Chapter 19: Escape

“Rise and shine. We’re getting out of here! Go upstairs and wait for me in a line please~”

Awakened by the sudden clanging, the captured eve children looked dumbfoundedly at the blue eyed boy banging loudly on a metal pot. 

Ignoring their gazes, Ciel, seeing that Erin was awake, handed him the pot and spoon and motioned for him to continue. The children, who had been quickly conditioned to listen to Ciel during the games, quickly dragged their sleepy compatriots upstairs. 

Ciel beamed at their quick reactions. ‘It was worth playing Assassins with them all afternoon.’ Because the casino he had worked at previously often switched out their staff, Ciel knew a few tricks to condition people to instinctively listen to him. A few children were easy prey.

Once everyone was in a neat line, Ciel started to unlock their collars. “You all are kidnapped eves from far away. I went outside for a few minutes and confirmed that we are on a mountain near the capital. Do you guys have a plan on how to go back?”

The answer was as he expected. All the children shook their heads, looking lost. 

They had only one goal after being captured–to escape. But now that freedom was just a step away, they were unsure about how to go back to their family. After all, eves isolated themselves deep into the continent. They were only captured because they didn’t listen to the elders and wandered away from their clans. They had no idea how to go back.

Ciel unlocked the last child’s collar and started to lure potential clients in a gentle voice of an elder, “I come from an organization titled Fatalite. Our specialty is to rescue kidnapped eves like you and escort them back home. If you guys don’t have any plans, you can follow us.” 

The children looked at the pure and simple smile Ciel displayed. Their trust rose, Ciel had brought their spirits up the moment he entered the cell and freed them. It made sense he was part of an organization that aimed to help them. 

Off to the side, Erin watched the children nodding hard to Ciel’s advice as if they were chickens pecking at rice. The current trustworthy Ciel was very different from that unreliable troublemaker at Fatalite. 

Erin knew that Ciel liked to sometimes cause trouble if it was entertaining, and he usually went along with Ciel’s actions. 

He had thought they were getting closer, but looking at Ciel’s face that gave off the same casualness as usual, Erin began to doubt their past interactions. They had known each other for at least three months now. But the distance between them didn’t seem to be closing in at all. 

He snapped out of his trance as Ciel called out to him, “Erin! We’re leaving! Hurry up or you’ll be left behind!”

Erin shook his head blankly. “I’m coming!”

His little brother(self pronounced)’s personality was just carefree, like his perpetual expressionless face that originated from his snake origins. The distance was probably his imagination. 

Yes, that was it. He had successfully convinced himself.

The group walked through the tunnel behind the mirror. In consideration of the children’s mental state, Ciel had already hid the guard’s corpse somewhere. The tunnel was quite long and sloped upwards. It took a while before the small group saw the exit Ciel had gone through earlier. 

The exit was a stone door that led to the bottom of a cliff, which shielded the setting sun’s rays. That gave Ciel enough darkness for his eyes to feel comfortable without a blindfold. 

Although they weren’t at the top of the mountain, the small group could see the twinkling lights of the city slowly turn on as the sun’s light dimmed down. 

Ciel ran his eyes over the various animal traits sprouting from each child. The only one without visible traits was a boy about his age with straight, royal blue hair and sandy eyes. 

“Now, we have two options. One, send me or Erin back to Fatalite to bring back people to fetch us. And two, hide all of your animal characteristics and go back to Fatalite ourselves. Which one do you guys want to choose? I’ll give you guys a few moments to discuss, then vote, just like in Assassins.” 

The children hesitated, logic told them option one was the safer one because young eves like them couldn’t completely transform into humans. But the part of them that were grateful to Ciel for saving them made them rethink their decisions. 

Seeing their indecisiveness, Ciel smiled. Kids these days knew how to be thankful. 

“Let’s go to the bottom of the mountain first before deciding.”

Everyone agreed. As they started to set off towards the capital’s twinkling lights, the trees above them rustled loudly. It was as if something heavy were falling through the leaves.

Ciel sensed something, and stepped aside. 

Thump. 

A body dropped onto the spot where Ciel had just been standing. 

Ciel looked up to see that the thick tree canopy above them now had a gaping hole that showed the sky. The blue sky was streaked with different shades of orange and red, contrasting strongly against the fresh spring green of the leaves. He admired the view for a bit before he looked down at the boy who was covered in bruises and leaves.

