CHAPTER 3: LAND OF COMPETITION

When the sun rose, Mine was still exhausted. She had found a broken tree trunk to sleep in, which made for a good hiding spot. Now that she was awake, she cautiously peered out into the woods, wondering if the bounty hunters were in the vicinity. But all she heard was the chirping of morning birds, and all she saw was a serene landscape.

After climbing down from the tree, Mine stretched her arms and got moving. Now that the sun was out, she would be more visible, considering her purple and pink attire, which especially stood out in these woods. Along the way, she growled in irritation, wondering how her identity had been uncovered. Considering how well she had kept her involvement with Night Raid a secret, she at least assumed she would have noticed a time when she had drawn attention to herself. Yet there was no single act where her identity and affiliation could have been discovered.

The trail opened ahead, but Mine kept clear of it still. Just far enough out of range to avoid being spotted by her enemies, but close enough to keep track of where she was headed. With the sun rising in the East, she now had her bearings for direction. Once she came upon a town, or even the city, she would determine her location and find her way back to the hideout.

Voices came into range, and Mine quickly retreated behind a large tree. There were some bushes close by, providing additional cover. While she remained hidden, Mine concentrated on the voices, wondering if they belonged to the bounty hunters. It would be easy for her to recognize them if that was the case.

Instead, these were unknown people. Several of them. Men and women, traveling together, joking about the unpleasant rains of the recent storm. Mine heard at least five voices, but they were too far for her to see since they were on the main trail. In addition, she heard the trotting of horses, which was perhaps a good sign. If she could acquire a horse, she would have a faster means to return home.

Even so, Mine had to reconsider. She was low on strength, and she couldn't steal a horse without being noticed. They'd likely outride her in the end, and she would suffer perhaps an even worse fate than with the bounty hunters. With a soft growl, she abandoned the idea.

The voices carried on, apparently pulling over by the side of the road to have breakfast.

Although she was hidden, Mine was concerned with this. She was too close by, and if she inadvertently drew attention, she could end up getting pinched. The group of travelers could be harmless, but they were still headed to the Capital. That meant they could be of service to the Empire, and that also meant they could have seen the wanted posters. Her life was at risk with any unknown encounter now.

For the time being, Mine remained in her hiding spot. The tree gave her cover and the bushes concealed her from different directions. She wasn't going to be seen. But now, she was stuck waiting.

Meanwhile, the voices conversed over breakfast down the road.

"That guy is so obviously sick!"

"Right? Always doing a terrible job at covering it up."

"You see? I'm not the only one who always saw that! So disgusting!"

"Let's just be grateful we get to travel for work. Beats staying in that cesspool of obscenity. Fucking Emperor is literally a puppet on a string for that sicko."

"Wait, don't you mean figuratively?"

"Well, I wouldn't have said figuratively. I mean, I would have just said a puppet, without the tag."

"But you didn't! You said literally."

"Great, now I'm confused."

"Okay, not literally. Happy? Just a puppet on a string. You know, like a metaphor."

"Oh, you mean a simile?"

"What? No, a metaphor."

"But with a simile, you would say 'like a' along with it. So, that's what you said."

"I just said a puppet on a string!"

"Then… oh right. After that, you said 'like a metaphor.' Okay so that's where I got confused."

Mine just rolled her eyes, already fed up with hearing the travelers arguing over trivial matters. Not to mention, she was hungry, thirsty, worn out, and upset over losing her prized weapon. This was already a terrible start to her day.

She sighed and then glanced back… suddenly looking into the blue eyes of Sanfred. "Did you sleep in the bushes or something?" he asked nonchalantly.

"You." Mine was unable to move, wondering how in the hell he managed not only to find her, but to sneak up on her without making the slightest sound.

Despite the encounter, the two of them managed to keep their voices down. Sanfred held a finger to his mouth, giving Mine a stern gaze. "Those people over there are traveling merchants. They know about your identity, Mine. If they find out you're here, they'll be pretty adamant about collecting that reward. So, if I were you, I'd stay clear of them."

"Why should I listen to anything you say?" she asked, crossing her arms. "You just want to take me back."

"Well… yeah," he admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "It is a job at this point. However, I would prefer to keep it low-key, considering it's the kind of job that any schmuck could attempt to seize. And with you here, lacking your weapon, you are kind of helpless."

