Reaching the hotel room, Arthur realized that he was the first to arrive at the destination. There, he found Finlay, Serko, and Sora waiting for them patiently.
“Arthur!”
“It’s Arthur!”
The two dwarves greeted him with happy smiles as they jumped on him at the same time. Arthur felt warmth in his heart seeing the two kids being as energetic as ever. Hugging them back lightly, he asked. freewebnvel.coɱ
“How are you two doing today?”
“Great! We were waiting for you guys!”
“Hahaha, sorry for making you wait. We had some stuff to do.” He apologized before he shifted his gaze to the silent girl in the corner of the room. Sora was as quite as usual, staying in her own corner, detached from everyone else.
Arthur already knew that she didn’t really trust them completely but the girl was also very shy and reserved. He had no intention of pushing her out of her cocoon yet. The girl was traumatized and she needed time to heal.
So, he looked down at the two dwarves and whispered to them. “How is she doing?”
“… Oh, that girl? I don’t know… She is very weird.” Finlay replied with a raised eyebrow.
“She has been silent the entire time. We gave her food but she didn’t want to eat. We tried to talk to her but she doesn’t speak at all.”
The two dwarves looked very lost and confused about the girl. Even though they had spent the entire day together, the girl didn’t speak a single word to them except for one-word replies. She didn’t even bother to move to a more comfortable couch to sleep.
She was completely stuck in her own world and the two dwarves could not get her out of it. Seeing that troubled look on their faces, Arthur sighed and then walked toward the girl.
“Hey there, Sora.” He crouched down to her level and said in a soft tone. “How are you feeling?”
“…” The girl flinched slightly as she looked up. When she realized that it was Arthur, her eyes widened a little before she visibly calmed down.
“I’m… I’m fine.”
‘She seems to be more comfortable with me than with Finlay and Serko. But, why? The two are harmless.’
“Do you want to eat? You must be hungry.” He said.
“… No, I don’t want foo-”
*GRUMBLE*
At that moment, the girl’s stomach made a loud sound that echoed across the entire room. The trio went completely silent as they stared at her, a little stunned. Sora took a second to realize what happened before her face exploded with redness.
“Pfft! Haha, see? You’re hungry. Hey, Finlay, can you get her something to eat?”
“Of course!”
“Thank you.”
Then, the dwarf rushed to the kitchen where he picked up a few fruits, a sandwich, and a cup of water before he brought them to the girl. Seeing that food, Sora gulped down a mouthful of saliva without realizing it.
“Don’t hesitate and dig in.” Arthur put the tray in front of her and stood up “Let’s give her some privacy boys.”
Dragging his friends out of the bedroom, they all sat on the couch.
“Do you think she will get better, Arthur?” Serko asked curiously.
“… *Sigh* let’s give her some time, ok? She had been through a lot and she needs to slowly get out of that state on her own. We can only keep her safe.”
“Yes!”
‘I hope she doesn’t relapse or they end up finding her if they’re still looking for her. She had enough of all of that.’ Arthur thought to himself as he shook his head.
At that moment, the door to the room opened. Arthur had already sensed the presence outside so he didn’t care to be alert.
“Isla!”
Seeing the familiar face, the two dwarves jumped on her with a wide hug.
“Hey there.” Isla patted their heads as she looked at Arthur and her expression turned serious immediately. “We’ve got some bad news.”
The moment Arthur heard that, he immediately straightened up. The serious look on Isla’s face was more than good of an indication that something important had just happened.
Walking to Arthur, Isla sat down with a small sigh, looking like she had heard something really annoying.
“Is everything ok?”
“Herculia, Danny, and Emmy aren’t coming.” She said.
“Huh?! Why?” Arthur frowned. The news was shocking, to say the least. ‘Why? Weren’t they about to log in an hour ago? Did something happen?’
A thousand questions popped into Arthur’s head in one split second before Isla could even answer.
“Some problems occurred in the outside world and they need to deal with them. They are going to be fine. But… They won’t be able to go with us.”
“…”
‘Problems? Is she talking about their families?’ Arthur pursed his lips. Seeing Isla’s unwillingness to say anything else made him almost certain that it was something related to that. He didn’t care anymore about the Colosseum meeting as this was now a secondary problem.
“If you say that they’re going to be fine then… Well, nothing can be done about it. Only the two of us are going then?” He asked.
“… Yes. We have to take care of everything on our own. It’s going to be a little more tricky now. So we need to go over the plan again and make some changes.” Isla said.
***
With that, the two went through every single detail of their plan from the moment they reach the Colosseum to when they meet the man himself and even beyond that. They knew that the moment they got close to that place, many eyes would be on them so each action they do will be seen and could be used against them.
While losing three members of the group is really troublesome, it also gave Isla and Arthur more room to think and do things as 2 people are way less eye-catching than 5 people. It could lessen the chances of mistakes happening and consequentially increase the chances of keeping the upper hand in the potential negotiations.
So, after almost 30 minutes of detailed planning, Isla and Arthur finally agreed on what to do exactly.
“There is still 90 minutes before the start. We should go.” Isla said as she stood up.
“Are you guys going now?” Finlay asked curiously.
“Yes. Sorry, we can’t bring both of you with us. It’s very dangerous for both of you.”
‘We’re already at risk keeping them here. Anyone can discover them by mistake and the consequences of that will be disastrous. We need to get them to a safer place soon.’ Arthur thought to himself seriously.
“Mm, we understand. Be safe, guys!” Serko nodded.
“For sure. Take care of Sora too. We will be back soon.”
With that, the duo left the hotel room and closed the door shut behind them. Leaving the hotel, they kept looking around them. They didn’t know if those people in blue clothes were watching or not and if they were watching, were they going to make a move or not. That idea put the two on the edge as they walked to the main street.
There, they stopped one of the many lizard-carriages that moved past them. These carriages were akin to Taxis in the capital that carried people from one place to another in the massive city.
“Where are you going, lads?” The man sitting at the front asked.
“To the Colosseum if you don’t mind.”
“Hahaha, everyone is going there today huh?”
“Yeah…” Arthur muttered as the carriage started moving quickly, cutting through the busy streets of the capital. Arthur and Isla remained silent the entire time, keeping an eye on their surroundings. They knew that it was most likely pointless to do that as there were simply too many people to locate anyone amongst them. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
“I heard the Monkey Warrior is going to fight today. That didn’t happen in a few years.” The man said with a laugh.
“The monkey warrior?” Arthur’s ear picked up the name making him turn his head to the man.
“You don’t know the Monkey Warrior?! Are you two new here?”
“You can say so. Who’s this monkey warrior?” Arthur pretended to smile as he asked curiously.
“He’s a celebrity in the Colosseum. One of the strongest gladiators to grace the arena. It’s always amazing to watch him fight and defeat all his enemies with his weird fighting style!” The man replied.
‘… A monkey warrior… Really interesting.’ Although Arthur didn’t know who this was, he immediately found the name very peculiar and intriguing.
“In any case, since both of you are going there, you will see him for yourself. I’m sure you will enjoy your time there.”
“… We will surely enjoy our time a lot,” Isla replied in a whisper as she kept her eyes outside. ‘So much fun…’
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3