Chapter 33 (1/2)

That was how it happened.

The bas.e.m.e.nt was easily found.

The entrance was seen once removing the floor, a wooden box was placed on top of it to subst.i.tute as weight. At such a weird location, I thought it was strange a wooden box was placed there…

Rather than a bas.e.m.e.nt, it’s a slightly s.p.a.cious storage room. A total of five boys and girls was there, the children are around 10 years old.

Taking the children outside, I start thinking of what to do next.

The current time has just pa.s.sed 6:00pm, we should be back at the Royal Capital by 8:30pm if we leave now.

However, I also can’t leave these kidnappers alone…

「Nee, you kids. After leaving this forest, are you able to head to the Royal Capital by yourselves?」

What I’d thought up was to send the children out of the forest, from there the children will head to the Royal Capital by themselves and call for some soldiers.

Once leaving the forest, although the sun will have gone down considerably, it’ll still be up.

It took me around two hours to reach the Royal Capital by foot. If they take the highway then they’ll be mostly safe.

After I see the children off, I can keep watch of the kidnappers here.

「Aa, it’s all right. You can do it.」

Amongst the uneasy children, the eldest looking boy saysー

「But, what are you going to do? You’re the youngest out of all of us right? Are you going to stay here by yourself?」

Waiー, this again? Furthermore, for this child (probably a little over 10 years old) to also…

「It’s all right, because I’m 15 years old and an adventurer. I’m also the person who defeated those guys you know?」

「Ee!? Saying you’re 15 years old is obviously a lie! You’re even shorter than me!」

I’m an adult, I’m an adult, WATAs.h.i.+ WA OTONA.1

「Anyway, it’s all right. So, can you go to the Royal Capital and speak to a soldier-san?」

「Aa, leave it to us.」

「Alright. I’ll send you guys outside of the forest, so let’s go.」

It takes about 10 minutes to leave the forest from here, so the distance from coming and going might take around 30 minutes.

First of all, for the kidnappers that have currently woken up, I once again put them back to sleep.

Having moved to the outside of the forest together with the children, I taught them the direction of the Royal Capital and saw their retreating figures off, then once again returned back to the kidnapper’s cabin.

It should take approximately five hours until the Royal Capital’s soldiers arrive.

In the meantime, I started a bonfire and ate my dinner (I made some soup since there was time), the kidnappers that have woken up (because they were annoying) was once again put back to sleep.

The time is now 11:30pm

While feeling sleepy as I waited, my ears pick up a voice of a person.

Straining my ears, it’s the voices of several people. It seems it’s the soldiers from the Royal Capital.

In order for them to find me easier, I call out from where I am and lift up a piece of wood from the bonfire.

After that, appearing to have figured out my location, several soldiers immediately turned up.

The soldiers were firstly surprised when they saw me, and then surprised again after seeing the tied up and fainted kidnappers.

Since it’s about time, because I want to sleep, I show them my adventurer’s card and briefly explained the situation while leaving the remaining for tomorrow.2

The soldiers tied up the fainted kidnappers again an