Ch 283: A response to a desperate prayer.

"We're almost at the capital. What do you think our master's going to be like, Luna?" asked Air as she turned her gaze away from the small, barred window of the carriage to the first of her two companions.

"Probably an old man. He may be aiming for our bodies like some beast." grumpily replied Luna.

"Ha! If that happens, we'll just smash his junk and run!" smiled Fal. "We, unlike other village girls who got sold off somewhere, are the best of them. We've been chosen to be apprentices at the capital! We're going to work hard, find a good man, and start a dreamy life!"

"I think you're too positive, Fal." sighed Luna. "I feel sorry for the other girls, though. We may be apprentices, but they are outright slaves."

"I am, too, but it couldn't be helped." nodded Air. "Seriously, what's up with the king and the prime minister, setting taxes so high?"

"That's not something we can do anything about, so let's not think about it." shrugged Fal. "What kind of job do you think our master will make us learn? I think being maids is the most likely."

"I'd like to be a seamstress." said Air.

"I want to be a cook if possible. All that delicious food that nobles eat, I'm sure cooks get to eat some of the same." said Luna with glowing eyes.

"…You're drooling, Luna." said Air.

"I'm not!" protested Luna, hastily wiping her mouth with a hand. She wasn't, and glared at the chuckling Air and Fal for having fallen for it.

…

Deep inside the city, they finally were allowed to get out of the carriage.

"Hello there." said a young man with a pleasant voice. "I was waiting for you girls."

He has short blonde hair and brown eyes, and was dressed in black pants, white shirt with thin vertical black strips, red coat and a loose red tie.

"Ah, hello." replied Air. "Are you perhaps a servant of our master?"

"No, I am your master. I'm Bach." smiled the young man.

"Oh!" exclaimed Air, making an awkward curtsy, quickly imitated by Luna and Fal.

"You do not need to act formally. and I am glad the three girls I paid for are cute."

"T-Thank you." replied Air, her cheeks reddening a little.

She, too, thought of herself as cute, and was she seemed to be to the master's liking.

Air had pink hair growing slightly past her shoulders, pink eyes, and wore a two-tones pink hat, pink raincoat, and pink knee-high leather boots.

Luna had blue yes, neck-length dark blue hair, and wore very similar clothes in a light blue color, but her raincoat had a hood with two large flaps imitating a rabbit's drooping ears.

Fal, the last of the notorious (in their village) Pink, Blue and Yellow Trio, had amber eyes and shoulder-length golden-blonde hair, and orange raincoat and boot.

Their similar outfits spoke of the limited range of choice they has access to in their village.

"What do you girls think of the capital?" asked Bach as he led them down the street.

"It is very large and lively." smiled Fal. "Our village only has an inn and a curio shop. It was pretty traumatic when we were asked 'Don't you even have an armory?' by adventurers."

"Want to look around for a bit while we are here? I wouldn't mind buying clothes for you all!" smiled Bach.

"Is-Is it really okay?" asked Air with a dreamy expression.

"I am a kind master after all." shrugged Bach.

…

A few minutes later, the three girls were browsing clothes in a store, with kindly looking at them from the entrance.

"He's easy to talk to, and he seems like a good person." happily said Air to Luna, who frowned.

"Do not let your guard down." replied Luna, cautious. "All men are wolves, do not forget it."

"Y-You're right, maybe I am being a little too careless. But still, he's much better than an old man, right?"

"Either way, if things turn bad, we'll run." said Fal in a low voice. "If it comes down to this, rely on me! With these martial arts that I defeated a one-horned rabbit with, I'll…"

"Fal, you're being too immodest." protested Air as Fal had lifted her left leg all the way up, as if preparing to perform an axe kick on the head of an imaginary enemy, and given everyone facing her a glimpse of her panties.

"Oups." blurted our Fal as she quickly brought her leg down, blushing. She risked a look toward the door, and saw Bach shaking his head at her, still smiling.

