บท 12: Chapter 3: "Midnight" Part 7
A pair of fraternal twins were excitedly chattering away inside the carriage.
It had been over an hour since they were fetched from the church's orphanage, they were so excited to get to their new home that it felt as though it was taking forever to get there.
"Hey Mimi do you think we will eat meat everyday when we get there?"
asked the boy of the pair.
"Yeah Micah! I bet we will even get sweets!"
Mimi replied giggling.
They had heard from the sister at the church that their adoptive father was a noble, which obviously meant that he had money to buy them meat and sweets every day!
Which was something they could not eat on a regular basis at the church.
The two of them have been living at the church for as long as they can remember.
They do not know their parents as they were abandoned at the church before they were old enough to even form memories.
So finally, for the first time in their lives they would have some one they could call 'father', that brought them more excitement than the meat and sweets.
The carriage they were riding was not completely wind proof, so the cold winds from the outside pierced through, the velocity of the carriage only served to worsen the ferocity of the wind.
The two of them were huddled together under the thin and itchy blanket they had received earlier.
"Hey Micah, do you think we are almost there?"
Mimi asked with her teeth softly clattering.
"Yeah Mimi, it has been ages since we left so we must be close."
Micah answered with his teeth clattering slightly louder than Mimi's.
Just as he was answering Mimi, Micah heard a strange sound, his sharp ears picked up a sound that resembled bipedal running.
But that can't be possible right? Not at the speed that they were moving how could someone possibly keep up with the carriage?
The sound got louder.
Ta Ta Ta Ta Ta Ta!!!
Micah's eyes opened wide staring at the entrance of the carriage, Mimi who could barely hear anything was also looking there, wondering what Micah was anticipating.
Fwosh*!
Henry appeared before them spreading open the polyester like material that served as a door to the carriage.
He quickly gestured to the twins whose eyes were wide, putting his finger vertically on his lips signaling to them that they should not make a sound.
Overcome by the pressure he exerted the twins complied.
"Do not worry, I will not harm you."
Henry said to them with a warm smile after noticing that they were scared.
The pressure he had just been exerting evaporated just as his smile appeared.
The twins looked at each other and then back at Henry.
"…How did you get on the carriage?"
Mimi asked with a still surprised expression.
Before Henry could answer Micah stood up.
"That was amazing how were you running so fast!? Are you a knight!?"
Micah asked with his eyes shining brightly, as if he had just met his idol.
"pfft" Henry quietly chuckled before speaking.
"No, I am not a knight… hmm… I am a hero on a quest to save his sister, I need this carriage to give me a ride."
Henry said proudly with his fist against his chest.
Mimi furrowed her brow and narrowed her eyes at Henry.
[She does not believe a word I said…] Henry sighed inwardly.
Micah on the other hand…
"Wow! Really!? I want to be a hero too will you be my teacher!?"
Micah's eyes were shining even more brightly than before to the point where it was almost blinding.
Henry chuckled slightly louder than before.
"Sure, I will be your master."
"Yay!"
[What an amusing child.] Henry thought to himself with a warm smile on his face.
Henry and the twins talked happily for well over an hour, during that time Henry spoke a lot about his little sister and the adventures he's had as a 'hero'.
He even said at one point "I used to wear a red cape!" enthusiastically, Micah seemed to bring out a brighter side to Henry.
The three of them continued their talks happily, the twins unaware of their fate and Henry although he was currently happy, the reality started gnawing at him as time went on.
Soon enough they heard the carriage start to slow down and soon after sounds of a large gate opening, they had finally reached the Baron's mansion.
Henry's usual stern and stoic expression returned.
///
As soon as the gate opened, they heard a loud voice.
"Halt!"
And footsteps approaching the carriage, the coach and soldier unmounted the carriage as the footsteps got closer.
A split-second later Henry sensed a presence that made his body shake violently, every fiber of his being was begging him to run away.
The Ki he sensed was so dense that he could almost taste it.
[Oh no! a C-rank? It is too soon!] Henry thought to himself with his body full of goosebumps and his eyes trembling.
[Quick I have to suppress my Ki!]
Fearing that he might be sensed, Henry focused on himself and tried to suck in his Ki, It was extremely excruciating!
It was akin to trying to ingest through your nostrils.
His face began to distort violently.
The twins saw this and looked at him with concern, Mimi reached out and tried to help Henry but Micah stopped her, somehow knowing not to disturb Henry.
His facial expression worsened, veins popped all over his face and neck, his eyes bloodshot and his nose bleeding.
[Come on! Come on! I will die if I cannot do this!] Henry shouted inwardly.
After a few seconds his face started to return to normal.
He had successfully hidden his Ki presence, which is not something someone of his level should be capable of.
But he did it!
It did not hurt as much but it was still uncomfortable, he had to hold it in or else he could die.
[I have to hold it in until I see my sister!]
Outside the carriage the coach and the soldier bowed their heads to the knight in front of them.
"G-greetings! Sir Seth, what brings you out so early? The roosters have not yet crowed."
