CINDERELLA IN ANOTHER WORLD (2)

“Who the hell are you?! What did you do to him?!” the fat man bellowed, his voice thunderous and shaking with rage. His eyes burned with bloodlust as he raised his crude axe. “I'll kill you, bitch!”

The girls had no choice but to move to the side as fear of dying pushed them away. Survival was all that mattered now.

The man charged, his heavy boots stomping across the ground as he swung his axe wildly, heavy swings, one after the other.

I twisted my body just enough to avoid the blade each time, the chains around my ankles clinking with every step.

My legs burned. I was still bound, movement limited, but his attacks lacked control.

Strength, sure. But zero technique.

I could work with that.

All I had to do… was to wait for the right time to use this to my advantage.

“How long do you think you can keep dodging, you wench?” he bellowed, grinning as he put his axe on his neck to taunt me. “One lucky hit, and your head’s gone!”

He laughed like a pig in mud—loud, ugly, convinced of his victory.

Just like the last meathead, this one looked at me and saw weakness. And sure, I wasn’t strong by any means.

But I had something better—cunning, and the skill to turn the odds in my favor.

“Shame to kill such a fine piece of merchandise,” he sneered. “But a wild dog ain’t worth selling. Better to chop it up before it bites its master. I’ve got you now!”

His eyes glimmered with twisted triumph as he lifted his axe high overhead, ready for a vertical strike meant to cleave me in two.

I looked him dead in the eye, my voice low and cold.

“I’m no dog. I’m a wolf. And I have no master.”

His axe came down—exactly what I’d been waiting for.

“It’s over.”

With a swift motion, I raised my arms, placing the chain between us. The blade struck the metal with a crack of sparks—

—and snapped it in half.

“What the—?!” he shouted, eyes wide.

Before he could recover, I slipped behind him like a shadow. My fingers found the club his unconscious friend had dropped. I raised it—

—and slammed it into the back of his neck.

His body crumpled to the ground with a dull thud.

The girls stared at me, silent, stunned.

Panting, I allowed myself a moment to breathe.

I turned and gave a quick nod to the girls. “You’re safe now.”

“Help me…”

I whipped around. One of the bandits I had previously knocked down was on his feet again—bloodied, staggering—but clutching the little elf girl with a dagger pressed to her throat.

His eyes gleamed with desperation.

“You can run,” he sneered, “but she stays with me. This little thing’ll make me rich!”

He pressed the blade closer, a thin line of red appearing on her pale neck.

My fists tightened.

“You think you can save this kid? My blade will be faster than whatever you’re planning.”

Behind me, the other girls had seen their chance. With the gate now left open, they began fleeing one by one, their footsteps hurried and panicked.

“What are you doing just standing there? You should run too!” one of them called out to me before disappearing into the forest beyond.

They weren’t wrong. I had no obligation to stay. I didn’t know this elf girl, or any of them.

I owed them nothing. Putting my life on the line for strangers was foolish—reckless even.

But...

If I turned my back now, I’d never be able to look my little sister in the eye again.

I took a slow breath. "Listen," I said quietly, raising my hands, "if you want a hostage... take me instead."

"Huh? What did you just say?" the bandit barked, frowning as sweat trickled down his brow. "Speak up!"

"Let her go. Take me instead."

His grip tightened on the knife. He was suspicious—rightfully so. I could see his pulse beating in his neck, and the twitch of his fingers. "Don’t think I’m stupid enough to fall for your tricks again. You move a step, she dies."

So, he still can’t understand what I am saying.

I didn’t move.

Instead, I slowly sat down on the ground and raised both arms above my head.

His eyes flicked between me and the trembling elf girl. He sneered. "You’re serious? You offering yourself instead? What are you, some kind of knight now? Hah! What a joke."

I didn’t answer. I wasn’t here to win an argument—I just needed him to drop his guard.

I remembered something the other bandit had shouted: Imperial Knights are coming.

If they were anything like police or guards, maybe—just maybe—I just had to stall long enough.

But he wasn’t taking the bait.

"You’re dangerous," he said, snarling. "I won’t be tricked again. You take even one more step, and I swear I’ll gut this brat right here!"

He wasn’t bluffing. His eyes were locked on me. The distance between us was too far—I’d never reach in time.

And then—

A blur passed beside me.

A shadow, swift and silent, surged forward.

Before I could even blink, a massive figure was upon him.

THUD!

In an instant, the man was airborne—crashing into the wall. His blade clattered uselessly to the ground.

I blinked.

Standing where he once stood was a girl—tall, imposing, wrapped in layers of ragged cloth. A large battle axe rested in her hands. Her face remained mostly hidden beneath a hood, but the pair of fox-like ears poking out gave her away.

I recognised her as one of the girls who had been chained here. She didn’t run away.

But unlike the rest, she had broken free... and armed herself with the very axe the fat bandit had used earlier and had used it to severe all her chains.

She turned toward me.

I instinctively tensed.

Then, without a word, she raised her axe. I winced—expecting a strike.

CLANG!

The axe fell—not on me, but on the chains around my ankles. They shattered instantly.

She moved past me and did the same for the elf girl, who was frozen in fear. The steel cuffs snapped apart like twigs beneath her strength.

The fox-eared girl stepped back, nodded once, then turned and sprinted toward the open gate. She didn’t stop. She didn’t look back.

Just like that, she vanished into the dark.

“So, she had no intention of staying with us,” I murmured.

Fair enough.

I turned to the elf girl, who was still kneeling on the ground, tears streaking her cheeks, her tiny frame shaking from shock.

She wouldn’t survive alone.

Without thinking, I knelt beside her and offered my hand.

"Come on. We have to go. There might be more of them coming."

She looked up at me with wide, uncertain eyes—then slowly placed her small hand in mine.

I helped her up.

“Let’s go.”