"Let's keep it reasonable. We do not want master to think we are spendthrifts." said Luna, and they nodded, choosing only one relatively cheap dress each.

…

After paying for their clothes, Bach brought them to a fairly exclusive cafe, where he reserved a large private room.

"Master, isn't that too much just for us." asked Fal, uncomfortable as she thought about how much Bach must be spending for them.

"No, this is fine." smiled Bach. "The owner is a friend and I am a regular, and we're in the middle of the afternoon, slow hours business. I have a major discount."

"I understand. Thank you, master." nodded Fal.

"Feel free to order what you want." smiled Bach as they sat down and looked at the menu.

"I'd like some ice cream, if that's not too much, master." said Luna after a few seconds. "We heard about it in the village, but we never had the opportunity to try it."

"It's fine. I said you could order anything, did I not?" smiled Bach.

The waiter came and took their orders. Bach ordered a cup of coffee, and Air, Fal and Luna asked for ice cream.

"We are so lucky to have been bought by a kind master." smiled Air.

"You girls are an investment." smiled Bach. "It wouldn't make sense to mistreat an investment. In return, I expect you girls to perform well and give it your all."

"Yes, we will." promised Luna. Air and Fal nodded with determination.

"While we wait for our order to be served, tell me about your village."

"I am afraid there isn't much to say about it." sighed Fal. "Just a little village on the border, surrounded by the territories of several Danger Beasts, and struggling to pay the taxes. These last few years have been particularly bad, and the village had no choice but to sell off some of its young as labor or… other things."

"Yes. We managed to get selected for apprenticeship rather than outright slavery, so we're the luckiest ones in a sense." smiled Air. "That is why we will work hard for the duration of our apprenticeship, and later gain some money we will be able to send back to the village. Maybe one day we will be able to visit the village again."

"So you have no ill-feelings for having been forced to leave the village?" asked Bach.

"No. The situation over there is bad, and it's slowly getting worse." shrugged Fal. "At this rate, in a year or two, there won't be enough food for everyone to survive the winter. And the chance of making it big in the capital and living there is the dream of almost every village girl! Being a maid is better than toiling the field. At least I think so, I've never been a maid."

"I see." smiled Bach, turning his head toward the door as someone knocked, and the waiter entered, their orders on a tray. They were served, and the waiter left them alone.

Bach smiled as the girls looked at the cups of ice cream in front of them with something that almost looked like worship.

"You should dig in before it melts. And make a wish, if that is the first time you eat it. Maybe it will come true."

"Yes, master." nodded Air, using her spoon to scoop a little of the vanilla-flavored ice cream and bringing it to her mouth.

Bach almost smirked at the expression she made.

"This is so sweet and refreshing!" exclaimed Air. Luna and Fal nodded vigorously as they too instantly fell in love with ice cream.

Bach smiled, occasionally sipping his coffee as he watched the girls eat their ice cream.

When they were done, he stood.

"Are you girls happy?"

"Yes, master. Thank you for treating us so well." beamed Air, and Luna and Fal nodded with smiles.

"That is good." smiled Bach, walking to the door and opening it.

Air blinked and lost her smile as many men wearing expensive outfits entered the room. They had been waiting silently on the other side, and lined up against the wall. Aside from three of them, who walked to the girls without word, and grabbed them.

"What are you doing!" exclaimed Fal as the biggest man took her wrists and forced them behind her back.

"Master? What is happening?" asked Air, trying to control her fear.

"Now, let's move on to the main dish!" smiled Bach.

Air suddenly saw the coldness in his eyes. Had it been there all along, and they had failed to see through his mask?

"I am glad that I made you girls experience happiness. Now, all you will know is the most terrible agony."

"Bastard!" screamed Fal, but Bach's smile only widened. "Let go off me!"

As she cried those words, Fal jumped, using the grip of the man holding her arms as a pivot, and delivered a kick to his face. Her heel connected, but the man only smirked.

