After Melissa said her goodbye to Kevin, she headed home.
However, on the way, she was suddenly blocked by a large man dressed in black.
The little girl immediately sensed the danger and tried to escape, but the man grabbed her by the arm and forcibly dragged her into a dark corner.
A strange gas suddenly came out of his body.
Melissa’s vision became blurry.
The last thing she saw was the face of the person who had kidnapped her.
He had a furry face, big eyes, and a lazy expression that reminded her of a sloth.
Then everything went dark as she surrendered to sleep.
...
A drop of water hit the little girl’s nose, making her wake up.
Her eyes slowly scanned the place.
It was a cold, dark room, and the only sound she could hear was the dripping of water.
"Where am I...?"
Melissa asked in confusion.
But in the next moment, she felt something beside her.
She immediately reacted to the sudden touch and struck whatever was there.
"Ouch! Ouch! Stop!"
Melissa stopped when she heard the tired voice.
She looked closely and found a little boy around her age sitting beside her.
To her surprise, she had seen this boy before.
He was one of the noble children from her city.
"W-Where are we?"
The boy rubbed his head before answering in a tired voice.
"I don’t know. I was kidnapped by that Sloth Beastkin too... This is already my second day here."
"Why did he kidnap us?"
"Who knows? For me, it was because he wanted me to make some sort of deal. Don’t bother asking, because he still hasn’t told me what the deal is."
Melissa sat there, thinking.
Why would that person kidnap her?
Was it for money?
That was the most logical theory, but there was one thing she couldn’t understand.
She had seen that person before, when she was showing the camera to potential partners.
"He looked like a wealthy person... Then why would he need to kidnap me for money? That doesn’t make sense..."
"By the way, there are others here too."
Melissa’s eyes widened.
She grabbed the boy and asked him to repeat what he had just said.
"Agh! I said there are other kids here. When I woke up yesterday, there was another kid in here, and there was another one in the next room..."
The boy paused.
"They’re gone now, and I don’t know if they’re okay or not."
He looked away.
"And to be honest, I don’t have the time to think about anyone other than myself. My father taught me to stay calm in these situations. You should try to act like me too."
Melissa ignored the boy’s last words and focused on understanding the situation.
A Beastkin was kidnapping children who were likely from wealthy families.
That might be the case, but she couldn’t be sure.
What she was sure about was that he wanted something from them.
In the next moment, the door opened, and light shone into the room.
Melissa covered her eyes until they adjusted to the sudden brightness.
She then saw the kidnapper standing at the door.
He looked at her for a brief moment before turning toward the boy.
"Are you ready to hear my deal? After you agree, I will set you free."
"R-Really?!"
The boy immediately jumped from his place.
The Beastkin nodded before taking the boy’s hand and walking away.
The door closed behind them, leaving Melissa alone in the darkness.
...
Another day passed.
Melissa was hungry and thirsty.
She was familiar with not eating or drinking for an entire day, but this was starting to become unbearable.
"Is this what the poor feel like...?"
Melissa thought to herself.
She decided that if she ever got out of this place, she would donate a good amount of her money to the poor.
Suddenly, the metal door opened.
The kidnappers entered the room.
"Wanna hear our deal for you?"
...
Melissa was now standing inside a completely white room.
There wasn’t a single dirty spot.
Everything was clean.
There were no windows, and everything was closed except for the door.
There wasn’t a single sound.
The complete silence made the entire place uncomfortable.
But what made it even more uncomfortable was the person sitting across the table in front of her.
It wasn’t the same person who had kidnapped her.
That person had a sloth-like face and moved and acted calmly, as if he wasn’t bothered by the whole situation.
Meanwhile, this person was sitting in front of her wearing a fox mask.
Old clothes covered his body.
A nasty smell followed him.
And, above all, there was an unsettling aura surrounding him.
Melissa didn’t know why she felt this way, but she could clearly feel that this person was by far the most dangerous person she had ever met.
In fact, she was holding back her tears because she was afraid that he would do something bad to her if she cried.
After a long moment of silence, the masked fox finally spoke.
His voice was so deep and cold that a chill ran across Melissa’s body.
"What a cute little creature you are, huh?"
Although his words weren’t particularly threatening, Melissa couldn’t stop shaking.
"No need to be afraid, little one. I am here to help you..."
He tilted his head slightly.
"After all, who wouldn’t sympathize with a little human, huh?"
"I heard from my follower that you have an interesting thing called... a camera, right?"
He leaned forward.
"Here is my deal. Tell me where you keep the blueprints of that device, and you shall leave."
Melissa couldn’t speak for a moment.
The masked person continued.
"I am a good person, and I usually won’t rush humans."
His voice became colder.
"But I am a little late here, so either you tell me now, or I shall find another way..."
He paused.
"I suppose your mother might know, maybe?"
Melissa’s eyes widened.
She immediately began speaking with fear, her words filled with stutters.
She told him that she had some copies of the blueprints in her house, along with some materials.
She could give them to him if he promised not to hurt her or her mother.
"Ah, what a lovely human. Good human, good."
The masked person stood up and patted Melissa on the head.
She froze.
Then he grabbed her by the back of her neck with two fingers and walked through the door into another room.
Melissa wanted to fight back, but she was so afraid that she simply allowed him to carry her like that.
When they arrived in another room, he threw her onto the ground.
It wasn’t a particularly hard throw, but because she had fallen from a great height, the impact hurt her legs.
Melissa looked around.
There were other children in the room.
All of them had the same expression.
Fear.
Melissa looked at some of the children and was stunned.
Some of them were missing their eyes.
Others were missing a hand or other parts of their bodies.
Nothing that would immediately kill them, but they would definitely grow up deformed.
The masked person finally removed the fox mask that had been frightening the children.
But what was underneath was even more terrifying.
He was a Beastkin with the face of a fox.
His left eye was blind.
The right side of his mouth was burned, and his nose was deformed.
One of his ears was missing.
There was also a large hole in the middle of his skull.
He took a heavy breath before slowly releasing it with a satisfied smile.
Then he looked down at the children.
"Well now, little humans..."
He smiled.
"Before I send you back to your homes, it’s only fair for me to have some fun, right?"
None of the children spoke.
They simply stared at him in horror.
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