Brutal Journey Of An Unfortunate Heroine

Lydis casually rolled her head to the left, dodging the man's hand. As it passed by her ear, she quickly grabbed it and moved it around her head. She turned around, twisting his arm behind him. As he was fl.u.s.tered, Lydis used one foot and swiftly kicked on of the man's legs causing him to fall on his knees.

"AH?!"

Lydis squeezed the man's arm tighter upwards causing the right side of his body to automatically curve upwards slightly.

"Ow ow ow! Stop! I yield! I yield!"

"Hmph. What do you think you're doing?"

"I-uh, um I uhh…"

The man continued to fumble with his words but suddenly a cold prickling feeling started to spread on his back. Chills crawled up and down his back like frantic spiders.

"Eep! P-please don't hurt me! I'm sorry! I was wrong, I won't do it again!"

Due to Lydis being behind the man, he was unable to see her annoyed expression nor the way her brows were tightly knitted in frustration. If someone were to see them without context, they would think that Lydis was bullying the man.

*sigh* "I'm in no mood for this charade. Get lost idiot. If you try this again then you'd better be prepared to lose something."

Although the man was facing away from Lydis, he still nodded his head violently, shaking his entire body in the process.

"Y-yes! I'll never forget your kindness!"

"…"

Lydis couldn't help but feel that she was somehow wronged during their brief exchange.

As she let the man's arm go, he immediately fell forward, unable to catch his fall. His head hit the concrete ground loudly.

Lydis froze slightly. She didn't do anything and yet the idiot went and died?! Quickly composing herself, Lydis continued to walk away from the man. Just as she was stepping over his arm, the man began to stir.

"Ah… mrhhmm…"

He seemed confused, much like how Lydis was. The man rubbed his forehead and found the slick sensation of blood.

"B-b-b-BLOOD!!!"

The man passed out once more, his head hitting the concrete again.

Lydis's face was scrunched slightly, disgust and annoyance combined. Why would someone like that try to kidnap others? Who would trust an idiot like that? More importantly, how had he managed to survive until then?

Lydis brushed aside her curiosity and left the fool in the alley. She quickly continued away from the prison. If the guards had any brains, they would try to check with anyone close to Haven, which would lead them to Hal. Since Hal was with Lydis until he disappeared there was a possibility of them coming to question her.

A noise drew her attention, her run coming to a stop.

Voices!

It didn't sound like military personal, more like commoners. She changed directions and chose paths that led her closer to the sound.

Bursting from an alley, Lydis found herself on the edge of the commoner's square. It was a place she passed when she first arrived. Although at the time it'd been empty and barren with a few stalls, now it was bustling with merchants and stalls. People shouted out prices and advertis.e.m.e.nts. Each one trying to grab the eyes of at least one person.

Waves of people filtered through the marketplace. Lights were strewn around to give the market a surreal glow as the sun set. The seemingly chaotic paths held some signs of organization as people went with or against the main flow.

"Oi! Little lady over there!"

Lydis looked to her right and saw a small girl waving her over. Lydis tilted her head and the small girl smiled.

"Yes you! Don't you want something fancy? Pretty? Cute? I've got all the hottest tren-!"

Lydis turned away and continued into the sea of people.

"Wh-How rude… Brats these days have no respect at all."

As Lydis walked deeper into the market, a map stand caught her eye. Although small and frugal, the map gave Lydis a clearer idea of where she was.

West of the Academy, Lydis was about an hour away on foot. Since she didn't know where she was taken earlier, her only choice was to return and make up an excuse then.

Half an hour later, Lydis found that her estimations were off. If she took the alleys and side roads, reaching the Academy would only take half an hour.

As she neared the outside of the Academy, someone quickly grabbed her from the alley. One hand over her mouth while the other was wrapped around her c.h.e.s.t, lifting her off the ground. They sprinted deeper into the alley. Lydis tried to kick whoever it was but another pair of hands quickly bound her legs.

Lydis bent her knees and brought them into the face of the second person.

"!?"

