(Aki Acre, two days before the Expedition left Wall Emi.)

NICO YAZAWA'S POV

My dad left five days ago to join the Expedition. I am so proud of him! Ever since he left, I have been working hard to take care of my siblings, harvesting food, and cleaning our new house. My mom takes care of us as any good mother would, although being a doctor often forced her into a busy schedule. But today, all five of us are together!!

All of us lived peacefully when someone knocked at the door.

"Are you Dr. Yazawa?", said a young man who seemed to be panicking.

"Yes, can I help you with something?"

"I need your help! A bunch of people in our village had been attacked by thieves. They are injured!"

We have been used to incidents like this. Violence is inevitable due to the lack of food, land, proper work, and plague.

"How bad are the wounds?!"

"They are really deep...the thieves used daggers and guns so the injuries are serious."

"I see. This is really bad....hey, Nico!!"

"Yes mom?!!", I paid her attention as I watched her take her coat.

"Listen, I have to leave to help treat wounded villagers. Wait for me okay?!!"

"Sure!!"

"He also said that there are thieves in the area. Be on your guard and keep the windows and door shut."

"Yes mom!!"

My mom left us for an emergency treatment of injured villagers. She is the only doctor around here so it is her job to help anyone who is hurt here.

During the time she departed, we spent the day together having fun as fellow siblings. I taught them my Nico Nico Nii smiles and postures, I sang with them, for example, when I presented them a new song that I just came up with. It really is my hobby to make my own songs when I am bored.

I felt so relaxed and happy, especially that my dad is currently fighting the Alpacas. He gave us a guarantee that he will be back which makes me and the family relieved - dad always fulfills his guarantees. Plus, dad is very good at adapting to situations and escaping dangers.

Outside, the sky slowly grew dark. It looked like it will rain. We just waited patiently, Cocoa and Cocoro eventually slept while Cocoro and I keep watch.

An hour passed....someone knocked the door.

"Oh, it's mom!", said Cocoro as she went to get the door.

I found a man standing before me.

"Is your mother around here? I heard that she is this village's doctor."

"Oh, you mean my mom? What is it?"

"I need your mom's help. My son is terribly ill. He suffered from a plague and now he is vommitting almost everyday."

"Oh dear. Sorry, my mom is not around. She has been called by the villagers for help. I don't know when she will come back."

"She is not around? I see......I will just wait for her then....."

"But, how about your son?"

"My friend is taking care of her. He will be fine."

The man waited at the door for mom. He kept waiting even though it rained eventually. He had an umbrella with him though. I kept an eye on him at the window to see if he is trying anything funny.

Another hour has passed. It is raining heavily. The windows are blurred as a result of the condensation of cold air. I could not see the man clearly in the window so at the very least I checked him as I opened the door to see him from time to time. My siblings eventually slept, but me and Cocoro stayed awake to keep an eye on them.

Suddenly, we heard a gunshot.

"H-help me!! Let me in!!!", the man screamed.

We immediately opened the door to help the man. We are shocked to find that he had been shot.

"Someone shot me in the arm.....ahhh!!!"

"Hang on!! Big sister, get a bandage quick!!!"

The man lied down on the floor. He looked so tired even though only his arm was injured. The injury at his arm is not life threatening, but it still needs to be taken care of.

Blood is dripping down to the floor as he held it up. We can't let it get infected. We had to help him and give him first aid, as daughters of a doctor of course.

"Sir, what happened?"

"I was shot by - "

"Nobody move!!"

The man didn't finish his words when suddenly, two men arrived. They had muskets aimed at us at gunpoint. We are all scared.

"If any of you move, we will shoot!!"

We could not resist them since we knew that they could kill us anytime. Also, we did not scream in order to not wake up Cocoa and Cotaro as they will panick if they did.

"We are so lucky that we learned that neither your mom or dad are not here!! Guess we don't have to kill anyone then!!"

"What do you guys want!!?", I shouted.

"We want the four of you!! Right now, slavery is the best way to make cash for poor folks like us!"

One man went in to get Cocoa and Cotaro (They are both still asleep). He took Cocoa out first - when Cocoa was about to wake up, he knocked her out. Then he put Cocoa in a cart outside. He went back in to get Cotaro.

We are both scared, Cocoro more so than I. We both protested against what they are doing, but we could not make any move. The injured man behind us also could not make a move as he is scared of what might happen.

"Good thing it's raining. It helps to hide ourselves from these kids or the Military Police."

"Please, stop this!!! What you people are doing is - ", said Cocoro.

"Wrong you say? Let me tell you then. THIS WORLD IS MORE WRONG!! This world just makes humans like us suffer! A dumb government, lack of food and shelter, Wall Aya falling, Alpacas invading to kill us, all this is what this world wants for humanity anyway!!!"

The first thug looked at us with frustration. I could tell in his face that he is suffering as well. So is the other thug.

"We need to survive!! It doesn't matter how you survive!! It is not wrong to try to survive, right?"

I get it.....you guys did all this because of Wall Aya's fall. You all probably did this because you have been traumatised by the terrors of starvation, plague and other issues that you guys decided to use terror to survive. What I don't get is why don't you guys hesitate to do awful things like this!! I hate it when people turn against other people!! I hate it when people like these two don't care about mankind at all!!

"Bullshit!!", I shouted in anger against them.

"Huh?! What did you just say?!"

