The trio stalked the brown-haired kidnapper almost a quarter of the way through the city. While they had covered a long distance, most of it was through different back alleys. A man wearing a trench coat with something squirming and kicking within would definitely get stopped and searched on sight, so it made sense why he took the roundabout route.
While the journey from point of kidnapping all the way to final destination could have been completed in just a quarter of the time, avoiding detection was certainly more important than travel time.
Solomon drew a mental image of their path and superimposed it with his own memorised copy of the city’s map. While they were still within the Eastern district, they were arriving upon the outskirts of the city.
The boy walking in between the two larger men tapped his chin, “I see, this place basically confirms my guess - the kidnapper is Arcadian.”
Johan gave a slow nod, “That would make sense. I’ve been to Stratvia before during my mercenary days. There are a good many Arcadian communities whose features match what you’ve described.”
Huang also reacted with mild surprise, “Arcadians, huh? I’m surprised even they have migrated here.”
Johan chuckled in a low voice, “War and hostilities do not impede the search for a better life.”
“Well they do if you get shot. Or stabbed,” Solomon replied in a childish voice.
Johan raised his hands with a grin, “You’re right, young master.”
“Wisdom beyond his years, I tell you,” Huang jested, though there was truth in those words.
As they bantered quietly in the darkness of a nearby alley, they watched as the Arcadian kidnapper looked over his shoulder in both directions before unlocking the door to a small apartment and heading inside.
“He’s lucky that other Arcadians tend to be hard-working people, otherwise he’d get caught by his own right outside his doorstep,” Johan snorted, “he shames his kind.”
Huang shrugged but said nothing more. Solomon also didn’t speak, his small amber eyes scanning the area. The geography was to their advantage. While the place was far from the city centre and witnesses were few and far between, that was both an upside and a downside.
Fewer crowds made it harder for the kidnapper to blend in. Fewer witnesses meant that the problem could be… dealt with. Thoroughly.
This section of the city was also enclosed with one main exit and one small alley. They three were currently in control of the alley, so if the kidnapper or his associates, if any, wished to leave, they’d either run into the trio or be forced to expose themselves to reach the main exit.
The main concern was whether or not there were any hidden escape routes built into the apartments nearby, or if there were rear windows through which the kidnapper could bail out from. At a glance, however, Solomon felt that this was not the case.
“The last immigration period was just two months ago near the end of spring. It’s not likely that these Arcadians have been here very long and it’s even less likely that they’ve been able to significantly alter the architecture in the time that they have been here,” he reasoned aloud, “As for backdoor escape routes, they should not be of any concern. Directly beyond this close is a large park and then the city wall. Should anybody try to run while carrying their loot, they’ll be easy to chase down. Especially since there’s no cover.”
The two bouncers nodded, feeling that the boy made a lot of sense.
“Huang, either you or me should split off to do a quick reconnaissance of the surroundings outside the close,” Johan suggested.
Just as Huang was about to agree, Solomon shook his small head.
“Time is of the essence. I can’t afford to wait for too long - I do not want Lillian to suffer.”
Huang nodded understandingly but still felt that Johan’s suggestion was correct, “Haste makes waste, young master.”
“It does, but inaction gives them time to prepare. By striking while the iron is hot, we can catch them off guard - they would not expect to be followed and counterattacked this quickly. Let’s go.”
As he spoke, Solomon took the lead and marched out of the alleyway. Huang and Johan shared a helpless look, before following the boy closely. In the end, the boy was their new paymaster and had insinuated an additional bag of gold should things unravel smoothly. Only if he remained unscathed could they receive it, so they were left with no choice but to forge onwards.
As they approached the front door of the apartment, Huang tightened the straps of his leather bracers and donned a pair of brass knuckles. Johan also prepared himself, stretching his shoulders and placing his hand by his rapier, ready to unsheathe at a moment’s notice.
There was a window on the ground floor, but the curtains were drawn, so they couldn’t see the situation inside.
Solomon walked up to the door and sized it up, before tilting his head to peer beneath. After confirming that there wasn’t anybody near their immediacy, he peered through the gap on the left of the door, counting three separate locking mechanisms that were all currently in place.
“Brute force might work, but it’d be too loud and slow,” Solomon mused. After a few seconds of observing the surroundings, identifying what he had to work with, he turned to the bouncers, “Do either of you carry a lighter?”
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Johan held one up with a nod, “yes, but what for? Don’t tell me the young master smokes too?”
Solomon rolled his eyes as he grabbed the metal implement and ran over to the next door neighbour’s house.
“One of you, grab that bucket of faeces and empty its contents on the house,” he ordered in a hushed voice.
Huang obliged, completing the task swiftly.
“Stand back.”
A second later, just as Huang had time to process the warning, he felt the temperature rise considerably. He recoiled backwards just as a tongue of flame brushed past his face.
“Holy sh*t. Hey, my lighter!”
Solomon glanced at Johan, “I’ll get you another one later. Come on, let’s hide nearby.”
Once they were in position, crouching beneath the window of the kidnapper’s apartment, Solomon cleared his throat. Just as the two bouncers were wondering what his plan was, they quickly understood it. Very loudly.
“Help! Fire! There’s a fire!” He screamed, his high-pitched and youthful voice merely enhancing the sense of panic.
Moments later, they heard the sound of panicked shouts from within the apartment. After a moment of listening, Huang raised four fingers. He counted four separate people.
