Ch23: The Captive Blonde
Krvavy is rather disappointed.
Other than what was in the bandit chiefs tent, there really hasn’t been any good loot in this camp.
She found a bunch of small coin pouches, sure, but they didn’t exactly have much money in them. Mostly just some boring bronze coloured coins, ones that weren’t even shiny, and a few silver ones. Which is just a major let down compared to that gold and gem filled treasure chest... Krvavy still took that pocket change, of course, but that doesn’t mean she is satisfied.
And it doesn’t help that the only other stuff in this camp that was even worth considering bringing home is literally just basic supplies. Specifically some small crates of food, mostly flour and dried spices, and a larger crate full of spare blankets. There wasn’t even any alcohol to take, as it seems like the bandits were terrible at rationing and drank it all already...
Quite the boring haul. And it is more than Krvavy can carry in one go too, even with her new backpack, so she will have to come back in the morning for the rest of it. At least she now has some actual blankets to sleep under...
With the camp fully looted, there is only one more thing for her to do here.
“Oh! You came back for me!” Theadosia loudly breathes out in relief, desperately pressing herself against the metal bars of her cage. “I knew there was good in you! Now free me!”
“Hmm?” Krvavy responds, playing up her confusion. “No? I’m just here for the bandages. And that crossbow too, I guess.”
“You filthborne beast!” The caged brat spits back, before literally spitting at Krvavy. “Ptth! Let me out of here right this instant! It is only a matter of time before my father’s men find me, and when they do I’ll have them hunt you down! The full weight of Svaneti’s military might will bear down on you! Disgusting churl! Harlot!”
Krvavy mostly ignores those toothless threats as she kneels down beside the table, pulling the box of bandages out from beneath it. Much to her surprise, there aren’t just bandages down there. She also finds a case of metal bolts along with a quiver that is already full and ready to use. Guess this is where the bandit chief kept his ammo...?
Bit weird that all of this was hidden over here and not in the other room, but alright. The chief probably just didn’t trust his own men, in typical bandit fashion. But if Krvavy is going to take the crossbow, then she might as well take these bolts too. And the bloody one on the ground as well... No point in being wasteful...
Glancing back towards the cage while packing the bolts into her new bag, Krvavy continues to sarcastically tease the brat. “Oh wow. What a threat. Don’t send such a mighty military after little old me. How ever would I be able to be able to beat the people who couldn’t keep you safe from a bunch of filthy bandits? Bandits that I killed, need I remind you.”
“Do not speak to me like that!” Theadosia impudently responds, narrowing her eyes and giving the bars another rattle.. “Y-you just got lucky! You attacked those idiots in the middle of the night! It was hardly a fair fight! And they ambushed me when I was travelling, so that was not a fair fight either! A-and that crossbow is magical or something! A single bolt went right through the chest of one of my personal guards and almost made it through the wall of my carriage! He was wearing armour made of the finest steel!”
Krvavy raises an eyebrow at that. She isn’t sure if Theadosia is exaggerating or not. “You do realize that one of those bolts hit me too, right? It didn’t even fully go through my body.”
Theadosia sputters in response. “You got lucky! H-he did not draw the string back all the way, that is all!”
“That isn’t how crossbows work.” Krvavy dryly states, before turning her eyes to said crossbow. Might as well use Inspect on it to make sure that she is right. This is a fantasy game after all, so who knows.
Ballistrai Corp. Arbalest Crossbow: This unenchanted crossbow launches bolts with incredible force. This particular model is intended to be drawn back by crouching down, looping a pair of hooks attached to a belt to its string, and standing back up.
The metal bolts are similarly mundane, with absolutely nothing magical about them. Granted, the bandit chief could have done some magic himself, magic that he either didn’t have time for or didn’t think was necessary on an unarmoured target like Krvavy. So, in the end, she still has no idea if this spoiled brat is exaggerating or not.
Though, to be honest, Krvavy doubts that this girl even saw a thing. She was almost certainly kept rather safe in her carriage, up until the bandits would have dragged her out of it at least.
“Yeah, and how would you know? You savage beast!”
“Just look at the thing.” Krvavy instructs. “It has a latch near the back where the string gets held in place. Only a single latch. It either gets drawn back all the way or not at all.”
“Shut up! Just let me out! I know you found the key!” Theadosia guesses. “Do not lie to me! You will regret not letting me out! I did not want to have to mention it, but I will! My father isn’t the only one you have to be worried about! These brigands ambushed me on my way to meet my fiancé! He is a very powerful man and will make you pay for this!”
“You’re engaged? How old are you?” Krvavy honestly asks, still not taking this girl’s threats even slightly seriously.
