Sarah's Story Chapter 051 - Kidnapping

Bored, and her interest now piqued, Sarah walked at a somewhat fast pace in the direction of the crying child, still muffled and faint, and traced it to the line of carts waiting to exit the city gates. The noise was enough to overwhelm a child’s soft crying even at the best of times, between the street sellers, the guards directing traffic, and the horses’ hooves clopping and whinnying and snorting.

“Move along, girl,” a cart driver sneered, as she pinpointed where the crying was coming from.

Sarah narrowed her eyes and glared up at him. “What’s in your cart?” she demanded, pointing.

“I said, move along,” he growled.

Sarah moved directly in front of his cart, and made eye contact with the horse pulling it.

Just the slightest flare of [Intimidation], and the horse froze in place, only clopping one hoof to express its discomfort.

“Hey!” the man yelled. “Get out of the road! I’m on nobles’ business, see! You stupid girl, look at the crest!”

There was indeed, a fancy crest painted on the front and sides of the cart. The cart was large, and had a cover over it high enough for someone to sit inside, though most of the space was filled with packages and barrels. Another man poked his head out from inside.

“Hey, why is there a child crying in your cart?” Sarah asked.

The other man looked down his nose at her, then at the cart driver. “What are you doing? The line is moving. Call the guards and let’s be on our way.”

He ducked back into the cart.

The driver wasted a moment sneering at Sarah, who immediately shouted herself.

“Guards! Guards! Help!”

Immediately, one of the guards directing traffic jogged over. “What, what is it?” He looked at Sarah, then at the cart with its painted crests, and paled. “W-what seems to be the problem here?”

Sarah pointed. “There’s a child crying in that cart, and has been for several minutes.”

“This stupid girl is blocking our way, and we’re going to lose our spot in line. Remove her.”

The guard looked back and forth between the two, unsure what to do, when two more guards arrived.

“We’ll handle this, Danny. You get back to directing traffic.” With an expression of relief, and mild apology to Sarah, the guard fled.

Now there were two guards, standing intimidatingly close to the young woman. “Get out of the way, you’re blocking traffic.”

Sarah, stubborn, and now moving from irritated to angry, again pointed into the cart. “There’s a crying child in that cart. If you don’t want to, I at least want to make sure they’re okay.”

One of the guard’s cupped a hand to his ear, with a mocking expression on his face. “Huh? I don’t hear anything,” he jeered.

“...Mommy… help… where are you…”

Sarah saw red.

The cart driver sneered.

The two guards put their hands on their short clubs. “Hey! This cart is on nobles’ business! Get out of the road. Now!”

They drew their clubs.

Sarah didn’t hold back in the slightest.

[Grapple]

[Throw]

The first guard, she grabbed his wrist, twisted her body, and then threw him over her shoulder and into the ground, flat on his back.

Crack!

There was a disturbingly loud crack as either bone or cobblestone broke when he hit the ground.

The other guard backed away, and Sarah tackled him, taking him off his feet before he could blow his whistle. She continued running, slamming the guard into the stone storefront behind him, and the jarring blow to the back of the guard’s head knocked him out cold. Sarah deftly snatched his club and whirled, throwing it behind her directly at the cart driver’s head, who had been trying to make an escape.

Even as the club was in the air, she flared her [Intimidation] at full power, and a chill wind emanated from her position, promising death to any creature that moved.

Every horse froze in place, only their eyes moving about trying to find the predator in their midst.

All the sellers choked, and fell silent.

Only one sound continued: the crying of a scared, lost child.

Thwack!

The club nailed the cart driver right in the temple, and he tumbled from his seat, unconscious. A moment later the other man poked his head out from the cart, only to find an exceptionally angry young woman flying at him.

There was no resistance after taking a flying knee to the face, smashing his nose and fracturing bone.

Luckily for Sarah, there was plenty of rope in the back of the cart.

The whistle blew.

Other guards started running in.

But they were held back by crates and packages and goods flying out of the cart, as Sarah tore through everything to reveal a false bottom in the cart. Wooden planks fractured and flew and there was a young boy, six or seven years old, with a gag that had come loose, a tear-stained face, and his arms and legs bound.

More whistles blew.

Sarah heard them, just like she heard everything that was going on.

In her fury, she didn’t care.

An incredibly dim, green-tinged white-gold light started to glow, emanating from her skin and hair. Gently, oh so carefully, she picked up the crying boy—who had fallen silent, terrified out of his wits—and exited the cart to see half a dozen more guards arrived.

