Extra's Perfect Ending

Chapter 121: Weapon storage

The people looked unsure of what to do, but Theia’s words shook their world. Sure, they might not make it out alive, but there was a chance they could escape—and that was more than they could have asked for.

Hilda glanced around the room and saw something that hadn’t been there before, hope. Hope for a better day.

She smiled, seeing a reflection of her past self in them.

They quickly moved on to the next step of their plan. Hilda wasn’t prepared for this kind of situation, but she had some idea of how they could get out.

To improve their chances, they needed proper weapons. Even an inexperienced fighter with a sword could do more damage than a malnourished prisoner with a broken metal rod or a rusty knife. The best they had was a knife; the worst was a piece of metal that had broken off one of the jail bars—a far cry from the weapons the knights wielded.

"Listen up!" Hilda called out, her voice firm. "We have a map of this place! To stand a better chance, we need to raid their weapon storage first."

"What if we run into someone?" a voice from the crowd asked.

"I’ll knock them out. Or you could do it," Hilda replied with confidence. Her words gave many of the prisoners the courage to step out of their cells. Some still didn’t believe in Hilda, though, and chose to scurry back into the shadows, refusing to come into the light.

After all her rallying, Hilda managed to gather around fifty people—men and women of different ages, all with one thing in common: they were weak. But that didn’t deter them from making the decision to escape.

"Are you ready?" Hilda asked, confirming one last time.

"Yes!" they answered in unison.

Theia couldn’t help but smile. These people were like her once—trapped, powerless. Even if they faced a horrible death outside, it was better to take that chance than to rot in here.

Hilda opened the basement door and led everyone outside. The night was still young, and the old lamps on the walls had been lit for some time.

Theia surveyed the area before leading the group down the mansion’s hallway, moving swiftly toward the back of the manor.

On their way, they encountered four maids who were about to scream, but Hilda quickly knocked them out and dragged them aside. The prisoners helped carry the bodies to keep them out of sight.

However, it was only a matter of time before the head maid noticed something was wrong. If the maids weren’t slacking off, the head maid would realize someone was missing from the lineup soon enough. And at that point, she’d alert the knights, and their little escape would be over.

As they continued moving, Hilda asked about the conditions they had been living in and how often the lord visited. The skinny man from earlier answered honestly.

"The lord… he doesn’t come often. Maybe once a week? Sometimes twice. He likes to see the new ones…" the man said, his voice trailing off with a shudder. "He… he takes a few with him sometimes. They don’t come back."

"How many guards are there?" Theia asked quietly, trying to gauge their chances.

"Not many at night. Most of them are asleep in the barracks," the man replied. "But if we make too much noise, they’ll all be on us in seconds."

"Understood," Hilda replied. "We move quickly, and we move quietly."

The group continued to sneak through the halls, the tension thick in the air. Every creak of the floorboards, every whisper of fabric brushing against the walls seemed to echo loudly in their ears. But they kept going, driven by the thin thread of hope that Hilda had offered them.

"The lord comes once a week," the skinny man continued, his voice filled with sorrow, "and takes a little blood from everyone, either by bleeding us with knives or other tools. We used to have so many more people… but they died from blood loss or infection. Some ended themselves just to escape this hell..." His voice trailed off, thick with emotion.

Hilda could feel the weight of his words, imagining the despair he must have felt as he watched others in his position choose death over suffering.

Theia led the way using the map, and they finally arrived at the warehouse at the back of the mansion. Two guards stood outside, their eyes scanning the area, but they seemed to be dozing off a bit. The hallway leading to the warehouse offered no cover for a sneak attack, and the windows were too far for Hilda to stage an ambush from above.

It was standard procedure for protecting an armory—just enough to make it difficult for a skilled assassin to take out the guards unnoticed. Ideally, Hilda wanted them to discover the missing prisoners only at the last second when they were escaping through the main gate. So, she decided to go in alone.

She peeked around the corner and saw that one of the guards was nodding off. She immediately sprinted forward, her knife drawn and ready to strike. She preferred to knock them out, but she knew it was much harder to subdue a trained guard than a maid who simply served tea.

As she approached, the fully awake guard noticed her and began to shout, but it was too late. Her knife was already poised. The hilt of the knife skillfully aimed for the spot between his helmet and the rest of his armor, delivering a powerful blow to his neck that knocked him out. The second guard, just waking from his slumber, fumbled for his sword, but Hilda was faster.

With another precise tap of her knife, he collapsed unconscious.

The operation went smoothly, and Hilda quickly pried off the lock tied to the chain. It came off easily when she applied force in just the right spot. She didn’t have to worry about being quiet anymore since no one else was around to notice.

Theia helped drag the unconscious guards into the warehouse to avoid alerting any potential passersby.

But then, Hilda heard a commotion from behind. A group of people came running down the hallway—it was the prisoners who had just escaped.

"What happened?" Hilda demanded, seeing the fear on the man’s face.

"We’ve been discovered!" he stammered, his voice trembling with panic.

Hilda wasn’t entirely surprised. With fifty people moving through the hallways, it was only a matter of time before they were noticed.

Three other prisoners, who appeared a bit more athletic, followed closely behind the man, their faces etched with fear as they sought refuge beside Hilda.

"Stay calm," Hilda commanded. "We knew this was a risk."

She quickly turned to Theia. "Get them armed! We don’t have much time."