The Prince (WMMAP FanFic)

Ch 19 : Slave Traders (5)

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"Are you okay? She didn't do anything did she?" Gunther asks as he looked at Arius.

"I'm fine, but what about the others? You guys went to the bakery yesterday right?"

Their faces became grim, but they still spoke " We messed up and everyone got taken..."

Arius's eyes widened at the statement.

"All of them?" he asked in disbelief.

Winslow nodded. Arius was in shock. Everything fell apart in just one day.

"we were on our search when I saw you enter the bakery , so I went back to the base to fetch Gunther and we came together. " Winslow explained. Arius listened quietly and he noticed that Gunther was carrying a sword around his hip.

It was the same sword Gunther took from that slave trader. He kept it with him for safety.

While the boys discussed the events up till now , Willow stared at the red head who stood at the bakery.

Felix used a magic artifact to communicate with the rest of the knights and commanded them to come to his location.

"Arion , who's that?" Willow asked as she pointed to the red head.

"oh , Sir Knight? he was a knight patrolling around the area. He happened to see me and followed me to the bakery. He protected me in the bakery. "  Arius explained.

"A knight!? " Gunther exclaimed. His eyes sparkled as he looked at Felix.

Felix walked over to the children. Arius gave him the look and began "Thank you for helping me , Sir Knight. I hope you catch the rest of those scary people as well!"

"It is but our duty as imperial knights to help the people of the empire. It seems like you kids know a few things about these people, would you mind telling me?" Felix asked as he crouched down.

"...They kidnapped our siblings. Six of them. We came to this bakery yesterday and only three of us made it out. They were referring to us as 'goods'. " Winslow explained. Felix's face became grim.

"...I see, Thank You for telling me-"

"Will the children who were kidnapped be alright?!" Gunther asked in worry.

"Yes , I don't think they would be willing to harm their 'goods'...." Felix said as his face darkened.

"..Can we help you somehow?.."  asked Arius. Felix eyed the young prince with a worried look.

"What are your names?" Felix asked.

"Gunther , Winslow , Willow and Arion" Gunther pointed at the rest while he spoke their names.

Felix began in a bubbly voice" well children.. the best help you can give us is by staying safe and protecting yourselves-"

"I know." Winslow cut Felix. Felix gave him a slight confused look and so did the others.

"The Ophira County is behind this. The-"

Gunther suddenly pushed his hand on Winslow's face. "I SINCERELY APOLOGIZE FOR MY BROTHER'S -"

"Its okay." Felix stated.

To speak ill of a noble in public is a great crime punishable by death. Especially if a commoner is openly accusing a noble for something without proof. Worst case scenario,  The three of them could be executed for even uttering the name of a count in a negative way. But he only said it in front of Felix. Felix's expression darkened for a moment as he went in to a Series of deep thoughts. Meanwhile Gunther was scolding Winslow for almost getting them killed.

"You sounded confident in your statement. May I know why?" Felix asked.

Gunther was about to apologize again but Felix told them "You can speak freely , you won't be punished." He then looked at Winslow.

"The Ophira County has scheduled a Slave Auction today after sunset. All the slave traders are getting paid by the County for the kidnappings. They specifically asked for commoner children since they believed the Emperor wouldn't bother with commoners." Winslow explained.

"That's not what I asked." Felix reminded Winslow of his actual question. Felix had a rather dark face and Arius was getting kind of scared of seeing this side of him.

"You want to know how I got this information?" Winslow asked and Felix nodded.  Winslow eyed Willow who flinched upon this.

"I saw it." Winslow stated.

Felix's eyes widened at his statement. Winslow looked confident in what he said. Felix was amused by what the child had said but didn't completely doubt his words since he knew that the County had a lot of underaged servants working there... is this connected somehow, he thought.

"What else did you see ?" Felix inquired.

"If I tell you, will you allow us to help you?" Winslow asked.

Felix hesitated in answering. Gunther than drew his sword from its scabbard and said "Although I'm not as good as a knight, I know somewhat swordsmanship , I promise I won't hold you back."

"Uh..I know the place where the slave auction is gonna take place, I can help with the directions." Willow added.

"And Arion can use somewhat magic, right? " Winslow asked. Arius flinched at this. Claude sealed his mana, so he was useless now.

"Magic? Really?" Felix acted surprised.

Arius shook his head in disagreement. "My mana got sealed yesterday." Arius sadly stated. "The Lord caught me using magic during work and had it sealed as punishment.."

"But I can help in freeing all the slave children..." Arius stated with his head down in slight embarrassment.

"That would be great! " Gunther reassured him.

Felix was thinking about his decision. 'One of them knows swordsmanship , one of them has information. One of them knows the directions. But I can't put the prince in danger...'

Felix eventually made his mind and replied,

"Okay... so the auction is tonight?"

Arius was a bit surprised since he didn't expect Felix to allow him to get into a dangerous situation.

"Yes , but the slaves have already been moved there. "

"Winslow , do you have a plan?" Arius asked. Winslow nodded.

"Captain!" a shout came from afar. The knights had reached the area where Felix had called them. Felix asked for a few minutes from the kids and went to give his orders. Felix ordered the knights to investigate the bakery and to arrest Linda. He then went with the children who took him to their base to discuss their plan in detail.

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