“I am not too old to get engaged! I am only nineteen! I am still young!” The caged noble vehemently spits out. This seems to be a sore topic for her. “My husband-to-be is Duke Dovoryn Terenti! Surely even someone as simple as you must have heard of his might?! The walls that his armies have breached?! The prosperity of his realm?! The depth of his coffers?!”
“Wait...” Krvavy comments, pondering what the blonde just said. “If he is so rich and powerful, and a Duke, then why in the world would he be engaged to you? The youngest daughter of a lowly Baron?” And a bitch. But that part doesn’t exactly need to be said out loud.
Theadosia sputters in rage. “I am not worthless! My beauty is known far and wide! My grace and elegance is envied by all who lay eyes upon me! I come from the finest bloodline of ancient rulers! I have my pick of suitors! I am known as the treasure of Svaneti!”
Krvavy is honestly impressed as the dirt-covered noble girl goes on and on about how important she is. Not because Krvavy believes any of it, as the girl is clearly lying out of her ass, but because she has by far the biggest and most inflated ego that Krvavy has ever seen. Which is saying something considering who Leanna works for and with.
“Alright, enough of that.” Krvavy unceremoniously cuts the girl off. “I found the key to your cage on the bandits corpse. If you are so important you can let yourself out.”
“Vile cur! I knew you had it!” Theadosia triumphantly calls out as she fumbles and just barely catches the key after Krvavy tossed it to her. Reaching through the bars of her cage, the bratty noble fits the key into the lock and quickly turns it.
Only to snap the thing with a sharp crack, leaving its head jammed inside the lock.
“W-w-wha?!” The caged Theadosia stutters in shock, tears welling up in her eyes. It seems like she is finally starting to take this seriously. Better late than never. “O-oh n-noble savage! I-I am so, so, so very sorry for all that I have said about you! Please use your might to free me from this prison! P-please!” She sniffles out.
Krvavy simply crosses her arms, not impressed in the slightest. This girl is really quite a terrible person, just putting on a mask of kindness when she thinks it’ll help her. Krvavy would be willing to bet that as soon as Theadosia is out of that cage she’ll immediately have more insults hurled at her.
“What is going through your deranged little head to make you think that I would ever help you?” Krvavy forcibly asks. “More insults have come out from those pretty little lips of yours tonight than honest words. Give me one good reason on why I shouldn’t just leave you in that cage. And don’t forget that we are the only two people alive in this camp, which is out in the middle of the wilderness. In the middle of nowhere.”
For the first time tonight the spoiled brat of a noble girl trapped in a cage thinks before she speaks. “I... You will be richly rewarded...?” Seeing Krvavy’s disappointed gaze, she hastily changes her reason. “No, wait! I will help you carry that stuff back to your home! Just like our first deal, remember?! You do not need to carry that... that box of bandages yourself if I am with you!”
“Hmm... Alright. I’ll let you out of this cage on one condition: everything that comes back to my home is mine. Everything. That include the necklace you are wearing.” It also includes Theadosia herself, but no point in being so obvious. Krvavy wants to see if the girl can figure that out herself, and how long it'll take her.
Theadosia scowls at that. “Ugh, fine! It is just a lousy bit of jewellery anyway! Typical filthborne beast, going after the shiny thing...!”
“Okay. A deal is a deal.” Krvavy smugly smiles. She can’t wait to see her new noble react to finding out that she was just tricked into becoming Krvavy’s property. And now that Krvavy owns her, or at least will own her soon, she might as well use Inspect on the girl.
Those stats are a bit of a surprise to Krvavy. How in the world are they so low? And the girl is even one level higher than Krvavy is! The more she plays this game the less it makes sense. Do levels really mean anything? This girl is significantly weaker than Krvavy is.
“Hey! I felt that! Do not use scrying magic on me you animal! It is a violation of privacy!” Theadosia cries out indignantly. That response is quite helpful to Krvavy though, as now she knows that she can’t just go around using Inspect on every person that she meets. Not unless she wants to needlessly start fights.
Krvavy suddenly feels something odd in the air, like someone just tried and failed to poke her in the face. She almost swats that feeling away, by instinct alone, but it disappears before she can.
“UAGH!” The spoiled brat still locked in her cage screams in frustration. “Damn you filthborne beast! Why can I not so much as even see your level?! IT IS UNFAIR!” It seems like the sensation that Krvavy just felt was Theadosia trying to Inspect her back. Interesting that it didn’t work... Also good to know that NPCs can use that as well.
