The boat carrying Elsa and Meene was about a third of the way down the river when suddenly the ferryman stopped rowing.

Suddenly the ferryman stops rowing. The boat stops moving and starts to go downstream with the current of the river. The current of the Torres, however, is slow. It is about a quarter of the speed of a person walking.

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"What's wrong?"

Meane asks suspiciously,

"Heh heh heh ......"

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There was a nasty look on the ferryman's face. Meine, feeling a bad premonition, hugs Erza's shoulder tightly.

What?

Erza suddenly bends over. She looked over to see another man, who had apparently been hiding on the boat, sticking something in her mouth.

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"Miss!

"Hehehe, I heard this lady uses magic. I'll be d*mned if I'm going to let her do the chanting."

"Oh, you guys!"

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Meine pulled out a knife she had hidden in her pocket.

"Whoa, that was dangerous!"

But the ferryman hits Meine's hand with the oar in his hand.

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"Tsk!"

With that blow, the knife fell out of Meine's hand. His wrist hangs limply. It looks like a broken bone.

"Sleep tight, old man."

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The ferryman strikes Meane on the head again with his oar. There's a dull thud,

"Oh ......," he says.

With these words, Meine gave up consciousness.

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"！！！！"

Erza tried to scream aloud and storm out, but she was unable to chant the magic because a rag was shoved into her mouth, and her arms were twisted behind her back, making it impossible for her to storm out due to the pain.

"Heh heh, it worked, didn't it?

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"Yeah, tonight's guest is a noble lady, and it's been a long time since I've had a good one.

The ferryman not only passes those who try to cross the river in secret, but also sometimes kidnaps them and sells them off somewhere. This time it was Elsa.

"Let's have some fun first, shall we?

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"Yeah, it's not often we get a chance like this."

The man who had twisted up Erza's arm used some kind of handcuff to hold her arm in place.

Elsa moaned from the pain in her twisted shoulder and elbow. But the men looked down at her with a smirk.

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"Hehehe, how does it feel to be beaten by the commoners you usually make fun of, noble lady?

"Even a commoner can do this much, you know."

（No, I've never made fun of the common people.)

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Elsa wants to say so, but she can't.

The ferryman grabbed her by the chest.

（I don't feel good.)

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Erza tried to escape from the ferryman's grip by twisting her body,

"Don't be too rough or you'll fall off the boat!"

The other man then slides down on his horse on Elsa's stomach.

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(Gugu, Kuru, Shii)

Elsa's resistance gradually weakened as she struggled to breathe, unable to repel the weight of one adult male.

"Oh?　Are you done resisting?　Well then, I think it's time to eat.

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The ferryman licked his tongue.

（No, someone help me!)

Erza desperately cries out, but all that escapes is a moan because of the cloth stuffed in her mouth.

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"Heh heh, I'm just getting started, aren't I?"

The ferryman reaches out for Erza's breast while saying so.

(Rai, my brother ......, Jin, my son ......)

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The men who had always protected her were gone. They are gone, and I have run away from them.

"Elsa!"

Erza is relieved when Meine wakes up and hits her with her body, causing the ferryman to fall into the boat.

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"Oh, she's awake already!"

The other man who had been riding on Erza said disgustedly and picked up the knife that Meane had just dropped. The blade of the knife glinted in the moonlight.

（No way!　Meine, run!)

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Erza wanted to say so, but she couldn't say it out loud. She could only watch as the knife was thrust into Meine's abdomen.

(Lie,lie,meine......)

"Gu,fu......e,r,za......"

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Meine slowly collapses.

"Throw him in the river and I'll deal with him slowly, Miss Erza."

So saying, the ferryman grabbed Meine by the legs and threw her over the edge into the river.

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(Ah, ah, ah ......)

Just when Erza was about to despair.

"Whoo!

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Suddenly there was a light that shone on them.

"Bah, no way!"

A black patrol boat?

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It was a fast boat, called a patrol boat in this river. Three golems rowed the oars, and it could reach a speed one and a half times that of an ordinary boat.

The black hull of the boat was something that even the ferryman had never seen before. It is possible that the ferryman had never seen such a black hull before and therefore did not notice its approach. The truth is that the magic of the Hyde was responsible.

"Oh, give me a break!"

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"Oh, yes!　You promised to let me off with up to five men a month!"

The ferryman seemed to have some kind of backroom deal with the guards of the Kingdom of Celuloa, he insisted desperately, but the men in the black patrol boat remained silent. Upon closer inspection, they were all wearing black clothes and black masks.

"Hey, hey, shouldn't we have tried to kill the nobles?　Not yet!　I haven't done it yet!　So give me a break. ......"

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That was it. With a flash of the white blade, the ferryman's head left his body and fell into the river.

!"

Blood splashed in front of her eyes, and Erza closed her eyes.

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"Oh, me too?　No!　No!"

The man who had been riding on Erza screams and jumps into the river to escape.

A wind magic < hits him in the back.

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"G,a ......"

The man's spine is severed and he falls over the edge of the boat into the river.

"............"

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The tragedy that occurred before her eyes was so graphic that Erza did not feel she had survived at all.

The men of the black patrol boat, however, silently moved Erza from the ship to the patrol boat and removed the restraints from her arms.

Finally free from the pain in her arm, Erza tried to take out the rag that was stuck in her mouth by herself.

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"Oh, but first, let's get this on you," she said.

The first voice she heard was simultaneous with the ruthless action.

"What?"

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A choker-like object was wrapped around Erza's neck, and she heard a metallic clang, then realized she couldn't speak, even though she had taken out the rags.

"......!"

"Hmm, that's a little harsh. Hold on a minute. How about ...... this?"

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The man in front of her seemed to have done something, and she managed to speak, albeit painfully.

"Who are you people?　Didn't he help you?"

The man in front of Elsa smiled through his mask as he finally said this,

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"We helped you, Miss Elsa. Help us and we'll make it easier for you.

He said this to her. Erza frowned when she heard this. But then she remembered Meine,

"Meine!　Save Meine!

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She pleaded, "Meene, save me!

"Meine?　Oh, the traitor's maid.

The man looked around the boat, but Meine was nowhere to be seen on the surface of the river.

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"She was either swept away or sunk. Either way, no one should be so disloyal as to take out the daughter of the lord's house. Let him go.

He ordered his men.

"What?"

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Erza turned pale when she heard this,

"That's ...... what I want!"

She pleads in a strained voice. But the man ignores her request. Elsa's arms and legs are once again strapped down.

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"If you stay in these waters for too long and the guards find you, you'll be in trouble. We've done what we came for. Let's go."

The black patrol boat left the area at high speed.

All that was left was a small boat carrying the headless body of a ferryman.

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