Some time passed quietly as the group watched the dwarves continue working silently. The two didn’t seem that affected even after working for almost another hour after the group stopped. Eventually, they halted and finally took a break too. They could’ve continued working for a few more hours but Isla didn’t let them push themselves.
She knew that the dwarves were actually capable of far more than this. But, she wanted them to save their energy as they had to work a lot for the next several days and they needed breaks to keep their stamina in good condition.
With that, the day finally came to an end and Arthur and the others had to leave as usual. After making sure the entire place was secure and no small holes were there for people to peek inside.
“Make sure not to leave the place after we leave, got it?” Isla asked. “Nobody should come here now. But, just in case something bad happens when we’re not here. Here, I have bought something for you three.” She said as she pulled something from her inventory and gave it to the two dwarves.
“These are protective amulets I bought yesterday. If something bad happens, channel mana into them and they will create a barrier around you for a while. As long as you infuse it with mana, it will keep you safe from most normal threats. It will also work as a tracker in case one of you gets lost and I can find you again.”
“There is such a thing being sold?” Herculia asked curiously.
“It exists. But it was expensive and could only be used once. But it’s perfect to keep you three perfect till tomorrow since we will be able to spend the next three days with you.” Isla explained.
‘Oh, right, it’s the weekend so we won’t have to attend the academy for the next several days starting tomorrow.’ Arthur thought to himself as he looked at the time. ‘Well, hopefully, we will be able to finish most of the building in the next few days.’
All they had to do was simply leave the three children there for the night and return the next day. All they can hope is nothing bad will happen.
‘We would’ve returned them to the hotel but the risk is simply too big now that we know those bastards chasing Sora will search the entire city for us. It’s too risky to move now.’ Arthur thought to himself.
He knew the entire city had turned into a huge trap at this point. He didn’t know how many people were actually looking for Sora but he didn’t want to find out either.
“Mm! We will be fine, don’t worry! We will protect Sora with our lives!” Finlay replied with a confident look on his face.
“That’s right! Leave the rest to us and go rest, guys!”
“Good boys! I know we can rely on you!” Emmy patted their heads gently.
With that, they all bid the trio farewell and left the place to log out of the game. The three children stood near the door, staring at it silently.
“They’re gone…” Finlay muttered as he turned around and looked at his two companions. “Well, time to eat dinner!”
“Mmm! We do have some soup, right?”
“Yeah, I will put it to heat up.”
Since Finlay was the best cook out of the three, he had been taking care of the food for the trio every night.
The other two set up their mattresses and sat down on them, watching Finlay cooking.
“Hey, Sora! Do you want to play a game?”
“A game?” Sora asked.
“Yeah! A game! We play it a lot me and Finlay.”
“Wait, do you mean ‘That’ game?” Finlay asked.
“Mhm! I used to beat you a lot in it!”
“… Hey! I’m not that good at it! It’s not fair!”
“W-What is it?” Sora asked curiously.
“It’s called ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’.” He said with a smile.
“Rock, Paper, Scissors?” The girl raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, it’s really simple but fun!”
After that, Serko went ahead and explained the entire game to Sora. This game was an invention the two kids made when they were still in the forest to spend time and it was a lot of fun so they kept playing it.
“So, do you want to play?”
“Sure…”
“Good, ok put your hand like this.”
“Like… this?”
“Yeah! Now… Rock, paper, scissors!”
Then, the two put their hands out. Sora had clumsily chosen paper while Serko chose rock.
“What?!”
“Pfft! You lost!”
The boy was shocked because of it. He was certain he would win since he always had a good feeling about what someone would choose in the game.
“I won?” Sora asked.
“Good job, Sora!” Finlay said.
For a second there, the girl looked at her hand and then at Serko’s hand before her eyes flickered with a weird glint.
“A-Again!” Serko said. “Rock… Paper… Scissors!”
‘I will this time! It was just luck!’
However, much to his shock. Sora chose paper and he chose rock again and he lost.
“Hahahaha!” Finlay laughed even harder as he watched the dumbfounded dwarf amusedly.
“Again!”
The two played a third, then fourth, and fifth time. Yet, every single time, Serko lost and he didn’t know how. The girl didn’t even seem to be aware of how the game fully worked yet.
“How… Just how…” Serko muttered in surprise as he stared at Sora. “Are you perhaps an expert at this, Sora?”
“Uh…” The girl looked quite delighted she won but she also didn’t know why she was able to win so effortlessly. “I don’t know… I just follow my feeling…”
“…” The two dwarves stared at her silently as if they didn’t understand what was going on.
“A feeling? Wow, your instincts must be quite sharp then! We have finally found someone who can win against Serko!”
“Tsk! I guess it is my loss! We have found the new champion, Sora!”
*Clap* *Clap*
The two clapped for the girl happily. Meanwhile, Sora watched with a stunned look on her face. Then, slowly, a faint smile formed on her face. She would be lying if she said she didn’t feel proud of herself at that moment. Winning the game felt really good and it was a completely new experience to her. She had never even tasted success before in anything so it was truly refreshing.
“Anyway, time to eat dinner and go to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow! The building won’t build itself!”
“Yeah!”
Cheering, the trio took three bowls of soup and were about to start eating food. However, at that moment, they suddenly heard a noise coming from outside. Immediately, they all stopped eating and froze in place as they looked up. Finlay stared at Serko.
‘What was that?’ He asked.
‘… I don’t know. It sounded like someone walking by.’
‘Should we… check?’
‘No! Let’s remain silent for now. Maybe it’s just a random person walking by.’
What made the group even less worried was the fact that Sora didn’t seem to sense anything weird which meant there was no one dangerous outside, at least not for now.
Unbeknownst to the trio, this noise was simply the beginning of a very long… and horrifying night.
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3