"We have to go to camp, now!" said Darren, his voice panicked after hearing Sasa say she got two additional points. It was supposed to be just one, right after Mia and Thalia shot an arrow at a bandit who went to their plantation.
"What's going on?" asked Evan in confusion, not knowing why his boss was asking them to go home when they had just finished their night workout by fighting ten people at once.
Their sweat had just started to soak through their clothes. These clothes were the same ones borrowed from Mia and Thalia after opening their father's wardrobe filled with old clothes still kept inside.
The corpses of the bandits were still in front of the house. They hadn't cleaned them up yet because Darren suddenly wanted to go home just as he entered the house. Evan furrowed his brows, watching Darren, who was now bowing his head while thinking about what was happening there.
Could his friends still be okay? There should be someone left from them. If they could achieve victory, surely someone would fight back against the people sent by King Finn.
However, Darren's thoughts wandered further. He thought, what if only some of his friends were tortured? Darren was tormented by that thought, even though they were not like him, or they were just part of the game. But unconsciously, Darren had already considered them part of his family.
"That was so much fun! Thalia, didn't you see how that guy fell when the arrow hit his body? That was so cool!" Mia's chatter was heard and then followed by the laughter of the girl she was talking to.
Darren and Evan turned to the two girls who appeared and then walked toward the stairs to go down to the first floor. Mia wore her light blue dress, while Thalia wore her yellow dress. Both wore dresses that fit perfectly on their bodies until Darren didn't see any oversized parts, except the puff sleeves on the arms.
The dresses were the kind that Darren rarely saw, except in historical films that told stories from the past. Their dresses were like the ones worn by farmer girls in villages far from the city. There was lace at the lower edge of the dress, which reached just above the ankle. The lace was white and matched so well with the color of the dresses they chose.
The sleeve cut was short, only as long as half the upper arm, because it was a summer dress. In winter, usually, the sleeve cut usually reached the wrist. Much longer to keep the cold from touching the skin.
Maybe the developers of this game were inspired by life in the old days when horses were still used as a means of transport. Cooking still used firewood because Darren noticed Mia and Thalia kept firewood in their house. Besides that, they didn't seem to have phones and still relied on paper letters.
"Sorry for troubling you," Darren approached them toward the stairs until Mia and Thalia stopped precisely on the third step from the top. Just like Evan, both of them gave Darren a confused look because he interrupted their steps with something whose reason he didn't yet understand. "We have to go back to camp, now."
"Now? At this moment?" asked Thalia, widening her eyes. "What's going on that we have to go back?"
"There's something urgent. It's not just us who are being disturbed by those people. At the camp, it seems like we also have a problem." Darren explained his reason without mentioning that Sasa's voice was heard in his ear. "This isn't the right time for us to be in the city. We have to go back to camp first and make sure everything is safe before coming back to the city."
"Darren, is this decision not rash?" asked Mia once again. She wanted to make sure Darren wasn't acting recklessly.
"Yes, it's not rash at all. I've thought it through very carefully." Darren then walked toward Evan. "Evan and I will take care of all the people outside. While you two, I ask you to pack everything that needs to be brought to camp."
****
"What are you doing in this place? And why did you bring some guards and stay here?" As soon as they arrived at the camp at seven in the morning, Darren immediately approached Richard, who also looked like he had just woken up.
As Darren suspected, there had been a minor chaos in the camp caused by several bandits who had come here. The problem was, he only found Leon sitting near the campfire alongside Luna, who was lying down beside him.
There was one goods carriage and another one for people, both of which had lost their horses. Darren suspected that the rest of his friends had gone after the remaining bandit, since he saw several more corpses lying not far from their camp location.
"You should be thankful because I saved that girl before she lost her sister." Darren shifted his attention in all directions. Right, Rhea was nowhere among them. Could the reason his friends were missing be because Rhea was gone?
"Those bandits gave your friends sleeping drugs, so they all passed out overnight after drinking alcohol from the bandits," Richard added, apparently having a strong reason for coming to this place with some of his guards. "Meanwhile, I found that the girl had passed out after I came back, failing to find her sister."
Darren heard Mia and Thalia's footsteps walking away from them and approaching Luna, who still hadn't regained consciousness. Meanwhile, Evan was busy unloading all the belongings they brought from the Everglow family's house. Mia and Thalia brought several items that filled the carriage, like their clothes, some cooking utensils, and their valuables that might be useful for their life. Although Darren wasn't too sure if those would be much use in a dire situation like this.
"We all failed to catch the bandit who came with them. My guess is, he's not an ordinary person. I mean, maybe he's one of the king's right-hand men who handles everything, including kidnapping people as a threat. But the good news is..." Richard paused his sentence before continuing. "I can confirm that, for now, there are no bandits along the road to Mierre-Park."
"Boss, could it be the man we met yesterday?" asked Evan, joining the conversation. Evan and Darren still remembered their journey yesterday to Mierre-Park.
"Could be, Mia and Thalia also said that the merchant's body didn't look like a regular merchant's. Too fit for a merchant." Darren chimed in before turning back to speak with Richard in front of him. "What matters most to me is finding out where he took Rhea. So, I'm asking you to leave because I'm going to Mierre-Park immediately."
"Oh, unfortunately, I can't let you go to Mierre-Park just like that." Darren furrowed his brow, seeing Richard starting to order him around. How could his enemy be the one giving him orders, especially in a situation like this?
"What now, Richard? One of Luna's sisters has been kidnapped, and I don't have time to entertain any drama you're going to create. Once Luna wakes up, we're leaving for Mierre-Park to negotiate with that king. The same man you're working with!" Darren shouted a bit in front of Richard, seeing him suddenly appear before him.
"The emperor is going to be assassinated, we have to stop it before Finn gets us all killed!" Richard didn't back down, he too shouted, seeing his good friend—or now his brother—accusing him unfairly. "Those bandits planned the attack on this camp because they felt disturbed by you. If King Finn succeeds in killing the emperor, I will ascend as emperor. That only happens if you die."
"Isn't that what you've always wanted? All of this, it's what you've been aiming for, right?" Darren asked, his voice calming down. His frustration was still peaking, but he tried to hold back his anger so Luna wouldn't wake up. "Everything that happened today is because of what you've done. Then, the people were greedy for the emperor's throne. Including you, who worked together with that king."
"It wasn't me, it was Harry!" Richard didn't want to be blamed. "The only way is to make sure the Emperor survives, Darren. This is about both our lives and everyone here."
"Darren," the voice made Darren turn to look behind him. Luna was already sitting up and watching his argument with her older brother. "Go, save the emperor like your brother said. I'll go save Rhea with my sisters."
"No, Luna. This man is not someone you can trust." Darren pointed to Richard, trying to convince the girl not to put her trust in him. "Whatever! I don't care about that emperor!"