Seth frowned at the soldier, as if a piece of filth had dared to speak to him.
He grabbed him by the neck and squeezed.
"I go wherever the fuck I want, know your place filth!" Seth retorted.
He released his hand from the soldier's neck, after which the soldier desperately tried to catch his breath as he fell on his bottom.
"Stop acting so pathetically, you are a soldier of Baron Loui!"
The soldier quickly stood up and responded enthusiastically.
"Yes Sir!" The soldier responded enduring the stinging pain on his neck.
"Take me to the 'goods'." Seth said commanding the soldier.
The soldier quickly led him to the back of the carriage, he reached out his hand and opened it.
The soldier's eyes went wide in bewilderment as if he had just seen a ghost.
[Huh!!? Was it not just two children? Why is there suddenly a third one!?] The soldier cried inwardly.
"Hm? I thought there was only supposed to be two why is there a third one?"
Seth asked with his eyebrow slightly raised.
"T-there was supposed to be two, but our contact at the church gave us a third one out of respect for Lord Baron."
[He will kill me if he finds out I let someone sneak in!! where did this little shit come from!?] The soldier cried inwardly.
The soldier glanced at the coach who also had a look of shock, but he would not dare say anything either, Seth would definitely kill them if he found out.
Seth spoke:
"Really now? I will let my Lord know of this he should be quite happy."
Seth spoke looking inside the carriage.
[But why do I smell blood?... Ah look at the eyes on this little fucker he must have been beaten by the soldier for misbehaving.]
Seth mused as he looked at Henry who was glaring at him.
Well in truth Henry was not glaring, he was desperately fighting back the Ki that felt like it was about to explode.
It was akin to holding back vicious bowel movement.
[I came out here because I sensed an unfamiliar Ki signature. Was I wrong? I must be getting old.]
Seth let out a sigh as he thought to himself.
"Alright children time to get off the carriage now, okay? We have warm beds prepared for you."
Seth said, with a sweet voice and the sweetest smile!
They got off the Carriage.
Seth's smile vanished as he turned to the coachman and the soldier.
"You two go and rest. Well done."
The two breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly departed from the scene.
Seth looked in the opposite direction his ponytail violently twisting with his head, and he whistled.
"You two come here."
The two soldiers ran to his side.
"Take these little ones 'down there' and return to your posts when you are done."
The two nodded and Seth departed.
"Come now children, follow us" Said one of the soldiers.
The trio followed the two soldiers.
After walking for a short distance Mimi whispered into Micah's ear.
"Hey something is wrong here Micah, it does not feel right."
Micah nodded and responded.
"Yeah, I am scared Mimi I also have a bad feeling."
A cold sweat broke out on the twins. Was it intuition? They were spot on!
"Hey mister!" Mimi shouted.
"I want to go home now please take me back to the church."
One of the soldiers' sighed and turned around, with a forced smile he spoke.
"We cannot do that right now sweetheart, let us get you to bed first okay?"
"No!" Mimi retorted and grabbed Micah's hand and proceeded to run away.
The soldier became visibly upset and ran after them.
He chopped Mimi on the neck with his hand causing her to pass out.
He glared at Micah and spoke.
"Try something."
Micah was visibly shaking; he glanced at Henry and noticed him shaking his head. Micah did nothing after seeing that.
"These little brats can get annoying sometimes tch!"
The soldier who just caught Mimi snorted as he was putting her over his shoulder.
"Hurry up!" The other soldier shouted glaring at Henry and Micah.
They followed the soldiers and soon the mansion came into view, it was so large and beautiful Micah could not help but open his eyes wide, the garden in front of it only served to enhance its beauty, the trees in the garden were well trimmed and it was quite clean and pleasant to the eyes.
The soldiers led them to the back entrance of the mansion, as soon as they opened the doors a large kitchen came into view.
[Hmm… do they keep the children inside the mansion?]
Henry mused with his eyes assessing every corner of the kitchen.
Soon they stepped out of the kitchen and a black steel door came into view.
The soldier opened it and flight of stair came into view.
[Ah so down there…] Henry mused.
They descended for a while.
Henry felt a sharp pain in his chest and all the Ki he had been holding back bursting out at once.
[Oh no! I hope that no one sensed that!] Henry cried inwardly.
They had already descended quite a bit so probably no one detected it.
The soldiers and Micah felt a tingle in their spines.
"Wh-what was that? Did you feel it?" One soldier spoke, asking the other.
"Y-yeah do you think it was ghost?"
"HUH!? Do not say something so stupid." He said laughing at his colleague.
They felt the sudden outburst of Henry's Ki and had no idea what it was. Henry on the other hand became drowsy from the amount of Ki that he had just been holding back.
He slowed down and his body began to sway.
Micah saw this and rushed to him.
The soldier that was not carrying Mimi said to them:
"Do not stop hurry up."
Henry's vision was blurry but he was slowly regaining his strength.
"I SAID HURRY UP YOU STUPID BRATS!"
He shouted furiously kicking Henry down the flight of stairs.
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