At the sight of the bound boy, the guards all paled.

“Did you lot know about this?”

There was a tension in the air, like that before a terrible storm.

The guards turned to flee.

Sarah set the boy down, just for a moment.

And then the whirlwind was upon them.

It was a complete massacre, with not a single death and not a single blow landing on the center of it all.

In less than a minute, six more guards were unconscious and thrown in a line against the wall where the other remained.

The cart driver and his accomplice joined them.

And then they were all tied up.

The boy started crying again just as an emergency bell started ringing.

Sarah leapt back into the cart, picked up the scared boy, and paused just a fraction of a second.

The guards were useless, possibly in on it.

Instinctively, she turned to the Adventurer’s Guild.

It was the place she knew best, and had the most connections.

Plus, she didn’t know where her mother and aunt were at the moment.

She jumped down, tied the cart driver and the other man together, and adjusted the load so the boy was under one arm, and the two men were over her shoulders.

There was a gust of wind, and Sarah was off, dashing through the streets, leaving the trussed up guards and increasingly angry citizenry behind.

Crash!

Sarah smashed through the doors of the Adventurer’s Guild, now appreciating why they weren’t latched during business hours.

Instantly she took in all the relevant information.

Mid-morning as it was, the bar was closed. The only adventurers about were clearly there taking introductory courses. Beth was at the receptionist desk, talking to a frantic woman with a request form between them.

“Please, he went missing hours ago!”

“Its okay, we’ll put up an emergency request—”

“Mommy!”

The boy finally caught his breath, now that the woman carrying him had stopped running, and Beth and the woman turned around. “Timothy!” she cried, and rushed forward. Sarah handed her the boy.

“Here, you hold him, I’ll untie him.” Sarah dumped the two men onto the floor.

Beth was delayed coming around the desk. “Is, is that him?” she asked.

“Yes! Yes! This is my boy, Timothy.” She looked up from her returned child to the young woman who had brought him in. “Why is he tied up?”

But Sarah, having finished tearing the rope apart rather than bothering with the knots, stood and looked at Beth with steel in her gaze. “Beth, I want to speak to the Guildmaster. Now.”

“Sarah, I can’t just—”

“Now, Beth,” Sarah insisted. “I’m demanding justice from him as a noble.”

“I can’t…” Beth said, weakly.

“Sorry, Beth.” But Sarah didn’t stop.

She bellowed, “I’m demanding to see the Guildmaster of the Adventurer’s Guild for justice!” She flared her [Intimidation], a challenge to any that would oppose her, and everyone in the building froze.

Her voice echoed, and a door slammed upstairs, and a heavyset man descended.

“What’s all this about?” the Vice Guildmaster shouted.

Sarah narrowed her eyes, [Intimidation] still blasting. She pointed at the two tied-up men. “I caught these two in the middle of a kidnapping, about to exit the city. The guards were in on it,” she hissed. “I’m demanding justice. Get the Guildmaster.”

The Vice Guildmaster, a noble himself, flared his own [Intimidation]. “You dare speak to me like this, girl?” His eyes flicked down to the two men. “Untie those men at once. You have no authority to arrest anyone.”

The air grew thick with tension as their wills clashed, and the Vice Guildmaster took a step towards the furious Brawler.

Big mistake.

Like a striking snake, she dashed in, grabbed the man, and threw him precisely into the part of the wall that was stone.

There was a soft crack and a loud thump as the man was knocked out instantly.

A breeze kicked up inside the Guildhall, and Sarah started glowing again.

Brawler Class Skill [Battle Aura] has been acquired.

“Guildmaster!” she shouted. “Get down here or I’m coming up there after you!”

Immediately, the weight of a mountain pressed down on everyone inside as the Guildmaster flared his own [Intimidation] from several floors above.

The newer guildmembers passed out at their table.

Beth paled.

Sarah stood firm, glaring at the stairs.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

With heavy steps, the Guildmaster descended.

He was a giant of a man, completely filling the staircase, standing head and shoulders taller than Sarah.

He wasn’t wearing any kind of armor, but he was wielding a buckler and a shortsword.

His presence and [Battle Aura] filled the room, extinguishing the breeze, and his gaze had the weight of a mountain as he looked down at the glowing Brawler glaring up at him.

Sarah spoke first.

