Chapter 53: Bounty
Having now attracted everyone’s attention, Nadia slowly pushed herself off the metal pillar.
She swept her gaze across the hostile mob, then at the man who stood over the still sleeping Hilda. She sneered, "Don’t you all feel ashamed to attack someone who’s still asleep? And to do it while banding together, like a bunch of cowards."
Someone in the horde hissed.
"Banding together wasn’t an idea!"
"Yeah! We’re only working together because of a common goal!"
Nadia’s eyes flashed with disdain.
With her arms still folded over her chest, she clicked her tongue at them, her cold gaze becoming glaring.
"Under the conditions we’re in, there are no goals that can justify murder, especially when she had yet to do anything to you all."
"No goals? You don’t know it yet?!"
"That woman has a bounty on her head!"
Nadia’s eyes shot wide open.
"Bounty...?" She quietly repeated.
What the hell were they talking about? What bounty? And why would anyone put a bounty on anyone’s head? Especially in this day and age.
"Yeah!"
Someone pointed at Hilda.
"That woman from the LRM has a bounty of £500,000! After we split the money evenly amongst us, we’ll have close to £6,000. That’s enough to move our families to a better town or city!"
"£500,000?" Nadia gasped.
Such an exorbitant amount of money for the life of one person!?
Nadia slowly snuck Hilda a suspicious look. Why would someone like Hilda have such an insane bounty on her head? Had she been doing something so frowned upon in the LRM that someone actually issued a bounty on her?
’Could it be from some wealthy tycoon? Or perhaps someone else in the LRM...?’
Or could it be the elusive royal family of Britain, who had mysteriously gone missing years ago?
’... What is your identity, Hilda Hertel...?’
Nadia racked her brain in hopes of coming to a logical conclusion. Unfortunately, her efforts led her to get a headache.
Fortunately, though, amidst that headache, she was able to tread far enough to grasp onto a clue.
’I remember someone from the LCEO telling me about this...’
If she recalled correctly, three years ago, a rumour sprouted across all of Britain about some sort of manhunt for someone, with the reward money being big enough to completely retire a person from working ever again.
Apparently, this someone was a child... a child who was roughly the same age as her at the time and had been given the ominous nickname Devil’s Child. Besides her name and her age, it was also stated that she worked as a soldier in the Land Reclamation Military.
Back then, Nadia wasn’t one to delve into rumours or enjoy watching conflict, so this was as much as she could remember from back then.
Yet, regardless of that...
’Could Hilda really be the rumoured Devil’s Child from three years ago...?’ Nadia thought in astonishment, still staring at Hilda’s sleeping figure.
She then turned back to the hostile mob.
She wasn’t certain whether Hilda was really the rumoured Devil’s Child from three years ago, but what she was certain of was that the woman had something planned.
’It was clear that she knew all about the bounty... and yet she still declared herself as Devil’s Child?’
Nadia was confused. She couldn’t grasp the reason why anyone would suddenly turn the people around them hostile after building such a positive reputation.
She scowled.
’What are you doing, Hilda?’
The mob watched as Nadia went silent and still.
"Look, we know that the LRM woman was a part of your group when you got here, but think about the benefits! We’ll be sure to add you to the split!"
"Exactly, and maybe we’re doing a good thing. There’s no way an actually good person is named "Devil’s Child", am I right? I bet she was putting on an act so she could get us in our sleep."
"That must be it!"
With everyone now having steeled their resolve to carry out the act even further, someone from the mob called out to the man who stood over Hilda.
"Do it now! It’s only a matter of time until she wakes up!"
The man nodded and gripped his knife before stabbing down, intending to pierce all the way through the side of Hilda’s skull.
But.
When his knife was about to reach Hilda’s skull, only an inch away from piercing it...
BAM!
"Back off."
Something heavy had struck him in the face.
He flew off the crate and hit the ground, tumbling, with blood spilling out from his nose. His body was still and unresponsive; the man had been knocked unconscious.
Nadia, who had managed to speedily leap to where Hilda was and saved her, sat down on the edge of the crate. Then, she brought one of her knees to her chest and rested her arm on it, while glaring at the hostile mob.
"The fact that you all would try to rope me in to do something so inexcusably heinous..." She muttered, repulsed.
Nadia held out her other arm and grabbed at the air, gripping the hilt of a silver longsword that magically appeared from thin air.
