village mayor when this is over.' He thought resolutely.

He wasn't an exemplary adult either, as he not only let Marina touch the weapons in his shop, he also didn't stop her from entering the alley. But as Marina in his mind looked more like a terrifying delinquent than a helpless little girl, he unconsciously ignored these facts.

As Asuchi was deep in thought, he didn't notice the same blonde girl he had in his thoughts across the street, passing at the same time as him, but heading in the opposite direction.

Walking for a few more minutes, he arrives in front of the alley and enters it.

''Girl? You are here? Did you find your friend?'' Asuchi yelled softly. Not getting an answer, he goes deeper into the alley, and soon comes across the corner of the alley.

As he was about to turn the corner, he trips over something and falls to the ground.

''Ouch! What the heck!'' He exclaims. He gets up and pats his clothes to get the dirt off. He then looks at the thing he tripped over.

''Hm? Eh?''

Realizing that he has tripped upon a corpse, his eyes widen in shock.

The corpse was wearing a Marine's outfit, his face was smeared with dirt and blood, and his throat was so crushed that the bones were sticking out on the sides.

''KYAAAAAAAA!!!'' He screamed and jumped in fright.

In the next instant, he takes off running and heads towards the closest marine he's encountered, completely forgetting the objetive he had before.