Deciding to completely ignore the blonde brats tantrum, Krvavy clears her throat and speaks up. “Theadosia, is it? Or how about Thea? Ah, whatever, I’ll just call you girl. So, girl, if you want out of that cage, I’d advise you to step back. You are such a fragile thing, and I wouldn’t want to damage you or anything.”
“Stop being so condescending! Bitch! Churl! Harlot! Savage! Immodest beast!” Despite the stream of insults pouring from her lips, Thea does do what Krvavy told her to, pressing her back against the bars on the far side of the cramped cage and grabbing onto them for support.
Resting her axe on the table, Krvavy steps towards the cage. It is a little rusty, especially around the hinges, so hopefully she’ll be able to just rip the door off. If not, then she’ll try bashing the hinges off first. That feels like it’ll take time though, so she’d rather not have to do that.
Firmly grabbing the bars of the cage door, Krvavy gives it a quick tug. The door makes a squeaking sound, but doesn’t come off. Instead, the entire cage tips towards Krvavy, causing Thea to spew some more insults. “Ahh! Cur! Lowborn cretin! Watch it! You freak!”
Continuing to ignore the disrespectful noble girl, Krvavy simply moves her hands closer to the hinges. With one hand holding onto the door and the other grabbing the cage itself, she begins to pull them apart.
That isn’t an easy task, especially with the wounds around her left arm not being fully healed yet, but after a while the squealing metal yields to Krvavy’s might. With a sudden crack the hinges snap and the door gets torn off, before being tossed to the side.
“Ugh! Finally! Took long enough, you disrespectful beast!” Thea complains as she steps free from the cage. As soon as her feet are on the ground she screams out wordlessly and swings a hand up towards Krvavy’s face.
Having seen the stats of this girl, Krvavy just watches with interest as the blonde’s delicate hands flies up and collides directly with her lower left horn.
“Agh! Ow ow ow...!” Thea whimpers while grabbing her wrist. With how low her stats are, this was not only the obvious result but likely would have still happened if she had actually hit Krvavy in the face.
Shaking her head in disappointment, Krvavy reaches forwards with her left hand and grabs onto both of Thea’s wrists. Now that the girl is out of her cage the size difference between the two of them is ridiculously apparent, even with Krvavy hunching over a bit in the tent. This spoiled brats face is vaguely level to Krvavy’s abs, with the top of her head reaching just below Krvavy’s bare nipples.
Thea seems to realize just how small she is, after briefly trying and failing to pull her hands free from Krvavy’s grip, as she nervously begins to laugh. “Heh... T-that was just a... just a test! Yes! I needed to see how strong you are, to see if you can keep me safe on our journey back to Svaneti! A-after bringing some stuff back to your home, of course! You... you can let me go now!”
“Really? You think that I’m going to just let go of you after that? I got you out of that cage and the first thing you did was attack me. You deserve to be punished.” Krvavy calmly tells the increasingly nervous noble.
“W-what do you mean...? I hurt my hand on your... d-dignified and mighty horn! Is that not punishment enough?!” Thea worriedly questions, her eyes widening in panic as Krvavy pulls out a knife. “Wha?! N-no! Wait! I am sorry! I am sorry! I will not do it again! Do not hurt me! Please!”
Krvavy ignores the sobbing pleas and untrustworthy apologies of the bratty noble girl futilely thrashing in her grip. Bringing the knife up, Krvavy cuts the sleeve of the fancy but dirtied dress off of Thea’s left arm, before suddenly letting go of the girl and causing her to fall backwards into the cage.
Thea makes a pained noise as she hits the metal bars, before looking up at Krvavy in confusion. Opening her mouth to say something, Thea is immediately shushed by Krvavy.
Pulling the sleeve free from Thea’s arm and dangling it in front of her, Krvavy explains what the girls punishment will be. “You see this? It is going to be wrapped around your head as a blindfold. That is your punishment. We have quite the walk back to my home from here, and we will have to pass by a lot of dangerous cliffs. Keep that in mind when you open your mouth.”
Thea narrows her eyes furiously. “You just want to humiliate me! Beast! Churl!”
“Yes, exactly. Now shut up.” Krvavy admits as she forcibly ties the torn sleeve around Thea’s head. The smaller girl tries and fails to stop her. “Now, I’d best not see that slip. You wouldn’t want me to cut off more of your clothes to make that more secure, now would you?”
The blindfolded noble brat grits her teeth and scowls, but not a single word comes out of her mouth. Maybe she won’t need a gag after all. Lucky her.
“Good.” Krvavy pulls Thea to her feet. “Now time for you to do some hard work. I’m sure that’ll be a new experience for you.”