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“Little prince, didn’t anyone tell you to cherish the environment? And where’s Cedric?”

Dominic stared at Ciel in shock before trying to scramble to his feet. "You-why are you here? Wait, where's Cedric?" He looked around, looking confused.

Poor boy, it seems he hit his head hard when falling.

Squatting down, Ciel helpfully picked a leaf from the top of Dominic's hair after he fell again. "Don't take my question from me. Now, what happened to you? Weren't the kidnappers trying to curry favor with you? Why is the little prince in such a wretched state?"

Dominic deserved the title of the protagonist’s third fish, calming down quickly as he described what had happened. 

After he and Cedric had been taken away, the kidnappers met with a man wearing a white priest-like outfit that covered his face. The man instantly recognized the two tied up boys and changed the plan from pretending to be their rescuers to hypnotizing them into puppets. When he heard that, Dominic immediately bolted with Cedric the moment he found an opening. Halfway through their escape, Cedric woke up and Dominic was able to stop carrying him. They were cornered at a cliff, and were forced to jump. 

‘Well isn’t that a quick plot twist.’ Ciel watched Dominic finally stand upright with the help of a nearby tree. He ignored Erin and the others who had an expression of wanting to help but not daring to. Well, Erin had no expression as usual, but his anxiety was radiating off of him in waves. Even though the others had no idea who Dominic was, his forceful aura was keeping them away.

"You two jumped off together. So where's Cedric?" Ciel repeated his question for the second time.

Ciel’s question was answered when a fluffy haired boy crashed down and landed directly on top of Dominic. Dominic, who just managed to stand up, face planted on the ground.

“Huh? It doesn’t hurt?” Cedric sat up, visibly unharmed with the exception of a few scrapes under his torn clothes. 

He looked down and jumped up in fright, “Dominic! Ah I’m so sorry!” Dominic was gently helped up as Cedric took a handkerchief and wiped the dirt off his face. When Dominic looked up, Ciel found that a nosebleed had been added to Dominic’s injuries.

"Ish fie. Ash dong ash yur not hurth." Dominic pinched his nose with the dirty handkerchief. Whatever his expression was supposed to be looked contorted because of the pain.

Beside them, Ciel gave a fake cough, covering up his laughter, “Shouldn’t we go now? From what I know about people, men will be sent here soon to confirm your deaths.”

As if confirming his words, a shout came from above. “Search! That’s the crown prince and the duke’s heir! If they’re dead I want you to find the bodies, if they’re alive quickly capture them! F*ck if you guys move slower I’m going to kick you down there!” 

Ciel motioned for everyone to hurry up. The shout were too close for comfort. If the men came a bit lower and looked underneath the thick canopy of leaves, they all would be found.

However, it was too late.

Ten or so men descended down through the trees and stopped in a neat formation. Ciel stopped moving, it would be pointless to run now. 

The men stood still, before parting simultaneously to give way to the man Dominic had seen earlier. Only the lower half of his face could be seen under the oversized hood. 

“Crown prince, I give you one last chance. Come back with Norama’s heir and I promise I’ll leave you two your consciousness. If you continue to resist. I don’t mind turning you both into mindless puppets for the sake of my god.” He gave a sinister smile. The men behind him had blank faces and empty eyes, but gave off a murderous air. 

He had an inkling in his mind when the third fish had described him earlier, but now his speculation was confirmed. The man’s outfit was exactly the same as the outfit of the slave trader who had left Ciel in the care of the dead guard. 

They were both part of the demon sub-organization that may or may not be a cult. 

Seeing that he temporarily had no intentions to harm them, Ciel paid him no more attention and quickly gave out orders.

“Kids, when I give the signal you all should scatter and hide, alright? Don’t come out until you hear me. Little prince, Cedric, hurry to the city and find someone from Fatalite. Got it? Ah, of course, if you intend to take his offer, I don’t mind.” 

His words were met with silence and a few heads nodding.

But it was impossible for Dominic to accept the offer. 

After a few moments more of silence, the man had evidently come to this conclusion as well, and expressionlessly waved his hands. 

“Sigh, you just like to take the hard route, don’t you?”

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