Lydis tried to curl her arms and dig her fingers into the veins of the one holding her, but their strength vastly surpassed her own. Kicking off the rope, Lydis held onto their arm tightly before curling her entire body upwards.

The person was obviously surprised as Lydis's knees easily smashed into their face.

"Gah!"

Lydis felt their hold loosen and quickly swung her legs down, using the momentum to slip out of the man's hold. The moment her foot touched the ground, Lydis began to sprint towards the main road. The second man blocked her way, his face in a c.o.c.ky grin.

"There's nowhere to run!"

Behind her, the other man was starting to balance himself.

As Lydis neared the second man, she stepped onto the piping system, kicking off from it. Moving from one wall of the small alley to the other, Lydis jumped off the walls to climb higher than the man. With one last jump, she managed to leap over him and land onto the main road.

"Wha…t?"

The second man stood in awe. Lydis had just landed from an eight-foot jump and seemed perfectly fine, but the other was already rushing over.

"No one said anything about her being like a wild animal. Get her!"

"Y-yes!"

Lydis took off running. The Academy was just up ahead. Once she got inside school grounds, no one would be able to touch her, much less kidnap her. This might also be a good excuse as to why she wasn't there at the hospital.

When she could see the slight smudge of the gatekeeper in his guard post, Lydis raised her voice.

"Help! I'm being kidnapped!"

At first the guard just looked up slightly at Lydis and returned to watching the camera monitors. It was a common occurrence for kidnappings to happen in broad daylight. If he helped each and every one of them then there would be no end. Just before he was about to shut the windows to the guard post, he recognized the red hair and voice.

"L-Lydis?!"

Yes, kidnappings were common and not really cared for but, kidnappings of Academy students, that was something Central found criminal. Since students would be trained as soldiers, having their precious troops taken away would negatively affect the military.

The guard scrambled to find his weapon and ran out of the guard post.

"Hey! You bastards better f*ck off! That's an Academy student!"

Lydis noticed how the two men following her only faltered for a second, as if they were aware that she was. Knowing full well the risks they were taking to kidnap her.

"I think you have the wrong kid sir! She's just a bastard from my sister!"

"Yeah, we're not doing anything wrong!"

Lydis looked at the two men in disgust. How they had the gall to claim such ridiculous things was beyond her but, what mattered was that the guard didn't change his mind. Stupidity was contagious after all.

"Come on good sir, we're just disciplining her a little. Don't listen to the words of a child."

"Yeah yeah. She doesn't know what she's talking about."

The guard stared at the two men and growled,

"You only have two options. Leave and never return or die here right now."

The guard raised his large axe. It was a two-handed axe with a wide blade on both sides. The vicious teeth of the blades shinned in the dimming light. Although it looked extremely heavy, the guard raised it easily.

The two men stopped and watched as Lydis leisurely walked the rest of the way to the guard house. She glanced over her shoulder and smirked.

The guard glared at the men again.

"A-ah! We're sorry sir, it looks like we have the wrong girl."

"Yeah, they do kinda look the same. Sorry about that."

"We'll be on our way then!"

The two men turned around to leave but the guard wasn't satisfied.

"Wait, here's a little thank you gift for bringing one of our students back to us."

With a flick of his hand, two small daggers shot towards the men, each blade aimed at a leg. Within a second, each blade was lodged into a leg on both men.

""Ahhh!""

The two men fell and began to writhe on the road, clutching their legs.

Lydis looked over to the guard and saluted.

"Cadet Lydis thanks you for your assistance."

"It's just my job. I almost didn't do anything there. Why aren't you wearing your school uniform?"

"A lot has happened, I'm afraid. I, I can't say what exactly but I apologize. May I retire to my dorm?"

"… Granted."

The guard opened the gates for Lydis without further questioning. It wasn't his job to snoop and he didn't really care. If Lydis had been kidnapped while he was on duty, it would be heavy jail time for life. That was a blunder he didn't want. The Academy uniforms were what he usually used to determine students from outsiders so it was in his fortune that Lydis had made such an impression on him during their first meeting. If not... he might've been sleeping behind bars that night.