The sun was starting to set when Lily reached the bottom of the slope. She could hear the sounds of hooves approaching as she waited for the carriage to pass, before following it. It passed by, and the pair riding it gave no indication of having spotted her.

Don't celebrate yet, the hard part will be following them, Lily thought as she set off. Luckily, the area between the road and the stream proved to be easily traversable, while the tall grass and bush kept her out of view, should someone look her way. Now that they were closer, Lily could hear the conversation between the two people driving the cart. Some of it was idle chatter, but she did hear the man lamenting the fact they only had one horse. Mostly, though, they remained silent as they made their way through the dusk, unaware that they were being followed.

After some time, with most of the Sun below the horizon, the carriage came to a stop and Lily heard the man speak:"It's time to stop and camp for the night. I will collect some firewood, and you go and feed the bitch. Make sure she eats something, the Boss is paying well for this one."

She heard the woman laugh, before answering: "Sure thing Tommy. Too bad we aren't allowed to have some fun, this one is such a nice little prize."

"No screwing around and damaging the goods this time, Beth. This is too big of a payday for a pair of level ones to pass up, and once we get the money, I will pay for your stay at the brothel if you don't fuck this up."

"I'll hold you to that," the woman said, and Lily saw the man climbing down and walking away towards the forest on the other side of the road. As he slipped into darkness, the woman climbed down as well. She held some sort of a torch, which finally gave Lily a chance to look at her properly. She had short brown hair, and a taut red face, wrinkled around the eyes. She wore a scruffy shirt and dirty pants held by a worn out leather belt. A small sword was hanging by her side, and she strode confidently as she made her way towards the back of the carriage. Lily realized this would be her best chance to help the bound girl, so she began creeping slowly towards the road and the carriage. Adrenaline made her heart race, and she felt the blood rushing into her head. Her mind raced, and she took deep breaths as she tried to calm down.

Getting spotted now would ruin everything. Besides, there is nothing to worry about, how hard could it be for a god's chosen champion to take out a pair of level ones? Never mind that the champion has zero combat experience and those level ones look like hardened brigands. The woman, Beth, came to a stop behind the carriage and pulled a key out.

"Wake up princess, it's dinner time," Beth yelled out as she opened the door and stepped inside.

Now is my chance to reach the carriage unnoticed, Lily decided, and she darted forward. Her feet hit the thick dirt of the road running, and she crossed the gap in what felt like a single breath. Beth, inside the carriage, gave no indication she had spotted or heard her, instead moving to the bound girl, and yelling: "Be a good girl now, and eat, or I will have to bust your pretty face up even more. Tommy told me not to mess with you, but a few broken teeth aren't anything a healer can't fix, are they?"

Anger rose in Lily as she heard the woman's words, and she considered her options. She could rush inside and try to take Beth out before she hurt the bound girl or she could wait outside and ambush the woman as she exited. She didn't want to see the prisoner hurt further but she didn't like the idea of facing the brigand inside. The adage about cornered animals came to mind, and she didn't fancy her chances of taking out the older woman in a fair fight before she raised an alarm and alerted the man to Lily's presence. No, Lily was smart enough to realize that surprise was her greatest weapon. She would wait in ambush outside, and she gave a small prayer to her goddess, praying that Beth would hold back and not abuse the prisoner more. Luckily, she heard no protests from the bound girl, and after a short while, Beth was moving towards the exit.

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Well it's now or never, Lily thought as she positioned herself behind the corner of the carriage. Beth slowly exited, and turned towards the girl inside:

"As long as you keep being an obedient little girl, I am sure the boss won't hurt you too badly," she gloated as she reached to close the door."I don't know why he is paying so much for a bitch like you but I-"

She never finished her thought for Lily moved with speed she didn't know she possessed. Driven by fear and adrenaline, and guided by the reflexes of her new body, Lily smashed the pommel of her sword into Beth's head. The older woman staggered, but before she could make a sound, a second strike to her temple knocked her out. Her limp body fell to the ground, and Lily took the torch and jumped inside.

Mia heard the commotion outside, but she could not see anything from her position inside. Not that she cared all that much. From what the thugs were saying, they didn't know about her powers, but whoever hired them surely did. Which meant that she was going to spend the rest of her life as a glorified slave to some rich bastard. My only hope is to convince them my father will pay more for my return than what they are getting for delivering me. It was a desperate thought, and the woman was too much of a sadist to listen to her, but the man was the smarter one, and might be persuaded. She was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of someone jumping inside.

Was the thug gonna torture her anyway?

She raised her head and looked towards the exit, where she saw a beautiful woman in armor walking towards her. Hope swelled, but she reminded herself that she needed to be careful, for the woman might just be another thug who was after her powers or wealth.

Lilly saw the girl bound and gagged in the corner, and rushed to help her. She knelt down, pulled out her knife and started removing the ropes. Lily noticed a few bruises on the smaller girl's body, and her nice clothes were damaged. The right sleeve of her shirt was ripped off, and her leggings had holes in several places. That didn't stop Lily from noticing how cute the smaller girl was. Her raven dark hair framed her petite face nicely, and she had strange emerald eyes, which were filled with tears. She must have been crying, the poor thing. Hopefully the thugs didn't hurt her too much.

She cut the last of the rope and removed the gag from the girl's mouth. Stepping back to give her some space, Lily spoke out:

"Are you well enough to stand up and walk? We need to get out of here as fast as possible, the man could return at any moment. I am Lily by the way."

Mia's heart soared when the girl released her, but she still needed to be careful. She didn't look like someone her father would hire to rescue her, so who else would attack a carriage in the forest in the middle of the night but a bandit?

She was surprised by the other girl's questions though, and her accent was weird. It seemed like she really didn't know who Mia was though, so after a moment to gather her thoughts, Mia answered:

"Thank you for releasing me, stranger. My name is Mia, and I am afraid that I am not in shape to make an escape. That rope was enchanted to drain my mana, and that left me physically weak, too."

She lowered her head, embarrassed of her weakness in front of her pretty savior.

And she is pretty. Her platinum blonde hair looks radiant in the dim light of the torch, and the way her armor shows off her curves is amazing.

Mia realized she was starting to stare at Lily and quickly looked away.

"I could drive the carriage though, I am pretty good with horses," she said, after an awkward pause.

"That's great. Let's get out of here and we can talk when we are safe," Lily said, and helped Mia get up. She needed help getting out of the carriage, so Lily sheathed her sword and used the free atm to give support to Mia as she leaned on her.

She is really pretty, despite the bruises. The way she got embarrassed earlier was really cute, too.

Lily gave herself a mental shake. Why was she thinking about how cute Mia was at a time like this?She had just met the girl and they were still in danger.

You really are a pervert, Lily, aren't you?You get reborn and you are checking out the first girl you meet right away?, she asked herself, not knowing that Mia was having similar thoughts right next to her.

Keep it together Mia, you aren't safe yet. You don't know if you can fully trust her yet. Sure, she rescued you, and sure she is strong and fit and tall and could probably carry you out in her arms, but you two just met, you pervert. Stop checking her out, or she will think you are weird, Mia thought as they exited the carriage. The fresh air felt nice, and for the first time that day, she was starting to believe she would make it home safely, when the two girls heard a voice from the front of the carriage:

"Beth, you stupid bum, where are you? You know I am an awful cook, I need your help with dinner."