"I'm not helpless," she said in protest, barely able to avoid raising her voice.

Sanfred grinned, holding up both hands. "I don't mean that you have no chance of holding your own. But face it, you won't be able to beat a dozen merchants in battle without your weapon. You're just a kid."

With that, Mine surged forward, bringing a leaping cross toward Sanfred. She thought she got the jump on him with her speed.

Instead, the bounty hunter seemed to just politely shrug off her attempt. He rolled with the punch, seizing her wrist with his right hand, then in one motion he twisted it back, and ended up behind her. Mine winced loudly in pain, her eyes tearing up just from that one technique.

"You bastard," she swore, already realizing she was outdone.

"I suppose I deserve that." Sanfred released Mine's wrist, and she practically fell into the bushes, trying to provide relief to her sore arm and shoulder. The bounty hunter sighed, appearing ashamed of his own actions. "Can't we just go back? I won't tie you up or anything. Considering how sneaky you've been, that's a pretty good deal."

"I'm not going back with you," she insisted anyway. Even though she knew she looked dumb with tears in her eyes, massaging her sore wrist and arm, sitting there, unable to defeat this bounty hunter. Maybe it was pure stubbornness, but she didn't want to accept her fate.

Even with circumstances the way they were, Sanfred really seemed disinterested. He just rolled his eyes and shook his head in disappointment. "Well… I guess I don't have much choice then." Sure enough, he revealed some ropes from a pouch attached to his belt. In an almost calm manner, he took her wrists and began to bind them once again.

There was only one option left for Mine if she didn't want to get taken right there… and she went with it. With a sudden leap, Mine threw herself away from the bushes and sprinted toward the trail, where the merchants were stationed. "Help! Someone help me!"

"Oh, come on," Sanfred's voice complained behind her somewhere.

Mine sprinted as fast as she could, and the trail appeared in moments. Sure enough, there were at least a dozen men and women, with horses stationed in a line at the side of the road.

"Who's that?" one asked.

"She just showed up," a man commented, walking over toward Mine. "You okay, little one? Looks like you're in peril."

Mine felt sudden relief when she saw the group and was eager to be rid of her assailant. Considering what she'd been through already, she decided to make her play. "This man over here kidnapped me! I managed to get away! Please, stop him!"

The merchants all looked equally stunned, and they began to draw their swords upon hearing the news.

At that point, Mine expected Sanfred to be long gone. But when she turned around, there he was, holding both hands up defensively. "Hi everyone. How was breakfast?"

"You sneaky bastard," one man said, pointing his blade directly toward Sanfred. "You kidnapped this poor girl?"

"I did," Sanfred confessed without any attempt at deception. As he thought it over, he couldn't simply reveal that Mine had a bounty on her head. "I'm a creep who wants to take advantage of an innocent young woman." Maybe he should have thought up a better lie.

"Sick bastard," the man muttered. "We'll gut you for that."

"You'll murder me?" Sanfred brought up. "You have no proof of my mischief. I won't accept justice from you. We'll have to go to trial for that."

"Like hell!" the man shouted defiantly. "We've more than enough evidence to determine your guilt."

Sanfred glanced at Mine, who was staring hatefully at him. "See what you did now? Now you made this whole big mess."

The woman in the group hurried over to Mine, placing her hands on her shoulders protectively. "Good thing you weren't hurt! We'll take care of you."

"Thank you," Mine said graciously.

With a nod, the woman motioned over to two other men. They immediately seized Mine's arms and began dragging her away.

"Hey! What are you doing?" she shouted in surprise.

The woman chuckled in amusement. "Take the Night Raid assassin to the horse. We'll make haste now for the Capital. The twelve of us could take her in alive, easy."

It was hard to stomach what just happened, and Mine was at a loss for words. Somehow, that asshole Sanfred had been telling the truth about the merchants.

Across the trail, Sanfred saw his meal ticket about to be lost. "This really is quite a mess," he mentioned, still shaking his head. "Well… let's get it over with."

From the trees came a blast of energy, immediately wiping out the old man who first confronted Sanfred. What was left was a headless corpse, and some of the onlookers screamed in shock. Obviously, Rod was responsible for the sneak attack.

"Idiots," Rod muttered from the trees.