Now brandishing her Relic with one arm, she aimed the tip of her sword at them threateningly. And with a cold and intimidating look in her eyes, that sent shivers down the mob’s spines, she said:
"I do not care about money. And nor do I care about the sort of circumstances you all are in, for you to desperately need the money. For there is an even greater common goal than just money. And that’s to survive and get out of this ruined port city to go back home."
After she said this, two individuals slowly emerged from thin air: Callum and Seraphine.
With Callum’s invisibility tearing off from their bodies, they sat down beside Nadia — glaring at the hostile mob alongside the Heroine.
Callum had a serious expression on his face, equally as repulsed by what they were planning to do. In contrast, Seraphine erected a brave front to hide her nervousness.
’What the hell is going on...!’ She thought, not having expected anything like this to happen!
The horde took a nervous step back, apprehension and dread filling their eyes.
"Damnit, so this was all a trap!?"
"I knew I shouldn’t have followed you herd of treacherous sheep!"
"Don’t blame us for your own greed!"
Watching as everyone bickered amongst each other, Nadia sneered.
"Be quiet!"
This shout of hers immediately got everyone’s attention.
"Listen here. If some of you still think that your lives are worth less than money, in this situation, then come at us. Otherwise, keep your asses put and don’t try to pull anything funny."
At that moment, everyone narrowed their eyes.
The horde glanced at each other before looking back at Nadia and the two beside her.
From Nadia’s earlier display of physical prowess, it was obvious that she was capable of winning against them when it came to one-on-one. But what if they all charged at the same time?
All they needed to do was kill Hilda.
Sure, Nadia may have a better-looking weapon, but all of them wielded either knives, pipes, or metal rods. In terms of quantity, they were obviously the winner.
"The only problem is that LRM woman..."
"But she isn’t awake yet, despite all that just happened."
"You guys think she’s a heavy sleeper...?"
"That would explain it!"
After coming to a logical conclusion as to why the only real threat still hasn’t woken up, they immediately took a step towards the wooden crate — gripping their weapons threateningly.
Seraphine threw fervent glances between the hostile mob and at them.
"Uhm, Nadia, I don’t think they’re going to back off—"
"And neither are we," Nadia instantly answered, pushing herself off the wooden crate.
She then began to waltz towards the horde with a resolute look in her eyes, both of her hands wrapped around the hilt of her sword.
It was clear that she was determined to take on all of them.
Seraphine watched as Nadia made her way closer towards the mob and reached out, intending to convince her from doing it, but was stopped by Callum.
At first, she wanted to ask why, but noticed he was looking somewhere else.
The Transmigrator raised an eyebrow at this and looked in the same direction. And then sighed in relief at what she saw.
’He’s finally here...!’
Ross walked over from deep within the warehouse, his eyes half-lidded with sluggishness. He walked alongside Elias and had the look of someone who was suddenly woken up from an extremely exciting dream.
It was safe to say...
"What the hell are you all doing!?"
That he wasn’t pleased with what was going on.
Everyone immediately froze when he arrived.
Ross scanned around, his face revealing a mixture of confusion and discontent.
"Why the hell are all of you still awake?! We all need to be up fresh and early tomorrow to prepare for what’s to come!" He shouted angrily.
"S-sorry, boss, but we just couldn’t help ourselves!" Someone from the mob replied.
Soon, he was quickly filled in...
Especially on the importance of Hilda’s bounty.
And when Ross heard this, several veins on his forehead bulged intensely from anger.
"ARE YOU ALL SERIOUS!?"
He then pointed towards Hilda, who still remained asleep.
"You all actually think she’s asleep!? Don’t you all know that one of the first things that the LRM gets you to learn is how to sleep with your eyes open?! Why the hell would you think she would ever sleep like that, and with her back to all of you, especially!?"
Everyone widened their eyes, petrified.
Nadia widened her eyes as well, but unlike them, she wasn’t petrified. Instead, she had a look of realisation on her face.
If she recalled correctly, she remembered Seraphine screaming about how she woke up to Hilda staring at her. Could it be what Ross was saying was true...?
Before Nadia thought to use her Gift to figure out the truth, she felt something heavy fall on her shoulder.
"Meine Dame, you really are a charming lady~..." Hilda stated as she rested her chin on the Heroine’s shoulder.