"What's this? The fighting style of a country bumpkin?"

He pulled her by her right arm half off the ground and delivered a punch to her guts.

"Gahah." coughed Fal, folding in pain.

"Fal!" cried Air, struggling against the hold of the man behind her, but he held her firm.

"That was almost dangerous, Loran." smirked Bach. "You should break both of her legs, to make sure she doesn't run."

"Good idea." smiled the man, forcing Fal to sit on the ground.

"No!" screamed Fal, struggling, but the man was huge, and much stronger and tougher. With one knee, he pinned Fal's right thigh on the ground, seized her ankle, and pulled.

"Gyaaaaaaa!" howled Fal as her knee joint broke. Air felt sick as she heard the sound of the bones dislocating, and the sight of the leg bent in the wrong direction.

"Oohhh. Such wonderful screaming. "grinned one of the men watching.

Fal screamed again when the man did the same thing to her left leg.

"You can't kick or run anymore." smiled the man, standing.

"Someone help! Murderer!" screamed Luna desperately.

"You are wasting your time, girl." laughed another man. "This room is soundproofed, and the owner is one of us. No one will help you. Save up your vocal chords for screaming your pain."

"Who even are you? We didn't do anything to you!" sobbed Air.

"These people her are the so-called 'Enthusiasts' of the capital." shrugged Bach, still smiling. "Normal girls just aren't enough for them. They just love to torment girls and break them. Really, they're freaks."

"But it is thanks to us freaks that you're making a profit." chuckled another man, a fat one.

"That's right." nodded Bach. "And the blue-haired one is yours. How would you like her tortured?"

"The eyes." said the man with an entranced expression. "There is no more despairing expression than someone who know she is about to lose her sight forever."

"As you wish." nodded Back, and the fat man slowly walked closer to Luna, taking a sharp knife from a suitcase held by another man.

Fal sobbed in both pain and horror, and Luna struggled desperately against the grip of the man holding her.

"N-No way! Please, stop! Please stop!" begged Luna.

'Someone, anyone, please save us!' prayed Air, just as horrified as her friends. She had never been the religious type. But now, she would be willing to pray to any god or demon, as long as they helped them.

And as the fat man was about to pierce Luna's left eye, there was a flash of light, and four women wearing strange clothes were suddenly standing between them and the people watching.

The fat man turned with a frown, and the four women looked surprised by what they were seeing, just like the men were frozen in shock.

One of the women, beautiful, with long blonde hair in a ponytail and some pieces of silver armor over a black bodysuit, looked at Fal's broken legs, and shuddered.

"No, this kind of torture, it's no good." muttered the woman as she shook her head.

Another of the woman, the one with long, light blue hair and wearing a man's black suit, stared at the fat man, then the knife in his hand, then the terrified Luna behind him, and before Air noticed, she had closed the distance and drawn the sword at her waist, severing the man's hand with an upward slash.

"Aaarghhh!" screamed the fat man.

"Someone tells me what is going on in this room. Now!" ordered the woman as she straightened her posture.

"I think what is going on is clear enough." said another or the four women with a grim tone, one with neck-length pinkish blonde hair and wearing a sleeveless white kimono, her hand resting on the hilt of the sword at her waist.

"T-Those men." sobbed Air, making an effort to force the words out of her throat. "They are perverts! They like to torture women to death!"

"Darkness, Okita, Nero." said the blue-haired woman with a flat voice, her eyes staring at Fal's broken legs. "Even through those scums deserve a very slow and painful death, let's not traumatize those girls any more than they already are. Make it quick."

"Umu!" growled the fourth woman, a green-eyed blonde wearing an extravagant red dress. Suddenly, a long, jagged red sword was in her hands.

"Wait, we have a lot of money! Just name your…" exclaimed one of the men just before his head flew off his shoulders.