I charged at him. I have to get us out here somehow or buy time for someone outside to hear us and ask the police for help. I attacked the first thug and tried with all my strength to prevent him from using his musket. I knew I had a chance because muskets are long guns that can fire only one bullet at a time. Also, they take a while to reload so it is more than enough to leave me an opening to strike at them.

"Big sister!!", Cocoro shouted as she too helped me out and attacked the second thug. Both of us managed to struggle hard against these two thugs, preventing them from hurting us back.

"Hey! You two - ", replied the wounded man behind us, surprised at the quick turn of events.

"Sir, quick!! Punch them and take their guns so we can escape!!", I said as I gave him a fighter's look.

"Sure!!", he quickly replied.

I called the injured man to help us out, it is already my plan to have Cocoro and I disable the thugs while the injured man could take them out despite having a wounded arm. The situation is tense as we fought off these criminals.

Suddenly, I felt like someone grabbed me from behind and knocked me out. I lost my consciousness....almost...as I fell down to the ground....I barely saw Cocoro getting knocked out as well.

I heard voices....

"You did a great job distracting those kids, Jason. Shooting your arm with a pistol to make it bleed and fool these kids into thinking that you have been shot by someone is very smart of you!"

"Yeah, I wanted to make sure that not a single kid to escape to let them tell everyone where we are."

"Hang on, we have three little girls with us. They can give us more cash if we sell them as prostitutes. What do we do with the little boy then?"

"I will take him in."

"Jason?"

"We should not kill the little boy. Make him our slave, accomplice or something. If he cooperates, I might even adopt him as my own son."

"You serious?"

"I am. I lost a son, remember? I would be happier to find another - "

I could not hear anything anymore. I passed out.

-------

(Nighttime, at a road near Aki Acre.)

NORIKO YAZAWA'S POV

"Where the hell did you send them?!"

I screamed at the top of my voice as I looked at the eyes of one of the slave traders.

Many hours ago, I went back home after I finished giving medical treatment to the villagers to find that my house has been raided. I looked inside to find that it was empty. The furnitures were in disarray.

Then I saw some blood at one corner. I am filled with shock when I found that my children are gone. Soon, I quickly realised that a kidnapping had been committed. I felt it was highly likely that the thugs made their move when I was away - they probably gathered details in advance about me and my family, especially I who is known as a doctor in the area.

Immediately, I looked for the UTX Military Police to help me out. I managed to get the aid of two young UTX Policemen, who turn out to be brother and sister respectively.

I worked very hard to look for my children. Even if it meant not eating or sleeping. I even went out of my way to turn down every request for medical aid for others - that is how unsettled I am right now. I wanna do all I can to find them before my husband has returned. Right now, there is not enough time for me to go to Otonokizaka and tell him what happened. I can't bother him after he decided to join the Expedition. Furthermore, I don't want him to worry that his children are missing while he is fighting outside the Walls - he might lose focus on the mission and end up being killed by Alpacas or even commit suicide when he keeps thinking about what happened to our family.

After searching all day through the night, the police found two suspects after interrogating many witnesses. It was helpful in the investigation that many witnessess reported to us and the villages they attacked - one witness mentioned that she heard screaming at my house amidst a heavy rain. They are caught hiding in the forests somewhere between the village I went to for treatment and Aki Acre, where our home is at. It looked like they attempted to escape - their other partners must have taken different routes and escaped ahead of them.

When we faced them amidst their apprehension, I quickly grabbed one of the man and demanded in rage where they took my children.

"Tell me, or else!!"

The thugs refused to answer back. Clearly, they are afraid for their lives but they refused to give any details. Even when the two UTX Policemen asked them nicely, they refused to give any information. Time passed and we still had no answers - the police started to consider that they might belong to a huge syndicate operating in slave trade.

Why they refused to respond irritated me. They probably became aimless since they do these horrible things without a second thought. They probably have nowhere or no one to go to. They probably have nothing to dream of for their lives. Probably why they do bad things like this.

"...give up officers....we don't know anything....", one of the thugs replied. It got on my nerve.

"Really? I will give you a taste of my medicine, then...", I said when I got sick of their silence and stubborness.

I took the musket of one of the police then shot the first suspect. When he died, I warned the other one to talk. Rather than saying anything, he ran away in panick - I bayoneted him before he ran too far away.

I really hate people who keep secrets or refuse to answer in the face of evidence, logic or even moral dilemmas.

The male and female UTX Police looked at me with shock. I did not care at the time - I am too tired to think logically of my actions.

"What? You two are gonna arrest me now because I killed them?", I said when I gave a serious look at the two young policemen.

"No no....uhhh...we understand why you did that. Don't worry, we will make an exception for you. We won't report this incident.", replied the policeman.

"We won't punish you...uhhh....especially when it looks like these two seem to have no intention to speak out anyway....", said the policewoman.

Both of them clearly showed how afraid they are of me. I would guess that they must be somewhat new members of the UTX Police Corps.

"Thank you.", I replied as I returned the musket to the police.

We continued to investigate and search for those thugs who offended me through the night - if I do see them, I will not mind to commit violence against them for what they did.

Nico...Cocoro...Cocoa...Cotaro...I will find you and save you even if it costs my life.....

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A/N: Good thing I got this chapter out soon. Just wanna let you all know that I look forward to ending this volume soon - my target deadline is most likely about two weeks from now - which means I will soon start publishing my action-packed Attack on Alpaca Volume 02!!

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for the next chapters.