“Huang, deal with that mirror. Johan, unlock the door and prop it open,” Solomon commanded, “Open the windows too. Once we open the passage, expect a lot of smoke.”
As Huang removed the body-length mirror and began battering away at the secret door, Johan tossed a pair of Arcadian boots beneath the front door to keep it open and then moved to open the windows. At the same time, Solomon grabbed some clean rags from the drying rack and ran to the kitchen. Jumping up onto a chair, he leveraged the added height to turn on the sink, soaking the rags.
“Wrap these around your nose and mouth. Once we’re inside, stay low to avoid smoke,” He advised, tossing a wet rag to each man.
Huang caught and wore the rag in one movement, before prying open the secret door. The moment he did, a plume of black smoke shot out, along with intense heat. The martial artist only managed to avoid it by ducking reflexively.
“It’s open. I’m going in,” Huang said as he avoided another plume of soot.
“If you see Lykos, try and take him alive. The children are more important, though,” Solomon replied, grabbing a meat knife and following him in.
Johan finished opening whatever windows he could before chasing after the other two. He took off his feathered beret, sticking it into his trousers and drawing his blade with a habitual twirl.
They seemed to pass into a different realm. The temperature skyrocketed while the now-dimming sunlight was blotched out by a black haze.
They immediately noticed an adult male leaning back against the rear wall. From his positioning, it appeared that he had attempted to escape through the back window, but was not successful.
“Check if he’s alive and ask where the children are,” Solomon said in a muffled voice, “Huang, try and douse the fire.”
Fortunately for them, while the fire had gone on for several minutes, it had not spread far. Lykos had actively attempted to put the fire out himself, though he was only able to hold it back temporarily. As Huang grabbed the wooden bucket that had fallen from Lykos’s grasp, Solomon’s amber eyes surveyed the surroundings.
‘Lykos would have shouted for help the moment he noticed the fire. Considering how we managed to deal with six Arcadians, none of whom had gone to help him, I can tell that Lykos likely didn’t realise the house was on fire until it was too late.’
He looked at the unconscious Arcadian whose skin had been tainted with smoke and a blue hue, his eyes travelling down the man’s body.
‘He’s not wearing his trench coat, his top hat, or his outdoor boots.’
He glanced at the front of the house and noticed that within the charred, black wood was a shoe rack holding a pair of scorched leather boots. Solomon subsequently looked to the bottom of the staircase. The stairs were carpeted and there was a pair of slippers at its foot.
‘Lykos de-clothed and changed footwear to go upstairs. Perhaps he had been napping or was simply oblivious to the goings on. Regardless, there’s a good chance Lillian is upstairs.’
As Huang filled, emptied and refilled the bucket and Johan dragged Lykos to the other house, Solomon ran upstairs. While his body was that of a four-year-old’s, as a genetically modified person, this amount of exertion was nothing. With each jump and skip, he cleared multiple steps at a time, swiftly finding himself on the second floor.
As gases and heat tended to rise upward, the smoke here was thicker. Solomon went to tighten the cloth around his face, only to find that it had already dried due to the heat.
“Sol, is that you?” Came a familiar voice.
He turned and was greeted with the sight of several child-sized cages lined up in a row. A feeling of anger boiled within him as he saw the way Lillian had been treated.
Before he could respond, he caught sight of two other familiar figures in his peripheral vision. It was Aleister and Han, both of whom had their eyes shut. Fortunately, their chests were still expanding and shrinking - they were alive, for now.
There were also two more children of similar ages to them. Judging from their attire, they hailed from wealthy families. Solomon discarded the meat carver in his hands, walking over to the cage which held Lillian.
“Lillian, the house is on fire,” Solomon informed, “I have two men downstairs buying us time.”
Lillian nodded, surprisingly calmly. She gestured to the padlock on the front of her cage, “That Arcadian man has the key. He keeps it in the back pocket of his trousers.”
Solomon frowned. Johan had taken Lykos over to the other house. While Solomon was confident in his ability to traverse there and back, he wasn’t sure whether the other children would last long enough.
‘I could carry them out, but with my size, two at a time would be my limit - not accounting for my strength. I could also try and shout for help, but Huang is staving off the fire and Johan might not hear me through all these walls.’
In a split second, Solomon made his decision. He pulled off the cloth wrapped around his face and passed it to Lillian through the gaps between the iron bars.
“I’ll be back for you,” He said, before grabbing a hold of Aleister and Han’s cages by the bars.
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He took a stance and pulled. The cages budged slightly, but even with his enhanced physique, the weight of metal, wood and the occupants of the cages triumphed. At this rate, he’d only be able to get one or two cages down before the room was fully submerged in toxic ash.
Solomon changed his plan, focusing his attention on just one cage at a time.
Out of the five children that were locked up, Solomon only cared for three. He would save the other two if possible, but he knew his true priorities. Of the other three genetically modified humans, Lillian was evidently in the best condition, seeing as only she was conscious, so he would leave her for last.
Solomon decided to move one cage at a time, starting with the unconscious Han and Aleister, followed by Lillian and finally the two strangers if he had the liberty to do so.
Steadying himself behind Han’s cage, he began to push. Leveraging the gap between the wall and the cage at first, pushing with his legs next. He soon arrived at the top of the stairs.
Catching his breath, Solomon glanced down and shouted, “Huang, get ready to receive the children!”
Then, he pushed, sending Han’s cage tumbling down. Noting that the air quality in the room had worsened yet again, Solomon made haste, pushing Aleister down next.
As he was about to move Lillian, the girl shook her head and pointed to the two affluently dressed children beside her.