Air felt the grip of the man still holding her shift, probably intending to use her as a hostage, but he suddenly went limp. Air turned to watch him as he collapsed. A knife made of some translucent yellow material was sticking from his throat, having pierced all the way through and severing his spine. The knife dissipated into nothingness under her eyes.

The men holding Luna and Fal also had their throats pierced before they could react.

By the time she looked away, it was already over. It took less than three seconds for the four women to kill all the perverts.

"T-Thank you!" sobbed Luna, collapsing to her knees.

The blonde woman wearing armor nodded and crouched over Fal, touching her shoulder, and a blue glow surrounded her hand, and Fal's legs moved with a strange sound.

"You should be okay now." said the woman, standing to look at the room now filled with corpses.

"I…" replied Fal in wonder, staring at her legs, and she blinked as she saw the woman's extended hand. After a brief hesitation, she took it, and was able to stand.

"I'm healed?" exclaimed Fal in wonder.

"Yes." nodded the woman before looking at Luna and Air. "Are you girls injured? We can heal you as well."

"We're fine. Thank you very much." said Luna quietly. Air had been around her friend from a long time and knew she was on the verge of breaking down into sobs. She herself felt like she was about to.

One of the women apparently noticed as she looked at them, a strange crystal globe in hand.

"I'll be taking you girls to a quiet and safe place. Darkness, Okita, Nero, please move us to another location as well."

"Understood." nodded the other three.

Suddenly, Air found herself sitting on a comfortable sofa, in another room, Fal and Luna by their side. A fireplace nearby was already lit.

"It's alright, girls." smiled the woman with long light-blue hair. My name is Miwa. Miwa Kasumi. You are safe here. No one will hurt you, I promise you that."

"Are you… Did you come in response to my prayers?" asked Air with hesitation.

"Figures, you would be praying in a moment like this." sighed Miwa. "We came at the behest of several Gods and Goddesses, so I guess you could say that we did. I am sure they deliberately decided for our emergence point to be in that room. Here." said Miwa as she handed them a box of… paper handkerchiefs? And so thin and white!

Air realized then that she was crying. She looked at Luna, who was starting to sob, and so was Fal. Before she knew it, the three of them were full-on crying in mixed pain and relief.

…

Darkness sighed as she looked at the Sanctuary on the table. It had been easy to secure lodging. Just a bit of hypnosis on the innkeeper to have him give them some of the local silver and gold coins, which they quickly replicated, giving him his money back and paying for two rooms, with a generous tip.

Nero and Okita had both dematerialized to explore their surroundings.

Since she had nothing much to do aside from protecting the Sanctuary, she consulted the list of quests they had received, then decided to call Noah.

"Darkness?"

"Greetings, Master." smiled Darkness. "I just entered another timeline with Miwa, Nero and Okita, and I am wondering if you know about this one."

"You and Miwa? I thought you recently decided the seven representatives would each lead their own teams."

"Well…" fidgeted Darkness, feeling a twinge of excitement due to her embarrassment. "…The Director decided I needed a chaperone."

"…I see." replied Noah, and Darkness heard his amusement. It only made her excitement grow. "So, what can you tell me about this world?"

"We arrived in the middle of a group of perverted men who were torturing three young women. Real torture, not the kind Mistress Akeno and you do. We killed the sadistic scums, healed the girls, and received a few quests. Are the names Akame, Kurome, Night Raid, Prime Minister Honest..."

"Oh boy, it's that one..." sighed Noah.

"So you do know something about it." smiled Darkness.

"Yes. Are you alone right now?"

"Yes, we can speak of anything."

"Okay. The world you are in is based on a fiction that is notorious for its violence and cruelty, and for the gruesome deaths of most of the good guys along with the bad ones. In a sense, this one is even worse than the one where you recruited Hitomi. I will give you the short version."

