"Tie your hair up," Cole said.

Xiao jumped away from Cole and swatted his hand away. "Why?"

"You've tied it up for the past week. Why wouldn't you tie it up now?" Cole asked as he pulled on his night suit.

"Because I'm not wearing my hat anymore and that would expose my neck," Xiao wanted to say. "What does it matter to you whether my hair is tied or not?" he asked.

"It could be a liability," Cole told Xiao. "Anyway, when you're with me, you tie your hair up. What's up with you and leaving it down?"

Xiao pursed his lips at Cole being a brat. He supposed that in the darkness no one would see anything even if his neck was fully exposed. He was getting use to it anyway. "Fine."

When the clock struck midnight, the two knights jumped out of their guesthouse window and ran towards the Walker Manor. Almost in a flash, they reached the place. Though they had chosen a guesthouse at the outskirts of Tajfel, the two were extraordinarily fast and both were anxious to get their task done and over with. Xiao felt himself tremble with excitement and eagerness at the prospect of avenging Bradley's death. The maidens - though the object of their night wondering - weren't as important to him at the moment. 

"Remember why we came here," Cole had told him before they left. "We save the maidens, get rid of the bandits, then we leave. Control yourself."

Xiao had nodded again and again. "Yeah, I know."

"Once we get in, we'll split up. Don't make me worry about you." Xiao played the last part of the sentence over and over again.

Presently, Cole took a few steps back and then ran and leaped over the high wall. Xiao sneered. He could do better. Without taking any steps back even though the wall was dauntingly high, he leaped over it successfully, though landing a few paces back. Cole sneered at him smugly and jumped up onto a roof. Xiao quickly joined him. "I didn't take steps back," he hissed.

Cole shrugged it off and ran along the roof. Baron Walker and his subordinates weren't hard to find - they were eating in the dining hall of the manor. Walker, a plump man sitting behind the head table, was dressed in red and talking loudly with the man beside him. Other people sitting on side tables were also talking and drinking, unaware of their two visitors.

"So where did you put the maidens, Lord Walker?" one bandit asked. Cole perked up at the mention of the maidens and kept on listening.

"I put them in the basement," Walker told them. "The escorts are guarding them right now."

Another bandit spoke up. "So what are we going to do about them? Are we actually sending them to the Ravens?"

Walker scratched at his chin. "The Ravens promised us better conditions and they've already sent us more gold than we would ever seen," he said. "We ought to keep our side of the deal."

"Won't it be better if we just married a few of them?" one said. "Who knows what the Ravens are going to do to them? Besides, it would take so much effort to escort the carriages." Cole couldn't see the one who spoke, but he was feeling sure that this one was Curtis, judging by the wide shoulders and the sneering tone of the voice that was Xiao's description of him. It seemed that the bandits of Wyatt City had fled to Tajfel.

Everyone laughed. "Curtis, you dare? It's the Ravens we are talking about!"

"They are nothing to me," Curtis bluffed. "Say, Lord Walker, how 'bout we send for a maiden? That would provide some entertainment."

Walker pondered about it. "Alright." He beckoned to two servants. "You two, go and get a maiden."

Cole watched as two servants exitted the hall and headed towards the back, a lantern held in front of them. Crouching down, Cole followed along.

Going back to Xiao. As Cole left, Xiao pouted but let Cole go. Cole was right in splitting up. Besides, he might even get to see Bradley's murderers tonight. So he crouched down and prowled around on the roof. There were a lot of late night feasts with a great deal of nonsense being spewed by intoxicated, uneducated criminals, each bragging about their accomplishments. He listened halfheartedly to their conversations as he passed them by, wondering where Cole had gone. But then, something caught Xiao's attention. 

From a study, someone walked out and beckoned two servants towards him. "Light the path," he ordered.

"Where are you going, Mr. FInch?" they inquired.

"The prisoner's room. Is he still being interrogated?" 

"I believe so, sir. I just heard him hurling insults at Lord Walker a few moments ago," they told him.

Xiao listened intently to their conversation. There was a prisoner here? 

"Lead me there," the man ordered.

The servants led the way and Xiao followed along on the roof. They seemed to be heading to the very back of the manor. Even from far away, Xia could hear the sound of whips hitting flesh and someone yelling. Walker probably placed the prisoner here because he didn't want to hear the screaming in the front. 

"You bastards!" he heard the prisoner yell. "If you have the guts, fight me one on one! Drugging me in my guesthouse is what kind of heroics!"

"Shut up!" someone yelled and the sound of whips followed. Xiao wrinkled his nose at the cruelty. This prisoner definitely wasn't a bad person, judging by what he had said. He ran towards the place. Sure enough, there was a room lit so bright it was as if the sun was inside. Xiao crouched by the window sill and peeked in.

A shirtless man was being hung by his hands in the middle of the room. His battered back was facing Xiao. Three buff men were taking turns in whipping him. "Spit it out! What is happening to the other strongholds?"

"I told you, I don't know," the man being beaten replied. "What would I know?"