“They’ve been here the longest and have suffered worse treatment than us. Save them first.”
“I don’t know them,” Solomon shook his head.
Lillian tried to convince him, but he ignored her, focusing solely on moving her and her cage to the staircase.
“Sol, please-“
“Mind your head.”
With a gentle push, Solomon sent her tumbling down after the other two.
———
“Good work young master,” Huang grinned, wiping soot from his face using the now-dry-cloth, “You saved them all.”
Solomon ignored Lillian’s piercing gaze and responded with a shrug, “It was a team effort. I’m more impressed that you managed to put out the fire alone.”
All five children had been rescued and freed from their cages and were currently resting outside. The improved air quality and flow did wonders for their complexions. Tumbling down the stairs had been an effective way to both move and awaken them, it seemed.
Aleister and Han had woken up briefly, but after a quick inspection to confirm that they were okay, went back to sleep. Thankfully, they hadn’t fainted for very long. According to Lillian, it was almost just before Solomon had arrived that they passed out, so the chances of permanent brain damage was low.
As for the other two kids, Solomon wasn’t very concerned.
“Sol, look at me. Stop ignoring me and look at me,” Lillian ordered angrily.
Solomon obliged with an impassive expression.
“Why didn’t you help those two first like I asked?” Lillian frowned.
“Because I care about you more,” Solomon replied bluntly.
Lillian stood face-to-face with him, not breaking eye contact.
“They’re not like us. They’re weaker and frailer - they’re just normal children!”
Solomon nodded, “They’re not like us, which is why I prioritised Aleister, Han and you.”
“It’s precisely because they’re ordinary children that you should have helped them. As their betters, it’s our responsibility to help them,” Lillian countered.
Solomon broke eye contact to look at the two well-dressed children’s emaciated forms.
“If our roles were reversed, what would you have done?” He asked gently.
Several moments passed in silence. Lillian’s brown hair danced in the evening breeze. She knew her answer to his question from the get-go, but admitting hypocrisy was a difficult pill to swallow.
“I would have helped you before them,” Lillian admitted quietly.
Solomon turned to look at her pale face and patted her shoulder.
“It’s okay. You pity them, as do I, but we have to be able to make tough choices. In the end, I still managed to get everyone out, right?”
He could see tears forming in the corners of her emerald-green eyes. He embraced her, patting her back gently as she let out quiet sobs into his neck.
“I pity them too, but you mean much more to me than them. The life of just one of our kind is worth a thousand of theirs.”
Standing a few metres away, Huang didn’t know how to feel. A scene which seemed to come right out of a soap opera or drama show was happening in real life, right in front of him. With children to boot.
On top of that was the arrogant and superior way the two children spoke of themselves. He eventually chalked it up to the way higher class people were raised. While he wasn’t exactly sure whether they were noble children or just the offspring of an affluent family, judging from how little mind Solomon had paid to 20 gold definitely narrowed things down.
After a couple of glances at the two short figures that were hugging under the sunset, he turned away and focused on watching the sleeping children and the main road, not forgetting the alleyway too.
Moments later, Johan stuck his head out from the front door.
“Lykos is awake. Sorry, am I interrupting something?”
Solomon dried Lillian’s dewy tears with a brush of his fingers before prying her off of him. He followed Johan inside after reminding Huang to remain alert.
He shut the door on the way in and climbed onto the chair that Johan had prepared for him, looking levelly at Lykos. The man had his arms tied behind his back and was kneeling down.
“How do you do?” Solomon asked.
“…I’m okay,” Lykos responded, slightly confused.
Fortunately, the Arcadian understood him and would not need Johan to translate.
“Good. Will you be willing to answer a few questions about your motive and employer?”
Lykos’s eyes widened fractionally and wore a look of bewilderment on his face.
“I-I can’t do that.”
Solomon smiled understandingly, though Lykos felt as if he was being eyed by a wolf in sheep’s clothing, as absurd as it sounded.
“Loyalty is an admirable trait,” the boy complimented. He turned to look at the slightly dishevelled Johan, “Do you know how to torture people?”
Being asked a question like that by anyone, a child no less, was jarring. While Johan expected to be used to it by now, with how Solomon had been acting ever since they first met, things only seemed to get stranger and stranger.
“Actually, could you teach me? It’s something I’ve been meaning to learn lately,” Solomon asked cutely.
Johan covered his mouth and coughed awkwardly a few times.
“Apologies, young master, but I can’t do that. It just feels… very wrong.”
Solomon raised an eyebrow, “Because I’m a child?”
“Amongst other things, yes,” Johan responded.
“Fine, then give me your rapier. I’ll learn through trial and error.”
“…No.”
“You’re making this difficult, and we’re short on time,” Solomon complained. Before Johan could reply, the boy continued, “Fine. I’ll go and fetch some kitchen cutlery, shall I?”
As the young boy steadfastly began to climb down from the chair under the perturbed gaze of Johan, Lykos’s fortitude crumbled. The combined shocks of not only a devilishly smart and strong child that had followed a kidnapper back to their den and wanted to torture information out of him… Even the strongest of men would feel their buttocks clench in his position.
“I give up! I give up, what do you want to know?”
Solomon paused with a hint of tangible disappointment.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes, yes, please ask away!” Lykos replied hastily.
Solomon was unconvinced. He glanced at Johan, “How do we know he’s not spouting lies, or trying to buy time? I think we should torture him anyway.”
Johan’s eye twitched.
“I don’t think there will be any need for that, young master.”
As he spoke, he gestured to Lykos’s lower body, which had a rapidly expanding warm and dark patch around the crotch.