"More or less," Sanfred agreed. With that, he revealed his own weapon, a lengthy scimitar. He surged toward the merchants, immediately meeting their weapons with his own. But his movements were fast, too much for them. Right away, Sanfred turned things into a frenzy.

As for Rod, he opened fire at the two men taking Mine. He vaped the left man, giving Mine the chance to break free. She landed a few good punches to her attacker, and then she swept his leg out to down him.

Despite being saved by her own kidnappers, Mine wasn't going to stick around. The horses were beginning to jump around in excitement, now that the explosions were agitating them. Some of the merchants were already mounting and making their escape, as if they knew it was their only chance at survival.

Mine wanted to take a horse for herself, but she couldn't help but turn around. That was her Imperial Arms in Rod's possession… and she wanted it back. Therefore, she thought of a plan.

Rod took aim at four merchants who were charging at him. He fired a blast which incinerated one of them, but the others circled around him. At that point, Rod swung the gun like a sword, smacking one enemy in the face. One of the merchants landed a punch on Rod's left cheek, stunning him and making him drop the weapon. The two remaining merchants rushed at him, punching and kicking. In addition, the merchant who was knocked down was recovering. Once he fetched his own sword, he rose and advanced toward Rod. Just as he got in range to stab, Rod spun a merchant in the path, so the sword gutted him instead.

There was a shrill scream of pain. "Sorry!" the merchant said desperately.

Rod just shook his head, then seized the gun once again. He aimed it at the remaining merchants and pulled the trigger.

However, just as the shot was being launched, Mine slid gracefully over and kicked the gun up, causing the blast to arc upward… and also to graze Rod's chin. His eyes bulged out in shock as his chin was removed, and blood gushed out like a broken shower head. The blast even hit the merchants before having its path altered, so all of them ended up dead as a result.

"Next time don't use without proper training," Mine said with a sly grin. Reunited with her Imperial Arms, she rushed over toward the horses, while the commotion resumed around her.

Sanfred punctured numerous merchants with his scimitar, leaving only two remaining by the time he noticed that Mine was going for the horses. "Guess I shouldn't have underestimated her resourcefulness," he mentioned. With that, he parried the attacks with his sword and then made his way toward Mine, noticing that most of the horses were still tied to the trees.

Mine climbed on the largest horse, then pulled her gun up with her. She fired a small blast at the rope and then propped her weapon neatly in front of her while she held the reins. "Let's get out of here!" she announced to the horse, who despite being merely a horse, looked terrified.

When Mine glanced back, she saw Sanfred hurrying over. "Leaving so soon?" he asked with a grin.

"Not without a parting gift!" she announced, aiming the gun for him. She unleashed a swift blast, which was powered up due to her immediate peril close at hand.

The blast went for Sanfred, but he seemed to do that evasive maneuver once again, shifting aside to avoid the damage. It did, however, destroy the last merchants still pursuing them in the rear.

Before Mine could fire again, Sanfred soared through the air in a diving motion, taking Mine with him in the process. The two of them landed painfully in the dirt just past the horses. Mine stared at a brown spot, realizing she had only narrowly avoided crashing her face into the dung from the horses. As she struggled to regain herself, Sanfred grabbed her and pulled her back up himself.

"Let me go!" she shouted angrily, struggling against him.

Despite the intense encounter that just occurred, Sanfred was barely worked up. He just kept Mine locked in his left arm while he roped the gun to the horse with the right. Once the weapon was secured, he pulled another horse over to join them. Before climbing up, he threw Mine across the horse's back, while she kicked desperately and thrashed about. Sanfred mounted in a quick flash, and then he took the rein with his left hand and held Mine with his right.

"Could you just settle down already?" he asked calmly.

"No!" she said.

"It's going to be a very uncomfortable ride if you are stuck on the horse like that. Just calm down and I'll let you ride like a lady." As if to affirm it, he leaned over and made contact with her eyes while she was upside down sprawled across the horse's back.

"You bastard…" she murmured furiously… but she ultimately succumbed to her situation. With a defeated nod, she permitted Sanfred to pull her back up, until she was sitting on the horse in front of him. He even handed her the reins, although she remained irritated.

"The Capital is ahead," he reminded her. "Let's not make this too unbearable, shall we? As soon as I get my reward, you can do whatever you want."

All she could do was sigh in disbelief. After coming so close to escaping, she ended up caught once again.