"The fiction is centered about a country in the middle of a civil war. The central government couldn't be any more corrupt if it tried, and the population is oppressed with an iron fist. This gave birth to many resistance movements, and the Empire trained a bunch of orphans to form teams of assassins to quells the insurgents. Akame is one such assassin, who eventually switched sides and joined Night Raid, another group of assassins working in cooperation with the revolutionaries. Kurome, her sister, kept killing for the empire, so they found themselves on opposite sides despite caring a lot of each other."

Darkness frowned.

"Master, one of the quests requires us to join Night Raid, but another tells us to capture both Akame and Kurome."

"Ah? …Then maybe the world isn't based only on the main fiction, but also on its prequel? The one that relates the events leading to Akame switching sides? Or maybe the God who created this world changed some things. After all, there are no rules forcing them to closely adhere to the original fiction."

"Is she part of a group called the Elite Seven? We are asked to defeat them."

"…It is the prequel, I think, and I am sorry, but I do not remember much about it."

"I see. Thank you for the information anyway, we'll manage." smiled Darkness.

"Wait, I can still tell you a few things. First, be wary of Esdeath, the top general and strongest of the Empire. She is a real sadistic woman, and she is a very powerful ice user. She could conjure and manipulate hundreds of tons of ice with ease."

"A sadist?" blurted out Darkness, unable to hide the eagerness in her voice.

"Not the kind you would enjoy, I think. To give you an example, she deliberately spares some of the insurgents she defeats and make them watch as she torture their comrades to death, then let them go, all because she wants more insurgencies to keep rising. She wants an endless supply of enemies to torture and kill."

"…This Esdeath is disgusting." frowned Darkness. "But she has potential! I want to face her! Maybe we can capture her and reform her into a normal sadist!"

"You damn perverted, masochistic girl. Olga-Marie was right to ask Miwa to keep you on a tight leash." said Noah with a resigned tone, and Darkness gasped, her cheeks flushing, as she felt a burst of pleasure from his demeaning words.

"Just wait until I get my hands on you… Moving on, you will likely meet a girl named Seryu at some point. Orange hair in a ponytail, brown or amber eyes, cheerful temperament. She is big on justice and fighting criminals to protect the citizen and such."

"She sounds like a worthy defender of the people! Is she someone you wish for us to recruit?" smiled Darkness.

"Yes, but not before she goes through a thorough Bad Girl treatment. Seryu may have good intentions, but she's a blind idiot. She thinks that Night Raid are the villains, and she fails to see the corruption of the system she is part of. When you defeat her, make sure to purge every single implant from her body. She has a lot of hidden weapons in her prosthetics. In the fiction, one of Night Raid's members lowered her guard after cutting both of Seryu's arms, and died when Seryu revealed a gun in her tongue."

"I understand. We will be vigilant!" nodded Darkness.

"Well, I am not sure a bullet would even penetrate your skin at this point, but I just wanted to warn you about her. Try not to kill her, she is definitely redeemable. But she needs a short leash, at least until she grows some awareness. For the rest, aside from Esdeath herself, between your immunity to curses and your ability to neutralize poisons, I do not think you have anything much to worry about."

"What does Esdeath looks like?"

"Long light blue hair, white and black military uniform exposing some cleavage, and a black mark on her sternum."

"We have a quest to capture or kill her, Master."

"I wish you success. With her gone, the empire will stand no chances against the revolutionaries. But do not rush to face her. I advise you to deal with her underlings first to avoid being swarmed. Some are rather strong."

"Yes… So, Master, what are you going to do to me, once you get your hands on me?" grinned Darkness. "Will you use my body to vent your lust like a sadistic brute?"

"…I might change my mind by then, but right now, I am thinking about tying you up like a pretzel with red rope, with your ankles bound behind your head, teasing you mercilessly until you beg like the pathetic toy you are, and refusing you for hours while I flog you… Maybe I should have kept quiet, I can already hear you panting. Focus on the mission for now, Darkness."

"Yes, Master! I can't wait!" exclaimed Darkness as she squeezed her legs together with an entranced expression. She really had the best Master and the best Mistress.

"See you later." smiled Noah, ending the call.