TBBS 29

Chapter 29 …

I let out a sigh.

“There’s no choice. We’ll have to call a taxi, I guess.”

After wandering around for a while, we finally opened our taxi apps. Since it was slowly getting dark, it seemed like the wiser option.

As the one responsible for the bus trip, I gave Olivia some advice.

“Try calling one with the Balt app. I’ll use Uber.”

But no matter how many apps we used, it was useless if there were no taxis nearby.

Given how many bus routes were on strike, it made sense that no cars would venture into this remote area…

Olivia managed to request a taxi successfully just once, but the joy we shared jumping around for five minutes was instantly deflated when it was canceled.

No cars nearby

As I stared at the message on the Uber app in despair, an even bigger misfortune struck.

My phone, which had been struggling with low battery for a while, had finally given up while trying to call a taxi.

Olivia, resigned, burst into laughter.

“Hmm, I guess there really was no way we could take public transport to school…”

I felt a pang of guilt toward Olivia for trusting me enough to try the bus in the first place, but fortunately, she hadn’t lost hope yet.

We took a selfie under the sky that was just beginning to redden, and Olivia posted it on Instagram with a crying emoji.

Finally taking the bus to school for the first time in a year, and there’s a strike! So unfair!
But still, grateful to be with my friend ♬

In the photo, we looked so bright and cheerful as if we had forgotten that we still had over an hour’s walk ahead of us through the forest.

Eventually, we started walking, having wasted too much time at the bus stop.

The winding main road darkened at a frightening pace, but it wasn’t enough to ruin the outing of two happy seventeen-year-old girls.

At least, not until an unfamiliar car stopped beside us.

“Hey, need a ride?”

I had no intention of attempting something as dangerous as hitchhiking, but I turned at that voice out of a naive hope that we might meet a fellow student or parent from our school.

Of course, even if I hadn’t turned, it probably wouldn’t have made much difference.

“You’re wearing sparkling uniforms. Which school are you from?”

By the time I looked, the man stepping out from the driver’s seat had one ear adorned with a cluster of sharp piercings.

Judging someone by their clothing is old-fashioned and narrow-minded, I know. But prejudices tend to hit the mark in moments like this.

Of course, my phone had died too.

It was just as I was trying to silently mouth “112” to trembling Olivia.

“No, sweetie. That’s not it.”

Another person stepped out from the passenger seat, pointing a gun.

I couldn’t even let out a gasp; I held my breath.

Even if it had only been a knife, I might have kicked it away—but the sight of the gun made the hair on my skin stand on end involuntarily.

My heart pounded as if it would burst.

Olivia, fumbling to press 112 with shaking fingers, dropped her phone.

The man with the piercings came close and picked it up, but after a brief glance, he didn’t destroy it—instead, he pocketed it.

They were thieves who were too lazy to ruin a new iPhone.

“Get a grip, Vivi,” I whispered to myself. “They only have a gun—they’re just thieves. There’s no reason to look easy.”

I raised both hands voluntarily and summoned all my courage to bluff.

“W-we’re students at Branel Private School. You know, the aristocratic school Prince Sven and Princess Anne graduated from.”

Olivia looked at me with wide eyes.

She might have thought it would be safer to hide our identity, but I disagreed.

We were in uniform, it was dark, and traffic was sparse. If these guys had bad intentions, they could do anything to us.

The man asked, amused:

“Branel Private School?”

“Yes.”

I panted as if I had just finished a sprint.

“Even our shoes are designer. My hairband alone costs 2,000 krona (*about 260 USD). We’ll give it all to you.”

The man roughly tore my hairband from my head.

In reality, it was a cheap 49-krona (*about 7 USD) one, but without a brand label, they couldn’t tell. At least, I hoped they couldn’t.

My messy hair blocked my view, but I didn’t bother fixing it and kept talking.

“We’ll give you everything. We won’t even keep our shoes on. It’s dark here, and your hair is so ordinary and curly that I couldn’t even make a composite sketch of you.”

By then, Olivia understood what I was doing. Sniffling, she intervened.

“Y-you can check my ID in my bag. I’m Salvius. The very Salvius you know.”

I caught a moment of regret that our last name had drawn the wrong attention. After all, it was a well-known Swedish noble family.

So I quickly cut in.

“Being robbed and running barefoot isn’t exactly newsworthy for Salvius. If you let us go, we’ll never see each other again. But if you touch us…”

I added slowly, in a small voice, so as not to provoke them too much.

“You’ll make the news, and Swedish police will never let a robber of immigrant origin who touches Salvius go. You know that.”

The men muttered to each other briefly in Arabic. I couldn’t understand it, but it was definitely Arabic.

The man with the gun stepped closer.

“Give me all valuable items. Keep the uniform on.”

We removed our earrings, necklaces, and bracelets, took off our shoes, and emptied our bags, offering only the empty bags.

“And your phone?”

I reached into my pocket and pulled it out.

“It’s dead. No battery.”

He took my phone. Though second-hand, it was still an iPhone.

After quickly gathering everything, they looked at us and advised:

“You’re smart, but as you said, you won’t be able to find us. The car’s license plate is stolen anyway, and there are no cameras here.”

Olivia nodded, tears streaming down her face.

“We’ll never try to find you. I swear it in the name of Salvius.”

Even after getting back in the car, the gun remained pointed at us as the vehicle quickly drove down the now completely dark forest road.

Olivia sat down on the ground, gasping, and finally began to cry in earnest.

I quickly hugged her, holding back my own tears. There’s no advantage in crying together on a dark road.

“It’s okay, Olivia. It’s over. They’re just thieves. They won’t come back.”

She had cried so hard it looked like she might hyperventilate, but eventually, she calmed down.

It was the sensible thing to do. We needed to get back to school quickly.

Holding hands with trembling Olivia, we started walking fast along the trail as if on alert.

We were barefoot, and the remaining 30 minutes of walking felt unbearably long.

The ground, cooled by the fading daytime warmth, was stiff, and our feet grew rigid.

Halfway through the remaining path, as we practically ran, another car light flashed behind us like a trapped rabbit fleeing for its life.

My heart sank.

Another robber? We have nothing left to give!

I gripped Olivia’s hand even tighter.

“Run!”

We ran like mad. Fear paralyzed all thought, and our ears rang.

—Honk honk!

Instead of driving ahead, the car followed us, honking for some reason. It seemed like someone was shouting.

“…Stop!”

But we couldn’t hear, nor did we want to. We ran as if stopping meant the end.

—Baaang!

This time, a long, loud honk sounded, and someone shouted much closer.

“Vivi! Please, stop!”

We both stopped instantly.

With our chests heaving, we looked at each other with relieved eyes, and only then did we turn around.

Someone was already getting out of the car, and the reason we felt relieved despite their imposing figure was…

“Just what are you two doing here barefoot?”

Because it was someone we knew all too well.

“Erik…!”

Erik Branel.

Standing in the darkness was undoubtedly the master of Branel.