At the sound, rlin and Margaret gasped. They turned and saw six n approaching, grins stretched across their faces.
The burly man stared at them intently and snorted coldly. "You're quite troubleso, kid. But that's fine—I do enjoy torturing brats."
He clenched his right hand into a fist and rubbed it with his left. The others mimicked the gesture, making Margaret instinctively step back in fear.
"What should we do?" she asked frantically, hiding behind rlin.
Yet, as her eyes settled on rlin's broad back, a strange sense of safety washed over her. Without realizing it, her body leaned against him, and the familiar, soothing scent of his presence enveloped her once more.
rlin gripped her left hand firmly and fixed the six n with an indifferent stare.
"Who exactly are you? Are you part of so notorious kidnapping syndicate?"
He recalled that, according to the novel, Margaret had never been kidnapped. The databook had no ntion of such an event.
However, he did rember a battle scene between Abel and a group of criminals who had attacked the Academy of Saint Freya—a tense arc in which the academy was infiltrated by mysterious assailants of unknown origin.
Each of them possessed Spirit Core powers ranging from eight to five, with the strongest reaching the First Spirit Core.
At that ti, Abel had killed several people at the Sixth Spirit Core stage, including a burly man who hadn't been described in detail.
Margaret, who had fought alongside Abel, looked briefly frightened, as if recalling a trauma she couldn't fully explain.
If his guess was correct, the burly man Abel had slain was the very sa one standing before him.
rlin, however, had no knowledge of what had happened between Margaret and this man in the novel.
Clearly, this man had left a deep scar on Margaret, one that reached straight to her soul.
"Hehehe…" The burly man chuckled coldly. "Judging by the way you speak, you're no ordinary child. Don't tell you're from a noble family. Planning to find out who we are and then send your family's troops after us? Hahaha! Such clever thinking!"
His companions joined in the laughter, as if mocking rlin for having his intentions read so easily.
rlin remained silent, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. Honestly, he hadn't thought of anything like that at all.
Yet the burly man was undeniably clever—being able to anticipate such possibilities showed they were highly experienced in handling all sorts of sches and plots.
Shaking his head, rlin asked again, "So, what's your purpose in kidnapping us? Is it money? Here's an idea: I'll give you a lot of money, on one condition—you let us go. Interested?"
He could take on any one of them, but defeating all of them at once? That was beyond belief.
After all, he was just eight years old, and his training had lasted only twelve days.
Although his strength had grown remarkably, it still wasn't enough to take all of them on at once.
Behind him, Margaret peeked out and spoke timidly, "What he said is completely true. All you care about is money, right? I'll give each of you one million gold coins. Please, just let us go."
Compared to money, her own life—and the boy in front of her—was far more important.
Besides, Margaret had plenty of money, so a million or two gold coins was nothing to her.
When the burly man and his companions heard the amount, they froze in disbelief.
"One million gold coins each? Damn! That's six million in total!" The thin man gulped, his heart racing.
Six million gold coins was an incredible sum. With that, they could buy a mansion in Droswen City—or even in the capital.
The rest could be spent on drinking, partying, or hiring night won. Just imagining it made them giddy.
"Boss, what about the offer? Should we accept it?" the thin man asked eagerly.
The others buzzed with excitent, yet all eyes turned to the burly man for his response.
Unexpectedly, the burly man chuckled softly and shook his head.
"Tempting as it is, I won't accept your offer," he said flatly.
rlin and Margaret froze. Before they could react, the burly man sneered, "If we let you go, who can guarantee you'll actually pay? Six million gold coins? Pfft! I don't believe you even have that much. And even if you did, would your family really allow it? Either way, I refuse."
His gaze sharpened as he continued, "Now, co with us. But you two will have to accept the punishnt for being wayward children."
He raised his right hand, and his comrades imdiately understood his aning.
They smiled cruelly and moved closer. rlin and Margaret instinctively stepped back.
Yet rlin knew the more they retreated, the more dangerous the situation beca. Behind them yawned a deep ravine.
Suddenly, he stopped and turned to Margaret.
"Do you still have the strength to run?"
The question startled her. She looked at him in disbelief. "What do you an?"
rlin took a deep breath and released his handgrip.
"I'll give you a chance to escape as far as possible and get help. Understood?" His gaze grew serious.
"Escape?" Margaret froze. She shook her head frantically. "No! We have to stay together!"
"Don't be stubborn," rlin snapped coldly, making her flinch.
"Our position isn't favorable. At least one of us has to get away," he continued firmly. "So you go now. I'll hold the way."
But Margaret still shook her head. Tears welled in her eyes as she whispered hoarsely, "No… not like that… We have to stay together."
She hadn't known this boy for long, but their ti together had forged a bond she couldn't let go of.
In her life, no one had ever been a true friend—rlin was the first. And she couldn't bear the thought of losing him.
rlin let out a long breath and gently patted her head. "Please, just listen to this once, okay? We're friends, aren't we? I'm asking you as a friend: run now. Trust —I can handle them all and will catch up with you afterward. Understood? Please, trust ."
Margaret froze, caught between the urge to refuse and the need to obey. The words she almost spoke died on her lips.
With a heavy nod, she bit her lower lip and stamred, "Alright… I understand. But please… co back, okay? You have to promise ."
"Of course," rlin said, nodding reassuringly. "I promise…"
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