Rapid footsteps came and the sound of locks being undone could be heard.
“Get ready,” Solomon whispered.
The door burst open. A pair of brown-grey haired men ran out, confused and panicked. They spoke a strange language to one another, likely Arcadian or accented Stratvian. Just before the door was about to swing shut again, Solomon slipped his foot between the gap between it and the frame, wedging it open slightly.
Just as one of the Arcadians was about to turn around to shout something, a thick and muscular arm gripped him in a headlock. At the same time, another hand wrapped around his mouth, and the two twisted in unison.
As the second Arcadian slumped to the floor, very thoroughly dead, the first only heard a cracking sound followed by that of metal sliding on metal. A rapier was unsheathed at lightning speed and moments later withdrawn, stained with blood. Johan flicked the blade familiarly before stowing it once more.
Fortunately, while the door was not fully closed due to Solomon’s foot catching it, it was shut far enough to block any view of the back to back assassinations. The sounds were mostly drowned out by the crackling of fire and groaning of wood.
Without a word, Huang quickly grabbed both corpses, one in each hand, and spun like a professional athlete, sending the bodies flying into the roaring flames.
Johan turned to address the adrenaline-fueled Solomon, “Watch this.”
He put his hands to his mouth and shouted something in a language that sounded similar to barking. Solomon recognised it to be very similar to how the Arcadians spoke, if not identical.
‘It makes sense that Johan can speak many languages, including Stratvian. He was a mercenary, after all.’
Someone from inside the apartment shouted back and Johan and the man conversed shortly. Johan turned to Solomon again, “I just told him to bring two more men to help put out the fire.”
The three took their positions once more, awaiting for more Arcadians to fall into their trap. It didn’t take long for another two men to appear. Just as they registered the bodies of their compatriots feeding the fire, their lives were snuffed out before they could even react.
Huang was about to pick up the two new bodies and dispense of them the same way as he had the previous two, but Solomon stopped him.
“Don’t bother. The fire will soon draw attention - let’s get this over with as soon as possible.”
Huang nodded as the young boy pushed the door open with considerable effort. The former flexed his fingers and advanced inside with a fighter’s stance. Johan followed suit, one hand pressing down on his feathered red beret, the other resting on the rapier’s hilt. Solomon was the last to enter, jumping up to secure one of the three latches as he did so.
‘This way, if anybody tries to break in or escape, they’ll be stalled for at least a few moments.’
While there was the danger that this action could potentially trap himself and his allies, Solomon felt that it was unlikely. They had already dispensed with four Arcadians, and judging from the number of households in the close, there would not be very many left.
He felt reasonably confident that Huang and Johan could finish the rest in head-on confrontation, especially with the combat prowess they had displayed thus far.
The two fighters scoured the first floor in just a few seconds, confirming that the two adjacent rooms harboured no enemies, before making their ways up the staircase with haste.
“Leave one alive, I’ll catch up,” Solomon reminded, before rummaging around the room, searching for any traces of Lillian.
Amidst the sounds of shouting, punching and kicking, Solomon had emptied 90% of the containers and furniture that looked like they could hold a child. As he looked around once more, he felt that it was unlikely that Lillian was being held here.
If she was conscious, she’d likely react to the sounds in some way. Combined with the fact that he’d already searched most of the likely spots, he felt that she was either being held upstairs or in some secret compartment.
‘I didn’t account for a hidden compartment. I was too focused on the fact that the Arcadians haven’t had enough time to build secret rooms and passages that I forgot to consider this. If we can’t find her in time, she might burn to death once the fire spreads.’
Solomon’s brows furrowed in concern.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
He soon joined the other two upstairs, briefly admiring the aftermath of their battle. Huang and Johan were largely unwounded, with only the former sporting a shallow cut on his left hand.
There was one Arcadian laying on his belly, blood seeping out from under him. The other was still alive, though he was bleeding from the corner of his mouth.
Solomon patted Johan on the calf, “Ask him where the girl is.”
Johan did as he asked, barking the question to the prisoner. The latter hoarsely said something back, which Johan translated moments later.
“He said ‘over his dead body’.”
Solomon nodded, before relaying a new message, “Tell him we’ll spare him.”
Jonah translated again and the prisoner’s eyes brightened. The man responded slowly. Hearing him speak, Jonah’s eyes widened considerably.
“He says that there’s only one more of them left and that ‘Lykos’ is guarding the kidnapped children in the house next door,” Jonah explained. Lykos was likely to be the man who had kidnapped Lillian and whom they had followed to this place.
Solomon crossed his arms. ‘Children’ meant that Lillian wasn’t the only victim.
Jonah frowned, “He also says that there is a hidden door behind the full-body mirror on the ground floor which links the two houses.”
Solomon matched his expression, turning to look at the captured Arcadian, “Which house?”
Jonah repeated the question in Stratvian, before delivering the man’s response, “House number 108”.
Solomon’s eyes widened, while Huang directly palmed his face. The house they had set fire to was house number 108!
“Not good! Let’s go! Quickly!” Solomon exclaimed.
“Wait, what about the prisoner?” Jonah asked.
“Just kill him. Hurry up, we’re wasting time,” Solomon replied.
Jonah looked at Huang, only to be met with an impassive shrug. The former sighed quietly, swiftly dispatching the shocked Arcadian with a flourish. Huang followed Solomon down the staircase, while Jonah took another glance at the two dead Arcadians whose blood stained the carpet.
“Sorry.”