"You know enough to come here." Xiao started as Finch entered the room. "Knight, when you were brought in earlier, I wasn't here. But now that I am, I would have to interrogate you. Do you know what is happening to Guifang, Harrison, and Lapoint?"

"I already said this so many times. I don't know."

"How did you find us then?" Finch asked mildly.

"Find you? I was drugged!" the man said indignantly.

"Yet you knew us as traffickers. Young knight, you would do well to think about the situation you are in. What is happening in the three strongholds?"

The man huffed out a laugh. "You know, I'll tell you. They were all destroyed by us knights."

Xiao's eyes widened. Did Frank get the message across that fast?

"Liar!" one of the thugs exclaimed. "How could you have?"

"Believe me or don't, shit head," the man said. 

The thug whipped him hard across his back and yet another streak of red appeared on his back. Xiao winced vicariously. Just then, the whip's force got the person's body to rotate and swing in the air and Xiao saw the side of a bruised, familiar face. It seemed that Xiao was too used to Jonah Festinger laughing and teasing to recognize him in this state.

Seeing Jonah, Xiao couldn't help but think about Bradley. His older brother had ventured into the lair of the traffickers too and was met with his death. Xiao couldn't save him, but he could save Jonah. If another one of his brother died, Xiao would rather die than live on. 

He kicked open the window and jumped in, killing all three thugs with his darts. Then he moved in between Finch and Jonah and slashed. Finch jumped back. "Who - "

Xiao didn't let him say another word as he plunged his sword into his stomach. Finch's body froze and then collapsed onto the ground. Turning his back on the corpse, Xiao turned around and cut off Jonah's bonds. His younger brother followed Finch's example and Xiao caught him. "Hey!" He set Jonah onto his feet.

Jonah slowly found his balance and stood, shaking his numb hands. "My savior, I -" he froze as he recognized Xiao. "Xiao-ge."

Xiao opened his mouth to speak but a flutter of footsteps behind him caused him to swirl around. The two servants that had led Finch there were running away, screaming for help. Xiao let out two more darts, but only one managed to hit its target. Sighing, Xiao picked Jonah back up. "Alright, let's go."

But it was too late. As soon as he got into the yard, he was surrounded by bandits and servants alike and more were rushing into the yard. Jonah clambered off of him. "I can still fight," he muttered to Xiao.

"You'll do that only after I get killed," Xiao told him. "Get onto my back."

Jonah didn't argue as Xiao rarely ordered them around. After he got onto Xiao's back, Xiao addressed the bandits. "So, I'm going to go."

He leaped up the roof of Jonah's prison. Up there, Xiao froze. It was impossible for him to leap straight out of the yard. However, he saw a tree that was planted near the wall with a thick branch that was disposed for a landing. "Hold on tight," he warned and leaped onto the tree branch. He landed lightly on the branch, but then a net fell onto them, enveloping and then squeezing them.

Xiao growled in frustration and cut open the net with his sword. He rolled as he landed below the tree and faced the onslaught that came at him. However, Jonah didn't manage it due to his injuries and crumpled next to him. A few men came at him and tied him up. "Give me my brother!" Xiao shouted, but a dart hit him in the side. After so many years of hitting others, Xiao finally got a taste for his own medicine. Two buff thugs came and tied him up too and confiscated his sword.

Pushing and kicking, they escorted him to the great hall of the manor, where a plump man was holding court. Upon entering, Jonah started shouting insults up at him. From his insults, Xiao realized that the man was Baron Walker. He couldn't help but feel impressed at the wording, but the same time, he controlled the urge to scold Jonah for saying some things. They really weren't meant for younger people to say.

"Shut him up!" Walker ordered. One of the thugs stuffed a piece of cloth into Jonah's mouth.

"Who are you?" Walker then demanded at Xiao. "Why did you come here tonight?"

"Heroes never hide their identities," Xiao said. "I'm Stephanus White. And as for why I came here. I came here to save my servant." He figured that was the safest thing to say. After all, no one here would know his face or Steph's.

"Why are you in Tajfel?"

"To kill you, of course!" Jonah shouted out. Somehow, he had managed to spit out the gag and at the same time not have hear a single thing Xiao had said. "You - "

Xiao glared at him at the same time a gag was placed in his mouth again. Couldn't Jonah see that they couldn't get out on their own? Their only way out would be to wait until Cole got wind of this. "Well, this is nice," he said, loudly. "I'm glad we can chat like this. But really, you would do well to let me go. I'm going to tell you that my father is a really wealthy man. I came from a really wealthy family. If he hears of me getting treated like this, he will get a whole army to come at you. You wouldn't want that, Walker."

His tactics were seen through by Walker and his subordinates. One man kicked him on the back and he fell face first onto the floor. "Quit shouting!"

"Dad!" Xiao yelled. "Come save me! These people are really really so scary! Daddy!"

Jonah understood Xiao's scheme yet did not know who would save them. Regardless, he started making as much noise as he could.

Just then, a shadow flashed past the window and a heavy object was flung in.