“I’m demanding justice!” She pointed at the pale mother and son, trembling on the floor. “This boy was being kidnapped! I caught them,” she pointed now at the two tied-up men, “taking him out of the city, and they claimed to be on nobles’ business!” Sarah had no idea what rank the Guildmaster had, only that he was a noble. “I’m demanding justice!” she repeated.

The Guildmaster’s gaze swept the room, not lingering on his unconscious vice-guildmaster, but pausing on the boy, and the nodding mother.

Then he looked to Beth.

“The boy’s mother came with an emergency request, and then Sarah arrived…”

“Kidnapping?” he asked, the only word he said.

Beth nodded.

And then the Guildmaster paled, his [Intimidation] and [Battle Aura] faded, and he sheathed his sword and raised a hand in Sarah’s direction.

“Are you related to Mistress Helen?” he asked.

Sarah felt her anger flag, replaced by confusion. “Yes, I’m Brawler Helen’s daughter.”

The Guildmaster’s jaw tightened.

Behind him, two guild guards descended the stairs, having finally gotten fully geared up for battle. The Guildmaster stepped aside, and pointed at the tied-up, unconscious men. “Arrest those men, ensure they’re tied up properly.”

“The guards were in on it!” Sarah interjected.

“Where?”

“At the north gate!”

“I changed my mind,” the Guildmaster said to the guards. “Gather up more guards and Adventurers, C Rank and above, and go secure the crime scene. Take this.” He tossed a small metal object, which one of the guards easily caught. “That’s my crest; you move with the authority of Count Bradley.”

“Yes sir!” the guard shouted, and then the two split up, to gather more forces.

“Bring everything here! All the evidence, all the suspects!” he shouted after them.

“Yes sir!” they cried back.

And then the Guildmaster turned his attention back to Sarah.

“You, come upstairs.” Then to Beth, “Beth, get all the doors open. Open, you hear me? All the way up to my office. Don’t get in Helen’s way when she gets here, just direct her to me.”

“Y-yes, sir,” Beth stammered.

Silently now, the Guildmaster beckoned Sarah to follow, and Sarah brought the mother and son with her.

Up, up the stairs they climbed, until they reached the topmost floor, the entirety of which was the Guildmaster’s office.

The large man waved them to sit down on a couch, but Sarah remained standing as she took in the room. The ceiling was sloped, matching the roof, and only low bookcases contained hundreds of leather-bound ledgers. A large desk filled the back edge of the room, covered in various papers, with a window in the wall for light.

In the center of the room was a pair of couches facing each other across a low coffee table, on which sat a complete tea service.

“Prop the door open, would you?” the Guildmaster directed Sarah without looking as he busied himself personally preparing the tea.

Sarah did so, using a stack of ledgers, and then sat down.

She watched the Guildmaster move delicately, brewing the tea, and preparing biscuits.

She wanted to demand answers, and justice, but now that she had the Guildmaster’s attention, she could see that the mother and son were scared out of their wits, and that the scent of tea was calming them.

“Biscuit?” the Guildmaster asked gently, and the young boy nodded and took it.

After several minutes, everyone had their tea, and Sarah opened her mouth to speak but the Guildmaster raised a hand, cutting her off.

“Wait just another minute, alright? Might as well wait for Mistress Helen to arrive.”

Crash!

The doors to the Adventurer’s Guild slammed open again, and Sarah’s [Danger Sense] spiked.

The Guildmaster winced. “I said all the doors, did I not?”

Bambambambambambam.

Helen burst into the room, mouth open, [Battle Aura] active, and the Guildmaster expertly flicked a biscuit into her mouth and halfway down her throat, choking her.

“Mistress Helen, welcome. Please, relax and sit down, and we’ll get to the bottom of this. I’m your ally.”

Helen’s [Battle Aura] faded, and she coughed, and then chewed and swallowed the biscuit. She sat herself down next to Sarah, sandwiching her between herself and the kidnapped boy, and allowed the Guildmaster to pour her tea as well.

She also piled a small plate with an inordinate number of the biscuits.

They were really good.

Sarah recognized the bakery they were from, so she set aside the rest for the mother and boy.

“Alright, are we all calm now? We’re going to get the whole story, and yes, there will be justice.” The Guildmaster made eye-contact with Sarah, who nodded.

Then he turned to the mother, who had finally started to unwind.

“Please, madame, tell us what happened from the beginning.”