The following day, right at daybreak, we made our way towards the forest. Asta still hugged me in the morning, so I'm glad he didn't get awkward about everything. But he didn't say anything about it either.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked them before we stepped into the forest.

"We just split up and search," Magna replied.

"That absolutely will not work for me. Why not search a few feet apart. It's a big forest, and you don't know what could be in there or if you'll need backup. Asta, you're going to be on my right, Magna, on my left, and I'll go up top and tell you if there's anything to look out for ahead. If you find anything, whistle quietly. And mark the trees so we can know where we hit and won't go around in circles. I'll also let you know if I can sense magic nearby.", I told them.

"That makes sense." Magna agreed.

"If we meet anyone out there, we talk to them first before attacking. I hate fighting. I can do it if you guys don't mind."

"Sure!"

"Let's go!" I said enthusiastically.

"YEAH!" Asta responded.

We searched while marking all morning until mid-afternoon, taking breaks in between. Sometime in the mid-afternoon, I spotted a patch of charred leaves that looked like a campsite. I whistled to them and motioned for them to come under the tree I was on.

"There's a campsite nearby. It could be an old one or a trap. Keep your eyes open, and we'll approach the campfire. I need to check if it's still warm. If it's a recent camp, then we can follow footprints to see where they were headed. It might lead us to the kids. Let's go."

We got close to the fire pit, and I kept my ears open for any sounds and tried to sense magic. The fire spit was unused, and there were multiple footprints on the spit and flattened ground. I told them we'll follow the footprints because they were still new, and they might have seen the kids. We followed the prints, and I started sensing multiple concentrations of mana ahead. We walked for another hour before we could spot them.

"I can sense multiple people up ahead. We should approach on three sides. Asta, you can be our backup. Since they won't sense you, you can stay hidden until things start to go south. If everything stays peaceful, stay hidden, and follow us. Magna, we're still making the three-point approach, but move towards me as we get closer. If they see us approached while far apart, they'll guess there's a third based on our formation. We'll meet back at the campsite. Ready?"

"Yeah!" they both said at the same time.

"Let's get this done quick. I'd hate to fight at night if it came to that," I told them lightheartedly.

We all moved closer to the magic source and spotted a couple of men around a cave. I hoped Asta would stay hidden while Magna and I approached the group.

"Hello. We were in the forest looking for two kids who got lost two days ago. Have you guys perhaps stumbled upon them? Ten-year-old boy and his seven-year-old sister?" I said sweetly.

"Hello there, pretty lady. So, the little brats' parents called for the Magic Knights? We told them that we only need him," the guy who seemed to be in charge of the group.

"Who? So, you know who the kids are and who their parents are? I'm assuming the kids are in there?" I pointed into the cave with a bright smile.

"This was supposed to be an exchange. The kids for their father."

"Was it a demand letter, or did you snatch them out of the house? Why do you need their father? The only information we got was missing kids who might have run into the forest and gotten lost, so I'm just trying to get the details of this exchange. Where are you guys from?"

I was trying to distract them because I needed to locate the kids and snake some iron to protect them if things went left.

"We are bounty hunters from the Diamond Kingdom. Their father worked for the government laboratory before they defected. He holds valuable information, so there's a really high bounty on him. We located their home and decided a hostage exchange was the best option and left a letter."

"I can see you were not trying to make too much noise. Least violent option, right? Are you guys Clover Kingdom bounty hunters or Diamond Kingdom bounty hunters? Can't imagine how much we'd have to write in the report if we found out you guys were from the Diamond Kingdom bounty hunting here without authorization. But I'm sure we can work something out if that's the case, right? You have a really nice smile, by the way. Has anyone ever told you that? And you're probably the strongest since you're the leader?" I pulled out my sweetest, flirtiest smile

"Why, thank you, beautiful lady. I'm always ready to make a deal with a pretty lady like you. We came for the father. You don't have him, so you really don't have anything to exchange here. And I'm a citizen of the Clover Kingdom."

"Oh, no. You misunderstood. I just wanted you to let the kids go, or my buddy will burn everyone to a crisp. See, as we were talking, I managed to trap all your friends. Now I just have to move and let him do his thing, or maybe I can just tighten the cuffs and think how that would end up. The kids are behind a steel wall, so they won't see anything. What do you say? The deal was just in case you guys didn't have a permit. Our captain really doesn't like paperwork" I let out a girly giggle. "I'm faster than you, so don't try to move. You wouldn't want to make me sad, would you?" I pouted at him. "Magna, do you mind getting the kids? Any movement from him, and you burn everything. The kids are protected," I told him.

Magna went to the cave entrance, got the kids behind the wall I had made, and then hurried them out.

"Pleasure doing business with you, sir. Now, there are a couple iron spikes right under you. We're taking the kids and leaving. Once we're far enough, I'll let everyone go. If you move before that, you'll pretty much get skewered, and your friends will stay tied up in iron until someone capable of cutting through it comes here, or they starve to death. This is a forbidden forest, so I can't imagine it gets a lot of foot traffic. We'll be off now. It was really nice meeting you. And don't forget to keep on smiling." I said to the leader and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"Let's go!" I shouted, hoping Asta would hear me and start moving. We walked back to the path we came from, and Asta met us when we were close to the campsite.

"How fast can you guys run? One can run back with the kids, and two of us can stay behind at normal speed. I don't have a speed boost, and I don't know just how far I can detect my spell to cancel it. I need someone in case I have to fight."

"I have a speed boost," Magna said.

"Sweet! Grab the kids and run back to the village. If you can still fight, we'll wait for them to come out of the forest and capture as many as we can if they decide to do that. And tell the chief about them being kidnapped, not lost".

Magna grabbed both kids and took off, leaving a trail of fire, and we followed behind at average speed. We were about forty-five minutes away when I was as far as I could go to cast a spell that would reverse the restraints on the gang.

Asta and I then followed the trail of fire that Magna had left.

"Can you run faster too?" I asked Asta, finally breaking the silence.

"Not as fast as Magna, but still fast!"

"I suppose it would be better to widen the distance between them and us, so we had more time to prepare. Plus, we can send a message to headquarters and get the family away from here. That's if you don't mind carrying me on your back."

"Let's do it! Hop on!" He said. I got on his back and wrapped my arms around his neck. He then took off. We got to the clearing just outside the forest, and I told him I'll wait since I had the energy and magic to attack if I needed to. I also told him if he needed to replenish his strength, then he could.

"Do you mind getting me something to eat too?"

"Sure. I'll grab some and join you out here."

"Thank you, Asta."